The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| A delighfully delicious taste of Johor, in Petaling Jaya Posted: 22 Feb 2013 04:18 PM PST  One of the unique things about Laksa Johor is it uses spaghetti instead of just ordinary mee or meehoon. Del's Kitchen at 3TwoSquare in Petaling Jaya has only been opened about a month but it has been in business for about 13 years; the outlet in PJ is their fourth. The first two outlets are in Johor Baru and there is another one in Woodlands, Singapore. There was also an outlet in Kuching but it was only in operation for four years. Of course, Laksa Johor for our first order, followed by Roti Jala with Chicken Curry, and Lontong. My craving for this laksa was more than satisfied by the thick, spicy fish gravy on top of spaghetti — one of the unique things about Laksa Johor is it uses spaghetti instead of just ordinary mee or meehoon.  The soft and smooth texture of the Roti Jala was amazing. It is served with chopped onions, cucumber, bean sprouts and shredded basil. It also came with limau kasturi and a hot sambal that moved it several notches up the delish scale. The gravy redolent with spices and herbs was wonderful and I really appreciated all the hard work that has gone into cooking it. You can hardly find a good Laksa Johor here these days, unless you get invited to a Johor friend's home for this. I also liked the soft and smooth texture of the Roti Jala. At first I thought the curry was a little too strong with cinnamon, but as I ate more of it the flavours really came together. The roti jala was so good that it can even be eaten on its own, or turned into a scrumptious dessert if served with pengat durian. We suggested this to Suraya who is one of the owners of the cafe so hopefully this might be on the menu in future.  Rich with santan, tinged yellow with turmeric, with blobs of red chilli oil, the Lontong was delicious. There were kerisik and sambal on the side which we could tip into the curry. Altogether, the Lontong had the zing of chilli and dried prawns, serai and other herbs, mellowed with rich coconut milk. We ended lunch with a Lavazza coffee and thought well enough of the café to come back for another visit to try other food. This was especially after I had a whiff of the Tahu Telur as it was brought to another table during my first visit!  Tahu Telur's fluffy and eggy crowned with raw bean sprouts, shredded carrot and cucumber, and a piece of fried egg tofu, sitting on kicap manis. The Tahu Telur was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, collapsing into the crunchy vegetables and the sweet dark sauce as we cut it. It was skilfully fried, with no oily traces on the plate. The Nasi Ambang here is good too. The rice is sticky and fragrant, and surrounding it are serunding, daging masak kicap, opor ayam, bergedel, fried paru (lung), tempeh, tofu, fried salted fish and ikan bilis sambal, raw long beans on potato and tempeh sambal and cucumber filled with sambal belacan. It's a busy platter which makes for a nicely balanced meal, savouring each component on its own or matching it (such as the crispy salted fish) with the sambal belacan for a zesty, delectable experience.  The Nasi Ambang's rice is sticky and fragrant, and surrounding it are serunding, daging masak kicap, opor ayam, bergedel, fried paru (lung), tempeh, tofu, fried salted fish and ikan bilis sambal, raw long beans on potato and tempeh sambal and cucumber filled with sambal belacan. Johor food has Arab influences, and this is reflected in the Kacang Pol, a spiced mash of broad beans, also known as foul (pronounced "ful") or fava beans. Spices like fennel, coriander and cumin had been fried, the beans added, simmered and blended, then served topped with a fried egg, chopped tomato, cut green chilli and onions, and limau kasturi. I was told by the other café owner Zurina that back in Johor, minced beef is also added to it. The Kacang Pol came with buttered toast which tasted so good dipped into the lovely bean mash. It reminded me of hummus.  The Kacang Pol came with buttered toast which tasted so good dipped into the lovely bean mash. The café is open from 8.30am till 9pm. It is closed on Sundays. On Friday it also serves a Nasi Bryani with Prawns. It also has Western dishes on the menu such as fish and chips, chicken chop, spaghetti bolognaise and lasagna. They also do catering for functions and parties. Del's Kitchen is located at C23-01, 3TwoSquare, Jalan 19/1, 46300 Petaling Jaya. Call 017-752 8998, 017-342 9181 (Suraya). |
| US wine exports hit record RM4.4b last year Posted: 22 Feb 2013 04:12 PM PST  Wine exports, 90 per cent from California, rose by 2.6 per cent in 2012. – Picture courtesy of ©kaband/Shutterstock.com WASHINGTON, Feb 23 – US wine exports uncorked a record year in 2012, bringing in US$1.43 billion (RM4.4 billion) in revenues as demand grew in Germany, Sweden, Japan and China, the Wine Institute said Thursday. Wine exports – 90 per cent from California – rose by 2.6 per cent, the third year in a row of increases, said the San Francisco-based institute, which represents the California wine industry. Volume shipments reached 424.6 million liters, or 112.2 million cases, last year, a slight slowdown from 2011 shipments of 425.5 million liters (47.3 million cases). "California wine exports continue to increase because of our quality, diversity and value, despite a highly competitive global market, significant trade barriers and a still recovering economy," Robert Koch, the institute's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "We've worked to create more opportunities to export our wines by supporting our government in opening markets with free-trade agreements and other negotiations,"Koch said. The 27-country European Union was the top market for California wines, with sales rising 1.7 per cent to US$485 million, the San Francisco-based Wine Institute said. Exports to Germany were up 6 per cent from 2011, and 14 per cent to Sweden, where sales were mostly red wine. In Britain, California wine exports grew by 2.8 per cent in value while France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile and South Africa all lost ground, said John McLaren, the institute's director for the United Kingdom. "With an uncertain economy, and against a background of governmental anti-alcohol abuse measures, the UK wine trade has suffered some setbacks, but California has done well to preserve its market share and take advantage of some new opportunities in the independent retail and restaurant sectors," McLaren said. Exports to Canada rose 14 per cent to US$434 million, while Hong Kong was the third-largest export market by value, at US$115 million. Sales in China, a top-priority growth market for US vintners, surged 18 per cent to US$74 million. Exports to Japan rose 6 per cent to US$111 million, and included a growing amount of up bulk wine as major Japanese importers bottle them in Japan, reducing import duties, as well as more premium-priced wines, the institute said. South Korea's export market value grew a hefty 26 per cent, to US$16 million, following the US-South Korea free-trade pact that took effect in March 2012. – AFP-Relaxnews |
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Pemimpin exco MCA bahagian tersebut juga menyangkal dakwaan mengatakan telah menghantar pencalonan calon muka baru Gary Lim bagi menggantikan Ong yang memenangi kawasan tersebut pada Pilihan Raya 2008 lalu.