Ordinary extrodinary

Great food is detracted from in less than great company. Conversely, simple food becomes a celebration with good friends. I had a chance at the latter on Monday when I went in to see Lee Meng Hong, the Assistant Director of Public Relations at The Legend Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

We have been fast friends since we met when he was with the Grand Seasons Hotel (also another Metroplex group hotel). The marketing person servicing that property winged about him being pernickety and a pain, but I saw in him a man who truly tries to do his best for his company in every situation. There are far too few people like him in the industry!

We’ve been friends since and I made it a point to see him at quarterly intervals in the year. A pre-Christmas meet up has become somewhat of a tradition, and so, despite the bum back, we went to the city on Monday for lunch at The Museum Chinese restaurant.

Fried straw mushrooms.

Meng Hong is that rare PR-man who really keeps a file in his head on the likes and dislikes of his press circle. He remembers I raved about the deep dried straw mushrooms and so he made sure it was on the list of lunch items.

Unfortunately this delicate dish, which has always been perfectly presented came with double the portion of salt and had to be replaced. This is a bad indulgence, as it features golden mushrooms dipped in seasoned batter and deep fried. It’s very tasty, but so low in real nutrition.

Steamed cod.

However, the rest of the dishes quite made up for it. The steamed cod in light soy is another favourite of Meng Hong’s and we enjoyed the delicate flavour and texture of the dish. Truly fresh cod does not need a lot done to it. Good soy sauce, some ginger and aromatic greens and voila, a good dish that is also good for health.

Broccoli in crabmeat and egg.

Black pepper udon and seafood.

The broccoli in crabmeat was still crunchy and emerald green, and made a great counterpoint to the silky crabmeat and egg sauce. The cod and broccoli just begged for plain steamed rice, which we ordered on top of the plate of black pepper udon and seafood, which was a mite too peppery and not as rich in the balance as I would have liked. Still, the fresh snapper and large prawns really did give it a lift.

Honey sea coconut and lemon.

Kiwi and coral.

The desserts at Museum are creative and I like checking out their latest offerings. Kit and Meng Hong stuck to the old favourite of honey sea coconut, while I opted for kiwi and coral. It was a fabulous finish to an understated meal. The kiwi was blended with mint for a cool, astringent bite, which made the clean crunch of the sweet coral such a perfect counterpoint.
Someone told me once that the coffee is the last thing people who order it after a meal will remember after the meal. If this is so, I’ll say that despite the ordinariness of the food, the company and dessert made today legendary.

Pass!

Rum and raisin with cookies and cream.

Rum crunch and black sesame.

It’s official, the gelato at Gelatomio is no longer worth my money. It used to be much better when the bear mascot was cute and coloured like a real teddy, holding a cone of different coloured scoops of gelato. Now, as the bear turned all blue, the gelato too leaves me all cold.
Kit had a scoop of rum and raisin and cookies and cream. I tried both, and found the former passable and the latter insipid. I got rum crunch which was rum with hazelnut. Definitely a level down from the rum and raisin. The black sesame was good, with a nice crunch of toasted sesame bits, but it just lacked that richness on the tongue, and the fullness of flavour. Coupled with bored service from the counter at Berjaya Times Square, and Kit’s inability to log into their advertised free wifi, I have to say this brand is non grata.

Time for the food court

I remember the bemusement I felt on my numerous trips to Singapore, when Kit and I were brought to the Food Republic in one of Orchard Road’s malls, with the hosts telling us that some of the best food was to be had there. One, I rarely dine at food courts, because I know that in Kuala Lumpur at least, the standards are lackluster to say the least, abysmal to down-right puke-your-guts-out food poisoning for the worst case scenario. Two, I hate queuing for food. Self servicing is for dildos, not food! I have a reason for this hate of self service – I am exceedingly clumsy and have been known to tip a pan of sizzling noodles onto the tray, trying to set it on the table!

Food Republic is the largest chain of food courts in Singapore and they are supposed to have garnered all the best hawkers in Singapore. I guess in the draconian Lion City, setting up shop at the side of a storm drain is a big no-no. In Malaysia it is called ‘cari makan’. (For both the hawkers and the law enforcement officers who patronize the very stalls they are supposed to be policing).

Anyhow, the beef noodles I had at the Food Republic I went to was not worth the 15-minute wait. The hole-in-the-wall shop in KL city still has the best beef balls and my dear friend Evelyn has quite a few times bought me a take away of 50 balls to enjoy at leisure.

On Sunday Kit and I walked Berjaya Times Square. He was hungry and after aimlessly looking for a place to catch my eye, he suggested the Taste Of Asia. TOA is the new-ish food court at Berjaya Times Square and to give credit where credit is due, it really does offer a selection from around Asia. There was Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, a lot of mixed rice items from Malaysia, Hong Kong (why do I persist in thinking Hong Kong is a separate nation from China?) and Taiwan. As usual, the cuisine of the Philippines is the biggest outstanding miss from the SEA line-up (yes, I know Myanmar and is in the region too, but the junta does so good a job, even the food is suppressed. Not to mention repressed).

Vegetarian kebab - not much to look at but nice crunch in the mouth.

I had a vegetarian kebab for RM5.50. It was not country-specific, but it was Kyros and I have good memories of enjoying them with my mum when she used to work in the Pacific Bank in Wisma Hangsam. I’d visit her after classes and we’d walk across to Kota Raya for a kebab.
It still remains great. Crisp cabbage, sliced button mushrooms and pineapple with lots and lots of their special sauce in a crunchy wrap is a great way to eat veggies.

