Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Freaky Froggy or Yummy Chicky?

12-Sep~ Claypot Paddy Chicken Porridge
For Chinese, we were normally being called as freak for eating all sorts of strange foods, and also odd animals. We ate raw century eggs, we ate all sorts of the inner organ of an animal and even all sorts of insects. But my dad theory was: Whatever animal where their rear facing the sky, there’s where you are allowed to feast them!!

Today we are going to share about some of this. In the end, I will have you have the call to call them as Freaky Froggy or Yummy Chicky!!

After the new Sunshine Farlim, just go straight. This place is just situated at the shop houses beneath the main road, next to one of the neighborhood 24hours grocery shop, the 7-11.
This place is called Ah Nam Claypot Paddy Chicken Porridge.This typical Kopitiam was decorated neatly with chairs and tables. Along the wall, they hang some pictures, some sort like the below:And I managed to snap a photo of the look of the Kopitiam..LOL Well, this type of Kopitiam too serve some snack for us while waiting for our foodies.
Stewed peanuts for RM1.50 per plate.
My drinks of the day: Crushed Nutmeg JuiceAnd here comes our 1st freaky dish: Claypot Paddy Chicken Porridge. Tin Kai is what we called in Chinese. Similar like the froggy, but they were totally safe to be taken if compare the real froggy.This paddy chicken were cleaned and sliced into bitten size. When the broth is almost done, pour in the paddy chicken and simmer till cooked. Be aware not to overcook them as the meat will lost its juice and tenderness. The paddy chicken here is cooked just nicely!! And guess what it really tastes like chicken, but juicier and more tender!!

Next freaky dish will be this: Claypot Unagi Porridge. Instead of using paddy chicken, now they throw in some bite-sized of Unagi and boiled them till tender.
Look at this, and I can guarantee you will be drooling!Closer look!! HahahahahaWe also ordered some Fried eggs with pickles, a.k.a Choy Po. The texture of the egg as well as the pickles was damn good where you can even bite on, on its own!!The next to serve was this another type of the freaky froggy. Stir fried paddy chicken with dried chili, or better known as Kong Poh style!! These paddy chicken is stir fried with some dried chili, sliced onions and sliced ginger. Not to forget the spring onion as well. I think that they do put some Chinese wine to enhance the flavors!! You can end up eating 2-3bowls of rice just with the sauce alone...but beware, as this dish can burn your tongue as it is REALLY HOT.... The ‘chicken’…. LOVE IT!!If you love paddy chicken, don’t miss out the chance to savor this on as it taste as good as it looks! And for those who still thinks they were the freaky froggy, well… just treat them as the baby chicken. That’s the lie I told myself when my mum cooked these for the very 1st time.


So, is it still Freaky Froggy or the Yummy Chicky??
You made the call!!

Let's SALSA.....

29-Aug ~ Salsa Restaurant
I have been long waiting for this day to come… to Salsa with Ah B….which indeed could really turn me on…
What?? Not that Salsa’s, you know, where you were wearing a few inches of severely high heels and all dress up seductively, either is bareback or deep V-cut dress, and the your partner, combing the hair so neatly and wearing see-through shirts with flamboyance pants….
Not that one!!

Well, I did dream to dance beautifully with hubby too…anyway, my Salsa here is referring to the Salsa restaurant located in the Continental Hotel at Penang Rd just opposite to the SOHO at Penang Rd.

The decoration in the restaurant is all about classy. Everything was decorated in black and red. The staffs there were all friendly and greet us with a big grin. Dressed in dark colored shirt and matched with black pants. Attached wit them is a piece of red apron. Smart!!

Each table was set beautifully with full set of culinary with a serviette with the print of SALSA in BOLD…and of course a menu as well.

Here comes the entrée, my superb entrée I ever had. Just look at the pictures and you will see how tempting this can be??They put some butterheads as the garnishing vegetable and some boiled cauliflower, some tomatoes and cucumber. On top of the vege, they layered 2 piece of smoke salmon thinly shredded. On top of the salmon, they put a flat piece of grilled unagi. To add up the pool, they even garnished the salad with 2 huge poached crunchy prawns….
They add a touch of some olive oil and ginger vinaigrette… Have you ever had before such a luxury piece as your entrée??

The next to serve was some warmed slices of bread served with some butter cubes. This is very interesting as they wrapped the bread with a piece of clothing. The bread served well when the butter melts!!My choice of soup will be the spicy tomato seafood soup.This soup was heavenly as it did muddle up finely on the spiciness and the tomatoes itself. As for the seafood, they set for some prawns, clams and bites of fish.
Unfortunately, my ULCERS starts to yell and demanded me to stop this divine soup. So sad that I gotto switch this yumyum soup with hubby!!

