Chef Choi With Milk Fed Lamb

Now everytime C invites me to Chef Choi, it is a very unique feeling. It is one of anticipation, but also horror, because one does not leave Chef Choi without being in a state of food coma. She assured us that this meal would be moderate. Obviously, these terms bandied around are quite subjective. I was smart, I skipped lunch, and went for a workout before dinner. I was smart, or so I thought.

Just looking at the "moderate" menu, I could already envisage the regret of tomorrow, the remorse, the guilt, after a night of orgiastic feasting.




To start, a very deceptive healthy start, a tropical salsa, with the most delicious home made tortilla chips. As in, they fried their own tortillas. Oh so good. Great party idea, but it's deep fried, and who deep fries at home?





For something so deep fried, it did not seem very oily. It is an art, eating at Chef Choi, because you have to know how to PACE yourself, despite the temptation to just pig out on the first thing that appears.


Speaking of pigging out, the most divine Pork Stomach Soup. That subtle peppery taste that is a slow burn, rather than assailing your palate at the first spoon. The stomach is meticulously cleaned, so you can sure Miss Piggy's last meal is not forming any residue in the soup.


The star of the night, the Milk Fed Lamb (also from Spain). How will we ever eat meat that isnt Spanish anymore? Last time was the Spanish Pig, and now its the spanish lamb. The Spaniards certainly know how to make good meat. Milk Fed Lamb is probably the lamb equivalent of a suckling pig. A lot of people have difficulty facing the carcass of the lamb spread eagle like this. I don't know why.


The token salad...I love those cherry tomatoes, incidentally.


Seriously, this is the best lamb I have EVER tasted. Well, at RM300/kg, (and this baby is about 6 kg), it should be good. The good news is, you don't have to order the entire lamb at Chef Choi, as they have perfected the art of roasting it, albeit not on a spit, like this one here. Chef Thye Seng assures us that the smaller portions are just as succulent. Moist, tender, not lamby smelling, ...really quite heavenly.


As if we might be meat deprived, Thye Seng throws in a Roast Goose too. Ah, to behold such a succulent hot chick. Meat that melts in the mouth, skin that shames the most tanned adonis.





BBQ prawns. Okay, I have to say, these were a bit overcooked. Which is a pity because the prawns were really fresh.


Barbeque cuttle fish with thai sauce. This is another amazing dish. Such tender cuttlefish. The perfect snack to have with booze.


The pre-finale, abalone fried rice. Can you get more decadent than that?! Fried rice, swimming in a gorgeous superior broth. And, just when you thought it was over, yours truly had to open the big mouth and enquire, innocently enough, if Chef Choi served hokkien mee. Thye Seng gave an audible gasp of shock horror that I have never sampled their lard laden hokkien mee, and insisted we have some to try.






Where people got serve hokkien mee with scallops one? Oh so soooooo goood. Chunks of chee yau char, dotting the dish like mines in a minefield. I could just go there and eat the hokkien mee.


Now apparently the entire family knows how to make Crepe Suzette. The proper way. Chef demonstrates with great aplomb, the caramelisation of the sugar, turning into a gorgeous golden amber color, before orange juice and booze is added to create the sublime sauce.




Seriously, I have had some crepe suzettes where the sauce tastes like haliborange or cough mixture. But this was really good. We all lapped up our sauce like a kitten licking the milk bowl.

A fabulous dinner, with many thanks to CS and TS as usual for their generosity.

Now, my mother wants her birthday dinner to be held here. I can't wait

Very Happy Hour At Al Amar Express

When my good buddy Ralph asked me for Happy Hour Cocktails at Al Amar Express, alarm bells rang in my head. The combination of Ralph, Happy Hour AND Cocktails sounded dangerous. As lethal as some of the combinations in the cocktails, I was to find out later on.

It was a gargantuan task, trying to get together a group of people to come and sample their new offerings, dates kept changing, some people pulled out, then the Grand Prix came to town...(what has that got to do with anything? Well, Al Amar Express IS located at a PRIME PRIME location, and when the Grand Prix is in town, I can imagine that place will be choc-a-bloc full of people). Finally, we managed to make it, the famous KY Speaks, the inimitable CumidanCiki, the crazy fun Marcky, the soon to be leaving us IamtheWitch, and Iamthewizard, that hip and happening Quay Po Cooks, The very inaptly named Baby Sumo, who must have been an anorexic sumo wrestler, that shy demure Memoirs of a Chocaholic, Suanie and Haze, and a couple of other non blogging people. Ralph, and the owner Joseph, were kind enough to host us to sample their latest offerings....








