The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 04:51 PM PDT

James Tean — taking bak kut teh to a new and different level

PETALING JAYA, June 18 — It was the first time I had stepped into the newly-opened SStwo Mall, but you can be sure I will be back to the J Tean Kitchen. I had sampled a wide range of their dishes, most of which drew their flavours from bak kut teh spices, with some nifty tinkering in the kitchen.

Leading us through the tasting was James Tean, he of Tean's Gourmet fame, whose curry pastes and claypot bak kut teh spice mixes have been the life-saver of many homesick Malaysians living abroad. Back home, these have been on the shelves of every supermarket and even markets, so popular they are.

Curry rib spaghetti... slurpy good

The affable Tean describes himself as a food manufacturer who had a humble start as a maintenance mechanic for Nestle's Maggi brand in 1971. He kept a close watch on food production, learnt about the processes and experimented with a chilli sauce.

It grew so popular he sold the Life brand chilli sauce to KFC. Then he turned his energy to perfecting his brand — Claypot Bak Kut Teh — and Tean's curry pastes.

"I'm an R & D man," said Tean, which explained why once each business was up and running, he would turn it over to a management team.

Bak kut teh has been the passion of this Klang-based entrepreneur for the last 29 years. He even opened a small bak kut teh shop there, after paying a Klang bak kut teh cook RM8,000 to learn the trade!

The younger set is sure to fall in love with the J-Rib

"First the Claypot spice mix. When we sell it to housewives, they have the problem of which soya sauce to use. So I incorporate this into my mix. They just have to buy the meat, add two cloves of garlic and they can start cooking."

Now he wants to take his bak kut teh to another level, hence J Tean Kitchen. While the classic Klang Bak Kut Teh is still on the menu, now there are J-Ribs and the J-Knuckle, BKT Pork Burger, Braised Pork with Buns, J-Soup, J-Porky Pie, Curry Rib Spaghetti, and Lionhead, among several others.

New dishes not on the menu kept turning up for us to taste, such as the Braised Pork Knuckle (Yuen Tai), the Mantou Pork Burger, Stewed Chicken Feet with tofu and hard-boiled eggs and Wine Chicken.

Outstanding among these was the J-Knuckle (right pic), a crispy, deepfried one with the tender meat falling off the bone, and served with a Thai garlicky dip that had the sweet, sour and hot flavours well balanced.

The J-Ribs (left pic) tasted ordinary compared to the knuckle, but it will probably be a draw among younger diners because of the leaner meat on the ribs, and the light sweet sauce.

The J-Knuckle served with a Thai sauce is full of contrasting flavours

We all plumped for the BKT Burger, and we predict a bestseller with this. The meat patty had been fried, then lightly stewed with bak kut teh spices. There's just a hint of the spices; the pork patty is moist, with an onion relish giving it a tangy lift.

Have this meat patty within a fluffy mantou and it takes on a different dimension in texture and taste — it's simply scrumptious.

Dip a spoon through the puff pastry of the J-Porky Pie, and there's the punch of chilli and spices in the half-dry meat, and the delicious aroma and distinctive flavour of cuttlefish strips.

The Lionhead meatballs doused in a sweet sauce with chilli and served with mantou make light and fun bites. The Curry Rib Spaghetti was mildly hot, and is another "young" dish.

I would have enjoyed the Bak Kut Teh more with some crispy yu tiao, but the restaurant is still sourcing for these. The Braised Pork Knuckle was simply scrumptious, with the tender meat soaking in all essence of the gravy.

This is a must try: J-Porky pie

The Braised Pork Buns has light Chinese buns filled with half-fat meat braised in a bak kut teh gravy and garnished with vegetables. The filling was a little salty and overwhelmed the spiced meat within the delicate buns.

We tasted two desserts — the Golden Beach, a smooth, yummy blend of pumpkin and yam, with sago and small bits of waterchestnut in it , and the Malacca Rainbow with konyaku jelly and water chestnut in coconut milk and gula Melaka.

It's a restaurant that should appeal to a younger crowd, while piquing the interest of older people. Drum tables and stools, even "opium" bed seats for alfresco dining give a distinctive old-new touch to the décor.

The food is reasonably priced: the light bites like the Braised Pork Bun is RM7.90, Porky Pie RM19.90, J-Knuckle RM38.90, J-Ribs RM34.90, Curry Rib Spaghetti RM19.90.

The BKT burger is totally yum!

J-Tean Kitchen is located at Lot G-58, Ground Floor SStwo Mall, No 40 Jalan SS2/72, Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7954 0819.

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Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Jumaat, 17 Jun 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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