It Has Been A Great Year Indeed

Gosh how time flies... we're on the closing week of the year already, with a bright new year awaiting us in 2 days time. Let's reminiscence why 2010 have been so great to me at least.

When it comes to blogging, I guess nothing beats getting to know more people and making friends along the way. What more when FOOD is always the focus of our attention whenever we meet each time :p Food really does unites people!

It also never ceases to amaze me how many people, mostly strangers, have told me "OMG you're Babe_KL??", "Your blog is Babe in the City - KL? Ohhh I do read your blog."... well it's not only me but Capt'n Hook gets equal attention too *chuckles* He got one just yesterday when he called up a distributor and the person asked "Ohhh you must be Capt'n Hook?!!!" after informing him that he's a food blogger.

This is the year where we finally got ourselves exposed, no longer hiding behind Babe_KL or Capt'n Hook. NST featured us as their cover story with our photos plastered on the cover of Life & Times plus centrepage spread. I nearly 'died' when I heard big boss had read the article and I wondered how when he was away on holiday? Luckily he was receptive and looked happy holding the paper telling everyone that "Hey she works for me and look how famous she is to appear on 3 pages!".

As for work, I was offered a VSS after working for donkey years with the company in August. It was sad but at the same time I was really really happy looking forward to a long break. I'm still on my so called sabbatical break which a lot of people are envious of.



I guess things do happen for a reason. When a group of us food bloggers were invited to Bayan Indah, never would I ever dream of Rohani Jelani offering me to work there when she heard of my VSS albeit it's on a part time basis. So these days, if you attend classes at Bayan Indah, you might see me there assisting in the kitchen. Not only that, I was given to opportunity to work with her team on developing recipes and coming up with new themes. What more could I ask for going to work in such a lush surroundings that come with fresh air and chirping birds?

BoiBoi is growing up nicely to a fine young man. A lot of times he really surprises me with a lot of things. Perhaps it's the thing about growing up with mostly adults, he's far more matured than his 8 years of age. Progressing all right with school but of course with lots of growing up pains as usual with friends in school. He's a real sweetie. Watch out all the gurls out there!



There's also something in stall for both of us as well, hopefully by next year it will blossomed into something great. We're really looking forward to the new year, praying that it will be kind to us again and may all of us be in good health, holding more goodies our way and be blessed with the great company of friends and of course delicious food.

We want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a splendid New Year with all the good tidings in your way!

Happy New Year!

2010 Time Out KL Food Award Winners

Remember I've mentioned about 2010 Time Out KL Food Award which we attended back in November. Well since the month is drawing to a close, just in case you did not get a copy of the magazine, here are the winners of the award in their various categories.

The photos did not turn out well cos I just took them from my second row seat. There were just too many photographers hovering around the stage. Posted are just some I picked that was not fully blocked by anyone.

2010 Time Out KL Food Award Winners

Chinese – Chynna-KL Hilton

Continental – La Bodega

Fine Dining – Lafite

Healthy Eating/vegetarian – Marmalade

Indian – Bombay Palace

Italian – Prego

Japanese – Fukuharu

Malay – Bijan

Middle Eastern – Al Amar

Seafood – High Tide

Steak house – Prime, Le Meridien

Thai/Indochinese – Tamarind Springs

Mamak/Hawker – Nasi Kandar Pelita

Outstanding Chef of the Year – Chef David King

Pub Grub – Jarrod & Rawlins

Best New Restaurant - The Pressroom

Best Independent Restaurant - Albion KL

Best Restaurateur - Edward Hyde

Review: Marufuku Udon

**Pork Free**

There was certainly a hype over the opening of Marufuku Udon at Jaya One and they are barely 2 months old. We have been hearing rave reviews of this outlet from the main draw Sanuki Udon (Taman Desa & Wisma Cosway). So when we were in Jaya One recently on a gloomy day, we just can't go pass without a bowl of hot udon. So off we went in search of Marufuku Udon and it was tucked behind Frontera. 

Since it was weekday, it has gather quite a lunch crowd from the offices around here. We were given menu and told to order and pay up at the cashier. We placed our order with Capt'n Hook and he came back with a plate of deep fried snacks plus a couple of ocha (green tea, RM1) which is refillable. On our other trip which falls on a Saturday, it was table service instead. 

