Turkey in a Chinese restaurant!

Who better than a Chinese chef to roast turkey eh? The turkey meat was moist and flavourful.

By Eu Hooi Khaw

DEC 12 — We feasted on roast turkey and everything that goes with it at Chef Choi recently, in a Thanksgiving dinner. Roast turkey at a Chinese restaurant? I would say there’s where you should eat it, given the Chinese chef’s vast experience in roasting duck, goose and chicken, with a keen awareness of texture and flavour.

The “everything” included pork stuffing, pork sausages, salad and fried sweet peas with minced garlic. The turkey, unlike a lot that I have eaten that is dry and tasteless, was moist, tender and flavourful. The roasting sauce and a cranberry sauce were provided, but you could just eat the turkey on its own as well.

The slices of pork stuffing were just so yummy. After tasting this, you would surely reject the sage and onion or sausage and chestnut stuffing that always comes with roast turkey. We all like a salad with meat, and there was the one with different lettuces and red plum tomatoes that injected colour into our meal. But what we liked best were the sweet peas with finely minced garlic clinging to them. I know that’s very Chinese but we so enjoyed these crunchy peas that we scraped the last bits of garlic from the plate.

The only flaw in the meal was the pork sausages which were a little hard and dry. But I guess the restaurant would get better sausages from the supplier after this.

Having a roast turkey in a Chinese restaurant is a totally different experience. There are no boundaries or limits to what you might want to order with your dinner or lunch. In our case, we had Chinese starters — a Special Three Combination of smoked pork knuckle and jellyfish, Sautéed Bird’s Nest with Scrambled Egg and Crabmeat and Deepfried Siu Mai with Mushroom. These were apart from the siu yoke or roast pork we had for nibbles at the start, with super crispy skin and enough layered fat for memorable bites. We also had some great chicken liver pate (made by the restaurant) with crackers.

The chilled thin slices of smoked knuckle and the jellyfish were delightfully crunchy and tasty; the bird’s nest and egg scrambled with sweet crabmeat was subtle and delicate. The siu mai was filled with minced pork and mushroom and sat on a coleslaw.

In between (and since it was the hairy crab season) we even enjoyed a hairy crab, famed for its creamy roe that tastes like the yolk of half-boiled egg. We drank a very good hot ginger tea after this. You only have to ask and you will get some food that may excite you in this restaurant.

The seafood prawn soup was perfect.

The Seafood with Prawn Soup was like a bisque, though a lighter one that was packed with natural, sweet flavours. There were springy prawns and squid in it and bits of coriander, spring onion and fried shallots to give it an aromatic lift.

Dessert was a superbly light and wonderful tiramisu that owes its texture to frothy egg whites folded in. Now which Chinese restaurant can offer you this? You can also get crepes suzette and panna cotta for a perfect end to your Christmas turkey dinner here.

You can pre-order the roast turkey, whether to eat in or take away. ‘Tis the season to go jolly with it.

So what’s not to like in Chef Choi? On previous occasions I’ve eaten some excellent Har Chee Meen (superfine, crunchy Hong Kong wantan noodles with prawn roe), Lobster Noodles, London Style, Foie Gras in a caramelised sauce and Almond Milk in a Papaya, among several others.

Chef Choi is located in an old bungalow with lots of ground for you to park your car, a rare thing in busy KL. It’s located at 159 Jalan Ampang, Tel: 03-2163-5866, email: general@chefchoi.com

... And taste of Mexico comes to London

Mexican cuisine is known for its varied flavours, colourful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients. Picture: WikiCommons

Daniel Fineren
LONDON

Sunday, December 27, 2009

AFTER decades in a culinary desert of Tex-Mex eateries with plastic cacti and dreadful cheese-drenched nachos, Wahaca is leading a wave of modern restaurants bringing the authentic flavours of Mexico to London.

The British capital has been transformed from a land of pie and eels shops into a global food lovers' paradise over the last few decades by dozens of nationalities making it their home.

But few Mexicans have settled in Britain and their culinary riches have remained largely unknown until former Tommi Miers and business partner Mark Selby opened the first branch of Wahaca in 2007 after falling in love with Mexican food while travelling.

