The drive to reach Titi, a small laidback town in the Jelebu district of Negeri Sembilan took us an hour from Kuala Lumpur. At the old trunk road off 9th miles, Cheras, we drove past the Pekan Batu 14 area and the Semenyih dam. The sign B32/ N32 lead us to Kuala Klawang and it is hard to imagine how winding but serene this stretch can be, before Titi town can be seen.
Titi has a certain rustic charm with an environment very close to nature. This town is home to a population of 3,000 residents with the Hakkas being the majority clan. The allure of Titi has always been associated with its agricultural crops like tuber plants of tapioca and sweet potatoes. The Sarawak variety of pineapples has been successfully grown here and sweet juicy sugar canes is another good crop found.
About two years ago, a big group of the younger generation had left home to work in the big cities. Not everyone likes to till the land and this marked very deserted streets during the day. We walked past the bank, the sole one in this town and found the Siew's family workshop on the opposite side of the road.
They manufacture a traditional snack known as "Mah Chi Chang" which is very similar to the famous Bidor snack, "Sak Kei Mah". The eggs fragrance is stronger than "Sak Kei Mah" and has a rather crisp bite. Toasted sesame seeds and groundnuts thrown in gives it an extra crunch. We detected a touch of lemon juice flavouring in the sugary molasses used to bind the ingredients together.
As senior lady, Mrs. Siew weighed the flour and butter ingredients, she explained to us, how authentic this snack is to the Hakkas. She then mixed the ingredients together with another mixture of beaten eggs and yeast. It was poured into a processor and mixed for 10 minutes to form a dough. The dough was kneaded manually before covering it, to allowed fermentation to take place. In the midst of the waiting period, senior Papa Siew briefed us on his two other 'prized' snacks, namely Miah Chang (a dried rice, nutty snack) and another Yin Yeong Paeng. The latter is actually a combination of the first two snacks, thus the merge of this wonderful biscuit.
After the fermentation period, junior lady, Mrs. Siew placed the dough on a clean tabletop. She sliced it into pieces, flattened them before allowing her husband to compressed them into thin slices with an electric machine. The dough slices were shredded further before younger sister, Miss Siew hands them to her mother for the deep-frying process. The golden-yellow fried pastry shreds were mixed with nuts and sesame seeds. Accordingly, special care is taken to clean the sesame seeds and nuts to ensure they are free of grits as it passes through sieves. A big wok is used to cook a sugary syrup and the nutty fried pastry shreds were mixed in. this mixture is then poured into custom-made moulds which has been coated with extra sesame seeds at the base. Four pairs of hands compressed it tight before slicing to the desired sizes whilst still hot. Packaging was done immediately to sealed in the crispness.
This strong bonded family delivers good stuff and we sincerely hope, cottage industries like the Siew's family will always remain significant. Traditional snacks should remain forever.
MA FATT TRADING
97, Jalan Besar, 71650 Titi, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan. Tel: 012-762 4827
知知港传统马仔橙
知知港位于森州日叻务县，开车由吉隆坡往蕉赖走，到达蕉赖9英里转入乌冷路至牙吃14公里新村，爬过一个山头，途经士毛月蓄水池，进入一条九曲十三弯毫无人烟的B32/N32号公路，大约一个小时即可到达目的地。
这里以出产黄梨及甘蔗闻名，居民大约三千户，以务农的客家人占多数，而年轻人大多往外发展。中午的大街看不到行人，走至大街尾只有一间银行，银行正对面就有一间家庭式制饼公司马发贸易。“马仔橙”是这家饼家的特产。眼看像美罗名产“萨其马”的“马仔橙”，浓浓的蛋香味比“萨其马”更加脆口，多了炒香的芝麻及花生更添特色，而将蛋散等料黏在一起的糖浆甜味适中，还带有柠檬的清香果酸味。
采访时，萧妈妈一面秤面粉及牛油，一面向我们解释说：“马仔橙是客家人的传统糕饼。”然后倒入打散的鸡蛋，再加入酵母。搅拌大约10分钟后取出面团，双手使劲将面团搓、揉、折、叠，然后盖着，让面团发酵一个小时。在等待这段时间，萧爸爸透露：“除了马仔橙之外，新年还做米层，及将两种混合成的鸳鸯饼。”
当面团发酵好，萧太太将面团倒在桌上切小块擀扁，萧先生接过后以电动擀面机擀薄切幼，萧妹妹则将面条传递给站在油镬前等待的萧妈妈炸至金黄色，再将炸好一大箩金黄色的蛋散以花生及芝麻掺匀。萧先生补充：“买的花生及芝麻往往含有小石子，我们必须小心筛选，以确保不含杂质。”接着，萧先生换了一个巨型镬煮糖浆，再将炸好的蛋散倒入拌匀，乘热倒入撒满芝蔴的长型钢模，四个人八只手铺的铺、压的压，再乘热切块，取出包装密封以防漏风。
将传统家庭小食发展成一门生意，除了保持水准一致之外；一家人合作无间，掌握商机更加重要。
马 发 贸 易 MA FATT TRADING
97, Jalan Besar, 71650 Titi, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan. Tel: 012-762 4827
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