Food Explorer & Home Chef
It’s not even officially Chinese New Year yet, but festivities are already full on. A grand lion dance performance regaled guests and shoppers at the fountain area of Plaza Arkadia, Desa Park City in Kuala Lumpur with acrobatic stunts on high poles, ushering in the …
With Christmas barely over weeks ago, the season of the Rat is already on the way with shouts of ‘Huat ah’ already ringing in the air on Jan 1, if not earlier. It’s double the Huat (prosperity) this Chinese New Year with Tiger Beer as …
Update: Skohns has consolidated with its Damansara Heights Restaurant so the Ttdi branch has closed.
After being abroad for a few days after Christmas, I had a hankering for spice and wholesome Malaysian food. Some good old-fashioned value for money grub.
One of my latest favourite haunt for Nasi Bojari is Dua by Skohns. The sister restaurant Skohns in Damansara Perdana specialises in Western fare, but Dua in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur is all about local food. It’s been open for more than two years (it is after all a new year already) but a closely guarded secret I guess as it’s upstairs and not easily seen. There’s a play area for kids and the TV plays kid-friendly shows so parents can eat in peace.
What’s heartening is that it’s not offering some whitewashed local dish sold at extravagant prices in a clinical air-conditioned environment. Rather, it is darn good nasi choices that you would be proud to bring your in-laws to try, with true blue sambal that will knock your socks off and at very reasonable prices.
I’ve eaten at Dua a couple of times and so far, the quality has been quite consistent.
I have never heard of Nasi Bojari until I was invited to a popular and well-known restaurant chain in town for lunch. It came with chicken that was over fried and dry to the point of being stringy; shredded beef that couldn’t make up its mind whether it was rendang or serunding; a few pieces of cucumber and tomato. The most attractive thing on the plate was the rice while the scariest was the atrocious price tag.
Looked it up and Nasi Bojari is supposedly an Indonesian dish originally meant for royalty whereby it just means the rice comes various colours of red, yellow and white.
Dua conjures its own version of Nasi Bojari that comes with fragrant rice, a generous piece of chicken, acar, half-boiled egg and sambal sotong. Granted the chicken can also sometimes be a little dry too as it’s a large piece so it’s tricky trying to keep it juicy yet all cooked through. But the acar is nicely pickled to give that contrast in flavours and the sambal sotong is the bomb! This is no half-baked made for Caucasian tongue condiment but loaded with proper spices with real kick so definitely not for wussies. For this full-on meal, it’s just RM16.50.
The other dish I discovered here that made my day was the Lamb Shank Beriani. More often than not a popular offering at Indian or mamak coffeeshops, the Beriani Rice at Dua is milder but no less fragrant. Some places I’ve been to load up on cardamon, fennel seeds and clove that it can be too much of a good thing.
It comes with acar, papadom (crackers), a bowl of dhal curry and, of course, the main highlight is the lamb which is fall-off tender, flavourful and moist. OK, stop me here, I’m gushing a little but I’m so thrilled that this only costs RM15.
The colourful arrangement of the Nasi Kerabu will be the first thing that catches your eye as the rice is blue, dyed by the colour from butterfly pea flower, sitting on a bed of yellow salted egg gravy. The Salted Egg Chicken is not bad, with a bit of crunch on the outside and a hint of the salted egg though their Ayam Goreng Rempah or Percik, cooked Malay style is even better. What really stands out for me is the sambal, as it has got a hearty taste with enough power to make your tongue tingle. Prices start from RM10 depending on your choice of meat.
The other dishes I’ve tried is the Nasi Lemak Pandan, which also comes with a choice of different meats – beef rendang, ayam goreng rempah, sambal sotong, etc – delicious and dependable Malaysian staple that can’t go wrong – at similar prices.
The Soto (RM8) has more glass noodle than nasi himpit (compacted rice) which is fine by me, drenched in robust, comforting soup that will warm your gut.
Dua also has some Western fare – the cheeseburger was actually very good as the homemade patty was juicy, nicely textured without being mushy or tough and large, accompanied by an even more generous portion of fries. Some green at the side would have been good such as some cucumber or lettuce in the burger, but then, I can’t really complain at RM10. The double patty is RM15. I can’t vouch for the pasta dishes though as I’ve not tried any of these. Oh, and they also have Roti John, by the way.
Dessert here offers a choice of scones (given the name, you would think so, right), waffles (cendol waffle is interesting), coconut ice cream (I like this more than Sangkaya as I find the latter too much like frozen santan) and bubur of the day. I’ve tried the pulut hitam which is legit and thick at RM3, better than most tong sui stalls as it’s proper black glutinous rice and not just gruel thickened by flour.
While understandably not every single dish shines, generally I like the quality of food at Dua and given its very affordable prices for Kuala Lumpur standards, this serves as one of the most attractive factors. Service is friendly and fast (most times) and they even offer discounts for certain days of the week.
You don’t have to thank me, just invite me when you go check out Dua by Skohns, OK?
Add: 12A, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-7731 6954
Well, hello 2020! It’s been a nice long break, but let’s not make it any longer lest you forget to eat with me! Seeing how Chinese New Year is just around the corner, let’s start with a bang with The Regent Chinese Cuisine, which styles …
I was brought up in a household where the men were treated like demi gods; my father couldn’t even boil water or make a drink for himself. I swore to myself that my boys would not be like that. That they would be just as …
It was supposed to be a pie.
