This morning, I was late for work by more than an hour due to a number of accidents on the highway. Several things frustrate me daily, but in this instance, the lack of consideration and the egotistical nature of certain drivers irked me. If you hit a car in front of you, for Pete’s sake, move to the side of the road and negotiate lah. Don’t stop in the middle of the highway, centre lane, no less, and assume that the world stops for you just because you have a tiny dent on your rear bumper. I. Don’t. Care.
When we bought our place in Bukit Jelutong many many years ago, traffic was a lot more bearable. Now, the sheer number of cars on the road coupled with an increase in the number of inconsiderate drivers makes it a nightmare for me to drive to work every morning. I normally say a prayer before I start my journey. In addition to the usual request for world peace and an end to global hunger, I pray for the roads to be clear so that I may make it to work within half an hour. Based on my recent experience on the roads, I can only postulate that God has a queer sense of humour.
I seem to be lacking constants in my life. Change is good, but not when it’s about a worsening traffic condition. Another constant I am missing is my hair colourist, Randall. It was an affair that brought out the glow in my skin and made rainbows out of my grey days. Now, Taiwan owns him.
If Taiwan has my Randall, then we, Malaysians, have Jeanie, a Taiwanese who made Malaysia her home thirty years ago after falling in love with and marrying a Malaysian chef. Together, they started New Formosa, and to this day, business has been brisk. I was first introduced to this place several years back by my blogging idol, Boo. I remember enjoying the dishes, one of my favourites being the Butter Eel, which was fried in a crispy, sweet batter. Another dish which caught my fancy a couple of years back was the steamed crabs in unpolished rice. The rice was so fragrant and tasty that I wrote on my blog that this dish would be forever etched in my memory.
Thanks to Jeanie, we were introduced to the Chinese New Year menu, a delightful mix of decadent ingredients that made up the Chinese New Year requisites. How can one say no to the Fu Lu Shou soup (a Taiwanese traditional Fo tiao Qiang Monk Jumping Over The Wall) which contained a variety of expensive ingredients in a herbal soup – dried baby scallops, shark’s fin, sea cucumber, fish maw, chinese mushroom, yam white cabbage, spare ribs, diced chicken, wolfberry, dried longan, bamboo membrane and shao xin wine. We agreed that it was a steal at only RM36 a bowl.
My favourite Butter Eel formed part of a two-combination dish together with Dried Oysters in a special sauce. (RM48) The dried oysters were particularly intense in flavour, but because of this, one could either love it or hate it. I loved the Gingko Ham (Hunan’s special traditional ham dish) (RM45) which was served with bread. This reminded me of the dried meat sandwich that one could buy off the road in the old days, although the ham was of a far superior quality. The preparation of the ham is tedious, as it is steamed for a prolonged period to remove the salt.
Feng Sha Ji (roast chicken) reminded me of a turkey at Thanksgiving, all dressed up and stuffed, although this chicken was roasted with red scallions and stuffed with “eight treasures” (including chestnuts, dried shrimps and rice). The chicken was very flavourful and moist. We were also served a yam and duck tart, which was already sliced into individual portions. The duck was steamed for two hours, after which the bones were removed, the meat extracted and then mixed with flour to make this dish. The Steamed Giant Grouper (Nian Nian You Yu – every year has extra fortune) was served with black fermented soy beans and minced ginger and garlic. Very tasty. I’m still waiting for extra fortune to come my way, but why be greedy? I shall be satisfied with just good traffic daily.
For desserts, we were served an assortment of puddings (mango, green tea aloe vera, honey and custard) and Or Nee (sans pork lard, hence the skinny version) which is a yam and gingko creamy confection. There was also a live performance treat where fried pieces of yam coated with sesame seeds, honey and maltose were plunged into iced water resulting in a hardened and crunchy/brittle surface. In the process, long threads of hardened sugar formed over the skin, like ice sculpture pieces. They were not just things of beauty; they were also extremely delicious.
A picture speaks a thousand words, they say, so I shall leave you with several thousand….
Salmon Yee Sang RM39
Two combination dish – Butter Eel and Dried Oyster RM48
Steamed Long Tan (Giant Grouper) Taiwanese traditional style RM58
Gingko Ham RM45
Feng Sha Ji Roast Chicken RM55
Two varieties of Prawns
Fried Vegetables with Pomelo Sacs and Almond Flakes RM30
Assorted Puddings
Or Nee
One happy customer
Fried yam
Thanks, Jeanie, for the lovely treat!
Note: The featured menu is available until February 28 2010. The restaurant is open throughout the CNY period. For other delectable goodies, check out their website.
New Formosa Restaurant
46, Jalan SS2/24,
47300 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7875 1894, 7875 7478, 019-335 3274.
Business hours: 12 noon to 3pm, 6pm to 10.30pm.
Closed from the 16th to the 19th day of the first Lunar month.
eureka! there’s life!
am i the 1st?
let me just say, the gold nuggets are gorgeous.. u captured him so well and also the threads!
also, i hate jams and the heat.. i too nearly died just going out to lunch 2day.. poor u
finally jeanie to msia is like randall to taiwan.. but lets hope he comes back one day, and that she never leaves;)
ciki: Yar, my poor neglected blog. 😛 Yes, you’re the first. I agree, the gold nuggets are very pretty, and I love the textural differences. I hope S likes his picture. 😛 Poor you, next time, tar pau a nice salad for lunch instead and eat in. hehe. Yes, I really miss Randall. I’m sure he’ll be back, and you and I can kacau him together. 🙂
as i am consumed by all those words… I WANT TO EAT
Haha, that is sure one happy customer… and more happy customers in the last pic and one very, very happy proprietess (right spelling or not?), eh?