Anyway, back to the food, here's the plate of deep fried snacks of karaage, prawn wontons, tempura ebi and roundee (erm not sure what but that's as stated in receipt) (RM1 each). BoiBoi devoured most of these but I took a bite off the wonton. Sad to say these deep fried goods would only be great if they're served immediately. I can feel the oily bits since they were left at the counter for patrons to pick from. On our way out, we met someone (sorry forgot to ask for his name) who were doing paperworks and we gave him our feedback on this. We were told that they have ordered the hot lamp to keep them warm and waiting for it to arrive. Bravo for this and hopefully it will prevent the fried goods from going limp.



Both the boys have Hot Nabeyaki (RM10) that came in a claypot. I had a taste of the broth and it's really tasty. It looked quite a large portion of udon topped with tempura ebi, fish cake, slices of tofu puffs, shiitake mushrooms and an egg. My BoiBoi downed the entire bowl of noodles after chowing down the fried stuff! He ordered this again on our next visit, guess I don't need to say more how delish this bowl of noodles is huh?

Since it was kinda cold, nothing beat a hot bowl of Niku Udon (RM10) to warm things up. Loved the springy texture of the udon, something that you can't find with store bought udon. The beef were perfectly sliced ever so thinly that they practically melt in the mouth. The broth used here is different, equally as tasty and I did not left a single drop of it in my bowl :p

We loved the no frills concept here, just a quick service restaurant to fill up the tummy to be on the go. Yakitori and Nabe Steamboat are also available for dinners. Oh yeah I also liked the idea of using environmentally friendly bowls, plates and cutleries ;-) 2 thumbs up for that for sure.


Marufuku Udon
Blk L, Unit 18, Level G, 

Phase 1, Jaya One

No 72-A, Jalan Universiti,
46000 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 603- 7957 6368

Blessed Christmas

Upside Down Pear & Pistachio Cake

I've gotten a couple of Australian Women Weekly's cookbook recently at a sale and tried this Upside Down Pear & Pistachio Cake recipe from Easy Baking. We loved this cake a lot as it's super moist and the nuts made the cake so fragrant. I think this would be great to serve on Christmas ;-)

Upside Down Pear & Pistachio Cake

1/4 cup chopped pistachio
1 cup firmly packed sugar (but I've reduced this to about 3/4 cup)
1 large pear, unpeeled, cored and sliced thinly
185g butter, softened
3 eggs
1/4 cup plain flour
11/4 cups almond meal

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease shallow 22cm round cake pan, line base with baking paper.

2. Combine pistachio with 2 tbsp sugar and sprinkle on the base of the pan and top with pear slices.

3. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in sifted flour and meal.

4. Pour mixture into pan and bake about 35 mins. Stand cake in pan for 10 mins before turning top side down, onto wire rack. Serve cake warm or cold.

(Ref: Easy Baking, Australian Women Weekly's)

Review: A Wet Thai Cafe

**Non-Halal**


A friend of mine had introduced A Wet Thai Cafe which is located in Taman Cheras within walking distance from the wai sek kai (street food). We have been there numerous time and so far they have not disappoint us in terms of service and quality. This post is a collection of a couple of our trips there.

Upon arrival, you'll be served with a cold water in metal cup with a light hint of pandan. Do note that this is RM1 per person and it's refillable. Decline this if you wish to have something else, otherwise it will be charged to your bill.

We tried Meang Kam (RM12) which has an array of condiments like lime, chillies, peanuts, toasted coconut flakes, galangal, onions and dried shrimps. The daun kaduk (wild betel leaves in English) is given separately and you'll need to fold one leave into a cup before ladling in tiny bits of everything before topping off with the sauce. Fold down the leave and pop into your mouth. Love the burst of flavours in the mouth. The sauce here is kinda hot. Not the best we have eaten though.





This is the Thai Combo Set (RM30) that has 4 pieces each of prawn cakes (looks like doughnut), fish cakes and pandan leaves wrapped chicken. There's a bowl of mango salad in the centre. While this salad is forgettable but the fish cakes and prawns cakes are lovely. Ingredients were fresh definitely. The pandan leaves wrapped chicken however depends on how they were being deep fried. There was once it was over fried, hence a little dry but otherwise this is all right too.





Then we have the Thai Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Garlic (RM15). This was over fried making it dry and tough, otherwise the flavour was all right.



There are limited beancurd dishes and this is one of them Minced Pork Tofu (RM12) which you can skip. The gravy is way starchy and when it got cold, it's kinda gluey.



We quite like their Thai Fried Kangkung (RM10) which is typical Thai style of sambal with the addition of preserved beans (tau cheong in Cantonese). Enough wok hei here for the veggies.



We were recommended this Salted Chicken (RM28) once and this was a free range chicken where the meat is slightly on the tough side but gave a nice flavour. Not overly salty and it's done well.