And this is the cream of cauliflower. The kick of this soup is not as glamour as the Spicy Tomato Seafood soup…NOT AT ALL!! But they are not weak as well. This soup was garnished with some cream and chopped parsley for taste… Ok….still acceptable…..And that night, I could only have the fish as my main course as my ulcer is really killing me… I am afraid the chicken will deteriorate my wound… here’s this Panfried Seabass fillet with stir fried potato. The fillets were panfried and lay on top of some stir fried potato with some sliced onions. Some steamed broccoli and some tomato salsa as salad. Lastly, they put some sour cream for taste. But I found the fillets are quite disappointing as they were over grilled.

As for B, he chooses for the Deep Fried Chicken Roll with Spaghetti. The Chicken breast was rolled and deep fried. The spaghetti with only olive oil were served as the side dish as well as some vegetable like baby corn, French Bean and some sliced carrots. For this dish, they used some mushroom sauce for gravy.As for the dessert, we had a few choices. From left, we had some freshly cut fruits, like mango, kiwi, strawberry and a fresh cheery, served with some strawberry sauce. In the center, was the vanilla ice cream and on the right was the lemon cheese cake.Lastly, we had some coffee and tea.

Each meal cost about RM30++. Isn’t it worth so!!???
So whatcha waitin' for?? Let's SALSA....



Salsa Restaurant
5, Penang Road (Inside Continental Hotel)
Tel: 04-2633923

The Eye Of The Dragon

22-Aug ~ Chinese Cuisine at Dragon-i
I still recall when this Dragon-I was newly setup, it had caused a lot of chaos… many were willing to queue up just to had a taste of the Chinese cuisine from Shanghai, Kwangtung and Szechuan. Till today, this place still holds a place in the heart in us. Just like my mum, well, once in a while, she too dreams of the Siew Long Pao served there….

Located at the center zone at 2nd floor of Quensbay Mall, you can easily find this as they arrange some comfortable chairs. Those are for the guest to have some seats while waiting for their turn. A must try for their specialize La Mien as the SiFu hand made the noodles with his own hand instantly. Over here, let’s try their Tangy type, the Original type and the Stir Fried Type.
Each of us was served with a porcelain plate and set of chopstick and a pack of wet towel. As a starter, we were given these stewed peanuts with five spices. Each table had a small table full of vinegar, soy sauce, a bottle of XO sauce and a miniature that contains toothpick. Those vinegar is to serve with shredded ginger. Remember to tried on the XO sauce, Double YUM YUM for that!!For kids, they do come with a set of kiddy serving, especially for my CeejayFirst to serve was this Tangy Type, La Mien in Hot and Sour soup. This La Mien was instantly prepared by the chief. They formed the mixture of the flour and water into these long stripped of noodle with their pair of hands. This La Mien was served in this Szechuan, hot and sour soup. They put lots of Szechuan pickles which flavors out the tanginess within. RM12.9 per bowl.
Next was this, the Original type, La Mien Clear soup. RM8 per bowl. Using the same La Mien, now they served them in crystal clear soup. This clear soup itself already rich in taste as I believed they must had boiled them for long. This bowl of mee does not need any garnishing as the soup itself already had it all!! The final type of La Mien to come, Shanghai Fried La Mien.They stirred fried the La Mien with some cabbages and some chicken bites and fried till fragrant with lots of soy sauce. Yum Yum for RM15.

The meal in Dragon-I will not be completed without the Siew Long Pau itself. These Pau were freshly made from flour and water. When the skin or the pau is ready, they will put a ball of chopped and well marinated meat delicately on the skin themselves and lastly will be steamed for perfection.The best thing of this Siew Long Pau compare to other typical pau we have ever taken, the meat within somehow will ‘create their very own soup’ The Juice will eventually oozed out when you take a bite.

My way of eating the Siew Long Pau without burning my tongue… Firstly, scoop the dumpling on the spoon gently, making sure the pau did not leak. Next, poke a hole and enjoy the view when the juice oozing out. Next, suck the juice carefully and not blazed your tongue!! Then, put some vinegar and some shredded ginger on the dumplings. Lastly, ladle the dumpling in whole into your mouth…
MMmmmmmmm……

So much of meaty feeling, hence we decided to ask for this Braised Assorted Mushroom with beancurd. RM9 per plate. Lots of mushroom and Muk Yee were stirred fried with oyster sauce and poured onto the plate of fried beancurd.
A nice plate of To Fu indeed!!Then was this, Fried Rice with Ham and Chicken. And the picture says it all!! The secret of a good plate of Fried rice is enough of oil where the rice were not dried at all...but when you eat it, you do not feel oily AT ALL....and secondly, to control the temperature when fried.

The last dish to come was this Shanghai Smoked Fish. RM15 per plate. They deep fried the fish and set some sweet and sour sauce over the fish. Well, I am abit dissapointed of the fish as it was not quite tender as it looks.Overall, we had a good meal when in Dragon-i. No doubt the menu was a little too pricey, but still they are worth for the food and the environment.



Dragon-i Penang
Lot 2F-77,78,79 & 81
Queensbay
Tel: - 604-646 6888