Review: Capon Chicken & Seafood @ Jin Chwan Seafood & Chef Tam

**Non-Halal**

After our first taste of ma cho kai (horse grass chicken) at Hakka Republic, Gerald of Sunshine Chicken invited us and a group of bloggers, as promised, to taste the elusive capon chicken known as yim kai in Cantonese. I had never tasted yim kai in my life but listening to Capt'n Hook's description of how a man on his bicycle going round his kampung (which is now part of KL city) offering his service to castrate roosters is well... very interesting indeed.

This time round Gerald rounded up Kedai Makanan Chef Tam and Jin Chwan Seafood Garden in Taman Bidara, Selayang to offer us some fresh seafood off the tank and a few of Chef Tam's specialties. Jin Chwan is not a stranger to us as we have been visiting them during their early opening days. They're amongst the early "live" seafood provider where we could picked from their tank and they will send the seafood over to either Chef Tam or North Ocean (shifted to Bandar Menjalara and strangely wrapped up within months of shifting). I spied Chef Tam recently but I was skeptical thinking it could be an imitator since Chef Tam at one point had shifted to Bandar Sunway but has since sold his business to his friend and move to Indonesia for a few years before coming back to Selayang again! So it was the real Chef Tam indeed ;-)

First up was the visit to Jin Chwan Seafood Garden. Whoa, the place seems to be having more and more tanks. There are rows and rows of live seafood ranging from fishes, crabs and shellfish... lots of them are very exotic stuff, very educational indeed for boiboi. All one need to do is pick up the seafood and wine (if you forget to bring any) here, pay at the cashier and their staff will send over to your choice of restaurants of either Chef Tam or Bei Hai (in replace of North Ocean). The restaurants will prepare and cook your pick with some charges thrown in.




We walked back to the restaurant, a very cool reprieve indeed under the hot afternoon sun. We started off with very huge Canadian Pacific oysters, definitely bigger than my palm. Ben of Jin Chwan was around to explain to us about themselves and the oysters of course. Was surprised that these luscious babies costed only RM4.80 per oyster.



Next was the piece de resistance, the Steamed Yim Kai that came with a dip of chopped ginger and spring onions plus a type of rice from XinJiang. The rice was kinda glutinous and sticky, wonderfully fragrant as Chef Tam had used the broth from the chicken to cook the rice. As for the chicken, my first bite into the chewy meat was unforgettable. Since I've tasted ma cho kai before, this I tell ya, it's totally different. The texture is smooth but unlike normal chicken this is chewy and bouncy... very different indeed as compared with normal kampung chicken.

Since I was forbade from eating chicken skin since young, I never developed a liking for them well except when they're deep fried, even then I still just have a couple of bites and discard the rest, yes even with KFC :p Since Gerald said the skin is a must try, I soldiered on and surprisingly the skin texture is not soft and slimy but instead bouncy and crunchy, yeah crunchy! No wonder my boiboi kept asking his daddy to scoop for him the pieces with the skin on!!! *roll eyes*

The plate shown above is half a chicken errr 1 whole chicken was about 4.5kg up to 5kg and yes please call ahead to reserve one or half a yim kai. The price is around RM120++ for half and the price is seasonal.



A plate of sea snails buried in gratined creamy cheese sauce came next. Pure Glutton's boy loved this but I find it very jelak, perhaps it had turned cold and the sauce was just too cheesy. I've tasted similar style in Jun Kee where the sea snails were coated with a light cheese sauce instead of buried in one which is more agreeable. Sorry no picture cos it turned out terrible looking.

Our table got this Australian Jack Pearl fish which is lightly steamed and served with superior soy sauce. The flesh is firm and sweet, wished the fish was bigger in size though. We found out later that our neighbouring table had gotten a different type of fish - Sea Garoupa which is done in similar way, must be good since the entire fish has been deboned!



The obligatory tofu dish turned out to be superb. The chunks of tofu are deep fried placed on top of blanched baby kailan. A drizzle of light sauce complete the dish. The eggy tofu ought to be homemade and it was delish. I polished 2 chunks!

