Kyspeaks.com

A bit of Magic in Your Cooking, with Chef Michael Elfwing of Senses

Last weekend I was invited to a cooking class held by Panasonic Cooking Magic with Chef Michael Elfwing of Senses, KL Hilton. The session was joined by 5 winners from the Panasonic Cooking Magic Workshop Facebook Contest, and we were promised an evening of showcase and good food.

Chef Elfwing – Panasonic Cooking Magic Ambassador

Chef Michael Elfwing is the Chef de Cuisine of Senses restaurant for the last 8 years and  contributed to the restaurant winning the prestigious 5-Star Diamond Awards as one of the Best Restaurants in the World and also the Hospitality Asia Award for Best Western Cuisine.

He is the Panasonic Cooking Magic ambassador, and Panasonic is also the main sponsors of MasterChef Malaysia.

Pineapple and Basil Bubbly – with Panasonic Juicer and Blender

First recipe of the evening was a simple Pineapple and Basil Bubbly.

Using Panasonic Blender & Juicer, extra the juice out of a fresh pineapple. Next, add 6-8 leaves of basil, 500 ml of ice cubes, 1/2 table spoon black pepper, and 300 ml sparkling water in the blender to mix it all up. And there you go, refreshing welcome drinks for half a dozen guests.

Sweet Corn & Basil Soup – using Panasonic Blender and Induction Cooker

First hot dish to be prepared was the Sweet Corn & Basil Soup. The ingredients are as follow (for 6 servings):

• 8 pc fresh sweet corn
• 2 pieces leek, stem sliced into 5mm thick slices
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 gloves garlic, chopped
• 30 gram basil
• 2 liter chicken stock
• 50 ml olive oil
• sea salt & white pepper

Ratatouille with Panasonic Microwave Oven, Steamer, and Pressure Cooker

The main dish was Ratatouille (just like the movie, I should try the recipe one of these days and then share it here) with a steamed French seabass on top.

This is a slightly more complicated recipe but can be prepared in just about half an hour or so with the help of Panasonic Microwave Oven and Pressure Cooker. The result was a beautiful dish that tasted as good as it looked. I enjoyed this very much.

The microwave oven – NN-SV30, is really impressive. You can use it  as a microwave, to grill, bake, and even steam. Who wants a dedicated oven that does nothing but baking?

Valrhona Guanaja Chocolate Fantasy – Panasonic Microwave Oven NN-SV30

For dessert, chef Michael prepared Valrhona Guanaja Chocolate Fantasy with Passion Fruit Parfait. The chocolate fantasy is made like a pudding and can be frozen uncooked and only defrosted and baked when needed. Check out the melted chocolate core, isn’t it enticing?

Chef Michael got extra help in making ice cream

Another recipe from Chef Michael that I want to share here is the Passion Fruit Parfait. Up till now I didn’t know that you could actually make this at home with nothing but a hand mixer and refrigerator.

Ingredients (for 12 portions):

• 6 egg yolks
• 100 gram sugar
• 400 gram whipping cream
• 6 egg whites
• 100 gram fresh passion fruit pulp (you can use other fruits if different taste is desired)

Method:

• Whip the cream to soft peaks using hand blender
• Whisk the egg yolks and 50g sugar until white using a hand blender, add passion fruit pulp to the egg mix
• Whisk the egg whites with 50g sugar until stiff peaks using a hand blender
• Fold the cream into egg yolk mix, and fold in the egg white last
• Pour in a mould and freeze overnight

Valrhona Guanaja Chocolate Fantasy

The parfait is best eaten within a few days since no artificial ingredients or preservatives is used, and they sure tasted delightful especially with the chocolate fantasy. Home made ice cream with melt in your mouth chocolate pudding sounds good to you?

KY with some of the stars of the show, chef Michael Elfwing and Panasonic kitchen appliances

After the cooking demonstration, we were treated dinner with the above dishes. It was a wonderful night and one that actually made me think about upgrading to the Panasonic Microwave Oven or maybe the Panasonic electric Pressure Cooker.

I do cook on a semi-regular basis and can really see the benefit of having good quality and safe to operate kitchen appliances. For example, my old school gas powered pressure cooker always have the risk of blowing up, but you can use this Panasonic unit in a set-and-forget way, and it even doubles as a slow cooker as well.

Overall it was a lovely evening. We not only got to have a great dinner, but I took home a few recipes to try as well, thank you Panasonic & Chef Michael!

KY eats – Favola at Le Meridien, Steaks, Lobster, and more

Favola at Le Meridien KL is pretty synonymous with fine Italian dining, but what’s little known is the fact that they do serve dishes that are not pizza, pasta, or risotto. On the latest visit to one of our favourite Italian restaurants, we tried their beef and lobster instead.