"Mexican food is so badly depicted in the UK. There are so many more interesting things to offer," Selby told Reuters in an interview at the company's third restaurant which opened in Canary Wharf recently. "I really wanted to do proper Mexican food ... it can be fresh, it can be wonderful, the flavours can be brilliant."

Miers and Selby travelled around Mexico in the late 1990s, with Miers returning to cook her way around its food hotspots for over a year, collecting recipes as she went.

On her return, she won British TV cookery contest show Masterchef in 2005 with a Mexican dish and the two opened the first Wahaca (phonetic pronunciation of Mexican state Oaxaca) in a basement in trendy Covent Garden two years later.

That branch now serves around 5,500-6,000 people a week, with queues often stretching up the stairs and down the street. The company is now looking to open a fourth branch soon.

"We love the idea of what Oaxaca state stands for. It's a culinary centre, it's a cultural centre, it's got this wonderful feeling about it," Selby said as the waiting staff buzzed around the gleaming Canary Wharf branch preparing for the long queue of bankers that soon gathered at the door.

"Everything about Wahaca is that we are inspired by Mexico but we are not just copying it. We never say we are authentic. But the style, the tacos, the flavour of the markets, the speed of the food, that's what inspired us," he said.

Many Mexican restaurants in Britain claiming to be "authentic" are anything but, serving up a movie-set parody of Mexico, complete with sombreros, ponchos and garish neon beer signs to crowds looking for a place to party.

Wahaca and a few other eateries in the capital, like Mexican-run restaurants Mestizo and Taqueria, are fighting back.

Trying to bring real flavours from south of the Rio Grande out from under the Tex-Mex shadow.

Only dishes actually from Mexico make it onto the menu, and Tex-Mex favourite Burritos only got on there once the two had traced its origins to Baja, California.

Wahaca's Pibil is as good as any Cochinita Pibil you'll find on the Yucatan Peninsula — the home of the slow-roasted meat dish — while the Chicken Tinga tacos match anything you can scoff in a Mexico City taqueria.

All can be drenched in sauce made for Wahaca from chillies grown in southwest England — ranging from the devilishly hot bottle of habanero sauce on your table, a crucial accompaniment to Pibil, to the green and red sauces in small bowls for those looking for a more moderate tingle to their tacos.

Wash it down with a fire-taming glass of Horchata, an almond and rice-based drink with a hint of cinnamon, or a variety of Mexican beverages.

"Although the flavours are distinctly Mexican, most of the ingredients are sourced locally," Selby concluded.

Dragons and tigers in a broth?

The crabs, prawns, squid and mussels in the Long Hu Hui broth... no dragons and tigers but oh so delicious.

By Eu Hooi Khaw

DEC 19 — This part of SS2 in Petaling Jaya, on the same side of Kayu, has 17 restaurants, two-thirds of which have opened up only recently. I’m glad that the usually dark road is brightening up. One of the newest along the SS2/10 road is Restoran Fei Yao Long Hu Hui.

What’s special about this restaurant with the long name is the Long Hu Hui (now you know why), which translates into “dragon and tiger cooked in a broth.”

The pork belly in har cheong sauce is very popular here.

It’s seafood stock that has mui hiong salted fish in it, star anise, dried chillies and a little evaporated milk to finish. Into it goes prawns, squid, crab and mussels.

The claypot of soup is put over the portable stove on the table, and it simmers away as you help yourself to the seafood and the soup with its deep, complex flavours. It’s like a steamboat, and a plate of beehoon and Romaine lettuce are served with it.

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Lovely tender ribs bathed in salted egg sauce.

Ladle the soup over the rice noodles, add the lettuce and together they taste wonderful. The delicious salted fish aroma and flavour come through; the seafood stock is naturally sweet and hot with chilli. It’s heaps better than the usual fishhead noodles.

The crabs, prawns and squid have the same flavours clinging to them, and we took time eating the shellfish.

There’s also the more ”ching” Seafood Qun Ying Hui, which has crabs, prawns, clams, squid and pork boiled in clear seafood broth and served with fresh vegetables and egg fried rice. I may go back just for this.