This time I tasted roasted ma cho kai which we all thought was roasted but in fact it's deep fried after the chicken is hung dry for many many hours. Hence, Chef Tam mentioned that this dish need pre-ordering if possible. Our table loved this chicken! It's so satisfying biting into the crispy skin amidst the bouncy meat.



It's my first time tasting this plate of super dark green vegetables. Pure Glutton explained that this is snow pea shoots (a type of dao miu). The shoots are plainly stir-fried with garlic, the flavours of the vege is intense, definitely does not have the greenish taste. I'm hooked.

Our meal ended with a refreshing gwai ling goe and mixed fruit cocktail and Chef Tam explaining the dishes cum answering questions fielded by us. We would like to thank Gerald, Jin Chwan and Chef Tam for the hospitality served.

In the meantime, if you're hankering for some ma cho kai or yim kai, do give Gerald a call as Sunshine Chicken do delivers to certain areas in the Klang Valley. Otherwise, click here to check where you can eat these yummy free range chickens.

Check out what the rest have to say about this:

Cumi dan Ciki
Eu Hooi Khaw (gosh I was so "star" struck having to finally meet Hooi Khaw in real after reading NST for yonks :p)

FBB

Pure Glutton

Jin Chwan Seafood Garden
9 Jalan 2/4,

Taman Bidara, Selayang
Tel: (603) 6138 2633
Business Hours:

Weekday 8:00am - 10:00pm

Public Holiday and Sundays 8:00am - 10:30pm

Kedai Makanan Chef Tam

6A Jalan Bidara 2/4,

Taman Bidara, Selayang.

Tel: (603) 6138 8751

Business Hours: 12:oopm - 3:oopm & 6:00pm - 11:00pm

Sunshine Chicken (Sales & Marketing)

45-2, 2nd Floor, Jalan Menara Gading 1,

Medan Connaught

56000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (603) 9102 3950

Selamat Hari Raya AidilAdha

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha to all our Muslims friends.

Graphic credit: supercoloring.com

Mocha Chocolate Cake

This Mocha Chocolate Cake is really designed specially for coffee and chocolate lovers. The recipe is drawn from my fave Page One's 500 series, this one from the 500 Cakes. We loved the fudgy cake warm with vanilla ice-cream. When served warm, the cake is dense with a soft centre... absolutely Heavenly.

Since I loved dark chocolate, the slight bitter taste worked wonderfully with the reduction of sugar but you may stick with the recipe if you do not like dark chocolate. As for the mocha part, I thought single shot of espresso would be good enough but Capt'n Hook said he liked the extra aromatic flavour. So, take your pick on your type of coffee used.

Mocha Chocolate Cake

260 g dark chocolate, chopped

170g butter, diced

150g caster sugar (ori was 200g)

3 large eggs

70g plain flour

2 tbsp double espresso (ori was 2 tbsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water)

Preheat oven to 160C. Line bottom of 20cm round springform tin with greaseproof paper.

Place butter and chocolate in heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat and cool for 5 mins. Stir in sugar, then beat in the egg one by one. Fold in the flour and stir in coffee.

Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 55 mins but my oven needed 45 mins only or its firm on top but wobbly in the middle. Do not over bake, else you'll loose the soft centre. Leave to cool in the tin.

Remove and serve with thick cream or vanilla ice-cream.

Ref: Page One's 500 Cakes

McD's Prosperity Beef Burger is Back!

Just a quick community message, if you're fan of black pepper sauce coated beef patty on a bed of raw onion in between sesame seeds buns, it's time to hit the I'm Lovin' It place :D



McD's Prosperity Beef Burger is back! It's sooo satisfying to sink in to one ;-)



Wished the Twister Fries is a permanent item on the menu though!



