Elegant Inn - Standard Chartered Bank Extravagant 8 Menu

I was pretty excited when I was invited by Elegant Inn recently to try out one of their special menus which they have crafted in association with Standard Chartered Bank's promotion for their credit card holders for the coming Chinese New Year.  It's always a thrill for me to dine at Elegant Inn since I discovered this gem of a restaurant last year.  Since my very first visit, I had been bowled over by their fine HK-style Chinese cuisine and I have been back there several times with friends and family.

I'm so glad to see that Standard Chartered Bank has included Elegant Inn into their list of 8 Top Chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley.  Customised Extravagant 8 Menus have been specially prepared by their best chefs exclusively for Standard Chartered Bank credit card holders at a price of RM888+ per table of 8 pax from 20 January 2011 to 17 February 2011.

Let's see what's in store at Elegant Inn for the Standard Chartered Bank Extravagant 8 Menu...

To usher in the Year of the Rabbit, what better way to start than to partake in the Bountiful Harvest Salmon Lo-Sang?



Freshly-shredded cucumber, carrots, radish, ginger, pomelo, snow pear were tossed together fresh salmon, pearl clam strips and jelly fish.  I like it that one of their service crew actually helped us to vocalise all the good fortune wishes as we tossed the Lo-Sang as high as possible (without messing up the table too much!)... it was pretty enlightening to learn all the correct Chinese phrases for prosperity, good health, great career, abundant luck etc etc.  The sauce used to bind the Lo-Sang was light and refreshing - in fact, the whole Lo-Sang dish was light and refreshing with none of the cloyingly sweet, oily or overly-crunchy textures (as in, too much of crispies used) that some restaurants favour.  Every mouthful was a wonderful mixture of gorgeous "mouthfeel" - fresh crunchy juicy vegetables + fruits, tender marine-fresh salmon, delicately chewy pearl clam strips and stringy bouncy jellyfish!



The soups served in Elegant Inn are mostly double-boiled as this is the best way to seal in the tastes and flavours of the ingredients.  In the double-boiling method, evaporation is minimised, thus reducing the loss of flavours, yet extracting the best from the ingredients used.



Double-boiled Village Chicken Soup with Cordyceps Flowers & US Top Shell subscribes perfectly to this, resulting in the sweetest naturally-flavoured soup.  Cordyceps Flower is a valuable Chinese herb believed to help build the body's immunity, particularly good for the lungs.  A huge platter of the ingredients used in this soup - village (free-range) chicken, pork ribs, dried scallops, chinese ham, US top shell were dished out and served... still flavourful from the double-boiling!

Golden Fried Estuary Garoupa with Chinese Leeks was served next...



A thick generous slice of the giant estuary garoupa, fried to a golden hue and topped with chinese leeks and "har-kon" (dried prawn strips from Hong Kong) served with a light sauce made from superior soyasauce.



This is one of the best way to serve "loong tann" - as this rendered the thick fish skin to be both crispy & slightly chewy.  A prized catch, this fish dish was a clear favourite (including mine) round our table that evening!

Crystal Prawns done in Elegant Inn's signature Salted Egg Yolk style was next...



I think the photo speaks for itself.  Unlike most restaurants, the buttery salted egg yolks had been cooked in such a way that the rich flavours had been totally infused into the prawns, not merely coating their shells.  I have personally watched their Head Chef, the dashing Wesley Ng, cooked this dish - how the salted egg yolks were meticulously & painstakingly cooked with butter and then skilfully immersed into the fresh succulent prawns, resulting into a decadently rich dish - they don't label this their "signature style" for nothing! The whole cooking process of their signature Eggyolk dishes (it goes very well with crabs, too) takes not less than 20-25 minutes by Chef Wesley Ng!

