At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes.
What, you’ve never heard of Ranggupnya Biskut Kelapa Tropi Coco? One doesn’t need to speak Malaysian to figure out that this box contains coconut cookies. Unlike the West’s venerable soft macaroons, these little discs are ranggupnya, or crispy. The package’s claim of Malaysia Terkenal, or Malaysia Famous, just screamed "buy me!" The fact that they’re also perisa kopi, or coffee-flavored, only added to the allure.
Inside the box are four sleeves each containing a package of five of the brown treats. They’re crispy and packed with toasted coconut flavor, though to be honest they don’t have terribly much perisa kopi. If anything, the only detectable coffee flavor was of the light-and-sweet variety. A quick look at the ingredients reveals why: “coffee flavour” is listed as the next-to-last ingredient. These cookies might very well be “Malaysia Famous,” but they hardly deserve to be called coffee flavored.
Overcoming the package’s lack of truth in advertising proved pretty easy, though. The crispy rounds do go quite nicely with a hot cup of java. You can find Ranggupnya Biskut Kelapa Tropi Coco at Hong Kong Supermarket in Elmhurst.
Hong Kong Supermarket 82-02 45 Ave., Elmhurst, (718) 651-3838
