Kwong Cheong Thye (KCT): The Go-To Place if You Want To Make Mooncakes!

[Updated in Aug 2019, First published in Aug 2015.]

This is going to be a photo-heavy post, so be warned! :) Anyway, I would like to share my personal recommendation for a supplier that sells a really wide range of food supplies and cooking essentials, from belachan paste, sauces, oil, flour to yusheng ingredients.

Of course, this is also THE place to go to if you are making mooncakes - Kwong Cheong Thye, or KCT in short! The service was really great and is a good alternative to Phoon Huat. As stated on its website, KCT's products are "used by over 90% of the top hotels and restaurants in Singapore", so be well-assured of the quality.

Something I really like about the place is how friendly and knowledgeable the staff are, and they are almost like family. They are also very flexible, so if you prefer to buy 500g packs of mooncake pastes instead of 1kg for variety, the staff are happy to do the split for you.

The store is very conveniently located. After a quick 5-minute walk from the Aljunied train station. After tapping out from the station, turn left twice and walk through a sheltered walkway for 2 minutes until you see the roadsign showing "Lorong 27".

Turn right to that Lorong and you will see a cafe called The Ranch and this large shopfront below :)

Upon entering, you will be greeted by racks of sauces, food paste and flour. Whenever I am here, I always cart back lots of Sambal Belachan (S$4). The whole family really likes them and it's very affordably priced!

The first time I came here in 2015, what REALLY captured my attention about the store was when I walked further in. There were just rows and rows of mooncake pastes!

White lotus paste was something I expected, but what I did not expect to see was at least 5 different types of white lotus pastes! A few were from Hong Kong, some were locally made by KCT, and some were low-sugar ones. 

Of course, there were also many other exotic flavours, such as white coffee, black sesame, custard, luo han guo, chocolate, durian lotus, osmanthus, green tea, kiwi fruit. Probably more than 20 varieties! 

Since then, I have always came back for an at-least-once-a-year "pilgrimage", especially just before the Mid Autumn Festival. Below are some photos that the service assistants kindly allowed me to take, so I will let the photos do the talking and awe you. 

Essential to baking traditional mooncakes are also ingredients like lye water, salted eggs, mooncake glaze, melon seeds  and macadamia nuts which are available too.

Of course, THE most crucial tool for baking mooncakes are the moulds. From the smallest 50g ones to the 185g ones, or the modern plastic plungers vs the traditional wooden ones - I am sure you can find what you want.

Finally, what are these intricate traditional delicacies without beautiful packaging? If you are intending to present your home-made mooncakes as gifts, get your hands on these plastic casings too. Wrap them up in paper boxes, and you are ready to gift them!

Now, after going through all these pictures, aren't you inspired to bake your own mooncakes too? I have a really simple recipe with step-by-step photos for the traditional baked Cantonese mooncake which I highly recommend:

First-timers have commented how clear the steps are. While the temperature & settings are for the airfryer (yes, I bake mooncakes, cookies, cakes, and quiches in my airfryer!), the pictorial guide will be a great help on the preparations, before you put these lovelies into the oven.

Drop me a comment if you have been to KCT before, or would like to provide any suggestions or feedback! :)

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