Ikan Bakar @ Lorong Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Although my favourite Ikan Bakar place is Pak Din's at Tanglin Food Court, I have been exploring other stalls around town. Even though this particular stall is not as fantastic as Pak Din's it makes better sense for those who work down town especially around the Jalan Raja Chulan/Jalan Sultan Ismail area to patronise this place rather than driving through the traffic to the Lake Gardens area. Hopefully traffic will start to ease up from today onwards with the upcoming exodus of people to their home towns. Believe me, I'm looking forward to peace and quiet in the city as the traffic is getting from bad to worst every day.



Run by a friendly group of people who claim to be from an island somewhere off Jawa, Indonesia, this particular stall is where people flock to for their ikan bakar cravings. Besides the grilled fish, you can also select from various cooked curries and vegetables set up at the counter.



Unlike Pak Din's, the fish is marinated in a special sauce hence it's slightly tinged with yellow. I like how they grill the fish over hot coals as it has less oil versus those grilled in a hot plate. Since the fish takes a while to cook, the stall owners will start grilling them before for the lunch crowd.

They serve various types of fish here and you can find old favourites like ikan pari (sting ray), ikan keli (cat fish - my personal favourite), ikan kembung (mackerel) and ikan terubuk. A must with the ikan bakar is the tangy dip made with chopped shallots, bird eye chillies, tamarind, sambal belachan and a squeeze of tiny calamansi limes.

I also love the various vegetables they serve here and my must haves are their pucuk paku (ferntops) and a kerabu made from four angled beans, bean sprouts tossed with grated coconut. Another item I often pick from these Nasi Campur stalls is the bergedil made from potatoes.

If you work around here, do walk here rather than drive as parking is a major problem here with limited parking spaces. There's two paid car parks next to the stall but it's usually full by lunchtime.

Ikan Bakar Stall
Opposite Menara PMI
Lorong Ceylon
Kuala Lumpur

(Halal. Open 6.00 am to 4.00 pm and closed on Sundays)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Ikan Bakar

Ampang Fishball Noodles @ Restaurant 138, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

Hope everyone's Valentine Day was fruitful!? Sorry no pictures of my reunion dinner last night as the light was quite horrendous at the restaurant. I did snap pictures but it didn't pass the approval board aka Splashie Boy hence all you get is a running commentary of what we ate.

As usual we ended up at Chynna, KL Hilton for dinner - the default choice for my family. The usual favourites also were ordered - chicken with fried ginger, salted egg yolk prawns and spinach in superior soup. For the festive season, we had this dish wrapped in foo chook (bean curd skin) where there's the mushrooms, oysters, fatt choy and etc inside it, a tofu dish with mushrooms and sea cucumber and the salmon yee sang. The yee sang is pretty good here, not too oily and full of crunchy bits and sesame seeds. We also tried a new noodle dish - Kwai Fah Noodles which is fried meen sin that was very good as they fried it dry with bits of egg and lots of scallops and prawns. For dessert, it was the ever favourite Lemongrass Jelly with Aloe Vera Cubes and Lime Sorbet for a refreshing end. Since it was Valentine's Day, the ladies even got a pink rose each.

Rather than deprive you of pictures today, I'll be blogging about fishball noodles from Ampang. Although Ampang seems to be more well known for yong tau foo and the Korean Village, I recently found out they also serve really good fishball noodles. This place just near the famous Foong Foong, Orchard View and Ampang Homeland Yong Tau Foo shops. Pretty easy to get here especially when Jalan Ampang is not choked up with traffic, the whole area where Ampang New Village is located is such a vast contrast with the Ampang Point area. Here it feels like you have stepped back into time as things are slow and similar to a sleepy town.

These fishball noodles (RM3.20) - a standard order comes with three fishballs and thinly sliced fishcake with your choice of noodles is excellent. The fishballs are not too springy but taste so fresh and without preservatives. The soup made from boiling anchovies (ikan bilis) is sweet and has no MSG, which is always a plus point for me as I'm really sensitive towards MSG. I had the kuey teow noodles which was smooth. I also ordered the fishcake (RM6.50) which came thinly sliced. Although it's fresh, since it was thinly sliced, I couldn't really taste it but felt it wasn't as nice as my auntie's home made fish cakes. If I do make it here the next time, it will be for the yummy fishballs as they're worth the long journey to this part of Ampang.