The best of the show, the Kim Chi Bi Bim Bab.

Kit actually asked me to order two of the same things at the Korean stall. That is so not me. Why eat one thing when you can sample more? I ended up ordering Kim Chi Bi Bim Bab for him (rice in a stone bowl with assorted vegetables fried with kimchi). It came with seaweed soup which was really tasty. The Bim Bab was very good too. Very hearty and appetizing, and very satisfying.

Not very appealing visually, and not as satisfying as it could have been.

My Kim Chi Jji Gae was a bit of a wash out. It was very sparse, with only a few strands of glass noodles and chunks of tofu in it. It was rounded out by some stray cabbage, and served with rice. It was red, hot and flavourful, but not really as enticing as the stone bowl rice. At RM10.90, I think the Bim Bab was better bang for my buck at RM13.

Our two bottles of mineral water caused us RM2 each, meaning I had less than RM20 left on my RM50 food card. Yes, Taste Of Asia is cashless. Eating there requires you to buy a card and preload it with an amount. After you have eaten, you can turn in the card and regain the balance. A little easier than fumbling with your wallet while juggling a hot plate. And yes, TOA does have a stall with hot plate specialties. But it’s self service so watch out if you see me with a smoking tray.

Shake it up, baby

One of my most enduring memories of Bali is the avocado shake called Apulkat. I remember the first ambrosiac taste of this creamy smoothie blended with honey and my joy at finding out that it cost a mere RM2 (in those days).

Since then I have not had an Apulkat, even when the Indonesian restaurants began offering it on the menu. There is roil of distaste at paying RM8 for a drink, especially when I knew it wouldn’t be as great as the first time. Very few things are.

However, providence provides and my windfall of avocados made it quite impossible to eat 20 with Tabasco or Lea & Perrins. And since guacamole is best eaten with corn chips which will set me back another RM15, thus negating the cheapness of the avocado (Malaysian made Chacos just don’t taste the same), it was clear that I was to make Apulkat.

With best buddy-near sister Jade in town for a visit, I had a ready taker for it. Kit dislikes avocados immensely and I hate making stuff for one person. My version of Apulkat is the Avocado Basil Chill (my very own ABC). I used three avocados, 300 mls of full cream milk, a vanilla bean, five basil leaves, a handful of ice cubes and half a cup of the precious maple syrup my aunt Jeannie brought from Canada when she visited. 30 seconds in my 650 Phillips blender on the smoothie setting and a sprig of basil from the garden as garnish and I presented Jade with something healthy and delicious. Beat that, Westin Financial Street Beijing!

Rainstorm, fruit fall

I’ve said it again and again, I LOVE the night market. While it is true, the freshest produce is to be found in the day markets, I like the cool and comfort of the night, and the sepia light of dusk casts such a forgiving glow on things. Which is probably why one should not buy prawns at the night markets, but, oh well.

Anyhow, ever since we moved into our house, Wednesday night has been set aside for produce shopping and larder stocking. I’ve found some good stuff at the night market, and it is there that I got my supply of prawns to practice my prawn noodles with.

I have become known to the traders there, and I think they like my company and funny attempts at pidgin dialects. I, in turn, have developed a respect for them, and a fierce loyalty. If I can buy something from one of the traders and profit them, I will wait for Wednesday to get it, instead of filling the coffers of the hypermarkets. This is the only way I see these traders continuing to have relevance, amid their shrinking clientele. I think we owe it to these small businesses to patronize them and help them make an honest living. Sure, maybe things are a bit dearer, but I find quality is so much better sometimes.

I especially try to go shopping on rainy days because I know how badly their business is affected. I try very hard to buy stuff so that they may be able to turn a small profit.
Today’s rain began at 4.30pm and never let up. I went to the night market with an umbrella. It’s awful to juggle shopping bags and an umbrella, but today I made out in spades. I got some Korean capsicums from Leong, my vegetable trader. They look perfect for stuffing cream cheese and a bit of creamed seafood into!

RM10 for 20 persimmons.

I love the blush on these jambus!

The biggest windfall was the fruit. I made out like a bandit! Just this evening I was telling Kit that we should eat way more fruit. Fruit is easier to eat because it does not need cooking. It is a bit of a bother to prep vegetables and wash the pans just for a stir fried dish.

I bought a kilo of beautiful rosy jambu for RM10 from a regular fruiterer and some grapes from the other fruit seller. The one stall I don’t patronize as much because I think he’s got integrity issues, was where I hit pay dirt. I got 20 persimmons for RM10 and as I looked at the avocados which were priced at RM10 for 5, he told me I could have the whole box for RM20!

My 20 RM1 avocados!

The trip home was a chiropractic nightmare! You want a cardio workout? Try juggling two shopping bags of soft fruit and bread with two bags of hard fruit AND balance an umbrella!

Still, it was good pickings. I really like avocados. I like guacamole, and the Indonesian milkshake Apulcat, as well as the fruit in wedges. They are quite expensive so I’ve never had the pleasure of having too many at once. Today, I had one with the dregs of rojak sauce (I did tell you that the rojak lady sells at this night market too!), one with Tabasco (I was tuned in to this style of eating avocados by my ex-Publisher, Faridah Stephens. This is someone I admire a lot. Real Publishers should be able to write and she does still!), and one more with Lea & Perrins. This last one was the bomb! I think it even tops Tabasco and avocado.

I’m going to bed with the lovely knowledge that there will be 17 more avocados to enjoy in the coming days. Oh! Make that 16. One was bad. I TOLD you the guy had integrity issues!