Korean Instant Noodle + Cheese + Egg and Potato Crisps, Sounds Insane?

It's Monday and the 1st day for the 11th month of the year! How time flies!!!

I'm having a little Monday blues now looking the amount of work I need to tackle grrrrr... anyway back to today's blog title... I know it sounded incredulous but the combination of Korean Instant Noodle + Cheese + Egg and Potato Crisps is absolutely delish.

I first read about this at Rita's blog, I did thought it's kinda ridiculous but not until the second person, Celine, proclaimed that this is yummy that I gave second thoughts about this combination. One afternoon, I felt like indulging on something naughty, hence I made a bowl of this noodles. Both Rita and Celine have used Shin Ramyun, the spicy noodles but since I've ran out I've used Nongshim potato flavoured one (non-spicy) instead.

What one need to do is cook the noodles accordingly, once it's almost cooked chuck in a slice of cheddar cheese. Pour in one lightly beaten egg and according to Rita, stir in the egg which meant to thicken the soup. Once done, pour into a serving bowl and topped with potato chips. I have some extra chopped spring onions in the fridge so they're on top as well.



I have no regret after my first slurp LOL... the soup is creamy, coupled with springy noodles and crispy chips; like Celine had mentioned; it's wacky but delicious. I cleaned my bowl till I can see my reflection on the shiny bowl bottom :p

Do give this wacky combination a try, well if you're brave enough :D

Review: Penang Village @ Alamanda, Putrajaya

**Halal**

Dealing with the Government departments in our country at most times can be quite a pain even for a simple thing like renewing BoiBoi's passport. Since he was born in 2002, he doesn't have a MyKid as it was only introduced in the following year. We managed to get him a passport 5 years ago and it's right about time for renewal. I went to the Immigration website to download the form and in the process, I found out that in order to renew his passport, he needs a MyKid!!! @#*%& 

Yes it's really a wtf situation since it's only renewal bleh! So no choice lorrr, I jumped into JPN's website and urrrghhh it's totally not very informative but luckily we can go to Putrajaya where JPN headquarter is on weekends to get things done. 

Come Saturday late morning we headed to JPN Putrajaya and got BoiBoi's MyKid done all under 5 mimutes! Sighhh... since it's approaching lunch time, I guess our best bet of finding food would be Putrajaya's one and only mall, Alamanda. Ermmm it must have been years since we last came here cos I remember clearly BoiBoi running around the lake front. Omigosh... its like errrr 5 years ago cos there was one picture of him in his stroller LOL and he last used it when he was 3+!!!

Seems like the majority of the tenants have changed except for Carrefour. Oh my there's even a Cold Storage here! Anyway, since we were quite blur, Capt'n Hook suggested to go outside to the lake side as he remember there are quite a number of restaurants there. We walked a bit and decided on Penang Village.

Our last visit to Penang Village was the TTDI branch a few years ago and the food was rather bad on that day hence we never step in again :p 

As we walked in, the decor of this place looked much more pleasant and very bright due to natural light coming from the sky roof. Service was efficient and our order was taken within minutes of sitting down.

BoiBoi opted for the Fried Rice set from the Kids Menu at RM9.90 with 2 choices of drinks. Since he didn't like both, I took his Soy Bean with Cincau whilst he ordered plain Soy Bean (RM3.50). 

His rice tasted decent and I can tell it's freshly fried. The rice came with some fries on the side and a fried egg on top. LOL there was a funny moment as the egg looked like bulls eye but I think they must have precooked the egg earlier that it has harden so when BoiBoi poke his spoon on the yolk, he said out loud "Why so hard one???!!!"

Capt'n Hook's Belacan Fried Rice (RM14.90) came with 2 pieces of fried chicken, kerabu mango and some fried fish crackers. The rice is flavourful since it has belacan (shrimp paste) in it, yes yums albeit the chicken looked sad and dry.

By now our Oyster Omelette is delivered to the table. Hmmm doesn't look like Penang style and there were some kind of tangy chilli sauce is added to the frying process. This omelette is not too bad.

My Char Mee Suah (RM9.90) took a while to arrive. When it does, it's piping hot! Glad that it's full of wok hei which made the noodles wonderful. Liked it with the accompanying sambal belacan with a squeeze of calamansi lime.

Capt'n Hook ended his meal with a decent Cendol (RM6.90) with loads of red beans, kidney beans and green stringy cendol. We liked it that they did not used canned red beans nor kidney beans.

Seems like the quality of the food depends on the location? I guess we ought to give them second chance huh. Anyway, it's also brilliant of them to offer set menu of dishes to be served with rice and it's great for Great Eastern Mall branch to offer dim sum.

Our total bill came up to RM68.20 after the additional 10% service charge and there is no Government tax.