Ampang Fishball Noodles
Restoran 138
643, Jalan Merdeka
Ampang
Kuala Lumpur

(Pork free. Open from morning till afternoon. To get here, drive past Ampang Point Shopping Centre and go straight until you see a Shell Petrol Station on your right hand side, take a right at the traffic light. Go straight at the first traffic light, turn right at the second traffic light and drive straight down. The restaurant is on the right hand side while the yong tau foo shops will be on your left hand side.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Fishball Noodles + Malaysian Food

Dining Out @ Porto Romano, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur

Happy Valentine's to all of you! Am sure everyone is gearing up for that big romantic lunch/tea/dinner/supper. This year round, our Valentine's plans have been put on hold since we have Chinese New Year reunion dinner to attend instead. Kinda strange I know but that's the only available night for all of us before my mum flies down to Singapore for Chinese New Year. Hence we're going to be spending the night with a table full of my relatives! Well, at least the food will be super good. I wonder if this year I'll pluck up my courage to snap pictures under the watchful eyes of my relatives.

It's going to be lots and lots of pictures today as I managed to gather quite a few from my numerous visits to this place. I often get SMSes or emails from friends or even strangers asking me where to eat. This time round, a friend of mine had a specific request. He wanted to take a "friend" out for a not too romantic dinner preferably pasta somewhere in the Petaling Jaya vicinity. My flippant answer was the mamak stall or some tai chow place since that's where I would take a friend but I guess since he specifically stated pasta and dinner could lead to something else better for him in the future, I suggested he try this place in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

We have been eating at this place ever since they opened at Taman Tun Dr Ismail, taking over the short lived Xavier. A branch of the City Square outlet, this restaurant serves Mediterranean specials from Italy and Albania. Pictures are of varying quality since some were taken during lunchtime and others at dinnertime under a handy halogen lightbulb with shadows in the background.

During one of my visits here, I met a nice chap who sat next to us with his daughter and we got chatting about the restaurant. It seems he's a regular (we had accidentally taken his daughter's favourite table that night) and goes there every alternate night since he stays around the area. Previously a regular at La Bodega, he felt the food here was much better, bigger portions and at least he didn't need to fight the traffic on the Bangsar hill.

The menu here is quite extensive with choices for antipasti, soups, pastas, rice dishes, pizzas, meat, seafood and desserts. From the antipasti selection, we have tried their Bruschetta with Tomatoes (RM8) that was pretty good. We also ordered the Albanian Village Salad (RM12) that looked slightly Greek with feta cheese cubes and black olives tossed in it. From the rice selection, Splashie Boy tried the Risotto al Funghi (RM21) which was delicious. They're quite generous with the portions hence eating too much of it got a bit too rich after a while. We have also tried another Albanian special - Pilaff with Meatballs (RM26). Although the meatballs tend to be quite dried out, we liked the sauce the dish came with. Since my friends had tasted the mushroom and porto romano pizzas, we went for the Pizza Diavola (RM24) with beef pepperoni. I wasn't too much a fan of it even though the pizza crust was thin and crusty.

Although I did not feature any pastas here, I've tried their Porto Romano Spaghetti (RM24.50) which is very good. The tomato sauce which it came in reminded me of Marcella Hazan's sweet tomato sauce. If you want extra kick with your pasta, ask for their home made chilli sauce that is preservatives free. For dinner that night, we shared the Seafood Platter (RM48) which came with a creamy lemon butter sauce as a dip. Chockfull of mussels, cuttlefish, fish, prawns and smoked salmon with a salad, it was yummy right down the last prawn tail.

They also do a pretty good Braised Lamb Shank(RM29) with meat falling off the bone. It's a bit drier than the other lamb shank dishes hence you need to slather on the rich tomato sauce.

