~ The Attraction of Malacca ~: Tan Kim Hock Product Centre in Melaka

If you’re looking for unique, yet inexpensive souvenirs from Malacca, head to Tan Kim Hock Product Centre in Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho. Located five minutes from the city centre, the product centre is also known as ‘red place’ by the locals, thanks to its massive scarlet building. With over 100 local food products under its roof, this is an immensely popular place for locals and tourists to shop for high-quality bites and goodies.

Visitors might feel a little overwhelmed when stepping in – rows and rows of goods line the warehouse-like property, with boxes stacked as high as the ceiling! Rare, only-in-Malacca food products such as handmade coconut candy, gula Melaka (pure coconut sugar), medicated nutmeg balm and cincalok (fermented small shrimps or krill) are just some of the products sold at the centre, and if you’re curious (or unsure) about how these products taste like, samplers in plastic containers are available for guests. Dodol (sweet toffee-like confection) is one of their most popular products, and it comes in two flavours – durian and coconut – so if you still have no idea on where to start even after sampling, this is a good idea as your first purchase.

The food products available in Tan Kim Hock Product Centre are made with raw materials harvested on the company’s estates and processed in their factories, so authenticity is guaranteed. Tan Kim Hock also specializes in spices such as sambal ikan bilis and chilli prawn floss, and while maybe these products are ideally used in Asian cooking, they are still versatile food items that would be a great addition to the kitchen collection of any experimental and adventurous cook.