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Saturday, 9 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
Hennessy X.O’s Appreciation Grows Gastronomy 2010
Back when I was really young, whenever my parents mentioned X.O, Hennessy curvy bottle would come to my mind. I can still remember the advert shown in the cinema where the bottle curves are shown followed by the curves of a beautiful girl :p Geez, I think I just leaked out how old am I hahaha... It is one of the leading brand for premium cognac even back then.
Well, it has been great honour to be invited for the third Hennessy X.O's Appreciation Grows recently. Thanks to Lyrical Lemongrass which leads to an invite from Milk PR on behalf of Moet Hennessy Diageo Malaysia (formerly known as Riche Monde Malaysia).
Knowing it was a black tie event, I was kinda lazy to prim up and had asked Capt'n Hook to go instead but he just refused tsk tsk! Anyway, I did went for this 6 nights only event all dolled up, looking totally different especially with my hair cropped short now until some of them cannot recognise me at all. Just check out Aly, FBB, Lyrical Lemongrass, QwazyMonkey and Nigel, all looking their best :D Before you ask where is my face in the picture... I was behind the camera, of course hehe!
The event took place on the grounds of Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club in a spectacular dome where the roof changes in sceneries and patterns via visual projections. Impressive indeed but a nightmare for photography hahaha as we need to keep changing the white balance so much so that QwazyMonkey and I decided to go auto all the way. So please excuse me for the quality of the pics.
When we arrived, we were served cold water whilst waiting to be ushered to the next room where Regional Brand Ambassador Arnaud Mirey briefed us about Hennessy X.O. We were given glasses of X.O, neat, for tasting. Most of us find it pretty strong albeit it's smooth on the throat. Next, we headed to the next room where we waited for the press conference to start. In this room, we have options whether to have our X.O on ice or with added water. I opted for on the rocks and surprise surprise! The addition of ice changed the whole perspective of the cognac! It's soooo smooth and easy to drink. Ahem, I've lost count on how many glasses I had that night but I could still walk straight at the end of the night albeit I'm not a regular drinker :p
The press conference started with a speech by Frederic Noyere, Managing Director of Riche Monde Malaysia followed by Chef Alvin Leung, Hong Kong’s Bo Innovation Michelin star chef. Judging from the posters and pics of the restaurant, I thought Chef Alvin is a rather serious and intimidating person BUT I was sooo totally wrong. He's a rather humourous guy from his short speech and also how he answered questions from the media.
Finally we were ushered into the dome. Once we found out seats, we admired the surroundings but it was really really dark under the red "sky".
The table cloth and settings were all black with only flickering candles and yellow orchids breaking the monotone.
Bernie Chan was the event host and she got on introducing the first dish - Glass Garden. The bottom of the glass has a layer of spring onion that comes in the form of a mousse, topped with "soil" made out of baked morel mushroom! The "plant" sticking out is actually crispy dehydrated enoki mushroom. I loved how the fragrant spring onion mixes with the morel, forming a delicate taste when paired with the cognac. Oh we really have a garden surrounding us with butterflies flying up intermittently hehe but I did not manage to take a pic of it.
Arnaud Mirey
Pretty lasses serving us Hennessy X.O throughout the night
When we arrived, we were served cold water whilst waiting to be ushered to the next room where Regional Brand Ambassador Arnaud Mirey briefed us about Hennessy X.O. We were given glasses of X.O, neat, for tasting. Most of us find it pretty strong albeit it's smooth on the throat. Next, we headed to the next room where we waited for the press conference to start. In this room, we have options whether to have our X.O on ice or with added water. I opted for on the rocks and surprise surprise! The addition of ice changed the whole perspective of the cognac! It's soooo smooth and easy to drink. Ahem, I've lost count on how many glasses I had that night but I could still walk straight at the end of the night albeit I'm not a regular drinker :p
Hennessy X.O with ice
The crowd waiting for press conference to start
The press conference started with a speech by Frederic Noyere, Managing Director of Riche Monde Malaysia followed by Chef Alvin Leung, Hong Kong’s Bo Innovation Michelin star chef. Judging from the posters and pics of the restaurant, I thought Chef Alvin is a rather serious and intimidating person BUT I was sooo totally wrong. He's a rather humourous guy from his short speech and also how he answered questions from the media.
