KANGAR: Two years ago, Nani Maslina Sulaiman Najidi decided to learn how to make 'nian gao' or kuih bakul after her husband, who is partially paralysed, wanted to know how the sweet, sticky glutinous rice cake taste like.
Today, it has become her family's source of income after she posted her hard and laborious work on Facebook.
Last year alone, the 43-year-old mother of three said she received 1,000 orders from customers with the majority coming from the Malay and Chinese communities in Perlis.
She expect the demand to double this year.
“My husband wanted to eat kuih bakul, but at that time it was out of season and I can't find it anywhere.
“I did the next best thing. I search the internet for the recipe and learnt to make it myself,” she said.
Nani said she did not expect her kuih bakul-making endeavour to be a hit among neighbours and netizens in the area when she shared the "fruit" of her hard and laborious work on social media.
Looking at the interest, she then decided to turn it into a source of income for the family and named her kuih bakul 'Kuey Bakul Daun Pisang'.
“The cake I made is not only available during Chinese New Year celebrations but also during Hari Raya Aidilfitri,” she said.
Nani said her kuih bakul is being sold at RM15 (320grams) and RM5 (160grams).