Food Explorer & Home Chef
Since I had to pick up something from Old Klang Road area, Littlepeople Cafe popped up on the list of cafes to visit. Waze got a little confused and took us on a detour. But finally, found it on the ground floor of a residential …
It was a long time in making, 10 years since the last special bin release, but right at the start of 2020, Penfolds has already made history by releasing a new, rare wine from the 2016 vintage – Special Bin 111A Clare Valley Barossa Valley …
In the sweltering afternoon heat, Moët Hennessy Diageo (MHD) Malaysia further raised temperatures when it ushered in the Year of the Rat at Plaza Arkadia with a lion dance performance by one of the best troupes in the country.
In conjunction with the CNY festivities, Hennessy also launched its promotional campaign themed “Renewal of Hope”.
The collab between Hennessy and renowned Chinese artist Zhang Huan resulted in inspiring artwork of a resonant dreamscape entitled “Spheres of Hope” featured on auspicious-looking limited edition bottles specially designed for the New Year season.
“Every year, the world’s cities shine with red lanterns celebrating the start of the Lunar New Year. It is a celebration promising new beginnings and perpetual movement that Hennessy embraces generously. This is what we want to embody in this especially meaningful celebration,” explained Thomas Bouleuc, Managing Director of MHD Malaysia.
As part of the campaign, Hennessy also collaborated with renowned Malaysian landscape designer Lim In Chong, popularly known as Inch, to create the “Garden of Hope”. The tree installation showcases twelve trees with individual coloured spheres inspired by shades of Zhang Huan’s artwork.
Visitors to Plaza Arkadia can see both Zhang Huan’s artwork and the “Garden of Hope” throughout the campaign duration, which ends February 8, 2020.
Huan’s artworks will also feature on Hennessy’s promotions and publicity throughout the campaign and on a microsite specially developed by Hennessy for the festivities.
At the microsite, users can find out more about the ongoing events, create their own New Year greetings to share on social media with friends, and play games to collect points to redeem exclusive Hennessy bottles, free dinners or free drinks at participating restaurants and clubs.
The campaign also sees Hennessy fulfilling the hopes of eight people in the New Year in the categories of health, wealth, relationships, career, self, business, home and travel with gifts altogether amounting to RM38,888.
More details on http://innercirclevip.club/cny2020.
I was making my way to Nuromen, one of my favourite Sarawak beef noodles joints, as I haven’t been there for a while. Was surprised to see a burger stall in front as I entered. Turns out, it was The Burg, which used to be …
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 the Year of the Rat ushers in a whole load of promotions and giveaways, in conjunction with the brew’s 88th anniversary.
Going all out, Tiger Beer has collaborated with renowned Malaysian singer-songwriter, Namewee to create a brand new music video for the Rat Year. Check it out, it’s pretty cool, but then again, our local boy never disappoints!
At Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Tiger Beer marked an early Lunar celebration by having a lion dance performance and Namewee as well as other invited guests perform right in front of the mall’s main entrance. After that, it was a roaring dinner at Grand Imperial and Chinese New Year was in full swing with shouts of ‘yam seng’ filling the whole restaurant!
Felt more like an exuberant Chinese wedding rather than a CNY celebration, but really, when there’s great food coupled with great drinks, it’s reason enough to celebrate!
The dinner was all about Heineken’s offering as Tiger Beer, Heineken, Guinness Stout, Tiger Crystal, Strongbow, Apple Fox and Heineken 0.0 were on free flow, but the dinner menu itself deserve a special mention as the starter, the traditional Yee Sang was quite unusual, made with fruits and nuts together with crispy fish skin rather than the conventional salmon and vegetables.
But the big eye-opener that had everyone god-smacked was the really ‘extra’ lobster starter, served in three different styles!
Among the other highlights were Iberico Ribs and fragrant lotus wrapped glutinous rice as well as a huge grouper for each table. Thank you Tiger Beer, for your appreciation dinner, we love you too!
There will be even more chances to get exclusive merchandise with festive giveaways such as Tiger Beer mahjong sets, Heineken® Poker sets, cash prizes and even gold coins up for grabs.
From now until mid-February, those who purchase any big bottle of Tiger Beer, Tiger Crystal, Heineken or Guinness Foreign Extra Stout at participating food courts or coffee shops can check underneath their bottle caps for three different Huat characters – “A”, “B’ and “C” – representing different prizes to be won.
The “A” bottle cap entitles consumers to a Huat Huat Ang Pow of RM888, a “B” bottle cap gives a redemption of a Huat Huat Ang Pow worth RM388, while 12 bottle caps marked “C”, or six Tiger Crystal bottle caps, allows customers to redeem one can of Tiger Crystal.
In addition to getting chilled beers and ciders delivered directly to your door, various items including the exclusive Tiger Beer Mahjong set and Heineken® Poker set are available with purchases by way of festive promo codes, check out www.drinkies.my
Consumers celebrating in selected bars and pubs have a shot at Premium Heineken Ang Pows which allow a personalised video message via QR code with the purchase of two bottles of Heineken 0.0.
For more deets on the promos, log on to www.tiger88.my
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 …
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 capable of doing any chore, without having to depend on their mother, girlfriend or wife to do things for them.
So my sons have no qualms experimenting in the kitchen or going for cooking classes. Probably programmes like the Masterchef series also help to reinforce the notion that it’s cool for men to be able to cook.
Sometimes, No. 3 invites his friends over to bake stuff and last weekend, I was a little tickled (and extremely proud) to see four boys getting together to make pasta. For a first attempt, it was a very admirable effort.
Not quite satisfied with the results, No. 3 made another batch of fettuccine by himself two days later (with his mum helping him roll out the dough – this was the fun part!). I was quite surprised that it was really that easy.
Frankly, it’s just about the type of flour that is used for the dough – there’s very little difference between “pasta” and Chinese “noodles”, save for the form it takes.
Homemade pasta has a different flavour and springiness to it. Now I understand why restaurants charge a premium price for handmade pasta even though it’s so simple to make and the ingredients don’t cost much.
But of course, we used a pasta machine – it was invented for a reason, so why the need to be a hero and roll everything out by hand!
Here’s the recipe from a cooking class J attended a while back which I tried out on my own.
115g wheat flour
110g suji (semolina) flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
90ml water (add a little at a time if too dry)/ 6ml olive oil
Mix both types of flour and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Beat them together while pulling the flour in.
Transfer to the board and knead into a dough, slowly adding a bit of water if it gets too dry. When the dough seems springy enough, wrap in cling wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
So here’s where it gets interesting. After you take out the dough, flatten it a bit and cut into four parts.
Put the dough through the pasta machine and roll out until it thins out, and then cut into fettucine.
The making of the dough I realise, is the easiest part. If you knead too long, the pasta becomes too brittle and dry, so it’s not recommended. There’s also a lot of trial and error in getting the texture just right. After cutting out the strands of fettuccine, let it hang on a rack if possible, to dry a bit. But DO NOT stack otherwise they will all clump together. And don’t not wait too long to cook the pasta, otherwise it loses its freshness.
The first time round, the dough was too wet, so we added more flour and kneaded it a bit more, and then it was OK. When I did it, I added about less than half the water in the recipe. Oh, and don’t forget to dust the machine with flour when rolling out the dough.
Achievement unlocked: I can make my own pasta now. But I confess most days, I would probably be too lazy to get the machine out to knead the dough and wash up after that, so yeah, store bought fettuccine is good too!
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 …