RESTAURANT CHUAN KEE-HAKKA FOOD

Saturday lunch time with my buddies, today we ate at Restaurant Chuan Kee located a stone throwaway from the Menara PGRM in Pudu Ulu. From the outside, the restaurant looks like a house, on entering it, there was an altar with statues of deities, a young boy playing on a home computer and a aquarium filled with tropical fishes and a dining hall with about six dining tables-just like home! However, when we were ushered to a back section, there were more dining tables. This family run restaurant is fully air conditioned but the air was a bit stale and mushy. The place has a very comfortable feel to it and the staff were very nice and accommodating. The insulation was bad, was noisy when full. the food served are typical Hakka dishes like Kow Yok, Cha Yok, Yong Tau Foo, Steamed fish, chicken...etc. Prices are reasonable and parking is ample, an open area few doors away at Rm2/entry.

Clay pot Braised Lamb-the ribs was meaty and tender, a bit gamy would have been more flavorful if well braised.

Steamed Grass Carp (Belly section-the best part of the fish)-with coarsely chopped old ginger, Soy sauce and a dash of Sesame oil for added flavor-was fresh, smooth and fleshy.

Stir fried Sweet Potato Leaves with garlic-was thick, leafy and smooth (traces of lard oil).

Sea Prawn-cooked in sweet, sour sauce with bird's eye chillies-generous size prawns was fresh, juicy and succulent-watch out! for the fiery hot bird's eye chillies.

Total bill:rm75/.
Location: 14, Jalan Pudu Ulu, (opposite Tropical Fish Shop)
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.

DELICIOUS DINNER 11

A series of home cooked dinner by my wife.

The Home made Fish paste was moulded into ball shape and topped with a fresh prawn each and steamed for about ten minutes.

Poured out the excess clear sweet broth (keep it to cook noodles-BEST) and garnished with finely chopped spring onion and shred crab meat.

Two close up shots of Steamed fish paste with prawn and shred crab meat dish-only one word to describe it-Delicious.

Stir fried Snow pea shoots with garlic-crunchy.

PANTAI SEAFOOD RESTAURANT-AUSTRALIAN SNOW CRAB

Pantai Seafood Restaurant is one of my favorite restaurant whenever seafood beckons. They have a wide varieties of live and fresh local and exotic seafood. I have been eyeing to eat the Australian Snow Crab for quite sometime. Tonight the four of us were free and willing and we contacted Mike to meet us there after work.
Pantai Seafood Restaurant is located in a out of the way location (hidden gem) with a spacious car park. Patrick Teo's Damasara Vilage Steamboat Restaurant is just around the corner, in fact these two restaurants adds property value to that area. The restaurant have a casual ambiance, with lots of timber, ceiling to floor glass panels, soft and mellow lighting and fully air conditioned with an open dining section for smokers. The place can be quite noisy when full. The other main attraction is the 5 tiered glass aquariums filled with live fishes, clams, geoduck, oysters, abalone...etc and a tiny stream with live fishes, snaking around the restaurant. Reservation is a must during weekends!
The Australian Snow crab was the "star of the night"-carefully, painstakingly devoured with tender loving care.

The 1.3 kg Australian Snow crab photographed before it was send to the kitchen-rm238/kg + rm10/ cooking fee.

Steamed White Snow crab (1/2) with egg whites-the meat was divinely sweet, delicate and fine in texture-a satisfying meal-the soft and tough legs have to be cut with a special scissor to access the fleshy filament-too expensive to waste!

Fried White Snow crab (1/2) with duck's egg yolk-the flavor of the duck's egg yolk masked the taste of the crab-I would have prefer it steamed, but my mum loves it this way.

Boiled Sea prawns- the presentation of the crimson red prawns was so refreshing and inviting, juicy and succulent with every bite- chillies and ginger sauce for added flavors-rm31.20.

Stir fried Hong Kong Kai Lan-leafy and crunchy-a lot of goodness for digestion-rm12/.

Deep Fried Otak Otak Toufu-made in-house-lightly batter with a crispy crust and cotton softness inside-dip with the Lingham's chillies sauce topped with crushed peanuts, below-rm11/.

Total bill:rm408/
Location: Lot 13575, Jln Cempaka, PJU 6A,
Kg. Sg Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya.
Tel:03-7727-8090.