Oh yeah, it was just too fantastic that this is available for McValue Lunch for only RM9.95, 12 - 3pm everyday! *skipping and hopping to McD*

Review: Little Lim Penang Pancake

Few weeks back, we were hunting for some furnitures around Jalan 222 area as it was nearing 7pm, Capt'n Hook decided to swing by Restoran Ahwa Hokkien Mee to have dinner. When we enter the shop, I saw a stall labelled Little Lim Penang Pancake but it was closed. Didn't give much thoughts about it but would be great to be able to taste these ban chan kuih ala Penang style. I've read in blogs that they have unimaginable ingredients like eggs, tuna, cheese etc in them!

When we were done eating, the stall is opened and there were a lot of people crowding around it. We kay poh (busy body) and join in the crowd. Hmmm seems like a lot of them were ordering Penang pancakes and true to what I've read, they do have various combi like peanut butter, chocolate, banana, mayo, ham, egg, meat floss??!!!


Click to enlarge

Since we already have our dinner, we decided to go for something sweet instead. Boiboi picked his fave stuff peanut and cheese (RM1.90). Capt'n Hook decided to go heavier with egg and peanut (RM1.90). As for myself my fave combi of peanut butter and banana (RM1.90). We sat at the table right in front of the stall and watch the guy did his stuff. He was manning 10 pans whilst the assistant prepares the ingredients to go into the pancakes.

We waited and waited, and waited.... soooo long sighhh. Business was so good and he has only 10 pans! Capt'n Hook, being a business development person, he observed and gauged that he would need to add additional 6 - 10 more pans to cope with the orders as quite a few customers came and rush him for their orders. As usual threats like cancelling orders also came around.

Anyway, our order only arrived after 20-25 minutes. Here are the 3 pancakes...



Mine was GOOD! The peanut butter sort of melted and flowing about in the pancake. Crushed peanuts topped the banana slices, there is nothing more that I could ask for on the crispy pancake. It was really a messy affair kekeke.



Capt'n Hook and I felt his combi just doen't work for us. The egg is slightly over cooked and it doesn't compliment the crushed peanuts. No pics of boiboi's pancake as he scorfed it down quickly with bits and pieces of pancake plus peanuts flew all over the table as he bites of them, thank goodness we were sitting by the road side.




Little Lim Penang Pancake
Restoran Ahwa Hokkien Mee
Jalan 222
Petaling Jaya

Restoran Lai Kong
Sunway Mentari
(opposite Sunway Pyramid)

Tel: 016-4074 901
email: littlelimpg(at)yahoo.com

Review: Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee

**Non-Halal**

This place, Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee at Jalan Maharajalela need no introduction. It's one of the older institution that sells black Hokkien Mee in Kuala Lumpur. Despite numerous visits, I have yet to blog about them cos I could never get good pics until recently when we got seated right below their lit signboard... ahhhh better light at last hehehe. Well you can choose to sit inside the shoplot but most people usually sit along the five foot way or by the road side, very typical of us Malaysian.



The hokkien mee here has enough wok hei (breathe of the wok), lots of ingredients ranging from pork slices, squid, pork liver and of course pieces of deep fried crunchy lard! Taste wise is above average as I find Thiam Sang is way better. Now, forget about the hokkien mee this time round and concentrate on this plate of Deep Fried Squid (Calamari)...



Looks quite pathetic or not?? The calamari rings looked skinny and oily BUT I tell ya they're wonderful! I haven't eaten such style for a while. Mun Wah's deep fried squid is uber crispy, the batter is not soaked in oil! We were crunching on them till the last bite, best dip into the accompanying tangy chili sauce.

We also have a plate of greens, stir-fry romaine lettuce with fermented beancurd (fu yue yau mak) to go with all that.

Whoops I've forgotten the prices but rest assure you, they won't break your bank!


Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee
155 Jalan Maharajalela

50150 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Butter, Peanut Butter and Kaya Toasts

Last week I chanced up Kong Kay's roti bakar post. It's this sua koo's (country bumpkin) first time seeing toasted bun with thick slab of butter on one side and the other side was spread with peanut butter and pandan kaya!!! If you look at Kong Kay's pic, they have a beautiful contrast especially the emerald green kaya.

