Tag / chinese-food
November 21, 2012
It’s been a while since I posted any home cooked dishes. So here’s one, a simple garlic fried rice with seafood recipe.
This is something that you can prepare in less than half an hour, garlic fried rice is a pretty classic Japanese dish, I just add some seafood to kick it up a notch a bit. While traditionally they also use spring onion, I replaced it with red onion due to availability and that worked out well to add that crunchiness and freshness element to the dish.
garlic fried rice with prawns and scallops
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cup of rice for 2 person
- 2 large eggs
- prawns (you can also add squid or other seafood)
- scallops(optional)
- 2-3 bulb of garlic, chopped or cut in slices
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of soya sauce, some salt & pepper
- 3-4 tablespoon of cooking oil
ingredients – garlic, onion, rice, prawns, scallops
Cooking instructions:
- heat up cooking oil
- fry garlic till a shade before golden brown, remove and set aside
- using the same oil, fry prawns (with a dash of salt), then remove and set aside
- sear scallops with shells on, then remove and set aside
the key is to fry the garlic, seafood, and rice separately
Cooking instructions part 2:
- with the same oil, fry eggs till 80% cooked
- add rice, and stir for a minute
- add soya sauce, salt, and some pepper
- add garlic and continue to stir for another minute
- add garlic and prawns, stir for another minute
- serve while hot (arrange your scallops with best of your artistic ability)
start with the egg, then rice, onion, then everything
The key to this dish is to have the garlic and seafood fried separately. This allows better control and ensures that each ingredients are cooked properly since they have different cooking time. Try it!
More recipes from yours truly can be found here.
November 19, 2012
Restaurant Goldview Hakka Food, situated next to Giant at Taman Paramount, is one of those restaurants that is somewhat a victim of its location for the fact that it is located just a stone’s throw away from the more established Kong Sai, the famous herbal soup & rice stall that is Meng Kee, and another rather popular outdoor tai chao place – Ming Heong.
This was why it took us all these while before finally giving it a try, and that turned out to be a nice little surprise.
Restaurant Goldview Hakka Food at Seapark
Restaurant Goldview has a pretty basic set up, there’s air conditioning indoor and a couple of tables outdoor on the balcony. Interior decoration was done probably in 5 minutes, but it is clean, and the tables & chairs are rather comfortable.
The photos here are from 2 separate visits.
“fa tiu kai”, omelet with preserved vegetable, hakka fried pork with black fungus
“Fa tiu kai” (RM 19, medium), a type of clay pot drunken chicken cooked with Chinese wine, is as good here as anywhere I’ve had. The flavor seeps its way through the poultry and mixing those sweet, fragrant sauce with steamed rice will leave you wanting for more.
We also love the simple “choi poh fried egg”, or omelet with preserved vegetable (RM 6, small), though usually taken with porridge, it goes pretty well with rice as well.
Hakka fried pork with black fungus (RM 12, small) is one of my favorite dishes in Hakka cuisine (New Grand View’s wantan mee has this), but the version here was just passable in taste, perhaps the pork we had wasn’t fatty enough, or that the taste of namyu (preserved red bean curd) was not as strong as I prefer.
salted steamed chicken, “mui choi kao yok”
Hakka salted chicken (RM 12, small) is a steamed chicken dish that carries a hint of saltiness, goes pretty well with rice, and would have been better with a more superior (chili) sauce or other condiment. This is something that Kong Sai fared better, but truth be told, it didn’t disappoint.
We love the “mui choi kao yok” (RM 12, small) here, the cut was excellent. Those glistering fats in between layers of meat topped with that perfectly cooked skin, oh my. I can have this pretty much every meal. I suspect that their “wu tao kao yok”, or yam with pork belly, should be equally as good.
and the spicy soup “lat thong” was superb! KY, Winnie, Horng, Yuki
Last but not least, for those who can read the signboard in Chinese, you’d notice that spicy soup is mentioned on their business name. So naturally, we had to order a bowl to share.
