POV: We Sent Our Gen Z Intern To A CNY Fair & Found Out What Festive Treats Zoomers Still Like

So, what does one buy for the Gen Z kids destined to scroll on TikTok and munch on snacks while the adults gossip at reunion gatherings? This writer, 8days.sg’s own Gen Z intern, drops by the annual Takashimaya CNY fair to sample and pick out goodies that we and our peers actually want to eat.

Fact: We still raid the snacks table for the classic but addictive tidbits like bak kwa, love letters, pineapple tarts, kueh lapis and cookies. One of this writer’s favourite CNY childhood memories is tagging along with our dad to brave the long queues at Lim Chee Guan for our bak kwa haul. Now that we are grown up and studying overseas, coming home to a familiar CNY fair invokes a lot of nostalgia.

So here are five ‘Gen-Z friendly’ snacks to put on your shopping list for the youngsters in your fam:

1. &SO Plant-Based Spicy Bak Kwa, $26 for 300g

While traditional pork bak kwa (like Bee Cheng Hiang, which also has a kiosk at the fair) are perennially popular, homegrown meatless snack brand &So offers an unusual product: inclusive plant-based ‘bak kwa’ made from fermented mushrooms.

The individually vacuum-sealed meatless slices are suitable for vegan/vegetarian folks (like our animal-loving sister). There are two flavours available: Spicy and Non-Spicy. We find the non-spicy nicer, with a rather realistic chewy barbecued pork texture and juicy, sweet-savoury grilled flavour.

The booth vendor tells us that the faux bak kwa can be kept unrefrigerated till June 2025, so there is no rush to finish the leftovers like with pork bak kwa. The brand also offers hotpot-friendly frozen Bak Kwa Gyoza.

2. My Mum’s Cookies Yuzu Pineapple Balls, $30.10 for 550g jar

My Mum’s Cookies is a local biz whose founder used her mum’s home recipes to whip up CNY goodies like pineapple tarts, love letters, cookies, and other festive treats like bak chang and mooncakes. 

While you can find pineapple tarts from just about any shop that sells CNY goodies, the yuzu-flavoured pineapple balls we found from this brand are pretty intriguing. Our friends initially thought it was matcha-flavoured ’cos it was green, but the pineapple tart is actually stuffed with pineapple and yuzu jam. Lowkey obsessed with how cute it is, ’cos it kinda looks like an unripe yuzu fruit. It is also buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crumbly, and not too sour with a zesty kick, so that’s a *chef’s kiss* in our books.

3. Rasa Sayang Chocolate Deluxe Kueh Lapis, $58 for a whole 950g cake

Indonesian brand Rasa Sayang specialises in the decadent traditional kueh lapis legit as well as a wide selection of CNY-friendly keropok, cookies, and tarts. 

Now, we have tried old-school kueh lapis flavours like spiced or prune-filled, but this booth offers an uncommon Chocolate Deluxe flavour. It’s like a hybrid of a fluffy kueh lapis Surabaya (a traditional Indonesian three-layer chocolate-and-butter sponge cake) paired with a layer of denser chocolate kueh lapis legit. Not too sweet (‘cos hey, we Gen-Zers are health-conscious too), but not so old-fashioned that it feels like our parents’ own childhood snack. The chocolatey take on this keeps things fresh.

4. Hiwalk Blessed Egg Rolls Assorted CNY Gift Box, $37.60 for a box with 8 rolls

Hiwalk is the sister brand to Taiwanese pineapple tart brand SunnyHills, which explains why they share a kiosk at the Takashimaya fair. It specialises in handmade egg rolls — popularly known as love letters in Singapore — that are marketed as being “10 times thicker than traditional egg rolls”.

You can buy these rolls in boxes with a single flavour, or an assorted mix, which comes with four flavours: Peanut, Premium Nuts, Coffee Latte, and 70% Dark Chocolate. The packaging is also adorable, featuring an auspicious fortune snake (shoutout to fellow Gen Z snake babies!)

We foresee people snapping up the Coffee Latte rolls first: each roll comes with a Colombian coffee-infused filling with finely-ground cashew nuts. It also smells a bit like a freshly-brewed caffe latte when we first opened the package, and leaves a smooth, mildly bitter tinge on the palate. The thicker crust is also toastier and tastes more buttery than the traditional love letters. We’d dip it in coffee for extra shiokness.

Our pals found the creamy Peanut Butter roll too jelak, but the Premium Nuts and 70% Dark Chocolate are both a treat. The almond, cashew, and macadamia nut-filled roll has a light earl grey tea fragrance, while the French dark choc roll boasts rich, elegantly bitter notes.

5. The Butter Studio Katong Laksa Cookies, $25.80 for a 300g jar

If you have Muslim friends visiting your home over CNY, here’s a halal-certified pick from Butter Studio, which is best known for its cupcakes and other baked sweet treats. We first spotted these quirky Nanyang-inspired cookies on Instagram and got curious to try. There are three flavours, Katong Laksa, Peanut Satay, and Bak Kut Teh. 

We tried all three cookie flavours and found Katong Laksa the nicest; there is actual laksa paste, laksa leaves, and coconut milk added to the cookie dough, which gives each crunchy piece a very punchy, umami flavour. Naturally, it’s not like eating actual laksa, but we like this creative savoury ‘hawker food’ alternative for when we get sick of the sweet treats.

The Peanut Satay is sedap too, with earthy peanut-tinged crunch and a hint of satay chilli flavour. But we find the Bak Kut Teh cookie a bit of an acquired taste. There’s a faint peppery/garlicky kick to it that somehow doesn’t gel with the cookie, but we foresee it being a fun conversation starter at reunion gatherings!

The Takashimaya CNY Food Fair is at B2 Atrium from now till Jan 27. Open daily 10am to 9.30pm. More info via www.takashimaya.com.sg.

Photos: Meagan Lyn Tan

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