New Formosa For Chinese New Year

I love New Formosa, not least because of the wonderful proprietortess, Mrs Jeanie Lee, who is always a fountain of bubbliness and enthusiasm, and I think the last time I was there was to celebrate my 45th Birthday.  How quickly the years roll by, and now I am on the wrong side of 40..

Again, the invite came from Makan Fairy Godmother, asking me and the wifey (I rarely ever bring the wifey unless specifically invited) for dinner at New Formosa.  I love the comfort food and home made feeling that the food here exudes. 



The Formosa Jelly Fish Yee Sang is devoid of the usual overly colored yams, and is almost salad like with the amount of raw vegetables and tubers.  Very refreshing start to the meal. 







Formosa Three combination dish, comprising Taiwanese Seaweed Rolls, Buttered Eel. and three cup New Zealand mussel.  The eel was interesting, if you like eel.  I am not entirely sure what a three cup NZ mussel is, the only thing that came to mind was a bra size.


Their signature Feng Sha Chicken, which I LOVE.  Crispy skin, moist tender chicken, with a healthy stuffing comprising brown rice and mushrooms.  As far as chicken dishes go, this is really one of my all time favourites.  The aroma and the aesthetics make this one hot chick to behold.







Simmered Winter Melon Soup, ...just the name itself sounds healthy, and cleansing.  The clear broth really imparts a sense of wellbeing, and the wintermelon is steamed till soft and tender.


Their signature ham, with gingko and honey.  The saltiness of the ham is combatted by the sweetness of the honey, and just in case you forget, ginko thrown in for good measure.


100 plus Silver Pomfret.  It does not refer to the price, although it might well be, but rather that isotonic beverage.  I am a big fan of pomfret, all types, Bawal Putih, Hitam, etc, and as long as its not overcooked I love it any style.  The 100 Plus was okay, and I think I prefer the more traditionally savoury type of cooking style.  



This is quite a unique dish, I've never quite seen before.  Something akin to otak otak, on a slice of lotus root.  The vegetables are more common, golden needle mushrooms, ketola, bean curd skin.


No prizes for guessing who that is. 


Jiu Fen of Taiwan Famous Dessert, Yam balls with assorted beans.  Actually, it's a rather filling dessert, though refreshing. 


Pumpkin Yam Paste With Ginko, (Or Nee),,, would have been great if we weren't so full.

My virginal visit to this place was back in 2010, and the account of that is found HERE.  

New Formosa is located at 46, Jln SS2/24, PJ. Same row as Sri Siam, ESH. Tel : 03-78751894.
Biz hours: 12-3pm, 6-10.30pm. Open throughout CNY and CNY Eve.

Extra Supertanker, Revisited, Many Times Over

Sometimes the things and people we see often are the ones we take for granted.  Restaurants can also fall into that same category.  I find I don't write about the place I go to fairly regularly, because you know you will always be back so there is no urgency to write.  (no offense to the places that I HAVE written about, of course).  One such place is Restaurant Extra Supertanker, in Damansara Kim.  An excellent location for a restaurant really, very central (for me at least), easy parking, and free parking.

The last time I blogged about this place was in 2010, and you can find the post HERE.  That post was in their other branch, at Seri Utama Club.  Boy how fast time flies.  But just in the last last few months alone, I've held two family birthdays at this restaurant,  and have been for dinner a couple of times.  Talk about your excellent traditional chinese food, this is one of the first places that spring to mind.

I was delighted to get the invite from Pure Glutton, saying that the very gracious owners, Vincent and Pat, had invited us to sample some new stuff they were featuring, in time for Chinese New Year.  The location is so great, I wasn't even late. 


So far, the most innovative take I've seen with Yee Sang this season, using white bait.  I love white bait generally, (it is a food that goes well with beer)...RM68 for half portion, RM88 for full portion


Tossed together with this gloriously healthy looking salad, devoid of any colored bits of yam, which my friend Paprika was bemoaning just the day before.  (as in, she doesn't like the artificially colored yams). 


