Raya Ala Italiano 2011

Many people thought that I can only eat, but in fact I can also cook. However, ever since I came back to Penang ... I could count the number of times I hold the wok and skillet. Well, living with aunties who are great cooks made me looked pale in comparison hehehe. Nonetheless I missed the times when after watching my favourite cooking shows on the Asian Food Channel, I couldn't wait to try out the recipes in my kitchen. I miss my mum's kitchen the most ... the anticipated look of my family members when I was on my cooking misadventures.

Thank God that you can find some of the freshest ingredients in Ayer Itam market.

To a cook, be it a professional chef or domestic goddess ... the kitchen is like a sacred place. I also don't like people messing around with my pans and pots or misplacing the utensils. So I understand when Auntie Rose reluctant to let me do all the cooking. But there are times when I sensed that she seemed to be cooking the same menu over and over again.

OK I cheated a bit, I didn't do the sauce from scratch hehehe

So for the Raya holidays, I decided to give her a break by cooking something Italian. To be honest I was craving pasta after watching 49 Days (a Korean drama). But I was also not sure that my aunties would swallow something non-Nyonya. To my surprise, my aunties love it ... in fact they are quite adventurous about food except that now age is catching up and so they had to take things in moderation.

I chosed Vermicelli for this project.

Since I was not sure about my aunties preference, I made two types of pasta toppings. Ala carbonara and ala Bolognaise. Just to add some K-Drama feel to it, I bought some salad to be eaten with roasted pork hehehe.

My pasta ala carbonara ... I love eating it with chopstick hehehe

Upclose shoot ... couldn't find mussels so make do with whatever I could get.

I got the inspiration of eating pasta with chopstick after watching 49 Days

My pasta in ala Bolognaise sauce.  Bolognaise is not my favourite sauce but since my cousin bought a bottle and never used so I decided to cook it so that it won't go to waste.

Well projects like this excites me and most important of all, you can share it with your loved ones. I hate eating alone and I wouldn't want to miss the chance to bond over a hearty meal of pasta. Last but not least ...

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin"

Golden Triangle@ Queensbay Mall, Penang

Was too busy with office works and events that once I returned to this blog, it took me quite a while to remember the name of the dishes as well as typing the first sentence. Hahaha ... Despite it all, I never forget my duty to eat and try out some eating places. And recorded it all in my camera!

Anyway, one of the most important thing about working and living in Penang ... moreover working with tourism in Penang, is knowing where to eat. Even though you are a light eater or just love wantan mee, once you mentioned Penang ... automatically you will be regarded as an eating guru hehehe. To be honest, I prefer to see myself as a "taster" as I was not born and raised in Penang ... I spent my childhood and teenage years in Sarawak, most of my transformation from teenager to adult in Sabah and later 8 years of my adulthood in Kuala Lumpur. In between, I will be in Penang and some other parts of Malaysia. Therefore, I developed certain preference and taste for food.

And so the restaurant few weeks ago when my friend Andrew came for a visit and asked me a nice eating place to dine and entertain his clients in Penang, I suggested we tried out The Golden Triangle at Queensbay Mall. I only knew the restaurant by reputation and wouldn't mind to invest a ringgit or two just to try out.

Some of the table settings.

This one look very cosy ...

Our first impression about the restaurant was ... spacious and cosy. They have different types of table settings for different patrons. There are table for 2, 4, 6 or 8. Actually the best area for entertaining was the one overlooking the Pulau Jerejak (seaview). However since there were about 6 of us, we chose the big roundtable. Ideal for family reunion or small gatherings.

The menu.

We were recommend this drink by the waitress ... it is called Pine Royal a mix of Orange, Lemon and Pineapple.

Andrew assigned all the food ordering duty to me ... which I gladly accepted. However, after going through the whole menu ...  I found myself ordering mostly the Thai selections ... so much about wanting to try authentic Indo-Chine cuisines hehehe

I ordered Tom Yum Goong ... but it was Andrew who wanted to try it with fresh lobster.

Fresh and succulent.

Mieng Kam - or Daun Kadok in Malay ... a very nice Thai appetiser

Me demonstrating how to eat the Mieng Kam.

Reminded me of my Bangkok trip ... when Aey wrapped this for me.

Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Claypot Eggplant with Salted Fish

Songkhla Lemon Steamed Seabass

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crabs with Salted Egg

Thap Thim Kop or Red ruby

Glutinous rice with mango

Pricewise ... it is more on the high side but if you thinking of entertaining important people with authentic cuisines in Penang, I guess this is the right place. They also have outlets in Auto City and Mont Kiara (to my surprise). By the way, their website is very imformative and worth checking out.

Tissue acting as free advert ... great!

