How To Avoid "Roast Chicken" Moments

This post is specially dedicated to Kenny Mah (Life for Beginners).

Well, if you have read Kenny's latest post, you would have come across his "roast chicken" moments. Now, to prevent another one of those moment, I've written specific instructions on how to avoid such moment :p Kenny, I hope this helps.

You see, I've brought Mango Royale for dessert to PureGlutton's party and it's the easiest dessert one can cough up for say potluck parties with minimal equipment you have in your kitchen. I've done some tweaking to this recipe and it's quite versatile and you can't go wrong, well unless you read the recipe wrongly!


Pic nicked from Nigel of Just Heavenly

So here's the step-by-step method and ingredients (for kitchen noobs):

Ingredients

• About 1 kg of fresh ripe mangoes (about 3-4 medium sized ones)
• 100 ml sweetened condensed milk (in Malaysia they're now known as sweetened creamer/krimer manis)
• 250 ml all-purpose cream/whipping cream/thickened cream also works (they come in UHT packets)
• 10-15 McVite's digestive biscuits but I've used about 20+ Tiger marie biscuits for a crunchier base (amount depending on the size of your container)
• half a cup of melted butter

Step 1
Place the biscuits into a sturdy plastic bag (ziplock but I like to use the bag from bread loaf like Gardenia/High5). Bash them up with rolling pin or back of saucepan/frying pan into crumbs.

Step 2
Place the crumbs on the base of your container (plastic ones will do). Drizzle melted butter all over and mix well. Use your fingers and lightly pat them down. Try not to compact the crumbs, otherwise it's very hard to cut through. Leave this aside.

Step 3
Holding a whole mango, cut both sides down the midddle. Take the mango half and use a spoon to scoop the meat out from the skin. Place the mango halves onto the crumb base. You may use the middle portion to fill up the empty space in between and also for the topping.

Step 4
With a wire whisk (if you don't have any, just use a pair of chopsticks, spoon also can), blend together the cream and sweetened condensed milk. Pour over the mango halves. You can sprinkle some chopped mangoes over the top.

Step 5

Cover tightly and freeze for at least two hours or until firm. Remove from freezer for about 5 minutes or more, then use a knife and cut them into squares before serving.

Viola!!! A very simple dessert that anyone can make to avoid "roast chicken" moments :D

BTW, if mangoes are not in season, you can use other options like tinned longan (which I've done before), lychees, tinned mandarin orange segments, peaches, strawberries etc... the list is rather limitless.

Good luck and most important, have fun!!!

Easy Chicken Wrap

There are many times I have gone bonkers thinking of what to prepare for lunch on weekends. It's so hard to think up of the dishes to cook that are not complicated. I totally understand now why my mother keep repeating "I don't know what to cook today" heh. What more she has to cook everyday for us!

I was pondering one Sunday morning over the same question, I could go the easy way out by going out to eat but in the end we would be in a dilemma too as to where to go and eat!!! Grrrr so the easy way out is to check what I have in the larder and fridge. I have a packet of flat bread which I've bought but still not sure what to do with them hehe. I have butterhead lettuce, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Hmmm so off to the market I went and grabbed a piece of chicken breast, lots of red onions and one avocado... woooo wet market these days darn canggih ok! Yes the fruit stall does sells avocado, strawberries and blueberries!!! Most times they're slightly cheaper than the supermarkets.

I removed the skin from the chicken and clean it up. Sliced into half and marinade them with some oyster sauce, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and black pepper in the fridge for a couple of hours. Wash, soak and drain the lettuce leaves. Sliced up the onions into half rounds slices and I'm good to go.

Using a non-stick pan, I fry the chicken breast with some oil. Fried one side for about 7 minutes and flipping over to cook the other side. I poke into the centre of the breast to check the juice. When it run clears means it's cooked. Removed the chicken from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add some oil if it's not enough, fry up the onions till limp, brown and caramalised. Season with salt and black pepper. Dish up and then slice the chicken. Place them on top of the onions.