Yesterday, I tried this combi. On 2 slices of Mrs Macgregor (I forgot which type hahaha cos Capt'n Hook bought it for me but it has poppy seeds on top) toasts, I spread butter (yikes didn't realise I spread on so much *picit my spare tyre*) on one side and the other peanut butter and homemade kaya given to me by Pure Glutton. The peanut butter really elevated the normal kaya butter toasts to another level. The burst of saltiness and sweetness... kinda weird but it's a nice kind of weird which I liked :p

The kaya by Pure Glutton has a thick consistency which I remember how homemade ones are like, not overly sweet, so now all we have to do is wait for her to pass out the kaya recipe :D Thanks ;-)

Strawberry Gelato

These days when I buy berries, I will usually freeze the leftover before they turn rotten. Once I've accummulated a couple of tubs, I usually make smoothies out of them but nowadays I turn them into ice-creams and gelato. Oh sweet!!!

I've made this Strawberry Gelato using recipe from my fave 500 series published by Page One. The gelato is light but yet creamy. BoiBoi loves it a lot that he keep asking if we have finished it already :p

Gelato Di Crema (basic recipe)

600ml single cream
5 egg yolks
115g caster sugar (I used 100 only)

Heat cream until begin to bubble, then cool slightly.

In a large heatproof bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar till thick and creamy. Beat the cooling cream gently into the eggs.

Put bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and stir with wooden spoon until custard just coats the back of the spoon. Remove bowl and let it cool.

When custard is completely cooled, pour into ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Stop churning when it's almost firm, transfer to a freezer container and leave in freezer for 15 mins before serving, or until required.

Gelato is best eaten fresh but can be frozen up to a month. Take out at least 15 mins before serving to soften.

Makes about 600ml.


Strawberry Gelato

1 recipe Gelato Di Crema
500g fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped

(A)
2 tbsp
caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare basic gelato and leave to cool completely.

Puree strawberries in blender with (A). Pour thru fine-mesh strainer to remove seeds, if liked. This is a tiring job but it's worth it.

Stir puree into basic gelato until well blended. Pour into ice-cream maker and churn accordingly.

Ref: 500 Ice Creams and Sorbets, Page One

Review: Mezze @ Jalan Kasah, Medan Damansara

**Non-Halal**


Mezze in the Eastern Mediterranean is a selection of appetizers or small dishes often served with beverage ie. beer, wines, etc is rather similar to the tapas of Spain or finger food. The Mezze I visited last week shared the same philosopy where food tastes best when shared with friends and family. When I walked in, the word "homey" came in mind where bare brick walls with beautiful b&w photos of my city, Kuala Lumpur and her people graced other walls. To me, Mezze at Jalan Kasah, Medan Damansara (just besides Vintry) is some sort of a meeting place where one kick off his shoes, sit back and relax whilst relishing on tasty bites and flowy wines.

Going thru the menu, I loved how Mezze sectionised and labelled them LOL... there are Greedy for big dishes, Grazing for small dishes, Indulge (no need to explain on this huh?) and Thirsty! There's even Afternoon Quickies hehe...

Richard Brewer is the Head Chef here but we got Perin to help us out in picking out some signature Grazing dishes for our party of 8. We shared some and it's clear which dish came out tops! Clockwise from top left; Mezze Flat Bread & Dips (RM9.50) have some Turkish flat bread with 2 kinda dips and the dips tend to change periodically. Pancetta & Prawn Tempura (RM15.50) have 3 huge prawns in crispy tempura batter, the wasabi aioli complimented the prawns beautifully, so good that we have double orders. Duck Liver Pate (RM13.50), needless to say this is THE must order! The pate is sinfully creamy so do balance out with a wee bit of fennel marmalade... it's very rich so do watch out and don't gorge yourself silly on this as there are more yummies here.

