Penang putu mayam - Pulau Tikus Market

 Penang is like Singapore in the 70s where street food is delicious and ubiquitous ! The Pulau Tikus market had some interesting street vendors such as Uncle Joe whose wife makes putu mayam from an interesting contraption . It was fascinating to see oodles of rice flour oozing down onto the top of a bamboo basket placed above a steamer. A brilliant visual way of steaming that draws in the crowd. I am sure it wouldn't be the same if the putu mayam was placed in a typical steamer with the lid closed. Putu mayam originates from South India and the Indian immigrants that came to Singapore years ago brought this with them. It is mainly eaten for breakfast with grated coconut and brown sugar. These days, you can still get putu mayam in Singapore but most of them are commercially made in factories and wrapped in plastic. It is definitely not the same as freshly steamed putu mayam. Uncle Joe also serves putu piring, little steamed rice flour cakes which contains brown sugar or gula melaka and eaten with grated coconut. Personally I preferred their putu mayam as the best putu piring I've tasted is found in Geylang Serai in Singapore. It all comes down to the softness and fluffiness of the rice flour when it comes down to a good putu piring