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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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A chance to be pampered… totally Posted: 30 Sep 2011 06:22 PM PDT Pan roasted duck breast and foie gras... fabulous. — Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — I have had some of my best gourmet experiences at the Chalet at Hotel Equatorial Kuala Lumpur. It was where I learnt to eat raclette, a Swiss cheese, with new potatoes, pearl onions and pickles. I still remember the lovely aroma of the cheese melting on the salamander that hits you when you enter the restaurant. It's still on the menu, as are some Swiss classics like Emince de Veau a la Zurichoise or thinly sliced veal and mushrooms in cream sauce with roesti potatoes, and the fondues, both cheese and beef. Making a song and dance of the sabayon! Chalet may seem old-fashioned to young people now, but dining here is always an embracing experience of gracious service, good food and music. A few dishes are prepared and served tableside, such as the Cote de Boeuf, a grain-fed rib steak flamed with cognac in a green peppercorn sauce. You can't find such service anywhere now. Ask for a sabayon at the end of dinner, and a rollicking song and dance comes with it. But we were here for the chef's table, a once-a-month occasion at this restaurant, to which corporate clients are usually invited, at lunch. A degustation menu had been put together by chef Hafizzul Hashim, who has worked in one Michelin-star restaurants — Chez Bruce and Mirabelle — in London and at some fine-dining restaurants in Kuala Lumpur. Hafizzul is the young man heading the culinary team at Chalet. The amuse bouche was air-dried beef with rock melon and balsamic vinegar; Hafizzul had deemed it timely to introduce beef "proscuitto." It was a generous portion, the air-dried beef colliding with the fragrant, sweet melon. Then it was on to Spanish black mussels, chorizo and saffron soup with leeks, potato and garlic croutons. A hint of Madras curry powder gives a spice lift to the creamy saffron soup which had been infused with basil. It was texturally interesting — lovely, sweet plump mussels in a busy mellow soup with crispy croutons, chopped leek and bits of potatoes. The Slow Braised Angus beef cheek and Pacific oyster with Cabernet Sauvignon, cepes and herbs is a marriage of earth and sea, said Hafizzul. Both came together with aplomb — the small chunks of tender beef in a sweet, heady sauce with chervil, parsley and chives, drizzled over the oysters. But I also wondered about how the beef would taste on its own, in that delicious sauce. There was the tart, welcome interlude with passion fruit sorbet and the palate was refreshed for the main course of pan roasted duck breast and foie gras with sweet cherries and caramelised apples in a Marsala wine reduction. The other main course was Grilled Barramundi and calamari with cannellini bean puree, clam and parsley veloute. Perfect ending... the iced chocolate pralines. I had the pink, fleshy breast of the duck magret from France on which was laid a lush foie gras glistening with the lovely Marsala wine sauce, and paired superbly with cherries flambed with Calvados and the caramelised apples. Rich bursts from the foie gras, tender duck, the stirring, sweet flavours of fruit and the creamy parsnip vanilla puree all came together sublimely. Dessert was somewhat of a letdown with the molten chocolate cake —- perfectly done, with a runny centre — served with vanilla ice cream and strawberry compote (I had expected something extraordinary!). However, the sabayon "performance" more than made up for it. A big brass basin was brought tableside; there's the aroma of butter melting over the fire, then orange and lime juice added. The sauce is done, the egg yolks added, then the wait for the band and four staff members, two wearing flashing sunglasses to strut their stuff. Lots of gyrating to the cha cha, samba, twist and rock 'n' roll beat, and whisking to the music, with some sabayon on the floor, it was ready to be served! It was a great show. Ice chocolate pralines, or bon-bon, brought dinner to a wonderful Old World ending. I like it that it's always like this in Chalet. Hafizzul is a young chef, only 28. To think I had met him, tasted and liked his food when he was only 25. So I will be back for the old-fashioned Tournedos Rossini, Steak Tartare and the French Pressed Duck (a day's advance order). But the chef's expertise is also in putting together a contemporary degustation menu (five courses) at RM198++. I liked the look of a previous degustation menu of foie gras terrine, figs chutney and toasted brioche; potage of celery, poached eggs and croutons; scallop ceviche, cress salad and roasted almond flake, passion fruit sorbet; grilled Norwegian salmon with pea puree and shallots, Kalamata olives, fennel confit and vanilla vinaigrette or Angus beef cheek and foie gras ravioli, Portobello mushrooms, asparagus and consommé; vanilla soufflé with crème Anglaise. Chalet is in the Equatorial Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Sultan Ismail (Tel: 03-2161-7777).

