The Wordsmith

January 29, 2012

Oodles of Tomato-ey Noodles

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , , — The Wordsmith @ 5:46 pm

20120129-144632.jpgI give up on the number of times where I tell outsiders that no, fried tomato noodles are NOT local spaghetti bolognese. Yes, there is such a thing as fried noodles in tomato sauce. Yes, tomato sauce. As in ketchup. And no, it is not weird. It’s one of the best things since kolomee, ok. You find it only in Kuching, it comes in various forms - crispy, limp, fat, kueh teow or beehoon. There’s usually fish cake pieces in it, fish ball, barbecued pork and a sprinkling of greens.

I found a cool variation of the Kuching tomato fried noodle just yesterday. Most Malaysian noodle aficionados are well-versed in the classic Cantonese style - the “wad tan hor”. Sometimes I can’t decide between a Cantonese style or a tomato fried. But I didn’t have to worry. This new place does a tomato fried Cantonese style noodle bonanza that’s above average in taste and gigantic in portion. The taste of tomato is pleasantly subtle; the egg adds a smoothness to the noodles and the overall slurp factor is pretty damn good.

Plus, the people are friendly, try very hard to please, and they’re a struggling new business. Worth checking them out. Their out at Green Road, right opposite Chonglin Plaza, and they’re called Sunshine Corner, next to Tay’s Drugstore. Open for breakfast and lunch.

January 25, 2012

Yucky Purple Delicious

Filed under: food — Tags: , — The Wordsmith @ 9:49 am

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Eggplant Salad_wordsmith

I used to hate eggplant. Brinjal, as we call it here. It was mushy and squishy, like a mashed up lizard or frog, or snail. And it was tasteless. And a yucky purple when cooked. Who eats yucky purple not-quite-vegetable thingies? So I grew up not liking it very much. Until I learned to like the taste of belacan. Then, I didn’t mind squishy yucky purple because anything cooked in belacan pretty much rocks, big time.

But then I came across this eggplant salad a couple of months ago, and it pretty much blew my mind on eggplant and its possibilities. Lightly grilled, tossed with cashew nuts, onion, stirfried pork mince, lemon, with a  light sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and egg hard boiled to an orangey perfection; what really surprised me was the burst or flavour and texture. Kinda like a well-behaved, classy yet fun party happening in the mouth. My gosh. I was completely in love with eggplant. How is that possible?

Culinary creativity. Nothing beats the diversity that exists in Asia. I had this lovely little secret surprise in Bangkok, in a completely unassuming, almost mundane eatery where the waiters spoke no English. On that trip, the shopping was overshadowed by the quality of the food. I love the splashes of colour, tangy flavours, sour tones, spicy and light nature that pretty much characterises Thai food.

This eggplant salad is not quite typical Thai and yet is as Thai as you can get at the same time. All I can say is, viva la purple squishy almost-vegetables.

March 19, 2011

Railway Cottage Cafe, Kuching

Filed under: food — Tags: , , — The Wordsmith @ 4:42 pm

img_4979When it’s been over 20 years since you leave high school, you tend not to keep in touch with most of your mates way back then. That’s true for me at least. Gratefully, the few that I do keep in close contact with keep in touch with the rest of them and keep me updated on the comings and goings of these men and women I used to run around the playground with.

I was still pleasantly surprised when I heard that one of the boys from my class went around the world, got married and came back and is now the proprioter of the Railway Cottage Café at the Bormill area along Keretapi.

We had our reunion at Chiang’s joint this month. We had a buffet style layout, specially for the group, so Chiang does do catering for home parties if that’s your preference. My personal favourite was the black pepper chicken, although I must say the vermicelli is not too bad either. But that’s just the special menu Chiang put out for us. On any one day, Chiang reckons his best sellers are the mixed grill, heng hua pak mee and a few others.

What really caught my eye was Chiang’s collection of collectible figurines. Zowee! I’m not a serious collector myself but I love these things. His Bruce Lee series is completely swoon-worthy. He’s got Jackie Chan, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Every Sunday afternoon, a gaggle of collectors congregate at Railway and talk shop. So if you wanna get into this as hobby, this is the place to start your obsession.

The Railway Cottage Café is located on the ground floor of Studio 23 fitness centre, a few doors down from Little Hainan, one block away from the Gingerbread House. Just walk in and tell Chiang Cyn sent you to try his stuff out so make it extra special.