Happy hour at Al Amar is a most happy affair, I have to say. I felt like I was on holiday, like a tourist, because the atmosphere along that stretch of Jalan Bukit Bintang does make you feel like you are on holiday. A comprehensive list of cocktails are available, and the happy hour is buy two and get one free. Priced at an average of RM28 per cocktail, its pretty good value to get one free one. And boy, they do not water down the cocktails. After my first mojito I was feeling a light buzz and felt happy. Then again, I dont really drink alcohol, so I am a lightweight. Above is the strawberry dacquiri. A woman's drink, judging by the color.


They also sell a range of highly drinkable wines, under the Chateau Musar Jeune label. We had the rose (priced at RM135 per bottle) and the white. Both are served chilled, which is appropriate for our weather. Rose, white, and mojitos. I was beginning to be really happy.


There were a few attempts at smoking the shisha, but most of our friends aren't really very good at sucking, and generally have not managed to get the hang of it, what a pity. However, it does seem to be very popular on other tables, and there is a variety of flavours you can savour.








By sundown, this is what everything was beginning to look like to me, intoxicated with margaritas, white, rose and mojitos.


This haloumi salad is really excellent. The pan fried haloumi cheese is crispy on the outside and cheesy in the inside, and complements the generous helping of watercress and rocket. A very healthy salad too, and owner Joseph wolfed down an entire plate himself in under 3 minutes.


The delicios pide breads that go with the array of dips...


The unhealthy juxtaposed against the healthy....quite like life.


Tabbouleh, my favourite middle eastern salad, with italian parsley and bulgur ...not cous cous...the latter is apparently more Moroccan.


Grilled Chicken Salad With Aioli Dressing and rocket. I really wouldn't mind having these kinds of salad on a regular basis. Except the chicken is breast, and I am so not a breast person...when it comes to chickens.


Very very good moutabal, (or baba ghanoush, known elsewhere), made from egg plant, tahini...gorgeous. I told Ralph they should bottle and sell some of these dips....especially


The hommos....Argh, so excellent, so smooth, so creamy. Despite having top ups, we kept finishing it, using the pita to lap up every last bit. Marcky declared "this is so good, I feel hommos-sexual". Yeah, he can be rather witty.


The affable Chef of Al Amar express...


Lamb sambousik. Kinda like our curry puffs, sans the curry, and they make gorgeous snacks with alcohol.


My favourite pastry, cheese rolls. A mixture of mozarella and other stuff, and dip your stick in the creamy hommos for an even more enhanced taste to titillate your palate.


Warak Enab, rice wrapped in vine leaves. Now, I have to say I have not developed an appetite for this yet.


Beef Shawarma Platter. It's like a steak and chips, only easier to eat. The beef is moist and tender, and full of flavour.


My drink of the day, margaritas. Seriously, very good margaritas. Just the right amount of alcohol, not overly sweet, (sweet cocktails are deceptive, and hit you like an on coming train. This one just hits you anyway).


We also had the Roast Chicken, which was also very delicious. Moist, flavourful and a rather large portion. Actually, the way the food served in Al Amar Express is very Asian and communal type eating. Very compatible with our Malaysian way of life. Lots of sharing, and lots of laughter over the dinner table.

Time went by in a jiffy, and before I knew it, I was lost in the carpark. Now that is a sign of a GREAT party. Immediate memory loss!

A special thanks again to Ralph for having us, and of course to the owner Joseph, and to all the uber friendly staff at Al Amar Express, the PR Esther, the bubbly fellow Roger, the chef etc. It was a fantastic night.

I can't wait to happy hour there again soon!

When The Yolk Is On You....

It's eggsasperating how yolks get the bad rap. Nothing grieves me more than seeing people eat their eggs and tossing their yolks. Okay, maybe not nothing, but at that particular moment, nothing. That is the utter disrespect and contempt for the Creator who made that perfect meal in that calcified shell.

However, just like Sophie's Choice, sometimes, separation is inevitable. Recipes call for egg whites, which begs the questions, what do we do with the REST of the egg, hallo. One such culprit is that damn dessert called the Pavlova, named after that reflex scientist, Pavlov...and his dog.... oh, hangon, maybe I'm getting my culinary history mixed up. Maybe it's named after that dancer chick...

Anyway, the yolk. What DOES one do with all that yolk? Much as I loathe people tossing their yolks from their half boiled eggs, it does make me shudder to ingest 5 yolks in an all yolk omelet. It's like being at a bad Chinese stag party. Semua telur kuning.

Since I have four hungry mouths to feed, at any one time, (the wife thankfully is capable of feeding herself), I have since found a cheap way to feed them, AND at the same time, dispose of them yolks with clear conscience.

Tah dahhh, the cream puff, filled with a Creme Patissiere, lightened with a bit of whipping cream. Okay, it's not meant to be this runny, and I should have probably let it chill a bit more, but you know....kids being kids.

Here's how I get rid of them yolks.

5 yolks
1/3rd cup sugar
2 table spoons cornflour

1½ cups milk, or if you feeling generous, cream, or half and half. Nursing mothers, feel free to try out the good old breast milk, and do let me know how that goes.

