13 July 2012 by Crave Malay Mail

Friday JULY 13, 2012 S AT I S F Y I N G

YO U R

W E E K LY

F O O D

D R I N K

C R AVI N G S

W I T H

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COMFORT ME WITH CHICKEN

Our Asian-style roast hits the spot

FOOD bites

ROAST CHICKEN

FEASTING FOR HEALTH

To prepare chicken:

Marinate the chicken’s cavity with pepper, salt, sugar and 2 tablespoons Asian-style pesto. Mix the remaining pesto with yoghurt. Carefully loosen the chicken breast skin and stuff with the pesto-yoghurt mixture, making sure you rub it on the meat to spread it around. Alternatively, rub the pesto-yoghurt mixture all over the chicken. Tie the chicken legs together with

kitchen string. Cover and refrigerate for minimum of 1 hour or overnight to marinate.

To roast chicken:

Preheat oven to 190C. Place a wire rack over the oven tray. Grease the rack and place marinated chicken breast-side down. Smear 1 tablespoon butter over the chicken. Roast chicken for 25 minutes, then turn it breast-side up and smear remaining butter. Roast for a further 20-35 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear when an inner thigh is pierced. Remove from the oven. Rest chicken for 10 minutes. Carve and serve. Reserve the drippings from the pan for the noodles. - Recipe by Debbie Teoh, Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

Taster Comments:

An absolutely stunning recipe, one of the best version of Asian-styled roast chi cken ever. The house is perfumed with the lemony ﬂoral fragrance of the pesto as you roast the chicken, and you get more of that lovely ﬂavour as you dig into the sweet, juicy and tender meat.“

NG TSE MEI Food Writer

IAN-S T Y

Toss this aromatic pesto in noodles or roast it with seafood.

Crave Editor

ADVERTISING SALES Rajan Gopal Senior Manager, Direct & Classifieds Direct line: 03 74951282 rajan@mmail.com.my

In an electric blender, chop the mint and lemongrass coarsely. Slowly add the oil and continue blending to form a fine paste. Add bunga kantan and finely blend. Season to taste with salt. Remove and store in a refrigerator tightly covered for 1 week. The colour may change a little but the flavor will remain the same. – Debbie Teoh

Resist the temptation to ﬁnish off the whole roast chicken and keep some leftovers for this quick meal. You can also use grilled seafood like prawns and cuttleﬁsh. Feel free to replace the glass noodles with your own favourite pasta or noodles.

In our second issue, we go back to comfort food. Nothing satisﬁes more than a golden crispy roast chicken. Our recipe contributor, Debbie Teoh has come up with an ingenious way to use fresh Asian herbs readily available at any market for the delicious chicken dish. Believe me, it’s utterly delicious that we could not stop eating it. If there is any leftover chicken, just toss it with the glass noodles and pesto for a fast solution to a weekday meal. For diners, we look towards Bandar Utama for some local Chinese delights. Sweet tooth lovers can also enjoy the creamy Golden durian frozen cheesecake and Sinful mango cheesecake from the Purple Monkey. We also save you a trip to Ipoh as the famous yim kuk kai is now found in KL. Keep tabs on us with our blog, facebook and twitter feed. And let us know what you think by emailing me at khangyi@mmail. com.my. Bon appétit!

60g fresh mint leaves 75g lemongrass (tender white part only), finely sliced 260g vegetable oil 35g torch ginger flower (bunga kantan), finely sliced salt to taste

ASIAN-STYLE PESTO GLASS NOODLES (2 servings)

EDITORIAL NOTE by Lee Khang Yi

1.6 kg chicken, washed and pat dried with paper towels 1 teaspoon ground black pepper salt and sugar, to taste 6 tablespoons Asian-style pesto 2 tablespoons yoghurt 2 tablespoons butter

PES

with Asian-style pesto (4-6 servings)

In collaboration with Eu Yan Sang, Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur introduces new Chinese banquet healthy menu options. The nourishing dishes were crafted by Chef Kwan Siew Leun and features Chinese herbs prominently to promote the body’s wellbeing. This wholesome and healthy Chinese banquet option offers the best to guests who can enjoy the nutritious meal to improve blood circulation, ﬂush toxins from the body, nourish vital body organs and improve mental concentration. Expect delectable gems like the Double boiled bird’s nest with cordyceps in superior stock. The aromatic concoction works is a beauty booster and enhances youthfulness. Taking a new wholesome high is the Roasted crispy chicken with dang gui and ﬁve spice salt.

