The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Communist Vietnam gets first taste of the Big Mac Posted: 07 Feb 2014 09:38 PM PST The arrival of one of the most potent symbols of US capitalism in southern Ho Chi Minh City – known as Saigon when American troops dramatically withdrew in 1975 – is the result of a partnership with the son-in-law of Vietnam's powerful Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. McDonald's is following US rivals Burger King, KFC and coffee giant Starbucks into Vietnam – a country many Americans associate more with an unpopular war than a newly wealthy middle class. But with its 90 million-strong population and average per capita income of more than $1,500 (RM4,995), "Vietnam is on the radar now" for US franchises, said Sean Ngo, managing director of consulting firm Vietnam Franchises Ltd. Critics say that Vietnam's rapid economic growth since "Doi Moi" reforms opened up the country in the early 1990s masks rising inequality and inefficiencies in an economy still dominated by state-owned enterprises. But signs of the country's rising affluence were on display today as hundreds of people queued at the McDonald's store on Ho Chi Minh City's Dien Bien Phu street – named after the battle that forced the French to withdraw from their former colony Vietnam. "I like fast-food. I don't like Vietnamese food. I don't like fish sauce," Nguyen Hoang Long, 25, told AFP as he devoured a Big Mac meal, referring to the pungent condiment made from fermented fish and sea salt that is used liberally in local cooking. A Big Mac costs about $2.85 at the new outlet, while a bowl of traditional pho noodle soup can be bought on most street corners for around $1.50. The arrival of McDonald's marks a full turnaround for the fortunes of US brands in former wartime foe Vietnam. Iconic brands such as Coca-Cola were available in US-allied South Vietnam until the end of the war, but the companies pulled out after the communist victory which paved the way for the unification of the country in 1975. McDonald's local partner, Henry Nguyen, stood outside the store today directing traffic – mostly motorbikes and the odd cyclo – into the drive-thru. Also known as Nguyen Bao Hoang, he once flipped burgers for McDonald's while growing up in the United States, where his family fled at the end of the war. He returned to his native country more than a decade ago. – AFP, February 8, 2014. |
| Poon Choy for the festive feasting Posted: 07 Feb 2014 05:08 PM PST It's the most important festival of the year and is a time for family reunions and rejoicing. He landed with his army in the region of Guangdong Province and the New Territories. The local people gathered all the best food, cooked it in wooden wash basins as there were not enough containers, and served the emperor and his soldiers. "Poon" in Cantonese means basin. Poon Choy is usually cooked in a claypot or ceramic pot now instead of a basin, and layered with ingredients, with a logical, culinary order to it. At Di Wei in the Empire Hotel Subang, the Poon Choy we had comprised 20 ingredients. At the bottom of the Japanese ceramic pot were fish balls, fish bladder or yu piu, steamed chicken, mushrooms, prawns, lotus root, radish, crispy pork belly, Chinese cabbage, bamboo pith, beancurd stick, yam, fish cake and beancurd skin. Layered on top of all these were fish maw, abalone, roast pork belly, Sha Jeng oysters, Japanese sea cucumber, pork shank, prawn Of course, all the premium ingredients had to be on top. Another reason for the assembling order of ingredients is that the juices from oysters, prawns, abalone and scallops would drip down the layers to the bottom of the pot and lace them with their sweet essence. This elaborate dish apparently needed six hours to prepare and three hours to cook it. So I started with the small abalone, fish maw and sea cucumber, which I love, and ate them with a little soup from the pot. It was more like a having a thick soup and I wished there was more liquid in it. I picked This Poon Choy or Fortune Bowl is a protein-rich meal which can fill you up. Of course, before this we had tossed a Yee Sang which was light and refreshing, and notable for the apple sauce poured over it. We added to our lunch a Chiu Yim Pai Kuat or Salt and Pepper Fried Spareribs which turned out crispy on the outside, touched with a little chilli, too, and moist and tender inside. There was flavour in every fibre of the meat. Ninko in the shapes of fish and imprinted with gold leaf was brought out to be admired before they wer They came out sandwiched between slices of yam, dipped in batter the deepfried. The ninko was meltingly soft, spilling out at the bite through the crispy batter and the powdery yam. It was scrumptious. While Chinese New Year ends on February 14, you can still have a feast of Poon Choy, Yee Sang and Ninko at Di Wei till February 28. The Poon Choy with premium ingredients is priced at RM988++ (for six people), RM1,688 (for 10). You can take the Japanese ceramic pot home after your meal. Advance booking of a day is required. There is also the other Poon Choy called the Di Wei Treasure Pot for RM428++ (for six) and RM688++ (for 10). Di Wei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant is at the Empire Hotel, Subang Jaya, and can be accessed through Level 1 of the Empire Shopping Gallery. Tel: 03-5565 1388. Food that rocks at Chef Choi This claypot rice was speckled with delicious drippings from aromatic waxed meats, local pork sausages, and the goose liver sausages from the famed Yung Kee restaurant in Hong Kong. The excellent pork sausages, made locally, even overshadowed the gooseliver ones. This Chinese New Year dish is a must for any dinner or lunch here at this time, as is the Sar Pei Suckling Pig with its crackling, crispy skin and tender meat, to be eaten with mantou, spring onion "flowers" and sweet sauce. We also had a Spiced Salt Suckling Pig Ribs that were quite meaty and flavourful, with soft cartilaginous bones. The Braised Sea Cucumber Fish Lips Soup with Bamboo Shoot is a light, smooth soup, appreciated for the gelatinous ingredients (the first two), and the crunchy bamboo shoot strips. For the Chinese New Year season, Chef Choi has set menus for 10 at RM988+, RM1,288+, RM1,588+, RM1,888+ and RM3,388+. The more expensive menus have BBQ Crispy Suckling Pig, Yee Sang with Abalone, Steamed Live Star Garoupa and/or Mini Buddha Jumps over the Wall. – February 8, 2014. Chef Choi is located at 159 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 03-2163 5866, website www.chefchoi.com. |
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