Canton-i @ 1Utama Shopping Centre PJ

Canton-i needs no introduction - for those who are familiar with KL's dining scene, they would know that this restaurant is another offspring of the people behind the highly successful Dragon-i chains. While the latter offers Shanghainese cuisine (including xiao long bao), the former serves Hong Kong style cuisine. I've been here countless times until I lost count and I rarely blogged about it as this place has been blogged to death! Given the fact that I only ordered a dish or two everytime I came here (and most of the times the same dish all over again... yes I'm predictable), I didn't feel like writing any post.

Until now - when there were more than 2 diners (4 this time and in this case, my in-laws), it meant more dishes and not the same boring post. Its interior was mostly white with Oriental theme.

Most of the time when there's elderly around, a pot of Chinese tea is a MUST - in our case, a pot of Oolong priced at RM10 per pot.

A huge lemongrass fan - how could I resist ordering the lemongrass with iced jasmine tea? A bit pricey at RM10.80 per glass though!

Deep fried pork intestine and fish congee (RM11.80) was shared between all of us. The intestine and fried fritters were served separately to ensure their crispy-ness.. how thoughtful! As usual, the congee's texture was silky smooth and flavourful which won the elders' approval.

Apart from that, we also had the 3 combinations of roasted meat (RM32.00) - char siew, roasted duck and siew yoke. I found that all the 3 meats were good - just enough to be shared among us.

However, the siew yoke stood out from the other two - I love its crispy skin plus the 50/50 ratio of lean and fat meat. Crackling sound could be heard once I took a bite on the delectable meat.

Grilled eggplant with special meat sauce was definitely another dish worthy of mentioning. My love affair with eggplant started during my university years. I just loved how this aubergine plant absorbed all the flavours that are used to cook this dish. The sauce was flavourful but not too salty and I could taste! the sau ce with each and every bite of the eggplant.

Braised garoupa belly with garlic and pork belly (RM32.00) was another hit - the fresh & flaky garoupa meat combined very well with the sinful pork belly.

To balance our rather heavy dinner, we ordered the stir fried lotus roots with celery and macadamia nuts (RM16.80).

Leo's verdict - to be honest, I had better and if you asked me, I could even mention which place with the best char siew, siew yoke and roasted duck. But then, those good places are quite far from where I live. Plus you can get all 3 varieties under one roof. For the prices, the dishes are definitely not cheap but it's convenient (inside a shopping mall) because it's near my place.

Canton-I
G-208, Ground Floor
1-Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya

Disclaimer:
1) I'm not paid to promote/endorse any particular event, restaurant or person in this blog. ALL are based on my unbiased personal opinion.
2) My reviews are based on my personal taste and preference and therefore may vary for others.

I baked: Madeira Cake

Hubby once told me that one of his favorite cakes as a child was Madeira cake. He had fond memories of visiting his grandmother at the weekend as she would bake Madeira cake for her visitors afternoon tea. Since I had some free time this week, I decided to bake a Madeira cake for him. As he took his first bite, I watched for his reaction - and I was glad that he enjoyed it. He commented that it was "just as good as my grandmother's". :)

For me, Madeira cake is a cross between a sponge cake and a butter cake. It has a firm and dense texture, but at the same time buttery and light. The exterior crust has a nice caramelised finish. Madeira Cake is often mistaken as originating from Madeira Islands in Portugal, but it is in fact British. It was named after the Madeira wine, which was popular at England at that time and was traditionally served with the dish. These days, it is more common to serve Madeira cake with tea.

Madeira Cake

Preparation time: 20 - 25 mins

Cooking time: 1 - 1 1/4 hour

Serves 12

Ingredients

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

225g butter or margarine, at room temperature

225g caster sugar

grated rind of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf tin.

!

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.

A DIY dinner of clear flavours

The two soups bubbling away... all you have to do is cook whatever you wish to eat. Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 Once in a while you yearn for food with clear flavours, and preferably in a hot soup that can be so comforting. A steamboat hits the spot on all counts. We were in Jade Pot in Desa Sri Hartamas recently, a steamboat restaurant which my friend CS frequents, and for good reason.

Here you get ingredients that are fresh or freshly-made, whether its fish, prawns, squid or pork balls, sui kow or dumplings and prawn wantan that are for you to cook in the soup, or all the deepfried varieties like stuffed crispy beancurd skin, crispy prawn dumplings and crispy prawn wantan.

A bit of everything makes a feast at a steamboat dinner.