Prior to this dinner, I had actually tasted their Golden Boneless Stuffed Chicken with Chicken Tomato Salad and my family members couldn't stop raving about it.  It is rather an "old fashioned" dish, favoured in many traditional Chinese restaurants.  It is pretty labour-intensive as all the chicken meat had to be stripped off and usually a fish paste is then replaced on the chicken skin and fried.  Elegant Inn's version is one notch higher - prawn paste is used instead.  Imagine a layer of golden crispy chicken skin over a marine-sweet layer of tender, succulent prawn paste, fried to perfection.



At the sides, you will find freshly-cut tomato wedges, topped with shredded chicken meat and doused with a delightful orange balsamic dressing.  One word to describe this dish? Dropdeadyummy.

What's Chinese New Year without the requisite oysters, mushrooms and sea cucumbers?  I mean, it's an absolute "must" to have this and Elegant Inn did not disappoint... just look at their Braised Sea Cucumber with Dried Oyster, Fatt Choy & Mushroom dish...



Thick slices of sea cucumber, fat juicy Japanese oysters, plump Chinese mushrooms - there is no stingeing on good quality ingredients here.  A very typical Chinese New Year dish and Elegant Inn's version was excellent, down to the very last drop of the delicious gravy!

Just when we thought we couldn't possibly eat another morsel, Braised Seafood Rice with Australian Scallops & Fresh Crabmeat was served, amidst "oooh's" and "aahh's" from the diners at our table.



Look at the photo and you'll understand where the "oooh's" and "aahh's" came from.  See those generous chunks of scallops and fresh crabmeat?  Is it any wonder that this entire plate was wolfed down, despite everyone being "so full" prior to this??!

No matter how full one is, there IS always room for dessert.  Try and challenge this, if you dare, haha!



Especially when the dessert comes as a twin:  Panfried Traditional Rice Cake & Hazelnut Cookies AND Chilled Japanese Pumpkin Sago with Green Beans.  Soft chewy slices of "niao gao" - rice cake lightly panfried in the nude with no coating whatsoever, paired with crunchy buttery hazelnut cookies... then wash all these down with some creamy pumpkin puree infused with gelatinuous sago and soft green beans
- a perfect end to a perfect meal.



To all you Standard Chartered credit card holders out there:  All I can say is, you are in for a great meal with this Extravagant 8 Menu in Elegant Inn - a meal extravagant only in the value and freshness of the ingredients used and the culinary skills employed; a meal well worth the RM888++ tag. 

Dining here is an art and an experience in itself.  I say this not because this was an invited review but because time and again when I dined in Elegant Inn, the experience has always been memorable, in a most delightful way.

Besides Elegant Inn, there are 7 other Chinese restaurants which are listed on the Standard Chartered Bank Extravagant 8 campaign: 

1.  Li Yen, The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur
2.  Shanghai, JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur
3.  Celestial Court, Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur
4.  Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur
5.  Zing, Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur
6.  Gu Yu Tien Restaurant
7.  Chynna, Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Elegant Inn also has a variety of their own special Chinese New Year Menus to offer... and some of these dishes featured here are available in their other CNY menus as well as on their A La Carte menu.
* Reservations are strongly recommended!

Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine
2.01  2nd Floor, Podium Floor
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P Ramlee
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:  03-2070-9399  Fax: 03-2070-9398
email:  ei_hs@streamyx.com

Tau Yew Bak

When someone mentions "comfort food", an immediate image that would come to my mind is "Tau Yew Bak" - Pork braised in Dark Soya Sauce.  When I run out of ideas on what to cook for dinner or when I have one of those insane urges to have something porky to go with rice, invariably this dish would be my choice.



So what makes a good Tau Yew Bak?  There are various versions to this popular dish.  My version would require a good cut of Belly Pork.  Some would prefer other cuts of pork, like shoulder loin, shank etc but I think nothing beats the belly cut. Make sure you get a cut with equal layers of fatty and lean meat.  You do need the fatty layer - that's what gives this dish it's flavourful lardy taste.

Get a good bottle of Dark Soya Sauce - one that's thick and sweetish with aromatic caramel nuances.  Make sure you use enough of this to give the gravy a dark luscious look.  I like it really dark - brownish hues just won't do.

