The Malaysian Insider

By Eu Hooi Khaw

NOV 21 — Often I’m hard pressed to recommend a good Thai restaurant but now I can, since Erawan Classic Thai & Fusion loomed into my horizon. It’s in the bustling square of Kota Damansara where there are lots of eateries. But Erawan stands out, not only in the embracing warmth of its pretty decor, but also in its food.

Each dish was presented like a work of art, with attention paid to even the colours of the vegetables on a plate.

First, the fan-shaped Stuffed Pineapple that has the raw fruit stuffed with minced chicken, dried prawns and peanuts in a mien kam sauce. The juicy pineapple meshes beautifully with the sticky sweet and mildly hot stuffing. It’s helpful to digestion, the menu suggests, and it’s a good starter. (more…)

NOV 14 — What do you talk about when you’re stuck at a table with strangers?

In a culinarily diverse country like Malaysia, the answer is food, naturally!

During the lunch provided after a society meeting, Mm and I sat at the same table as a Malay family of five. Naturally, I asked them you could find good Malay food in Ipoh — the one thing that has always stumped me here. (more…)

SINGAPORE, Nov 10 — If you’ve ever puzzled over the perfect wine for Thai tom yum soup or south Indian fish curry, a book by Asia’s only master of wine takes the guess-work out of pairing an essentially Western drink with Oriental food.

Jeannie Cho Lee, a wine writer, judge and lecturer based in Hong Kong, said the sheer diversity of Asian food, and the fact that one meal can have a myriad of flavours, made it extremely challenging to find matching wines.

But with wine playing a bigger role in Asian dining, she said the two key elements to look for were acidity and versatility.

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Giant clam with spicy kumquat sauce is a great starter

By Eu Hooi Khaw

NOV 8 — Frankie Woo’s brain must be always ticking overtime as he invents and mulls over new flavours and textures in his food at Gu Yue Tien.

Maybe that’s why this chef/owner is so thin — all his energy is consumed doing this.

It’s amazing what he can turn out. Take the Freshwater Eel with Avocado Mousse, for instance.

The grilled eel was rich and creamy, and he paired this perfectly with a slightly tart and hot avocado mousse. Guess what’s in the mousse?

Avocado and green pickled chilli blended together! The creaminess was on two fronts – ”It’s like kaya,” he said of the avocado.

The guessing had started with the Giant Clam with Spicy Kamquat Sauce. After being thrilled by the citrusy, hot and fragrant sauce with the thin slices of clam, we had to ask him. Ginger flower and cili padi, besides kumquat of course!

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By Eu Hooi Khaw

Roasted Bone Marrow... this is heaven for fans of marrow

NOV 1 — The first time we were at Dish in Dua Annexe, Kuala Lumpur, we were stuffed after sharing a Lobster Omelette with a Cognac-infused lobster bisque sauce, and the Roasted Juicy Bone Marrow with capers parsley salsa and toasted baguette.

The Lobster Omelette is like a full main course, but surprisingly it’s on the starter menu. It’s a soft, fluffy omelette with chopped lobster inside, and drenched with a lobster bisque. I would have enjoyed this more separately. Give me the omelette or the bisque (I loved the heady complexity of this). The two together were impossibly rich.

There were three chunks of Roasted Bone Marrow on the plate, accompanied by a salad. Dig into the marrow with the fat, creamy gelatinous bits and the tangy capers salsa, and you’re in heaven. Thank goodness the three of us had one marrow each, with the bean salad and slices of baguette.

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The delectable plate of hokkien mee

By Alexandra Wong

OCT 31 — I haven’t eaten a whole lot of Hokkien mee. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that I realised Hokkien mee in KL and Hokkien mee in Penang are two very different animals.

Up north, you get a bowl of egg and rice noodles steeped in a fragrant briny stock made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns. Wikipedia goes on to add, “it is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime served with sliced red chilli, light soy sauce and sambal.”

Order the same thing in Kuala Lumpur and you get “a dish of thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of pork fat fried until crispy.”

Then the other day, while driving to my aunt’s place, I saw this sign out of the corner of my eye. Charcoal stove hokkien mee.

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