A DIY dinner of clear flavours Posted: 23 Sep 2011 05:44 PM PDT The two soups bubbling away... all you have to do is cook whatever you wish to eat. — Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Once in a while you yearn for food with clear flavours, and preferably in a hot soup that can be so comforting. A steamboat hits the spot on all counts. We were in Jade Pot in Desa Sri Hartamas recently, a steamboat restaurant which my friend CS frequents, and for good reason. Here you get ingredients that are fresh or freshly-made, whether it's fish, prawns, squid or pork balls, sui kow or dumplings and prawn wantan that are for you to cook in the soup, or all the deepfried varieties like stuffed crispy beancurd skin, crispy prawn dumplings and crispy prawn wantan. A bit of everything makes a feast at a steamboat dinner. Out of three broths we chose two — the Jade Pot Superior Soup and the Teochew Fishhead Soup, both clear soups. I always feel that a tomyam soup is out of place in a steamboat, mainly because in a pot that has two sections, the chances of the clear soup being mixed with the tomyam are very high. Besides, in a hot and sour tomyam, you would not taste the intrinsic flavours of the fresh ingredients you put into the pot. You have a choice of four dips — the Teochew chilli, Thai green chilli, fermented beancurd and chilli oil. The first is hot and garlicky, the second is citrusy with calamansi lime and its rind. I liked the fermented beancurd or fu yee very much. We piled on the orders — fish maw, eringi mushroom, yam, beancurd, wantan, sui kow, grouper fish, sakura pork, a mixed platter of fish, prawn and squid balls, and mixed dumplings, matsutake mushrooms, cabbage, Romaine lettuce and watercress and noodles for the steamboat. The fresh ingredients presented so prettily... like a high tea! Our starter munchies included the stuffed fried crispy beancurd skin, fried wantan and stuffed red chillies. I liked the crunch of the first with a thin layer of fishpaste. The fried wantan was delicious while the stuffed red chilli was smooth, sweet and not that hot. The superior soup had pork ribs, tomato, onions, sweet corn, radish and carrot in it; the Teochew one had black fungus and some salted fish bones that flavoured the soup. I liked the powdery yam that I put into the Teochew stock. The fish and prawn balls, wantan and sui kow tasted better in the superior stock, so did the fish bladder and most of the other ingredients. In end I still preferred the superior stock. While my palate has been "trained" to appreciate the natural flavours of good quality meat and fish, without dipping them into any conflicting sauces, I couldn't resist the slightly pungent fu yee dip with the yam, and the vegetables. The thin slices of sakura pork did not need any dip; the fish perked up with the hot and tart Thai green chilli dip. The spongy fish bladder soaked in the soup, picking up all the essence of the meat and fish cooked in it, tasted so good, as did all the vegetables like watercress, Chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce, eringi and matsutake mushrooms which added more sweetness to the soup . Take your pick of the dips! If it's possible to still feel peckish after all these, the noodles make a great filler, especially the yee meen. A complimentary dessert of a slithery smooth and lemony ayu jelly gave a cool refreshing finale to our steamy meal. All in all, the seven of us paid RM50 each for the steamboat dinner which included drinks. The soups are RM15 for a small pot and RM25 for a large one. The stuffed red chillies are RM5.50, grouper fish slice RM15, fresh prawn dumplings RM9.90, Sakura pork RM16.80, stuffed beancurd skin RM8. Jade Pot Steamboat Restaurant is located at 5, Ground floor, Plaza Prismaville, Jalan 19/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-6201-1918).

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