California Pizza Kitchen, KLCC

Yyess, pasta - lovely pasta to get hungry with. This time, we headed to Suria KLCC for some photo shooting & shopping. I always love this tall, majestic building for some reason. I love watching the different kind of people from all walks of life just hanging out here. After a brisk walk at the park, we were thinking of what to eat... And so for lunch, we decided to choose California Pizza Kitchen - located on the 1st level of Suria.The restaurant has 3 sections - front where cute round tables with sofas are situated, the main dining with wooden tables and seats, and the outdoor balcony overlooking the water park of KLCC. I would love to seat outside , but probably not on a hot KL afternoon... Menu is pretty ok for me, from appetizers to salads, pizzas and pastas, soups and sandwiches, desserts and a whole lot of beverage for kids and adults. One of what I like, of its service, is that, if you have kids with you, the waiters bring you drawing papers and colourful crayons so kids don't get bored. A good one there. :-)
Looks good... I loved the very delicious Portobello Mushroom Ravioli I had. They look so flowery. And one bite in the Rosemary ravioli brings a burst of Portobello mushrooms, herbs and melting cheese... and it is simply delicious... This dish was served in a fresh Italian tomato sauce with garlic and Parmesan cream. Very rich in garlic. Very. Vampires would refrain from going anywhere near you. Period. The price? RM 28.90 and for an additional RM3.00 or so, you get additional sauteed mushrooms.
I wish I had more people dining with me - to order more food and take more food picture!! But maybe next time... I'm more of a "couple foodie" than a group of foodies... but I enjoy doing what I do even if it's small! :-) For my guy, it is usually fettuccine. Cos he likes kuey teow(flat rice noodles), and fettuccine is the Italian version of kuey teow. And he loves cream sauce. One Fettuccine with Garlic Cream sauce which look deliciously creamy...
This dish is available with prawns, or chicken and sauteed mushroom. We went for chicken. The creamy sauce is also very garlic-ky, and tastes nice with the rich parmesan in it. This babe was priced at RM24.90 and we also ordered to add in sauteed mushrooms.
By the time we almost finish our lunch, we were very full. I remember the last time we were here, we ordered the Baja Chicken Tortilla Spring Rolls. Delicioussss and very filling. We did not get to dessert... no way can we stuff ourselves any further, and food is never good to waste. Previously, I tried the Panna Cota and Tiramisu, which were both very lovely. Don't think they have the Panna Cota anymore...

Let's give it a 8/10.. Good food, nice place, they love kids, and staffs are good. :-)

California Pizza Kitchen
Lot 140, Level 1, Suria KLCC
50088 Kuala Lumpur

Stir Fry Spicy Thai Marinade Chicken & Seafood Tom Yum

If anyone can simplify cooking, one of them would be my sister. With a busy job and two hyperactive kids running around and screaming and fighting for tv, she is one who does not bother cooking up meals that takes the whole day to prepare and cook.
And when I was with her recently, she made me some Tom Yum and some really yummy "Thai" fried chicken. This has got to be the best fried chicken I've ever tasted, when it comes to the Southern Thai style that I normally eat out around town.

I call it Thai style, as the marinade consists of Thai ingredients, such as fish sauce and chili paste. A very simple dish to prep up. I asked her for the recipe, and here it is:
:: Stir Fry Spicy Thai Marinade Chicken ::
1 cup chicken small chicken breast cutlets
3 dash of fish sauce
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon chili paste
2 bird's eye chili, pounded
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic, pounded

Marinate the chicken with fish sauce, turmeric, & oyster sauce. Heat up the wok with some oil and fry the shallots & garlic. Add chicken and fry, adding the pounded chili and chili paste. Continue frying till the chicken is golden brown - a little crispy but don't let it dry out.. And serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Tom Yum are very easy to prepare, once you found your favourite Tom Yum paste. It is widely available on the racks of your local supermarket, so grab one. Cook up tom yum soup, add it in fried rice, noodles, they are very tasty and convenient. My tip: Add fresh ingredient to it, such as lemongrass, kafir lime leaves, veges, meat, and fresh lime juice to make it delicioussss...

