Which Gong Pian (biscuit) to buy at Sitiawan?

Golden brown Gong Pian

I read about the Sitiawan's specialty biscuit: Gong Pian before we went to Sitiawan. We were a bit undecided about which shop to go to. There were two shops that I have read about in the Internet: Cheong Cia and Sin Lay. 

Cheong Cia Gong Pian shop

Well, during our visit to Bei King Restaurant for lunch, we chatted with one of the aunties there. The aunty recommended us to go to Sitiawan Cheong Cia Gong Pian shop. The shop was facing the side of an abandoned yellow tall building which was now home to birds. I think they were swallows. The birds were really loud and noisy. So, this will be the indicator that you are near the shop in case you lose your way getting here.

Cheong Cia also sells other products like Kampung Koh garlic chilli sauce, misua and red yeast wine.

We waited in the queue for an hour to buy our Gong Pians (yes, what a long wait!). The boss was friendly and he allowed us to take photos of the biscuit-making process.

There was only one type of biscuit sold here. It had pieces of onion and lard in it and baked to perfect golden brown. The freshly baked biscuits were so fragrant and mouth-watering. A piece only cost RM 0.80. We  savoured one in our car immediately and planned to take the rest (about 30 pieces) home the next day.  

Cheong Cia's Gong Pians 

Well, the next day before we headed home to Penang, we went to Kampung Koh and managed to find Sin Lay biscuit shop. It was located in a stretch of shophouses. It was not crowded and we got to buy the Char Siew Gong Pian without any hassle. It had pieces of roasted pork in dark sweet sauce (similar to Char Siew Pau). A piece only cost us RM 1.50. The Char Siew Gong Pian was covered with sesame on the outside and every bite was so crunchy and tasty, not to mention, it was aromatic.  

Sin Lay Gong Pian shop at Kampung Koh 

The stone oven baking the Gong Pians using charcoal

Delicious looking Gong Pians from Sin Lay

Char Siew filling in the Gong Pians

In short, we love both shops' Gong Pians. 

Interesting process of making the Gong Pians: The process started with rolling of dough and preparing the ingredients like onion and lard in small cubes. The onion and lard are stuffed into the Gong Pians. They are baked using charcoal in the stone oven. The biscuits are stuck to the wall of the ovens. When they are golden brown, the worker will scrape them from the oven wall and put them in baskets. Now, the Gong Pians are ready for sale.

Busy hands rolling the dough and stuffing the ingredients into the Gong Pians

The man is sticking the Gong Pians to the wall of the oven

The Gong Pians are being lined up neatly in the oven

When the Gong Pians are ready, they are scraped from the wall and put in baskets.

On the downside of buying the Gong Pians home: 

Both Cheong Cia's and Sin Lay's Gong Pians lost their crispiness after two or three hours after they were baked. Well, the Cheong Cia's boss told us to put them in oven to bake them again if this happened. However, we did not try the method as we did not have an oven.

The Gong Pians for both shops are simply packed in plastic bags, no boxes or whatever wrapping. It may not look so presentable if you want to give it to someone. Taste comes first, then only packaging... this applies to Sitiawan Gong Pians. Well, after writing about the Gong Pians,  I felt the sudden urge of munching one...