The next item we grazed were Zucchini Fritters (RM11.50). The fritter here is fried flat, almost like a pancake. There's a bite in this fritter that is the feta cheese. We felt the cheese is a tad heavy here especially for grazing. Shantini (I hope I got the spelling right) explained that this dish is to cater to their vegetarian guests who need to have some bite instead of just eating plain vege. It's great to see that they care for vegetarians instead of alienating them. Hmm we have a very meaty Lamb Cutlet (RM28.00) next. I tell ya, this is everyone's favourite! The 3 generous size lamb cutlets are chargrilled with coriander mint and honey, ohhh so tasty that you don't need any dips or anything else except digging them in with fingers and all. The bones were all sucked dry, see it was that good! Lastly the Duck & Chicken Spring Roll hold some meat too. There were shredded chicken and duck with pieces of feta and mushroom inside the crispy roll. Again the dip - green chili jam was fabulous to go with these babies.



Since there were eight of us, we just decided to order all the 8 Greedy dishes LOL the rule of thamjiak :p

The Chili Shrimp Spaghetti (RM29.50) have chargrilled prawns with chili, slow roasted tomato and shallots. I loved how the sweet shallots give the pasta dish a whole new dimension. Already noted and will do the same with mine at home. I was surprised on how Steamed Mussels (RM22.50) have turned out! Since I did not read the menu, I was half expecting them to be some sort buttery. I was so wrong hahaha... Richard told me that he had used some very Asian ingredients like tamarind, lemongrass, ginger, chili and honey which Capt'n Hook thought it was some kinda of Thai tom yum soup. Lovely!

Barbecued Spatchcock Chicken (RM28.00) have a spring chicken sitting on top of potatoes and a burnt aubergine salsa. We all know this is someone's fave but I better refrain from putting the name here, otherwise I will not get anymore invites :p. I had always wonder how would Spatchcock Chicken looked like after watching Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson making them. I finally get to taste it. Even though its barbecue, thank goodness the taste is no where barbeque sauce flavour! It's kinda have smokey flavours on the meat and I liked the shallots in the salsa. We then have Ballotine of Lamb (RM42.00) where the chargrilled boneless lamb marinaded in tagine spices, herbs, preserved lemon, olives etc served on a bed of cous cous. Loved how the cous cous soaked up the gravy.



Guisado Alicante (RM28.00) is a broth chokeful of seafood and chickpeas. I can taste smokey chorizo in it, hmmm now that it reminded me it's quite similar to my Minestrone but of course this is better. Very hearty! The Rib Eye Steak (RM65.00) is the priciest item in Greedy, so what do you think? Sounds reasonable huh? I would think so with the kinda quality Richard is controlling here.

The Lamb Pilaf Pie (RM23.00) came with a flaky pastry top. Just be careful when you dig as it's very very hot. We broke open the pastry and the smell of the pilaf rice with lamb pieces whafting out is so aromatic. Braised Beef Shank Pappardelle (RM32.50) ends our Greedy selection. The fresh fat ribbon pasta is homemade by Richard's friend served with ragout of braised beef shank. All right by now, I'm quite stuffed even though I'm only tasting morsels of each!



So the last thing to do here is to Indulge ourselves into these desserts. We have a Mango Tart (RM11.00, not pictured) where thin slices of mango on a crisp flaky pastry with mint and pineapple granita gave a good combination of flavours. This is something light but in case you like heavier desserts to share, these will be them.

Pana Cotta (RM9.50) is smooth, not too sweet. Best eaten with the hazelnut bits and syrup. The next Sticky Toffee Date Pudding served with Haagen Dazs vanilla ice-cream is not in the menu but it's on the blackboard, we're trying to tell the chef to make this permanent as this screamed the best dessert in Mezze! The warm pudding is rich and moist with light drizzle of sticky toffee, gosh everyone loved this. Fastest dessert to disappear. Then we have an Affogato (RM15.50) which no need intro huh... Haagen Dazs vanilla ice-cream topped with a shot of expresso and coffee liqueur. The crowd seems to be chocolate lovers as the Brownie (RM19.50) is fast going too. Can't blame them when the brownie is made with Varlhona chocolate!