:: Seafood Tom Yum ::
This makes about 1 medium pot of Tom Yum Soup

2 lemongrass stalks, pounded
1 green onion, cubed
1 garlic, pounded
fresh meat - squids, prawns, chicken
1/2 carrot, cubed
1/4 cabbage, cut in 2 cm strips
2-3 tablespoon tom yum paste
2 tablespoon lime juice
1 red tomato, cubed
3 kafir lime leaves
5 bird's eye chili, pounded

Boil water in the pot, add lemongrass, garlic, tomatoes. Add in the rest, starting with the meat, yom yum paste, chili, lime leaf and juice. Add salt and you wish, or fish sauce. Taste the soup to check if the tom yum paste, salt, lemon is enough, and adjust if necessary according to how you like your tom yum - more paste, or more sourness...

I enjoy tom yum and now, I'm signing off to the kitchen to make some!

No Fasta Pasta

This has been like a pasta month for me - I know.... I know... but I was having a pasta frenzy... The last time was because I was hungry. This time it was because the kids were hungry and we needed the nearest place to eat. Heh hey! What a coincidence, it's Fasta Pasta again!

Pizza Margherita

I like the food there, but seriously, the staffs there are a bit on the slow side. It's a little upside down - main course comes first rather than starters and drinks come in probably after you choke on your food half way, and what?! - no macaroni?? no penne?? no mushroom soup?? no meatballs?? You gotta be kidding me. Then why bother calling it "fasta" "pasta"? Thankfully, they had some form of pasta and I chose the spirals.

Spirali Peppino

These were some of which the team at that restaurant need to look into. On the other hand, I was at KFC and the cashier treated us like GOLD. He actually, after putting our orders on the tray, named each one of our order like it was fine dining, and asked if we needed anything else with it. I was impressed. Seriously.... He may look skinny and nerdy and just working over a little counter of a fast food restaurant, but he has talents that restaurateurs would DIE for. He was a true professional at handling customer service... respect-lah!

Marinated Chicken Boxing

They probably ran into a pasta emergency and all pasta banks had run out of pasta (Even though the supermarket was just a few meters away...), and they probably had new staffs who may be slow... How ironic it all contradicts with it's own name tho.

Despite that, I would still give it a 8/10 cos the food taste good and the place is clean, staffs are friendly. My next few posts will contain elements of pasta again... beautiful, delicious pasta and I hope you guys will come and visit! :-) Happy Weekend!

Read my previous post on Fasta Pasta.

Nasi Tomato (Chicken Tomato Rice)

I know I tend to mention "my favourite" this and that - but really, I guess I have too many favourite food. So I have favourite mum's food, fave. pizza, fave. pasta, fave. cafe, bla bla bla (it goes on and on...) This is one of my mum's special special cooking that I LOVE - Tomato rice with Chicken in Tomato Curry. I simply love flavoured rice as compared to plain rice.

The main ingredient used is the all famous Heinz Tomato Soup. Just a can of it makes this wonderful rice and curry! It is actually pretty simple to make this - I made it once but my mum cooks it 99.99% of the time... it's her kitchen and she cooks better than me! We use Basmati rice - the long grained rice, very fragrant and delicate in flavour. Some spice mix is used - cloves, cardamom, cinnamon bark, and star anise, which is lightly fried till fragrant, before adding the rice. Half of the tomato soup is added to the rice alongwith some water and screwpine and curry leaves to make smell really yummilicious. I can "smell" it right now and it's getting me hungry in the middle of the night! Before the rice cooks, we add a handful of raisins and cashew or almond slices in.

Chicken curry for this is also cooked using the Heinz tomato soup, and it's yummy! Almost the same like cooking up chicken curry, except you substitute the curry powder for the half can of tomato soup! :-)
We have the rice and we have the chicken. Must have veggies.... so some simple stir-fried mixed vege with light soy sauce is good enough to make this meal complete. I love carrots, capsicums, cauliflowers and broccoli. Fresh, and easy to cook.

You can find similar dish in local Malay stalls - selling for breakfast and more commonly in Mamak restaurants for lunch, commonly on Fridays especially. And you get to eat it with many interesting dishes like Squid curry, Honey Chicken, a variety of fried Indian style veges, and more!