March 11, 2011

Starbucks Gets Creative With the Community

Filed under: food — Tags: , , — The Wordsmith @ 12:30 pm

by Marita P.

wst_starbucks_1When Starbucks first came to Kuching, the team put in a lot of effort into getting to know the community. Like a happy little moth to fire, I very quickly got enamoured by the ambience, ever so conducive to my writing and vegetating preferences; and I’ve always been a sucker for merchandising anyway. So it’s hardly surprising that I and a few others have become almost like furniture at our neighbourhood Starbucks.

I don’t know about your Starbucks but mine is run by a pretty cool and creative bunch of peeps. They organise Christmas parties for the Salvation Army, do Earth Day free coffee nights with the lights off; and just a couple of nights ago, they had a free coffee sampling session at their Spring branch. They cordoned off part of the premises and set up tables. It was mostly regulars and friends.

It’s Starbucks 40th year. They’ve come a long way from the fish market in Seattle to this island in Southeast Asia. So they came up with a special blend of coffee beans called Tribute, with beans from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Papua New Guinea and Colombia. Not bad – smokey and not too heavy. And they had a few new munchies on the line-up, so they showcased all of that for free. I liked the macaroon the best. The carrot cupcake comes in second. The chocolate brownie was okay, but I’m not a brownie person.

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But what a great way to touch base with clients and community. I was never impressed with large corporate organisations but the Kuching arm of this large corporate conglomerate has managed to make themselves small, personal, flexible (for customers) and creative.

You must be wondering how much they’re paying me to sing their praises. Answer: nothing. I just like the way Ezam (my buddy who supervises Starbucks at the Spring) and his team do things. There’s a personal touch and a level of sincerity to their modus operandi and I like that.

Here’s a thought: there’s a touch of creativity to what they did but what makes it truly work is that pinch of genuine friendliness and passion that makes what they do all the more noticeable. This is not about Starbucks for me. This is about what the individuals do for me as a customer.

But that’s Ezam and his gang for ya.

So what’s your local Starbucks like?

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October 2, 2010

Little Hainan

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , — The Wordsmith @ 3:08 pm

LittleHainanCR_wordsmithI love it when business meets pleasure. I got to meet up with a friend over good food to talk about his life and passions. All in the name of work. Yes, I love my job.

So Thursday noon found me at Little Hainan at Jalan Keretapi’s Bormill Estate. There’s at least two other blog posts on this little place already (here, here, and here’s my friend’s take on it) but hey, everybody has a unique perspective right? So I’m going to put in my two cents worth of free advertising for them anyway. Just ‘cos I had a nice time and the place left a pleasant impression on me.

The chicken rice comes in three little lumps on a big plate, right next to the droolistic, fantabalistic, eat-me-already drumstick. The splash of pickled cucumber on top is pretty but disappeared fairly quickly because it tasted great too. We ordered home-made chicken curry too, but as you can’t see, I got my priorities right and ate it first before I thought to take a photo of it.

The place is not that big but I love the nouveau vieux décor – classic turn-of-the-century type marble Chinese tables and wooden chairs. The old-fashioned signboard in Chinese (people used to hand paint their signboards in Kuching – true works of art). It reminded me of treats with my grandparents at Kuching’s Khoo Hun Yeang Street when I was a kid – the aroma of local coffee, wooden furniture, the clink of porcelain cups and buzz of conversation everywhere. Kinda nice. But of course, they didn’t have fruit juicers in the old days and there wouldn’t have been a dance studio and gym on the floors above a kopitiam in nineteen seventy something.

I’m going back again for sure.

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August 29, 2010

Satok Ramadhan Bazaar

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , , — The Wordsmith @ 4:36 pm

Ramadhan is a month of fasting for  reflection, renewal and cleansing for Muslims worldwide. The best part of Ramadhan for me, a non-Malay Christan foodie is the Ramadhan food bazaars for buka puasa (breaking the fast). Under little communities of beach umbrellas, little Malay aunties, uncles and their families set up stalls full of goodies. It’s a dangerous time for me. I tend want to buy one of each, whatever they’re selling.

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Photos (from top): Barbecued fish on pandan leaves, I love these pink, white and green things, traditional Malay goodies, barbecued terubok fish.

July 30, 2010

Delizze

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , — The Wordsmith @ 10:44 pm

GermanBread_DelizzeI have a love affair.

With breads.

