Food Explorer & Home Chef
I was getting tired of the usual ABC soup. And while double boiled soups are good and nourishing, but it takes time and ingredients. Time we have, but going out to buy ingredients can be challenging in these times. True blue ajummas may argue that …
We’re going into Day 3 of Restricted Control Order (RCO), and some people are already getting cabin fever. Since everybody is stuck at home, we might as well do some cooking, right? Most people can do, or have tried to do a basic fried rice. …
(UPDATE: YI PIN CHU CLOSED FOR GOOD POST MCO)
When weekends come by, we usually eat out as I wanna take a break from cooking. There are so many new cafes and restaurants popping up. Sometimes, I forget that there are many outlets in my own neighbourhood which I haven’t been to.
Passed by Yi Pin Chu Restaurant many times, but the signboard says Asian dessert so we normally don’t stop as Tong Sui (sweet soup/dessert) is not on our radar for lunch.
This time, I actually got out of the car and looked at the menu and saw that they had real food too, so we decided to go in as we didn’t want to go too far. There was quite a good variety of local fare as well as desserts.
We ordered Curry Laksa – something someone will always inevitably try – and No. 3 settled for Nasi Kerabu while I opted for Spicy Thai Chicken Chop.
The Laksa (RM8.20) was surprisingly very good and an unexpected hit. Slightly different version from what we are familiar with, this one had thicker rice vermicelli (coarse meehoon), prawns, fishcake, egg and bean sprouts. The soup was nicely thick yet not too rich, balanced in flavours. Totally forgive them for not having cockles and roast pork instead!
Also found out that Yi Pin Chu had been open for more than two years. Funny that only now we never noticed it but then, it is a little off the main street. It is also under the same management as Tang Pin Restaurant which specialises in fishballs and fishcake, which explains the larger fishcake slices in the laksa, better in terms of taste and quality.
The Nasi Kerabu (RM14.50) came with a generous chicken drumstick which no. 3 said was quite yummy as it was well-marinated, moist and juicy. The ensemble also had a half a salted egg, keropok, ulam and the blue rice was topped with lots of kerisik (coconut). Verdict: passed with flying colours.
Mine was the chicken chop (RM13.50). Tastewise it was not bad, but total fail in the presentation department. The menu showed a full piece of chicken while the actual dish came with the meat cut into small pieces on a bed of lettuce. More like a chicken salad?
When I asked the manager, he said, “If I serve one whole piece, but how will you be able to eat it?” So they so kindly cut it all up! (Me – rolls eyes). I ended up eating the chicken pieces with chopsticks.
For dessert we had Momo cha cha (RM5) which was a corruption of bubur cha cha, or more commonly called bo bo cha cha. I asked the manager what’s with the name, and his smart alec answer, “Oh, so that people would ask us about it, and then order it!”
Guess it worked as order it we did. It was thick, made rich with santan, and had quite a few pieces of yam and sweet potato. The other dessert we tried was cold mango with sago (RM6.50), with shaved ice and quite a few pieces of sweet mango. Also highly recommend this.
We noticed other tables ordering dumplings (pot stickers) so we had some too. At RM8 for a set of 8, each dumpling was adequately filled with meat and nicely juicy.
Round 2: We came back the next day for dinner again as No. 1 and No. 2 wanted to try the food too.
This time, I tried the Nasi Dagang (RM9.50), a Terengganu specialty, with mackerel fish curry and pickles. A very straightforward dish, everything hinges on the curry. I must say I was pleasantly surprised that the curry was pretty authentic, with a certain brightness brought on by a mellow sweetness.
The Signature Pan Mee (8.30) was ordinary though the noodle was slurp-worthy smooth, while the Nasi Lemak Rendang Chicken scored top marks for its creamy rendang chicken.
The Signature Lor Mai Kai was OK but predictable; the Yam Cake kinda weird as it smelt yeasty though Mr Manager said it was supposed to be like that, and the uncommon dessert on the menu was Double Skin Milk, which was kinda like yogurt or egg custard. Nice, but very filling as it’s a whole bowl of milk, after all. I’ve tried this in Hong Kong before but not here.
Generally, prices are more than reasonable, almost coffeeshop standards but you get a clean, comfortable air-cond environment, and food, for most part, above average. Guess this is gonna be one of my go-to haunts for the weekends!
Add: 25, Jalan SS 2/30, Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-766 0725
There’s sushi and there’s burrito, and then there’s Sushi Brito. Sushi Brito offers a mash-up of foods from two different cultures. A Sushi Burrito is essentially rice ball with stuff in the middle in long roll format or, imagine a California roll, except that the …
I was going for something different with meehoon (rice vermicelli) other than the usual stir-fry and meehoon soup variations, and I found a recipe for Thai minced beef noodle. This turned out quite refreshing and the boys gave their stamp of approval so I thought …
Generally, I love oysters, but Oyster and Ice Cream?
Chef Takashi Kimura makes it possible to have it all, with his take on Kakiemon Oyster and Ice Cream with Konbu Jelly. Not quite the blob of ice cream as one would expect, the cream in this instance provides richness to the lightly grillled oyster served chilled, sitting in the shell with oyster broth mixed with the briny Konbu Jelly.
This was slurped down the throat way too easily, and my only complaint was there was only serving of this spectacular dish!
This was the second course in resident chef’s specially curated 6-course dinner for the Japanese Specialty Food Festivity, excluding the main course and dessert, held at Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar, Micasa Kuala Lumpur.