120-130g dried glass noodles 5-6 tablespoons Asian-style pesto or more to taste 2 tablespoons roast chicken drippings salt to taste 150g roast chicken with Asian-style pesto, shredded 15 cherry tomatoes, halved fresh mint leaves for topping

to e pes and h t s rm Tos TIP: e with wa for it r s mixtu ld noodle o c not well. x to mi

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add glass noodles and lower the heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until al-dente. Remove, drain in a colander and reserve 2-3 tablespoons of water. In a bowl, mix pesto, drippings, salt and water from boiling glass noodles. Toss warm glass noodles with pesto mixture. Combine with roast chicken and cherry tomatoes. Season to taste with salt. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve immediately. — Recipe by Debbie Teoh, Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

Taster Comments:

I thought the pesto would be a bit sharp and pungent without cooking it beforehand, but it turned out to be just right: a hint of spiciness from the lemongrass and torch ginger bud but tempered with minty lightness, combined with the umami dripping of the roast chicken and sweet cherry tomatoes to make a very simple, moreish dish, offering the perfect balance of ﬂavour and textural contrast.” NG TSE MEI Food writer

FRIDAY 13 JULY 2012

THE MALAY MAIL

In the Kitchen with Eu Hooi Khaw The dish is full of ﬂavor from the gravy infused with dang gui and wolfberries. This item improves your blood circulation of Qi in the body. Enjoy the Lotus leaf wrapped brown rice with eight treasures such as dried scallops, dried oysters, dried shrimps, sea asparagus, lotus seeds, chestnuts, button and Chinese black mushrooms. This version is a lighter rendition of the carbohydrate-rich dish that also nourishes the stomach. Other choices include a refreshing Chinese health cold cut combination, Stewed sea cucumber with ﬂower mushroom and dendrobium gravy, and Red bean cream with pearl sago and chen pi or sun-dried tangerine peel. The banquet healthy menu comes in various packages starting from RM1,438++ per table. For details, call 03-2117 8000.

The yam bean or jicama is a tuberous root native to Central America. It was brought over to the Phillipines by the Spanish, and subsequently spread throughout Asia. Around Malaysia, is goes by many names. The northeners refer to it as bangkuang in Hokkien, while those down south prefer to call it sengkuang, the Malay term. Some even call it sar kot, the Cantonese name. Under its rough brown skin is white juicy ﬂesh that tastes crisp, starchy and sweet, similar to a water chestnut

JU HU CHAR (4 servings)

KARI + GORENG = Delicious! Bring home your favourite Mamak stall’s taste with Maggi Mi Goreng Kari Ori. One of Malaysia’s favourite noodle ﬂavor, Kari is now available in the Maggi Mi Goreng series. The instant noodles is best eaten cooked for three minutes for an al dente texture. Toss it with the delicious real spice blend, kicap manis sauce, chilli sauce and deep-fried onions, for a tasty dish that is so good to eat. In addition, Maggi also introduced two new products, Mi Goreng Cili Lazat

BRYAN LOO, Managing Director, Chatime Malaysia

though not as delicate. Yam bean is high in carbohydrates and proteins. It is a good source of fibre, Vitamins C and E. In Asian cuisine, there is a myriad of uses for yam bean such as rojak, spring rolls, Ju hu char and Kuih pie tee. You could also make a sweet and tasty soup, by boiling yam bean slices with dried cuttlefish, red dates, chicken or pork ribs. Another simple dish is fried shredded yam bean with finely sliced French beans and prawns, to

and Maggi HotCup Goreng Cili Fiesta. Grab a multipack of Maggi Mi Goreng Kari Ori for an introductory price of RM3.20 for 5 packs at leading supermarkets all around Malaysia.