Out of three broths we chose two the Jade Pot Superior Soup and the Teochew Fishhead Soup, both clear soups. I always feel that a tomyam soup is out of place in a steamboat, mainly because in a pot that has two sections, the chances of the clear soup being mixed with the tomyam are very high. Besides, in a hot and sour tomyam, you would not taste the intrinsic flavours of the fresh ingredients you put into the pot.

You have a choice of four dips the Teochew chilli, Thai green chilli, fermented beancurd and chilli oil. The first is hot and garlicky, the second is citrusy with calamansi lime and its rind. I liked the fermented beancurd or fu yee very much.

We piled on the orders fish maw, eringi mushroom, yam, beancurd, wantan, sui kow, grouper fish, sakura pork, a mixed platter of fish, prawn and squid balls, and mixed dumplings, matsutake mushrooms, cabbage, Romaine lettuce and watercress and noodles for the steamboat.

The fresh ingredients presented so prettily... like a high tea!

Our starter munchies included the stuffed fried crispy beancurd skin, fried wantan and stuffed red chillies. I liked the crunch of the first with a thin layer of fishpaste. The fried wantan was delicious while the stuffed red chilli was smooth, sweet and not that hot.

The superior soup had pork ribs, tomato, onions, sweet corn, radish and carrot in it; the Teochew one had black fungus and some salted fish bones that flavoured the soup.

I liked the powdery yam that I put into the Teochew stock. The fish and prawn balls, wantan and sui kow tasted better in the superior stock, so did the fish bladder and most of the other ingredients. In end I still preferred the superior stock.

While my palate has been trained to appreciate the natural flavours of good quality meat and fish, without dipping them into any conflicting sauces, I couldnt resist the slightly pungent fu yee dip with the yam, and the vegetables. The thin slices of sakura pork did not need any dip; the fish perked up with the hot and tart Thai green chilli dip.

The spongy fish bladder soaked in the soup, picking up all the essence of the meat and fish cooked in it, tasted so good, as did all the vegetables like watercress, Chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce, eringi and matsutake mushrooms which added more sweetness to the soup .

Take your pick of the dips!

If its possible to still feel peckish after all these, the noodles make a great filler, especially the yee meen.

A complimentary dessert of a slithery smooth and lemony ayu jelly gave a cool refreshing finale to our steamy meal. All in all, the seven of us paid RM50 each for the steamboat dinner which included drinks.

The soups are RM15 for a small pot and RM25 for a large one. The stuffed red chillies are RM5.50, grouper f! ish slic e RM15, fresh prawn dumplings RM9.90, Sakura pork RM16.80, stuffed beancurd skin RM8.

Jade Pot Steamboat Restaurant is located at 5, Ground floor, Plaza Prismaville, Jalan 19/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-6201-1918).

Restoran Tee Huat Bak Kut Teh - Gotong Jaya, Genting Highland

Klang Bak Kut Teh @ Gohtong Jaya, Genting Highland. Apparently this shop was a popular joint for the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong the founder of Genting Highland Resort.

Though it is not the best Bak Kut Teh but it is reasonably good as far as Gentinmg Highland is concerned.

Sai Kut - My one.... and delicious one!!!This Bak Kut Teh is not that fatty with sufficient lean meat and the soup is wonderful.

Restoran Tee Huat Klang Bak Kut Teh

27 Jalan Jati 1, Taman Gohtong Jaya,

Genting Highlands,

69000 Betung, Pahang Darul Makmur.

! Tel: 012 -323 8386 or 012-910 9864

GPS : 3.398007,101.769199

BAKED YAMS WITH CHILI BEANS

I had a late night chat in the driveway with a friend a few nights ago that got me thinking about the things we do that make us feel healthy. OK, first off, I love the driveway chat you know, youre getting ready to head back home and then you kind of unload the stirrings of your heart in those last moments of conversation? Yes, things are great, lovely to see you. But oh, hey, I feel like I may be going nuts!- thats the good stuff. Anyway, we were talking about how when life gets busy the first sacrifice is the leisure of doing the things that make you feel healthy inside. Hugh needs to read sometime during the day, the more the better, but always in the morning with his particularly perfect cup of coffee. Even when he has a list of things to do, he does this, and it has been a great example for me. Mine is a bit more literal in the way of feeling healthy, as I need to get out and move. Be it pilates, yoga, a long walk with a friend. Somewhere along the way, I picked up this impression that working hard meant not getting to do the things that make you happy/healthy, and in turn, me feeling guilty for going to pilates at 10:30 when I should be trying to come up with more recipes. There is actually a great article in this months Whole Living about time, pretty interesting.