And I hear you about them traffic jams. Yikes.
U finally blogged more than me this week! Yeah I know how it feels to be stuck in traffic. The traffic in SS2 is a pain every morning. The usually 10minute ride to work is escalated a few fold. If I’m lucky, I’d get to work in 20. That’s very slow compared to the distance you’d cover in 30mins.
Sigh. Such is life.
I’m yearning for some of those caramel dipped yam now!
Poor you! I can’t imagine not having my stylist around either. >.<
I also want fried yam… *slurps*
Hi
Have you ever tried Fong Lye (the original location on Jln Imbi)? I find the food there more authentic than New Formosa.
If you ever make it to Taiwan, the food there is just out of this world. Finest chinese food I’ve ever eaten and then there’s stuff that’s uniquely Taiwanese…
KY: Hehe…yes, isn’t that the greatest thing?
LFB: Yes, we are happy peepul…!
A Lil Fat Monkey: Yes, such is life. Thankfully, there are blessings to counter this. Like good friends and good food. 🙂
wmw: So nice hor? 🙂
Bangsar-bAbE: Ya lor…what will we do without our Randalls? 😀
hockman: Yeah, I’ve heard so much about Taiwanese food, but so far, only my hubs has been there. I’d love to go there someday. As for Fong Lye, I’ve only tried the Gardens outlet which I find unsatisfactory. I’m sure the Imbi outlet is better. I shall take your suggestion and try the food there too. Thanks!
traffic jams are actually really useful. i practice all my singing in the car, and as u can tell, the practice has paid off! =)
Sean: I think your traffic jams are not long enough. I suggest putting in an extra hour a day. Maybe you will be Idol material by 2019. Maybe.
Boo for traffic jams…
(The one on the LDP seems to be getting worse and worse nowadays too…)
(Hey, maybe because we are all praying for no traffic jam everywhere, it is too much for God to grant?)
(Oh, the food looks really good btw. Will have to take my parents here soon…)
Well shot and written.
J: The traffic is horrendous everywhere, so I guess it wouldnt be fair for one to be favoured over the other hor. 😛
superwilson: thanks, wilson!
I’m a fan of their Or Nee, but personally did not like the butter eels much, for I find them too dry and salty.
Traffic jam and humidity, without which Msia would be heaven on earth.. I was just thinking, in a place where I spend hours on the road, I am stuck with a not-so-great car and crappy road conditions. And in a place where I have a great car and fantastic road conditions, I spend only minutes driving. I guess fate is fair in an ironic sort of way – I won’t spoil my great car on crappy roads with potholes, yea? 😛
Shall we visit Taiwan togeder-togeder instd of Spain then? More achievable in a shorter time.. 😉
J2Kfm: Yar, the Or Nee is nice. I think I’ll always be partial to eel cooked in any manner. 😀
gfad: Talking about potholes, Tim insists that I am drawn towards them like FBB is drawn towards alcohol. Yes, I don’t mind visiting Taiwan either, especially when it comes highly recommended by Hockman.
yarrr.. when is randall back ar? he promised to make me blonde again. chis.
i luv those sessions. we can go and really get STONED on that hot hot coffee.. mwuahahahaha
i loved the eel!!
cumidanciki: yar, and the food from Parkroyal that gets sent to the salon too. We’re so spoilt.
lotsofcravings: yeah, so good hor.
Sigh.. we ate the same food and you make them sound so much better ;p
A blogger friend of mine said your blog is one of the very very few floggers blogs tht’s worth reading 😉
TNG: Eh, I thought you were raving about the food at New Formosa too? Must go and read again. ;p do thank your friend for me. very kind of him/her. 🙂
i lub the last shot! am i mad.. maybe i am.. just come back to see the smiley eyes of munkey, ahpa, marian.. and lil ole me! teehee:D
ciki: Yes, that’s one of my favourite shots too. Such happy and beautiful people. 🙂
gorgeous piccies as always. lucky i posted first.
Went with family during CNY holidays & parents were totally bowled over by Jeanie’s warmth. Where else can you get a ‘si-tau-poh’ who personally cut, divide, serve & suggest the best way to savour the dishes?
fbb: LOL. Your pics are very pwetty oso mah.
tummythoz: Yes, Jeanie is a gem!
Well, LL, you let the pics speak for themselves, so I am going to confine my words of response to a single, primal utterance:
PHWOOAAAARRR!
Which part of Bukit Jelutong do you live? I just bought a place in Birai. I still find the traffic conditions here to be amazingly low… until you drive out and get stuck at the damn NKVE toll! But that’s more like an NKVE issue… hehe.
But what I seriously don’t understand is the amount of people who just randomly stop by the side of the road. There’s NO emergency lane, and they’re not stopping for an emergency anyway. I see people sleeping, talking on the phone, doing random things, all while blocking 1 lane of a 2 lane main road, sometimes even after a hill when they’re in a blind spot.
Rolan Stein: hahaha….that’s an appropriate response!
Paul Tan: My place is at Kubah. Yeah, BJ is utopia until one reaches the NKVE! I understand what you mean about drivers these days. Perhaps people think that they’re immortal, that bad things only happen to other people. I have an immense fear of stopping on the side of the road (when my car breaks down, for instance), because of the number of vehicles I see that use the emergency lane to avoid regular traffic. Not only that, these guys speed on the emergency lane too! Talking about randomly stopping on the road, I’ve seen drivers stop in the middle of the road when the road forks into two and they’re indecisive about which fork they want to take. Sigh.