There’s a choice of kampung chicken, pork stomach, and lala as the main ingredient. We had wanted to try lala but ended up with pork stomach (RM 14, small) instead due to availability.
The soup was super peppery and spicy, but in a good way. It was one of the bests we’ve tried and I dare say, on par with Kien Kee at Seri Kembangan. If you find yourself here, this is a must order.
We ended up with less than RM 15 per person for dinner, excellent value for pretty awesome food. This is a place that we surely will visit again. Other dishes that I wanted to try include trotter vinegar, sweet sour intestine with pineapple, salted fish steamed pork, ginger duck, and more.
Hakka food might not be the most popular type of Chinese cuisine, but you should definitely check this place out.
Address:
Goldview Hakka Food Restaurant
26, Jalan 20/16A
Taman Paramount
Petaling Jaya
46300 Selangor
GPS: 3.107092, 101.62475
Tel: 03-8076 8766
Operation Hours: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 9.30pm (Closed on Tuesday)
August 8, 2012
A few weeks ago we were invited to sample Toh Yuen‘s new a la carte menu. Some of you might have read about my previous visit to Toh Yuen back in 2011, well, of all the dishes prepared by Master Chef Lee this time around, only the fried rice and sea cucumber dish were repeats.
Toh Yuen Chinese restaurant at PJ Hilton Hotel
Regulars of Toh Yuen will be delighted that Chef Lee still stick by his principle of using the freshest and traditional ingredients with no additives in his cooking. For example, prawns are sourced fresh in the day and finished by the same night without ever being frozen. This ensures that the seafood you get here are some of the freshest one can get from a Chinese restaurant.
The slight down side of this method is that food generally tasted a bit more subtle, and thus might not suite tongues that are desensitized with too much tomyam and other heavily seasoned food, but if you are into traditional Chinese taste, this is worth a visit.
Here are the dishes we sampled:
chilled pacific clam, lamb with cumin & dried chili, soft shell crab
We got started out with three appetizers - chilled pacific clam with salsa (RM 28), deep fried lamb with cumin and dried chili (RM 28), and deep fried soft shell crab with garlic and chicken floss (RM 22).
Of the three, only the pacific clam is a cold dish, with the seafood sitting atop a bed of “salsa” arranged in a way not unlike tartar. The clams were sweet, but it did take me a while to accept having the pretty soft tasting salsa to go with them. A bold try but one that is still pretty experimental I thought.
The slightly spicy lamb was pretty good, and the chicken floss was an especially great addition to the soft shell crab, giving it an entirely different dimension. A trick I will shamelessly copy should I prepare soft shell crab (or even deep fried prawns) next time. I love it.
double boiled chicken with “shi hu” or “chong cao hua” soup
Like any proper 8 or 10 course Chinese dinner, our next dish was soup. we tried the double boiled chicken with “shi hu“ as well as the double boiled village chicken with “chong cao hua” soup (RM 32 per bowl).
Both were subtle but not lacking in taste. Herbal soup lovers will enjoy this, as I did. These aren’t of quality you find at Elegant Inn, and they weren’t priced as such either.
smoked duck with fruit sauce
My favorite dish of the night has gotta be the smoked duck with fruit sauce (RM 38). The duck breast has the perfect skin-fat-meat combination that reminds me of good quality roast pork, except with the slightly more exquisite taste of duck breast. The dragon fruit sauce gives it an extra bit of sophistication as well, I had at least 4-5 pieces (more than everyone 
)
prawns with salted egg, sea cucumber with mushroom, lamb with cumin & dried chili
Our first main dish was the sautéed prawn with salted egg yolk (RM 50). The freshness of the prawns were evident here, and I liked the fact that they were shelled and thus requires zero effort to consume. The richest dish we had, it was very well executed.
The sea cucumber with flower mushroom and abalone sauce (RM 80) is one of those dishes you often find at wedding dinners, but over here the sea cucumber were fat, juicy, and tasted quite a bit better. Older folks would love this dish for sure, and the sauce goes very well with steamed rice.
steamed Canadian black cod, sauteed celery with pine nuts, vegetarian “chicken” with yam basket
Next came steamed Canadian black cod fish with “yu feng” ginger sauce (RM 32/100 gram). The seafood was again very fresh, and the ginger/soya sauce base would go very well with steamed rice. I particularly love the fish skin and bits of fried garlic/ginger placed on top of the fish. This was a very luxurious dish to me.
