After the xmas eve party at my place, the very next day we headed to Gareth and Kim’s for a big feast. We were promised a home cooked dinner by Kim, but boy were we surprised by what was in store for us.
The dinner was for some 2 dozen people, but I believe there were enough food to feed at least two rugby teams, including reserves!
the dinner schedule, check out how many dishes here
First, just look at the schedule above to get an indication of the work needed for this epic dinner. Preparation actually started more than a day in advance (for the food alone), and longer if you count in buying groceries, gifts, and extra table/chairs for everyone.
chicken with pigs in blanket, bread, and cocktail shrimp
The photos you see here are some 70% of the dishes served, there are some that somehow escaped the lens. As far as I remember, here are what we were served:
the super excellent pork loin and ribs
It was impossible to pick a favorite, everything were awesome. I can make use of some ribs and pork loin right now (or anytime) for sure!
Recipes of some of these dishes can be found at http://www.kimberlycun.com/category/homemade-recipes/
Kim includes photos of each step for her recipe too, super easy to follow. This entry is on the pork ribs we were served, I believe.
salad, couscous, and more
In the original schedule, apple crumble was supposed to come out at 8:45, but thanks to everyone being overfed with all these awesome dishes, desserts didn’t make their way out until 11:45 pm.
Of course, nobody complained, 3 more hours to digest is a good thing. 
seafood bisque and desserts
As with the slightly more mature theme this year, no one passed out from drinking too much, though many almost have a coma from all the food.
we were all very well fed at the end of the night
At the end of the night, Gareth & Kim played Santa & Santarina and distributed carefully chosen gifts to everyone. That was especially a sweet touch, thanks guys, and lets do this again next year and every year.
and everyone got a gift from the hosts!
After attending the Time Out Food Awards at KLPAC (a couple weeks ago), a few of us decided to have supper (or actually, dinner, since we didn’t really have a meal at the event). Boo of masak-masak suggested Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee, which was a great location since we were already at Sentul, and Hokkien mee for late night?
Awesome choice if you ask me, nothing beats some starch, pork, seafood, and lard near midnight.
restuarant Ah Yap Hokkien mee at Sentul, Jon & Isadora
While the premise of Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee is now a pretty nice corner shop lot with air conditioned as well as al fresco style dining areas, every plate of Hokkien mee is still prepared with good old charcoal fire, exactly the same as when it was just a stall in the nearby kopitiam. (there are even other branches now).
Many believes that Hokkien Mee is best fried using charcoal fire, and that there is a distinctive difference in taste when preapred with gas vs charcoal. For me though, I’m not quire sure, I like it when it tastes good, and frankly doesn’t care too much about the romantic idea of having it old school or modern. If it tastes good, it’s fine by me if it was gas, coal, charcoal, or wood fire.
the old school hokkien mee, made with charcoal fire
Our Hokkien mee (RM 12) was quite awesome, there were no surprises – big fat noodle, meehun (we asked for it), prawns, slices of fish cake, pork slices, vegetable, and of course, pork lard.
It really did taste as good as it looks, and made better when Isadora asked for extra lard for us.
butter chicken, marmaid pork ribs, extra pork lard, and tapioka hokkien mee
Other than the Hokkien Mee, we also ordered marmite pork ribs, butter chicken, bitter gourd with salted egg yolk, and another plate of special Hokkien mee made with tapioka noodle.
The marmite ribs (RM 23) were frankly speaking, way too skinny. It would probably be a dream come true for those who loves lean meat, but we weren’t really impressed.
Butter chicken (RM 23) was a pretty decent dish though, flavorful with pretty nice texture to go with. The bitter gourd with salted egg yolk (RM 20) though, was my favorite for the night. The combination of the bitterness and the richness of salted egg yolk, in a weird sort of cosmic logic, worked well for our palates. This is a dish that needs to be tasted to be impressed.
As for the tapioka noodle Hokkien Mee (RM 16), well, imagine the texture of bubble tea pearls, except flattened and served in a plate of Hokkien mee ingredients. I wouldn’t say it was bad, bit it was a bit too chewy for my liking. A novelty perhaps, but not something I would order again.
The Hokkien mee at Ah Yap is certainly worth eating, the other dishes however, was a bit of a hit and miss, and does not really offer very good value for money either. I’d stick with having the original Hokkien mee and that sinful bitter gourd with salted egg yolk here.
Address:
Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee
744, Jalan Sentul,
51000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.178117, 101.692436
Tel : 012-3036800, 012-2816862
opening hours are from 5 p.m – 1 a.m
I can’t believe it took me so long for my first visit to Betty’s Midwest Kitchen.
I spent 3.5 years of my life living in Midwest in my early 20s. 2.5 years in Minnesota, and another full year in Ohio, so the meal at Betty’s definitely brought back some memory, allowing me to rekindle with the tastes I was once so accustomed to.
