1 Feb 2013 by Crave Malay Mail

Friday FEBRUARY 1, 2013 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

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REUNION REVEL Cook these dishes for the Lunar New Year table

PROSPERITY BOWL (6 SERVINGS) Usher in the year of the Snake with this edible yam bowl filled with treasures full of auspicious meanings.

COVER RECIPE

yam ring 400g yam, peeled and sliced thinly 50g wheat starch (tang meen fun) 50g shortening 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper ﬁlling 1 teaspoon abalone or oyster sauce 1/4 teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper 100ml water or stock 1/2 teaspoon corn flour 1 tablespoon Chinese Shao Xing wine salt to taste 2 tablespoons cooking oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 150g medium sized prawns, peeled leaving tail intact and marinated with ¼ teaspoon sugar 10 large scallops 150g fish fillet, sliced into 1cm thick pieces, marinated with ¼ teaspoon cornflour, pepper and oil 80g mini crab claws, defrosted 100g toasted cashew nuts 150g Chinese leeks, cut into 3cm slices coriander leaves, for garnish

To prepare yam ring: Steam the sliced yam until it is soft. Mash the yam when hot, and combine with the remaining ingredients to form a paste that does not stick to the hands. Shape the yam paste into a ring approximately 3cm in height. Line a plate with a lightly greased plastic sheet and place the yam ring on top. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Heat sufficient cooking oil in a saucepan. Once the oil is medium hot, remove the yam ring from the refrigerator and deep-fry until golden brown. Remove the yam ring and place onto a serving plate.

5 seconds. Mix in seasoning, adjusting salt to taste. Toss in the leeks. Once the gravy thickens, turn off heat; toss in the crab claws and half of the toastedcashew nuts.

To prepare ﬁlling: Combine the abalone sauce, sugar, pepper, water, corn flour, and Shao Xing wine in a bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok and saute the garlic until fragrant. Saute the prawns for 1-2 minutes. Add fish fillet and scallops; sauté for

The Chinese love using various ingredients to give the festivities. In our yam bowl, you will ﬁnd cashew nuts resembling gold ingots and various ingredients meaning all sorts of auspicious greetings. Leeks are an auspicious symbol of prosperity, as its Mandarin name suen means able to count. The prawns represent liveliness, while ﬁsh is said to signify abundance.

Taster Comments: This was an old-school dish that I liked.”

To serve: Pour the filling into the yam ring. Garnish with extra cashew nuts and coriander leaves and serve immediately. – Recipe by Debbie Teoh, Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

SYMBOLIC FOOD

RACHEL MAH, Student

LAYERED LOTUS RICE 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 teaspoon sesame oil 2 shallots, peeled and chopped 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 3 tablespoons (20g) dried prawns, soaked, drained and chopped 600g glutinous rice, washed, soaked overnight and drained dry seasoning 3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 teaspoon light soy sauce salt to taste 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon ground white pepper 250-300ml water 2 tablespoons fried shallot crisps 6-7 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and julienned salt & pepper to taste 5 Chinese wax sausage (lap cheong), sliced

200g chicken fillet, sliced, marinated with ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper 25 dried oyster, washed and soaked in 2-3 tablespoons hot water 50g dried scallops, soaked in 2-3 table spoons hot water 4 dried lotus leaves, soaked in water till soft and drained

(MAKES TWO LOTUS PACKETS)

Heat the cooking and sesame oils in a wok. Saute half portion of the shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add dried prawns and saute until fragrant. Add the drained glutinous rice and the seasoning. Gradually add water until the glutinous rice is cooked and the water dries up. Remove the rice and toss with the shallot crisps. Set aside the rice. In a clean wok, heat oil and saute the remaining garlic and shallots. Sauté the sliced mushrooms, adding some salt and pepper to taste.Remove and set aside. Saute the Chinese sausages lightly until fragrant and remove from heat. To assemble: Place two lotus leaves in a bowl. Divide the glutinous rice and the filling into two

equal portions. Line the bottom of the bowl with Chinese sausages, followed by a layer of glutinous rice. Cover with the marinated chicken fillet, followed by another layer of glutinous rice. Place a layer of shiitake mushroom, followed by a layer of glutinous rice. Next, layer dried oysters, followed by glutinous rice. Lastly, place a layer of dried scallops and oysters, covering with the balance of the glutinous rice. Tuck in the sides of the lotus leaves to cover tightly. To steam: Place the glutinous rice packet into a steamer and steam for 20 minutes. Remove the packet. Turn the rice over and remove the lotus leaves. Serve warm. – Recipe by Debbie Teoh, Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

FRIDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2013

THE MALAY MAIL

Food Bites

FESTIVE DISCOUNTS RM58 for minimum two persons. The 5-course set includes items such as shrimp in kong po style, stir fried lamb with black pepper, steamed lotus leaf seafood sticky rice and dessert of chilled lemongrass jelly with sea coconut. Vegetarians are also catered for with the 8-course vegetarian menu. The sets are the creation of Chinese chef Tchui Han Wun, whose signature dish is the golden sand salty egg yolk prawns, one of the choices from the Joy Luck set. The restaurant is also halal certiﬁed.

Toss to prosperity with the Yee Sang promotion at Raintree Café. For the whole month of February, yee sang ordered with a set meal will enjoy a 30% discount. The yee sang selection includes wan yee, salmon and jelly ﬁsh choices, with prices ranging from RM38 onwards. The café will also be offering various festive sets including a reunion steamboat set menu starting from RM238 for four persons. The steamboat set is a choice of tom yam or clear chicken soup, together with various dumplings, seafood and meat. Roast duck or honey chicken wings is also offered as a starter. For small families, the café also serve Joy Luck sets for

Raintree Café, Hotel Maluri, 1, Jalan Permaisuri, Taman Maluri, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:0392878833 extension 630.

YTL HOTELS’ CULINARY TALE Flick through the pages of A Perennial Feast, YTL Hotels’ latest coffee table book for a peek into the group’s culinary journey. Author Kim Inglis charts the various YTL properties around Malaysia to Japan’s snowy Niseko, England, Bali, Thailand and France. The luxurious Eastern & Oriental Express is also included. Over 175 pages, the book contains beautiful pictures taken by Jacob Termansen that depicts the various island resorts, city and heritage hotel, and restaurants. Keen cooks can also recreate their favou-

CHEF TCHUI HAN WUN AND CHEF BEN B. JUSSIL WITH THEIR SET MENUS

SOFT SHELL MAKI

GOLDEN SAND SALTED EGG YOLK PRAWNS

GARIGUEETE STRAWBERRIES IN A CRUNCHY PASTRY

STIR-FRIED PRAWNS WITH HOT MAYONNAISE

NIEN GAO WITH CHEESE

rite dishes from YTL Hotels, in their own kitchen. The 30 plus recipes cover traditional local dishes including Nonya items, and some with Western twists. Other recipes include Japanese, Thai items and even hawker fare from Lot 10 Hutong. The book was ofﬁcially launched by YTL Corporation Executive Director Dato’ Yeoh

Soo Min. This was followed by a dinner showcasing four signature dishes from the book. The items from Shook! Kuala Lumpur, Shook! Shanghai, Fisherman’s Cove, Gonbei San and Muse Saint Tropez were prepared by YTL Corporate Executive Chef Wai Look Chow and chefs from various restaurants including Chef Matthew

REUNION JOY Ona from Shook! Shanghai. The book retails for RM125 at Kinokuniya, Borders, MPH Bookstores and Times Bookshop.