CHOI YUEN CHICKEN RICE-RESTORAN SUNWAY CORNER.

Tonight, the three of us decided to have Chicken rice for dinner. Choi Yuen Chicken rice stall opened for business, two weeks ago at Restoran Sunway Corner in Dataran Sunway, Petaling Jaya. I found out that the stall co-partner Ah Ching was my old friend from Sungei Buluh. Their only specialty is Boiled chicken with plain white rice or fragrant oil rice. Their tasty and well muscled chicken are sourced from Free range Chicken farms in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, and that is why, the premium pricing!

Boiled Chicken (Pak Cham Choi Yuen Kai) -free range chicken (1/2)- sourced from Bukit Mertajam -garnished with spring onion-meat was well muscled, tender, smooth and fragrant-rm23/

Ginger Soy, Sesame Oil sauce or Garlic Chillies sauce-good accompaniment for the chicken meat.

Total bill:rm26/
Location:Restoran Sunway Corner (Behind Ho Ho Steamboat)
Jalan PJU 5/8, Dataran Sunway.
Kota Damansara.

FRIED RICE.

Rice is a staple food among the Asians and is popular because it is non-allergenic, gluten free and very filling. Fried rice is a very common dish, available in every nook and corner, coffee shop, mamak stall to posh restaurants. It is serve in many styles and variations, with some even named after exotic places or cities. Well, I am a sucker for fried rice and love to eat it only on cold or rainy days because it can be quite heaty.

Fried rice-home cooked with finely chopped long beans and scrambled eggs with the side accompaniments of, slices of bright yellow, sweet Sarawak pineapple, chopped fresh lettuce and a piece of chicken drumstick braised with soy/XO oyster sauce-lush and wholesome meal.

RESTORAN SERDANG DUCK WANG

Saturday lunchtime with my buddies is always an adventurous food exploring event. This afternoon we went to our buddy, KK friend's shop, Restoran Serdang Duck Wang in the Serdang Commercial Center. It is a corner coffee shop with minimal decor and filled with the usual round plastics tables and chairs and a few big aquariums, one was filled with freak hunchback Toman fish and the others with tropical fishes. We learned later that the owner was once a fanatic "Flower Horn" fish lover but his interest faded after the demand for the fish faded. Anyway, the restaurant signature dishes are roast duck and steamed Tilapia fish which we ordered and found to be GOOD and value for money. Parking is a breeze.

The shop front.

An aquarium filled with "freak" hunchback Toman fish.

Steamed Tilapia fish-smothered with blended young ginger, lime plus strips of preserved Chinese Mustard and garnished with spring onion and coriander leaves-the fish was very fresh and fleshy with a distinct zesty and tangy flavor-better than Lan Je's.

Roast Duck (1/2)-crispy brown skin, tender and meaty- bathed with natural juices of the duck meat -have a distinct fragrance of Dong Gui (herb) too-you can just eat it on it's own or dipped with the chillies sauce for more flavor.

Stir fry Romaine Lettuce-to balance off the meat.

Total bill:rm55/
Location: Jalan PSK 9, (opp. Affin Bank)
Serdang Commercial Center,
Seri Kembangan, Selangor.

DELICIOUS DINNER 10

A series of home cooked dinner by my wife.

Steamed Capsicum stuffed with home made fish paste-lovely colors of Green, Yellow and Red-garnished with chopped spring onion-the fish paste was white, firm and springy-Capsicum have very good anti-oxidants properties.

Pork Rolls-made with Loin eye muscle meat- with strips of carrot and celery-deep fried then tossed in sweet bean sauce-heavenly!

Deep fried fish (Senangin Boy)-until even the bones were crispy-high in Omega-3 .

Stir fry Cauliflower and Broccoli - with Green, Yellow and Red Capsicum -very healthy and hearty.

GERAI MENG KEE STEAM SOUP

Gerai Meng Kee Steam Soup is first and foremost famous for it's soup-about 30 varieties of vegetables and herbal soup. After going through the menu, i noticed that there was even a pig's brain soup..yakkk...The boss Ricky (retired) once claimed that all his soup are MSG free and you won't feel thirsty for hours after consuming it. The food served here, are simple, home cooked style food just like Mum's cooking! Prices are affordable and service was quick and prompt. Parking is ample and open from 5.30 p.m. till late night.