Fei Yao (which by the way is the name of the chef) is also known for its Braised Prawns in Claypot, Salted Egg Pork Ribs, Red Tilapia, Nyonya style, Claypot Har Cheong Pork Belly as well as the Deepfried Kurau in Lotus Leaf.

Braised prawns in a claypot is a must-order... really exceptional.

The braised tiger prawns in the claypot were smooth, springy and excellent with a dip of soya sauce, finely chopped chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion. We couldn’t stop eating these sweet, fresh prawns.

There was an appetising aroma as from the deepfried fish on the lotus leaf which tastes better than it looks. A hot and sour sauce of roasted belacan, chilli, onions and asam had been poured over the fish which had lovely crispy bits.

The Salted Egg Pork Ribs were really good: the meat tore off from the bone easily and an almost liquid, creamy salted egg yolk sauce clung to the deepfried pork ribs. There was more oomph from ciii padi and deepfried curry leaves.

Against all that we had, the Nyonya Tilapia tasted almost ordinary. But I can say that if you like red tilapia, this one is highly recommended. The fish is bathed in avery fragrant, mildly hot curry that has the sweet, sour and hot notes perfectly balanced. It’s generous with bunga kantan, ground serai, turmeric and onions.

The kurau in lotus leaf may not look like much but it is delicious.

On an another occasion, we tried the Claypot Har Cheong Pork Belly, and the Claypot Taiwan Cabbage. The first is very Hong Kong style, with shrimp paste. The second is like our chai choy (vegetarian), except that it’s cooked with fu yee, not the red lam yee that is usually used.

Braised Yee Meen and Sing Chow Mai (Singapore fried rice noodles) are noodle dishes you can order here, among the items on a rather extensive menu.

The food is reasonably priced. For instance, the Long Hu Hui that has crabs, prawns and mussels in it, together with noodles and lettuce costs RM58 (2-3 people), and RM88 (4-6 people).

Restoran Fei Yao Long Hu Hui is located at 14, Jalan SS2/10, 47300 Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7877 0933. It is closed on Thursday when there’s a night market.

A banquet for a song… well, almost

By Eu Hooi Khaw

The banquet hall during the day.Imagine when it is actually used as a banquet hall, it's huge.

DEC 24 — Very often, we try not to have dinner at the Oriental Pavilion in Jaya 33, Petaling Jaya on weekends because there would always be a wedding or a celebration of some sort.

Now that Oriental Banquet has opened practically down the road, it makes things so much easier. Even better, on Sundays and during public holidays, you can have a buffet lunch there, all for RM39+. But it’s so popular that you have to book your table in advance.

It’s an elegant banquet hall that can seat 800, with state-of-the art audio and lighting and “live” feed capabilities. There is even a mezzanine floor with an open balcony and there are private rooms here as well.

An impressive selection of starters.

The dishes are for the most part Chinese, with some Western-style starters, salmon sashimi, lots of boiled prawns and baked mussels. But we found that these were not the most popular. For instance, if you so much as blink when the siu yoke or roast pork is brought out, it’ll be gone! It was the same story with the suckling pig. By the time we got to it, only the head and tail were left.

We like it that there was Peking Duck, with someone at the carving station catering to a long queue of people. You will get your turn; the Peking Duck is well worth the wait. The skin is crispy, and if you just dab the pancake with a little sauce, it’s delicious.

It’s worth exploring the buffet before you go for the more obvious dishes. I loved the pieces of bittergourd coated generously with a salted egg sauce, and the chiu yim (salt and pepper) deepfried eggplant.

I thought the ”Moneybags”made up of of fu chook skin, filled with a Foochow fishball and chopped mushrooms and carrots were superb. The fishball was bouncy and so tasty with the minced pork filling inside.

The fish fillet with pomelo sauce was delightful.

I went for the fried fish fillet with pomelo sauce which everyone should eat if they’ve been having all that roast pork. I’ve had the white tuna fillet before at Oriental Pavilion topped with this sweet, sour and citrusy sauce with fresh pomelo. Here it’s another fish but tastes just as good.