Chef Alvin Leung & Frederic Noyere
Finally we were ushered into the dome. Once we found out seats, we admired the surroundings but it was really really dark under the red "sky".
The table cloth and settings were all black with only flickering candles and yellow orchids breaking the monotone.
Bernie Chan was the event host and she got on introducing the first dish - Glass Garden. The bottom of the glass has a layer of spring onion that comes in the form of a mousse, topped with "soil" made out of baked morel mushroom! The "plant" sticking out is actually crispy dehydrated enoki mushroom. I loved how the fragrant spring onion mixes with the morel, forming a delicate taste when paired with the cognac. Oh we really have a garden surrounding us with butterflies flying up intermittently hehe but I did not manage to take a pic of it.
GLASS GARDEN
An avant-garde Hong Kong interpretation of a garden dish, made from baked morel soil, dehydrated enoki, braised caterpillar fungus and green onion puree.
Har Mi which essentially Har Mai in Cantonese which meant dried shrimps was served next. Looked like chau mai fun (fried beehoon) or not??? Hehe... the noodles are actually capellini (angel hair paste in Italian) sauteed with carabinero (essentially red shrimp?) served with roasted cherry tomatoes, a deep fried sage and a stick of deep fried dried chilli. We ate this with chopsticks and I have to say it does tasted a bit like my fried bee hoon but better!
HAR MI
A perfectly executed crouton of carabinero, sautéed capellini, roasted cherry tomatoes and deep-fried sage.
And of course we have this dish under the sea! Gee... I wonder what's the joke between FBB and Nigel?
Under the sea, we dined
Next we have the melt in the mouth foie gras in the forest! The foie gras was served with a dollop of white lychee foam and guess what's in the sauce??? Red dates!!! The combination to me was brilliant. Whilst the savoury foie gras melts in the mouth, the sweetness from the red dates melded well together with the bitterness of the cognac.
PALATE FANTASTIQUE
With pan-fried foie gras, metilcellulose and xantana.
We traipsed to the forest
We break here for Arnaud to present us the 6 litres Hennessy X.O Mathusalem created by master blender and secret keeper, Yann Filloux. The mathusalem comes with a specially designed “fusil” which can be plunged into the decanter to extract a small quantity of the cognac. We were told it's ultra limited edition and it's sold out in Malaysia. I checked the net, seems like only 300 bottles were made and the two that we shown to us were specially flown in for this event!
Arnaud presenting the mathusalem
Arnaud using the fusil
The bottle went round to each table, Nigel and FBB tried using the fusil to extract the cognac.I tried a sip, it's really ultra smooth!
Nigel's turn
It was also during this that Kukomi Intrigue was served. In the bottom of the Chinese tea cup was a layer of egg white custard. From my search, the egg white should have been cooked in vacuum sealed plastic bag placed in hot water below boiling point for a long period, sometimes can be up to 24 hours!
KUKOMI INTRIGUE
An umami dish created from boiled chicken soup, sous vide egg white, foie gras and julienne truffle.
My spoonful of Kukomi Intrigue
The next dish was highly anticipated as it has wagyu beef! I enjoyed the lovely wagyu BUT the cheung fun (rice noodle rolls) was amazing! I can't help it since I'm a Chu Cheung Fun lover :p The texture is thicker than our usual CCF and it has a bouncy bite instead of being slippery and smooth. I would love to have more of the cheung fun please.
WAGYU WONDERS
An Alvin Leung specialty of sous vide wagyu striploin, cheung fun and black truffle.
Then, we have dessert by the harbour!