Ahhh then our favourite cos it has salted fish amongst the crunchy kai lan in the Thai Fried Kailan (RM10).



Omelette  is not in the menu but you can order it as they will usually do when you have children at your table who can't take spicy food. This one is Thai Fried Egg (RM10) which has minced meat inside. Loved the crunchy bits on the side but a bit oily though. This is BoiBoi's fave and a must order for him.



Now, A Wet is famous for their Thai BBQ too hence you can see lots of smoke bellowing out at the back portion of the corner. To simplify matters, we usually take the Thai BBQ Combo (RM40) as it has a combination of prawns, lamb, chicken and squid. It came with the forgettable mango salad and a delish greenish and tangy chilli sauce. Each of the meat were delicious on their own way and was glad we have gotten a combo. Best part was they have perfected the art of grilling squid as the squid remained tender, otherwise it would turned into rubber sheets!



There were some dessert choices and Tab Tim Krob (RM5.90). Other than the water chestnuts that came in 2 colours - red and yellow, you can see that the portion of jelly cubes and jackfruit (nangka in Malay) are quite substantial.



The menu have only one size in portion so if you have a large group like 10, you might need to order 2 portions as I reckon each portion can feed like 4-5 people only. I've misplaced the receipts but if not mistaken there's Government tax (5%) and a service charge.

If you're going there on a weekend, either be there early like 6.00pm or my best advice is to call to make a reservation. Do that even on weekdays! By 7.00pm, it would be packed! Parking would be easier too when early as they have some "reserved" space in front of the restaurant.

Note: We are away for the week on holiday but several scheduled posts will be up. Hence, comments will only be approved when we're back. Ta.


A Wet Thai Cafe
8 Jalan Kaskas 3
Taman Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-9131 9838
Map here

Peppery Diced Meat, Potatoes and Peas

**Non-Halal**




This is a creation of my mother and she cooks this a lot when were younger since potatoes are our favourite on the dining table. It's still our favourite dish and now my BoiBoi likes it too.

We normally use lean pork but occasionally we uses chicken meat either breast or thigh. Just diced them evenly and marinade with some oyster sauce, white pepper powder, sesame oil, some cornstarch and a few grains of sugar. Deep fried them till light brown and set aside.

Diced the potatoes to about the size of the meat and deep fried in hot oil till cooked and lightly browned. Set aside.

To assemble the whole dish, fry some diced onions till translucent before adding the meat. When done, put in the fried potatoes and stir well. Next add in some water (not too much as it's meant to be a dry dish) mixed with a dash of oyster sauce, a little dark soy sauce and a little sugar. You can season with some salt too if you wish. Stir and add in some green peas. Then add in lots of white pepper powder, well a lot more than usual but how much depends how hot you can take it. This is a rather peppery dish.

Dish up and serve with rice. Missing this already cos it's soooo yummy. Psssttt we tend to steal bites of this dish by shoving down by the spoonfuls :p without anyone looking before meal time kekeke and I still do this LOL.

Christmas at Häagen-Dazs

I guess December must be one of the best time of the year. We are not Christians but since young, my dad loved to put on his Christmas albums on the record player. The malls are playing all these lovely Christmas carols, let alone all the beautiful decorations which seems so magical even these days to me. Make me feel like 10 again!

I received a call from Jean Michel Fraisse courtesy of FBB one day. I was like WOW, how often does a French chef call you personally!!! LOL he was inviting me to an ice cream dessert demo event at his The French Culinary School. How not to say no?

So one Friday, I went down town and as I walked in to the school I saw Häagen-Dazs banners. Ahhhh so it was for one of my favourite ice cream! Remember we went to the launch of their new menu and sushi platter?

Jean Michel started off the demo first by introducing us to Chef Jean François Arnaud who came out with all the various Christmas creations for Häagen-Dazs. Then a brief on the ice cream and how they're made totally without any preservatives or additives.

We sampled some flavours too :p chocolate, vanilla and raspberry.

Chef Jean François proceeded by bring out his creations one by one and all of us go "Awwww", "Sooo cute", "So pretty, how to eat"!!! Do note though that NOT all of these are available at the store. Too bad huh?

The first up were these cute little parcels called Gateaux Gift. They were raspberry with vanilla centre with a layer of chocolate. This is available but as Joyous Noel instead.

This is Green Tree with green tea and vanilla ice creams decorated looking like a log house with chocolates, berries and whipped cream.

Now this one I know very sure it's available cos I saw it personally in the fridge :p This is Let It Snow! It's a half circled log with raspberry and vanilla ice creams with white chocolate. So classy!