For condiments, sliced up avocado and squeezed in some lemon juice to prevent them from browning. Grated the cheddar cheese. I just use the flat bread right off the packet. It's Nature's Bake brand but next time I might just want to either lightly steam or toast them before using.



To assemble, just slather sour cream over the bread and line it with lettuce leaves. Topped with avocado, cheese, onions and chicken. Slowly roll it up and enjoy!



We have one roll each and it's really filling. Capt'n Hook commented that such simple stuff can turned out to be such a treat for lunch. There you go, another lunch idea for you and me...

7th Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS 2010)

Just a quick note here, the 7th Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS 2010) is now on at MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre. Capt'n Hook had the privilege to drop by yesterday when he went to MATRADE for some business.

He came back with some goodies which are not too bad. He said there were a lot of exhibitors from all over the world and he managed to try the various samples on offer. He also got to speak to many owners about their products and innovations. So I gather that if you're dealing with halal food, this showcase is not to be missed. However as consumer, this fair will be open to the public from 26 to 27 June 2010 (Sat & Sun). Other than samplings, you can buy those products that you fancy. There are cooking demos as well.

Details:

Event Date:
23 – 27 June 2010
23 – 25 June 2010 Open to trade and business communities only.
26 – 27 May 2010 Open to trade, business communities & the public

Venue: 

MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC) Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Operating Hours: 

10 am – 7 pm (Daily)

Click here for Event Schedule

Review: Jaya One Food Crawl

By now, you would have read about this Jaya One crawl in quite a number of the blogs. So here I am, blogging about it but will summarised up as much as possible so that it won't be a drag.

The entourage met up at Brisik Restaurant, our first stop for the evening. Brisik serves mainly Sundanese and Siamese food but they do have a small Western selections as well. Everyone were served the cooling lemongrass drink. A big help definitely to cool off the heat.



This is supposed to be our starters stop so we were served a Brisik Platter (RM18 for 2 pax) that contained satay serai, satagor and gado-gado. Satay serai has minced chicken meat wrapped around lemongrass as skewers. Lightly marinaded and slight charred meat makes up a satisfying satay. Everyone were curious over satagor cos we thought they are bergedil but they are not! Satagor are actually patties made of mashed beancurd, potato, minced chicken and mixed vegetables. Great to go with the chilli sauce. Then there's the gado-gado served with peanut sauce. Next, we were served Kerabu Mangga which is a typical Thai young mango salad and Brisik's version has crispy deep fried ikan bilis.



Our next stop is Bar Madrid which is opposite Brussels Beer. Bar Madrid serves Spain inspired food to go with their sangria and drinks. We were served 3 tapas here (anti-clockwise from top) Slow cooked Iberico cuts on baguette (RM17.90), Spanish Omelette (RM9) and Mini fried potato balls with Serrano ham filling (RM15.90). Everyone agreed the slow cooked Iberico is the best. The flavourful meat literally melted in the mouth. Spanish omelette is kinda plain after Iberico and the potato balls. When I bite into the ball, the filling sorta gushes out and we thought it was cheese but how wrong we were. When the chef came about, we asked him and he said it's milk not cheese!



The stop at Divino Restaurant was indeed a cool respite as it was getting really hot. We toured the restaurant and Pristine Wine that stocks old and new world wines. We were delighted to have Dawn to show us how to taste wines in the short period we were there. We tried a nice crisp white Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand - Cape Campbell Lobster Reef Sauvignon Blanc. This is easy to the palate since it's a young wine. Next, we swirled a Pinot Noir also from New Zealand - Black Cottage Pinot Noir. I didn't like this as the tannin is pretty strong here but surprisingly I loved the shiraz from South Africa - Juno Shiraz. I have tasted bad shiraz wines but this from South Africa is on the fruity side. Pleasant to my palate, will keep this Juno in mind. The next we have another red - Ken Forrester Pinotage from South Africa. We have to hurry off as we're kinda late in our schedule.



