Lady Wong Patisserie (Urban Hawker – Midtown)

Meet the Tortoise-Shaped Cake Everyone's Ordering at Lady Wong in NYC | Bon Appétit

"Opened in the East Village by chefs Mogan Anthony and Seleste Tan—alums of Jean‑Georges and WD‑50—after they began making kuih in their Westchester home and selling them out of the trunk of their SUV, this Southeast Asian sweets shop is best known for its Malaysian Chinese angku kuih, sold every weekend and now its top seller. They also make pandan serimuka (a pandan custard cake with a sticky‑rice crust) and mango curd pudding. The angku kuih features a glutinous rice‑flour dough tinted with pandan juice for a grassy, vanilla‑like flavor and beet or red rice powder for a prosperity‑red hue; the dough has a clay‑like, imprint‑holding texture, is wrapped around a caramelized mung‑bean filling (steamed and cooked with pandan and sugar until scoopable like ice cream), pressed into a tortoise‑shaped mold that symbolizes longevity, and steamed for about 20 minutes. Production began with a wooden mold passed down from Tan’s mother, though plastic and fiber molds are now used to meet demand." - ByKate Kassin