Yummy Malaysiana: 09/05/12

Meeting my cooking idol, Martin Yan in KL

Last month, the Asian Food Channel organised a contest called "Autumn Treasures with Martin Yan", whereby winners get a chance to meet Master Chef Martin Yan in person. I was lucky to be one of the chosen five and got to attend an exclusive dinner at Berjaya University College of Hospitality hosted by the man himself!

I was delighted thay I finally got the chance to shake Martin Yan's hand, speak to him, take a photo with him and he even signed an autograph for me with a special message... he is afterall one of my cooking idols!

Yan can cook, so can Yen ;)

Autograph from Chef Martin Yan - this is going up on my kitchen wall ;)

Even as a child, I love watching cooking programmes and Martin Yan always amazes me with his super-fast chopping skills! What I love most about him is how charismatic he is on TV and in person, he is incredibly quick witted and makes everyone in the room laugh with him!

Martin Yan's most famous tagline is "If Yan can cook, so can you!", and thanks to Martin Yan, Yen (that's me) can cook too!

The dinner was held at Samplings on the Fourteenth in Berjaya Times Hotel with around 90 guests attending. Other than meeting Martin Yan, I also got to meet the other winners of the contest, one of which is Hock Chai, a chef from Zi Zai Restaurant in Penang. I have been "liking" his deli! cious co oking on AFC's FB, so it is nice to finally meet him in person too! Also happy to meet Criz, Caren and Matthew.

Introductory speech

Wine pairing dinner with Jacob's Creek wines

The 5-course dinner started with crispy beancurd skin rolls filled with vegetables and mushrooms and pickled carrot. Then, Martin Yan gave a cooking demonstration, whereby he exhibited his excellent chopping skills (man, he can slice the cucumber and garlic soooooooo thinly!) and also how he relaxed a chicken ("a nervous chicken is difficult to debone", according to him) and then debone it in 18 seconds (you can watch the video here). We also picked up a few garnish skills from him (shaping a rose from tomato skin, making a flower from cucumber), so hopefully we can remember how to replicate it at home.

He then demonstrated the dragon and phoenix in a basket ("stir fry your food, not stare fry it", he says - on one of the most important techniques in Chinese cooking). I tell you, this man comes up with the funniest puns... I was laughing all night. Other dishes we got to try were the beef stew with beancurd sticks and Chinese chestnuts, smoked marina! ted squa b and wine poached pears.

Crispy beancurd skin rolls

Time for the cooking demo!

Garnishing and deboning a chicken

Dragon & Phoenix in a Basket

Yay! First photo of the night with Martin Yan. I'm a happy girl!

Beef Stew with Beancurd sticks and Chinese chestnuts

Smoked Marinated Squab

Happy to meet you, Hock Chai!

Wine Poached Pear

And another shot with Martin Yan before we leave! ;)

Location: Samplings on the Fourteenth, Berjaya Times Square Hotel, 1 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2117 8000

GPS Coordinates: 3.142637, 101.709538

RSC vs The New Club Taiping - Northern Tour 2012

We left Kiara at 5.30am with a plan to reach Taiping Golf Resort by 9.00am.

Slightly delayed we reached at 9.15am

A quick group photo session for a record.

My partner Johnny Soon was all geared up for the challenge.

A shot of my drive, sometimes I have this reverse divot problem....

A beautiful resort for golf in Taiping overlooking hills and the weather was excellent.Our host was kind to serve us beer while we were still competing...

Our fellow team mates Ganesan & Colonel Karu playing near us.

Johnny keeping an eye on ouropponent'sball.

And he is none other than Lim Sweet Chin.

Oh shit! I broke my pitching and two more games to go.

Lim Sweet Chin recovering a shot from the hazard, he did it well.

My score of the day.

Colonel Manjit checking the score board. He wants to play next year.

Overall score of RSC.

Gosh... I was the Champion among RSC players with a score of 38 stableford points playing a handicap of 22.

The lunch was excellent especially the curry fish and special limited Char Koay Teow was superb. I didn't know Taiping has such a good Char Koay Teow.

Members of RSC always enjoy their drinks.

Special thanks to Dato Dr Joginder Singh, the man behind all the Northern tours of RSC.

We lost to a stronger team, The new Club Taiping and the hospitality was magnificent. We shall meet again.

After a good game of golf and wonderful lunch at the club house of The New Club Taiping all was ready to move on to the next destination.

My the other opponent in my flight was Mr. Ong Hong Kong, 82 years old with poor eye sight & hearing problem and yet he played well. I must respect & salute Mr. Ong. Long live Mr. Ong.

Komura @ Corus & Uzen @ Concorde

Komura and Uzen, two hotel-based Japanese restaurants in the city center, have long kept a low profile,receiving scant attention despite their charms.

First up, Komura at Corus Hotel,built to resemble a Japanese village site.Customers are seated in small rooms with sliding doors that can be completely shut. Not convenient for claustrophobia, but perfect for privacy.

Spinach with bonito flakes. Traditional fare is the highlight here, matching the ambiance.

Cuttlefish dressed with spicy cod roe. Slippery & savory; slurp it up in silent ecstasy.

Whitebait with grated radish. An acquired taste; might be too briny for some.

Sashimi. A hearty selection, sufficiently fresh and flavorsome.

Warm sake to complement a simple but satisfying meal.

Next up, Uzen at Concorde Hotel, worth visiting for its beautifully calm setting and wide, well-prepared range of recipes.

Crunchy cucumbers and carrots, with an amazingly addictive miso dip. We had to restrain ourselves from pleading with the service team for more of the sauce.

Soft-shell crab, lightly dusted with chili powder. More sodium-laced than expected, but redeemed by the irreproachably crisp batter blanketing meaty crab meat.