Dessert by the harbour
I really hesitated in eating this dessert as I really can't stand the smell and taste of blue cheese! At the back of my head, I was really thinking, omigosh how am I gonna skip this?? It's not helping when the dollop of light foamy blue cheese sort of like took a centre stage! Sobs, I braved myself and tried a little but seriously, I don't like this at all. It took us including Boo_licious a while trying to decipher what's in this dessert. We know the shaved ice bit is made of dried longan which tasted like leng chi kang. Then, there were some corn kernels and pink jelly strips which reminded us of our local iced kacang! We thought the jelly strips were made from almond but we were totally wrong LOL. Boo_licious asked Chef Alvin when he came to our table and it was revealed to us it's made with cherry!
EASTERN ASCENT
An unforgettable dessert of kikorangi blue cheese, milk, cream and dried longan granite.
Roman columns
Anyhow, we were served an additional dessert which was just named Petit Fours. On the spoon was a mousse whilst the slim glass is a tiramisu laced with Hennessy X.O obviously. Apparently, the gentlemen were served a dark version of tiramisu but visually to me it's just topped with cocoa powder. Since I did not try it, not sure what's the difference. Just like FBB, I think these would be nice if they're cold.
Petit Four
Chef Alvin rounding up speech
Since this was my first so called molecular gastronomy, it find the dishes fascinating. I only have 2 words for Chef Alvin's interpretation of the dishes - avant-garde! From the colour, texture right up to the flavours, all paired extraordinary well with Hennessy X.O. It was indeed a memorable experience to me ;-)
The dome that we were housed in
Check out what the rest thought about this dinner:
FBBAly
Lyrical Lemongrass
My parting shot of Chef Alvin Leung, he was being interviewed
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Stir-Fried Picked Mustard Cabbage with Minced Meat
**Non-Halal**
Growing up in a Chinese household, I supposed most of us would have somehow eaten their grandmother or mother's version of harm choy chau chu yuk (Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Cabbage with Minced Meat). I loved the simplicity of this dish that goes very well with rice congee (rice porridge) or rice. I remember ladling on spoonfuls of the gravy on my rice and I'm happy as a lark!
So here's my version. What I did was marinade minced pork meat with some soy sauce, pepper, cornstarch and tiny bit of sesame oil plus a little water. I bought the local pickled mustard cabbage, the stir-frying type. Wash and clean up the grits on the leaves. Soak them in water to get rid some of the saltiness. Once done, squeeze out the water and chopped them up.
In some heated oil, fry up some chopped garlic followed by some grounded preserved soy bean (tau chu). Fry till fragrant before chucking in the minced pork. Stir till the pork is cooked through before adding the harm choy. Give them a good stir before adding just enough water to cover about half of them. Season with a teeny bit of sugar and salt only if necessary. Cover and simmer for about 15 mins on low heat or until the liquid thickens. The time depends on how you want the texture of the harm choy. Longer if you wish to have them softer.
Dish up and serve! Yums yums...
If you like harm choy, how about trying some harm choy tong (pickled mustard cabbage soup) or Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom?
Growing up in a Chinese household, I supposed most of us would have somehow eaten their grandmother or mother's version of harm choy chau chu yuk (Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Cabbage with Minced Meat). I loved the simplicity of this dish that goes very well with rice congee (rice porridge) or rice. I remember ladling on spoonfuls of the gravy on my rice and I'm happy as a lark!
So here's my version. What I did was marinade minced pork meat with some soy sauce, pepper, cornstarch and tiny bit of sesame oil plus a little water. I bought the local pickled mustard cabbage, the stir-frying type. Wash and clean up the grits on the leaves. Soak them in water to get rid some of the saltiness. Once done, squeeze out the water and chopped them up.
In some heated oil, fry up some chopped garlic followed by some grounded preserved soy bean (tau chu). Fry till fragrant before chucking in the minced pork. Stir till the pork is cooked through before adding the harm choy. Give them a good stir before adding just enough water to cover about half of them. Season with a teeny bit of sugar and salt only if necessary. Cover and simmer for about 15 mins on low heat or until the liquid thickens. The time depends on how you want the texture of the harm choy. Longer if you wish to have them softer.