Restaurant Penang Village
Lot G89, Ground Floor,

Alamanda Shopping Centre,

Jalan Alamanda Presint 1, 

62000 Putrajaya

Tel: +603 8888 4268

Steamed Chicken and Black Fungus in Brandy

This is the simplest steamed chicken recipe ever and my mother has been cooking this for us for ages. Just need to marinade 2 chopped up skinless chicken thigh (preferably free range/kampung) with a big dash of oyster sauce, a little sugar, white pepper, about 1 tsp of cornflour and a large dash of brandy :p

Usually Tsao Tsing Chinese Cooking Wine is used but I've ran out. I have lots of brandy sitting at home so why not? My mother had used DOM too! I've even did it with Sake, nice I tell you.

To assemble, soak and clean up a small handful of black fungus. Remove the woody bits and cut into strips. Cut a small knob of old ginger into strips. Mix the black fungus and ginger strips into the chicken and place them on a heat proof container. Steam for 20 - 25 minutes depending on the heat of your steamer. My timing is based on my electric steamer.

Once you have removed the dish from the steamer, you can pour in another shot of brandy for extra flavouring. Serve with rice. Yums yums.




Try my other steamed chicken recipes:
Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

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: Chawan @ Bangsar

Gosh, I must be the last to blog about this place but what the heck...

My first encounter with Chawan was when Chow Food Court opens at The Weld. It's actually a coffee corner with simple snacks offered. If patrons wish to sit at this section, patrons could bring in other food served at the food court provided they order their drinks from Chawan. What's unique here is Chawan is the old Malay spelling for cup, hence they serve all sorts of Malaysian coffee from all over Malaysia. I can't really comment on the coffee since I can't drink coffee and I don't remember Capt'n Hook order any either cos most times we drank tea.

Chawan then opened their full fledge shop in the middle of 2008 at the corner of Jalan Telawi 3 when the famous Devi's Corner relocated to another corner at Jalan Telawi 5. It's just across from Bangsar Village (Starbuck's/The Daily Grinds side).

The prices are of course on the high side as this is Bangsar we're talking about but the food portion is huge and the drinks, well they really give you your value as I can taste the strong ginger, honey and lemon in their tea!

What we liked here and kept ordering is their Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (coconut milk rice with fried chicken)! The ayam goreng berempah (deep fried chicken) is very very addictive. I think I'm not alone on this :p Our BoiBoi loved this too and is learning to take bits of the sambal with his rice and chicken. I can't recall the actual price but it's really pricey for nasi lemak, just that they serve the whole thigh piping hot, I think it's rather forgiving. The shop a stone throw away charges more expensive than this! How to beat biting into crispy skin marinade with aromatic ginger, turmeric etc whist the inside remained juicy?



There were other times we have Nasi Lemak Rendang Ayam or Beef. Again I have to emphasise the meat portion is huge. Many times I can't finish and they oblige by just packing up half the portion of the meat for me :p



This time round, I decided to give their noodles a go and spotted Lontong and opted it to serve with beef rendang, something I regretted cos the portion again is huge. Should have asked for plain lontong. Lontong is essentially nasi himpit (compressed rice) cut into cubes served with sayur lodeh (vegetables cooked in light coconut milk). Chawan's sayur lodeh has loads of ingredients in it like cabbage, tofu slices, deep fried beancurd skin, glass noodles etc. In my bowl, it has half piece of hard boiled egg and bergedil!



Many people complained of high prices and inconsistent standard in their coffee but yet Chawan still pack in the crowd. There must be a formula here that works eh?


Chawan
69-G Jalan Telawi 3
Bangsar Baru
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2287 5507
Business hours:
8.00am - 1.00am (Mon-Thurs, Sun)
8.00am - 2.00am (Fri, Sat & Eve of Public Holidays)
GPS Coordinates: N3.130051 E101.671071

Review: Bergs Burger @ Far East Square, Singapore

**Non-Halal**


A couple of months back, I followed Capt'n Hook to Singapore on a day trip. While he attend a meeting, I just loiter around the CBD :p

When he was done, he took me to Bergs Burger for lunch which he claimed served one of the juiciest burger round the corner. Now that really caught my interest! It's located in Far East Square. We walked into this quaint place which looked like clusters of restored old shop houses that are covered in huge see through roof where the sun shines brightly in! It's really like East meet West kinda concept. I loved where the central part where diners dine sort of like alfresco but shaded under the clear roof. It was a bit warm due to the hot sun but still all right. When you have time, drop in at Fuk Tak Chi Museum. It was one of Singapore's oldest temple but now restored into a Chinese heritage museum. There are a lot of interesting artifacts that I could recognise that belonged to my grandparents days! Best part, entrance is free.



Let's get back to burger business. The menu is proudly displayed on the large chalk board opposite the cashier and cooking station. It's no easy task which burger to pick from the rather extensive menu. Noted that there one can opt for either a large Bergs sized burger or a small one. After you order and pay at the cashier, you'll be given a number plate. Place the plate on your table and wait patiently for your burger.

