Some weeks ago I attended a pretty special fine dining session hosted by Carlsberg Malaysia at Samplings on the Fourteen, Berjaya Time Square Hotel in conjunction with their participation in the 11th installation of Malaysian International Gourmet Festival.
That was a long sentence in a paragraph, but basically it was Carlsberg introducing Kronenbourg 1664 & Kronenbourg Blanc as the official beer of the festival.
Asahi, Kronenberg, Blanc, Savanna Dry
It was a night of food and beer pairing, with the food prepared by Chef Jochen Kern and Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam (Sous Chef of the restaurant).
Chef Jochen Kern is a German culinary expert with more than 40 years of experience in the industry, having served many dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II, President Bill Clinton, Dr. M, King of Thailand, Sultan of Brunei and more. With a credential like his, we knew we were in for a treat.
pan fried foie gras – om nom nom nom
We started the night with Pan Fried Foie Gras on marmalade of fresh grapes, red onion, and Kronenbourg Blanc. Two generous slabs of those liver was more than I bargained for, it was as good as the memory of my first time having it at Zipangu. There were also a couple shavings of truffles on top, le yums!
The foie gras was paired with Savanna Dry Cinder, perfectly counter the fattiness of the liver. Good stuff.
savanna dry cider infused porcini mushroom, poached black cod, Blanc
Next up was what the good chef called Cappuccino, Savanna Dry Cider infused Porcini Mushroom; and Poached Black Cod, in Kronenbourg Blanc Sabayon & Beurre du mutarde on brown lentille and potato compote. We had these with a glass of Kronenbourg Blanc.
The soup had an interesting blend of taste, with the sweetness of cider crossing with the taste of mushroom, it worked for me. Poached black cod is new to me too, and the beer infused sauce over the fish was perhaps just a tad too much smoothness, perhaps something fresh or crunchy could have made it even better, but I was just nitpicking. It was still very good nonetheless.
grilled American prime beef tenderloin
Then we arrived at the main dish of Grilled American Prime Beef Tenderloin. This slab of meat was glazed in peppered Kronenbourg lager and tomato choron with Louisiana corn crisps and tender chilly bean tomato.
Say what you would about Wagyu or Kobe beef, I still love these classic prime beef just as much. It was perfectly prepared, and of course went very well with the glass of lager accompanying the meat.
hot corossol souffle with cafe luwak, cafe amarula iced
Desserts came in the form of Hot Chocolate Souffle with cafe luwak sabayon (I just had cafe luwak in Bali a week prior) to go with Inniskillin Ice Wine, which was very cold, sweet, and aromatic, perfect for desserts.
To cap the night, we also had a cup of Cafe Amarula instead of the usual coffee or tea. Much creamier, and carries a kick on top of the coffee flavor, good stuff.
chef Jochen Kern, Siao Ling, Søren, myself, and Suan
It was a fantastic night that was only bettered by the company at our table of 5. Two other media friends, Suan, and myself were joined by none other than the MD of Carlsberg Malaysia, Søren. Whom despite his position, turned out to be a friendly chap who shared with us many topics both in and outside the industry.
Now I shall replay the memory of savoring that foie gras in my brain, on a loop.
Claypot chicken rice is one of those Chinese food that is more popular in this region than most parts of China. With the preparation method that involves charcoal and claypot, it is also something that is usually consumed outside rather than home cooked. (though I’ve made similar style chicken rice at home)
A meal involving claypot chicken rice usually takes quite a bit longer than usual due to the time it takes to have the rice to cook, so it was fitting that we went to Huen Kee on a Friday 2-hour lunch break.
claypot chicken rice at Huen Kee, with charcoal on top!
Huen Kee has been in operation for well over a decade, and they have a little secret in cooking that I’ve seldom seen anywhere else – by utilizing charcoal from both bottom and top of the pot! This ensures a faster cooking time as well as a more even heat distribution on the rice, brilliant.
claypot chicken rice, pork tripe soup, seafood tofu, vegetable
The chicken rice came with a separate serving of salted fish (if you asks for it), and has generation portion of chicken and Chinese sausage in the pretty strongly flavored rice that carries a hint of rice wine.
The aroma that exudes out from the pot as you mix the ingredients had me licking my lips before digging in, and the taste did not disappoint at all, it was one of the best claypot chicken rice I’ve had.
menu and price list at Huen Kee
Other than chicken rice, we had pork tripe soup (spicy and offer a good contrasting taste to chicken), their signature seafood tofu (above average, but I prefer the one at Peter’s curry fish head), and some oily vegetable (for color and .. vitamin)
The claypot chicken rice is priced from RM 9, RM 16, and RM 22 according to size, and they also sell waxed duck rice, chicken with rice wine soup, and even curry fish head too.
Address:
Huen Kee claypot chicken rice
59, Ground Floor,
Jalan Yew, Pudu,
Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan 55100
GPS: 3.13392, 101.71664
Tel: 03-9200 1603
Of the many pork spare parts that are available, my favorite would be pork kidney.