Dessertswise, this place also has quite a few worthy of mention. However, don't order their version of Apple Pie made with filo pastry as it's horrendous - the filling is too spicy and that night we ate it, the pastry was burnt. You're better off with their wobbly Panna Cotta(RM9) - a must in any Italian place which is served with walnuts, a sprinkle of cocoa powder and drizzle of a caramel sauce.

Their Tiramisu (RM12) is pretty good too but depending on which order you get, you'll find varying amounts of liquer.

They also make their own gelato with interesting flavours like Kinder Bueno, Oreo and Hazelnut that will be great for these super hot days.

I'm not too sure if they're serving Valentine's Day set menu but do make a visit one day and give it a try. I've actually got a wishlist of items to try based on recommendations from the regular diner such as their paella and lamb rack so I'll be making more visits to this place.

Porto Romano
28, Persiaran Zaaba

Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 – 7710 0509

(Pork Free. Open from 11.00 am to 11.00 pm daily. This is at the same row as Canadian Pizza, Homst, Santai and is directly behind La Manila Cafe.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Taman Tun Dr Ismail + Mediterranean Food

Yong Tau Foo and Fried Chicken Wings @ Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo, Petaling Jaya

When it comes to my family, they all seem to know where's the best places to eat whether it's stall or restaurant food. Hence when my mother raved about this place, it's been top on the list of places to try but every time we decide to go out for lunch, it's either too early for this place or we're too far away from it.

We finally struck lucky and managed to make it one day to sample their food. This small stall within the Medan Selera area will only fry or cook your items once you place your order hence one needs to be patient while they prepare the food. It's really worth it since everything is super fresh especially the fried items. There are also other items which you can order that are pre-cooked such as their Hakka Char Yoke which I thought tasted okay and not as nice as the Lorong Peel place. Besides that, there's curry fish head, assam fish, rendang fish, pork trotters in black vinegar on the menu.



Sampling their yong tau foo, you can distinctively taste that they added more fish versus minced pork and there's no salted fish. A quick chat with the lady who runs the stall indicates that they no longer stuff it with salted fish as it's pricey and not everyone likes the taste. Out of the items ordered, I really liked their brinjal and white tofu. The brinjal was pretty huge and well pan fried while the white tofu was very smooth. Also good was their tofu puffs stuffed with fish and meat paste. Although the items are quite pricey at RM0.90 each, the brinjal and white tofu was definitely worth it as they were huge portions.

My mother had also recommended the deep fried chicken wings. Ordering a minimal order of two to sample, it was super delicious as they lightly coated it with turmeric powder. Freshly fried and super crispy, this was the ultimate deep fried chicken wing for me. It's not cheap though as each wing and drumette costs RM2.50 hence a minimal order will set you back by RM5.

Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo
Stall No. 35, Taman Selera
Jalan Othman
Petaling Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 7781 0946

(Non Halal. The stall is open for business from 12 pm to 9 pm except for Tuesdays. They're close for one week during the Chinese New Year period)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Yong Tau Foo + Malaysian Food

Chinese New Year Feasting @ Sek Yuen, Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

It's amazing how the feasting starts even before the festive season but I reckon any reason to eat and be merry is always a good thing. This year, Chinese New Year feasting kicks off early since it's the last weekend before the festivities start. Most popular Chinese restaurants are also fully booked as nowadays people tend to eat out more rather than cook their dinners at home.

Last Friday, I joined friends who dined with their ex-colleagues at Sek Yuen, the old style dining place I had featured before. It was great fun and we polished off quite a few dishes that night. Some didn't make the cut for this post as I wasn't too careful hence I had some blurry shots but believe me, the people at the restaurant was amazed at how much we could all eat since we kept ordering extra dishes.

Although Sek Yuen has an air-conditioned restaurant, we opted to eat at the older part with whirling fans and the old style atmosphere. I managed to peek into their kitchen and saw them super busy with the preparation of the food. Everyone was zipping around hence you see them slightly blurry since they were on the constant move. It's also amazing how they still use wood for their fires in the kitchen. Ever since I mentioned Sek Yuen, my mother has been telling me stories about how they weren't so famous during her time as there was an even more popular restaurant further down the road. However, it's Sek Yuen which has maintained their business till now while the other restaurant owners' decided instead to close the business and collect rent for their premises.

