Back to Business Again

I am back in Melbourne again after a month in Malaysia, from the oven back into the refrigerator. Melbourne's winter is particularly harsh this year. It was six degrees when I arrived at Tullamarine.

I am no longer that reluctant to leave Malaysia anymore. Perhaps it is the growing disappointment in the path where my beloved home is heading; perhaps one grows out of being sentimental after being away for too long; perhaps after leaving home six times, the effect wears off; perhaps it is the brand new lens that Cherry bought from Hong Kong for me that made me anxious to return; perhaps there is more to it than I know of.

There are certain things in Melbourne I have missed and will miss when I am somewhere else.

Friends.

Not Crown but beautiful architecture in general.

Coffee that actually tastes like coffee.

The amazing pink tint in the sky after sunset.

I love this place.

Orchid Live Seafood

Orchid Live Seafood Restaurant.

This leg of the journey in Singapore takes me to Orchid Live Seafood Restaurant with my parents and my dad's former schoolmate. The restaurant certainly looked impressive from outside with the parking assistants instructing customers on which parking space to take, and the illuminated signboard with its two lobster heads on both sides looked imposing as well. Still, to be truly impressive the food has to be top notch.

Cold crabs.

I have never sampled cold mud crabs before. The only cold crabs that I have eaten are flower crabs, which I am not such a fan of. Hence, I was a bit sceptical with this dish.

I went for the shells first due to the obscene amount of roe in them. A spoonful of roe into my mouth and I was delighted. The creaminess and fat in the roe just melts in the mouth. From what I could tell, the roe was seasoned with a bit of shao xing wine, which added a strong fragrance to the roe without getting rid of the roe's intense flavour.

The meat was rather fresh but had a tough layer of skin in between the meat and the shell. I think that was due to the crab being in the moulting stage. Nonetheless, cold crab meat is not too special to me although it does have its merits as an appetiser. There is something about crab meat that makes one turn hungry.

Unknown vegetable.

I am beginning to see the connection between Teochews and this vegetable. In every Teochew restaurant or restaurant with a Teochew influence, this dish was on plenty of the tables. Yet again, it was just another fried vegetable. Nothing special there. I did not quite fancy the soggy vegetables and the overpowering flavour of garlic.

Lobster congee.

I have always thought that cooking congee with lobster is a waste of a good ingredient. Orchid proved me wrong, so wrong in fact that now I think cooking lobster in congee is perhaps one of the best ways of preparing the shellfish.

Although lightly seasoned, the congee was sweetened by the lobsters. Despite that, the lobsters still retained their natural flavour. Also, the generous amount of shao xing wine in the congee complemented the sweetness of the lobsters well. The lack of robust flavours is made up for by the juicy, succulent texture of the lobsters. Another praise I have for the dish is the number of lobsters in the claypot. I swear there must have been more than ten halves in there. That kind of generosity is much appreciated when it comes to seafood.

Steamed fish.

Another steamed fish dish. Nothing to shout about here. The fish could have been fresher but by Singaporean standards, I am not complaining.

Steven chicken.

I did not know the name of this dish until a quick Google search. I am guessing that someone by the name of Steven invented this dish or is a known coward. However, the look of the dish definitely raises more questions than the name.

I suppose it could be called a semi-deboned chicken wing, or a semi-dechickened wing bone. The idea behind this technique I suppose is to expose more surface area to the batter to give more crisp and crunch to an otherwise boring friend chicken wing dish. Whatever it is for, it definitely worked for me.

The sauce that is used to lightly glaze the chicken wings was a sweet, tangy sauce which had a honey-like consistency, very much like those applied to honey glazed pork ribs. It was not too heavy in flavour, robust but not treacly and applied in a sensible amount such that it did not make the batter soggy. Very good balance between taste and texture.

Deep fried seafood tofu.

By the time this dish came I was stuffed to the brim, but still I could not resist deep fried goodies.

The fillings in the tofu I could not identify but it definitely tasted like a mix of seafood, most likely prawns, with pork. It tasted like the generic deep fried seafood tofu available in most seafood restaurants. Perhaps it due to me being so full that I could not really enjoy this dish and do it justice with my review.

