My Flaccid Eclairs...If the Choux Fits

Tuesday desserts for family dinner:

Sister mentioned she hadn't had profiteroles or eclairs for a long time, as the ones here are stuffed with custard of pastry cream, which she doesnt like. So I thought I'd attempt to make them....not the first time.







Now, I reckon they look decent, but actually, they were flaccid. I don't know what I've done wrong. Maybe they need to cook a bit more. I know its impossible to obtain the texture of the Beard Papa pastry, as they have two layers, one a pie crust and inside the choux. Oh well, if any of you know how to keep your choux crispy, do share.

And on a different note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BALD EAGLE, OH YOU GREAT HERO WHO JUST COMPLETED THE 42KM SCKL MARATHON!!! (and hobbled the last 12km!)

Pik Wah, at Blast from the Past

Wanna plan a surprise party? Who you gonna call? (to plan it) ....I'll tell you who NOT to call.
UNKALEONG!!! HAHA. The romantic fler wants to surprise The Nomad Gourmand (TNG), for her birthday and arranges for us to meet at Sek Yuen, Pudu. Only to find out, in the morning that its closed on Mondays. Plan B, Sang Kee, somewhere near Baden Powell House, near the Tabib China and the row of old funeral parlors, now demolished....

We reach there, before them, to find the entire place shrouded in darkness. I call him, only to be told, "Call Boolicious". Hangs up. Must be trying to maintain the surprise. I call Boolicious, who's equally at a loss, so we meet up on the dark alley way, like drug peddlers, waiting for Unka to arrive. Anyway, we decide that since we were literally next door to Pik Wah, we should eat there. The good thing about eating with THE DEFINITIVE KL FOOD GUIDE, ie, Boolicious of Masak-Masak, is that one never has to worry about being at a loss as to what to order.

I haven't been to Pik Wah, or at least this branch of it, for at least 8 years. The exterior looks like its been stuck in a time warp. Due to the quiet Monday, service was very attentive, as we had 3 or 4 waiters hovering at our beck and call. TNG apologizes profusely for Unkaleong's "planning". But talk about serendipitious, I actually thought our plan C turned out excellently.

Boolicious family are regulars so she knew exactly what to order.

Being one of three tables, food came faster than you can crack your knuckles.


Lovely braised pork, with flesh falling off the bone, with a sauce that married perfectly with the deep fried man taus. Us gluttons were concerned that that measly piece of meat would not feed the hungry five, so immediately proceeded to add another meat dish.


Their signature fish, done in a unique style. Can't remember what its called, but the tilapia was deep fried to a lovely crunch....and the sauces accompanying it, mmmm, sublime. Mint leaves, plum sauce, dried cuttlefish, ...sweet, salty, sour, all in one! Really good. And the crispy bits of fish cheeks could be chewed and swallowed. Very good for calcium deficiencies, I'd say.



The additional meat dish we ordered was Marmite Chicken. Also very good. Marmite not overpowering, and the chicken was succulent and moist. This dish cries out for a carbo partner.



Our token vegetable dish, patola and beancurd. I love this dish, but whenever the kids are around, us adults don't stand a chance at getting at the taufu. It's real comfort food this.



And finally, the long life noodles. Pretty good. The sang mee was nice and song, and the filling tasty.

And all that was left of the fish.....



So, it was fortuituous indeed that Unka Leong inadvertently led us to this place. It was like rediscovering an old friend. Prices are exceedingly reasonable. The total bill was RM154, for 5 of us.

Anyway, wishing THE NOMAD GOURMAND a very happy birthday today, 30th June. Acks, that reminds me, New Zealand ice cream got 30% off.

Some Bloggers Not Scared One...Lunch With Pure Glutton

I told Pure Glutton when I got to her lovely abode, wah, you not scared ah, simply invite a bunch of food bloggers you've never met before to you house? What if we are stark raving mad stalkers? But obviously, one only has to read the blogs of these flogger glitterati, like Masak Masak, Precious Pea and Thamby of A Whiff of Lemongrass to know they are all zen like Goddesses of Peace, and of course, me being their disciple, stands to reason I am also zen like, the epitome of calm and patience.

