Unbelievable BBQ at Chef Choi

Of all the various forms of food preparation, usually BBQs rank at the bottom of my list, faring just above camping food and army rations. Perhaps its from the psychological scars of those Oz days, where BBQs were/are the fad, with little thought put into it. Of course, since then, BBQs have become almost like Michelin star dining in some households I've been, and I've become less averse to it. I mean, if you're throwing on a slab of wagyu on the BBQ, heck, I'd even offer to watch over it myself. That's the other thing. That primordial scent of charred carbon that sticks to you.....it's all very well, if you only venture into the kitchen once a blue moon, but if you're stuck in the kitchen daily, like I am, covered with butter and flour, the last thing I want is another food smell to merge with my cheap underarm deodorant.

But, when CS invited me for a BBQ at Chef Choi, I knew instantly that we would not be setting up camp, singing songs around a bonfire and waiting for the charcoal grills to be lighted by amateurs. I knew that this was gonna be GOOD, coz 1. invites from CS always are, and 2. food at Chef Choi always is.

Roughage is important, and to make sure all the meat that was coming was balanced with some greens, they started us off with this gloriously healthy looking salad, that was accompanied with a tangy cilantro lemon dressing or sesame shoyu dressing. Those plump little cherry tomatoes made me want to just press them like bubble wrap!






To tantalize the palate even further, and to herald the coming of the beef, YORKSHIRE puddings, done to perfection. Crisp on the outside, light and soft on the inside. Some of us at the table had an obscene number of these yummy puddings.


This is really crackling me up. Roast Pork Belly.


Who needs the meat? Just give me the skin. So soooo good.


Rosemary Leg Of Lamb, with cloves of garlic stuffed at strategic locations to really infuse the lamb.


Boulangere Potatoes...Smooth Creamy Carbo that go with the meat like rice goes with sambal.


From one belly to another, and it was belly good.


Chilled Prime Rib on the bone - The very words prime and rib sends shivers of pleasures down my spine, and makes my own ribs convulse with joy.





Steak Florentine - Between the two, I personally liked the Prime Rib better, but this cut yielded an extraordinarily lovely flavour, almost gamey, and if you like the unadulterated bovine taste, this would be the better option.


Pieces of the Lamb leg sliced. The good thing about such a leg and that way of cooking, there's a done-ness for everyone. The blood averse, the blood thirsty, ...


Looking at the Steak Florentine is literally doing a Pavlov on me, as I salivate.


Paella With Kerak (not Crack, Ke-rak, Malay for the crispy bits at the base). Awesome dish, generous saffron, and done just right to my personal liking. I've said it before, having not had the privilege of visiting Spain, I have no benchmark against which to measure a good paella, so in my book, a good paella is one that I myself enjoy eating.


Spaghetti Vongole. Juxtaposed against all the other stuff, this one is almost a plain Jane. But if would have made a fine mains on its own.


Apple Tart Tartin. Lovely tangy apple on a crisp pancake of puff pastry. I have to make this soon. Love it.





Chef Choi's mooncakes are sublime. No preservatives (I know this for a fact coz I accidentally left one out of the fridge and it rotted faster than you can say mooncake), and such fine texture.



And although I am usually averse to sweet mooncakes, this ping pei, although a bit on the sweet side (quite by accident...it wasnt meant to be that sweet), was also lovely and smooth.

If I were a BBQ unbeliever before this, well, they have proselytized me successfully, for now, if future BBQs are like this, wowzer. Pricing is also quite reasonable.

Check out their website here.

No. 159, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2163 5866
Fax: 03-2164 6463

Belated Yuletide

So much to blog about, so little time. Christmas barely came and went, and I'm already tucking into the annual Prosperity Burger, from MacDonalds which is a sure herald of Chinese New Year approaching us with the speed of a charging bull.

Nevertheless, since I had so painstakingly edited the pictures from Christmas, I thought I might as well put it up for posterity. I am in the unique position to witness the birth of a family tradition, I think. Not hailing from a Christian family, Christmas Eve dinners were something we only read about in Enid Blyton books, Beano comics, ....and when we were abroad, perhaps the odd Christmas Day lunch, but we ourselves, the FBB family, never really celebrated it in any way.

A number of factors precipitated this change. First, my late grandmother became a Christian a year of so before her demise. That year, my mother said, oh, lets have a Christmas Eve dinner since Poh Poh is a Christian. That was rather shortlived, as she (my grandmother) died the following year, and my folks continued with their annual holidays around the yuletide. Meanwhile, the Christmas tree and its pretty decor was gaining "importance" in the seasonal decorations, as there were the grandchildren slowly popping out of the ovens....

Then my mother herself embraced the Papal religion, and must have decided that London was getting too cold in December, so they stayed put in the equator, hence precipitating the final straw that completed the evolution of the Christmas Eve dinner tradition in our household. It is unanimously agreed that we spare the large bird the slaughter, since it's nice to look at, but no one really can truly say they love turkey.

For starters, we had a duet of pizzas, with a dried tomato pesto sauce as the base, and another one with the normal basil pesto, sprinkled with scallops, funghi and bacon.

Those aren't fishballs. They're scallops.


The smoked salmon platter.









Lovely dunno whatchewcallit, from France. It's something like a cross between a sausage, with the texture more akin to luncheon meat, and didnt require cooking. Delicious!


I often wonder why we don't eat brussel sprouts more often, as I actually belong to that strange category of people who LOVE brussel sprouts.


Quail Eggs and Walnut Salads. Those who frequent my dinner parties would recognise the blue salad bowl instantly, I am sure.




Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. The cut was a Rib Eye, good, but not as good as the Wagyu Rib Eye we had a few weeks ago. It's bad when standards have been set so high.


Satay From Kajang, courtesy of the inlaws.


Observe this manger scene. Birth of another tradition.....






Notice the difference between this manger scene and the previous one? I'll explain later.


Desserts. No Marks & Spencer's Christmas Pudding this year, since we hadn't even finished last year's (2007) one. Sigh. I love Christmas pudding though. We had to make do with my brandy soaked Spencer's Four Seasons Cake.


....and the Durian Cheese Cake....

To answer the question about the manger scene, well, I think its a Roman Catholic practise. Anyway, in the first manger scene, there was no baby.

After doing the reading from the gospels.....

...one of the grandchildren would then place the baby Jesus into the crib. Awwww.....Christmas, is afterall, about the birth of Jesus Christ, not the sales in Mid Valley Megamall featuring Santa Clause.

Then there is the mad scramble to open the presents. No waiting till Christmas morning in this household. Afterall, no one believes in Santa, so the kids aren't gonna be waiting for his sleigh to be flying through the night skies. But the unparalleled look of sheer joy when baby boy opened his present of a transformer toy....sigh, would melt the heart of the greatest cynic.




Poor Santa.....kids becoming too adult for their own good eh! I remember an Ally McBeal episode where a teacher was getting sued for telling the kids there was no such thing as Santa Clause. Roll eyes..... Americans....

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
Though you are Lord
Above all.
(from the Christian song, "Above All")