My New Squeeze

At a review earlier this year of Furama Bukit Bintang (I was the first media person to review the new hotel, which has yet to be properly launched), I made the acquaintance of the hotel’s Executive Chef, Kenneth Chee. 

Spices@Furama may be his only F&B outlet, but Executive Chef Kenneth Chee stll shines!

 Getting to know him took some time – chefs tend to speak through their food – but I knew after dinner that he is going to be a chef I will be watching and trying to place. He’s worked with French hotel chain owners Accor and the Shangri-La in Kuala Lumpur. He’s worked himself up the ladder and I am hoping he will be rewarded for it. 

So while Furama Bukit Bintang got a half page review from me, I always knew I wanted to give Kenneth a more prominent placing. As such, Kit and I went down to the city this week to shoot Kenneth’s spread of local food. My brief to him was: local comfort food. 

This is what he presented. 

Kenneth's interpretation of Soto Ayam. 

Lots of white space and lots of flavour in his Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Mee Mamak uses peanut sauce to give it its crunch and richness.

Nasi Goreng Kampung

 Like many chefs, he is gracious and accommodating. Unlike many local Chinese chefs, he has a sweet, sexy edge to him, which, I am positive is going to stand him in good steed. If Malaysia needs a new Celebrity Chef, for heaven's sake let him be young, goodlooking, well-spoken and straight! 

The new chef in my life!

Pop! It's Over

If you've eaten Yorkshire pudding, you'll have an idea of what a Popover is. If you haven't, a Popover is made out of a mixture of flour, egg, milk and butter, baked in muffin pans. It gets its name from the way the rapidly rising batter pops over the rim of the muffin cups.

I tried the Popover recipe from the book Baking With Kids by Linda Collister because I liked how the ingredients were just placed in a blender and whizzed.


It is a cinch to make, and Erin enjoyed it, so maybe other kids may too.

Popovers

Ingredients:
1 cup full cream milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon wheatgerm
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. Grease the holes of a muffin tray
3. Put all ingredients into a blender and whiz til smooth
4. Pour the batter into the muffin tray. Fill only half way as the mixture expands
5. Bake at 200C for 25 minutes, then turn down heat to 180C for ten minutes. DO NOT open oven door during the temperature change.
6. Leave to cool in the oven for ten minutes, then turn out on a wire rack. Eat while warm, with butter and jam or honey.

Pick Me Up

I'm not a card-carrying member of the fraternity that believes that home-made food tastes the best. Sure, some things only mum (or dad, in my case) makes best, but there is some amazing food out there that really is worth paying for.

The perfect muffin!

I'm not a coffee culture whore, but I do know a good thing when I see and taste it. As such, I tell you verily that there has not yet been a muffin made at home that can rival those at Starbucks. Sorry, but the perfect mushroom top, the chewy cookie texture of the dome and the soft, gooey interior combine to make me melt. For RM5.90, the Banana Chocochip variant which makes a banana lover out of me, is for me, no bad thing. So hail commercialism!

Green Tea Frappuccino.

I also like Starbucks' Green Tea Frappuccino (Vendi, RM16) for the lift it gives me, without the caffeine buzz.
However, I can attest to one thing I won’t be ordering again. Their Éclair is pretty pathetic, since displaying choux pastry items is never a good idea. The chocolate cream interior was also whipped lifeless, so it resulted in a mouthful of flat foam.

The eclair is a no-no!

Still, I’ll forgive Big Green that since I got really cheerful service from a crew member named Ying at the Starbucks at the Giant Kelana branch.

Deep-fried Vegetarianism

Eru is my favourite place for comfort cuisine. When I crave fried foods, I suggest to myself that I am better off eating fried veggies than fried anything else, and thus give myself license to drag my lunch pals to our vegetarian haunt. 

Looks like prawn noodles, but tastes nothing like it.

This time round I was suckered into trying the vegetarian prawn noodles. Bad idea! You can make tofu taste like chicken with enough flavor enhancers, but there is no way proper prawn stock can be made without the crustacean. As such, for the first time ever at Eru, I left the dish half eaten. If it was not called prawn noodles, it may have been palatable, but the disharmony between name and the taste association in the mind totally blew it for me. A waste of my RM5.90! 

The Cantonese fried noodles is a much better choice.

The usual fried Cantonese style noodles fared much better, with its nest of crisp, delicate fine rice noodle. A much better choice for RM6.90. 

Bean curd sheets masquerading as fowl.