Apart from the need for a bigger plate, the tossing abounded with good wishes, and the white bait is added later, so as not to soggify the fish.  The myriad textures of the yee sang is a reminder why this dish is always so popular.  Perhaps the snugly fitting plate is deliberate, so that everything spills over....just like the wishes we have in life, for prosperity, good health, lurve, to overflow in abundance. 


Before the conservationists raise their hands and gasp in horror, no, that is NOT sharksfin soup, BUT a highly innovative and wonderful sustainable substitute.  (Okay, even then, there will be some that will raise a hue and cry, but there's no pleasing everyone).  Bird's nest with freshly peeled crab meat. RM48 per bowl.  Worth every cent. 


Now seriously, one of the fabulous things about this restaurant is the fact that all the crabmeat in soups and dishes are freshly shucked and peeled the day itself.  And that REALLY makes a difference.  Whilst frozen crab meat tastes like blotting paper soaked in brine, fresh crabmeat is really something so rare. My uncle described the act of peeling crab for another person as one of the greatest acts of love.

Back to this soup, sublime, and good for the conscience, if not the heart. 


A lovely white from Alsace, (after we polished the two bottles of Malborough Savignon Blancs in the blink of an eye), which complemented the crabmeat, and subsequently, the fish dish.


Turbot (a flat fish) from Iceland, at RM12.80/100gm, each fish weighs 1-1.3kg.  The cantonese name of this dish sounds so much more exciting, than just ...turbot.  It's like a Duet Of Turbot, With Wood Fungus.  The bones, which are deep fried, would make Michelle Yeoh and her Anlene calcium ad seem like baby formula. Pure unadulterated crispy calcium!


Yam Treasure Trove, or Pun Mun Poot Moon...Full overflowing bowl something something.  These things really get lost in translation.  Not sure what the price is, but this old favourite is done really well.  Fluffy powdery yam, that is light, crispy on the outside, and gorgeously moist in the inside.  RM68





Tiger prawns in Chilli sauce, RM100/kg, minimum 300gm order, ...fresh, succulent, and the chilli sauce is just yelping out for toast to accompany it. 


Hei Hei Yong Yong..Happy Happy Goat, or something like that.  But basically, it's lamb, stewed with wood ears, and a whole host of other stuff that completely obliterates that lamby smell that I cannot take in my old age.  Nevertheless, despite the absence of the Ovine smell, this is not my favourite dish. I had to google that up, if cow is bovine, then what are sheep? Ovine.  (bows, you may thank me for the free English lesson).  12 pieces for RM 80.  A steal, really, if you are into sheep. 




Extra Super Sea Cucumber from Extra Super Tanker.  I should have taken a picture with a spoon, to give a sense of scale of the enormity of the sea cucumber.  Called aptly, abundance of the sea, this dish is a must for those who love the texture of sea cucumber.  And in any case, it is such a healthy dish though health doesnt come cheap.  RM200.


Sang Pou Lap Mei Fan.  The rice is individually cooked, as in, individually in each pot, not each grain, giving it a lovely charred kerak (crust) at the bottom.  And just look at that lap mei...all that divine sausage meat and chinese liver sausage.  RM70 for 4-6 pax, or RM 95 for 8-12 pax. 








Double Boiled Snow Pear with Hasma... for the uninformed, just think of hasma as .... aloe vera.  RM18 per bowl.  Lovely dessert, this one, you can almost feel it cleansing you as you sip that hot soup. 



And the indispensable nian gou, RM4/piece, deep fried with yam and sweet potato.  Very nice, but by this time as you can imagine, we were stuffed up to our noses, and marginal utility was dropping at an alarming rate.

They do have set menus, at very reasonable prices, for the CNY Period.  But if you are intending to go this period, please make a reservation, because this place gets seriously PACKED!

