From a simple buttermilk bun to a flourishing bakery: Abee Traditional Buns’ humble beginnings

Wide varieties of traditional buns at Abee Traditional Buns.

By Wilfred Pilo

KUCHING, Sept 30: It all began with a simple yet mouth-watering buttermilk bun, which propelled Tiong Aik Soon to open a bakery serving traditional Chinese snacks.

Tiong, 64, said to DayakDaily in an interview that the idea to open a bakery started with buttermilk buns that he and his wife made for their friends during a gathering at their home some 12 years ago.

After that gathering, Tiong did not anticipate that his friends liked what they had eaten and asked him and his wife to bake more.

He told DayakDaily he did them a favour and baked a few more to ease their cravings.

“I never thought about baking on a larger scale because I only had a small electric oven and couldn’t make enough buttermilk buns for my friends.

“They started to pre-order from me. I was obliged to do what was required.”

Tiong Aik Soon.

But news of his baked buttermilk bun spread like wildfire among friends and others. This overwhelming response triggered his thoughts about opening a bakery.

After much thought, he decided to open a bakery specialising in traditional Chinese buns, not just buns with buttermilk fillings—resulting in the creation of Abee Traditional Buns.

Hailing from Kapit, Tiong said he grew up eating many different types of Chinese traditional ‘kuih’ and buns.

“My grandmother usually made and sold traditional Chinese ‘kueh moi’, fried Chinese bread sticks (‘char koi’ ), and the traditional Chinese buns with ‘kaya’, red bean paste, and desiccated coconut fillings. In those days, we referred to the bun as ‘roti’.

“These traditional ‘kuih’ and buns were popular in the small town of Kapit in the 1960s and 1970s until modern bakeries selling Western-style baked goods arrived in later years.”

Tiong said his bakery focuses on traditional snacks as there is a market for them.

He added that older folk have acquired the taste for buns with red bean, kaya, and coconut fillings, as many grew up with these as snacks.

Tiong added that to reach the market demographic segmentations, his bakery made savoury steamed buns, pastries, tarts, biscuits, and loaf bread.

“I made these traditional Chinese buns in my bakery so that both young and old could taste the buns that shaped our society and to remind them of our heritage and traditions that are harmonious and diverse.”

He added his bakery is a social spot for many of his friends who would come to say hello.

Buttermilk bun at Abee Traditional Buns.

Tiong, who spoke Iban, said customers would be astonished when he conversed in the dialect.

“When I heard customers speak in Iban, I converse with them in the language, and they were surprised. But it was natural as I grew up in such an environment in Kapit.”

Tiong said it is good to build a rapport with customers and for the bakery to have such an atmosphere.

He added that the bakery and its business is a tribute to his grandmother, who was a pillar of strength for his family.

“I know she was a kind-hearted lady who worked hard for her family. I believe she is instrumental in shaping my father and his siblings.

“My father was hardworking and able to take me abroad to study. When I came back from overseas, I decided to follow in his footsteps and helped him in his business and on my own until I decided to have this bakery now.”

Tiong, a technical geologist by training, never applied his academics into practice but instead preferred to serve delectable snacks.

“I am not alone in the bakery business, as my brother had his own in Padungan. We had the same recipes, and so our products were of the same taste. So, customers who are in the areas could also try our buns and other snacks.”

He explained and summed up that traditional buns are easy to make, and the difference with Western buns is in the dough’s chemistry and mixtures.

“That is why our traditional Chinese buns are softer in texture and suit locals’ taste too,” he explained.

Tiong added that his daughter, who had trained in baking and culinary skills, would probably continue his business someday.

“Apart from my late grandmother, I also thank my wife, who had worked hard to make it (my bakery) a reality.

“My wife was very supportive of the idea of opening this bakery. She wanted to make sure that these traditional Chinese buns would be available to everyone and that the legacy of their taste would continue,” he said.

Tiong’s outlet is located at the Gala City Food Court and operates daily from 8am to 4pm except on Sunday when it closes at 1pm. For more information, call 012 804 1218. — DayakDaily

Tiong’s bakery in Gala City in Kuching.