Tom Yum (Kung POW)-er

Tom Yummy!!

Nice and tangy...

With loads of fresh seafood (squid, fish, prawns)...
loads of mushrooms....

Not too too too spicy to kill the taste.... but ada 'kick'!

AND.... it's buffet style....eat all you can leh~

I whalloped 3 or 4 bowls only la.... since it was still morning.. (did i mention this tomyummy was served for breakfast?)

Anyway.... where to get this bowl of yummyliciouspowderful tomyummykung?

Hotel Mido

222, Pradipat Rd,

Sapankwai, Bangkok

Thailand.

:P

Seri Kembangan, Pork Noodles

Chu Yok Fan!
My colleagues *love* pork. Combine that with the recent discovery of a pleasantly fulfilling shop that served delectable pork noodles... it was a visit worth documenting. In recent weeks, we have been rather adventurous for our lunch escapes. Seri Kembangan is a good 15-20 minutes drive without traffic, roughly 15kms from where we work (I'm guessing). To go through the trouble getting there on a daily basis requires 1 of 2 things:

1. We're out scouting for new spots
2. We love the shop, and are back for seconds (or thirds =Þ)

The shop is relatively close to SK3. It lies directly behind the huge shop-house area past Taman Universiti. There are seriously a lot of shop-lots here that are unoccupied and/or deserted, so it really does take some effort to actually scout the area out for potential stops. Our criteria last 2 weeks has been to visit shops that only have one stall. It is generally a good indicator because to survive on only one dish means either:

• It is very good, or
• It is very new

It is always good to hope fo the former :) And that was how we stumbled about 'Restoran Kean Wah'. Specialty: Chu Yok Fan!

They offer pork noodles in a variety of noodles; pick and choose to your liking. They also have the dish in 2 styles, soup or black sauce (dry). This is similar to pan mee or wantan mee style of servings. I ordered the dry version, as shown above. *slurp*

I opted for loh shu fan, which (I believe) translates to 'rat tail noodle'. As can be clearly seen, they're very generous with the pork! The black sauce is not visible here because I haven't mixed the stuff up yet... posing shot, I would say =Þ But take my word for it, the sauce given is just nice in amount and flavorful enough without being too sweet or salty.

The dry version is served alongside a bowl of soup with a few slices of tofu skin (not sure what they *really* call that) and pork meat paste. The paste has a satisfying touch to it. Very smooth texture, and equally tender/soft. It has a mild flavor to it that's not just skin deep. It went well with the soup, which does not give off the typical MSG flavour that we may be used to. This is a good indicator that the soup version would be just as enjoyable as the dry. Kudos!

The shop keeper is also pretty generous with customizations. On another visit here, some of us customized by requesting more pork chunks, noodles, tofu skin, etc. We didn't just get more.. we got a LOT! To the point that some of us will be thinking twice on doing it again, haha. The dishes on their own average RM3.50 to 3.80, and an additional RM1 for standard extras. Pretty cheap for a very fulfilling meal.

Now, this shot was really from another shop we visited the day before, but we had the same drink with the noodles. What's unique about it? This drink is called 'Teh C Special'. I have no idea what is really in it, nor do I know if it is a commonly available drink. The only times I've seen this thing was in that small area around Seri Kembangan.

It is served as seen in the photo; 3 layers of what seems like tea, milk and ... er.. black stuff. Haha. I'm honestly most curious of what the black thing is. We need to mix it up before drinking, by which the drink looks no different than teh tarik. That's where the similarities end... this is tea, with a very unique flavor. I cannot exactly describe it well, coz different ppl use contrastingly different descriptions. I taste some hint of soya and cincau... odd, but that's my assessment. Regardless, it was nice.

If you ever happen to be in SK, be on the lookout for posters with 'Teh C Special'. I've only seen it available in shops that advertised it. Do take a taste and drop a note of your experience :)

Home-cooked delights!