Betty’s Midwest Kitchen
We went to Betty’s on a Saturday for dinner without reservation, that was a mistake. The little restaurant was packed and we were the 7th group to be waiting for a table.
The host though, were true to Midwestern “niceness”, explained the situation to us, and asked us to wait patiently while taking our orders. So under the dim lights of the sidewalk, we inspected the menu and made our orders.
pork burger, pork chop with apple sauce, pork belly, pork chop with gravy
Some half an hour or so later, we were seated, and in 5 minutes, our food was served. The service was super efficient, that’s always a plus point.
Our orders were a pork burger (RM 12), 2 pork chops (RM 23), pork belly (RM 27.50), and 2 portions of pork ribs (RM 32.50 each). That was for 6 person, and yes, every dishes were of my favorite for-food animal. Lovely.
baby back ribs, Haze, KY, sister & Jerry
And the food were good! Real hearty American food. Properly grilled and deep fried, they are as original as you can get. The pork came in big chunk and were juicy too, it’s everything you want in a proper non-halal Western style dining without being pretentious.
If you want real American food that will clog your artery and make you one step closer to joining the Biggest Loser, this is definitely the place to go, they are so good. I will be there again, this time I’ll call for reservation go on weekdays!
p/s: I think they don’t take reservations
Address:
Betty’s Midwest Kitchen
A-G-40, Jalan PJU 1/43
Aman Suria Damansara,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.123161, 101.595329
Tel: 03-7880-0196
Not long ago my mom gave me a brand new pressure cooker that she’s kept with her for the last 10 years or so after knowing that I’ve started cooking a bit. It was a godsend, suddenly cooking soup become way faster and easier, and I think everyone who loves any sort of Chinese style soup should invest in one.
Today I’m going to share with you a very simple peanut soup with pork ribs recipe. A dish that I always love as a kid but never did get to have them very often due to the time it takes to cook using a conventional pot.
chinese peanut soup with pork ribs
With a conventional pot, you’ll have to boil the soup for at least 3-4 hours to make the peanut soft, but with the pressure cooker, 30-45 minutes is all you need for the same results. This is possible because with the increase in pressure (usually at around15 psi), the water will boil in much higher temperature at 122 Celsius compared to the usual 100 Celsius, and this make a world of difference.
Ingredients:
ingredients for peanut soup – raw peanuts, red dates, dried scallops, pork ribs
Instructions:
pressure cooker working, check out the little bronze stem
Pressure cooker consume quite a lot less cooking gas compared to a conventional pot too. After bringing the water to boil and the cooker to working pressure (indicated by the bronze valve being “erected”), usually achieve within a few minutes, the fire can be turned down low to keep the same pressure. I believe with this you’ll save at least 3-4 times the amount of cooking gas needed.
The result is old fashion peanut soup that is good for the soul. The peanut is soft, and the pork ribs even more tender, you should really try this for yourself.
p/s: it is also said that boiling the soup with a clay soup spoon will speed up the “softening” process of meat/peanuts too as clay will serve as a catalyst of sort. I haven’t try that yet, but if you do, let me know how it works out.
Happy cooking!
When it comes to food courts within shopping malls in this country, Lot 10 Hutong wins my vote by a wide margin. It has a very unique (and sometimes confusing) layout and decoration, and most of the stalls are operated by “hawkers” who have established themselves in other places.
As a bonus, it is also one of the very few food courts that serves pork.
Ho Weng Kee at Lot 10 Hutong
Today, we’re gonna look at Ho Weng Kee at Hutong.
The original Ho Weng Kee at PJ SS2 serves some awesome wantan mee and really good fried dumpling. So I wanted to try this one and see if they are any good. I ordered their pork ribs noodle.
side note: Ho Weng Kee at SS 2 is now run by the former owner’s ex-staff, so still the great taste despite change of owner.
glorious pork ribs noodle, with black beans on wantan noodle
It only took a couple minutes for the pork ribs noodle to be ready. It costs me RM 8.35, a pretty good price considering the size of serving and the air conditioned, clean environment within a mall at Bukit Bintang.
The pork ribs were very tender, and the black bean sauce they made the ribs with were absolutely heaven. The noodle used were the same (thinner than usual) wantan noodle that soaks up the sauce readily. It was indeed very good.
and everything is gone!
The pork ribs noodle is also served with a bowl of soup, it was just like any almost tasteless wantan soup. That didn’t bother me, the noodle was good. I’m going to have it again.
Address:
Ho Weng Kee at Hutong food court
Lower Ground Floor
Lot 10 Shopping Mall
Jalan Bukit Bintang
GPS: 3.146462, 101.711758