You will also need a good measure of high quality Light Soya Sauce - this kinda binds the dark soya sauce and porky flavours really well.

So all you have to do is saute several whole pieces of garlic in some oil, add in the pork, stir well.  Add in the soya sauces (both light & dark), enough water to cover the meat and braise in low heat for 20-30 minutes until the pork softens to the right bite.  If you want a more sweetish tinge to the gravy, add in some sugar.  For a more substantial twist, add in some boiled eggs and serve this with some sambal belacan by the side.  I guarantee you will down tons of rice with this :-))

The good thing about this dish is that it keeps really well - in fact, it tastes better after 1-2 days!

So, what's your comfort food?

Dancing Fish!

Not even a week had passed since I got back from Bali and I jumped, without hesitation, when dear Masak-masak asked if I'd like to go try out Dancing Fish.  I mean, I had been gorging on Indon-Balinese food for 4 days prior to that and yet I couldn't wait to go and check out Dancing Fish, a new restaurant serving Malay-Indo cuisine located on the 3rd Floor of the spanking new refurbished wing of Bangsar Shopping CEntre.



The signature dish & namesake of the restaurant - Dancing Fish is a delightfully fried Red Tilapia so skillfully fried till the entire fish can be eaten, bones, head and all.  With accompanying ladies fingers, long beans and tomatoes and sitting prettily on a sweetish-sourish tangy sauce known as "Masam Kedondong Pedas", the only direction the cleverly-contorted fish danced was straight into our tummies.  By the time we were done with the fish, the plate was cleaned out - not a single bone was left!



Service was fast and courteous.  During the short lapses while waiting for the next dishes to be served, we were busy snacking on the Emping crackers which we dipped enthusiastically into the sambal terasi - it was pretty addictive!  The Indonesian crackers made from melinjo nuts, slightly bitterish, went so well with the sambal terasi, not unlike our sambal belacan but with crushed tomatoes added in.



I really love love their Kerabu Pucuk Paku!  Lightly blanched jungle ferns served with a coconut-based gravy with just the right combination of turmeric, shallots and daun salam - this dish won the "fastest disappearing" award for that meal.  I was so happy this was right in front of me and I made sure it didn't quite move away from me much, hehe!  I was so tempted to tilt the plate and pour all the gravy onto MY plate.  This is one vegetables dish I would order and order again!



I loved their Terung Sambal too.  Eggplant grilled and slathered with a thick sambal sauce and topped with crispy fried shallots, this was a winner in my books.  But my only grouch about this dish is that it will make you want to "tambah nasi" (add more rice!), such is its addictive sambal.



We had a whole Bebek Goreng Bali (Fried Duck) which was thoughtfully served in 2 plates.  The chefs at Dancing Fish must be master-fryers because the duck was fried to a crisp but had not lost any of its flavour plus the flavours of the marinade.  I had no need of the accompanying chilli dip - the pieces of crunchy ducky were scrumptious on their own.



The one not-so-on dish, for me, was the Tahu Telur.  It didn't do much for me in terms of taste and texture.



Cumi Cumi Bakar - yes, it tasted as good as it looked up there.  Squids are not exactly the easiest item to cook but the chefs here have done a marvelous job.  Smooth and tender (not chewy at all), the fresh squids were grilled to perfection.  I totally dig the sweet sticky sauce (I suspect it's made from "kicap manis") glistening on the smokey shiny plump squids.  Definitely a favourite round the table!



You can choose between plain white rice or yellow rice to go with your dishes.  Tasting a bit like our local "nasi minyak", the fragrant spicy yellow rice (a tad oily) went very well with all the dishes.  In fact, you can even just eat it on its own - it's tasty that way.



Desserts... Chendol with Durian Ice-cream... this is so decadent!  Thick coconut milk, soft pandan-flavoured chendol, red beans, thick gula melaka and best of all, that scoop of divine durian icecream.



If chendol is not your scene, go for something lighter in the form of Lemongrass Jelly served with some "pearls" of assam which give you a delightful sour experience when they burst in your mouth.  I have no idea how these were made - I'd surely love to learn its secret.



