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
A couple Fridays ago my colleague Angel called me up and asked if I wanted to join them for curry fish head. Now for those who aren’t familiar with Malaysian culture, here are a couple of tips:
Peter Curry Fish Head at Setapak
Angel is a Sarawakian and a true blue Malaysian who knows her way around good foods, so when she ajak, I never say no. Plus, on that day I get to act like a pimp and dine with 5 ladies as a bonus. heehee
Anyway, our destination of the day was Peter Curry Fish Head, a smallish restaurant/kopitiam/taichau place that has a pretty limited menu and plenty of customers. But luckily, Angel already called and made a reservation for us.
curry fish head with everything, namyu chicken wings
The curry fish head comes in various sizes and additions, they are:
For the six of us, we ordered a large portion of curry fish head +prawns + squid (RM 54), namyu chicken wings, vegetable, and seafood tofu. We had rice to go with them, of course.
vegetable and seafood tofu
There isn’t actually many other dishes to order even if you wanted, but they are good and they do have all the bases covered.
The fish head was awesome! It was huge and stuffed with plenty of fish head (red snapper I think), squid and prawns. There are also tofu pok, mints, eggplant, long beans, and okra too. It is pretty much a complete meal by itself with a very tasty curry base that actually wasn’t even really that spicy, tho I am sure you can ask for more kick if that’s what you want.
KY, Angel, Debren, Yin Foong, Sarah, Michelle
The other dishes were pretty good too. The namyu chicken wings were delicious (I made the same thing before, recipe here), and the very plain looking seafood tofu was superb too.
Then there’s the vegetable, which tasted like vegetable (vitamin C quota.. ).
Overall it was a very good meal that might be a little too much for normal days, but for a Friday, bring it on! For the 6 of us, if I remember correctly, the bill came to be around RM 17 or so per person. Not very cheap, but it was a lot of seafood and a good portion of meat. I will be heading there again for sure.
Address:
Peter Curry Fish Head
12 Jalan Angsana
Taman P Ramlee,
Setapak 53000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.19243, 101.70823
Tel: 03-4021 5809
In another news, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (my hands on review video) is launching to public this Saturday (20th August, 2011 from 10am), and check out these fine deals for early birds:
At Piazza, e@curve, Mutiara Damansara KL:
At Queensbay Mall, Penang:
At Celcom Branch, Jalan Kempas, JB:
*Subject to 24-months contract on Celcom Broadband Basic or Advance. Terms and conditions.
For more information, check out www.celcom.com.my/smartphones
Whenever we cook dinner at home, I usually take a photo and post up the main dish of the night on twitter, and since we started cooking at a regular basis about a month or so ago, the Kimchi Jjigae (kimchi soup) dish is by far the most sought after recipe from my tweeter and facebook friends.
“By far” also means like, 3 of you, but here is how it’s made 
glorious bowl of Kimchi Jiggae
You can get this at pretty much any Korean restaurants and they are usually served with a bowl of steamed rice. They’re usually priced close to RM 20, with the cheapest I’ve had coming in at around RM 10.
This recipe calls for ingredients worth about RM 20 or so but serves 3-4 person.
ingredients for kimchi jiggae, minus the pork here
Ingredients:
first you fry, then you stew, it’s that simple!
Here’s the steps:
Haze and Cendawan enjoying dinner, I think it’s spicy? hehe
For those who doesn’t prefer pork (the horror!), you can make this dish with chicken or beef too. For those who loves more vegetables, you can also add radish when you start stewing.
Happy cooking!
I have drove past Restaurant Hoppy with the recognizable giant roast duck “statue” at SS2 many times, but for various reasons (eg: several of the noobs do not eat duck), I have never had a chance to try it until last weekend. This is despite the fact that I actually do love to eat duck, as evident from postings on Fatty Duck, Sunrise, Loong Foong, and the PJ State Loh Ngap.
herbal roast duck, tofu, and steamed soup
For the two of us, I ordered a bottom quarter (thighs and drumstick portion) Tang Gui (当归) roast duck, a tofu dish, and a steamed soup. The other types of herbal roast duck includes Ginseng (泡参) and Shin Chuan (十全) style. I know Tang Gui is supposed to be a female’s herb, but that’s the only type left when I was there, so be it.
To be fair, the skin of their roast duck, while very good, is not as crispy as Loong Foong. However, the unique herbal taste more than make up for this short coming. The duck meat actually tastes strongly of the herbs, and the gravy was very strong too. I must say that this is not for those who dislike the Chinese medicinal herb tastes, but I absolutely love it. The tofu and soup, while not exceptional, were pretty decent as well.
no frill but comfortable set up
The meal for two came to around RM 25 for two. That is including the 5% government tax and the curious 2% service charge. This is still very good value for the rather unique roast duck and some pretty good side dishes. The restaurant also offers other dishes commonly found in many Chinese restaurants, such as seafood, vegetables, poultry dishes, and so forth. You can actually bring friends who aren’t into eating ducks there.
Restaurant Hoppy is situated at SS2
This restaurant, is in fact, not the only branch. There are branches of Restaurant Hoppy in PJS 8/5, Sunway, and Jalan Desa 2/1 at Kepong.
Address:
Restaurant Hoppy (SS2 Sdn Bhd)
40, Jalan SS2/66,
47300 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.119471, 101.620429
Tel: 03-7877 9729
It’s been the second year in the running that I get myself busy and cook the Chinese New Year reunion dinner for my family. It is quite a bit of work compared to pigging ourselves out at some fancy restaurant, but I don’t get many chances of cooking for the family, so why not?
gone with the old, in with the new!
Since my cheap old twin stove has rusted till the point of no return, I decided to get something more hardcore for the kitchen. After scouring around the few electrical appliances stores, I finally get my hands on this hardcore industrial strength Rinnai stove, made in Japan. This baby has a flame thrower ignition sequence, and come complete with thick metal stand that will last me decades. It was RM 185 well spent.
My first dish is the miso soup with Lala (clam).
Ingredients:
Steps:
Simple isn’t it? Of course, this is only the first of four dishes that I prepared for the night. A little bit of Japanese taste to the traditional Chinese occasion. I’ll blog about the other 3 dishes: Hong Kong Kailan with roasted pork, steamed pomphret, and beef with broccoli in the next few posts.
Gong Xi Fa Chai to you too!