We waited quite a bit since it was lunch time as the burgers are made to order. Can watch the crew grilling burgers at the open kitchen. Since we sat outside, we didn't get to smell the aroma. Loved the table and bench cos it's like having a picnic in the city!



Our burgers finally were delivered and they came in individual paper bags. The burgers were half wrapped in white wax paper. My small order was a Miss Piggy (SGD10.50) that from the menu states "Prime Beef Pattie, Streaky Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli, Bergs Sauce & Edam Cheese". Mmm...mmmm my kinda burger that have real crispy bacon! The beef patty is juicy, in fact the whole combination is so nice and juicy that I did not need to add any chilli sauce.



Capt'n Hook had a small Crikey Too (SGD11.50) that reads "Prime Beef Pattie, Streaky Bacon, Pineapple, Beetroot, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli, Bergs Sauce & Edam Cheese". With the addition of pineapple and beetroot, needless to say it was kinda messy eating this burger as the pink tainted sauce kept dripping out. Now I totally understand why the guys opposite us use the paper bags to line the table cos some of the condiments keep dropping out when they take bites of it LOL. And it's not helping when the tables have gaps in between hehehe



The prices seems reasonable dollar to dollar. Even McD these days can cost up to RM10 a burger! I loved this messy experience and I really hope we can get such quality burger at a very reasonable price here in Kuala Lumpur.




Bergs Burger
137 Amoy St,
#01-01 Far East Square,
Singapore

Tel: +65 6438 6505

Review: Farm Fresh Pure Fresh Milk

This might sounds pretty anal but this is the brand of fresh milk that Capt'n Hook would hunt for all over Kuala Lumpur just to get hold of one bottle! The brand name is Farm Fresh and according to an expat friend, this milk is pure fresh milk that one can find on our shelves. The rest are mostly made from powder!!! Is this a revelation or not??



I supposed when your regular fresh milk supplier who goes round in his motorcycle with a stainless steel cylinder at the rear is on holiday, you could look for this Farm Fresh brand by Mawai Dairy Farm, Kota Tinggi, Johor (as stated in the label) for pure milk. So far, we've bought them from Jaya Grocer (Empire Shopping); Cold Storage (Bangsar Shopping Complex which stocks runs out very quickly, The Gardens and 1 Utama. Hunted for it at Solaris Mont Kiara but there were none!). Of late, I've noticed they have plain yoghurt too which we haven't try yet.

One 2 litres bottle costs around RM12.90 or could be a few sens less. There was once I spotted 1 litre bottles. Errrm as for the taste... tasted like fresh milk unlike a certain brand that tasted sweet and artificial to me.

Please note, this is not a paid post :-) and we do not know anyone from the said farm :D

Review: Restoran Yee Sang Fatt

**Non-Halal**


Actually, we didn't meant to have dinner at Restoran Yee Sang Fatt as both of us together with It's Sew Good and her hubby was supposed to head to Jalan Alor for Lanatir to bring us to eat Sichuan food but alas it was a Monday the Sichuan food stall was closed. So Lanatir asked us to head over to Pudu instead to check out another of his favourite Chinese dai chau (big fry) place. It is quite easy to locate since we know where is Huen Kee Claypot Chicken Rice. It's just the road (Jalan Gajah) before Huen Kee and opposite Gereja Methodist (Kantonis) Pudu.

We have asked Lanatir to order the food since he got there first. First up was Siong Tong Lala (Clams in Superior Broth). Wahhh I like this one! The soup is sweet laden with a very fragrant Chinese cooking wine. Slurpilicious till the last drop.



We have a signature tofu dish which is essentially tofu mashed with fish meat and some other ingredients before being cut up and deep fried. Quite standard this one.



I was delighted to see this Deep Fried Brinjal dish! I had similar dish at Restoran Hua Xing which was so memorable. The deep fried brinjals are stirred with chopped dried shrimps, garlic and spring onions, lovely! Yee Sang Fatt version has thicker brinjal which is crispy on the outside but retain a soft texture on the inside. Hua Xing's version is crispy all over. I like both ways :p which spells "tham jiak" (greedy)



I have to agree with Lanatir that the steamed fish is the star attraction here. This one uses "Shong" fish head. Steamed in good quality soy sauce, ginger, garlic and topped with deep fried shallots and spring onions. A fresh fish doesn't need to be dressed up fanciful!



Our last dish of stir fried nai pak choy, no doubt easy but it's filled with wok hei. Nice as the veggies still retained its crunch.



I lost the receipt but it's rather cheap I would say, just over RM100 for these dishes, rice and a pot of Chinese tea. Definitely a great place to go again.


Restoran Yee Sang Fatt
Jalan Gajah,
off JalanYew Pudu
Kuala Lumpur 55100
GPS Coordinates: N3.13231, E101.71709