There were two claypots bubbling with goodies inside. We took a look and discovered bak kut teh, and rice wine chicken with black fungus. The bak kut teh could have been more concentrated, but we liked very much the rice wine chicken with lots of ginger and black fungus.

There’s a live station of porridge, and I highly recommend it if you are still hungry. The porridge was so fine and so flavourful with the fish, ginger and other condiments.

We weren’t so taken with the dimsum station, but I had a vegetarian bun. Now where’s my char siu pow? (For me, dimsum is not complete without it.)

We also had some fried woh tip with XO sauce, and if we had stayed a little longer, there would have been fried radish cake as well.

Dessert was an assortment of Nyonya kuih, four flavours of ice-cream, soyabean milk with suet kap and lui sar tong yuen (pulut dumplings filled with black sesame paste and dusted with ground peanut). I went for the last two, waiting for a fresh batch of warm lui sar tong yuen which were so wonderful.

There is just so much you can eat at a buffet. Malaysians by and large still do not behave at such meals. If they like something and think it’s value for money, they would take a whole platter of siu yoke, for instance, to their table.
The buffet includes a shark’s fin soup served at your table.

On weekdays there is a set lunch at RM18, but there are also individual set menus you can choose. For instance, at RM38++ per person (minimum 2 people) you get Braised Shark’s Fin Soup in Fragrant Coconut, Deepfried Honey Spare Ribs with vegetarian Roll, Braised Tianqi Vegetables with Wolfberries and Braised E-Fu Noodles with Tiger Prawns.

There are also RM68++ amd RM88++ per person menus that have six courses.
The annual dinner celebration menus range from RM988 nett to RM1088 and RM1388.

Oriental Banquet is located at 16 Jalan 19/1, 46300 PJ, Tel 03-7957 8488.

Ayam Percik Recipe (Spicy Chicken)

Ingredients :
1.5 kg 50g 100 ml 300 ml Spices 6 3 cloves 2cm 1 stalk 3 teaspoons 1 teaspoon Seasoning 2 teaspoons 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon	Chicken, cut into 6 pieces Tamarind paste Water Thick coconut milk Shallots Garlic Ginger piece Lemon grass Chili paste Cinnamon powder Salt or to taste Pepper Ground black pepper
Method : Mix the tamarind paste with the 100ml water and squeeze to obtain tamarind juice. Set aside. Ground and combine the spice ingredients. Then add the tamarind juice and thick coconut milk. Put the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the combined spices with coconut milk and tamarind juice before adding in the seasoning. Mix well until the chicken is coated with the marinade. Keep in the refrigerator for several hours or preferable overnight. Remove and grill the marinated chicken pieces over a charcoal pit or bake in the oven until meat is cooked and slightly charred.

Malay Food In Malaysia

Variety is the spice in Malay food. The traditional culinary style has been greatly influenced by the long-ago traders from neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and China. Malay food is often described as spicy and flavorful as it utilizes a melting pot of spices and herbs.Malay cooking incorporates ingredients such as lemon grass, pandan (screwpine) leaves, and kaffir lime leaves.

Fresh herbs, such as daun kemangi (a type of basil), daun kesum (polygonum or laksa leaf), nutmeg, kunyit (turmeric) and bunga kantan (wild ginger buds) are often used. Traditional spices such as cumin and coriander are used in conjunction with Indian and Chinese spices such as pepper, cardamom, star anise and fenugreek. Seasonings play an important role in Malay cooking as they often enhance the food taste and flavors. Many of the seasonings are not dried spices but are fresh ingredients such as fresh turmeric, galangal, fresh chili paste, onions, and garlic. A combination of fresh seasonings and dried spices are normally pounded together to make a fine paste and cooked in oil. Fresh coconut milk is often added.

Rice is the staple diet in any Malay meal. It is often served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper too. Most meals are eaten by using your fingers, and eating utensils are kept to a minimum. All dishes are served at the same time, accompanied by a refreshing drink. Fish is popular in Malay cooking, as with other seafood such as shrimps and cuttlefish. Beef and mutton are very popular choices but never pork as it is against their religious beliefs to eat pork. The other popular white meat is chicken.