The table was groaning with the amount of food we had ordered, first of course was the traditional Yee Sang which we had with jellyfish. This was tossed around with lots of good wishes on the stockmarket and as high as we could without all of it dropping all over the table. We also ordered their famous Pei Pa Duck which was featured in my first post, their char siu and onion chicken. All the dishes were classic Chinese items even this sweet and sour pork with the cucumbers and tomatoes.

This was the all time favourite dish - their Kao Yoke with yam slices. Thinly sliced pork belly sandwiched with light yam slices, it was so good, we had to order another portion of it. The moment this dish hits the table, it's all gone within minutes. The sauce here is not as thick as the other places that serve it but you can taste the fermented bean curd (nam yue) they use to marinate the meat.

Slightly blurry picture of the vegetables but it was so good, I had to feature it. Although it's just plain spinach fried with a bit of garlic, it tasted great when you popped a strand in your mouth as they fried it with enough heat in the wok (that wok hei the Chinese talk about or literally translated as breath of the wok) and the spinach was tender. We added another order of the vegetables after we tasted this but it wasn't as good as the first dish. We also had their kailan fried with siu yoke (roast pork) which was pretty good too.

This was something we hadn't eaten for ages - a crab meat, egg, tofu and vegetables mix. Not fantastic but pretty good comfort food especially with their steamed rice.

On the night we ate here, the place was super packed with people who were also having their festive dinners. Since we sat near the kitchen, we saw them preparing the dishes - the typical cold chicken in jelly for the four seasons that were decorated with tomatoes cut to resemble graceful swans. There was even glutinous rice stuffed duck (Lor Mai Arp in Chinese) which looked really good. It seems these dishes need to be pre-ordered. After 10 pm, they started playing music on the gramophone. At one time, they even played marches hence we said, that must be a hint for us to leave soon since they were giving us our marching orders.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and nice meeting people who love to eat. If you want to try their food during Chinese New Year, do visit them as they're open during the whole festive period of 15 days. It's only after the festive season they'll take a break as this is the busiest time for them. (Note most hawkers in town will take off during the Chinese New Year period as it's their annual holiday)

Sek Yuen

313 and 315, Jalan Pudu

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 9222 9457

(Non Halal)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Chinese Food

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 88

Last week, you saw the ginger stray cat hence I thought the other stray fella who comes over should also be featured. Not as friendly as the ginger boy, it was not easy to snap a picture as everytime I approached nearer, he ran away. Hence these shots are from a distance. There's currently an uneasy truce between the two: basically it's when this fella comes around, he just doesn't want to see the ginger cat hanging around the house or else he'll chase it away.

Although short hair, this fella is handsome with his marble coat. He looks like an exact replica of my Allycat hence I'm a softie towards it. However he can get nasty with the other kitties and they're all scared of him.

For my kitty cat stories, do pop over to Catsynth who is hosting this weekend.

Murtabak @ Restoran Victory Arab Street, Subang Jaya

Fans of the famous Victory Restaurant in Arab Street, Singapore can rejoice as they don't need to travel down south for their famous murtabak with the recent opening of a branch in Subang Jaya. It must be famous because everytime I do a Google search on Singapore murtabak, two names keep popping up - Zam Zam and Victory who are located side by side each other on Arab Street.

I must admit, I have yet to try the murtabak in Singapore hence I can't vouch for whether it's the same as the one served in Victory but I have been told by the owners that the cooks used to work in Victory Singapore's kitchens. Moreover the Singapore owner's son is also overseeing things here.

They serve four varieties of murtabak here - chicken, beef, mutton and sardine which comes in various sizes i.e small, medium, large and extra large. My version was the extra small beef murtabak for RM3. The prices for the other sizes range from RM5 for the small portion to RM12 for the extra large while the sardine version is cheaper at RM4 for the small portion to RM8 for the large portion.

I managed to catch the cook making the murtabak and in this version, they add two eggs in it. One inside together with the minced beef and onion filling and another one outside of the murtabak when it is placed on the hot plate for it to cook till crispy. Unlike other murtabaks whereby the outside and the filling tends to get soggy, here the filling is drier and more crispy on the outside. It tastes excellent when paired with their curry and the thick vegetarian dhall they make out of African lentils.