Another standout dish was the main course, Hitachi Beef with Shaved Perigord Truffles. Never have I seen such generous shavings of truffle, and its enveloping aroma greeted diners way before the actual dish arrived.
The only Hitachi I know relates to appliances but I now know the Hitachi Prefecture has other wonderful facets.The thin marinated slices of marbled beef were juicy, flavourful and melt in your mouth tender, and the perfect accompaniment to the fragrant sticky rice beneath, moistened by an artfully hidden onsen egg.
One other dish was particularly memorable though for different reasons. Shirako with Kabu, or cod milt (sperm sac) was a bizarre food contender, however, the taste was more than pleasant, akin to creamy egg custard. Actually, it reminded me of pig brains, which my mother used to cook for us when we were young before we knew any better and it became politically incorrect to cook such things!
The first course, MoArc Farm Fresh Baby Leaves with Carrot Vinaigrette, was pretty as a picture, while the Cold Capellini with Wasabi Flowers and Broth was comforting like a familiar bowl of somen. Eating wasabi flowers was a first for me, and it was surprisingly just as pungent as the actual horseradish itself.
Instead of Kuro Matsu, we had Grilled Amadai (tilefish or Japanese sweet sea bream), grilled to perfection for a crisp crunchy crust that revealed super fresh, soft and naturally sweet flesh.
For a moment, my tastebuds were a little confused as I tasted what seemed like kurma in the King Crab aux Epices, but it was chef Takashi’s clever mix of spices that provided the unique creamy bed for the succulent crab.
The ultimate dessert, surely, Ichigo (strawberries) imported from Japan, no less, to go with ice cream and champagne, made for a fitting end to an amazing culinary journey
‘Twas a feast for the gods, a chance for mere mortals to have a taste of heaven, a splendid marriage of east and west, with excellent blending of Japanese influences with French sensibilities.
This was the first in a line up of specialty dinners to come; the next will be a French culinary journey in June.
A first for me, as I have never been taught the different nuances of sake before. And I confess, even after eight shots of sake, I still find it hard to differentiate the various types of sake, only that they all went down real smooth! …
Far from my usual neck of the woods, Kinrara 8 in Puchong seemed unlikely to have anything interesting in terms of a cafe. Like a shinning beacon, we found My Own Bakes Cafe, a welcoming set up that served the neighbourhood. My other half had …
Was looking for a dinner venue and literally stumbled upon Saba-Hae. Game for anything new and especially if prices are accommodating, we gave this a try.
The simple, fuss-free restaurant is styled after outlets that offer quick-grab-and-go services. There is also a long table and chairs lining the wall for those who want to linger and eat here.
A bit slow on the uptake, my friend and I finally figured that the name was a translation of “Sabah prawns” in Hokkien. Ooooh… I see, heh, at first we thought it was some new Korean food trend! LOL!
Turns out Saba-Hae is a well-established Sabah-based exporter of fresh water prawns since 2009 that sells its products worldwide, considered to be one of the top 3 shrimp producers in Malaysia. Its shrimps are said to be fresh and antibiotic-free, farmed in the coastal estate of Tawau in the western Pacific Ocean waters.
Now, it is venturing into cooked food for the first time, this being its very first outlet.
There are a number of freezers here as well, showcasing seafood products on sale. You can just buy the seafood, frozen shrimps being the key product, of course, or get them to cook something for you for a small fee of RM5 (lightly pan-fried/seared) for your meal while you wait. You can also ask for more complicated cooking styles but the price would then be different.
A box of fairly large fresh water frozen prawns is about RM32 while salmon and other seafood range from RM17 to RM50 and above for the more exotic such as scallops, caviar and what-have-you.
Food is served in paper boxes and after eating, diners are encouraged to dispose of the utensils and packaging in the prepared bins for recycling. Most of the items in the menu are rice box choices with prawns cooked in varying styles, with one pasta and one croquette offering. Order at the main counter, and the kitchen up front on the right corner prepares it on the spot.
Mine was the Sambal Edamame Shrimp and rice that came with an onsen egg, the recommended signature dish, while my friend had Salted Egg Shrimp with rice. Hers must have been good as she tucked in so super quick that I didn’t even get a chance to snap a picture!
The sambal for the edamame was Malay/Nyonya sambal prawn style – slightly sweet and sour that’s just a touch spicy so those who can’t take hot stuff should be able to manage this too.
Usually, I stay away from rice as far as possible but it’s quite impossible to eat this without devouring the carbo. The fact that I kept eating until I had to consciously stop myself from finishing the last few mouthfuls of rice says a lot about the scrumptious taste. This came with 5 prawns for RM13.90, and an additional RM2 for the set which includes a drink. All the sets fall in this price range.
We also had prawn fritters – I confess I’m a sucker for fried food – and rather than covered in thick batter, the coating for the prawns reminded me of Japanese fried foods or perhaps cucur, mixed with strands of vegetables. I quite enjoyed munching on the crispy bits!
Generally, Saba-Hae offers simple, quick meals at decent prices, with a focus on its food, both fresh and frozen, rather than Instagrammable corners. Better this than cafes that look so pretty and inviting, and then, the food is disappointing or priced out of the world, I say.
Add: 72, Jalan SS 21/39, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7731 9631
Annyeonghaseyo! In recent years, I’ve become a bit of a fan of Korean food and am always on the lookout for a good deal for BBQ. As a belated birthday dinner for No. 1, we made a visit to Seo Gung Korean BBQ. The restaurant …