We were told by our hosts to pick our main dishes and soup, while appetizers will be taken care of. I found out that I certainly wasn’t the only person who always over order.

bread to start, creamy mozzarella w beef bacon, buffalo mozzarella cheese

As usual, we were served with some lovely breads to much on while pondering what to pick for dinner. I had to constantly remind myself not to have too much of these whenever I’m at Favola, they were yummy with just a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Soft creamy mozzarella, shaved truffle, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts and beef bacon was the description for Burratina (RM 40) was refreshing, and the crispy beef bacon gave the dish an added dimension.

For cheese lovers, you’ll love Caprese (RM 35), how does marinated trio of tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and balsamic emulsion sounds like? It tasted as good as it sounds, I can use some buffalo mozzarella cheese right now, not overly cheesy, yet soft and creamy. A small pack can be had at Jaya Grocer for about RM 30.

deep fried breaded mozzarella, grilled jumbo asparagus w poached egg, mushroom soup

Fritti Mozzarella  (RM 40) has a different take in mozzarella preparation, two generous slabs of buffalo mozzarellas breaded and deep-fried, then served with sautéed mushroom and avocado purée. Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, the skill of the chef is exhibited here by not over cooking the cheese, while still giving the skin that crispy texture.

The most beautiful appetizer of the day was Asparagi alla Griglia (RM 45). Grilled giant asparagus, poached egg, crispy bresaola, brown butter and parmigiano.  This was both beautiful and delicious.

cream of clams, sausage, vege in golden pastry; lobster dumpling in clear broth w spinach

For soup, I picked Brodo di Spinaci (RM 35), clear chicken broth with fresh spinach, with lobster dumpling and grated Parmesan. The soup was light, but I felt that the dumpling did not have enough lobster flavour to it. This was the least filling soup I think, a good thing in this case.

Haze had Zuppa di Vongola(RM 40). You could call it an Italian clam chowder, officially it’s cream of clams, Italian sausage, vegetable sofrito and green peas in golden pastries, and you gotta have a big stomach for this. The broth is creamy and quite filling, and tasted pretty good, the only minor qualm was that we wish  they’d be more clams.

Zuppa di Fungi Calabrese(RM 35), or assorted mushrooms cooked in milk with garlic rustic bread and Swiss cheese, is always a favourite among diners at Favola. The mushroom soup is one of the best I’ve ever tried, rich but not overly creamy, and absolutely fantastic.

black angus ribeye and grilled angus t-bone steak

OK, now we finally get to the main dishes.

There were two beef dishes on the menu and we tried both of them. Haze and I ordered the grilled Angus T-bone steak (RM 150) with Caesar salad and smoky pimiento butter, while Josen asked for the black Angus ribeye Fiorentina (RM 135) with grilled lemon halves and balsamic vinegar.

The beef were very good, I had mine medium rare, and Haze asked for hers to be served “blue” – which was rarer than rare. While these weren’t quite the standard of Prime (nor the same type of beef), they held their own very well and did not disappoint at all. At this price point, the beef were quite a bit cheaper as well.

ciki and her full baked boston lobster

While we enjoyed our beef, ciki went the other direction and picked the baked Boston lobster (RM 230 full, RM 120 half) that came with spice tomatoes and lemon chermoula with buffalo mozzarella. She was kind enough to share the seafood with us and I’m happy to report that it was indeed excellent.

You can have Maine lobsters for a tad cheaper at Lobsterman, SS2, but of course there won’t be buffalo mozzarella, attentive servers, or ambiance anywhere near the standard of Favola.

risotto with pan seared sea scallops, home made pasta with prawns, chili, garlic, parsley

For those who favours traditional Italian food, Risotto con Cappesante (RM 65) comes with pan-fried sea scallops on leeks, lemon zest, chili and basil; or you could perhaps choose pasta in the form of Gamberetti ai Pinoli (RM 45) with prawns, chili, garlic, parsley, pine nuts and mushroom in extra virgin olive oil. In either case, I’m quite sure you won’t leave in disappointment.

The menu with price can be found at http://discoverlemeridien.com/menus/

Thank you Janice & Damian for the invitation.

Address:
Favola
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7753

KY eats – Senjyu Japanese Restaurant at Bangsar Village 2

Japanese cuisine in Malaysia has come a long way, from simple conveyor belt sushi and high end traditional Japanese restaurants in hotels, we now have a wide variety of price point and different variations to choose from.

Senjyu is one of the newer Japanese outfit that tries to carve a niche in this rather mature market by trying to infuse a little bit of contemporary taste into traditional Japanese cuisine, while maintaining a pretty affordable pricing. At least that’s what is claimed.

I was invited to Senjyu at Bangsar Village 2 for a session of food review a couple weeks ago, and I gotta say their claims weren’t far off.

