The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Sailing into the Chinese New Year at Extra Supertanker

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 04:44 PM PST

Lou Sang with a new twist. No artificial colouring found here... everything is au natural.

PETALING JAYA, Feb 21 – Everything was au naturel in the Yee Sang, with artificial colouring in the ginger pickles or crispies. There was also a new twist to the dish at Extra Supertanker – instead of salmon we had crispy white bait poured over the Yee Sang as we were tossing it.

This was to make sure the white bait stayed crunchy when we ate it. Tart, lightly sweet and nutty, the Yee Sang was delicious.

Although it's the last week of Chinese New Year, some of the specially created and auspiciously named dishes here will remain on its a la carte menu and will be available even after the festive season.

The Two Style Turbot is yummy... even the bones can be crunched and eaten.

The Two-Style Turbot may be called just that instead of the fancy "Yat Farn Foong Soon", which means "everything will be smooth sailing." Here you have the turbot fillets stir fried with black fungus, eringi mushroom and ginger slices, splashed with a little Chinese wine. The bones are deepfried and also served as the second style.

The first style expresses the clear sweet flavours of this Icelandic fish, the second lets you crunch on the crispy bones, so that nothing is left on the plate.

Bird's Nest Soup is usually a dessert but here it has been turned into a soup with crabmeat and crab roe. It tasted amazing and luxurious, the smooth blobs of bird's nest nudging gently against your palate as you sip the soup.

There are whole chunks of fresh, sweet crabmeat in it and lovely roe too. It's soup to send you soaring to the highest level in your career, if the auspicious name for this is to be believed.

The Bird's Nest Soup is a great alternative to shark's fin, and it's on the regular menu.

Yam Treasure Trove... a must-try dish.

The Yam Treasure Trove is irresistible for the thick ring of yam filled in the centre with stirfried broccoli, sugar snaps, cashewnuts, ginger, carrot, waterchestnuts, mushrooms, celery and fish paste. The soft, sticky yam is a contrast to the fried pieces of bouncy fish paste, crunchy waterchestnuts, vegetables and nuts.

Sea Cucumber is "hoi sum" in Cantonese, which sounds like the word for happiness and this accounts for its popularity during Chinese New Year. Here we get served with a big, thick sea cucumber stuffed with fresh scallops, carrot, mushroom, celery, sugar snaps and water chestnut.

Tiger Prawns with Chef's Special Sauce symbolises lots of laughter, as in "Hee Har Tai Siu." The sauce is chilli hot, sweet and gingery, but it was a little too intense and I felt it overwhelmed the prawns.

I would go for the Claypot Braised Lamb which is unapologetic in its heavy, garlicky and spiced nuances. The lamb is tender and I detected the fragrance of limau purut leaf as well. It tastes even better when the meat is dipped into a fu yue or fermented beanpaste sauce.

The Lap Mei Farn here is cooked with Thai fragrant rice, with knobs of arrowroot or ngah koo in it. All the wonderful aromas of the sauce from the waxed meats and sausages waft up as the rice is stirred up and served with a platter of pork and liver sausages, waxed duck and pork.

Deepfried Nin Ko with Yam and Pumpkin is a popular Chinese New Year dessert.

Dessert is Nin Ko with Yam and Pumpkin. I was surprised to hear that the nin ko is from Thailand, but it's gooey, caramelly and so delicious fried in this way.

We also had a healthy and delicious Double-boiled Snow Pear with Hasma, Chinese almonds and red dates. I could almost feel my skin getting smoother with each sip!

The Lou Sang with White Bait is RM68 for a half portion, and RM88 for a full portion, Bird's Nest Soup with Crabmeat RM48 per bowl, Turbot RM12.80 per 100g, Yam Treasure Trove RM68 (large), Stuffed Sea Cucumber RM200, Braised Lamb RM80, Tiger Prawns RM10 per 100g, Lap Mei Farn RM95 (large), Nin Ko RM4 a piece (minimum 4 pieces), Double-boiled Snow Pear RM16.

Extra Supertanker is well-known for its Lap Mei Farn... seen here before the waxed meats are put in.

Extra Supertanker is located at 48, SS20/10, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7726 7768, 7726 7769. It's also at No 1 Club Drive, Bukit Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7726 8877

What the stars will be eating on Oscar night?

Posted: 20 Feb 2013 03:33 PM PST

Chef Wolfgang Puck is at the helm of his 19th Oscars party. – AFP pic

LOS ANGELES, Feb 21 – For the 19th year in a row, caterer to the stars Wolfgang Puck will be at the helm of arguably the most glamorous event in the world when he feeds the Hollywood glitterati foods like mini Kobe burgers and chicken pot pie with shaved black truffles.

The menu for the Governor's Ball, the post-Oscar celebration, sticks to Puck's tried and true repertoire, diverging little from last year's selection of eats.

Like last year, Puck will be serving a souped-up version of chicken pot pie topped with generous black truffles for the 1,500 guests expected to attend.

As guests mix under a 37-metre crystal chandelier and mingle around a 5-metre tall golden Oscar in the centre of the ballroom floor, servers will offer smoked salmon Oscar hors d'oeuvres, mini Kobe sliders with aged cheddar and remoulade, Japanese peach salad, steamed red snapper with Thai spice, and tuna Niçoise with green olives.

Vegan options include kale salad with grilled artichoke and lemon vinaigrette, beluga lentils with cauliflower and baby vegetables, and farro with apple, beet and spiced walnuts.

For dessert, Puck is offering shaved ice cream and Concorde grape.

The 85th annual Academy Awards airs Sunday on US network ABC at 7pm EST and will be televised live in countries around the world. – AFP-Relaxnews

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Rabu, 20 Februari 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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