We finally have our mains at Kinnaree Thai Restaurant. When we're seated I can't helped but admire the crockeries. Our plates are actually lotus leaves but porcelain not the actual leaves haha. From the pic, anti-clockwise from top, we have a Yam Som O (RM16), Pla Sam Rod (RM40 Tilapia & RM60 Garoupa) and Ser Rong Hain (RM32). Yam Som O is actually a pomelo salad but this salad is totally different with the addition of coconut milk in the dressing. Well I think it's coconut milk since there isn't anyone from the restaurant was there to brief us. A nice start indeed. Pla Sam Rod is Deep-Fried Boneless Fish with Tamarind Sauce. Loved the crispy fish. When Ser Rong Hain came we were wondering why is this known as Crying Tiger. Crying most likely cos it's hot but tiger?? Anyway, you can see it's Grilled Australian Ribeye with Spicy Thai Sauce. Our ribeye were done medium raw but the table next to ours were well done which made them a little tough. This is our least favourite dish here.

We stopped at MUSE Italian Restaurant. Bar. Club for our next mains. Seriously from the outside, I would never thought it was a restaurant. It looked more like a club. Anyway it does serves contemporary Italian cuisine and turns into a club at later hours. It's also an art gallery! At this stop, we were served (anti-clockwise from bottom left) Angel Hair Seafood Aglio Olio (RM28); Grilled Lamb with Herbs (RM45) and 4 season @ MUSE (RM38). 





The Aglio Olio has prawns, squid and clams tossed with herbs and chili flakes. The pasta was a little dry and over cooked for me. The grilled lamb loin with herbs is accompanied with baked garlic cloves and sautéed vegetables topped with a herbs sauce. My loin was tender and juicy, in fact it was good but once this dinner was over, we compared notes later and found that those who sat further away were not satisfied with theirs. They said the loin was too tough. Perhaps I sat nearest to the kitchen heh. The 4 Seasons is a thin crusted pizza with 4 different toppings of seafood, chicken, lamb and tomato & cheese. I've gotten cold pizza pieces which is not pleasant at all. 2 corner pieces that don't have much toppings so I didn't know what were those hehe but got cheese though. I guess it's hard for me to pin point in a mass review like this but definitely a revisit will be needed to justify the food here.

Finally, our last stop Brussels Beer Café for a beer. Brussels is not a stranger to us. A popular place for food and drinks for many people. We were told to pick beers from the draught selections. Since I've never had a Belle-Vue other than the regular Hoegarden White (RM28/pint, happy hour RM24/pint), Stella Artois (RM28/pint, happy hour RM24/pint) and Leffe Brune (RM30/pint, happy hour RM26/pint), I asked for one. Belle-Vue is a kriek is a style of Belgian beer, made by fermenting lambic beer with sour cherries, hence the beer is slightly sweet and sourish. A bit too sweet for me but luckily it was only 1/2 a pint.



I would like to thank Ramesh and his team for organising this food crawl and also to the management, chefs and staff at Brisik, Bar Madrid, Divino, Kinnaree, Muse and Brussels for hosting this crawl. I would also like to personally thank Marky for accepting my invite to be my partner in such a short notice :D


Brisik Restaurant
10-1, Palm Square, Jaya One,

No 72-A, Jalan Universiti, 

46200 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-7958 6681

Opening Hours: 11.00am - 10.30pm

Bar Madrid (Non-Halal)
12A-G, Palm Square, Jaya ONE No 72-A, Jalan Universiti,
46000 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 012-209 2812
Opening Hours: Mon - Thurs: noon to 12.00am; Fri: noon to 2.00am; Sat: 4.00pm to 12.30am

Divino Restaurant

6-1, Palm Square, Jaya ONE No 72-A, Jalan Universiti,
46000 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7955 9968
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 11.30am to 12.00am; Sat: 3.00pm to 12.00am; Sun: Closed