Orchid Live Seafood Restaurant is the kind of place where you would think of going to every now and then for their famous dishes, but not to go so far as to call it your favourite seafood restaurant. However, one thing that left a great impression was the generosity in the portion of the food which is unknown to our region due to the culture of "frugality" among restaurant owners, especially when it comes to more pricey ingredients like seafood.

16 Jalan Kelulut, 

Singapore 809033.

9636 1909

Liang Kee Restaurant

The last time I dined in Liang Kee was close to a decade ago. From what I remember, the food was so-so, nothing special, except the location, Clarke Quay. This time, Liang Kee has moved to a HDB, however, the food most certainly made up for the less glamourous location.

Teochew stewed duck.

The stewed duck did not work the magic with me this time around. Although there was nothing to complain about with the texture, it had a strong taste of turmeric, which was a let down for me. The duck meat was stewed until tender but still offering some bite; whereas the skin was silky smooth, lending some softness and moisture to the meat when chewed.

Trigger fish in black bean sauce.

I do not remember ever having trigger fish before that dinner, but it was pretty much love at first bite. Trigger fish has tougher meat than most fish but once bitten breaks apart, releasing the moisture in the meat, if the fish is fresh. This dish had fresh trigger fish drenched in a rather intense sauce, which was well balanced with saltiness from the black beans, soy sauce and the sweetness from the ginger. However, the sauce is nowhere near that of  Hock Seng Hin's standard.

Oh lua (oyster omelette).

This dish teaches one to not judge a book by its cover. What looks like a plain omelette when flipped over reveals a treasure trove of fresh, decently sized oysters in a thick, starchy sauce. The sauce was just perfectly seasoned to draw out the natural flavours of the oyster without the seasoning itself being too ostentatious in taste. When it comes to texture, this dish also shined with the egg being equally thick throughout and with space in between layers of the omelette, giving a rather spongy feel. The oysters were crunchy and juicy. One of the best oyster omelettes I have ever tasted.

Fried vegetables.

I feel ashamed for not knowing what this vegetable is. Also, I cannot really review this because I have nothing in comparison. However, it probably just is another vegetable dish which is nowhere near spectacular.

Sambal crayfish.

Actually, they should just call this chilli crayfish, as the sauce is highly similar to that of chilli crab, which Singapore is famous for. Nonetheless, a wrong name does not make the dish wrong, in fact, it was pretty darn good. The crayfish was very succulent and crunchy due to its freshness. The sambal was also great, exactly what one would expect from a chilli crab sauce. Beyond that, there is not much to compliment. Just how much better can chilli crab sauce get? I am pretty sure there are better.

Deep fried tofu with minced pork.

By far the best version of this dish I have ever tasted. Yes, I have tasted this dish in every Chinese restaurant that I have dined at in Malaysia and still Liang Kee's version can take the top spot. The secret of this dish is in the sauce. What the secret is, I probably will never know. The sauce is so complex, with a faint hint of salted fish and black beans, subtle but sufficient to contribute to the rich amalgam of savoury flavours. Despite the sauce being extremely rich, the taste of egg in the tofu was still evident. The minced pork gave the dish an extra type of texture, bringing succulent together with silky smooth and a thick sauce into a mind blowing combination. Until now I can still vividly recall the tastes and textures of the dish.

Steamed bun.

This was ordered to go with the sambal from the sambal crayfish, but to call it a sideshow would be insulting. The texture of the bun is nothing short of amazing. It was so soft, light and malleable, a bit spongy even, nothing like the compressed mound of dough that most restaurants. It goes perfectly with the sambal.

Oh ni (Yam paste).

This was first time I had ever tasted this wondrous dessert. It was sensibly sweet due to the natural sweetness from the yam and pumpkin, though a pinch of sugar was probably added to it to boost the sweetness. The muddy texture of the yam and the fibrous and sticky pumpkin bound together perfectly. I think a bit of starch was also added to thicken the paste. Although sticky desserts are far from my cup of tea, Liang Kee's oh ni managed to hit the sweet, sweet spot and I am craving for it every now and then. Absolutely fantastic.