HAUTE CHINESE

Taster Comments: This was simply yummy with all the ingredients. ” RACHEL MAH, Student

The Oriental group of restaurants’ latest venture is Noble Mansion, a hop and skip away from their popular Jaya 33 Oriental Pavilion. This restaurant serves a large variety of Shunde or exquisite Cantonese dishes, exclusive to this restaurant. This includes a combination of crispy rice in a comforting soup with the Two variety rice with scallop, razorback clam and crab meat in superior crab soup, or a piquant toss up of Waxed meat slices with shredded yam and papaya, and a ﬁnger-licking Char siew liver roll, which uses liver sausage with the

EDITORIAL NOTE Getting ready for Chinese New Year would be in full swing by now as the shopping malls are crowded with people. For this issue, we share ideas for a reunion feast. The yam ring is envisioned as an edible prosperity bowl, full of goodies brimming with abundant

heady aromas of rose wine. Other specialties include the Roast suckling pig with liver sausage. For the Chinese New Year festivities, the restaurant also serves yee sang with crispy enoki mushrooms and fried whitebait starting from RM48 onwards. Various Chinese New Year menus are offered including a two-person set for RM118++ per person. The innovative Chinese dishes served here were created by Executive Chef Justin Hor, and previously only available in Noble House, Kuala Lumpur. The talented Chef Hor will also be headlining a new res-

by Lee Khang Yi

taurant known as ME@OUE in Singapore, set to open its doors on February 16. Touted as one of the kind, the restaurant located in OUE Bay, will have an open kitchen concept with Japanese, French and Chinese stations. Joining Chef Hor are chefs Masayasu Yonemura and Laurent Peugeot, whose restaurants have earned prestigious Michelin stars. Noble Mansion, P1-01, 1st Floor, The Plaza @Jaya 33, 1, Jalan Semangat, Petaling Jaya. Tel:016-9021491 (Brenda Kok).

TWO VARIETY RICE

Enjoy a joyous reunion feast with the family in Zuan Yuan. You have a choice of three set menus featuring pork free dishes, starting from RM1,388 for ten persons. The menus include a nourishing Double boiled soup with dried scallop, sea cucumber and mushrooms, Braised sliced Mexican abalone with dried oysters, Deep fried crispy spring chicken and steamed lotus leaf rice with assorted preserved meat, chicken sausage and yam. Yee sang choices include refreshing ones with fruits and seaweed, or crispy soft shell crabs. End the meal with a bang, with the unusual pairing of Panfried nien gao with Cheddar cheese. The restaurant is open throughout the Chinese New Year period. Zuan Yuan Restaurant, One World Hotel, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya. Tel:03-76811159.

Crave Editor

signiﬁcance. Then there’s an easy to make but stunning looking glutinous rices. Go all out and add as many luxurious ingredients you like. And for those, who rather hide under the bed with all these festivities, you can bake up the delicious spinach cheese triangles.

Not only is the vegetable good for us, it tastes great with loads of cheese, wrapped in crispy ﬁlo pastry. One of our interesting discoveries is Crayon Burger. The rainbow hue buns not only look unique, they taste so good, one burger is not enough. Other good eats include

the new Noble Mansion with their unique Shunde dishes. There’s also Chinese New Year menus in Maluri Hotel and Zuan Yuan. Keep in touch by emailing me at khangyi@mmail.com.my. Have fun preparing for the festivities.

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

FRIDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2013

THE MALAY MAIL

In the Kitchen

with Eu Hooi Khaw THERE are many kinds of spinach but the most common one in this country is known as bayam in Malay or yuen choy in Chinese. The vegetable is known as a super food, since it is one of the most nutritious vegetables you could eat. Not only is it high in ﬁbre, it is also rich in carotenoids, a type of antioxidant that protects against cancer of the stomach, breast and prostate. The vegetable is also high in vitamins C and K and iron, niacin and zinc, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, copper and manganese. Spinach also contains lutein, which prevents macular degeneration and cataracts. The origins of the vegetable, is said to date back to the 8th century in the Middle East. Traders from this region brought the vegetable to China and India, hence it was originally known as a Persian vegetable. In the popular Pop-

eye the Sailor Man cartoon, spinach was depicted as a vegetable that gave you super human strength. During World War II, the French soldiers weakened by blood loss, relied on wine fortiﬁed with spinach juice to boost their strength. According to the renowned Vancouver-based Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, Dr. Henry C. Lu, in his book titled, The Chinese System of Food Cures, he claims that spinach is cool in energy with a sweet ﬂavour, which acts on the stomach and large intestines. It is also believed to be a blood cleanser for those suffering from skin eruptions and itchy skin. In terms of culinary use, the Chinese prefer to cook spinach in a broth made from ikan bilis, which provides all the nutrients you need. The northern Indians chop up the spinach and cook it with cottage cheese in the Palak Paneer dish.

