Curry puffs and kaya puffs...

... are 2 of Malaysia's favorite stuffed pastries. Today we venture to get the best of both puffs.

First stop - to SS2 in PJ. This is where we get one of the nicest curry puffs that I can find. We head to Hock Seng Two coffee shop. The shop is located at the corner of Jalan SS 2/66 and SS 2/67. It is a busy makan place, specked in the middle of the hectic SS2 commercial area.

At the front of this coffee shop is a stall that does a roaring business just on curry puffs.

And it is easy to see why.  One look at the puff and you know it is a winner. The puffs look so very good. They are fried there at the stall and are done to a crisp golden brown.

 

And they taste delicious too. The skin is crisp and flaky and it stays crispy for a very long time. It does not go soft even after several hours exposed to our humidity. The crispy golden skin is definitely a contributor to the goodness of the puff.

The stuffing is equally delicious. It is a nice, rich and aromatic curry of chicken and potato. Most curry puffs we eat are just potatoes. In this puff, we get generous bits of chicken meat.

The puffs are quite big in size, measuring about 13 cm long. At RM 1.20 per piece, I think it is quite good value for money.

Next we go get some kaya puffs. For this we head north, some 200 km away to one of my favorite Malaysian cities - Ipoh. The name of the shop selling the really nice kaya pastries is Sing Eng Heong. The shop is located on Jalan Mustapha Al-bakri, off Jalan Raja Ekran.

It is a biscuit shop, selling all kinds of freshly made Malaysian cookies.

But its specialty is kaya puff. The kaya puffs in this shop is very popular. Be prepared to be disappointed because if you do not make prior reservation, you will very probably find yourself in a long waiting queue or may not even be able to get them at all. It is advisable to call in to book your puffs at least a day ahead. The number to call is 05-2439659.

The puffs are sold in boxes of 10 or packets of 5. By kaya puffs standard, they are quite small - measuring only about 8 cm.

The skin is nice and fluffy. The kaya stuffing is thick, rich and sweet. They both combine to make the puff a really nice snack. But they are best eaten fresh, preferably within the day. If kept too long, the puff loses its fluffiness and becomes quite ordinary.

While in Ipoh, we might as well have some tau fu fah (豆腐花) at Funny Mountain and perhaps even some chicken and taugeh (芽菜雞) at Lou Wong because they are both within walking vicinity from the kaya puff shop.

Organic vegetarian

This place is a mini-market, grocery store, chup fun (杂饭) stall and cafe - all in one. And it is vegetarian and organic. For the health die-hard, this place seems like a paradise.

The paradise is known as Organic Vegetarian Fresh Market & Restaurant on Jalan SS 18/1B in Subang Jaya. The place occupies 2 shop lots - one for retailing organic vegetarian products, and the the other is a small cafe.

The shop is tremendously popular. As you enter the place, you see shelves and shelves of vegetarian organics products. They look very interesting. The variety is unbelievable. I was initially skeptical if they were all organic. I took a closer look and indeed they were all labeled organic and vegetarian. I have never seen so many types of organic vegetarian products in one place.

At the back of the store is a cold room. In it are fresh vegetables and fruits - all organic or supposedly so.

The cashiers are located between the 2 shop lots. There were 2 of them. In the time we were there, I could see them working non-stop. The business is that very good. I didn't know there are so many organic vegetarians or health enthusiasts in Subang Jaya.

Pass the cashiers, you are in the restaurant. There is a chup fun (杂饭) counter opposite the cashiers. The selection is reasonably good. There are vegetables, pseudo meats, noodles, curries, tofu, spring rolls and even some sushis. All organic of course. It is self service, Malaysian style. An Indonesian girl sums up your helpings and gives a slip with which you pay after your meal.

The restaurant section is tastefully decorated. Simple and nice.

If you do not want the chup fun, you could order from a menu. It is quite a comprehensive menu. You can get the various types of noodles, udon, fried rice, rojak, sushi, soups, etc. There is even vegetarian bak kut teh. One item that is quite popular is the lui cha (擂茶). We ordered the lui cha and opted to select our meal from the chup fun counter.

The lui cha (擂茶) is a Hakka concoction. It is a mixture of vegetables, nuts and herbs, served with a bowl of thick green tea heavily flavored with mint and more herbs. You mix the two together into a kind of half salad, half broth.

I did not quite like the lui cha. Perhaps it is an acquired taste. I should had tried the BKT instead. The servings from the chup fun counter did not taste that great as well. They were rather bland. Still the place is always packed.

Like they say, good stuffs do not normally taste great. And if you looking for a place to get wholesome and healthy organic vegetarian meals and products, you have got it.