It's always nice to meet food blogger's for the first time. Precious Pea and other dog lovers were over the moon, playing with Pure Glutton's two dogs, a father and son pair. Apparently Papa Dog was not amused at the undue attention given to the fruit of his loins.

We see the master chef at work here. It's almost a TV cooking show studio kitchen. Nothing like the sound of the sizzling hot wok, and aroma of freshly fried water convulvulus (convulva plural) aka kangkang, to set off the saliva glands.


We were treated to a lovely spread of nasi lemak. Unlike Ciki's experience of yore, this nasi lemak oozed lemak, and the aroma filled the air the minute the rice pot lid was lifted. It's like being in a coconut spa room.

Above; from top, clockwise: Deep Crispy Fried Ikan Bilis (anchovies), Water Convulva with Fresh Prawns, Pure Glutton's Signature Pork Rendang, (YUUMMMYY), hard boiled eggs, an extremely wonderful sambal, and freshly sliced cucumbers.

Below:
Precious Pea's curry chicken. Absolutely yummy.

Look, look, the ikan bilis are spawning.

Fluffy aromatic coconut rice.

A Plate of Heavenly Goodness, and Cholesterol Heaven

Forgot to take pics of the other desserts. There were egg tarts brought by WMW, ...more nyonya kueh by The Nomad Gourmand, ....

Twas a lovely afternoon, in the presence of the bubbly Pure Glutton, and old friends, Hairy Berry, Thamby, Boolicious, Ciki of Cumi & Ciki, Precious Pea, WMW, Unka Leong, The Nomad Gourmand (still new friend la)....hmmm, have I missed out anyone?

Many thanks Pure Glutton for having us. We must do it again soon!!!

My Breakfast All The Way From Kuching

[Ringing Tone]..ttrrrrr trrrrr, trrrrr trrrr (none of that crowing rooster tones)
[Fumbles with one hand of groceries, and one hand holding hand of baby girl, while barking at the two boys not to run in the parking lot]
[Drops phone from pocket], swears under breath
[Looks at phone], caller ID : UNKALEONG

Me: Harlow, ah, what ah?
Unka: Can spare a minute?
Me: Argh, cannot cannot, saddled with three kids in parking lot, call you back.
Unka: Okay okay...

10 minutes later, kids all restrained with seat belt and car seat, dial "last received call".
Didn't bother with handsfree.

Me: Harlow, ya, how can I heptch you?
Unka: Eh, got mee kolo for you la.
Me: Huh? As in, RAW one ah?
Unka: No no, cooked one, all the way from Kuching
Me: [looks at clock]...Really? Wow, but aiyo, so late oridi
Unka: How to pass to you ah?
Me: Can keep in fridge first right?
Unka: Can can. I also won 4 tires.
Me: Hah? What you say?
Unka: Won four tires....in radio contest ...
Me: WAHHHHHHHHH, so good ah.
Unka: But my tires too big for me, you wanna buy ah?
Me: Too dark now la, cannot see if my tires are botak.

Fast forward:
This morning
[Missed call] [Check who] [It's TNG, The Nomad Gourmand]
[Press call]
Me: [sweetly and politey, unlike with Unka] Hallloooo, gooddd morning, you called?
TNG: yes, yes, I got your mee kolo with me.
Me: Now?
TNG: Yes, shall I just pass it to Pat? (my landlady)
Me: No no, it's okay, where are you, I'll come and get it.
TNG: I'm downstairs.




Sniff....I feel so lurved. It's my first locally imported breakfast. I can't believe that just hours ago, this noodle and charsiu was in some kopitiam in Kuching, Sarawak, and now, it's in my tummy. Ah, if only noodles could talk. I'd like to know their journey.