Liang Kee's food totally shatters the misconception that Singapore has bad Chinese food. Having been around for decades, the people at Liang Kee have honed their mastery of Teochew cuisine to a level that is uncannily high. Definitely a contender for the best restaurant in Singapore that I have ever dined at.

737, Havelock Road,

Singapore 169653.

60787026

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Kok Sen Restaurant

This entry is the beginning of a series of restaurant reviews in Singapore.

For the first leg of this journey, my not-so-uncle uncle took us to Kok Sen Restaurant in Chinatown. According to my granduncle, we had to go early lest the restaurant gets too crowded and parking gets hard to find. Those are the two signs of good food, but being in Singapore, I had my doubts.

Kok Sen Restaurant.

Kok Sen had a healthy crowd, with most tables being full. Luckily we had reserved a table beforehand. Our order was also taken with haste and the first dish was quick to arrive.

Crispy chicken skin with seafood ball.

I do not know what this dish is called but apparently it is one of the famous dishes from Kok Sen. The chicken skin was very crispy and light. It was not soaked in oil, therefore retaining the flavour of chicken in the skin. The seafood ball underneath the chicken skin was sweet and had an intense flavour, yet when eaten together with the chicken skin, the tastes of the seafood ball and chicken coexist in a sweet and savoury harmony.

Frog with ginger and spring onion.

The surprising element in this dish is the fact that there was no sauce. All of the sauce was reduced to almost nothing, resulting in a dry dish but moist crusts on the frog meat. However, for a dish with a completely reduced sauce, it came across as rather tasteless. Although the effect of the heat from the wok can be tasted in the frog meat, it was not complemented with a flavourful sauce, which is a real pity because it could have been a great dish.

Claypot tofu, seafood balls and eggplant.

I was rather disappointed with this dish. I do not have anything to complain about the tofu, the seafood balls or the eggplants. They were cooked perfectly. It is the sauce that I have a problem with. Kok Sen tries to mimic the Sichuan style fish fragrance eggplant, 魚香茄子. However, they have much to improve when it comes to sauce. The sauce was thick, but was not backed by any substantial flavour. Nonetheless, it is a challenge for restaurants to balance the complexity of fish fragrance sauce, as such, I did not expect a restaurant in this part of the world to be able to master the preparation of the sauce.

Steamed grouper tail.

This dish is another disappointment. The fish was not fresh. That pretty much explains itself. The fish meat was dry and hard. Furthermore, steaming fish pretty much places all emphasis on the texture. With such a fish, no one would be happy.

Fried kailan with beef slices.

This dish looked good, especially to a beef lover like me. However, once I sampled it, I was immediately put off. The ginger used in the dish overpowered all other flavours, such that the kailan and beef tasted like ginger. The beefy taste that beef is supposed to have was completely murdered by the use, or misuse, of ginger.

Spinach with salted egg and century egg.

There is nothing special about this dish. The standard is similar to any other versions of this dish from other restaurants, hence, there is no need for a lengthy review.

Kok Sen does have good dishes, but with many of their dishes lacking the spark that separates the delicious from the decent, I would not return until they take their culinary prowess up a notch.

30, Keong Saik Road,

Singapore 089137,

6223 2005

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Restoran Ahwa

I used to have Hokkien Mee at Damansara Utama. That was before I tried the famous Ahwa's Hokkien Mee at Jalan 222. My parents are quite insistent on Ahwa when it comes to Hokkien Mee, and for good reason.

Chilli sauce.

Reason number one, the chilli sauce. Usually, I do not apply any sauce to food, especially chilli sauce which spoils the flavour. Ahwa's chilli sauce is so good that I do not mind spoiling the food. Heck, I can even eat the chilli sauce only. The sauce has a strong taste of belacan (prawn paste) which makes the sauce very fragrant and flavourful. The spiciness of the sauce is also well controlled, enough to pack a punch but not enough to numb the tongue.

Hokkien mee.

Hokkien bee hoon.

The best Hokkien Mee I have tasted thus far.

Cooked using charcoal and obscene amounts of lard, sprinkled with a (used to be) generous helping of deep fried lard; that is all the description needed for people who understand the great power of charcoal flames and lard. I suppose that makes all the difference, as most Hokkien Mee I have tasted previously are cooked by gas instead of charcoal.

