Longtime C&M readers know Little House Cafe, the wonderful Malaysian restaurant/bakery run by Helen Bay—who handles the baking, including the infamous Golden Pillow, a food tour favorite—and her husband, Michael Lee—who handles the savory dishes, like a bangup chow kueh teow and such creations as salted egg chow fun with shrimp—is one of my favorite places to eat in Queens.
After the pandemic hit they closed for a bit and reopened in May, but just for takeout. Since I moved to Elmhurst, I have taken to strolling over to the mini Chinatown spur of Corona Avenue to get some takeout and treats from the little house with the yellow awning.
My go-to treat is something the shop calls “Phoenix Cookies.” Each container holds some two dozen mahogany colored, crunchy sweet-savory biscuits studded with black and white sesame seeds. Toasty, and not too sweet with a hint of pepper they’re perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, which is how I enjoy them most every day.
The Chinese on the label reads ji zai bing, or “little chicken cookie,” as they’re commonly known in Malaysia, specifically in the the small town of Kampar, where they are said to have been created. Bay makes hers with fermented bean curd, candied melon, and pepper among other things.
Whether you call them chicken biscuits or Phoenix cookies, the irregularly shaped brown crisps are decidedly Southeast Asian.
As I mentioned I’m a big fan of all of the stir-fried noodles at Little House, so when I saw on the restaurant’s Facebook page that they were offering something called Singapore fried mee hoon, which bears a striking resemblance to one of my favorite noodle dishes, Singapore mei fun, I had to try it.
The tangle of vermicelli gone yellow from curry, shot through with fish cake, shrimp, beef, and squid is the best version of the dish I’ve ever had. Since it came from a Southeast Asian restaurant and had a different name, I thought I had discovered the mysterious origins of this American Chinese takeout classic. “No, it’s the same thing, mee hoon is just the Fujianese way of saying it,” my Malaysian pal Danny schooled me.
With Chinese New Year just around the corner my sincere hope for Little House Cafe and every cafe, dim sum house, restaurant, and hawker stand in every Chinatown is that it rises like a phoenix from COVID. Like many other Chinese and Southeast Asian restaurants Little House Cafe offers many treats that are only available during this festive season, check their Facebook page for details.
Little House Cafe, 90-19 Corona Ave., Elmhurst, 718-592-0888