The thing is, especially during the current point in my life, where some days I am forcing out creativity, youve got to do the stuff that feeds your insides. Maybe those of you who actually do creative work, already know this, but if the hours of obligations and responsibilities arent giving way to the things you NEED find a way. The tai chi, brushing up on Spanish, volunteer work, hip hop class, vegetable garden etc it fits in somewhere.

My sister chose a few meals to be delivered from me as her birthday present. The woman is picky ab! out vege tables, textures and most things green. I mentioned her a while back. I made this for her so she had something easy to warm up while also being nutritious and filling. If you need to bring a meal to a friend who isnt feeling well, just had a baby, a new neighbor, or the like, its easily portable and keeps for a few days. Serve it with a little side salad and ta-da! less time on dinner, more time at hip hop class, and such as :)

BAKED YAMS WITH CHILI BEANS // Serves 4
The recipe includes cooking the beans from scratch, which is slightly time consuming (all be it, hands-off time). You could use well rinsed, canned beans to speed things up. Id go one can pinto, one can black beans.

4 Small Yams
Heaping 1/2 lb. Pinto-type Beans, I used Rancho Gordos Beans, soaked in water overnight.
2 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion
2 CLoves Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Smoked Salt
28 oz. Can San Marzano Tomatoes

Cilantro
Chopped Red Onion
Avocado
Sour Cream or Whole Milk Greek Yogurt

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Pierce holes in the yams, lightly wrap them in foil, and bake on the middle rack for about 45-55 minutes.
2. Put the beans in a pot and completely cover with water, plus 2 extra inches. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 45-60 minutes until the beans are cooked through.
3. While the beans cook, thinly slice the onion. Over medium heat, warm the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot and cook the onions and garlic until softened. Add the spices and the jar of San Marzano tomatoes. ! If the t omatoes are crushed, great, if they are whole, just smush them to a puree. Bring to a simmer and reduce for about 20 minutes while the beans finish cooking.
When the beans are cooked, drain and add them to the tomato mix, cook another 10 minutes for all the flavors to marry. Taste for salt and spices, add more if desired.
4. Split open the baked yams and create a little cavern down the middle. Fill the cavern with the chili beans and add toppings as desired. I like a bit of avocado, sour cream and cilantro. You could go with a bit of shredded cheese and minced red onion something tells me youve had chili before and know the drill.

Maiu

Maiu offers one of the Klang Valley's best value-for-money deals for Japanese food, with an "a la carte buffet" that costs a mere RM38.80++.

The selection includes salmon, tuna, white tuna & squid sashimi, served to order.

Marinated baby octopus & tobiko salad, all tasting as decent as can be expected.

Loved the fried tofu _ crisp on the exterior, but meltingly soft within.

Soft-shell crab maki. Not stuffed with too much rice, thankfully.

Prawn sashimi. Yep, all the basic dishes in Japanese cuisine are a! vailable , except eel.

Skewered green pepper & beef, freshly prepared. Order as many times as you like.

Soft-shell crab & surimi tempura, crisp and not overly oily.

Tempura moriawase, with reasonably juicy prawns as the highlight.

Small fish: shishamo.

Big fish: saba. This buffet is available at Maiu's Damansara Perdana & Sri Petaling branches.

Crispy chicken katsu with raw egg dip. Banish those salmonella poisoning fears.

More chicken & egg, this one steamed with rice. Marvelously moreish.

Green tea ice cream & wasabi ice cream (way too much wasabi in this one!).

Maiu,

The Place, Damansara Perdana.

Tel: 03-7729-0015

Ama Bakery - 745 Silom Street, Bangkok

I got hold of this box of gems from my wife on her return from Bangkok. Soft and fluffy buns, almost pillowy in texture. There was lots of milk beaten into the dough and with Thai penchant for everything sweet, these buns were really good. The best I have had for long-time. I am not sure whether it is a chain store. But looks like it is a local bakery with its secrets kept within its community. The packaging was not that great. I thought Thai really pays a lot of attention on the packaging and good at it. The other was theexclusive use of the Thai language except for the word, "AMA". But who cares, when the products were so good!

The tagline say, "Aroy, sod jak tau tuk wan." It means"Delicious, fresh from the oven daily." And it is, as I agree to it whole-heartedly.

Being a carbo addict and in need of cutting back, it is not really a good thing with these fluffy buns lying on my kitchen table. The piece de resistance was the fragrant pandan fillings. It was more custardy than jam-like and again with milk added in gives it a rather rich feel.

I am sure I will get more of these when my wife get back to Bangkok next week.

For details check them out at https://m.facebook.com/AMABAKERY?view=feed&refid=0