Dish up and serve! Yums yums...
If you like harm choy, how about trying some harm choy tong (pickled mustard cabbage soup) or Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom?
Monday, 4 October 2010
Nasi Kerabu and Ayam Percik
I'm not a very good student I must say at least. So far of all the cooking classes I've ever attended, I hardly cook up those recipes that I've learnt with all sorts of excuses even though my heart had wanted to recreate :p very shameful indeed eh? However, by far, I've done Kuih Talam twice which I've learnt from our Kampung Cuisine at Bayan Indah!!! The first was a disaster as I've used the air kapur (lime water) straight from the container without diluting with water. Since it was quite concentrated it gave the green layer a bitter taste! Then the texture was rather wobbly. The next round, I added water to the air kapur and reduce some water from my green layer. I managed to somehow get a quite decent Kuih Talam but not good enough to be photographed hehe.
The next I have always wanted to make is Nasi Kerabu (herb rice salad) and Ayam Percik (spiced, grilled chicken) but my excuse would be it's kinda hard to get Malay herbs in my area and it would be too much if I ever buy them even in small bundles :p
Anyway I seized the chance when I was at Bayan Indah on a Saturday. I helped myself to her garden. I had a galore snipping the herbs in small quantities but in quite a number of varieties in there. I have gotten some daun kesum, daun cekur, daun kaduk, ulam raja, mint leaves, daun kunyit, daun limau purut, daun selom and Thai basil. Thank you Rohani for the leaves!
The next day, I cooked up both Nasi Kerabu and Ayam Percik. They turned out pretty well and I'm quite glad that BoiBoi did eat up the rice. Funny he finds the chicken a bit hot even though I've halved the amount of chillies but he asked for some gravy to put on his rice :p
Chicken simmering in the pan before grilling
Oh yeah, I've made my own kerisik too!!! Very unimaginable! If my grandma is a Malay, she would be dang proud of me! Hehe... hard work ok stirring the grated coconut for like 25 minutes in the wok!
For my own record, cook the rice earlier so they would have more time to cool down and firm up.
Sorry I can't provide the recipes here since the class is still on going at Bayan Indah. Sign up for one :D
Oh yeah, if you're interested to join us (food bloggers lah) for private classes at Bayan Indah, email me so that I can keep you in the loop for our next classes. I've organised one for some food bloggers 2 months back and there should be one before the year ends.
I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.
The next I have always wanted to make is Nasi Kerabu (herb rice salad) and Ayam Percik (spiced, grilled chicken) but my excuse would be it's kinda hard to get Malay herbs in my area and it would be too much if I ever buy them even in small bundles :p
Anyway I seized the chance when I was at Bayan Indah on a Saturday. I helped myself to her garden. I had a galore snipping the herbs in small quantities but in quite a number of varieties in there. I have gotten some daun kesum, daun cekur, daun kaduk, ulam raja, mint leaves, daun kunyit, daun limau purut, daun selom and Thai basil. Thank you Rohani for the leaves!
The next day, I cooked up both Nasi Kerabu and Ayam Percik. They turned out pretty well and I'm quite glad that BoiBoi did eat up the rice. Funny he finds the chicken a bit hot even though I've halved the amount of chillies but he asked for some gravy to put on his rice :p
Chicken simmering in the pan before grilling
Oh yeah, I've made my own kerisik too!!! Very unimaginable! If my grandma is a Malay, she would be dang proud of me! Hehe... hard work ok stirring the grated coconut for like 25 minutes in the wok!
For my own record, cook the rice earlier so they would have more time to cool down and firm up.
Sorry I can't provide the recipes here since the class is still on going at Bayan Indah. Sign up for one :D
Oh yeah, if you're interested to join us (food bloggers lah) for private classes at Bayan Indah, email me so that I can keep you in the loop for our next classes. I've organised one for some food bloggers 2 months back and there should be one before the year ends.