One of the most unique Malay dishes is the "roti jala" (lacy pancakes), which sometimes replaces the staple rice. Roti jala is an ideal accompaniment to any dish with lots of rich gravy and is often served during special occasions. It is made from a mixture of plain flour and eggs, with a pinch of turmeric powder and butter. Desserts are a must for any Malay meal. Easily available at most local restaurants and roadside stalls, Malay desserts are invariably very sweet and include ingredients such as coconut milk, palm sugar, and flour.

Nicoise Potatoes

Western Cuisine

THIS is served with Teeq´s aromatic lamb shank. From: "A Teeq-ing good time"

INGREDIENTS

Whole potatoes (any amount you like) half a sprig of mint leaves 3 tbsp of olive oil Some capers Chopped canned anchovies Olives A tbsp of chopped garlic Chopped parsley Salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

1. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil 2. Add whole potatoes of your choice and cook till tender (any amount you like). 3. Add half a sprig of mint leaves into the boiling pot 4. When potatoes are tender, drain and remove the mint leaves. 5. Allow the potatoes to cool before peeling the skin off. 6. Place the peeled potatoes back into the pot and roughly crush them. 7. Mix in: 3 tbsp of olive oil, some capers, chopped canned anchovies, olives, a tbsp of chopped garlic. 8. Finally, fold in chopped parsley, pepper and add salt to taste. Serve warm.

penang

THE smell of kway teow (flat rice noodles) fried with eggs, cockles, bean sprouts and chives swirling in the deep Chinese wok is so intoxicating that we almost (really, really almost) sit in the kopitiam and order a plate of the tantalising dish.

But we think of judgment day, so as Muslims, we give it a miss. How we wish we could have a bite of that tasty-looking char kway teow minus the lard!

It is painful and unbearable though, to just walk away. So we stand rooted in the narrow alley of Lebuh Keng Kwee, off busy Penang Road and watch the stall owner at work for a good 10 minutes, scrutinising his every movement and committing to memory every detail of what goes into the wok. This way, we hope to replicate his method and make Penang fried kway teow later at home.

But it isn’t that easy. Soon, I feel my head starting to spin as my stomach uncontrollably “leaks” acid and I salivate like a hungry puppy.

Before anything unseemly happens, we decide to leave and go where we had originally intended to go – the stall at the junction of the next road for the world-famous Penang Road cendol. Oh yes, that refreshing ice-shaved drink of palm sugar-sweetened coconut milk with pandan-flavoured green glutinous flour strips and red kidney beans.

Though there are two stalls selling this mouth-watering dessert, only one makes this claim: “As advertised on the Internet”. And its staff members wear a specially designed uniform bearing the words Teochew Cendol. The stall outshines its neighbour which probably serves cendol just as sweet and rich.

What drew us to this part of Penang island was the cendol and what inspired us to drive for over four hours from Kuala Lumpur was the food, especially char kway teow. In fact, the word char kway teow is synonymous with the word Penang.

A member of Friends Of Travel Times, a Facebook group formed by this publication, suggested visiting a stall at Sunway Prai that serves its char kway teow with satay sauce, while a friend said any stall in Gurney Drive is good enough. We try neither. Instead we indulge in Penang char kway teow at Hotel Royal Penang which claims that it has the best “hotel-served” char kway teow. Our squeaky clean plates can attest to that.

Oodles Of Noodles

Flat rice noodle aside, Penang is also known for other noodle dishes like laksa and prawn mee. But it’s not just any laksa or prawn mee.

More like well-marketed brands are Laksa Air Itam and Mee Udang Sungai Dua. Just a mention of these names is enough to bring to mind the colours, smells and flavours of these noodle dishes.

Tourists head for Air Itam to visit the famous Kek Lok Si Temple or take a ride up to scenic Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) on the funicular railway. But locals and those who have tried Laksa Air Hitam, will make a dash to the small town of for an asam laksa feast. In fact, the stall right outside the wet market has been serving loyal fans from Perlis to as far south as Singapore.

