Organic melon, golden pumpkin, fruits Yee Sang
I’m horrified. (tap tap) Somewhere between Typing Tutor (a DOS based program in the 80s) and now, someone changed the 2-space rule after the period. (tap tap) My friend, Chet, posted an article on Facebook which cited the AP Stylebook as one of its sources, and as I understand it, most of the youth of today, or those who started typing after circa 1989 (don’t quote me) have been adding one space instead of two after the period. (tap tap) I felt like a failure for all of 2 minutes, then realised that I should not let my feelings be affected by a body that is bent on saving space by leaving out alphabets (eg. color, flavor, aluminum). (tap tap) Of course, we can’t blame the Americans for everything, and the 1-space rule after the period probably surfaced due to some green movement (imagine how many trees are saved by the Americans/1-space rule advocates/young punks), but it’s hard for me to embrace change now.
Sowhatnextafterthis?Awesomecool.
A public service announcement. If you love steaks and want to win a 4 day/3 night trip to the land down under, do take part in the Las Vacas Steak Challenge. Details are available on their Facebook page. The closing date is 13 February 2011 and participants are limited to 60, so hurry.
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It’s still Chinese New Year, so until the 15th day is up, you’ll be seeing only Chinese New Year posts in line with the festive cheer. Today’s entry is Chynna, a pork-free restaurant which I love to frequent thanks to the Hilton card which offers me loads of discounts. Discounts aside, the food’s pretty good, and the decor, opulent. Be ready to be greeted by a long-neck-teapot-wielding-kungfu-man (i.e. a man holding a long-necked teapot as opposed to a long-necked man holding a teapot) as he performs some impressive stunts before pouring you a cup of 8-treasures tea sans spills. The tableware is gorgeous while the entire place is awash in saturated hues. Simply beautiful.
The Extravagant 8 Set Menu at Chynna is premised on a healthy concept, or at least, as healthy as it possibly can be. The vegetarian yee sang was a delight to eat despite the lack of fish or seafood primarily because it felt less oily and sweet thanks to the restrained use of olive oil and plum sauce. One of the key ingredients used was organic “sharks fin” melon, a kind of squash where the flesh resembled shredded sharks fin with none of the guilt. Golden pumpkin and fruits completed the picture.
I love a hot and sour soup, so Chynna’s version with kimchi, fish maw and bamboo pith was a pleasure to consume. With all these creative ways of presenting soup, it’s quite possible to see the easy demise of sharks fin dishes. Kudos to Standard Chartered Bank and the participating restaurants for paving the way.
My favourite dish that evening was the steamed Canadian cod, a fresh (as is possible for imported fish), firm piece of fish served in a slightly spicy sauce made with dried shrimps, onions, chilli, coriander and fermented black beans. The cod was the small scaled variety which, according to Chef Lam Hock Hin, was sweeter than the regular type. Actually, half the battle is won when fresh ingredients are used, and yet, there are still restaurants out there that deem it fit to serve substandard items. Blame it on price levels, consumer habits, etc, but if we’re expected to be a force to be reckoned with in the food universe, we should start with the freshest local produce possible.
Chynna
Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur Sentral
KL
Tel: 03-2264 2264
In conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration this year, the best chefs from 8 top Chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley have customised special Extravagant 8 menus, priced at RM888++ for a table of 8, exclusively for Standard Chartered credit card holders. The menus are available from January 20 to February 17, 2011. More details on the restaurants, their offerings and T&Cs are available at the Standard Chartered website.
Thank you, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Hilton Kuala Lumpur for kindly hosting this dinner.
Note: This is the fourth of five reviews under the Standard Chartered Extravagant 8 campaign. Earlier reviews:
Li Yen, Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur
“Sharks fin” melon used in yee sang
The beautiful Bangsar-Babe holding up the beautiful and intricately designed plate
Hot and sour soup with kimchi, fish maw and bamboo pith
Steamed Canadian cod in fisherman sauce
Stewed sun dried oysters with fatt choy, braised peanuts and chicken
Wok fried nian gao with Chinese cabbage and mushrooms
people endeavor to leave two spaces after a period? i never heard of such behavior! sounds more like a rumor 😀
ooh, where else can we find this shark fin melon?!