Senjyu Japanese restaurant, at Bangsar Village 2

Senjyu, which means “eternity of life”, is located at 3rd floor of Bangsar Village 2 and took over the former location of Sakei Sushi, which is the chain that is owned by the same operator. I wasn’t a huge fan of Sakei (or most conveyor belt sushi restaurants), so I had a bit of a doubt at first when receiving the invitation.

The restaurant is decently decorated though table arrangements could perhaps use a little bit of imagination. Having them all lined up in grids isn’t very exciting, even with beautifully placed paper cranes at the sushi bar.

carpaccio mori and iso moriwase sashimi

Anyway, lets get on with the food.

We started out with the Carpaccio Mori (RM 22) – thinly sliced raw tuna, salmon, and butter fish that is served with 5 types of sauces and a bit of sesame and thinly sliced vegetable. It is an inspiration from Italian cuisine perhaps, but with Japanese ingredients. The sauce has a slight spicy taste to it, pretty exciting and the end result was actually very good. I like it.

Iso Moriwase Sashimi (RM 68) is good for 3-4 person, and comes with yellow tail, salmon, octopus, sweet shrimp, butterfish, surf clam, and one raw oyster. Fresh grated wasabi is served with the sashimi, which makes a big difference if you love wasabi. The seafood too were very fresh. For the price, this is a great value.

toro (tuna belly)

One of the most sought after sashimi cuts – Toro, is available with a price. For RM 70 you get three pretty thick slices of these air flown fatty tuna belly meat. They are like the grade 12 wagyu of the tuna world, and absolutely yummy. If you are to splurge, this wouldn’t be a bad option.

salmon ikura hana, soft shell crab and unagi mentai maki

Salmon Ikura Hana (RM 16) is prepared by air flown raw salmon and topped with mayonnaise and salmon roe. A winning combination if not for the little problem of having a bit too much rice in them. Wasn’t very easy to have everything in your mouth at one go, and there isn’t any graceful way to not do that either. Tastes pretty good though.

Have you ever had the problem of wanting to order a maki (sushi roll) but did not want to commit into eating 6 or 8 pieces of sushi that has the same ingredients? Well that happened to me a lot, and it is refreshing to see that Senjyu offers maki that comes with two different ingredients in one order, in this case, the Soft Shell Crab and Unagi Mentai Maki (RM 28).

I love the soft shell crab maki, it was crunchy, rich, and has an explosion of taste that leaves you wanting more. The unagi mentai maki, on the other hand, sounds like a good promise, I like unagi and I love mentai, but the combination somehow came out to be a bit less than the sum of two, maybe it is the way they chop up the eel? But don’t get me wrong, it is not bad at all, just not as good as I’d anticipated.

chirashi-jyu, closer look at unagi mentai maki

They serve one of my go-to Japanese dish too – Chirashi-Jyu, and at RM 30 per pop, a great value for money. There’s salmon, butterfish, tuna, octopus, and of course, tamago (sweet egg omelete). I haven’t seen this much seafood in a bowl of chirashi sushi priced RM 30 and under.

trio oyster – mentai, fresh, and simmer in broth

According to the PR ladies, Senjyu has gained a reputation for its live Canadian oysters, and we sampled this via the Trio Oyster dish (RM 48) – mentai oyster (cod fish roe), fresh live oyster sashimi, and simmered oyster in broth.

I love all three versions, the freshness of live oyster clearly give it a superior taste. To be honest, I probably would like them best just fresh, the extra preparation though, is good for those who doesn’t really like this shell fish raw.

wagyu beef shioyaki – chef showing us how to get it done

Wagyu Beef Shioyaki (RM 68) is another premium item on Senjyu’s menu. If you’ve had wagyu, you know what to expect. Slightly salted wagyu beef served raw in a DIY cooking style. If you like wagyu, you will enjoy this.

giant ebi tempura (prawn), gindari nitsuke (codfish)

Next was tempura in the form of Giant Ebi Tempura (RM 38). Now these prawns are huge, and there were some half a dozen or so of them. Crunchy, succulent, and fresh, I wish I wasn’t so full by then.

Our last dish of the tasting session was Gindara Nitsuke (codfish, RM 40). A more subtle tasting dish, served with assorted mushroom and vegetables that could be better if the fish was slightly less cooked.

And yes, that was a lot of food for two person. Haze and I were over stuffed for the night, but we left with satisfaction. Not everything is 100% awesome, but they were quite a bit above average, and priced very competitively.

set meals, inaniwa noodle, foie gras and oyster mentai maki

Which is also why we went back. This time with Kerol, Horng, and Yuki too. We tried some of their set meals, inaniwa noodle and cha soba, and I took the opportunity to order the foie gras maki as well.

The girls enjoyed the set meals. Portions were pretty big, and our noodle were pretty decent as well.