The jelly is served with fried rolls with either mango or durian filling.  Guess which was my choice?



The restaurant has lots of elegant wooden beams everywhere... criss-crossing cleverly for a gorgeous visual impact...



... and a beautiful "feature wall" on one side... assorted batik patchwork-like designs...






Dancing Fish Malay-Indo Cuisine
3rd Floor Bangsar Shopping Centre
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2095-6663

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Here's a toast to a fabulous 2011 ahead - the start of another decade.

I wish you all good things for the new year - joy, health and fulfillment in every way :-)  Personally, I feel nothing beats the love and warmth of family and good friends... a meal shared in the company of family and friends is always enjoyable and meaningful.

We had an amazing steamboat dinner last night at my dear friend, CH's beautiful home in Desa Parkcity...





Because we were away in Bali during Christmas, I saved the turkey and only roasted it today for lunch... shared with family and close friends, of course.



May 2011 bring us abundance... love, good health, happiness and good food :-))

New Formosa Restaurant @ SS2

It's the eve of New Year's Eve.  In another 2 days, a new year will be upon us.

I always get a bit nostalgic during this time of the year.  It's like I'm trying to grab the last few hours before the year ends to think and reflect on what has happened, or didn't happen, this whole year.  As I looked through my Flickr folders, the nostalgia dipped one notch further when I looked at my food photos taken at New Formosa Restaurant.

Wayyyy before I started food-blogging, this restaurant has been one of my favourites.  I've been going to this place for my lunch for years (something like more than 16 years!).  My top favourite lunch item here is their Seafood Porridge.  I almost always order this on almost all the occasions that I have been here at lunch, usually with friends and colleagues.  Their service crew recognise me by sight and they know what I want when I tell them "my regular order please!"  The seafood porridge here is really the most delicious comfort food ever - piping hot smooth rice porridge brimming with fresh seafood - fish fillets, shrimps, clams, fishballs, squids, jellyfish... drizzle some soysauce and shake some pepper over the porridge and you'll have a most fulfilling lunch - delicious in its simplicity.



As much as I associate seafood porridge with New Formosa, their Stir Fried Butter Eel is another one of their signature dishes.  Soft succulent eel fillets encased in a light crispy batter and delicately fried to a golden brown. Curry leaves and bits of chilli padi give this dish that extra "ooomph".  Eat this with white rice or just by itself as an indulgent snack.



At a recent dinner here together with my dear Kahcheh, we wanted something simple & light yet nourishing and immediately this item jumped up from their menu as our mutual choice - a delightful Tofu dish - braised with mushrooms, fungus and angled loofah.



If you like innards, try their Pig's Intestines with Pineapples.  The tender intestines, cooked in a sweet sour gravy with chunks of pineapples and bell peppers were refreshingly different - the intestines were not fried , hence less oily & chewy.  The gravy had none of the cloying sweetness of sugar overdose in typical chinese sweet-sour dishes.



One of Chef Lee's signature dishes - Bamboo Yam Rice - a must-try for carbs lovers.  I just couldn't resist this, more so when I was told there're yam cubes in the rice.  Yes, I'm a yam-lover.  The rice was made more fragrant with bits of dried shrimps, fried shallots and chopped spring onions.  I can just eat this alone.  No need for any accompanying dishes, really.

We were joined by Mrs Jeanie Lee - a most gracious and warm host.  When she saw our "paltry" dishes on the table (by her standards it was paltry but there were only 3 of us - how much could we eat?!), she immediately bustled into the kitchen and asked Chef Lee to come up with a few more dishes!  Minutes later, this was served on our table...



Huge succulent prawns cooked in their signature style.  One word: divine.

When she found out that yam was our favourite, magically this dish appeared...



Pork Ribs braised with Yam.  If we were not already so full, we would have asked for white rice to mop up the gravy, deliciously thickened by the soft powdery yam, divinely infused with porky lardy goodness from the tender ribs.

