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“What’s putu piring?” was actually my first thought when I heard about Haig Road Putu Piring. I don’t recall ever trying putu piring growing up, so this was a first for me.
Haig Road Putu Piring began as a roadside stall in the 1930s and has since expanded and grown tremendously. The stall on Haig Road has even been featured on Netflix’s “Street Food”, putting the stall in the international spotlight.
If you intend to visit the eponymous Haig Road Putu Piring stall for the first time, be sure to check out the location list on their website. The Google Maps listing is a hot mess that merges many outlets into one confounding location.
What I tried at Haig Road Putu Piring
As a coconut lover, I decided to try the Brown Coconut Putu Piring (S$3.70 for 4 pcs) first. Those who are more adventurous may want to foray into completely unknown territory and try something like the Durian Putu Piring (S$4.50 for 4 pcs). But for me, that was for another day. I could smell the delightful aroma of the putu piring as it was steamed in the adorable conical steamers — in no time at all, the warm box of goodness was ready for me to devour.
The Brown Coconut Putu Piring was packed to its edges with honey-coloured grated coconut infused with gula melaka. I loved how the taste of the savoury coconut in the filling cut through the sweetness of the gula melaka and balanced everything out. Lightly fragranced by the pandan leaves, the steamed rice exterior of the putu piring was pillowy, fluffy and not powdery at all. It was delish.
As one must do when visiting a store for the first time, I got their best-selling “original flavour”, the Gula Melaka Putu Piring (S$3.50 for 4 pcs). Much like the Brown Coconut Putu Piring, the Gula Melaka Putu Piring had an inviting aroma of steamed rice and pandan.
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The Gula Melaka Putu Piring was generously filled with ooey-gooey gula melaka with the rice flour exterior on the thinner side. Almost caramel-like, the warm gula melaka was like liquid gold oozing out of the steamed rice flour.
I have always thought I had a sweet tooth, but I found the Gula Melaka Putu Piring to be slightly too sweet, and almost sickly so. Unlike the Brown Coconut flavour, this one was quite jelak for my taste. Despite eating it with the accompanying freshly grated coconut, the cloying sweetness of the gula melaka was still a little much for me.
Definitely savour the freshly grated coconut included with the putu piring: savoury and moist, it’s coconut heaven. The coconut paired perfectly with both flavours, and its portion was also extremely generous.
Overall, I actually found the putu piring to be very similar to tutu kueh. Unlike tutu kueh, it was fluffier and (at least for the Brown Coconut flavour) less jelak, which I found to be quite enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed the Brown Coconut flavour more than the Gula Melaka, but I doubt I’d make a trip down especially for Haig Road Putu Piring. Perhaps it’s because I lack the nostalgia of having grown up eating this particular snack but for me, it’s just all right.
Of course, if one of Haig Road Putu Piring’s outlets were in my hood, I might go down to buy some out of convenience. The putu piring here goes hard on the fillings and has an incredibly fluffy bite. If you want a quick pick-me-up, they do the trick.
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