By Eu Hooi Khaw NOV 21 — Often I’m hard pressed to recommend a good Thai restaurant but now I can, since Erawan Classic Thai & Fusion loomed into my horizon. It’s in the bustling square of Kota Damansara where there are lots of eateries. But Erawan stands out, not only in the embracing warmth of its pretty decor, but also in its food. Each dish was presented like a work of art, with attention paid to even the colours of the vegetables on a plate. First, the fan-shaped Stuffed Pineapple that has the raw fruit stuffed with minced chicken, dried prawns and peanuts in a mien kam sauce. The juicy pineapple meshes beautifully with the sticky sweet and mildly hot stuffing. It’s helpful to digestion, the menu suggests, and it’s a good starter. We went from the sweet to the savoury, in the Erawan Spring Rolls, served in beautiful Benjarong or traditional Thai porcelain in Ming dynasty design. (You can read about it in the restaurant). The only thing fusion about the ro...

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By Alexandra WongNOV 14 — What do you talk about when you’re stuck at a table with strangers? In a culinarily diverse country like Malaysia, the answer is food, naturally! During the lunch provided after a society meeting, Mm and I sat at the same table as a Malay family of five. Naturally, I asked them you could find good Malay food in Ipoh — the one thing that has always stumped me here. “Do you know where Kampung Manjoi is?” “Of course! It’s between my alma mater Tarcisian Convent and the taman where I stay.  What’s good there?” His eyes light up. “Ah, they serve very good wa tan hor!” Chinese cooking in a Malay warung? Then he dealt the clinching line: “Once you’re inside Kampung Manjoi, ask anyone and they can tell you where it is!” Funny, considering its proximity, I had never taken the trouble to check out Kampung Manjoi’s nooks and crannies, despite my fondness for bucolic villages. Perhaps it is true what they say — you ...

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SINGAPORE, Nov 10 — If you've ever puzzled over the perfect wine for Thai tom yum soup or south Indian fish curry, a book by Asia's only master of wine takes the guess-work out of pairing an essentially Western drink with Oriental food. Jeannie Cho Lee, a wine writer, judge and lecturer based in Hong Kong, said the sheer diversity of Asian food, and the fact that one meal can have a myriad of flavours, made it extremely challenging to find matching wines. But with wine playing a bigger role in Asian dining, she said the two key elements to look for were acidity and versatility. "Because of the way we eat, which is more communal and has a huge variety of flavours, any wine must be able to go with this range, but also not to overpower it," Lee told Reuters. "It is also very important for wine to be refreshing, with enough acidity to stand up to our spicy, fried food." Lee's book, the glossy, coffee-table offering "Asian Palate" launched las...

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By Eu Hooi Khaw NOV 8 — Frankie Woo’s brain must be always ticking overtime as he invents and mulls over new flavours and textures in his food at Gu Yue Tien. Maybe that’s why this chef/owner is so thin — all his energy is consumed doing this. It’s amazing what he can turn out. Take the Freshwater Eel with Avocado Mousse, for instance. The grilled eel was rich and creamy, and he paired this perfectly with a slightly tart and hot avocado mousse. Guess what’s in the mousse? Avocado and green pickled chilli blended together! The creaminess was on two fronts – ”It’s like kaya,” he said of the avocado. The guessing had started with the Giant Clam with Spicy Kamquat Sauce. After being thrilled by the citrusy, hot and fragrant sauce with the thin slices of clam, we had to ask him. Ginger flower and cili padi, besides kumquat of course! The smoky, salty, fruity and sweet came together in the Iberico ham rolled with Rock Melon with Avru...

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By Eu Hooi Khaw NOV 1 — The first time we were at Dish in Dua Annexe, Kuala Lumpur, we were stuffed after sharing a Lobster Omelette with a Cognac-infused lobster bisque sauce, and the Roasted Juicy Bone Marrow with capers parsley salsa and toasted baguette. The Lobster Omelette is like a full main course, but surprisingly it’s on the starter menu. It’s a soft, fluffy omelette with chopped lobster inside, and drenched with a lobster bisque. I would have enjoyed this more separately. Give me the omelette or the bisque (I loved the heady complexity of this). The two together were impossibly rich. There were three chunks of Roasted Bone Marrow on the plate, accompanied by a salad. Dig into the marrow with the fat, creamy gelatinous bits and the tangy capers salsa, and you’re in heaven. Thank goodness the three of us had one marrow each, with the bean salad and slices of baguette. Last week I was back again at Dish and I spotted Coffin Bay oysters from South Australia and f...