Sautéed celery with lotus root & pine nuts (RM 30) is a blend of fresh crunchy vegetable with the texture of pine nuts. A bit bland for me, but a pretty good change of taste from the other dishes.
Our last main dish was the sauteed “gong bao” vegetarian chicken with yam ring (RM 60). This is a dish that I don’t particularly enjoy, and this has nothing to do with the taste but the fact that I usually like chicken to be .. well, made of chicken, and vegetable stayed vegetable, but if you’re those who enjoys fake fish and vegetarian meat, this isn’t a bad choice. The yam basket was delicious.
Toh Yuen fried rice, banana fritter & strawberry cheese cake dessert
We concluded the night with Toh Yuen fried rice (RM 35) and deep fried banana with strawberry and cheese cake (RM 20). The fried rice was very well balanced and tasted superb without having any ingredients that stands out, Haze over stuffed herself quite a bit trying to have as much as she could.
The dessert was decent, but a little out of place with the dishes that we had, I would probably prefer herbal jelly or snow hasma instead (which they have in their menu as well)
The full menu can be found here.
Address:
Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant
Hilton Petaling Jaya
No 2 Jalan Barat
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.10235, 101.64087
Tel: 03-7955 9122
February 29, 2012
As a pork loving guy, there are two types of breakfast that will always make me happy. The first is of course, bak kut teh, and the other? Proper Hong Kong style dimsum.
And when it comes to dimsum, there are plenty of choices to be had in town, but few offers as many variety as Jin Xuan (锦选). Ever since it started operation a few years ago, the restaurant steadily picked up its pace and has become one of the most popular dimsum destinations among PJ dwellers.
these golden custard buns, heaven!
Situated at Damansara Jaya right next to the mall that used to be Atria, getting a parking space is usually quite a lot less troublesome than getting a table on weekends. They have, however, a decent numbering system and waiting area under the tent, and with a few opportunistic traders offering fruit rojaks and soya bean drinks around the vicinity, the wait is usually not too tough to bear.
dim sum goodness at Jin Xuan
Once seated, like all dimsum places, ordering is usually not necessary. Servers carrying various types of dimsum will appear right in front of the table, all you need to do is to pick what you want and start eating.
Like in conveyor belt sushi restaurants, the pricing of each dish is determined by the type of plate used, this removes the need for having the server jotting down what you get on a piece of paper like what some dimsum places practice. Quite a lot more efficient.
some of the fried stuff, the scallop with salted egg is a must try
There are a few broad categories of food you can order here. Steamed dimsum, deep fried dishes, various types of bao (steamed buns), porridge/chee cheong fun, and even a few non-dimsum related dishes.
and of course, they have the whole selection of everything dimsum
Most of the dishes at Jin Xuan that I’ve tried were very yummy, with a few that are fantastic, or if you like – must tries.
To me, the number one item on the list must be their fried scallop with salted egg. I’m not sure if you can get this anywhere else, this is the only place I had this dish and absolutely love it.
The “lau sar pau” is another yummy dish that I always have. Another salted egg based item, but in liquid form flowing out all hot and tasty when you bite it down. yums!
Other commendable dishes are their fried chicken wings, porridge, and the classic dimsum items.
Prepare to spend about RM20 per person and an hour of your morning and I’m sure you’ll start your day on a good note.
Address:
Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum restaurant
59, 61, 63, Jalan SS22/19,
Damansara Jaya,
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3.12708, 101.61549
January 26, 2011
My 4th CNY Yee Sang dinner for the year of Rabbit happened at Toh Yuen Chinese restaurant at PJ Hilton Hotel, this time thanks to the invitation from the good people at Create Studio. Yes, I thank my lucky star on privileges like these.
