Hopia in a whole new light

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Hopia in a whole new light

By GERLIE M. UY

 I am no fan of breads. I am no fun of hopia, to be specific. I just buy hopia in die shape when I am tired of sandwiches and biscuits. Since I skip pork hopia, I get to pick mongo hopia.

But last April, I ate hopia in a whole new light. Savor is the word, actually. The hopia I knew is stocky and dry in the inside and just a fine as any other breads to me. But this particular hopia I tasted is soft in the outside, a thinnest layer of flour kneaded in oil. It blends with the inside when I dipped my teeth into it.

When I get in the inside, it is soft and not chewy but I can feel the mashed ube and beans (as the label says it contains) touch the palate. Not only that it contains real ube; they also come in many flavor, singly and in combination --  Mongo,  Red Mongo, Ube, Buko Pandan,  Ube-Pastillas, Ube-Queso, and Ube-Langka. There is also this Mochipia, a hopia with glutinous rice like tikoy inside, in Macapuno flavor. There some lite version, must be low in sugar content, I was told. As for the hopia-baboy with winter melon, I leave it to you to try...

Each colorful pack contains four round hopia and price ranges from P34 to P42. This hopia is exported to USA, Guam, hawaii, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Alaska, Hongkong and Europe as indicated in their colorful box. This was also awarded Superbrands-Philippines in 2007/2008.

This hopia-mania is thanks to my thoughtful cousin who first sent me a box in April and now two more today.... And oh, this hopia is by Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli.


For interesting peek at the eng bee tin hopia story, here's link to their website:

 http://www.engbeetin.com/www/about_us.htm







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