Restoran Wai Kei, Old Klang Road

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Vinegared Pork Knuckle

My dinners with Kenny Mah and the Devil Wears Prada are always spontaneous and generally take place in Taman Desa or Old Klang Road where they live. The thing about living in Shah Alam is that I get used to driving long distance, and any distance under 35km is a mere walk in the park. The passport jokes are stale although I admit I sometimes indulge in it to tease my lesser neighbours (yes, my friends in Klang). I once decided to have lunch in Klang at my parents’ place, and ended up taking an entire hour to get there from my office in KL. By the time I arrived, the food was cold, and my parents had gone ahead and finished lunch without me. I’ve since resolved never to go to Kajang or Klang on a weekday unless it is a matter of a luscious slab of char siew.

It was a choice between Wai Kei and Sanuki Udon. I was leaning towards Sanuki (because the owner makes me smile *blush*), but when Kenny mentioned Vinegared Pork Knuckles and Ginger Wine Chicken, I allowed my carnal desire for the flesh to be doused by my carnal desire for food. I’m easy that way.

I’ve had a weakness for those two dishes since the day I ate up all my friend’s post-natal confinement period food. Her confinement lady was not amused and I wasn’t allowed entry the next day.

We ordered a large claypot of ginger wine chicken and a smaller portion of vinegared pork knuckles. To supplement our diet, we ordered some stir fried yau mak with garlic, a tofu dish which the proprietor said was homemade, and some yong tau foo as an afterthought despite the proprietor’s protests that we had already ordered enough for three.

The ginger wine chicken came with generous portions of julienned ginger, wolfberries and even bits of fried omelette. Unfortunately, it also came with a generous portion of alcohol. Unlike the usual sweetness associated with yellow rice wine, this one was harsh on the palate and we left most of it uneaten. The vinegared pork knuckle was a lot more edible, possessing a lovely sweet and sour taste, its nectarous sauce good enough to drink on its own. However, the insufficient portion of old ginger in the recipe failed to make it a memorable dish for us. Our favourite dish that evening was the beautifully fried plate of yau mak (lettuce), a simple yet addictive dish.

The homemade tofu was nice with bits of pork and vegetables in it, but it was not outstanding. We liked the yong tau foo which the proprietor said was adjusted to suit the tastebuds of his clientele; in the past, it used to contain pork and salted fish in typical Hakka fashion but the recipe has since been adjusted to contain just fish paste. Simple and wholesome.

Restoran Wai Kei (near Taman Desa exit)
4 1/2 Miles, Old Klang Road, KL.

Tel: 013-391 8269 / 016-227 6210

Closed Mondays.

Ginger Wine Chicken

Homemade Tofu

Stir Fried Yau Mak

Yong Tau Foo

Poco Homemade, Cafe & Atelier, Bangsar

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Sometimes it’s hard to say even one thing true
When all eyes have turned aside
They used to talk to you

And people on the street seem to disapprove
So you keep moving away
And forget what you wanted to say

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the truth from a lie
Nobody knows what’s in the hold of your mind

We are all buildings and people inside
Never know who’ll walk through the door
Is it someone that you’ve met before?

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden

I know what I know
A wind in the trees
And a road that goes winding under

From here I see rain, I hear thunder
Somewhere there’s sun, and you don’t need a reason

Sometimes it’s hard to find a way to keep on
Quiet weekends, holidays, you come undone

Open your window and look upon
All the kinds of alive you can be
Be still, be light, believe me

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden
I’m golden

– Lyrics from Little Bird by The Weepies –

We are all multifaceted creatures. There was a time, years ago, when I felt a need to impress, and I hung out at quirky bookstores searching for obscure literary books so that I’d have a topic of conversation should the need arise. What I didn’t bank on was a failing memory, one that would ensure that I’d be tongue-tied when someone finally asked me something that required an intelligent answer and I’d go, “hmmm…that is an interesting question… *long uncomfortable pause*,” and wait for the earth to open up and swallow me. I think age makes you realise that you don’t have to pretend. That people don’t gauge your worth by the books that you read or your degrees or the number of skiing trips that you make every year. And then, there is another side of me. Beneath this ageing figure is a girl who twitters at the sight of pretty objects and is warmed by a shade of pastel blue because pretty colours make her happy. Oh to sit on a deckchair in verdant vegetation in an infinite landscape with The Weepies on my iPod and nothing in my head.

Little things that make me smile. Being presented with a hand stitched menu printed on scraps of cloth announcing simple Japanese offerings like miso soba noodles with egg and chicken katsu curry don. Chicken rolls and okonomiyaki. Tofu cheese cake. The attention paid to detail. A perfectly cooked egg yolk in my miso soup that, upon breaking, oozes out smooth buttery liquid sunshine. Tender pieces of chicken that are breaded and freshly fried and served with thick sweet Japanese kare. Seaweed rolls, with chicken and crabstick, that are far from soggy, the texture so light and crisp, as if shrouded by a blanket of virtual starch. A fluffy and simple okonomiyaki deriving its flavour from eggs and prawns. A tofu cheese cake that is not very sweet, reminiscent of desserts consumed in Tokyo several years back.

There is no rich datin behind the cash register.

Run by a boy, a girl, and a mother, Poco Homemade is clearly a labour of love.