BTW, my pics sucks to the max but don't worry, you can view the yumilicious offerings over at Lots of Craving. This means this place is low in lighting and a good place to bring your girl girl or boy boy for some intimate dates. It's quiet enough to have decent conversation. Sincerely speaking, this is a great place to share and graze food and of course drinking as well.

At this outing, I finally gotta meet the person behind the microphone, Aly and Fay Khoo, author of Best Eats. Very happy! Thank you to theQguides, Perin, Shantini and Richard for a fabulous evening.


Mezze
132 Jalan Kasah
Medan Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2095 0122

Note: Website not in operation yet

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

**Non-Halal**


Today I shall delved into a simple homecooked dish which is hearty and utmost delish. My mom used to cook this at home and I replicate it in our home these days.

Here's my guesstimate recipe for Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage:

2 large kampung chicken thighs (de-skinned and chopped into pieces)
2 tbsp Shao Tsing Rice Wine
about 2cm knob of ginger, sliced thinly
2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong), sliced according to your liking but I find them nicer when it's chunkier

(A)
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp Shao Tsing Rice Wine
some white pepper if you like but it's all right to omit

Marinade chicken with ingredients (A). I usually do this a couple of hours or more ahead and stick them in the fridge. Remove from fridge about 30-45 minutes before cooking. You can adjust the seasoning according to your taste.

Mix chicken, Chinese sausages and ginger slices in a heat proof dish. Pour the Shao Tsing Rice Wine all over and steam until cooked. For an electric steamer, it took about 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with white rice.

If you prefer a stronger wine taste, pour in the wine right after cooking rather than before. I've used Stone's Ginger Wine and tasted just a great. Chinese sausages can also be left out to create a normal steam chicken dish.

Review: Emperor Q Casual Chinese Restaurant & Café

**Non-Halal**

Updated 3 November 2011

Has since closed and replaced with Duck King Express.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Emperor Q Casual Chinese Restaurant & Café is located opposite their sister restaurant, MOF Japanese Sweets and Coffee in Pavilion. The menu is quite extensive here and they have lunch and dinner sets that are definitely more value for money as compared with ala carte orders. Checking thru, the menu consist of a hodgepodge of Chinese cum Asian offerings ranging from Taiwanese's 3 Cup Chicken to Japanese's hot pot and even sushi (but I think they have a little Chinese influence) right to a rather fusion Kapitan Seafood. Anyway, since we both can't find anything that can safisfy us from the set menu, we opted to go ala carte.

It has been a hot day and the best way is to have a cold noodle to slurp down hence I opted for a Minced Pork Prawn Noodle (RM18.90). It looked kinda plain but the flavour's there. The prawns were fresh and crunchy, most probably being marinaded with soda bicarbonate duh. I find the noodles doesn't keep cold till the end, it's not so pleasant eating room temperature noodles. My fault also cos I took a bit more time to snap pics gah!



The captain recommended a Rice Wine Chicken (oops can't find the price) to Capt'n Hook. Added a bowl of rice (RM2.00). The soup came with a little stove to keep it warm. After a sip, he complained the soup has no ooomph. He signaled for the Captain who took his order and told him so. The next thing, he brought a small bowl of rice wine and pour into the soup. Capt'n Hook took another sip and gave thumbs up for this. Now this is what I called good customer service by addressing the issue immediately ;-)



We added a steamed egg with minced pork which came looking like chawan mushi but this is better, just like how mom's steamed egg with minced pork tasted like. Now I have to remind myself to ask my mom how to make this!



I had a young coconut( RM7.00) and Capt'n Hook a pot of Pu Er (RM5.00). Prices here are kinda steep with a 10% service charge imposed but I supposed you're paying for the nice ambiance and environment, plus great service. Food wise, will have to explore more to try other dishes.

Emperor Q Casual Chinese Restaurant & Café
Lot 1.59.00 Level 1
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (603) 2144 6861