Restaurant Extra Supertanker.
48 Jalan SS 20/10 Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
03-7726 7768

Have A Xin-Ful Chinese New Year

Xin in Concorde always strikes a nostalgic chord with me.  In the days of yore, when Concorde was the Merlin, the chinese restaurant there was THE place for dim sum.  I still have vague recollections of its Chinese exterior, and turtle pond at the entrance.  Then, it became Concorde, and as a young adult, I used to frequent the place with my friends who work in the Golden Triangle, for dim sum lunches, as it was reasonably priced, AND has pork.

Fast forward years down the line, I have to say Xin has remained consistent, and till today, it is always a palatable experience to dine in this establishment.  No surprises, we were invited to try their Chinese New Year menu and in this case, the Prosperity Menu.   I have to say, the Chinese must be one of most materialistic people on earth, as everything seems to revolve around prosperity.

The food was laid out for us to photograph, much like models on a catwalk, ...oh hangon, models on a catwalk actually move.  More like a display in a jewellery shop. 



Labelled simply as Chinese New Year Sweets, actually this lovely platter comprised the quintessential Nien Gou in various forms, with durian, with yam and the white nien gou with pineapple.  I actually thought the pineapple one was rather unique.




Chilled Seaweed Jelly With Osmanthus & Wolfberry.  I loved this dessert, the different textures, from the gelatinous seaweed to the crunchy wolfberry, in a lovely "broth" that was not too sweet.





Assorted stuff that you would serve for Chinese New Year.


Their signature drink, equivalent to the kut chai sheen mui (calamansi with sour plum), but this one with the added kick of soda water.  Very refreshing, and actually quite a good idea to replicate at home.  Especially on a hot summer's day...which is like everyday for us here at the Equator. 

Assorted Dim Sum....prosperity egg dumpling, salted egg puff, dried oyster fish maw roll and stuffed diced sea cucumber with sliced clam

Salted Egg Puff... 


Abalone clam with sea cucumber paste, which we mistook for chicken from afar.


Dried Oyster Fish maw dumplings....


Hap tou sou.  Walnut cookies, which were rather good.  It's that slight saltiness that makes the difference.


Stuffed Oyster, Mushroom With Fatt Choy and Seasonal Vegetable.  I think they mentioned something about Pau lei Hoi Sum...a play of words that apart from describing the ingredients, meant guaranteed happiness or something like that. 


Steamed Sea Garoupa With Soya Sauce. 


And of course, the Properity Mini Octopus Yee Sang with Traditional Condiments.  The red octopus certainly gave it an added dimension both in color and texture.


This was quite an interesting dim sum, which had a quail's eggs in each dumpling. 


Wok Fried Rice With two varieties of Chinese sausage and corn kernel.  Any fried rice with chinese sausage is a winner in my eyes, but wok fried with the correct "wok hei", and to get grainy granules of rice, wonderful. 






Xin 9-course prosperity set menus are served during lunch and dinner. Chef Wong Pak Seng, Chef Ng Meng Loong and the new kid on the block, Chef Lok Meng Pak present irresistible authentic cuisine appropriate to usher the arrival of new year. Yee sang, waxed meat along with the best home-cooking cuisine sum up a great prosperity meal.


* Prosperity menus are priced at RM1,088.00++, RM1,288.00++, RM1,488.00++ per table of 10 persons
* Fortune Pot is sold for RM368.00++ (small) and RM648.00++ (large)
* New Year Four Dim Sum choices are available a la carte (promotion starts February 11 – 25, Chap Goh Mei)

New year also brings spring specials – like the Chinese new year dessert, nian gao. Go for the king of fruit, durian nian gao as the perfect finish to a great, wholesome meal. Other specials include sweet potato and pineapple nian gao. Each is priced at RM9.80++ - RM12.00++ per order.

For reservations or any menu, promotion enquiries, please call Xin Cuisine at 2144 8750, or email to fbkl@concorde.net *Xin Cuisine is closed on the first day of Chinese New Year.