HAWKER STALL LUNCH

Saturday lunch time with my buddies, we went to a row of hawker stalls along Jalan San Peng in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the stalls were not open, maybe because of poor business or they are only open in the night. We went to this particular stall with no name except for a Yellow banner with their Opening date. It is located and separated by a road lane to a famous Malaysian wrestler Tiger Jit Singh's Chapati stall. The Pudu LRT station's open air parking lot is directly opposite this stall. Business was good and the stall owner was busy, packing Styrofoam boxes of chicken and roast pork rice for takeaway. The lady owner recommended their signature dishes to us.

The poster menu with their specialty dishes and noodles.

Braised Pork belly (3 pieces), Pig Intestines, Tofu (2 pieces) and Eggs (two) - garnished with Coriander leaves and Spring onion-the gravy was well flavored with both light and dark Soy sauce and 5 Spices powder - perfect with White rice-the Pork belly was about 3 ins thick and 3 layered, with an amazing texture-rich and juicy, while the pig intestines was soft and tender with no after smell (well cleaned)-Tofu was silky smooth-add the vinegar, garlic, chillies sauce (below) for more Oomp!

Steamed Tilapia Fish with sweet Bean paste-the fish was fresh and the gravy was sweet and spicy with chopped Bird's eye chillies and crackling fried lard, which added more flavor to it.

Blanched Romaine Lettuce served with a dash of light soy sauce and a sprinkling of flavorsome deep fried shallots-fresh and crunchy.

Finished off the meal with a few glasses of Herbal tea.

Total bill:rm44/.
Location: Jalan San Peng Hawker Stall,
opposite Pudu LRT Station open air car park.
Kuala Lumpur.

DELICIOUS DINNER 14

A series of home cooked meal by my wife.

Braised Chicken with julienned Bitter Gourd and Sweet Bean paste-chicken meat (from the drumstick) was firm and tender and the Bitter Gourd lends a slight bitter taste to the dish.

Pan Fried Prawn Omelette with chopped Spring Onion-has a fusion of Red. Yellow and Green color to it when it is slice into half-simple and tasty fare.

Stir fried Sweet Potatoes leaves with diced dried shrimps-all time favorite at "Tai Chow"-fat and leafy-high in iron and fiber.

ORIENT DELIGHTS

For Sunday lunch, we usually opt for something light like noodles. Orient Delights located at TTDI Plaza, Kuala Lumpur, with their specialty for hand pulled noodles, was the right place. It is a few doors away from the grand NAZA car showroom. A clusters of retail, pub, restaurant...etc encircled the Plaza with an open stage, pub-cum bar in the middle. The building imposing concourse design is awesome but there were not much activity during the day. Only a handful of people were having drinks outside one of the outlet. Orient Delights decor is Oriental with soft mellow lantern lighting, a mural of their dishes on a side wall and a really special table with 4 stools made from Chinese drums and a set of Chinese Chess on it. Their specialty are Foo Chow, Hakka and Local food, simple dishes which are not too fancy. The lone waitress recommended their best selling dishes. The steep prices for their food in this trying time is bad for their business.

The shop front with two hanging Chinese lanterns and the name of the shop engraved with Chinese character on a wooden plaque.

A Sign display outside showcased, how their Hand Pulled Noodle are made.

Oriental's decor-note the Chinese drum stools and table..

Hakka Yam Ball fried with minced meat and Dried Shrimps, strips of Black Fungus, cubed fried Tou Kua, finely chopped preserved Radish, strands of Cuttle Fish and Lard-the Abacus-like Yam Ball was not too oily, not yammy enough, luckily the other ingredients made up for it-it looks light but fills you up -Rm16.90/.

This Noodle is a cross between Kway Teow and Pan Meen-noodle was very smooth, the clear soup was filled with Chinese Celery, Black Fungus, Pork and Squid-Rm13.90/.

Hand pulled noodle soup complemented with Foo Chow Fish Ball which are healthy and chemical free and Chinese Celery-the soup was tasty and slurpy-Rm12.90/.

Foo Chow Red Rice Wine Chicken Soup-came in a hot portable mini stove-looks bloody but was delicious, the rice wine was not too strong-tender chicken meat-perfect with a bowl of white rice-Rm22.90/.

Dry Hand Pulled Noodles-with well flavored minced pork and garnished with chopped spring onions -this dish was perfect-Rm9.90/.

Peanut Tong Siu- was not too sweet, would have preferred skinless peanut with a softer texture-Rm3.90/.

Total bill:Rm100/
Location:Lot A-1-12, TTDI Plaza,
Jalan Wan Kadir 3, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:03-7725-5527.

FRESH OYSTERS

The live fresh sea food in Pantai Seafood Restaurant always beckon me back. Tonight besides the usual steamed Crabs and boiled Prawns, I tried Fresh Oyster for the first time in my life- I always avoided it as I am not a Ostreaphile. French poet Leon-Paul Fargue's quote about oyster, "Eating one was like kissing the sea on the lips"
It was a sort of encouragement for me. After eating one, it did gave me a sense of satisfaction and made me realized, oh! what a fool I was ? Missing on such a great delicacy.

Fresh oyster-Rm7/each served on plate of shaved ice with slices of Yellow lemon, garlic and Tobasco sauce

As a first timer i did not follow any ritual-just hold it with one hand, a squeeze of lime juice- add some garlic- popped it in my mouth-felt a firm and slippery texture-some salinity, took a bite and chewed on it-some sweetness - gulped it down-a lovely sensation!.

Location:13575, Jalan Cempaka PJU 6A, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya. Tel:03-7727-8090.

WAN TAN MEE

Wan Tan Mee is everybody's favorite noodle, you can have it at anytime of the day. The art of cooking the noodle is the most crucial part of preparing this simple and tasty dish. I have found one stall at Restoran Simon's Delight in Petaling Jaya, that does just that. Ah Lek, the stall owner was formerly from Restoran Intan in Section 17, this guy is quite a show off especially when he cooks the noodle-flipping and tossing it (watch the video clip). He even told me that his customers called him "Char Siew King". We ordered two plates of dry noodle with wan ton, two pieces of pork dumplings and his trademark Char Siew.

Char siew straight from the oven.

The Char Siew was what i expected-not too lean with the right amount of fats-tender, well marinated and caramelized with honey and malt sugar.

The Siew Kow was big with a generous amount of fillings like water chestnut, carrot, black fungus, prawn and minced pork.

The Wan Ton Mee was springy and tossed with a light soy sauce and lard and served with some blanched Choy Sam.

Watch how he flips the noodle from the hot pot to the cold pot and tossing it upwards to rid the noodles of water.

Total bill:Rm10/
Location:63, Jalan 20/20,
Paramount Garden,
Petaling Jaya.