Kinnaree Thai Restaurant

12-1, Palm Square, Jaya ONE
No 72-A, Jalan Universiti, 

46200 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7957 3910
Opening Hours: Mon - Sat: noon to 3.30pm & 6.00pm to 10.30pm; Sun: 6.00pm to 10.30pm

MUSE Italian Restaurant. Bar. Club
16-G, Palm Square, Jaya ONE 

No.71A, Jalan University,
46200 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03- 7954 4099
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 11.00am - 1.00am; Sat & Sun: 4.00pm - 1.00am

Brussels Beer Café (Non-Halal)

20-G, Palm Square, Jaya ONE

No 72-A, Jalan Universiti, 

46000 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7954 2000
Opening Hours: Sun - Thurs: 11.00am to 12.30am; Fri - Sat: 11.00am to 1.30am

Review: Rice Cafe

**Pork Free**


A day late here but better late than never. Wishing all the fathers here Happy Father's Day! Hope you guys did enjoyed yourself.

We have meant to try Rice Cafe after reading raving mentions in AWOL, FBB and etc. We did came by here one evening during their early days but they were closed. We didn't manage to check them out until quite recently. We used the back road via Lorong Maarof (from Rebung) to reach Bangsar, and we have to pass by this row of shop houses on the left. I saw that they were opened and I asked Capt'n Hook to park the car and have dinner here instead. Rice Cafe is just a few shops down HSBC Restaurant.

The restaurant was empty saved for the staff. We were told that they are mostly crowded during lunch hours. The place is simple but yet tastefully furnished. Thumbs up for them to keep the place neat and clean.



Both of us have asked for assam laksa but it was all sold out. The man (I presumed the manager or maybe the owner) who took our order recommended me Fried Glass Noodles (Tung Fun in Cantonese) and Capt'n Hook asked for Belacan Fried Rice or was it Kampung Fried Rice??? He then asked for a serving of Salted Yolk Chicken.

After not long, the wait staff came over and asked us what kind of chillies we would prefer. Wow, I'm impressed! So nice of them to asked hehe. We have the fresh red chillies and the pickled green chillies.



When a claypot came and set upon me, I was confused. I had to asked the server what was it and he said Claypot Loh Shu Fun (RM8, a type of rice noodles). The Manager came over and I told him that I did not order this. He checked his chit and apologised. He told me that he had wrote down the order correctly but had verbally told the cook the wrong item. Not wanting the noodles go to waste, I told him it's all right, I'll have the claypot. This Claypot Loh Shu Fun is actually a special on the board and not in the menu. The version here is not the dark soy sauce version and it's on a soupy side, almost like Yoke Heng's version but the gravy not as eggy. Taste wise it was just all right with chicken slices and a couple of prawns, topped with deep fried dried shrimps and ikan bilis. If you want something plain, ask for this.



Capt'n Hook's Fried Rice (RM8.50) arrived and he dug in. Found lots of squid, chicken slices and prawns. After a few bites, he asked me to try. He said it doesn't tasted like what he had ordered. We both suspected this could be seafood fried rice hahaha but we being nice people, we kept quiet and continue to enjoy the food.



Thank goodness the Salted Yolk Chicken (RM16) came as a winner!!! I guess our act of being nice were rewarded big time. The crispy deep fried chicken pieces are deliciously coated with a creamy layer of salted yolk with pieces of crispy curry leaves lending the fragrant flavour to this dish. We literally licked the plate clean!



Despite having 2 boo boos here I guess we'll still come back. Must come back to try their assam laksa one day! Oooo and their nasi dagang and nasi lemak too! We have 2 glassed of Chinese tea to wash down the grease (RM2 per glass). There's no Government tax yet and no service charge.


Rice Cafe
98 Lorong Maarof
Bangsar Park
59000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+6010) 362 5188
Google Map

Review: Revisiting Poon Choi at LYJ Restaurant

**Non-Halal**


The last I had a poon choi was back in 2005 at LYJ Restaurant in Sungai Buloh. Looking back at the post, gee, the photo was bad. It doesn't really reflect how big the portion is and it doesn't show any deliciousness at all!.