Poco Homemade
1 Lorong Kurau, Bangsar, KL.

Map on website.

Tel: 03-2287 5688

Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays. 12pm to 9.30pm. (Closed Mondays)

Time Out KL Food Awards 2010 and Buka Puasa at Essence at Sheraton Imperial KL

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

If you were in Malaysia last year, you would have most likely come across the inaugural Time Out KL (TOKL) Food Awards in 2009. You would have also most likely wondered how some of the restaurants even made it to the list, and as much as I was surprised at some of the winners, I realised that we had only ourselves to blame. You see, like all democracies, power is given to the people (yes, it’s true!), and TOKL believes that we, the people, should pick the restaurants that we believe are among the best in KL. Believe it or not, every vote matters, and at the end of the day, if your favourite restaurant doesn’t make it to the top, well….then you have every right to spit on the list because you voted and exercised your right.

This year, for the TOKL Food Awards 2010, there are 13 categories altogether, and voting has already started. You are free to nominate any restaurant which you think is deserving, be it the most expensive French restaurant in town or the tai chow stall across the road from your girlfriend’s place. On September 16, polls close and votes will be counted to form a shortlist. This shortlist will comprise the five (or six or seven, depending if the vote is close) top outlets in each of the categories. Polls will then reopen with only the shortlisted outlets on a “drop down” menu to decide who will be the eventual winner. The outlet with the most overall votes will be declared the winner at an Awards Ceremony (ala Oscars) in November.

I voted last week, but I can tell you that prior to submitting the list, I was wringing my hands wondering if I had made the right choices. Ya, so drama hor. Plus, there were some weird categories, like Continental and Italian. So I wondered if Continental meant any of those countries in the Continent (i.e. Europe) excluding Italy? What about American? Would the “Steak house” category refer to American food (stereotypical!)? What about Fusion?? The only category Fusion would fit into would be Fine Dining, but what if it were Fusion but not Fine Dining? Hysteria descends.

Anyway. To quote Uncle Sam, I want you…to vote.

Click HERE to visit the TOKL website.

I love publications like TOKL and KLue. This month (August), you’ll see my mug in KLue magazine giving my thoughts on what I’d say to aliens and such. It’s meant to sound patriotic, but Tourism Malaysia may not take too kindly to my promotion of belacan as our national heritage. After all, the aliens deserve the Twin Towers instead of bad breath. I was also on TV this month (gotta love August) as a guest judge in a reality show on NTV7 called Digi The Next Level. Now I know what it feels like to be Simon Cowell.

It’s been a wet Ramadan so far, and that really sucks. One of the charms of Ramadan for us non-Muslims is the Ramadan Bazaar but the rain just dampens the resolve to hunt for some good rendang or murtabak. I’m not one for buffets and over-eating, but I can see why hotel Ramadan buffets are popular. Whenever there is a family celebration at home, poor mum (or dad) gets stuck in the kitchen preparing a feast for the people she loves. My mum’s like that, and to be fair to her, she does it because she wants to. But I do know that she longs to go out for a nice meal where she gets to look pretty and smell nice and doesn’t have to worry about what to feed the family. Buffets are fantastic for that purpose. Who cares if grand dad can’t chew on the rendang…there is always some soft mushy tofu somewhere. The Ramadan buffet at Essence at Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur offers several types of popular Malay dishes under one roof. Nasi dagang? Check! Gulai ikan tongkol? Check! Ayam percik? Check! Chicken briyani? Check! Gulai kawah? Check! Rendang tok? Check! Satay? Check! Tapai pulut? Check!

Go there if you’re craving Malay food. Don’t expect oysters, but the sashimi counter is still open for business. There is also a selection of Chinese, Indian and Western food for the picky eater. Of all that I tried, I particularly enjoyed the rendang tok, dark and tender with a thick, dry sauce. I also got to try a Perak-ian salad called Kerabu Ikan Sungai made of pucuk paku and a catfish dressing (which I initially thought was cencaluk). So delicious, and I can tell you this -I’ll take an ulam salad anytime over a “western” salad. Ulam (my favourite being Ulam Raja) has more flavour and can even be eaten without any sauce/dressing. The satay, prepared hot in the open kitchen, was also very good. Desserts were average, some were great, some weren’t; I saw Fatboybakes spit out his onde onde, while laughing at something funny, being more accustomed to a different type of ball in his mouth. The tapai pulut was quite tasty.

The buka puasa buffet at Essence is priced at RM108++ per person and all diners who partake of the buffet will also receive gift packs from the hotel as well as Brands Essence of Chicken. Starwood membership discounts apply.

Thank you, Cindy Yoong (Director of Marketing Communications at Sheraton Imperial KL) for the invitation to sample the spread. I enjoyed both the food and the company!

Essence
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL

For reservations, call 03-2717 9933.

A Whiff of Lemongrass

NOT a food blog

Category Archives: LOCATION: KUALA LUMPUR

Restoran Wai Kei, Old Klang Road

Poco Homemade, Cafe & Atelier, Bangsar

Time Out KL Food Awards 2010 and Buka Puasa at Essence at Sheraton Imperial KL

Thank you, Cindy Yoong (Director of Marketing Communications at Sheraton Imperial KL) for the invitation to sample the spread. I enjoyed both the food and the company!