That was the plan anyway. So I started with the carrots, potatoes, celery…
Ah yes, now I remember. I bought some celery because I was feeling guilty that I had not been eating enough green lately.
Then I thought a pie would be a safe bet even if the boys weren’t terribly excited about celery.
Softened the veggies in a pot of hot water. Then in a separate pot, threw in a blob of butter and tossed a cubed big onion till it got nicely caramelised.
I happened to have a pot of chicken soup on the stove anyway so that came in handy as stock which was added to the onions.
Next thing you know, it was too late to be making pie for dinner anyway as I would have needed at least another hour if you count the baking time. So now, I’ve got pie stuffing and I wasn’t going to be making pie.
At this point, it’s looking pretty much like a stew or a casserole, depending on how things were gonna roll.
This is where a can of mushroom soup, some milk, button mushrooms, tuna and macaroni, all thrown into the mix, come in handy.
I was hell bent on a one pot dish for dinner as I wasn’t going to cook anything else.
Deconstructed macaroni pie? Pie stuffing? Tuna and mushroom stew? What’s in a name anyway?
Everyone loved it so the pie that didn’t happen worked out pretty fine after all.
A rare whisky; a chef’s inspiration; specially sourced homegrown ingredients laid out for a night of culinary exploration. Such was the dinner affair mapped out by Johnny Walker Blue Label recently, heralding the collaboration with chef James Won who designed a “discover rarity” culinary journey. …
Any excuse to party, really, and Guinness’ Flavour by Fire Festival at Gasket Alley, PJ over the weekend was precisely that! But no one’s complaining as who doesn’t love a cookout, and especially if it’s a big time outdoor-sy barbecue with Guinness to quench our …
Wolf Blass began as a humble tin shed in Barossa Valley in 1966 to become one of the world’s most successful and awarded wine brands. With more than 10,000 awards received at national and international wine shows, Wolf Blass continuously strives to produce wines of quality, character and consistency.
Taking food and wine pairing up a notch, Wolf Blass has partnered with Michelin Guide to get Southeast Asian chefs to craft sauces to match its wines. To start off the wine pairing dinner, Wolf Blass brand ambassador Australian Sam Stephens walked us through the tasting notes of Wolf Blass wines against sauces created by Michelin chefs from Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore.
In conjunction with its ‘Find Your Flavour’ Campaign, Wolf Blass has also gotten chef Gary Anwar of Ember Modern Bistro to pair Wolf Blass Gold and Grey Label wines with an exquisite bespoke six-course menu highlighting locally-sourced Southeast Asian ingredients.
If anyone understands Asian cuisine, it would be cool chef Gary, having spent his early culinary career at various Spanish tapas restaurants and under the tutelage of Michelin starred-chef Jeff Ramsey.
Slowly, but surely making a name for himself as maestro of modern Asian cooking, Gary started the night’s offering with corn chips, smoked yogurt and caviar, Romaine lettuce, pistachio and lemon slices, all sitting on top of a bed of red beans. This was a very interesting combination of textures – something crispy, with touch of brine from the caviar, plus a little tartness coming from the lemon.
The 2017 Chardonnay’s companion was the oh-so-refreshing cold Hamachi, with ponzu, pickled apple and ulam raja (local salad). Such subtle sweetness coming from the apple, balanced by the acidity coming from the ponzu and pickle. With the elegant white, this was to me, a heavenly match which I could feast on all night.
It would appear the Hamachi was the starter to a three main courses, starting with the Steamed Baked local fish (senangin), mushrooms with smoked fish sauce to go with the 2016 shiraz. This appeared to be a surprising match against the complex rich spiciness of the red, but against the savoury fish sauce, the sweeter spice notes and jammy, fruity character came to the fore.
Dry aged duck with kicap manis (sweet soy sauce) tare, pucuk paku and sesame was wonderful against the 2017 cabernet sauvignon. The duck’s crisp skin had a mellow sweetness to it, reminiscent of Chinese char siew (roast pork) while the moist meat was medium rare, on the verge of red, tender without being chewy, juxtaposed against the nice crunch of the local vegetables. Utterly Asian, yet when combined with a Western approach towards the meat, the duck treatment was quite a genius stroke.
Last but not least of all was the striploin with potato puree, sansho butter and four beans paired with the 2016 Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz. Frankly, most of us were quite full after the last course already and didn’t do justice to the tender, juicy beef. Compared to the earlier shiraz, this had even more layers of flavours – chocolate, berries and spice, among others, with more balanced; certainly a most lovely red to linger over.
A fitting close, a palate cleanser, a refreshing pick-me-up after a heavy meal – such was the icy elderflower with bunga kantan (Malaysian torched ginger flower). There was no sweet wine to go with this, but the first Chardonnay did just fine by me.
Diners in Malaysia can look forward to this exclusive Wolf Blass wine pairing dinner at Ember Modern Bistro on December 15, 2019 at RM250++/person. Chef Gary Ember will be serving this six-course meal to pair with wines from the Wolf Blass Gold Label series and the Wolf Blass Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz.
For the deets, contact Ember Bistro.
Yes, you read right! Wolf Blass had a masterclass for a group of media members serving meatballs with its Gold Label wines! The key element that stood out in the taste test was the distinctively different sauces used to coat the meatballs – Taiwanese basil …