We were at LYJ Restaurant 2 weekends back for Capt'n Hook friend's farewell dinner. She was the one who arranged this and did the advance ordering of the poon choi. When we reached there, there were some changes here and there. We parked near the shop since parking is no longer available at the school opposite but since it wasn't a good place to parked, we went down further. Then I noticed another lot with the same restaurant name. Seems like the shop that we used to go now serves ala carte dishes and further down the shoplots right at the corner is where they serve poon choi. Sounds like a great arrangement as patrons having poon choi would need lesser attention hence having less wait staff around. Service is still ok though.

Each table has a stove on the lazy susan. Once everyone settled in, our RM258 poon choi was placed on the stove and the wait staff switched on the stove to keep the food warm and bubbly. Poon choi are usually serve in a deep round basins or claypots but LYJ's version came in a round stainless steel tin that one usually steam kuih-muih or bake cakes in.



I did a comparison of the picture taken back in 2005 and now, they seems to look the same. So now the taste test...



The first layer contained the "dry" food that does not need to be cooked in the gravy. For this RM258 version, we have 1/2 portion of poached free range (kampung) chicken, 1/2 portion of roasted duck, 12 pieces of salt and pepper prawns, one whole deep fried threadfin (kurau) stuffed with minced fish paste and I think some siew yuk (roasted pork).

Loved the poached chicken as the kampung chicken lent a sweetish bite as compared with farmed chicken meat. Roasted duck was all right but BoiBoi loved it that he whacked 3 pieces! The prawns were huge and fresh. The salt level is just nice for me and this is good for I still can taste the prawn natural sweetness.

Once we emptied this layer, the treasures unfold. We asked for white rice as the gravy was simply irresistible. The gravy is the essence from all the goodies that were cooked inside! There were pork knuckle, stewed pork, a type of canned clams, dried oyster, fish maw, chicken feet, beancurd sheets, mushrooms and dried chestnut. Everyone loved the gravy so much that each literally drown their rice with this rich and flavourful essence. Thank goodness we don't eat like this everyday hahaha can you imagine how much your cholesterol level will shoot up!

I didn't touch the knuckle at all as I see lots of fats and skins but they were walloped up by the others. The stewed pork was fork tender - yums. This time round the chicken feet is really tender and literally breaks up upon biting. I loved how the beancurd sheets and chestnuts soaking up all the lovely flavour.

A plate of blanched vegetables (yau choi) came with the pooi choi. Ours was chrysanthemum leaves (thong hoe) and I liked it's simplicity. We added this Stir Fried Paku Choi (a type of ferns) which has an interesting taste. What I mean is, it's a bit tangy and I'm not sure what they've used to make it so. It's topped with crispy deep fried shallots. The ferns retained it's crunchiness, coupled with crispy shallots and slight tang, this gave me a whole new world of stir-fried vegetables.



The restaurant claimed the poon choi can serve 10 - 12 people but for me, I think can stretched up to 14 people. If you so decided to have one, remember to call them at least one day in advance to book your pot of poon choi. BTW, there's a RM500 version with the addition of braised oyster and pork ribs, abalone, sauteed conch and shark's fins.


Restoran LYJ
PT 11-12 & PT 16-17
Jalan Perkhidmatan
Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh
47000 Sungai Buloh
Selangor
Tel: (+603) 6140 2678 or (+6019) 350 8621
Google map here

A Couple of Updates

I was at Cold Storage, The Gardens last weekend and oh my, they have increased the price of the scones! It's now RM3.00 for 3. I guess must be in anticipation for the sugar and flour price hike sighhh...

Next, I would like to announce that Normah of Hatter's Cafe & Bakerie will be selling her chocolates at Ekspo Beli Barangan Malaysia from 16 - 20 June 2010 at Dewan Tun Razak 3 & 4, Level 3 & 4, Putra World Trade Centre; 10.00am - 9.00pm. If you're there, do look out for her booth!