The interesting thing about food adventures is that it isn't always about the finest ambience, the exquisite presentations, nor exorbitant prices. Neither does it have to be the humble hawkers with their hereditary styles and offerings. I'm not sure how many people *could* disagree wih this, but some of the most satisfying and pleasurable culinary experiences come from none other than our very homes.

At where I work, I have grown a close bond of friendship with 3 of my fellow colleagues. Life at work would be utterly mundane had it not been for them; colleagues, comrades, friends! On October 1st this year, one of my colleague invited us all to a small dinner at his house. Occasion: His birthday, relative to the Chinese Lunar calendar.

I was excited partly for the nature of celebrating a b'day dinner within the humble confines of a traditional household, but I was also anxious to finally have a taste of his mom's cooking. Obviously, much has been said about his mom's offerings... all the while fueling the curiosity.

There we were, amidst the government flats just beside Pudu Jail. Quite a hotspot... it is KL, and all around it was busy and congested. The house, too, was literally humble... small and cosy, exuding a sense of belonging, and a history that money can't buy. In present days, it is indeed rare to experience homes like his. But the admiration of his abode was interrupted... by food!

It didn't take long for his mom to prepare the table as soon as we arrived. There were only 6 of us there, including his mom. We weren't expecting a feast, but neither were we expecting something relatively elaborate like this.

This was the 'banquet' greeting us. Some of these even had top-ups in the kitchen, rice included.

I'm guessing these were butter-fried prawns. Frankly, the style didn't really matter to me... I was sold at prawns =Þ Juicy, fresh, and flavored to utter taste-bud joy!

My favorite for the night had to be this dish. My first impression from its looks was nothing out of the ordinary. I was expecting it to be the traditional sweet/black sauce chicken. To my surprise, this was pepper chicken. Sorry, that's what they called it. I'm not a real fan of pepper... but this one spelt 'addiction' all over it. Haha, I practically devoured around 1/3rd of this. The hint of pepper was not overwhelming, and the flavour of the sauce still stood out. The meat was juicy and tender... flawless!
Apparently, this was his mom's specialty, and I can understand why. Odd thing is, my general perception about Chinese dishes is that what you see in restaurants and at home are pretty similar when you're considering the simpler dishes. This particular style, I've never actually eaten before. Would love to know if anyone knows of a place where I can savour this anytime I want, haha.

All meat and no greens would be against the doctor's prescription :) I love home-cooked vegetables not because they're particularly unique or delicious. I'm picky about vegetable freshness (a habit from home... my mom's a vegetarian). Home-cooked is almost always 'freshness guaranteed' and this was no exception. There's value to simplicity, I'd say.

What a way to bribe my taste-buds, hehe. Eggs! Added combo: Eggs with PRAWNS! Awesome... too bad there weren't seconds =Þ

There was another dish on the table I didn't take a close-up of, which is the tofu soup. It looked uninteresting, though it tasted nice. But it is a soup... they're nothing much to show in terms of looks, haha.

We were expected to EMPTY all the dishes! Lucky for us, that was not an impossible feat. It's always good to see the joy in a mother's eyes when the family enjoys her food... imagine having 5 strangers that devoured her servings with pleasure. She might consider adopting us, haha. Anyway, after dinner... we had a small surprise for the b'day boy!

What's a birthday celebration without a cake!? We grabbed this from Bread Story, and it not only looked nice, but it was very well done. Small and delicious, with sweetness seriously under control.

Of course, this was irresistable... the ape was lying around the house. It probably doesn't get much attention, but with us around the house... that was about to change.

And then there was the birthday boy himself. This is taken the way it was taken for a personal reason. We've had a series (yes, series!) of photos over the past few years that had food in the foreground, and my colleague (and his boyish grin) in the background. Can't break tradition now, can we? Hehe.

All in all, it was a very simple yet unimaginably enjoyable dinner that night. The company was great, the food was awesome, and the fun was constant! It *is* unfortunate that the food is not publicly available like a restaurant, but I suppose that's where the novelty lies.

Some of the best moments happen right within the comfort of our homes. We just gotta take our time and remember to appreciate the moments. This trip definitely had lots of food, lots of fun, and lots of friends.