Lotus root soup with pork and peanut -with red dates added for sweetness-the soup was clear and the lotus root was powdery in texture-rm4.50/

Steamed 3 types of egg yolks (chicken, duck and century egg) Custard-with minced meat- was savory with melt in the mouth, sensation!-rm4.00/

Braised Chicken with potatoes-the tender meat fully absorbed the flavor of the light soy and oyster sauce -potatoes was nicely browned and caramelized- rm5/

Steamed Bean curd with fish paste-garnished with deep fried shallots-the chalky white bean curd was silky smooth and fish paste was firm-rm5/

Assam Senangin fish- was deep fried then smothered up with Assam gravy and garnished with red tomatoes, green cucumber and bright yellow pineapple - sourish with tamarind juice, galangkal and turmeric flavor-rm26/.

Total bill:rm47/
Location:Stall no:9, Jalan 20/16,(Beside the Post Office)
Paramount Garden. Petaling Jaya
Tel:012-239-0623.

RETAIL CUTS OF PORK.

I know of many people who buy the various cuts of pork from the butcher with no idea of where that particular piece of meat is located on the pig's carcass.

These two graphic illustrations :

1.(Below) is to enlighten them.

2. (Bottom) to let them understand the various content of the different cuts of the pork.

Graph 1.

Graph 2.

Click on them for a bigger picture.

FRIED NIAN GAO (GLUTINOUS RICE CAKE.)

During the CNY festival, I was presented with a piece of Nian Gao (glutinous rice cake) by my s.i.l. It was left idle and forgotten in the fridge. Last weekend, my wife decided to cook it for our Sunday tea time snack. First she cuts the glutinous rice cake into squares then sandwiched a piece of yam (taro) and sweet potato on each side.The whole combination was then dipped into a light batter of wheat flour and egg mix, deep fried under a low flame, until it turns golden brown.

Steamed Nian Gao (glutinous rice cake) is a traditional cake for the CNY festival. It is make by mixing sugar, water with glutinous rice flour, then place it into a Banana leaves lined container and steamed until it is cooked. Legend has it that the higher the cake rises, the better the New Year.

Golden browned deep fried Nian Gao (glutinous rice cake)-the triple layers of colors, sweetest plus a crispy crust was a real comfort!

RESTORAN YU AI

After our Sunday morning exercise, we decided to drive to Segambut, to have our breakfast at Restoran Yu Ai. Their signature noodles are Soup, Curry and Tom Yam with fishball or assorted fresh seafood. Restoran Yu Ai is located next to a EON Bank in the Segambut Utara Industrial area and faces a row of double storey terrace houses. They have seating downstair-(a big no no because of the hot, stuffy heat emanating from the various hot pots of soup), at the back of the shop and air condition facilities upstairs. Service was fast and prompt and parking was ample.

Curry Seafood Rice noodle-my choice was Loh See Fun-with Tau Pok, 3 prawns, a mussel, sliced Garoper fish meat, strips of cuttlefish and lots of lala (clam)-topped with chopped spring onion and coriander leaves-the curry was truly aromatic, creamy and fiery "Ferrari" red with a layer of cholesterol laden oil on the surface- rm15/.

Soup Seafood noodle-my wife's choice was Rice vermicelli-came with similar amount of ingredients as the Curry Seafood noodle-the fish stock based soup was clear, sweet and tasty till the last drop-rm15/.

Garlic Chillies or Chillies Sambal ?-for extra flavor.

Location:42, Jalan Segambut Utara,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:012-335-5563.

CHINESE MARROW ROLLS

My wife made these Chinese Marrow Rolls, out of curiosity when told about the recipe by the lady owner of a vegetable stall in the market. The ingredients are one small Chinese Marrow, 6 pieces of Chicken fillet, 3 pieces of Shiitake mushroom and 1/2 carrot. The end result was o.k. A refreshing new dish on the table for us!

Sliced the Chikgua (Chinese Marrow) with a slicer.

The thinly sliced Chinese Marrow.

Blanched it for a while and colander it.

Sliced carrot strips.

Chicken fillet marinated with an egg, salt and pepper.

Sliced Shiitake mushroom.

Sprinkle some Tapioca flour on the sliced Chinese Marrow, place ingredients on it and roll it.

Arranged on a plate and steamed it for about 15 minutes.

Ready to eat-every bite of it brings a perfect blend of color, crunchiness plus a tender texture from the chicken fillet.