1.

I am definitely the Poster Child of the Month with THREE incidences of food poisoning in May.  My last bout, which happened just days ago, was the worst.  I mean, what good is a 2-day medical leave from work if I can’t even bring myself to watch the Asian Food Channel on Astro?  The mere sight of food made me want to retch my guts out.

I’ve forgotten what good food tastes like.  Ah, woe is me.

Ok.  I’m done spilling my guts.

*My apologies to Kenny Mah for the unfortunate resemblance of his hand (in the picture above) to The Evil Grip.

I suppose I should look at the bright side.  Anything’s better than having a hedgehog stuck in your mouth.

.*Henry the Hedgehog – derived posthumous fame from FBB.  Thank you, Joe, for giving me permission to put up this picture.  Mmuaks.

2.

The good life.  When good friends get together for a meal.  (Obviously, this happened way before The Evil Grip got hold of me, and is in no way related to the topic above.)  I’ve always enjoyed going out for dinner because, for at least a couple of hours, I get to forget about work.  Laughter’s certainly the best medicine, and the company of friends, the right friends, is my umami.

We supped over spareribs (RM16) in a mildly spicy sauce which was steamed together with sweet potatoes, a contrast of flavours, and while I wasn’t overly excited about the sauce which tasted a little chalky, I loved the tenderness of the meat. The white cabbage in claypot (RM13), came in a clear broth with bits of minced pork, sliced mushrooms, foo chuk and dried shrimps.  This was a delicately flavoured dish that derived its sweetness from the white cabbage.   The Canadian seabass (RM39) was fried first, then a spicy sauce was liberally spread over it.  We ordered a side portion of fried mantou (buns) to mop up the gravy.  The fried intestines coated in sesame seed (RM13) was an afterthought when we had already ordered all the other stuff, but I’m glad we did.  It was chewy on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside; probably one of my favourites that night.

This dish will be forever etched in my memory.  Unpolished rice formed the base – the rice had been steamed in stock and had a soft (not fluffy) texture.  The rice was subsequently topped with a crab which was chopped into several pieces, and steamed until the flavours gradually combined.  I loved the rice which could be eaten on its own as it had absorbed all the different flavours.  The meat of the crab was also very sweet.  It was definitely worth the RM34 pricetag.

The rice crusts (RM28), similar to Rice Krispies but in little tablet forms, were a delight to eat. A sweet sauce made of sea cucumber, cuttlefish, prawns and meatballs was poured over the rice crusts. The crusts soaked up the sauce resulting in an lovely combination of chewy and crispy bits.

The New Formosa Restaurant has been dishing out great Taiwanese cuisine for a very long time, and has always been a restaurant of choice whenever we’re looking for something different.  Now I’m waiting for my tastebuds to get back to normal so that I can visit this restaurant again.

New Formosa Restaurant
46, Jalan SS2/24, 47300 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7875 1894, 03-7875 7478.