100g belly pork or boneless chicken thigh meat, finely sliced into strips 3/4 tablespoon light soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon corn flour 1 1/2 tablespoons oil 3 shallots, peeled and finely sliced 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 50g dried cuttlefish, softened in water, drained and cut with scissors into thin strips 350g yam bean, cut into thin strips 1 medium-sized carrot, cut into thin strips 3 dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin strips 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste 125ml water

g eddin a r h s nd for us ha referred sing o i d e u Tip: T knife is p e versus ine. r a u c t h wit hier tex r or ma h e crunc -held slic d a han

Marinate the meat with the soy sauce and corn ﬂour for 10-15 minutes. Heat oil in a wok, saute shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add cuttleﬁsh; fry till crispy and pop. Add the marinated meat; stir fry until the meat is cooked. Add yam bean, carrot and mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Stirring longer is not good as the yam bean gets starchy. Add salt, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the yam bean is translucent. Simmer longer if you prefer a drier version. Serve with fresh Chinese lettuce or butterhead leaves and sambal belacan combined with juice from calamansi lime.

From this July onwards, you can enjoy refreshing Chatime beverages on all AirAsia flights with airline code AK. This includes 48 destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Clark. The two signature drinks is the Roasted milk tea with red bean and Mango green tea with rainbow jelly. Each drink is priced at RM8. Keeping true to Chatime’s philosophy to “serve a good cup of Chatime to everyone”, the drinks are brewed daily and packed on board for the AirAsia flights every day. Unfortunately, since the tapioca pearls need to be prepared fresh on the spot, this is currently unavailable. Per AirAsia Regional Head, Catering and InFlight Business Shireen Chia, they first mooted this idea to Chatime about six months ago. It took them about 3-4 months of testing on ground and up in the air to come up with these drinks with just the right touch of sweetness for the high altitude.

ent collaborations in the pipeline. We have positioned the brand as very fun and exciting. The things we do, people cannot imagine about it. We try to target every two months announcement. That is the Chatime collaboration culture, something we started as Chatime in the world is very conventional.

After AirAsia, what would you like to conquer?

Will the bubble on this tea trend burst soon?

Currently, there are differ-

I don’t think so as this is the

Is Taiwan (the country of origin of bubble tea) looking at you to start that culture? Yes, they position us as a market leader for the company. With AirAsia, we get to cross over the region.

Would Chatime Taiwan also follow and serve the drink up in the air? It is not easy as it depends on the airline’s vision. AirAsia has the same brand personality as Chatime, as they want to be fun, be different and take things that nobody has ever thought about. In fact, AirAsia in the Phillipines is talking to Chatime’s Phillipines counterpart, so this starts the collaboration culture.

modern tea drinking culture. It has long existed in other countries and now Malaysians have discovered it.

How about the competition from other brands? I do not fear competition, what my fear is I am not good enough to extract enough creativity, innovation, and personal commitment to compete as market leader. Without the other brands, we are no one as they come in to create the industry. After Chatime entered Malaysia in October 2010, there has been at least 40 new Taiwanese or claim to be Taiwanese brands selling delicacies, sweets, and beverages, who have opened 250 outlets nationwide. So in close to two years, this has become a new industry.

Are there plans for any other new flavours? As part of the tropical flavours, we will be launching a durian flavoured drink in about two months. This has been launched already overseas but we prefer to go slow here as too many flavours will also confuse consumers. Taiwan puts a lot of effort to constantly localise the flavours of the drinks and

wrap up in beancurd sheets (fu chok). Deep fry these and serve with a tangy chilli sauce. In the old days in Nonya families, a measure of your cooking skills, as well as your marriage potential rested on how ﬁnely you could cut the yam bean (and the other ingredients) for Ju hu char, a classic Penang Nonya dish which is traditionally served for the reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve and other festive occasions. Select the younger yam bean with a lighter coloured skin for juicy and sweet ﬂesh. These also look less brown and leathery compared to the older ones.

we are backed by a strong research and development team there.

What is your favourite Chatime drink? It changes all the time. Now it is the strawberry milk tea from our just launched Strawberry series. I also like the strawberry and kiwi juice as it is so refreshing and less sweet.

Any favourite place to dine out? I’m not much of an eater but I like Acme Bar at Troika for the ambience and would eat a salad there. You would never imagine, but I love salad. This is partly because of hectic lifestyle so I have changed my diet to include more vegetables.