The crisp bean curd sheets used to be called ‘roasted duck’ but they thought better of it. It tastes nothing like duck, but simulates the deep brown puffiness of the skin of a roast duck. It is very fine and flaky, and very enjoyable. A good choice for an RM8 dish. 

The constant favourite: butter abalone mushrooms.

The butter abalone mushrooms are a hot favourite with my dining friends. We just adore the crunch of the oatmeal and fried curry leaves which coat these flat fungi. The addition of lemon zest and fried dried red chilies make the RM13 dish very moreish. 

The seaweed roll is also a good option, as it offers a lot more in taste and texture than regular turnip and carrot stuffed spring rolls. The rolls are wrapped in seaweed which is again wrapped in a thin pastry and deep fried (notice the trend?). 

Eru offers a range of herbal teas and Oriental drinks ranging from Pu-Er tea and roselle which is served with the whole flower heads intact. It’s a little odd chewing these strangely crunchy, sweet-sour red blossoms, but they are a good palate cleaner for RM4.

Asian Influences

Some things take to Asianizing better than others. I’m not a big fan of lemongrass mousse or lychee crème brulee, but I do like KFC’s tomyam crunch chicken. 

It’s not the first time the Colonel is offering this variant of the crunchy, spicy chicken in Malaysia, so I am assuming it has gotten good reviews from the general populace. The seasoning has stayed true to quintessential tomyam, with enough flavours of lemongrass and lime in the crunchy coating, and it makes the tender chicken taste a lot more defined. Enjoy it while you can because it’s for a limited period only. 

The promotional place mat where chicken and everything else is ten times bigger and 'for illustration only'.

The chicken really is good!

Can you say 'pathetic'?

The wee little wrap.

The other items I ordered were not as praiseworthy. Check out these shriveled wedges and way small wrap!

When it comes to KFC, the best thing you can do is stick to what they do best!

Marvelous Mochi

Adults in their thirties may remember a Chinese snack called ‘mua chee’ being sold in food markets. A strip of rice flour dough was cut off from a block of the mixture, and rolled into a tray of ground, toasted peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar. The coated pieces were placed in a plastic bag and eaten with toothpicks. Another version saw the dough being rolled into a ball, with the peanut mix used as a stuffing and the rice ball being rolled into flour. 

In its later incarnations, stalls selling ‘mochi’ had a small popularity run, with offerings of flavoured rice dough in pandan, coffee, lychee and other such Oriental flavours. I ate this version once and dismissed it as faddish. I did not seek it out again. 

The box of really royal mochi.

The assortment inside.

My mum-in-law recently returned from a tour of Taiwan and brought back a large box of mochi. I was ready to dismiss it, but it turned out to be the best, most amazing mocha I have ever had. Even non-mochi takers loved the chewy but not sticky texture and the rich, natural filling of red bean, yam, lotus paste and sesame.

It’s a pity no one imports this in Malaysia, but it was a treat to savour and remember!

Still Kings Of The Kaiten

Though there are now quite a few options for quick sushi based on the kaiten belt system (that’s the conveyer with ready-to-eat plates of sushi placed on it), it is heartening to know that the pioneers of this system of food service are still up to mark.

A few months back I wrote that I was on the verge of dismissing Sushi King from my places to eat, but of late, ever since my three-year-old has decided she liked many of the components of Japanese food, we have gone to the Sushi King outlet in Giant Kelana Jaya quite a bit. 

This trip saw us waiting outside because the outlet opens only at 11.30am. Fair enough when you consider most locals don’t think of sushi as breakfast food. We had some food off the kaiten to stave off hunger pangs, but the bulk of the meal was from the ala carte menu. 

Futomaki off the kaiten.

The favourite food of a three-year-old, believe it or not.

Rather messy California rolls.

Two plates of salmon were needed to satisfy the Salmon King.

The salmon toro khomi was fresh, though cut a little badly. RM14.90 a plate of five slices is not too bad, considering the rise of food prices everywhere. 

Tofu with beef.

The Nikumiso Tofu (RM7.90) was a change from the usual Agedashi Tofu, and we liked the tender slices of beef, although it could have done with a little more sauce. 

Tasty, but salty noodles!

The Shoyu Ramen (RM13.90) stood out for its super fresh noodles, bursting with a rich, eggy taste, complemented by tender slices of chicken and veggies. Unfortunately it made us incredibly thirsty after! 

The meal for a hungry foursome (although a small eater grandma and nibbler toddler can be lumped together as one person) came up to RM73.90. 

Sushi King has a few promos on Facebook (www.facebook.com/sushikingasia) and on www.sushi-king.com