Anyway, the noodles were yummy. The texture of the noodle, perfect, though it was thinner than what I am accustomed to. Just half a millimetre of larger girth than our wantan mee I think. The charsiu, though lean, was surprisingly moist and tender. The chee yoke soi, (mince meat), ...yummy....

What a lovely unexpected breakfast. Thanks TNG, and Unka.

For more on the TYRES, check out Unka's Blog.

A Birthday, and A Record Breaker

Ah, I was wondering how to blog an event that is completely non food related, but certainly worthy of mention for all the world, even if my world's borders do not extend beyond KL, sigh, (one isn't as famous as icons such as AWHIFFOFLEMONGRASS, who probably got readers from Lapland even), in a food blog. A perfect opportunity presented itself when a group of us decided to meet up for lunch for the hawt babe Ciki's birthday....

A friend of ours, Wai Hoong, actor, physical trainer, former Les Mills instructor, yogi, etc etc etc....after much training and hard work, was aiming to be in the Malaysian Book of Records for a 48 hour cycling feat, virtually non stop (15 minute break every 3 hours).... at Synar Gym, Sooka Sentral, so to kill two birds with one stone, (well, one hot chick and one muscular... err...eagle? err.... what's a bird that cycles? To kill a CyclingBird?) we decided to convene at Sooka Sentral for lunch and support a friend. Aren't we clever!

Thamby, who organised the event, never really decided where to eat, and while I was chatting with friend who owns Chilli Espresso, I saw tables filling up faster than you can say "thamby". I sms-ed Thamby and asked if I should book a table, and she said yes, by which time, we could only get a table outside, in the sweltering heat. Thanks Thamby.

We tried our alfresco dining style, but the food odors from the ventilation fans was blowing directly at us, so after 15 minutes, I smelt like char kueh teow, nasi dagang, chicken chop and the entire menu of some restaurants. Meanwhile, the birthday girl opened her presents from Monkey and Boo.

We had luminaries in our midst, the Cordon Bleu chef, blogger extraordinaire, Masak Masak, etc etc.









The happy faces of the youth of today


3 generations?

Finally, we managed to get an indoor table, which was another interim measure until thamby rectified the situation and got us a fabulous table with nice cushion seats. Gosh, these people are a fussy lot.


Very unique Malaysian type pizza, with ikan bilis on one half, and chicken and basil on the other. I love the ikan bilis bits. Only thing missing was the beer.


Very refreshing cucumber, apple and mint drink


The mango juice looks fresh


Mee Mamak. Flavourful without being overly oily.


Tom Yum Mee Hoon. (heard this one before? It's a repeat. Tom Jones went to Thailand and became a Buddhist, and changed his name. It's now Tom Yum)


Thamby's Thom Yum Rice. (rice inset)


Nasi err...ayam percik? Not sure, Boolicious had this.


Cordon Bleu Chef very down to earth. Eats chicken chop slathered with tomato ketchup.


Dripping Mozarella








Three Wise People?


She don't look a day over 25 huh?!



Food at Chilli Espresso is quite comfort food. Nothing fancy, but filling, tasty and reasonably priced. Not a bad place to eat if you find yourself in that neck of the woods. Judging by the crowd, quite a popular place with the office people in that vicinity.

Hope he wont forget us when he's famous.

We were there when the clock counted down to 24 hours, ie, he had completed 24 hours. Very fresh looking for someone who'd done that.

Epilogue:

On Saturday, 3pm, 20th June, Wai Hoong succeeded in achieving the feat of the 48 hour non stop cyclathon. My congratulations to him, and I am sure I speak for all of us who went to support you! You are an inspiration, to really reach for the stars and to achieve what we believe we can achieve.

And Happy Birthday, to the lovely Ciki, whom though we know so recently, has become such a dear friend.....

Divinely Delectable

Barely 24 hours had elapsed since the last Heavenly launch. As we slowly descended to earth, flapping our wings and tossing our halos like frisbees, we realised, argh, we're late, we're late, for a very important date, no time to say hallo goodbye....