Fried lala.

The fried lala is nothing to shout about. Beware though, as the quality of the dish is pretty inconsistent. Out of the three times I have eaten lala at Ahwa, the first time was decent, second time was horrible and the third time, as they say, is the charm. Nonetheless, I am not going to trust it that soon.

Oyster omelette.

This dish was an abomination. The oysters were so tiny that there I could not taste them. Even as an omelette, it was still a horrible omelette. The taste and texture was substandard and definitely not fit for sale, in my opinion.

Teochew stewed duck, tofu and egg.

The stewed duck was pretty good. The meat was tender and juicy, probably due to the stewing process. The stew gravy was also tasty but perhaps a little under-seasoned, which resulted in rather tasteless stewed eggs. However, the duck was salty enough, which made me think that the eggs should be stewed separately from the duck in the stewing process and seasoned more heavily.

Restoran Ahwa is probably the place to go for for Hokkien Mee. For the other dishes, there are other places which make better versions.

66 Jalan 14/48, 

46100 Petaling Jaya, 

Selangor,

Malaysia.

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Restoran LYJ (Part Two)

Third time to LYJ this trip, this time to try out the more famous dishes. It is also Kaili's last meal for her trip to K.L.

Char siew.

LYJ's char siew definitely looks the part. Charred, caramelised and glazed on the skin and thick layers of fat in between thin layers of meat. The texture was as expected. The meat was tender and the fat was melt-in-your-mouth perfect. The sauce I am not such a fan of. It was poorly balanced with a potent taste of garlic, which overpowered the other flavours in the sauce.

Bittergourd lala.

The second lala dish I have tried in LYJ. This time, the consistency of the sauce was a lot better than the previous lala with ginger and spring onion. The bitterness of the bittergourd was not completely infused into the sauce, whereas the sweetness was. Also, the bittergourd was tender yet not mushy, just perfectly done. What I do not like about the dish is the black beans. I felt that it spoiled the flavour of the sauce, lala and bittergourd.

Steamed rice.

The steamed rice is amazing. It is difficult to describe the fragrance emanating from that small bowl of rice, even more so to identify the ingredients used in the brown sauce applied to the rice. Do not waste time on plain old white rice in LYJ, go for the steamed rice.

Fried fish with petai (stinky beans) sauce.

Possibly the best fish dish in LYJ. The sauce was so well balanced with the flavours of assam, chilli, onions, sour plum and other unidentified ingredients. Somehow, the sauce did not taste like petai, which is a good thing for me. The problem I have with the fish is that it is deep fried to an extent that it was crispy, but with not much meat left on the fish that was still flavourful. Nonetheless, the sauce is still the main attraction so I will still return for this dish.

Claypot kangkung (water convovulus).

Jeremy swears by this dish. When I told him what I ordered in LYJ the first time I was there, he told me I ordered the wrong dishes and recommended this, saying that "there is nothing quite like it". I took his word for it, and did not regret that one bit.

The dish looked quite harmless but it is nothing like it seems. Beneath the initial layer of bright green kangkung, there were bits of chilli padi (birds eye) in the dish, which gave it a real sting. In addition, the claypot helps retain the heat of the dish, making it even more painful to eat. However, the kangkung was delicious despite, or even because of the sheer spiciness. It had that charred flavour found in vegetables flash fried with what I call jet flames. The belacan (prawn paste) was also very potent, but not overwhelmingly salty. This stands as one of the best kangkung dishes I have ever eaten, perhaps only second to the one in Hock Seng Hin.

Kaili's verdict? "Awesome".

Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum Restaurant

Good dim sum is hard to find, more so in Malaysia. After sampling dim sum in Perth, Melbourne and Hong Kong, I had to accept the sad fact that Malaysia has no good dim sum place. During one of my previous trips back from Melbourne, I was proven wrong when friends brought me for lunch at Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum Restaurant in Damansara Jaya.

This review is actually written for my fourth visit to the restaurant. Why the delay? During my first trip this blog was not yet nascent. The subsequent three trips were made within a week. Finally, this time, I hauled my camera along. Also, I have brought a fellow eater, Kaili, with me.