At RM2.70 a bowl, Laksa Air Itam is heaped with thick rice noodles garnished with mint, chopped torch ginger, cut chilli, onion, pineapple, cucumber, prawn paste and drowned in deliciously sour fish gravy.

What we like most is that it’s not too heavy and rich. We spoon the gravy to the last drop. And still, we have room for a glass of cold sugar-cane drink that tastes so soothing after the hot, tangy laksa.

Noodles In The Kampung

Later, we make our way to Kampung Sungai Dua in Seberang Perai to check out the famous prawn mee. Though it’s quite a drive from Air Itam and across the Penang bridge to the mainland, it is rather a straight forward drive to the famous Restoran Selera Sri Tambang, situated on the banks of Sungai Dua. Though there are many prawn mee restaurants along the way, locals say Selera Sri Tambang is the best.

The ambience is nothing to shout about, with basic dining tables and chairs, a cashier’s counter and a display of fresh seafood where patrons can pick their choice of seafood to go with the noodles.

Our choices are udang kertas and udang galah. We find the noodle cooked with udang galah sweeter though the flesh is not as sweet and soft as udang kertas. And the gravy’s not chilli-sauce thick nor sweet. It’s just right – not too starchy and rich but full of flavour.

A bowl of plain noodles costs RM3 while additional prawns are charged according to current market price. Our bill comes to RM17 for the noodle with udang galah and RM18 with udang kertas. But do we regret paying for them? Not at all!

Homeland Of Nasi Kandar

What’s a visit to Penang without a taste of its home-grown rice dish – nasi kandar? It’s an Indian Muslim (mamak) specialty.

While the choice of nasi kandar restaurants is aplenty both on the island and in Seberang Perai, only a handful enjoys a strong word-of-mouth reputation.

Names like Hameediya, Liyaqat Ali a.k.a Nasi Kandar Beratur and Sup Hameed have the power to make nasi kandar lovers grab their car keys and drive all the way to Penang.

Hameediya in Lebuh Campbell has a steady stream of regular customers who not only come for its nasi kandar but also for its nasi biryani – chicken or mutton.

Another “Hameed”, Sup Hameed in upper Penang Road, is famous for its thick mutton, beef, chicken or mixed soup served with roti benggali.

Those who don’t mind taking their carbo late at night, make a beeline for Nasi Kandar Beratur which serves piping hot rice and dishes only from 10pm.

When the time comes, we do what Penangites do — march to Nasi Kandar Beratur in Lebuh Buckingham and join the queue.

More Food To Go

Try the roti canai in Transfer Road, a friend recommends. “Both the roti canai and accompanying gravy are something that you have never tasted before,” she stresses.

So we check it out. It’s not difficult to find Transfer Road but we make the mistake of thinking the roti canai will be sold in a proper restaurant setting. Despite making a few trips along the road, we fail to find such a set up. Finally, we realise that the roti canai stall we’re looking for is a humble-looking stall at the side of a high brick wall of a building.

The stall, which is said to have been in business for 40 years, only has two rows of long tables arranged classroom-style facing the road. At one end of the tables, roti canai is being prepared and at the other end, a different seller offers drinks.

And yes, both the roti canai and the curry gravy are out of this world. Never before have I downed two pieces of roti canai in one sitting!

The roti is crisp, yet fleshy and filling and is served “banjir” (flooded) in gravy with a choice of chicken, mutton or beef. The gravy is thick and spicy and word has it that the beef curry is always the first to finish. After trying all three, we agree that the beef curry is definitely a must-have.

Fruity Delight

Another recommendation takes us to The Esplanade for a plate of rojak buah. Like the roti canai in Transfer Road, Rojak 101 takes us by surprise.

There’s nothing extraordinary looking about the Rojak 101 kiosk or the look of the rojak. However, one taste of the sauce-coated fruits has us smacking our lips. The sauce is thick and flavoursome – hot, sweet and sour while the generous sprinkle of ground peanuts gives an extra kick to the fresh, crunchy fruits.

You can order fruit rojak or pizza/kebab-style rojak with the sauce richly slapped on top.

We wash down our rojak with a cup of thick kopi-O. Heavenly!