I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.
Review: Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop
It was our first visit to Empire Shopping Gallery after a fab lunch in Klang lead by PureGlutton (will delve on that on a later post). Capt'n Hook decided to clock in to have an hour long massage which later on stretched to 2 hours! Well, if you have been to Empire Shopping, it's not a big mall and there's only so much of bookstore and Toys R Us to keep BoiBoi and myself occupied.
Once BoiBoi is satisfied playing with all the toys he could lay his hands on, we went down to LG level to check things out. We observed the tallest spiral slide in the country is taking shape which I understood it would have been opened by now. One slide will cost RM12!
I chanced upon Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop (which has certainly been blogged to death by now) and decided to try the cakes out to see if it really lived up to all the hypes plus of course to kill some time. I'm very surprised to find the shop is rather narrow and have very few seats inside. It's small but cosy and I really loved the retro black and white floor tiles.
We picked a slice of Hummingbird Cake (RM11.90), a cup of hot jasmine tea for myself (RM5) and BoiBoi naturally zoomed in to a Hot Chocolate (RM9.50).
Essentially a Hummingbird Cake would have mashed bananas, crushed pineapples and chopped pecan in it. Since it's made using oil, it's a very moist cake frosted with cream cheese icing. The one we tasted at Whisk is moist and pretty good except that I find the frosting is meanly scant. I'm not big on frosting myself, hence you would have noticed the cupcakes or cakes I baked are usually void of frosting. I believe if one is to frost their cakes, there must be a 'just nice' proportion, not necessary thick. If you look at the pic, you could see the cake in between the patches of extremely thin layer of frosting.
There isn't any Red Velvet Cake that everyone raves about on that afternoon, perhaps another time then. Not big on macarons, I skipped that one.
Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop
Once BoiBoi is satisfied playing with all the toys he could lay his hands on, we went down to LG level to check things out. We observed the tallest spiral slide in the country is taking shape which I understood it would have been opened by now. One slide will cost RM12!
I chanced upon Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop (which has certainly been blogged to death by now) and decided to try the cakes out to see if it really lived up to all the hypes plus of course to kill some time. I'm very surprised to find the shop is rather narrow and have very few seats inside. It's small but cosy and I really loved the retro black and white floor tiles.
We picked a slice of Hummingbird Cake (RM11.90), a cup of hot jasmine tea for myself (RM5) and BoiBoi naturally zoomed in to a Hot Chocolate (RM9.50).
Essentially a Hummingbird Cake would have mashed bananas, crushed pineapples and chopped pecan in it. Since it's made using oil, it's a very moist cake frosted with cream cheese icing. The one we tasted at Whisk is moist and pretty good except that I find the frosting is meanly scant. I'm not big on frosting myself, hence you would have noticed the cupcakes or cakes I baked are usually void of frosting. I believe if one is to frost their cakes, there must be a 'just nice' proportion, not necessary thick. If you look at the pic, you could see the cake in between the patches of extremely thin layer of frosting.
There isn't any Red Velvet Cake that everyone raves about on that afternoon, perhaps another time then. Not big on macarons, I skipped that one.
Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop
LG03A, Empire Shopping Gallery,
Jalan SS16/1,
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603 5022 2060
Friday, 1 October 2010
Thai Basil Omelette
I had a handful of Thai basil leaves and I did not want to keep them any longer as the leaves tend to bruise and blacken in time. So what to do with them? I usually make egg dropped soup or this omelette which is so simple but fragrant. I was afraid BoiBoi might not like the smell of basil but since it's an omelette, he ate them all up!
I just lightly beat a couple of eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Drop in shredded leaves or you can keep them whole. Put a bit of oil in a hot pan and pour over the egg mixture. Fry till lightly browned. Easy peasy.
