New in town: Nonya Pantry, Hougang — Savoury Indonesian-style mee goreng cakes

The year is 2021 and we’ve been bestowed with nasi lemak cakes, ondeh-ondeh cakes, and even a coriander cake. But, what if I tell you there’s more? A home-based business entered the market by selling Indonesian-style mee goreng cakes and is slowly gaining popularity within the Indonesian-Chinese community in Singapore.

The online business, Nonya Pantry, is run by homemaker, Dian Lin, who is Indonesian-Chinese herself. The idea of creating a noodle cake stemmed from being lazy to bake a cake for her husband’s birthday. After making the mee goreng cake, she shared pictures of it on Instagram and the rest, as they say, is history.

The springy cake is made with Indonesian-style mee goreng (cooked from scratch and not by using instant noodles) and has been a hit amongst folks celebrating their birthdays. It is also a tradition for Indonesian-Chinese folks to eat mee goreng on their birthday as noodles symbolise longevity. Unlike the mee goreng found in Singapore, the Indonesian version is sweeter due to the addition of kicap manis (sweet soy sauce).