Sean: Why certainly, they do! And if the next word smells real bad, they leave three!
Sharks fin melon can be found at KL Hilton! Oh, you mean which market ah? Dunno….
i’m so intrigued that i looked it up! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_ficifolia sounds like it has lotsa health benefits too. and cultivated in multiple continents (though only asians seem to link it to shark’s fin)
Thanks for the wiki link, Sean. Very helpful! Now all we gotta do is look up the chinese name, then start hunting for it at the local markets. what fun!
chis, you didnt quote our in depth conversation about spaces after periods and commas…. the youth of today, probably too lazy to tap twice. my late typist will roll in her grave if she knew of this development. bad enough she and her typewriter and carbon paper were rendered obsolete back in 1995, that alone was cause for her demise…
chis, i tot sean googled the spacing after period. how can anyone not have heard of sharksfin melon? my late great grandmother used to cook it…all of once la… it really does have a startling resemblance to its marine twin.
Ahhh.. glutinous dumpling is do-able. Available in the frozen section, whole year round. Well, almost whole year round until the current stock finishes and the next ship comes in with a new load. Whenever that happens..
I can do without most of the CNY goodies but yee sang!! Do you think you can freeze the sauce for me ar? If wedding cakes can be frozen, I’m sure the sauce can be too! 😀
Tangechi: i remember the days when we had typists to type our accounts and such. and the days when there were typewriters….one mistake and they have to retype the entire document! how stressful, rite?
actually, i had learnt about sharksfin melon only recently. where to buy ah?
gfad: freeze the sauce? isn’t it just plum sauce? and some other stuff? hehe. of course can freeze lah. where would u like me to get them from? jusco? tesco? 😛
What’s all these double spacing nonsense? You should seriously move on with the times lah before rendered obsolete you know? What would I do without my BFF? Not cool.
In other obsolete news… have you watched this Superbowl Ad featuring Justin Beiber and Ozzy Osbourne? I’m sure Sean has!
I am bamboozled that I have not heard of this double spacing rule, and yet very very intrigued. In fact I’m going to start doing it just to see how whacked it makes my emails and documents look!
alilfatmonkey: Single spacing makes everything appear cramped. You can’t teach an old dog (or in tangechi’s case, an old bitch) new tricks. Yeah, I can totally relate to that ad. Of course Sean has seen it. All true blue fans of Bieber must have watched it at least 12 times.
minchow: Whacked?? Whacked?!?!?! Chis. The youth of today. You will be amazed at how well spaced everything looks and worship me for bringing it to your attention. 😀
I love the food at Chynna too especially dim sum and desserts. 🙂 Their dessert selection is quite huge!
BOoooooo for double spacing. Save the trees! 🙂
(Also, good to eat more of that melon stuff instead to save the sharks!)
Michelle Chin: Yeah, I like their dim sum too! 🙂 Most of all, I like the ambience. It’s just such a beautifully decorated restaurant!
J: Hah! To quote your Ah Pa, the youth of today! 🙂
Everything looks so delicious!! tap tap ;D
Kiran: It was! (tap tap) hehe.
The chinese name for that sharksfin melon is “yue chi kwa”, haha! It’s available in most wet markets and we mostly boil soup with it… u know, with pork ribs and some red dates 😉
dei, sharksfin melon readily available in cameron highlands. ask the fella to buy for you la.
I’m an American and you can blame me for anything you like! Seriously, I whole-heartedly agree with you about the two spaces after a full stop being the only way to go. And proper ellipses should be . . . with a space between each period. You have a great blog–makes me wish I was back in Malaysia. Note the em dash with the proper joining up of two en dashes, and with the words flush up against them. Okay, I’ll stop now.