You can often find pork liver, intestine, and stomach, but unfortunately, mainly due to the difficulties in preparation, there aren’t too many places that offers kidney these days.
restaurant Win Heng Seng, jalan Imbi
Luckily, tucked at this less glamourous corner of Jalan Imbi is the restaurant Win Heng Seng with a very busy pork noodle stall that serves just what I look for. Awesome bowl of pork noodle with all the good stuff, includingliver, intestine, pork slices, minced pork ball, and of course, the very slurp worthy pork kidney.
glorious pork noodle, with extra pork kidney
The above bowl of pork noodle cost RM 8, only because I asked for extra pork liver.
I mean, look at it, does it not call your name? The texture of pork kidney, contrast with the slightly rougher liver, and the more exquisite intestine.. and then there’s those pork slices, all in sweet savory soup. With a little bit of vegetable to give you that nice coloration too.
Heaven!
the ingredients include pork slices, intestine, liver, kidney
The pork noodle comes with kueh teow, lou she fun, mee hun, or mee. There’s also dried version available as well. If you feel suicidal, feel free to ask for extra lard.
Expect a relatively long waiting time over lunch. And yah, the kopitiam is hot and not at all comfortable, but the pork noodle with be worth it. 
map to restaurant Win Heng Seng
Address:
Restaurant Win Heng Seng
Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145479, 101.715087
Restaurant Teochew Lao Er was discovered pretty much accidentally by us. One one fateful noon over the weekends, Haze and I had initially wanted to go to Wong Kee for some roast pork (best you can find in KL really), but when we reached there, the roast pork had already ran out.
I then recommended that we try Sui Kau mee around the corner, so we drove around in search for a parking space. We ended up right in front of this new-looking restaurant by the name of Teochew Lao Er.
restaurant teochew lau er, at jalan brunei, behind berjaya timesquare
Since fate had landed us right in front of the restaurant, I thought we might as well give it a try. There’s air conditioning, and it was packed, I supposed that can’t be bad for a hot afternoon. We went straight in and took a seat on the first floor.
stew duck, fried grouper skin, stew intestine & pork bell, petai
We made our orders and waited for less than 5-10 minutes when they came. That is the best thing about teochew porridge places (even though this one is sorta new age and a little different), most of the foods are already cooked, and you don’t need to wait for ages before food is served.
For the two of us, we ordered a total of five dishes. On hindsight, that was a little too much, but I just can’t help myself then.
The Teochew red stew duck (RM 10) was pretty generous in portion. It was succulent, soft, and flavorful, went really well with the sweet potato porridge (RM 1.20) for sure.
check out the fried grouper skin, absolutely marvelous!
Then there’s the signature fried grouper skin (RM 8). If you love fish skin, this is an absolute must-try over here. I don’t actually see it served at anywhere else, an absolute delight! it is served with some soy beans, chili padi, and tomato sauce. I could have only this and porridge and life would be complete.
The teochew stew pork belly (RM 5) and stew intestine (RM 4) came in the same soya based sauce and both were as good as any I’ve tried.
glorious dishes to go with sweet potato porridge
The lone vegetable dish we ordered was the petai (RM 
that was prepared with sambal and anchovies. To be honest, this was an average dish and perhaps not one that goes well with porridge. But four excellent dishes out of five that we ordered? I’ll call that a success!
I want to go back there again, pronto!
Address:
Restaurant Teochew Lao Er
6, Jalan Brunei off Jalan Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.138866, 101.713132
Tel: 03-2141 5822
I’ve pretty much totally forgotten about this place until horng tweeted about it several days ago. Dug through the photo album uploaded from my old phone, and viola! There are materials which I had failed to share from the awesome roadside hawker centre at Jalan Sayur.
So this post is brought to you by the procrastinator in me, enjoy!
tofu bakar at Jalan Sayur night food court
I’ve written about the pork intestine porridge and chee cheong fun at this place, but here few more things you should definitely check out if you ever find yourself at the vicinity.
First off is the tofu bakar & prawn fritters by this aunty in red t-shirt (aunty not always in red t-shirt, however). The sauce is home made and very different from anything I’ve ever had. A strong hint of belacan + prawn paste in it, and definitely come with a kick.
Can’t remember the price, but not more than a few ringgit per plate. She also offers grilled cuttle fish, but those things can be pricey.
one of the better char kueh kak (fried radish cake) in town
The tweet from Horng though, was the char kueh kak, or Penang style fried radish that comes with egg, bean sprout, and a bit of finely chopped salted vegetable (choi pou).
You can often find char kueh kak stalls at various pasar malam, but most of the time the quality is a bit of a suspect. This was why I had only written about one other char kueh kak place in Penang on this blog. The version sold here is as good as any decent one you can find on the island, plenty of “wok hei”, flavorful, and satisfying for the char kueh kak fan in me.
pork noodle, fish noodle, Horng, KY, Rachel, Kerol, Shiang
During the same session, others had pork ball noodles and fish noodle from another stall that turned out pretty good too. There is still one other stall selling fried chicken that I have yet to try at Jalan Sayur hawker centre (always a super long queue), so perhaps next trip!
Address:
Hawker center at Jalan Sayur
off Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135208, 101.713051
