Last Saturday I decided to go to Chinatown to see what the hustle and bustle 
was like the weekend before Chinese New Year. It was crazed, kind of like Mega Mall two days before Christmas! Parking was full, sidewalks jampacked with people and boxed tikoy waiting to be delivered or purchased piled high all over the main street of Ongpin. Never quite got the story on why tikoy is the it thing for Chinese New Year but I do love hopia so I figured my tribute to a Happy Chinese New Year would be to get a whole load of hopia.
Eng Bee Tin is one of the first stores you reach when you start walking down Ongpin from the Church. I recall buying hopia there and at other landmarks such as Polland decades ago. 
In those days, the hopia was packaged in this opaque thin wax paper that had to be peeled off before the thing was eaten. The flaky crust of the pastry hiding the burst of mung bean paste with sugar within would leach oil onto the waxy paper. I suspect the oil was lard (which gave it flavor) rather than the healthier corn oil used today. Gone are those days and in with the new… very colorful and snazzy automated foil packaging that now provides convenient sized packages with four pieces of hopia inside. The “new generation” hopia still tastes great but now comes with the reassuring(? ) promise that it hasn’t been packed by hand (presumably to make you happy there are less cooties, and perhaps to take a stab at anyone else selling it but who still packs it the old-fashioned way) and that it has passed through a metal(?) detector. Never had problems with bullets or staples in my hopia before but it’s nice to know this anyway, kinda like those poor guards at the malls that have to feel you up every time you go through the doors but have never found anything lethal in the past 2,900 hours of duty…
Hopia is now available in several flavors — the tradtional mung bean, red mung bean, ube, pandan, pork, etc. 
I tend to be a traditionalist on these things so I bought lots of mung bean and a few of the other just to try. While the other flavors are interesting, I am a mung bean fan. At P25-30 for each foil package, you can walk away with several packages and flavors. The store was so full of crazed shoppers that I felt an impending hopia shortage so I piled over 12 packages into my basket. Someone should do a study on Filipino food hoarding habits. I notice these slick packages were also in Metro malls over the weekend but they were 20-25% more expensive than at the main store in Chinatown.
Hopia should be refrigerated to keep it fresh. 
But it’s best to eat it within a couple of days as it does tend to taste old after a while. A little trick is to stick it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before you eat it to crisp up the pastry and warm up the mung bean paste…yum. Happy Chinese New Year!!!
19 Responses
hlo…just want to ask if you’re open for franchise… coz I am interested to put “Eng bee tin” products at SM Clark. tnx!
lyn, I am not connected to Eng bee tin, just write about food…you need to contact the company directly.
hi, mr marketman! we received a couple of tikoys this year. Do you have any other recipes to cook tikoy with aside from just frying it with eggs?
thanks
cecil, sorry, I am not too fond of tikoy and don’t really know what else can be done with it besides frying it… perhpas other readers might have ideas?
tikoy can be cooked by wrapping it in lumpia wrapper, like turon. you could add langka if you want :D. someone i know cooks tikoy by putting flour before frying it.
korina, thanks for those suggestions…I learn something every single day on this blog…
I love their ube hopia and tikoy rolls! I eat it straight from the fridge. Like it better when its cold :P
Dear sir/madam:
Based on USA Food & Drug Administration web page,
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/2/ora_oasis_i_03.html
http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia4502.html
Eng Bee Tin ube hopia and some Philippines products
are banned in the USA,for various violations.
The consumers have a right to know the reasons
for the ban by US FDA and the stand of Philippines
government agency on the issue, especially on the
safety of food color/additives for children.
Truly,
Concerned Consumer
for food safety for children, pls check :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqnm_QGTUkM
juanito, thanks for that. But then again, the USDA banned jamon iberico and prosciutto di Parma from U.S. shores, not to mention Philippine mangoes, so I am not sure who is more right or wrong…
where i can find another eng bee tin? chinatown is far from my place please help me
hey mr. market man pls give me the web add of eng bee tin..i’m here in the US and planning to put an outlet in batangas /city my home town..I am interseted in franchising..thanks and will surely appreciate your big help..thanks in advance…carina
carina, sorry, I don’t have the contact details of Eng bee tin nor am I aware of their franchise rules…
hi mr. marketman! i’am rowel pineda from pampanga, I am interested in franchising. i really apprciate your products and im looking everytime and graving that HOPIA……
we all know in pampanga they really like your products.
hoping you can help me and waiting for your response thank you and godbless
Carina, regardless of whether you’re in the U.S. or anywhere else, it is quite easy to find the URL of Eng Bee Tin. Just Google it. Anyway, here it is: https://www.engbeetin.com
Linky to link with rvm
where do we order eng bee tin hopia?
you may buy from any outlet of Eng Bee Tin / Chuan kee / Mr Ube Rice and Noodle House!
Sa Eng Bee Tin
di’ ka mabibitin
I’m at Los Angeles, CA. Do you know where I can get these Eng Bee Tin hopia and tikoy?
hi mr.marketman:my uncle and aunt are both leaving 4 us this 18th of june and they love to bring eng bee tin hopia as their pasalubong,where can i buy such?pls send it to me to my email ad asap?do they at sm grocery store?thank you!eleeh bautista
eleanor, best place to get it is on Ongpin St. in Binaondo, Chinatown. It’s fresh and well-priced. If I am not mistaken it might also be available in the main lobby of SM Makati on the ground floor.