Vanilla pod, or Ipod, whichever is handier.
Or worst comes to worst, that icky vanilla essence.

Boil the milk/cream with the vanilla pod, (after scraping out the seeds...if I have to explain to you how to do that, then you need to return to baking 101)...bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, and there's plenty of time to do this, whisk the eggs, sugar and cornflour, until all mixed. Pour the hot milk into this mixture, and pour it all back into the pot.

Don on your halo, because you need the patience of a saint to make this custard thicken, without burning it. Stir continuously, until it thickens, and can coat the back of a wooden spoon. It has to be wooden, you hear, because it will just SLIDE OFF a stainless steel spoon.

Stir in some butter, about 80gms, to give it some fat content and for it to thicken. What is life without some fat.

Put a cling wrap over the surface and let it cool.

Make the choux pastry, (pronounced CHA OX)...even easier.

1 cup water, 80gm butter - to be boiled together
1 cup of flour, added to the boiling water butter liquid, stirring until a ball of dough forms...
Remove from heat. Using an electric beater, beat slowly, adding one egg at a time, until you've used FOUR eggs.
You should get a gorgeous glossy pasty pastry, which you should immediately dollop or pipe onto a baking tray, and bake at 170C for 30-40 minutes.
Actually, make the choux pastry only after the cream patissiere is cold. Unless you want hot cream puffs with hot custard cream, which will work too.

The point is, actually creme patissiere is very versatile, and can be eaten on its own too.

What a cheap way to fill the kids. I the man. I should start a parenting blog, and how to utilise your leftover foods to fill your kids.

Loy Krathong in Rama V

Some events are so vivid in your mind, so much so you think you've already written about it, because the script is probably still in the brains' IN folder, so much so, when asked, you insist you've posted about it ages ago. Then, to your abject horror, you search your blog, and zilch, there was no such entry.

This happened recently, when my favourite restauranter Andre of Rama V, told me that he was looking for my post, and I dismissed as him being unable to navigate through blogspot. The strangest thing is, I could've sworn I remember editing the pictures, and even writing the post. Oh well, it is one of those great mysteries of life, not helped by the degenerating grey matter and old age.

Sometime in November last year I was invited to the Loy Krathong celebrations in Rama V. Loy means to float, and krathong refers to the beautifully handcrafted lotus shaped boats that are lit up and set afloat in the water. It is a beautiful ceremony but is made even better when there is feasting and drinking involved, as is always the case when invited by two suave owners of Rama V. (Andre and Danny).

The event is a gala event, with big sponsors, and grand prizes. Alcohol flows freely and a special menu is put together for this special Thai festival.

To start with, the gorgeous blue flower lotus dumpling, with money bag and spring roll.


The pomelo chicken & prawn salad served in banana blossom is particularly lovely, and has a lovely tang to it. Now, I am not sure if these items are on the regular menu, but if you book ahead, I am sure the chef can indulge you.

A very festive air prevails, aided of course by the spirited beverages that were circulating freely. Dinner is interspersed with lucky draws from the sponsor. Our table did pretty well, as on of us one a bottle of bubbly, while Pure Glutton & Mr Pure Glutton won a RM500 dining voucher. Grumble grumble envy envy.




Pure Glutton & Mr holding up their RM500 prize.


You'd think you'd have tasted every conceivable pumpkin soup by the time you're 46, but this rendition of Roasted Pumpkin soup had a nice twist, with pistachios, lemon & seafood. I loved this dish, but again, I don't think it's available on the regular menu, so do order ahead.


Kung Manow Woon Sen - or in English, Steamed River Prawn with glass noodle. The prawn, despite the large number of guests, was steamed to perfection, and was fresh, and crisp, and could have been swimming in the Chao Praya just moments before for all I know.


Roasted Duck Curry With Japanese Sticky Rice. Loved the presentation. The curry itself is the red duck curry, but serving it this way certainly enhances the senses.


We are summoned to the lotus pond outside for the highlight of the night...


The main event, which entails the lighting of the kratong, and floating it. I guess you are supposed to make a wish, not unlike floating oranges on chap goh mei for desperate spouse searchers.





It is a beautiful sight to see the pond illuminated with the floating fairy lights.











A particularly poignant moment as the true blooded Thai staff of Rama V come out from the kitchen to reverently place the Krathongs.





And finally, back into the comforts of airconditioning, dessert, a trio of Winter, Spring and Summer. Rubied water chestnut in coconut ice shavings, kuih taco and mango with sticky rice. All very exotic, all very in keeping with the event.


The chef and other Thai staff take the stage.

Rama V is really one of my favourite Thai restaurants. Innovative menus constantly churned out, fabulous ambience, and fantastic owners who really go the extra mile to make sure the customers feel taken care of. Thanks so much Andre and Danny for letting us share in this memorable occasion.