Ikan Assam Lemak (Fish in Sour Coconut Sauce)

A Malay favourite dish I cannot live without. Sadly, my guy does not agree to it. If I were to cook this in our home, I'd have to cook Malai Kofta for him at the same time.

There's many different type of Masak Lemak (Coconut based gravy) - those thick gravies, the ones with lots of bird's eyes chilis, and the simple medium hotness and cream like this one here.

They say women love a little taste of sourness in their food. Very true for me - when it comes to Malaysian food. So, limes, lemons, tamarinds, assams, mango, and everything else sour are all my best friends in the foodie world. Drool!

If you have never tasted this, please do! The combination of coconut milk, assam, and chilis are truly Malaysian. (And also Indonesia and Thailand)... It has that sweet creamy coconut taste with a hint of sourness, and that is what I love about Masak Lemak.

  :: Ingredients ::

3 medium Fish cutlets (I used Mackerel)
1/2 cup fresh cococut milk
1 green chili, sliced
5 bird's eye chili, pounded
About 5 belimbing asam*, halved
1 cup water
1/2 green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pinch salt

1. Fry the fish till medium cooked on both sides of the cutlets. Put aside.
2. Heat up a medium pot with a little oil, sautee the onions. Add water, chilis, belimbing asam.
3. When the belimbing asam soften, add in the coconut milk & bring to boil. Add sugar and salt to taste.
5. Finally, add the fish into the pot and bring to boil on a medium heat.

Serve hot and enjoy!

* Belimbing asam is a type of local Indonesian/Malaysian fruit similar like a star fruit. It's green in colour and tastes sour. Usually used to enhance flavours of Malay cooking, and commonly used to cleanse the fish to eliminate its fishy smell.
You may substitute belimbing asam with other asam, such as tamarind juice.

Kuih Kapit (Love Letters)

Isn't it pretty? Fine crispy love letters to melt your days... So crispy, once you crunch, you'll want more!

Kuih kapit, or love letters are traditional Chinese cookies served. The best ones are those really thin... and fine "letters" made in a special round mould, and folded like in the picture above.

I have never made these, I wish to try them one day :-) But receiving love letters from friends means so much! These are really special. I know for sure they very pretty, but quite expensive!

:: Here is a recipe, taken from Amy Beh from Kuali - The Star Online ::

Ingredients
125g rice flour
35g plain flour
155g granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (from 1 coconut)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Method
Sift rice and plain flour into a mixing bowl. Add in sugar and slowly add the coconut milk. Stir until smooth then add the eggs and egg yolks. Whisk until well blended. Strain the batter.

Lightly grease love letter moulds with a piece of muslin cloth dipped in oil. Heat mould over charcoal fire.

When heated, place the moulds open over a bowl of batter and pour a ladelful of batter onto the mould. Close the mould tightly and bake over charcoal fire for about half a minute on each side.

When golden in colour, remove and immediately fold into a quarter. Press lightly with a tin cover to level the surface.

Cool and store in an air-tight container or tin.

(You need love letter moulds to make this beautiful kuih that is served during chinese new year.)

Mild Chicken Curry

For me, I personally think my home curry has 2 influences. The thicker texture to the gravy, the use of yogurt, and the more spices used - are more Indian than anything. On the other side, the use of santan (coconut milk) and the occasional stalks of lemongrass might be more Malay.

How does a Malaysian home made curry taste like? Depends! Many homes will offer you unique tastes, but we're Malaysians. And that is the beauty of it. These distinctive tastes makes Malaysian curry (and many other dishes) interesting and never boring.

When it comes to chicken curry, we make it mild, so the kids can enjoy it without fearing the spiciness. It also saves people with a sensitive tummy like me from the possible tummy upset and gastric.

Chicken curry consist of chunks of chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. It goes well with rice and many types of bread, fresh or toasted. Malaysians eat curry any time of the day. With bread for breakfast, rice for lunch, and bread for dinner. For special occasions, we have it with flavoured rice such as tomato rice, briyani, nasi hujan panas (direct translation : hot rain rice :) which is a type of flavoured rice served commonly on Malay weddings.), and sticky rice.