Toh Yuen Chinese restaurant at PJ Hilton Hotel, Chef Lee
Toh Yuen is headed by Chef Lee, whose philosophy in cooking is plenty simple – traditional style with good (if not the best) ingredients, and without any addictives such as MSG. Tasty but healthy food is the emphasis around here.
To welcome the year or Rabbit, Toh Yuen is offerring 3 special set menus – Happiness (RM 888++), Fortune (RM 1188++), and Longevity (RM 1388++) for 10 pax. On this review, we sampled the Longevity menu.
another yee sang ritual, this time with abalone
As usual, yee sang was our the very first dish, and on the get go, it was already unmistakably luxurious – we had the “Fatt Choy” abalone yee sang (also sold seperately for RM 180/260/300).
Some might say this is a bit of a waste so far as the method of serving abalone goes, I must confess that it actually was rather good. Abalone surely beats Alaskan salmon in my book.
braised shark’s fin soup with crab meat & roe
Next on the set menu was the sharks fin soup. I’ve already made my stance and say no to sharks fin soup, so I gave it a pass. Unfortunately, I was the only one on the table to do so. Looks like more work needs to be done for the awareness in this front.
You can substitute the sharks fin soup with double boiled chicken soup, according to Chef Lee. Alternatively, the Happiness & Fortune set menu does not come with sharks fin soup either.
deep fried chicken with two tastes,
stir fried sea king prawns with pineapple sauce
So I really got started on the deep fried chicken with two tastes. A dish that is only as fancy as the name suggest, which isn’t much at all. There’s the roast chicken ala chicken rice style, and kung pao chicken in the middle. For the lack of fanciness, however, the chicken turns out to be very good where it matters – taste. The meat was smooth, juicy, with the sauce done just right too.
We then had stir fried sea king prawns with pineapple sauce. The chef explained that this type of prawn, with its softer shell, is best eaten whole (perhaps except the head) instead of peeling the skin off. This way it allows different texture of meat and shell to be enjoyed with the pineapple sauce, pretty old way of having prawns, quite unique.
steamed pomphret with superior soya sauce
My favorite of the night has got to be the steamed pomphret with superior soya sauce. I’m positive that even my mom (who helps sell fish at wet market and usually leave the best pomphret for themselves) would approve of this beautiful specimen. Something like this can easily cost over RM 100 at wet market, especially during pre-CNY period.
Chef Lee explained that they source the fish locally instead of getting them from Thailand, which would be cheaper but of lesser quality. A lengthy lecture of the subtle differences in meat/shape/taste of pomphret from various parts of Malaysia and other places is given while we were busy enjoying this brilliant fish. It was so good, smooth, fatty, and absolutely tasty.
stewed sea cucumber & mushroom with broccoli, seafood fried rice with XO sauce
The stewed sea cucumber & mushroom with broccoli is another dish found in many Chinese New Year set menu. Over here at Toh Yuen the dish is prepared as good as anywhere else, and the sea cucumber was very good.
However, I would personally leave out the carrot slices as I don’t think I was the only one that sees that as a semi-failed attempt in giving the otherwise awesome dish some color (does not affect the taste).
The seafood fried rice with XO sauce is served with plenty of prawns, green onions, carrots, eggs, chicken, and other ingredients that were all somehow agreed to each other brilliantly. One of the better fried rice I had, the underlying taste of XO sauce really adds to the overall flavor too.
Michelle Ong, chilled honeydew with hasma, KY
We concluded the night with a classic Chinese dessert – chilled honeydew with hasma. For the uninformed, it’s just a wikipedia article away for you to find out that hasma is actually fallopian tubes of frogs. Nice isn’t it? I still eat them, they tastes good. *slurps*.
The set dinner (other than the fins) turns out to be pretty good, now does it worth the RM 1388++ for 10 pax price tag? The ingredients certainly suggests so, but I think a large part of it has to do with the sharks fin, something I try to get people not to consume. Draw your own conclusion.
Address:
Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant
Hilton Petaling Jaya
No 2 Jalan Barat
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.10235, 101.64087
Tel: 03-7955 9122
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