“We suddenly had a lot of free time on our hands, and we missed home, so I would make kuih and cookies to satisfy our personal cravings,” Tan recalls. The first kuih she made was pandan seri muka, which did not go as planned. “The custard curdled, and it was almost inedible,” she laughs.

As many kuih makers in Southeast Asia use recipes passed down over generations, the couple found it difficult to find accurate online tutorials; Tan’s background was in French pastry, while Mogan was trained as a chef. “However, we both grew up eating kuih, so we worked backwards by taste,” Mogan says.

See also: 5 most sustainably designed McDonald’s in the world

Kuih is made in trays rather than pieces, so the duo often found themselves with abundant sweet treats in their pantry. “We as chefs also like to challenge ourselves, so we would constantly try to improve the recipe,” laughs Tan. They began giving kuih to friends, family, and neighbours, but with the amount of food they were making, Mogan decided to offer trays on Instagram. “We were so excited that people were willing to try out kuih that we would drive around to Queens and Jersey, just dropping off the food—sometimes we would spend over six hours in the car,” Mogan recalls, chuckling.

Eventually, they decided to open a pop-up store at a Malaysian-owned coffee shop, where customers could pre-order and purchase boxes of assorted kuih. “We began with 25 orders per session, and eventually, we would sell over 70 boxes—we couldn’t keep up with the demand!” Tan says.

This went on for a year before the restaurant Mogan was managing reopened. “I was at a crossroads, deciding whether to go back to my job, but I decided we had to take Lady Wong to the next level for the community that had been supporting us throughout the pandemic,” he says.

Don't miss: The best meals to cook for loved ones, according to chefs

As such, Lady Wong began as a 400 square feet store in the East Village, known for its cakes, kuih, and savoury treats. “At the start, we catered to the Southeast Asian community, but we realised a lot of Americans really loved our desserts too,” Tan says. Pictures of the colourful delicacies soon spread like wildfire across social media and magazines. “Everyone was so excited, and the response really exceeded our wildest dreams,” Mogan says.

Most of the ingredients used are sourced from Southeast Asia—Lady Wong’s pandan and flowers come from Thailand, palm sugar is sourced from Indonesia, and gula Melaka and durian are shipped from Malaysia.

While this often proves expensive, Mogan and Tan are always happy to show a slice of their heritage to those around them and hope to expand through shipping services in the future. “We love sharing these delicacies, showing the richness of Malaysian culinary culture!” Mogan says.

NOW READ

14 new restaurants and cafés in Malaysia to visit in October 2023

A food lover’s guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Wind down after a long day at these natural wine bars