Sounds interesting yet? Here's a simple and tasty recipe to share.
:: Ingredients ::
1/2 chicken, cut to medium chunks
1 big red tomato, cubed
1 medium carrot, cut to small pieces
1 big potato, cubed
1 stalk lemongrass (optional, but very flavourful)
1 pandan (screwpine) leaf (or curry leaves)
1 small packet of chicken curry powder (I recommend Allagappa's or Babas)
1 cup of santan (coconut milk) or 1 cup fresh yogurt (I prefer yogurt)
2 cups water
Mixed spices: Aniseed, cloves, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon bark - very little of each
1 green or red onion, cubed
Blend of : 2 garlic, 4 shallots (or 1 onion), 2cm of fresh ginger - just put in the food processor for a minute or so.

1. Prepare the ingredients to blend first. Pour the curry powder in a small bowl and mix with some warm water to form a paste.
2. Heat up a pot with some cooking oil.
3. Fry the mixed spices until fragrant.
4. Fry the blended mixture in. Add in pandan & lemongrass.
5. Add curry paste, fry until aromatic and until the oil start to come up.
6. Add water, chicken pieces, potatoes, onions and bring to boil.
7. Add carrots, tomatoes. You can also add in the santan/yogurt in while stirring. Add little by little so the curry does not get too creamy.
8. The curry should be smooth and not watery. Have a taste. Add santan/yogurt or water according to your preference.

Serve warm with rice or bread.

Bon apetite!

Xing Nian Kuai Le

Xing Nian Kuai Le!
Selamat Tahun Baru Cina!

Happy Chinese New Year to all of my visitors here!
Today marks the new lunar year - the year of the Rat.

All around the globe today, the Chinese community is celebrating and gathering with friends and families from near and far.

I just got home from work. Yup, I know, it is sad... but I am a dedicated employee and it is my duty to ensure work goes on - my work involves working with people from around the globe and there are some countries working today.
But I'm home! It is a beautiful sunny day in Penang and I am going to collect angpows now! (I sound like a kid!)

Here's sharing some photos that I managed to capture during the past weekend, in conjuction with the festive season. Enjoy!

Acrobatic performers at 1 Utama

Kids performing at Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Dining in @ Fasta Pasta

Fasta Pasta. Hungry and just wanting to go some place near to his parent's place (after a 4-hour drive from Penangggg), we headed to The Curve. Thankfully parking was not bad on a Friday night!
I would never miss my chance at learning to take better foodtography, what more in KL. Plenty of food and choices makes me go crazy! But with just the short weekend, I opted for my favourite casual food.

I LOVE PASTA. Put aside my crazy tastebuds for Assam Laksa, Chicken Briyani and Tom Yum Soup, I LOVE PASTA. Perhaps I'm a bit of an Italian at heart. Ha ha ha!

The bread is served as a starter while we wait for our food to come. Soft bread served with butter. Just nice and perfect and I love this any time.I had the Maccheroni Pepino - a very delightful meal with chunks of chicken, generous mozzarella and chili in yummy tomato sauce. There is 2 serving size: Ozzie or Asian. I chose Asian as I wanted to have some soup too. I love this macaroni meal. It is simply wonderful anytime!
Unfortunately they did not have the Mushroom soup that I wanted. So the other choice (not too many choices of soup huh?) the Minestrone soup. This was a bit of a disappointment. The soup was not so rich in flavour and vegetables. I don't know where the chunks of veges and beans went to, but it was definitely not "big" as it's supposed to be. Minestrone? Hmm.
The man opposite me - my driver for the day cos I kept yawning all the way here, had the Spirali Calabrese. This dish looks so exciting it could turn heads instantly, "Look at me!!!" A pretty mild dish, it comes with colourful spiral pasta tossed in thick tomato sauce with lots of black olives, beef salami and mozzarella.

We did not really like the taste of it, though. It was not as flavourful as the Maccheroni Pepino. Because I loved my guy so much, and I knew he did not liked this, I told him, "you can have the macaroni, I'll have the spirals." Cos really, I didn't mind exchanging because I do not like to waste food. So we did finished the food afterall.
Come next was ... chocolate drinks for us! Now the drinks here are not bad at all, especially the Ice Chocolate with Ice Cream! Ooh yummy.... I love chocolate! The Vienna Chocolate kept me warm and comfy as I was feeling a bit cold. Fasta Pasta is located at the ground floor of Ikano Power Centre, Mutiara Damansara.
You can have events here as well, birthday parties and gatherings and it is best to make a reservation for the staff to prepare ahead of the functions.
Call 03-7727 5876 for reservations.
They are open daily, 10-10pm.

