Literally translated as “bean paste pastry”, this traditional Hokkien snack is one that has withstood the test of time.
It is normally available in the sweet and salty versions. The salty one tastes savoury and sweet. The bean paste filling is wrapped and baked in flaky dough.
In our latest taste test, we pit some of the most popular tau sar piah specialists in Singapore against one another. Who will emerge as king of tau sar piah?
Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah EDITOR’S PICK!
639 Balestier Road
Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 8am-4.30pm
Price: $0.60 per piece
Rating: 4.5/5
These are the original folks who started the tau sar piah craze in Balestier Road. In 1968, the Hainanese owners of Loong Fatt decided to specialise in making Teochew-style tau sar piah. Their pastries sold like hot cakes, sparking off a trend of tau sar piah shops in the area.
Comparatively thinner and flatter than other brands’ tau sar piah, Loong Fatt’s pastries are very distinct in style. Gorgeously fine-textured and buttery, their unique recipe manages to retain that light and melt-in-the-mouth quality even after three days.
Instead of a sandy mung bean filling, the salty bean paste tastes more like savoury-sweet lotus bean paste. The sweet version tastes similar, except without the saltiness. Both are smooth, rich, fragrant, and intensely flavourful without being cloying.
The pastry-to-filling ratio is just right. No wonder Loong Fatt’s tau sar piah is still going strong after 40 years. You’ll fall in love with these sinfully rich tau sar piah at first bite!
Tan Hock Seng MOST OLD-SCHOOL
86 Telok Ayer Street, Far East Square
Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 9am-7.30pm, Sun: 12pm-4pm
Price: from $2.50 for 5 pieces
Rating: 4/5
If you’re a traditionalist, Tan Hock Seng’s old-fashioned Hokkien-style tau sar piah is for you.
Thick and round, the biscuit-like crust envelops ample fillings of traditional salty mung bean paste and smooth sweet bean paste. The browned crust is delightfully crisp, but is a tad too dry and flaky.
The salty bean paste is very crumbly, which makes for rather messy eating. It’s got a lovely bean flavour, enhanced by subtle sweetness and fried shallot aroma. Studded with sesame seeds, the sweet bean paste boasts complex layers of flavour. Both salty and sweet versions are just as delectable.
603 Balestier Road
Opening hours: Daily: 9am-6pm
Price: $0.60 per piece
Rating: 4/5
Besides classic salty and sweet tau sar piah, 603 Tau Sar Piah offers an innovative range of nouveau flavors such as yam, black sesame, coffee and even durian.
But their bestsellers are still the traditional flavours. Between salty and sweet, we prefer their salty tau sar piah. In terms of flavour and fragrance, the salty mung bean paste is bold but well-balanced. It has an intense bean taste, is nicely moist and not too loose in texture.
The sweet bean filling is more than decent, but could have been more fragrant. Both fillings go well with the pastry, which is delicately flaky, soft, and not too oily.
53 Lorong 27 Geylang
Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 8am-5pm
Price: $2.50 for 10 pieces
Rating: 3.5/5
Thye Moh Chan’s nugget-sized tau sar piah are the most petit of all the brands in this round-up. Like their shopfront, their pastries look winsomely old-school.
Delicately layered, the airy crust of the pastry is most appealing. It goes perfectly with the sweet mung bean filling. The smooth paste has hints of mandarin orange peel, which imparts a lovely citrusy scent.
We are less impressed with the salty version. The mung bean filling is very fragrant due to fried shallot. However, the overwhelming taste of pepper proved too distracting.
529 Balestier Road
Opening hours: Daily: 8am-6pm
Price: $0.60 per piece
Rating: 3/5
Like their neighbor 603 Tau Sar Piah, House of Tau Sar Piah offers other creative flavours besides the classic ones
On the whole, their traditional tau sar piah are good enough for the unfussy palate. However, certain key areas could do with some improvement. For instance, the pastry is a tad too dry and crumbly.
The salty mung bean filling is also rather loose and crumbly, and a little on the sweet side. It could also do with a bolder fragrance. But it is still passable. On the other hand, the sweet mung bean filling was dry, sticky, and flat-tasting. Go for the salty tau sar piah, but avoid the sweet version.
inSing.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the places featured here.