黄酒鸡

I like this wonderful ginger and wine chicken. In Chinese, it is known as 黄酒鸡 - translated as yellow wine chicken. I have tasted it in many Chinese makan places in the Klang Valley and decided to try my hand to cook it up. It turned out pretty good.

The ingredients are:

1. Chicken. For my small family, I used half an ayam kampung (free range chicken or 菜园鸡). The chicken was chopped to bite size.

2. About 100 gms of ginger, skinned and cut into strips. Do not cut too fine. I prefer thick strips.

3. Wood fungus (木耳) - also cut into sizable strips.

4. About 400 cc of glutinous rice wine (糯米酒). Getting the wine was rather tricky for me. I couldn't find it in any shop in PJ and Subang Jaya. I finally got it from a Chinese mini market in Taman Megah, PJ. It was "home brewed", unbranded and apparently illicit. The mini market fellow was rather cautious when he sold me the bottle. It came wrapped in a newspaper. I could not find any branded glutinous rice wine beside this.

5. Sesame oil. 

5. Sugar and salt

A clay pot is preferred to cook the wine chicken. You can serve the chicken directly from the clay pot. It keeps the chicken and soup hot for a long time.

The next few pictures are rather yellowish due to the lights above my stove.

I heated 4 tablespoons of sesame oil in the clay pot and threw in the ginger. I fried the ginger in the sesame oil for awhile.

When the ginger was aromatic, I put in the chicken.

I stir fried the chicken and then added in the wood fungus.

I stir fried it further and progressively added in about a cup of water.

I added in one tablespoon of sugar and some salt to taste. I then covered the chicken and allowed it to boil over a small flame for a few minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.

Just before serving, I added in the glutinous rice wine, allowing it to come to a boil and then immediately cut off the fire. Do not over boil the wine. I used 400 cc of the wine. The quantity really depends on you. If you like it stronger, you could use more. To me 400 cc was just nice.

The wine chicken is best eaten directly from the pot. To show you how it looks like, I scooped out a bowl for this picture.

It was delicious. The soup was somewhat sweet with a superb aroma of the combined wine, sesame oil and ginger. The flavor of the chicken was very pleasant. Yum.

Phuket street foods

Thawiwong Road runs along the Patong beach in Phuket. This must be the most vibrant and happening stretch of road in the whole of Phuket island. The night scene here is ebullient and full of energy. Restaurants and shops cater to the thousands of tourists.

Off Thawiwong Road are several side lanes that tap the spillover from the main scene. In these side lanes, there are more restaurants, bars and shops; as well as stalls that sell everything and anything for tourists, not unlike our pasar malams.

One of these side lanes specialize in street foods. It was indeed a very happy lane. The sight and smell of the displayed fares was most titillating to the senses.

I did not manage to taste all the goodies. It would be quite impossible. I will however show some of the foods they offer here. Like these barbecued pork and ribs that looked better than it tasted.

Prawn fritters, spring rolls and other fried stuffs - very tempting to the palate.

More fried stuffs.

Grilled shrimps on a skewer.

Fresh oysters to go. However I would be wary to try them. Freshness and cleanliness would be my concern considering that they are raw.

Grilled stuffed squids.

Dim sum ala Thai.

Nasi briyani also ala Thai.

Grilled fish encased in salt.

An assortment of I-don't-know-what. I did looked and wondered. One of the trays was century egg. The others beat me.

More assortments of deep fried stuffs. Again, I could only guess what was inside the fried.

Chestnuts - very similar to the ones we have in Malaysia.

This was interesting. Looked like twisted yew char kueh (油炸鬼), sold with a sauce. I wanted to buy it, but somehow missed it later.

Sea snails - another interesting item that I should have tried.

This and that in skewers.

Sea food in skewers.

Fried noodles and rice. The noodles were rather bland.

Some kind of sausage, I guess.

More skewered stuffs.

Miniature sushis.

Meat balls of various animals.

Sausages and more meat balls.

I have no idea what these were. I don't even know if they were sweet or savory. But they certainly looked appetizing.

Fruit salad.

These pineapples were just the size of tennis balls. They were sold by an old lady who was carefully cutting them. I like pineapples and I believe these to be very sweet. I went over to buy but balked at the price - 80 bahts (RM8) for a small fruit.

Seafood egg pancake. It reminded me of our "hor chian" (oyster omelette - 蚝煎). But it did not taste like it. It wasn't good. It was more flour than anything.

This was squid eggs lightly fried. Must be sinful. But I liked it.

Very mundane roast chicken.

Seafood - prawn, fish maw, squid and oyster - all to be made into salads.

Deep fried pork crumbs.

I was looking for deep fried locust and other insects that are so popular in Bangkok. I was gamed to try and write about them. I did see a guy carrying a big tray on his shoulder. In it were what I believed to be the insects that I was looking for. He moved very quickly and was off before I could stop him. Well, perhaps another time.