The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 02 Dec 2011 05:11 PM PST

Fat, luscious scallops in a Thai salad... absolutely delicious.

The amazing Chi Chuan Chicken made from a lost recipe.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — Anan and Korn, the owners of the highly-regarded Thai restaurant Erawan in Kota Damansara in Petaling Jaya, were at the Miele Gala Dinner at Resorts World Singapore last month where the top 20 restaurants in Asia were named. And the Miele Guide 2011/2012 was launched.

They were eager to know their Malaysian ranking in the guide and were ecstatic when they found out Erawan had moved up to the No. 3 spot of Malaysia's top five restaurants (it was No. 5 last year).

Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar bagged the No. 1 spot; it's also Asia's sixth best restaurant. El Cerdo is No 2 in Malaysia.

Thai chef Korn promised a celebration at his restaurant, and here we were on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, thoroughly amazed at the spread he laid out, mostly of new dishes which he will make available at Erawan.

He had spent days thinking of the food, his inspiration taking shape in a Pad Thai croissant, for instance, or small burgers filled with fragrant Thai fishcake, a slice of cheese, cucumber and tomato.

Thai laksa with a tangy fish curry... you won't stop at one bowl.

The chef had intended to use a puff for the Pad Thai creation, and when that was not available, improvised with a croissant, which offered a similar fluffy texture. Inside it were fat prawns with some beansprouts and spring onion, doused with a sweet sauce with hints of shrimp paste and chilli. All the ingredients of a Pad Thai minus the noodles. Wow!

New flavours exploded and claimed our palate, as in the case of two Thai laksa – one with creamy coconut curry and the other a sourish tamarind one with fish and fishballs. Both were equally good.

The Smoked Duck Mieng Kam had luscious duck and juicy pomelo sacs sitting on a sheath of kadok leaves, topped with crunchy peanuts and drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce. It was exquisite.

There was the incredible Grilled Scallop sitting on a shiso leaf, topped with shredded lemongrass and fried shallots, with just a drizzle of a piquant Thai sauce.

The Thai sashimi salad perked up our senses again, with its spicy, sweet and sour dressing, contrasting with the slightly bitter endive leaf it was on.

The huge, bouncy prawns stirfried in a lovely Thai sauce with kaffir lime leaves, and generously finished with lemongrass were just so good, as was the grilled, tender duck breast tossed in a hot, spicy bean sauce and served smothered with fried basil leaves.

The Pineapple Spicy Flying Fish had deepfried fish fillets embraced in thick, spicy sweet and sour sauce with shrimp paste, with small chunks of pineapple. They certainly flew off the plate.

The salmon sashimi salad had a slow burn that came from its dressing... a nice surprise.

The celebration was also an opportunity for Korn to showcase his curries. " I have more than 30 curries already," he said. There was the wonderful Massaman Lamb Curry scented with lots of coriander and black pepper, and the bay fruits which resemble small cardamoms.

"Without the bay fruits from Thailand, there will be no Massaman curry," said the chef, who wants to stay true to the traditional recipe of the curry. He used prime lamb in the curry with potato. It's what his diners want: premier ingredients in his detailed and highly skilled cooking methods.

The exquisite Lup Chup... almost too pretty to eat.

There is the Pang Hang Lay Beef Curry that has Burmese influence, originating from the northern part of Thailand near the Myanmar border. It bursts with spiced flavours, and in the light, coconut curry are tener peanuts.

The Panaeng Beef Curry is already an all-time favourite in the restaurant. Our lucky star must have shone last Sunday because in front of us were sumptuous, plump, juicy cockles in this delicious curry with lots of kadok leaves. The chef will not compromise: if the cockles are not of a satisfying quality and size, he will not cook the Cockles Curry, no matter how much you beg him to.

Pounding the nine spices for the Chi Chuan Chicken Curry, and the aromas thus released, sent the chef into raptures. One could understand his passion for cooking as he described the process. "It's a lost recipe in Thailand. It's close to Massaman, with sourness from local lime juice." Besides chicken, there were peanuts in the curry and piquant fat chillies in a translucent green.

The man of the hour... Chef Korn of Erawan.

In between all these I tasted "banana sweets" that had me going for more, and small puffs filled with a sweet and savoury spicy dried prawns and chopped nuts.

Dessert was the magnificent Lup Chup; miniature pears, oranges, papaya, grapes, apples and bananas with a mung bean filling, and a thin gelatinous covering.

Korn sprang up at the last to serve a warm dessert of Spiced Apple with Vanilla Ice-Cream, speckled with black pepper, and fragrant with cinnamon and star anise.

All the dishes can be ordered in advance at Erawan. Regular diners have got used to calling up a couple of days in advance to book a table, and order the main courses from the menu on its website, and be assured of a really satisfying meal with the chef seeing to every detail of it.

Erawan is located at 22 Jalan PJU 5/16, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-6141 2393. Website: www.erawan-classicthai.com.

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Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Sabtu, 3 Disember 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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