ALL AROUND the Klang Valley, burger joints are popping up everywhere like mushrooms after a rainstorm. When I first heard about Crayon Burger in Subang Jaya, I dismissed it as another fad but deep inside my tummy, it tweaked my appetite. Hence, one night I found myself pushing through their glass doors to try their fare. One can straightaway spot the influences from myBurgerlab in Seapark – wall art, free flow soft drinks and the touch of black with the buns. Even the college student clientele looked like a replica of those thronging around Seapark, minus the queues outside the glass doors. Ordering our meal was a little complicated, as all we

! s k c o r

melted Swiss cheese and fresh onion ketchup. I take a bite and discover it is a clone of myBurgerlab’s smashed beef patty made entirely from Australian grass fed beef. This method perfected by America’s famous Shake Shack gives you a better bite to the burger since it retains the moistness. While I was fascinated with the black and red combination (think bloodthirsty zombie), I wasn’t sold on the whole combination since the bun’s texture was a little too soft for my liking. Being adventurous eaters, when we saw the Peanut butter bacon (RM15) burger on the board, we knew we had to order it. When the burger arrived, I stared at the pink coloured buns, naturally

in an adorable heart shape, wasabi sauce, Swiss cheese and a crispy cheddar slice. While the wasabi sauce was a total wimp out with no spicy kick, the combination of the crispy cheese, juicy beef patty with the oozing egg yolk won our tummies. Replete from the burgers, we walk away and start planning our new assault on this place. Even though, this place is riding on the coat tails of

myBurgerlab, Crayon Burger’s creative combinations and their naturally coloured rainbow range of buns had us swooning. Rumour has it they will be launching a red velvet version, perfect for the Chinese New Year. Crayon Burger, 38, Jalan SS15/4, Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya. Open:11am to 10pm. Closed on Mondays.

PEANUT BUTTER BACON

SPINACH AND CHEESE TRIANGLES filling 300g baby spinach leaves 1 egg, beaten 1/2 onion, peeled and cut into small dice 120g cream cheese, cut into dice 120g feta cheese, cut into dice 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper 80g butter, melted 1/2 packet frozen fillo pastry, at room temperature Cook the spinach in boiling hot water. Drain and leave to cool. Chop the spinach and squeeze any excess water. Mix with the remaining filling ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 190C. Place the pastry layers on a flat surface and cut into 5cm wide strips. Cover the remaining pastry with a damp cloth to prevent from cracking. Place two sheets on top of each other and brush with melted butter. Place 1 rounded teaspoon at the top of the sheet. Fold the pastry into triangles, like a flag. Continue with the rest until the filling is used. Place folded triangles on a greased tray. Brush with melted butter and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and serve hot.

GETTING TO KNOW THE BOSS

THE ZOMBIE

had was a blackboard filled with intriguing names next to chalk drawings of the burgers. Think the Zombie, Hashtag, Double Rainbow and even a Love burger (a sweet amalgamation of sponge cake layers). Luckily, to ease our confusion, the cashier patiently fills us in on what was each burger combination. Taking the cue from others, we ordered their bestseller, the Zombie (RM15) burger. It comes as a beef patty sandwiched between a charcoal bun topped with poppy seeds,

coloured from red yeast. Taking hold of the burger, I bit into it. Heavenly. The thick tangy raspberry jam, the creamy peanut butter with the crispy beef bacon and the juicy patty was simply amazing – think savoury with an alluring tinge of sweetness that hooks you straight away. Being greedy, we subsequently placed another order for a burger to share.. This time, we upped our bets, and went for the Boss (RM16). It’s one huge stack – green spinach and vegetable tinged buns, onion rings, an egg

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