Besides murtabak, another specialty is their briyani rice which has chicken, lamb, meat, fish and even prawn versions. I must admit it's rare to find seafood versions. For the fish version, ikan tenggiri is used. The briyani is priced at RM7 per plate while the prawn one is based on the seasonal price. I didn't manage to try their briyani but the rice does smell really good so that will be slated for another visit.

Restoran Victory arab street
No. 21-1, Jalan USJ 9/5Q
Taipan Business Centre
Subang Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 8023 5924

(Halal. Open from 9.30 am to 11.00 pm. This is at the road which has the famous Pizza vs Satay and Soo Kee's Son's Noodles. It is also near the Al Falakh Mosque. Parking can be horrendous here but there's a private parking nearby. Alternatively, you can also call ahead to place an order and pick it up from the restaurant. The GPS coordinates are N 03 02.775', E 101 35. 252')

Updated on 12/2/2007 - check out USJ.com's forum for comments from those who have tried the murtabak.

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Murtabak + Victory + Arab Street

Pangkor Laksa @ DK Cafe, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

I often read about so many interesting places on the Net that keeping track of them is virtually impossible. I vaguely remembered a reference made by De Bookworm in her blog almost a year ago about this place hence when I finally found it through pure accident, I knew I had to try it. Believe me, if you don't know Section 17 well, there's no way you'll find this place as it's tucked inside a residential area. Even I who often go to Section 17 was surprised there was shophouses I have not seen before when I went around the area to find the curtain maker a friend recommended.

Back to the cafe, the place is relatively small with an indoor area and an outdoor area that allows people to smoke and enjoy the fresh air. The times when we were there, it seemed pretty quiet but then that was during the weekdays. They do a pretty good value set lunches as I remember Splashie Boy ordering it and he liked the soup which they served him with. It was also fish and chips hence he was a happy camper since he loves that dish. For the fried fish, they use the same type of batter used for Chicken Crispers in Chillies.

I settled for their Pangkor Laksa (RM5.90) which was something unusual. The broth it came in was tangy like assam laksa but spiced up with chilli oil. It was a pretty good combination and I also liked the noodles it came with which had a soft texture versus the bouncy lai fun which laksa is usually served with. The noodles looked very home made as you could see each strand was not the same size.

Another time I went here was for a quick teatime break and sorry, no pictures again as I was with Splashie Boy's parents. Imagine the frowns if I had whipped my camera out to snap pictures. We tried their spring rolls (RM3.90) which was completely different from other places as they use the thin beancurd skin instead of the popiah skin similar to the ones used in Lor Bak. That was a really winner as I loved the minced chicken, fish and prawn filling combined with the crispy beancurd skin.

Next time when you're in Section 17, look beyond the usual places and give this simple cafe a try. Incidentally, if you know your way to Food Foundry or 6 to 10 Grill at the flats, this place is directly below the flats where the double storey terrace houses are. There are stairs leading down to this area but you'll have to walk a bit to get to the cafe.

DK Cafe

603, Section 17/12

Petaling Jaya

(Halal. Open from 11.00 am to 9.00 pm and closed on Mondays. Very vague and not too perfect directions this time round as I don't remember the road signs. There's a Shell petrol station in Section 17 (near the flats, not the one near the highway). Next to it is a road, take that all the way until you see a field, turn right and drive up. There will be two to three rows of shophouses there and DK Cafe faces the double storey terrace houses.)

Updated on 12/2/2007 - Currently Pangkor Laksa unavailable until after Chinese New Year as the restaurant is unable to get the special noodles.

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Pangkor Laksa + Malaysian Food

Fuzhou Bakery and Noodle Maker @ Eng Hin Bakery, Yong Peng, Johor

I didn't really get to do much exploration of Yong Peng when I was there and sadly no Fuzhou/Foochow food which is what Yong Peng is famous for. The town's main centre is Jalan Besar (Main Road) which has various shops flanking it. It's interesting to note how from one end to another, there's signs of development with the older shops in the front and the newer shophouses almost at the end.

