Food Explorer & Home Chef
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 …
Everyone knows nasi lemak, the unofficial national dish. It’s the simplest dish ever as it just uses a few main ingredients, half of it doesn’t even require real cooking – cucumber, hardboiled egg, fried anchovies and roasted peanuts. Apart from the nasi lemak – rice …
I said I was a diet. I do not eat carbs, I said. And then, I made this!
It is my own doing as I just cannot resist chili. Others may have a sweet tooth, my Kriptonite is all things spicy.
A friend gave me some belimbing. It’s a local fruit from the same family as the starfruit, except that it’s super sour and normally best eaten cooked with dishes or sambal, or pickled. I could be wrong but I think this species is called belimbing buluh.
1. Clean and then cut the belimbing into smaller pieces.
2. Blend together about 10 shallots, 3 or 4 pieces of garlic, 2cm square of belacan (shrimp paste), 6 fresh chillies, 6 dry chillies (more if you like it spicy), a thumb of kunyit (turmeric) to get a paste going. This is by no means the absolute accurate proportions, as I’m just going guesstimates. Nothing to say you can’t add a bit more or less of something. I cut some fresh lemongrass in small pieces and fried it together with the paste rather than blending it as well.
3. Heat up the wok and some oil, and then fry the paste till fragrant. Or, another yardstick would be when the oil separates from the chili.
4. Throw in the belimbing, fry till it softens, add in salt and sugar to taste.
And it’s that simple! Eaten with some hot rice, I dare say it would be hard to stop at just one bowl. It took me sheer willpower to stop at three spoonful of rice! And yes, I really counted three!
The sourness of the fruit plays off the spiciness of the chili, balanced by the salt and sugar, so there’s no need to add any other condiments really.
Check out my next post for Nasi Lemak Sambal.
So this is a first for me … I’ve gone for wine tasting, and so too for whisky, cognac and gin, but tequila is an entirely new animal to me, I confess. And what I’ve learnt is that most of what we’re accustomed to, usually …
When chef Jeff Ramsey came by the table to ask about the food, I told him I had a complaint. He heaved a sigh and said, “OK, let’s hear it.” “There’s not enough of the food as it’s so good and I want more,” I …
Effable and down to earth, Sapna Anand easily makes you forget you’re talking to a celebrity chef. It’s also hard to believe that she only picked up cooking seriously about 15 years ago, after she started living abroad.
The Kerala-born chef spent her youth in Goa, and readily admits that she hardly stepped into the kitchen before she got married. Following her husband whose work took him to San Francisco, and later Ireland, she was coerced into picking up a cookbook as eating out was not really an option then.
By the time the couple was transferred to Malaysia where food is easily found at every corner, the cooking bug had already gotten hold of Sapna who took it to the next level by learning pastry-making at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok.
“Malaysians are passionate about their food and it is a melting pot of cultures, even on the palate. I love the food here, and tried the local spices and herbs,” said Sapna, who has been living in Malaysia for about two decades now.
“In the beginning I was just experimenting in the kitchen and trying out new recipes, and writing all this in my blog. A publisher (MPH) wanted to do a book on Indian cooking and was introduced to my food,” she explained, and the rest as they say, is history as Sapna today has two books (New Indian Kitchen by Sapna Anand/Fast Indian Cooking by Sapna Anand) to her name, with the third on the way.
So, there’s hope for me yet! Sapna encourages me by saying, “Don’t give up! You never know how things work out! In fact, the pilot for the TV series didn’t get picked up until four years later by AFC.”
From her blog, Sapna expanded her repertoire to include cooking workshops, having her own line of Goan premium Spices, being a TV host on her own cooking show on Asian Food Chanel, cook book author and most recently, running her own restaurant named “Goa by Sapna Anand”, located at Ascott, Kuala Lumpur, in collaboration with the SOUL Society Group.
I don’t know how she does it, because frankly, I’m already tired listening to her list of accomplishments!
Before this, Sapna was already working with Goa by Hubba on a consultancy basis for the past four years, but now, she is fully immersed in the running of her restaurant. The cuisine is reminiscent of Goa from her memories, interlaced with Malaysian senses.
Despite her busy schedule, she still makes an effort to connect with diners at the restaurant where she spends most of the time these days. But don’t take my word for it, meet up with Sapna yourself as she’s every bit as friendly and approachable as she appears on TV.
Proof is in the tasting
Sapna kindly whipped up four dishes for us to try during this interview. To start, Paneer Cutlet, a popular street food in Goa. The firm crisp ball fell apart in the mouth to reveal fluffy potato with some fenugreek at its core. Totally addictive especially when eaten with paneer (cottage cheese) dip, if it weren’t for the other dishes waiting, this would have been finished in a cinch.
My personal favourite was the Chili Prawns, doused in melted butter and garlic, with toasted bread to dip into the sinful golden liquid. The prawns were fresh and luscious, the bread fragrant and crispy, and paired together, such lovely harmony.
The Fish in Saffron Sauce, a tribute to Kerala Fish Molee, was drenched in a flavourful, creamy sauce which went really well with rice and then, there was the unusual Banana Fritter with Mutton Curry. Deep fried pisang tanduk, I love, and the rich mutton curry, redolent of spices and herbs, is a dish I enjoy, usually with rice. Eaten together, however, gave me mixed feelings, as I wasn’t accustomed to the sweetness in the curry flavours. Sapna says this is an undiscovered Keralan dish, usually made with beef rather than mutton.
Her homestyle cooking gives off earthy, familiar, comforting flavours and are dishes she would cook at home for family and friends, she says.
For the closer, Sapna so kindly prepared Rose ice cream and Alphonso Mango with Coconut ice cream – surprisingly not as sweet as I thought it would be – that made a refreshing end to a lovely meal.
Dining at Goa by Sapna Anand is not just about enjoying Indian cuisine, it’s about a unique Goan experiencing which does not come by often, cooked with a lot of heart.
Imagine having a whisky pairing session in a coffeeshop! Not exactly your idea of fine dining, but essentially that’s what over 50 Glenlivet Guardians did one night. However, this was no ordinary coffeeshop, but one with a 91-year-old legacy that is still going strong, currently …