The next that came got us all very excited like small kids LOL cos these Papa Noel are so darn cute!!! Chef Jean François told us when asked how to make these and he said by just using semi circle scoops and join 2 portions of raspberry ice cream together to make the body, freeze for 24 hours. The rest were made by using raspberry and whipped cream. For pro like them they actually use silicon moulds instead of a scoop.

Irresistible or not???

Treasure chest anyone?

We were shown how the coins were made using this gelatine mould with coins indentation.

How about a Christmas Wreath? So many flavours of ice cream in one creations using small scoops and held in place with whipped cream, finished off with white chocolates.

I had so much fun photographing and tasting the creations too!

 

Thank you to Chef Jean Michel Fraisse, Chef Jean François Arnaud and Häagen-Dazs for these lovely treats!

So hurry to Häagen-Dazs shops to order one of these cutie Christmas collections!

Review: Ad Hog Restaurant

**Non-Halal**

I've received an sms from PureGlutton asking me to join her for a pork feast at a new Ad Hog Restaurant. After a couple more smses then I realised the whole jing gang of babitarians will be there wooohooo! How not to say no right???

Just cause the area is quite new, the GPS gave us wrong instructions and send us very close by but then suddenly sent us away from it!! No lost there with a call to the right person :p and we were the last to arrive. From there we found out Sam, one of the partners from Checkers had opened up Ad Hog. Ahhhh that explains. Nigel did the ordering and dishes were shared amongst us all.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we were delighted to have some delish ang koo made by PureGlutton! Then Sam came with this huge log of pork to entice us! Apparently, it's in the midst of drying before roasting for dinner.

The first to arrive is Babi Guling with rice, lawar and sambal (RM16.90). The Babi Guling tasted exactly like those you find in Bali and Nigel who just came back from there vouched for it too! Traditionally Babi Guling is a whole suckling pig stuffed with various spices and herbs like ginger, candlenuts, turmeric, chillies, lemongrass, etc and roasted on a pit. The fork tender meat is served with the crackling with the accompaniments. It was remarked by some whom we knew that it tasted like rendang which is not a surprise since similar spices and herbs were used. Anyway, this dish is only available during lunch in limited portion. If you wish to have this, do place in your order when you call up for reservation.

Then we have the Chicken Pogs (RM49) which is a chicken roulade with stuffings wrapped with bacon. Served with a salad and mash potatoes.

The roulade is lovely with the bacon crispy but tender chicken on the inside. The salad has papaya in it with the signature dressing that as cumin in it. The mash here is nothing to shout about though, a little dry I reckon. My only complaint here is the portion of salad! Kinda stingy in size and looked out of proportion on the plate. Sam, please increase and give us mountain size salad just cause the salad is SOOO awesome! :p

A Pork Shoulder Steak (RM39) was served next. Loved the juicy steak and it's flavourful. BoiBoi asked for more of the pork! Kinda rare ok. The steaks are served with the same delicious salad and a few slices of steamed orange sweet potatoes to be dipped in olive oil and salt. Again my gripe was the portion of sides.

The Roast Pork (RM39) came with fresh homemade sauerkraut which is totally different from the pickled kind. Those who doesn't like the usual sauerkraut, do give it a go here. It's really good. 

As for the pork, aiyoh the meat is so tender, melt in the mouth and the skin ohhh so crispy. Just look at the cracklings! Wish there were more :D

This is the Prosciutto Pizza (RM35). A simple thin crust pizza topped with prosciutto and cheeses. How not to like pizza like this?

We closed our lunch with rounds of Rum Ice Cream (RM12). Similar to Checkers, Ad Hog's version has vanilla ice cream topped with black grass jelly, longan and kidney beans drowned with rum. 

PureGlutton brought along a moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. What a perfect end to our perfect Babitarian meal!

Now, when we were there a few weeks back, the signage is not up yet. Sam said it's coming soon. So I'm not sure if it's up already by now. If not, look out for a shoplot that looks like this.

There's no menu yet but you can see some of the items listed on the board outside. Sam cooks whatever that is available in the market that day, I guess a little eccentric just like the decor of mismatched tables and chairs.

Can't wait to be there again and it shouldn't be difficult now since we know the way already, yay!


Ad Hog Restaurant

25 Jalan PJU 3/45

Sunway Damansara

47810 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 019-312 1922 (Sam)
Closed on Mondays
GPS coordinates: 3.1635178, 101.5983099 (N03° 9.8111′, E101° 35.8986′)
Map