If you drive down Jalan Besar, it's very evident that the specialty of Yong Peng is the Saitou Fishball made from saitou fish (Ikan Parang in malay) as there's restaurants dotting the whole area with signboards proclaiming they're the most famous. It's served with Fuzhou/Foochow noodles that look similar to the yellow Hokkien noodles but is springier. (I may be wrong on this as I have yet to try them so do correct me if this is wrong)

Since I could not sample any Fuzhou/Foochow food, I settled for the next best thing i.e visiting a Fuzhou/Foochow bakery. It's the only bakery in town but sadly, modernisation has taken over as they use big metal ovens to bake the traditional delicacies instead of a charcoal fire oven. The attraction here is their kong piah which means hot bun in their dialect, a Fuzhou/Foochow specialty. Made from unleavened dough, it's usually served plain or stuffed with meat. The ones made at this bakery are either plain or stuffed with peanuts and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Traditionally it's cooked like a naan bread, i.e. at the sides of a clay oven (like those that are used to cook tandoori chicken or naan in Indian restaurants) with charcoal at the bottom. Since it was very late when I bought my stash, I couldn't taste it hot as it's said to be flaky when you take it straight from the oven . Tastewise, the bread has a slightly chewy texture while the stuffed peanuts and sesame seeds is not too sweet. I personally liked it and suspect it would have been awesome if it came out piping hot from the oven and dipped in the local coffee.

Besides the kong piah, the bakery also makes Fuzhou/Foochow noodles for sale and various pastries like peanut cookies that crumble in your mouth, lou poh peng (literally translated as wife's biscuits in Chinese which is filled with sweetish wintermelon filling), tim and ham peng (flaky biscuits with sweet or savoury fillings), pineapple tarts, kaya kok (puffs filled with kaya) and etc.

Eng Hin Bakery

14 Jalan Besar

Yong Peng

Johor

Tel No: 07 - 467 12 61

(Pork free. The bakery is open till quite late, about 8 pm and is along the main road just after the bridge. Near it is the famous Foochow restaurant, Hock Swee Hin which serves specialties like Foochow fishball and red wine mee sua.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Kong Piah + Foochow Food

Waxed Meats for Chinese New Year

Have you had your fix of these traditional waxed meats for this year? Every year, it's a tradition of my family to eat Lap Mei Fan once Dong Zhi is over. Usually we either buy our own supplies to make it at home or indulge in it at a restaurant. It's my mother's favourite hence she makes it a special point to select a few varieties to cook it at home before Chinese New Year.

These meats are directly imported from China where the cold winter winds dry these sausages and duck. Packed in metal tins, you can easily buy them from street vendors in Petaling Street or dry ingredients shops in Chinatown.

Although I have been exposed to this type of dish almost all my life, I recently realised not everyone know of or has tasted this before. (My mother recently ate this in Singapore and one of the relative's sons had never seen waxed meats before and didn't dare touch a single piece)

To prepare these at home, it's relatively simple. Although you get the full flavour of the waxed meat if you steam it on top of the rice, it's not very healthy as all the oil seeps into the rice. Instead, we cook the rice and meats seperately. As an additional measure, we blanch the meats in hot water to remove the oil. Once steamed, add the remaining liquid to the cooked rice. You should also serve it with the traditional nga-ku or arrowhead that is flaky and tender after steaming. The selection in the picture features lap cheong (chinese sausages), waxed duck, liver sausages and various other waxed meats.

Tagged with: Waxed Meats + Chinese New Year

Prawn Mee @ Jalan San Peng, Kuala Lumpur

Last week, I finally managed to make a trip this place after reading about it from the two blogs who had earlier featured this stall. It took me a while as I got distracted with the wholesale clothes shops just off Jalan San Peng and for some funny reason, I thought the prawn mee place was there. Once I got back to Jalan San Peng, it was pretty easy to spot the place which faces the road and is next to an Indian temple called Kuil Devi.