Weaving my way through the Friday traffic to the Gardens, where more sinful treats lay.... the opening of DELECTABLE by the wonderful Su, of The Journal of A Girl Who Loves to Cook. She now of course ranks as one of my new heroines.... for being bold, daring and entrepreneurial enough to translate her dreams into reality.

The Queen and Kings of Sugarcraft. What an honor to be in their midst.

A really classy array of offerings.....this is probably the Bateels of the cake world. Elegantly packed morsels of delight.

The white wine flowed, as we mingled in the company of dear friends. The slight buzz from the wine added to the merriment, and it was afterall, a Friday evening.

Anyway, my heartiest congratulations to Su on your wonderful shop opening, and wishing you sang yee heng loong, etc etc, and great success in your venture. Don't forget us when you become even more famous ya.

Can Heaven Wait?

I admire people who manage to get great names of shops for themselves. I mean, it's so perfect right, you ask someone, "how's the cake?" and the reply, in gasping, bordering on climax kinda tones, "ahhhh, Just Heavenly".....

Maybe I should name my cake shop "I'm Coming", if I ever opened one.

I can't believe it's been two years since the launch of their other outlet at Epicure, where Chef and Brew is. How time has flown, but more importantly, in those years, a true friendship and camaraderie has been spawned, between many many food bloggers, and this wonderful duo behind Just Heavenly, and I am proud to say that we are good friends. Might not be "that close" but yeah, good friends, nevertheless. Therefore it was with great pride and joy that we went for the launch of their newest outlet, A SLICE OF HEAVEN, at Jaya One. You can't miss it, its next to Cold Storage.

I half expected Nigel to be dressed as a cherub, in diapers and wings, carrying a harp. But nah, no such luck.

You don't need to wait till Christmas to have a tree with goodies hanging off it.


I love this photo. I think if you stared at it long enough, you might, as Hairy Berry puts it, be tempted to go TOWARDS THE LIGHT....


Lovely substantial pinwheel currypuffs for the guests.


Quiche by a cordon bleu chef, no less.....who didnt acknowledge my sms of adulation and admiration. Chis bedebah.


You might be shocked to know that I am still a Just Heavenly Choc Durian Virgin, and I felt today was the day to rectify the situation. I bought one of these babies to try.


Did I say I was coming? Wife was also partaking of this slice of heaven. Mmmmm, I wish I had a slice with me now. Delicious durian, on a layer of chocolate cake, coated with a thoroughly rich chocolate ganache, with a hint of chilli. ABSOLOOOTLY deeevine.








Tarts au citron, for us lucky guests.


The cupcakes for sale at the counter.


Look at their exquisite workmanship, such detail. [Fainting at the prospect of all this microsurgery equivalent of the baking world]

The happy faces of friends. Also, meeting for the very first time, THE QUEEN of Sugarcraft, Sue of Delectable. (who's own lovely shop at the Gardens was launched on Friday, 12th June....will blog about that separately)

I really felt quite dizzy to be amidst the gliterrati of the baking world.

Thamby just received her prize of a pink parasol, for winning the slogan contest on Cumi& Ciki's blog. Us guys reckoned our entries were better but there was a gender bias in the selection of winners. Anyway, I hope it rains plenty so Thamby can put her prize to good use. Here's to wishing you lots of rain....with you caught in it, Thamby.

Just check out the myriad offerings. What they do is, they sell all thes wonderful edible decorative items to embellish even the dullest looking cake. As my late grandmother said, "chee na pan hei tou wooi leang". (even a pig with make up can look attractive). So yeah, this WOULD be the make up I tell ya.

CONGRATULATIONS AND BIG HUGS TO NIGEL AND ALLAN, AND MAY YOUR BUSINESS SHINE WITH THE SAME BRILLIANCE WITH WHICH YOU LIGHT UP OUR LIVES.
BOW BOW BOW......
Your humble acolyte.