Gourmet Heritage Village Eating Spree @Lot 10 Hutong, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

I've heard about this Lot 10 Hutong or Hutong Gourmet Heritage Village for quite sometime but was too busy and lazy plus no right "makan gang" to crash the place. So since Emel was here in KL and I was reallyyyyyyyy in need of a foodie companion to try out NON-HALAL eating places ... we decided that Lot 10 Hutong was our next destination in our soul cleasing eating spree.

A hutong is actually an ancient alley or lane, once common in Beijing's courtyard neighborhoods but now quickly disappearing. Lot 10 Hutong was the brainchild Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, in which he personally hand-picked 27 eateries that have survived the 2nd and 3rd generations - from the alleys of Kuala Lumpur to the streets of Petaling Jaya or the hidden corners of Klang and place it all in one destination. Being a non KL-Lite I am not very familar with any one of the eateries... hehehe

Hong Kong famous food critic and TV host Chua Lam used his calligraphic skills to write the characters "Lot 10 Hutong" in Chinese for the brand's logo.

And so to solve the problem, myself and Emel let ourselves be guided by what we wanted to eat and at the same made reference to some food blogs on which stalls to try.

Of all the stalls .. this was Emel's first choice ... Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee.

Emel's happy face after getting what she had been craving for. Yes ... I too miss the stall no 35 Hokkien Mee.

The Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee ... taste average.

My choice ... the Ho Weng Kee Wantan Noodles from Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. Maybe this Petaling Street wantan noodle that Mr Loke told me very nice.

For a KL wantan mee ... this can be considered quite good. However, in terms of taste I still prefer my Penang Wantan Mee sorry! By the way, this is their best selling mee - Char Siew Wantan Mee.

But I love the wantan though. Yummy....

Suddenly craving for something sweet and cooling.

And taraaaa ... finally I found the cendol that was equivalent in taste to the one in Malacca. In Penang, they used brown sugar instead of palm sugar and it was the palm sugar taste that I was after.

It was so satisfying...

We just couldn't have enough of the Lot 10 Hutong that right after window shopping at the Pavillion, we went back to the place for "yam cha" session.

This is a non-heritage stall that serves Chinese tea and Dim Sum.

I chosed Chrysanthemum tea with Har Kou and Siew Mai.

The Har Kou was nice but I think I prefer a thinner skin.

Siew mai ... quite nice too.

These are some of the stalls that I wanted to try next time. Seemed to be a hit with customers.

Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee.

Kong Tai Oyster Ommellette

Location:

Lot 10 Hutong

Lower Ground Floor
Lot 10

Jalan Bukit Bintang

Nasi Ayam Kampung @Restoran A. Hassan, Kompleks Rehat dan Rawat Awan Besar, KESAS Highway

When talking about Malay food ... in Kuala Lumpur the most popular is the Kelantanese Malay food. Within 5 km radius from my KL apartment there  is one Kelantanese restaurant famous for their Nasi Ayam Kampung (Free Range Chicken Rice).

I found out about the R&R Awan Besar branch from Precious Pea blog few years back. Usually, I frequented the restaurant branch in Medan Selera Kampung Baru, in the heart of KL as well opposite the Cheras Velodrome. Like the other 2 branches ... their fried free range chicken are also selling like hot cakes during lunches.

The new signboard.

The downside is the restaurant is located after the toll station so customers had to pay toll.

Exact location is at the R&R Awan Besar.

Emel ... all excited to satisfy her cravings for ayam kampung. Last month, I brought my mum.

Anyway, after many years of the so-called "11 herbs and spices" fried chickens ... it's great to be able to go back in time and savour "kampung style" fried chicken, with hot plain steam rice, which a blogger described it best ... "Just turmeric and salt, perhaps a bit of spices fried golden brown in sizzling oil". Furthermore, free range chicken or ayam kampung tastes better and leaner than commercially grown chicken.

It is best to visit the restaurant between 11.30 am to 12.30 pm as the food are still hot from the kitchen and there are not many customers yet. To be honest, if not because of the Nasi Ayam Kampung, the R&R Complex can be quite deserted.

Array of Kelantanese dishes for customers to choose from.

The star dish. Fried Free Range Chicken ... just turmeric and salt and fry!

Lala (clamps) in yellow coconut gravy.

Mix vegetable with squid tentacles.

Shrimp paste sambal ... to be eaten with the chicken.

Another popular sauce from Kelantan ... the fermented anchovies sauce in chillies and lime. My favourite. Supposed to be like a dipping sauce for the "ulam" (local salad) ... but I love eating with rice.

  Additional photos from previous visits...

Stir fried fern tips ...

I usually take  their deep fried cow lung. However during that particular trip ... I was saving my stomach space for Lot Hutong eating spree later.

Actually the food price there is not that cheap but comparatively it is still very affordable.Well nothing is cheap in KL nowadays.

Address:
Restoran A. Hassan Sdn. Bhd.
Cawangan Kompleks Rawat dan Rehat Awan Besar
Lebuhraya Shah Alam
(Close on Fridays)