When I first got there, I was surprised to see them cooking a big wok filled to the brim with chilli sauce. Subsequently I got talking to the proprietors of the stall namely Mr. Tan and his mother who explained to me what it was for. In fact, I managed to have a long chat with Mr. Tan as he must have been the first internet savvy hawker I have met. Usually when I ask five million questions, they'll always shoot me the question back: "are you from the press? and I'll say no, this is for own personal use and my website." Imagine my surprise when this time, I was asked for the link to this site.



Mr. Tan's family has been running this prawn mee stall for 36 years and thia version of prawn mee was concocted by his father.



Totally unlike the other places, they put the chilli sauce and broth seperately for each bowl allowing you to control the heat you can take. If you want it with more kick, help yourself to more chilli sauce from the table which is made on a daily basis. According to Mrs. Tan, they make two to three big woks of the sauce every day.



Everything is freshly made right down to the fried lard pieces which adds the sinful topping to the noodles. Prawn heads are used to boil the broth that is constantly kept boiling. It also acts as the boiling water for them to cook the noodles.



Unlike other places, they serve their prawn mee (RM3.80 for small, RM4.50 for large) with poached chicken slices, medium size prawns and kangkung (water spinach). The soup is delicious and makes a pretty substantial meal with the chicken. You can also opt to add more ingredients (Kah liu in Chinese) whether it's small prawns (RM9) or large prawns (RM10).



If you're sharing with a few people, order their poached chicken (RM4.50). Laid on a bed of crunchy bean sprouts, it's drizzled with sauce made from sesame oil. The texture is not as smooth as the Ipoh Kuey Teow places but it's definitely value for money as their portions are pretty substantial.

Besides their signature prawn mee and poached chicken, they also serve lam meen with the thick yellow noodles.

San Peng
Jalan San Peng
Off Jalan Loke Yew
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 012 - 290 7050/ 012 - 311 8292

(Non halal. Note the stall is also called San Peng hence you can't miss it with it's yellow and red signage. The stall closes every Tuesday and is open from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm. To get here from Jalan Loke Yew, turn left after the chinese school and when you see a Shell petrol station. Go straight, you will pass a traffic light. Continue going straight and you will see a TM Berhad orange and white building on your left hand side. Make a U turn on the right hand side of the road and the stalls will be on your left hand side as they're in front of a row of shophouses and next to the road. The GPS coordinates are N 03 08.024', E 101 42.700')

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

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Buaya 4x4 Johor Flood Relief Trip @ 3 February, 2007

This time round, we made a trip down to Yong Peng and distributed items around the relief centres at Parit Yaani and the houses affected in Yong Peng. Originally, we were earmarked to head towards Bukit Ibam in Pahang which has a few villages affected but we also understand a large convoy of vehicles under the amateur radio group made their way there earlier on. To read more about their trip, check Marts News for updates. One thing you'll notice when you travel down south are various relief groups making the journey down on the highway to deliver aid to the victims whether it's opposition policital parties or car enthusiasts.

This time round, we had six cars in the convoy which transported a hefty amount of rice (approximately 227 bags, each weighting 5 kgs), gas stoves, food items, toiletries, diapers, clothes, kids toys and etc. We met up the Rotary group whom we had earlier delivered items to in Batu Pahat last week and the St John's Ambulance at Parit Yaani. Incidentally when you travel through the town, you'll see various groups of people and kids at the riverside fishing as the floods had displaced some fish from fish farms or even the river making them an easy catch for your dinner.

We visited two relief centres in Parit Yaani - one located within a school which had approximately 30 to 40 families staying there. The kids here were super enthusiatic especially when they saw my camera as they couldn't stop posing. The relief centre was a hive of activity with the National Service trainees gathering there and another family who also distributed aid to the victims. The trainees have been asked to help the villagers clean their houses affected by the flood. I chatted with some of the ladies who observed the activities from a distance and they told me their stay at the centre is coming up to a month but they will be returning home on Sunday. One lady almost broke down when she spoke about her home as she was not sure what she will find when she returns home.

Just down from the school, is a Chinese temple which is now a temporary relief centre for a group of Chinese families. The atmosphere here is relatively quieter with the families gathering in an open area of long tables and chairs.

