The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 08:02 PM PST

BY EU HOOI KHAW
December 14, 2013

Lap Mei Fan with Chinese sausages, waxed duck and meats.It's that time of the year again for waxed duck and Chinese sausages in that irresistible rice dish called Lap Mei Fan. These are usually steamed, their delicious drippings tipped into the rice in the claypot and stirred up, with more sauce added and served.

I have just had this at Oriental Cravings at 1 Utama in Petaling Jaya and it has somewhat soothed my craving for this seasonal dish.

Pomelo Salad, a festive dish at Oriental Cravings.This restaurant serves it in individual portions with romaine lettuce at the side.

It was attractively presented, with slices of pork and duck liver sausages and waxed duck laid over the mound of rice, with a dried oyster in the centre.

Even better, more of these waxed meats and sausages were cut finely and stirred into the rice so that it was well infused with their flavours.

I liked it too that the sausages were cut into large slices with sufficient thickness so that I could revel in each delightful bite.

Sambal Petai with Fluffy Egg is an unusual, but delicious, combination.I was looking forward to the Pomelo Salad too, and it should be on the menu soon. It's a mélange of sweet, juicy pomelo (from Tambun no less), crunchy bits of deepfried cuttlefish, sliced shallots, cili padi and slivers of bunga kantan tossed in a lime juice and fish sauce dressing.

A generous sprinkling of crushed peanuts and sesame seeds, and fresh mint leaves complete it.

New dishes are always appearing on the Oriental Cravings menu so that I never get tired of eating here. One of these is the Sambal Petai with Fluffy Egg. Who would have thought of such a combination?

At first I felt I should have some rice to go with this. Then I started enjoying the soft, large crumbles of fried egg with fresh coriander, topped with the zesty sambal that had lots of onions and fried crispy ikan bilis, and of course the petai. It was not as stinky as I would have liked but still good.

Yam with Garoupa Fishhead in Claypot.I love yam in any dish and powdery, sticky chunks of it appeared in the Yam with Garoupa Fishhead in Claypot.

Fried dried cuttlefish, garlic and Chinese celery gave it those defining, yummy flavours. It was so good eaten with rice.

Noodles are what the chef here shines at. He does an amazing Hokkien Noodles with the requisite crispy lard bits, Claypot Loh Shee Fun and Curry Noodles with Roast Pork.

The flavourful Fried Prawn Mee.This time the Fried Prawn Mee rolled out of his wok. The yellow noodles were braised in a prawn stock, then fried with pork, egg, beansprouts, fishcake, prawns and crispy lard bits.

The sweet essence of the stock hugged each noodle which stayed firm and separate. They were delicious.

Chicken in Rice Wine is one of my favourite dishes at this restaurant. I would just come here and have this with mee sua or rice vermicelli.

Cendol with the thickest and most aromatic Gula Melaka.I can never get tired of this home-brewed, mildly sweet wine with a heady aroma cooked with hot, fragrant ginger, kampung chicken and wood ear fungus.

The fluffy omelette floating on top of this, soaking in all the winey flavours, is simply scrumptious. I had brought friends living abroad here. One particular friend had this at lunch, and came back for the same at dinner!

Ais Kacang loaded with ingredients.For dessert, the cendol is hard to resist. The cendol threads are soft, smooth and bursting with pandan aroma but what sets this apart from other cendol is the thick, gooey and aromatic gula Melaka drizzled over it.

For an ais kacang fix, there is no better place for it than here. It is a towering heap of shaved ice with rivulets of rose syrup and gula Melaka running down, with santan and evaporated milk added.

The entrance to Oriental Cravings.There is a longan at the side and crunchy peanuts. Dig in and you turn up delectable blobs of soft red beans, cream corn, cendol, pink agar agar and cincau.

It is a satisfying Ice Kacang and a wonderful way to end your meal at this restaurant.

The Lap Mei Fan is RM23.90, Sambal Petai with Fluffy Egg RM19.90, Yam with Garoupa Fishhead RM36.90, Rice Wine Chicken RM31.90, Fried Prawn Mee RM17.90, ais kacang RM6.90, cendol RM5.50. - December 14, 2013.

* Oriental Cravings is located at 359 Ground Floor Rainforest, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7727 2581.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Jumaat, 13 Disember 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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