In Mrs Lee's books, we were not allowed to leave her restaurant without tasting their desserts.  I love how the Taiwanese love their yams.  Yams are a mainstay in their menu - in rice dishes, in main courses and even in desserts.

Their signature dessert: Pumpkin Yam Pudding with Gingko.  I like their sans lard version.  It's definitely healthier and it made me feel less guilty indulging in this.  It's also very light on the sugar content: a definite plus point in my books.



In New Formosa, one dessert is never enough.  Go for a 2nd one.  Go for their refreshing Aiyu Jelly - very light, very lemony, absolutely addictive.



The charming Mrs Lee explained how the Aiyu Jelly was made... from something like this:



It's fascinating to learn how Aiyu Jelly is made from the gel of seeds of a type of fig found mainly in Taiwan.  By placing the seeds in a bag submerged in water and gently rubbing them, a slimy gel will be produced which is then allowed to set into a jelly.  Sugar and lemon/lime juice are added in and there you have it - the yummy Aiyu Jelly!

There are so many more well-loved authentic Taiwanese dishes on their menu to try.  I think I want to go back there soon for my seafood porridge - I haven't had it for some time.  It used to be a favourite lunch item for me before my office relocated.

New Formosa is located at the quieter part of SS2 - parking is not much of a problem - and that's definitely another plus point.

New Formosa Restaurant
46 Jalan SS2/24
46300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-78751894/7478
Business hours: 12.00noon-3.00pm; 6.00pm-10.30pm

Time flies

It's the final week for the year.  Where did my 2010 go??  I honestly can't believe the year has just flown by and 2011 will be dawning in a few days' time.

It's good to be on leave during this time.  And half the week is gone already.  It's nice not having to be up and out of bed when my alarm goes off at 6am.  I get to lie in for a bit, just a bit.  I'm out of the bedroom by 9'ish, latest.

Somehow the days get by very quickly.  I go to the wet market, take my time to buy a week's worth of foodstuff.  I groom my two furkids.  I bake.  Experiment with new recipes, tweak them, make do with whatever I have in the fridge/larder.

Like how I mixed fresh cream with kaya and chopped nuts for the filling of this swissroll.



I sit by my verandah to enjoy the fruits of my baking.

It's even nicer if there's some rain to accompany me.



I meet up with friends for lunch and spend hours catching up.  I go home and bake some more, more cakes to bring home to mom tomorrow.  A day trip to Ipoh - and that will take care of my Thursday.



I book a 2-hour massage for the next day.  And after that there's a New Year's Eve dinner to go to.  But before that, bake another cake to bring over as dessert.

Lunch with family on New Year's Day - the meats are marinated and waiting in my fridge.

Is it any wonder that my days fly past so fast?

Magnolia Sherbet - Lift Your Senses

With all the heavy hardcore eating during this festive season, what would be a most refreshing and light dessert?  After a heavy meal, the last thing I'd want is another rich and heavy sweet.  What comes to mind (and desire) is the brand new Magnolia Sherbet.

Magnolia Sherbet:  Think "refreshing", think "nutritious fruity", think "tantalising", think "healthily yummy" - Yes, all those are perfect descriptions of the new Magnolia Sherbets! 


*Photo courtesy of Magnolia Sherbet

Available in 4 tropical flavours - lychee, mangosteen, melon & orange.  Not only are they light and creamy, you get real fruity chunks wholesomely packed in those cute 85ml cups.



There's even a little spoon packed inside - makes eating the sherbet so much more convenient!



The best thing is that these little cups of sherbet are so light on the palate and nutrituous, it makes the indulgence a little bit "less guilty" and healthier!



I tried all 4 flavours and I must say all of them are good but My Favourite is the Mangosteen!



Just look at this - isn't that the most divinely luscious & delectable scoop of sherbet ever?!



These 4 flavours are available at all major supermarkets, hypermarkets and large provision shops, retailing at RM2.50 (WM) and RM2.80 (EM).  For more information on Magnolia's range of yummy tasting icecreams, please visit them here.

OK, now I need to go and get my Mangosteen fix!