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By Alexandra Wong OCT 31 — I haven’t eaten a whole lot of Hokkien mee. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that I realised Hokkien mee in KL and Hokkien mee in Penang are two very different animals. Up north, you get a bowl of egg and rice noodles steeped in a fragrant briny stock made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns. Wikipedia goes on to add, “it is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime served with sliced red chilli, light soy sauce and sambal.” Order the same thing in Kuala Lumpur and you get “a dish of thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of pork fat fried until crispy.” Then the other day, while driving to my aunt’s place, I saw this sign out of the corner of my eye. Charcoal stove hokkien mee. My culinary antenna twitched with anticipation. Advocates of traditional c...

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By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 24 — Each time my sister comes to KL from Perth, we would eat at least twice at Canton-i before she heads home. We love the Hong Kong wantan noodles there, which are fine and a little crunchy (not too much, else you will have wires in your mouth!). We would have these “kon-loh” or with soup, and we would definitely have the prawn wantan, some roast pork and “char siu”, and egg tarts. We like it that the egg tarts always come first, the light pastry flaking off as we take bites of the smooth custard filling. What’s wrong with having dessert first when it sweetens your experience of what’s to follow? The prawn wantan offers fresh, sweet and springy bites, while the roast pork belly (medium fat) has an absolutely crispy skin. The “char siu” or barbecued pork is consistently sticky sweet with a honey glaze, and has just enough fat for an almost creamy mouthfeel. I was at Canton-i at The Gardens last week and found out that a mixtu...

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By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 17 — When I was told Japanese chef Tetsuya Yanagida was now at the Benkay Japanese Restaurant at the Nikko Kuala Lumpur, I was eager to go there. I’ve always had a good meal when Tetsuya is at the helm, and that goes for the places where he has worked in. These include Zipangu at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, which he turned into an award-winning Japanese fine-dining restaurant, and Mizu (in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur) where I had some great meals. His food is always about something new and I like that a lot. I still remember his braised wagyu cheek at Zipangu. Chef Tetsuya was beaming at me like an old friend when we took our seats at the sushi counter. I have had some super experiences sitting at this counter, and I felt at home there. In a jiffy, the chef placed before us a salad of scallop with plum dressing. The scallops were fat, half-raw and sweet, and the mildly tart dressing was fragrant with shredded shiso leaves. There was a sl...

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By Alexandra WongOCT 10 — "So what's good there, Nga Choy Kai?" I hear this cliche so often that it makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Yes, people I meet for the first time say this out of a genuine desire to establish a common ground — I am not blaming them — but heck, there's so much more to Ipoh than just bean sprouts chicken! At the risk of inundating the stunned listener with TMI (Too Much Information, not The Malaysian Insider), I always ensue with a random list of my favourite foods in my hometown (and you'll notice Nga Choy Kai conspicuously missing): 1. Kap liew Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Desa Indah 3 Persiaran Desa Rishah 1, Taman Desa Rishah, Ipoh Tel: 05-281-0668 Opens 11am-4pm (Tues-Sat), 8.30am-4pm (Sun), Monday Closed "Kap liew" is that umbrella moniker for an Ipoh delicacy: vegetables and beancurd sheets stuffed with fish and either blanched or deep-fried, which the customer picks up ("kap") and eats with noodles tossed in soy...

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By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 10 — Bread always makes me happy; whether I’m eating it, or breathing in its aroma as it’s baking. But when was the last time you sank your teeth into some really good bread? Something always falls short: it’s too soft and cottony, too sweet or too greasy. Since The Bread Shop opened in Damansara Heights, it’s been creating a buzz, mainly because the owners are dedicated to bread, the wonderful ones that they remember from childhood, or from studying and travelling abroad. Walk in and breads — huge loafs — baguettes, croissants and Danish pastries come into your line of vision. There are so many varieties for you to salivate over. But that lovely aroma hits you first. The Bread Shop reminds me of a cafe I visited in Adelaide, Australia, with deliberately distressed walls, cement floor, stainless steel lamps, and high wooden tables. There’s beauty in the clean lines; in a vase of flowers reflected in a slanted, overhead mirror at the side...

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