炸海鮮卷.

This is one of the more impressive dishes that I have tried in Jin Xuan thus far. It consists of fresh, crunchy and succulent prawns, juicy scallops and golden salted egg yolks wrapped in a thin, deep fried beancurd skin. The  salted egg yolks used for this dish were not too salty and did not overpower the flavour of the seafood. Problem? When this dish reaches the table, it is often cold and that is a big no-no for deep fried food.

芋角.

This dish is another must-eat for deep fried food lovers. Jin Xuan does this dish pretty well. The flaky bits on the crust were crispy but not soaked with oil; the layer of yam was thin enough to leave enough room for the pork filling but thick enough not to have its flavour masked by the sauce for the filling. The pork pieces could have been cut into smaller cubes though which would make the chewing process a lot more effortless and a more enjoyable experience.

蘿蔔糕.

I am not really Jin Xuan's fan when it comes to the fried carrot cake. It is not bad, but I have tasted better.  Dragon-i does theirs much better with the crispy salted egg yolk crusted carrot cakes.

糯米雞.

糯米雞, is a common dish in dim sum places. Personally, I prefer the 珍珠雞, which is a variant of glutinous rice with chicken but wrapped in lotus leaf and is savoury instead of sweet. However, I have yet to find a dim sum restaurant in Malaysia that serves that, so I had to stick to the usual. Jin Xuan's glutinous rice with chicken was not too good for me. There was too much rice and too little chicken. Besides, the thick sweet sauce makes the dish too sweet for my liking.

蝦餃.

Prawn dumplings are the most symbolic dish in the dim sum genre. The preparation of this dish is an art kept secret, which is probably why most dim sum restaurants fail when it comes to it. Unfortunately, Jin Xuan failed to impress me with their version, despite being the best I have tasted in Malaysia so far. The skin was too thick, which in good prawn dumplings should be so thin that they are translucent, such that the prawns are clearly visible through the skin. This does not only affect the presentation but also the texture. The prawns were as crunchy as those in Perth, Melbourne and Hong Kong, but pretty bland. The thick skin also masks the flavour of the prawns with the floury taste.

上海小籠包.

Shanghainese dumplings, not the usual sight in dim sum shops, and for good reason. Jin Xuan's Shanghainese dumplings were disastrous. It was extremely difficult to lift the dumplings up without the juices within flowing out due to the skin of the dumplings sticking to the bamboo steamer. That alone is enough to kill the dish. If not bad enough, when I managed to lift one of the dumplings onto my spoon without bursting it, I tasted it and I was extremely disappointed. The pork filling inside tasted bad such that I do not even know how to describe it. This is a dish best left not ordered.

燒米.

Huge! Jin Xuan does not stinge when it comes to this dish. They serve humongous balls of pork. As much as size matters, it is not the only merit. Jin Xuan's 燒米 are tender and juicy, unlike the rubberised 燒米 in most Malaysian dim sum places. Taste wise, it is on par with the better dim sum places in Hong Kong, and that says a lot.

蒸排骨.

The steamed pork ribs with black bean was a big disappointment. The pork ribs did not have the porky stench, which is good. However, they tasted like green chilli. All I could taste was pork and green chilli such that it seemed like the black bean is just added for presentation.

流沙包.

The molten custard bun, which is my English name for it, is what brings me back to this restaurant time and time again. The core of the bun is a sticky, molten salted egg yolk which oozes out upon biting. There is nothing more enjoyable than slurping the filling and letting it warm the mouth. Mmm. This dish was perfect for me but Kaili just had to influence me by saying that the bun was a bit dry, which I noticed after her critique. Oh well.

I have a lot to complain about the dim sum in Jin Xuan but only because I compare it to all the dim sum restaurants I have dined at, be it in Malaysia, Hong Kong or Australia. However, one has to appreciate the fact that Jin Xuan is an absolute winner in Malaysia, where good dim sum is as rare as buried treasure, despite its shortcomings.

Kaili: Awesome meal.

59, 61 & 63 Jalan SS21/19,

Damansara Jaya, 

47300 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor.

03-7729 6866

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