The foie gras & oyster maki, well, lets just say the foie gras was a bit too thinly sliced to properly satisfy my craving for the goose liver. It was okay, but I think to really enjoy foie gras, you gotta have it pan seared.

KY, Haze, Kerol, Yuki, and some desserts at Senjyu

Senjyu does offer pretty interesting desserts too, there’s the frozen mango+orange sorbet, the macha pudding with ice cream (RM 10), and parfait too. There were pretty decent, and if you still have room to spare by the end of dinner, well, try one.

Good eats!

Address:
Senjyu
2F-27 & 28, 2nd Floor
Bangsar Village 2,
2, Jalan Telawi Satu,
Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.13071, 101.67146
Tel: 03-2287 1535

KY eats – Tandoori & Naan at Sri Ananda Bahwan

For the best Indian food, it usually takes an Indian to introduce. Not too long ago, over a Friday lunch hour, my most awesome colleague Latha took us on an LRT ride and brought us to Sri Ananda Bahwan restaurant for a taste of what she regards as one of the best naan and chicken tandoori in town.

Sri Ananda Bahwan at Bangsar, just behind the LRT station

Conveniently situated right behind the Bangsar LRT station (you can walk through menara UOB to get there), Sri Ananda Bahwan offers nasi kandar, naan, tandoori, thosai, roti, chapati, and more. While there’s only one Sri Ananda Bahwan in KL, they are actually a chain from up north, with over half a dozen restaurants in Penang, Kedah, and Ipoh.

normal naan with tandoori chicken, delicious

After the first visit, Haze and I went there again a couple weeks later, for the two of us, we ordered naan with tandoori chicken and naan with chicken tikka masala.

The naan had that very welcoming aroma, and the dishes were served with proper condiments in mint chutney, curry, lime, onion, tomato, cucumber, and another chutney I can’t name. Both the tandoori chicken and chicken tikka masala was some of the bests we’ve had, exquisite taste that rivals those from “proper” Indian restaurants.

I had chicken tikka masala, fantastic

We were seated at the air conditioned section of the restaurant (always a plus), and for a change, it is actually clean and comfortable, not an environment you usually associate with mamak outlets.

Address:
Sri Ananda Bahwan
No.26, Jalan Bangsar Utama 1,
Bangsar Utama,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.12821, 101.67818
Web: srianandabahwan.com
Tel: 03-2284 4170

Le Meridien Santapan Ramadan Buffet Dinner

First of all, Selamat Berpuasa to all my Muslim friends.

Remember the free dinner at Le Meriden contest I was running a while ago? Well, it’s over with and the winners all claimed their prizes already – a sumptuous Santapan Ramadan Buffet dinner at Le Meridien KL’s Latest Recipe.

Haze and Ciki at Le Meridien’s Latest Recipe

The four winners and their partners all showed up, and together with Ciki, Josen, Haze, and I, we had a plenty good time while sampling the Ramadan buffet spread.

oysters, shrimps, mussels, salmon, and more

The spread for Santapan Ramadan buffet is even bigger than the usual offerings at Latest Recipe.

There’s the standard dishes – salmon and various cold cuts, shrimps, mussle, crab, and of course, oysters too. These are the items I usually kick off my buffet dinner with, it is usually a good idea to keep the stronger tasting stuff later as to not over saturate your taste buds.

traditional Malay food too, I love the beef curry

Quite a lot of traditional Malaysian dishes found their way on the line up too. Otak-otak (though I didn’t find their version to be very good), whole roast lamb, begedil, and different types of gulai & curry. The beef curry was very good!

Chef Antoine and his two side kicks at Latest Recipe

There are also made to order dishes you can get. Chef Antoine was there to man the pasta counter and we got him to prepare a mean plate of piping hot carbonara for us.

many more dishes, including cold cuts and kuih at Satapan buffet

Traditional kuih muih were also available, and this is one of the few buffets where you can choose drinks other than just ice water too. Don’t you hate it when you are already paying decent sum for buffet and all they give you is plain water? I know I do.

Oh, the sugar cane juice is superb, reminds me of when McDonald’s used to serve it.

pasta was made by chef Antoine, and those Belgium waffles were awesome!

Above all, the dish I love most at Latest Recipe is their Belgium waffles. Yes, it is a bit odd to be indulging on mere waffles looking at the huge buffet spread, but do give it a try when you are there, it is simply the lightest, yummiest waffle I’ve ever had.

the contest winners with Ciki & myself flanking

Prices of the buffet:

• Sun-Thurs: RM118 (adult) / RM59 (child)
• Fri,Sat: RM128 (adult) / RM64 (child)
• Time: 6:30pm to 10:30pm

Again, congratulations to Chen Mee Kuan, Jennifer Amelia Clement, Joel Tan Tyan Min, and Norazalia Musa. I hope all of you had a good time. Cheers!

Address:
Latest Recipe
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888