It was slightly difficult to communicate with them as they only spoke Mandarin but they were definitely happy to receive the items ranging from essentials like rice bags, gas stoves and colouring pencils for the kids.

Subsequently we visited a housing area within the Yong Peng town which was affected by the floods. These people had registered for flood relief with the government agencies hence it was easy to identify them based on their addresses. If you peek into their houses, you'll see how bare it is as all they can afford are basic items. Families with babies or young kids also received milk powder and disposable diapers. Even though we went from house to house to deliver the items, we still had bags of rice undelivered at the end which we passed to the Rotaract Club/St John's Ambulance to distribute to other areas.

No more trips down south are planned at the moment but there is talk of another trip after Chinese New Year to see how the situation is. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed time, effort and items for the trip. Everything was very much appreciated by the flood victims whether it was a bag of rice or a toy. Many thanks also to the Buaya 4x4 group who organised things especially Silver Surfer and Kokonut Soldier and the Rotary Club plus the St John's Ambulance for taking us around to these places to distribute items.

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 87

This weekend, I thought I'll snap pictures of the ginger cat who comes over to the house for food. When it comes to food, kitties have a way of sniffing things out hence this fella turned up at our doorstep. Initially it was all for Fluff Puff but now he's found better things at the house aka free food. We actually haven't seen him for quite some time as he got chased away by another stray who was pretty aggresive hence I'm surprised he is back. However, occasionally like last night there will be tiffs between the two of them that involves a lot of screaming and running.

He loves to chill out at the garden while the other cats ignore him. As usual, he wasn't too amused when I wanted to snap pictures of him hence he totally ignored me. I love his fluffy coat and slightly marbled markings. We've even submitted pictures of him to a talent agency as they're looking for ginger kitties so who knows, he may be the next kitty star of Malaysia.

Rosa's Yummy Yums is hosting this weekend so do check out her adorable kitties, Maruschka and Fridolin plus all those worldwide kitties at her blog.

Banana Leaf Rice @ Mathai's, New Lay Sin Restaurant, Brickfields

I took a little break from posting yesterday as we celebrated Federal Territory Day. I guess Blogger knew I was feeling lazy as it refused to work the night before and early yesterday.

Today, I thought I'll blog on one of favourite weekend foods aka the banana leaf rice. I was first introduced to this small stall in Brickfields long ago by an Indian friend, Mohan. Little did I know it was famous until I stumbled on many references below in other people's blogs. Unlike other places which open their own shop, this Indian stall shares the space in this crowded coffeeshop with other stalls. Among these stalls, the pork noodles is also pretty famous and has it's own faithful following as seen by the New Straits Times referencing them as the best place in Kuala Lumpur for this type of noodles.

From what I gather, Mathai's originally started out in the 1960s and the current proprietor is R. Moorthy after the original owner, Mathai retired. Sometimes, it's referred to either Moorthy's or Mathai's depending on how long you have been eating at this place. The must-have when you dine here is their fried tenggiri which I have featured above. Spiced just right and juicy to the bone, it's my favourite. Most places always slice their tenggiri fish too thin hence when it's fried, it shrivels up and is dry on the inside. Here, the fish is sliced thickly to avoid it from drying out before the outside crisps to the beautiful golden brown you see above.

The curries here are pretty good too and we usually order their chicken curry varuval. They also serve fish head curry if you like. Prices here are also extremely reasonable compared to those cut throat Indian restaurants so expect to spend about RM6 to RM10 per person depending on what you order. Incidentally if you can't take spicy food, try the cucumbers they serve as vegetables to cool down your tongue.

Mathai's Banana Leaf Rice
New Lay Sin Restaurant
250 Jalan Tun Sambanthan
Brickfields
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 016-371 9894

(Halal. Opened from 10 am to 3 pm and is closed on alternate Mondays.)

Updated on 16 May, 2008 - The stalls at New Lay Sin including Mathai's has moved down to Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, 144A, Jalan Vivekananda, KL.Tel: 03-22603698/6698. Operating hours are from 10.30am-2.30pm (lunch) and 5.00pm-10.30pm (dinner)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

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