Appam Aunty

Never had an Appam before until several years ago when we had made Tekka Centre a lunch destination due to it being near the work ‘hood — ever since then, we have been pretty much on a lookout for the dish all around the island. Thankfully, it does seem that Appam is slowly getting popularised of the late — the most recent opening of a Appam specialty store that is widely-known would be Mr. Appam at Maxwell Food Centre that had pretty much the hype all over social media. Hidden away in the North Food Court of Republic Polytechnic within walking distance from Woodlands North MRT Station along the Thomson-East Coast Line is yet another Appam specialty store named Appam Aunty. There is no denying on how big they are on Appam here — the menu features a wide variety of Appam ranging from classic ones such as the Plain Appam, Cheese Appam and Egg Appam, all the way to inventive ones such as those listed in the “Delights” section of the menu which includes Red Velvet & Sea Salt Caramel Appam, Avocado & Gula Melaka Appam and a Power Berries Appam — just to name a few. Then, there is also the “Local Favourites” section; think items such as Cempedak Appam, MSW Durian Appam, and Nasi Lemak Appam (yes, a savoury flavour), while there are also Kulfi Appams as well. Aside from Appam, Appam Aunty also serves up other dishes such as rice sets and Nasi Lemak sets; probably to cater to the school kids here whom may not appreciate Appam as much as we do over here.

There are really too many flavours of appam to go for here and we found ourselves going for the Mango Sticky Rice Appam since it pretty much stood out for us. We were served pretty quickly here and with good reason; the Appam is the only item that requires preparation, and the other elements for the dish are simply drenched atop. The Mango Sticky Rice Appam sees a generous drizzle of mango sauce, accompanied by a glutinous rice purée atop the Plain Appam that is used as the base here. As far as the Appam goes, we really quite liked the one here — light and crisp sides; all that with a fluffy centre that bears almost the same texture as a Kueh Bingka. It is fluffy, chewy and came with a slight tang in the middle; really went well with the sweet mango sauce that they had decided for it come with over the top. We found the glutinous sticky rice purée to be really interesting of the lot however; the purée was something almost akin to a rice pudding — there is this “rice-y” note going on amidst all the sweetness that attempts to replicate the glutinous rice usually found in the typical Mango Sticky Rice. Overall, a really inventive creation by the folks here that deserves a bit of cred.

As far as it goes, Appam specialty stores do typically carry some special flavours on their own but Appam Aunty does seem to push the limits here quite a fair bit — the flavours offered at Aunty Appam can be said as a more “hipster” offering; something which may appeal to the younger audiences in general which is pretty much probably a consideration since they are located within the food court / canteen of a campus. Some may argue about this being the start of gentrification of traditional fare, but it is possibly necessary after all in order for traditional foods to survive the test of time and remain relevant in the long run. Whatever it is though, Appam Aunty does pretty decent Appam; a rare find considering the lack of such fare within Woodlands, and is a worthy mention for its attempt to bring Appam to a wider audience. Looking forward to be back to give their savoury Appam as well as the Avocado Gula Melaka Appam a try; those items definitely piqued our interest as we were skimming through the items on their menu!