FRIDAY 13, July 2012

THE MALAY MAIL

Local Chinese delights BY Eu Hooi Khaw

THE wantan noodles at Ben Tdi Wei were very fine, slightly crunchy and tasted good even eaten on their own. I have been here twice before, that’s how I know the noodles are tossed with drippings from the roast meat, deep-fried lard fritters and dark soy sauce; hence their rich, lovely aroma. We sampled it with the roast pork and wantan (RM10.80). The roast pork had a thin crispy skin, with an old-fashioned touch of five-spice powder. On another visit, the crispy skin had lost its crunchy charm from re-frying. Ben Tdi Wei or local delights in Chinese, is popular with lunchtime diners for one-dish meals like noodles or rice with the various roast meats. It also has a comprehensive menu of dishes worthy of attention. The Roast duck (quarter for RM25, whole for RM70) had robust flavours infused into the tender meat, though the skin was not crispy. It reminded me of a certain fast-selling

sUBTLE TASTES: Char Cheong Tofu SIMPLE DECOR: Diners get to eat in comfy surroundings

roast duck in Paramount Gardens. It was served sitting on a light sauce (which it didn’t need), that was the source of extreme thirst, from MSG. The Pumpkin, yam and boneless chicken stew (small for RM20) was delightfully creamy with dried shrimps for flavour. There was sweetness from the pumpkin and I was totally into the sticky yam. One of their signatures is the Braised belly pork (4 pieces for RM24). Add a dash of Chinese black vinegar to bring forth the sauce’s rich flavours best eaten with deep-fried mantou. The meat needs to be eaten together with the lay-

ers of fat for a tender texture. Their signature beancurd dish, the Char cheong tofu (RM15) is off the menu but can be ordered through the wait staff. The beancurd, made in-house, was eggy and smooth. Deep-fried first, it was doused with a subtle sauce made with pork mince, char choy (pickled mustard greens roots), garlic and chillies that needed a touch of sesame oil to uplift its flavours.

since the taste is less rich. The people behind Purple Monkey actually recommend you thaw the cheesecake for 15 minutes or microwaving a slice for 15 seconds. Slightly melted, the durian cheesecake transforms into a creamy pungent mass. It is definitely a novel idea to freeze the cheesecake, since transportation of the dessert

cOMFORTING: Pumpkin, yam & chicken stew

oLD fASHIONED: Roast pork

Ben Tdi Wei, G1&G2, Ground Floor, Centrepoint, 3 Lebuh Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, 03-7727 7733. Opens daily: 11am to 10.30pm.

N O M KE

Good food often comes to us in the strangest ways. Take for instance, the Golden durian frozen cheesecake from Purple Monkey. I stumbled on the creamy delight by chance when a friend’s ex-colleague brought it for afternoon tea. Eating it frozen reminds me of the old fashioned ais-krim potong as the pungent durian is not as intense but still very enjoyable. You also find yourself finishing more slices

tENDER meat: Roast duck

in our hot weather is easier. The no-bake dessert is made from blending cream cheese and milk. A little gelatin powder is also added to hold up the creamy mass. The Golden durian cheesecake uses fresh durian pulp to give it the intense aroma. Upon further investigation on the Internet, I discover their signature Sinful mango cheesecake. The owner Lim Kuo Yang also runs the

I S U

S S NE

Thai restaurant My Elephant. The Sinful mango is incredibly pretty as the fruit slices is arranged on top to resemble a yellow rose. It also has a lighter tangy taste from the golden fruit topping. They also have cheesecakes topped with peaches, blueberries, strawberries and one made from Tolberone. Order the cake for RM80 at Purple Monkey, 017-

CREAMY: Golden Durian Cheesecake

2 6 0 74 0 1 , www.purplemonkey.com. my. Sample slices of the mango (RM7.50) and durian cheesecake (RM9.50) at My Elephant outlets in Section 17 and Sri Hartamas. - boo_ licious.

FAMOUS IPOH SALT-BAKED CHICKEN IN KL Hankering for Ipoh Aun Kheng Lim’s famous saltbaked chicken (yim kuk kai)? The Chinese herbal infused chook is now available at Restoran Ipoh Sedap. For a price tag of RM23 versus RM17 in Ipoh, it sure beats paying toll and petrol to drive up for a yim kuk kai fix. You can take it away or eat it at there. The coffee shop also sells all kinds of Ipoh food items such as chee cheong fun, Hakka noodles and the refreshing translucent lemon-lime jelly dessert known as Wan thau long. 94, Jalan SS2/60, Petaling Jaya, Open:10am-9.30pm (Monday to Friday), 9am-9pm (Saturday and Sunday).

Staying true to our editiorial integrity, all dining out reviews of Crave are independent recommendations and paid for by The Malay Mail. In addition, multiple visits to these places have also been conducted.