I've also served this as Basil Omelette and Roasted Peppers Open Sandwich.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Review: Restoran Tong Cheng at Chukai, Kemaman
**Non-Halal**
BoiBoi and I followed my parents to a road trip to Kemaman, Terengganu, over a weekend a couple of months back. It was durian season and a friend of my parents have invited a bunch of their friends over to have a galore at their durian orchard. For dinner, we were brought to this Restoran Tong Cheng at Chukai town. It's not located along the main streets but somewhere in the inner roads. I'm not sure now how to get there but it's at the road behind Jalan Che Teng. Turn right at U-Mart and the restaurant is just at the back. I've learnt Kemaman is a district, while Chukai is the town as we got a little confused over these 2 names that were used interchangeably.
The friend did all the ordering and these were the dishes we have...
A claypot of braised lamb which has loads of ginger and spring onions that removed the gamey smell of the lamb. I asked BoiBoi if he would like some lamb and he said no thanks. Anyway, I scooped some on his plate and you know what... he asked me what was it, so nice one *roll eyes*
The deep fried tofu dish here is drizzled with a mild sambal belacan sauce. Nothing spectacular here.
This is a simple buttered mantis prawn but their style is kinda different. There were very little buttered bits but in a good way so that the flavour does not overwhelm the freshness of the prawn. Did I mentioned the mantis prawn is so huge that they have to halved it?
The restaurant had ran out of larger fish, hence we have 2 on the plates instead. I think they're garoupa and just lightly steamed with soya sauce topped with garlic, ginger, spring onions and coriander. Just like home cooked, very yummy cos the fish is soooo fresh and sweet!
Then we have a stir-fried roasted pork (siew yuk) that is filled with gravy with onions and tomatoes quarters. Very different indeed. The flavours were great here.
I think we have a plate of greens as well but I did not captured a pic of it, must be busy eating and tending to BoiBoi.
There were 10 of us but luckily the portion was just right but you might think it's too little yeah. Just that you didn't know we already have like 2 rounds of durians before heading for dinner and then another round of dinner for supper!!! Not sure of the prices but I overheard it was cheap!
T'was was a great trip indeed! *BURP* excuse me...
BoiBoi and I followed my parents to a road trip to Kemaman, Terengganu, over a weekend a couple of months back. It was durian season and a friend of my parents have invited a bunch of their friends over to have a galore at their durian orchard. For dinner, we were brought to this Restoran Tong Cheng at Chukai town. It's not located along the main streets but somewhere in the inner roads. I'm not sure now how to get there but it's at the road behind Jalan Che Teng. Turn right at U-Mart and the restaurant is just at the back. I've learnt Kemaman is a district, while Chukai is the town as we got a little confused over these 2 names that were used interchangeably.
The friend did all the ordering and these were the dishes we have...
A claypot of braised lamb which has loads of ginger and spring onions that removed the gamey smell of the lamb. I asked BoiBoi if he would like some lamb and he said no thanks. Anyway, I scooped some on his plate and you know what... he asked me what was it, so nice one *roll eyes*
The deep fried tofu dish here is drizzled with a mild sambal belacan sauce. Nothing spectacular here.
This is a simple buttered mantis prawn but their style is kinda different. There were very little buttered bits but in a good way so that the flavour does not overwhelm the freshness of the prawn. Did I mentioned the mantis prawn is so huge that they have to halved it?
The restaurant had ran out of larger fish, hence we have 2 on the plates instead. I think they're garoupa and just lightly steamed with soya sauce topped with garlic, ginger, spring onions and coriander. Just like home cooked, very yummy cos the fish is soooo fresh and sweet!
Then we have a stir-fried roasted pork (siew yuk) that is filled with gravy with onions and tomatoes quarters. Very different indeed. The flavours were great here.
I think we have a plate of greens as well but I did not captured a pic of it, must be busy eating and tending to BoiBoi.
There were 10 of us but luckily the portion was just right but you might think it's too little yeah. Just that you didn't know we already have like 2 rounds of durians before heading for dinner and then another round of dinner for supper!!! Not sure of the prices but I overheard it was cheap!
T'was was a great trip indeed! *BURP* excuse me...
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