Pretty Fried Wantons

Wantons are very popular Chinese food - boiled or deep fried. I made these cute dumplings for soup, and with some left overs I decided to deep fry them to make some delicious crisp appetizers. Make these for your guests... they'd love these cute little crispy appetizers.. or snacks!

Fresh wanton skins can be found in many Asian markets and supermarkets, and those frozen ones are not bad too. There are 2 types - thin and thick skins which the thin are used for soups and the thick for frying. But it does not really matter, at least not to me. To add, there are 2 shapes of the skin sold - square and round. These make different styles of folding - money bag, boat, or just plain fold.
While most wantons are primarily made from minced pork, we can also use vege, beef, prawns and chicken. Be creative and you'll be amazed at how wonderful these taste!

:: Ingredients ::
1 cup Minced chicken
1/2 cup Minced prawn
1/2 Green onions, chopped
1 stalk fresh coriander, chopped
2-3 water chestnut, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch
...
1 packet wanton skins

1. Combine the above in a small bowl and add some corn starch.
2. Place a teaspoonfuls of mix on a wonton skin and wrap it. Wet your fingers with some water and just lightly circle the skin before wrapping it to seal it. Then press it firmly to create a "bag" shape.
3. Repeat for remaining ingredients.
4. Heat up a deep pan with cooking oil. Fry these cute wontons until golden brown.
5. Place on some kitchen towel to drain the oil before serving.

Serve with chilli sauce (I recommend Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce) while still warm.

To see how to wrap wontons, see the short simple video, from Rasa Malaysia:

BB Hailam Chicken Rice

I hate running around town in heavy rains and umbrellas. And trying to dig my purse for parking fee and answering the phone while balancing the umbrella and shopping bags - is no fun at all. But the whole trip itself was worthwhile and so much fun.

Comes to the story of why my blog was abandoned for the past week or so. I wish I had more time in a day to write and share more foodilicious with others here. With travelling up and down Penang & KL, helping my guy and my sister with their new home, is all very tiring. But fun because I get to spend precious time with all of them.
Besides, I get to catch up on shopping and dining! In the very short trip of mine, I decided to target my favourite places first. While rushing for time before heading back to Penang, my guy and I decided to head for our quick meal at Bukit Bintang.
Situated within the Kuala Lumpur Golden Triange is Bukit Bintang. Now this place where I had my lunch - The BB Hailam Chicken Rice, is just at the corner of the BB Plaza. It is opposite a Kebab stall. Very easy to get to. Parking may be a problem, but hey, Lot 10's carpark is usually not bad... even if it means paying like RM7 for less than an hour's time! Ouch!

Hailam or Hainan? Not sure why the name is "Hailam", but it is certainly Hainanese-style chicken rice. Very tender and tasty. This place is rather famous with the local crowds of different faces.We had the Chicken Rice Set, one steamed and one roasted. My man is always steamed - oh, I meant my man likes it steamed. And I like it roasted. The set comes with a bowl of flavourful chicken rice, a bowl of soup with peanuts, garlic chilli sauce, and a side dish of tender chicken over some cucumber and tomatoes. Simple and delicious.

The prices are reasonable:
2 Chicken Rice Set RM13.60
1 Ice Lemon Tea RM3.00
1 Soft Drink RM2.80
5% Service Chg RM1.00
5% Govt Tax RM1.00
Total RM21.40

Was a good quick lunch!

Chicken rice are either served with steamed, roasted or fried chicken. Either one, the best ones are those that is cooked right - chicken meat is soft and tender. While the skin is crispy (except for steamed, of course).

If you're cooking this, I have a little secret: marinade it way ahead before you fry or roast the chicken. Soy sauce and a little bit of honey makes it super delicious! :-)

Related posts I wrote about Chicken Rice:
The Chicken Rice Shop