No, not the usual slightly sweetened white loaf at the local bakery. I’m in love with brown breads, rye breads, herbal breads, sour dough, farmer, focaccia, panini and all breads that are chewy, substantial, heavy and give a gorgeous mouthful.

It’s hard to find real breads like that in this town. But I found a pretty decent source in the form of Delizze up at 101, a pretty big delicatessen that has a decent range of hams and sausages, salads to go, tarty desserts and of course, breads. For the longest time, the Delizze banner hung from the windows of its second floor. Nobody knew what it was going to be and when it would open. Then earlier this year, ta daaaa, fanfare and full speed ahead. There it was.

Beyond the breads, desserts and sausage counters is the dining area. Two floors of dining in space plus a large alfresco area on the side of the block (kind of pointless in the day under the tropical heat but I guess it’s ok at night, as long as it doesn’t rain). I finally got the opportunity to sit down and eat there one blazing noon. There were the usual salads, soups of the day, pastas, chicken and meat dishes, starting from RM6.50 and above.

p7221439I decided on the seafood chowder and the RM9.50 hot dog (with the 300g sausage, salad and chips). Sounded good. There was also a salad nicoise, just so I had a reasonable range from the menu to do a preliminary review.

My take for the dine-in experience: a subdued 4 out of 10. I expected better from an establishment of Delizze’s stature and calibre. The seafood chowder was a little on the watery side, the hot dog was overrated  and the salad nicoise was…well, mundane. Most of all, everything was a little too heavy on the salt. The service was friendly enough, but attentiveness bordered on non-existent.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love the breads. The pastries and desserts still look tempting; the takeaway sandwiches and salads look pretty good and the hams look delectable. All the more reason for my disappointment in my dine-in experience.

I haven’t had the experience myself, but I hear that more than two people have made constructive comments about the dine-in food and received less-than-friendly retorts from the management. Oh well. For now, I’m just sticking to getting my breads from there.

October 31, 2009

A Bit of Irish? Killeney Kopitiam, Singapore

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , , — The Wordsmith @ 6:47 am

killeney kptKilleney is such an Irish-sounding name. Well, Celtic, at the very least. But I’ll bet a million bucks there ain’t no place in Ireland called Killeney Kopitiam, nor serve the best Teh C (tea with evaporated milk) I ever tasted; or kaya and toast; or curry puffs; or fishball soup with the super large fishballs Singapore is famous for. They also have great-tasting fried tofu and chee cheong fan.

There are many Killeney Kopitiams scattered around the island. It’s a local franchise. But a few trips ago to Singapore found me a regular fixture at the branch at Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road. It’s a teeeeny tiny little place, squished into a hole in the wall. I like it. When it’s not rush hour. I find the service there a lot more personal than a few other kaya and toast places I went to in Singapore. Made me feel like that was the only Killiney in town.

October 10, 2009

The Sweet Happiness of Coconut Soup…and other orgasmic food

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — The Wordsmith @ 6:58 am

Coconut soup

I had a rather interesting soup at an eatery called Sweet Happiness the other night. It was herbal, clear, quite healthy; and cooked in young coconut. It was Chinese herbal soup with a twist. There were chicken feet, goji berries, white fungi, herbs and roots, all bunged in a fresh coconut and cooked over direct heat. The coconut husk came out a lovely brown, smoky hue. The texture of the soup was extra smooth and the natural sweetness of the coconut water pervaded throughout.

Traditionally, this was cooked in a clay pot over a wood fire for hours and hours until the bits of chicken feet in it would melt in your mouth. Putting all of that into a coconut was pretty original but it tasted so well put-together that I wondered why people didn’t think of it earlier.

The one serving of coconut soup serves only about 3 to 4 people. Any more than that, more coconuts are needed.

cangkuk manisThe usual local fare is available at Sweet Happiness – the Kuching staple of stir fried cangkuk manis (Sauropus androgynus) with egg. The Chinese call it “mani chai”. This is a local jungle plant that’s been served on dinner tables in Kuching since time immemorial. In fact, the species is found throughout Southeast Asia and is found on dinner tables everywhere in the region. Few people agree on what it’s called in English, although references are made to it as the “star gooseberry” or “sweet leaf”.

The curry fish is an interesting anomaly. Curry and fish are not a very Chinese combination. Somehow, the chef at SH has managed to combine the two and produced a curry fish that not only has a very sino-traditional taste,  but a sino-traditional fishy curry that doesn’t taste too bad at all. I normally take curry or fish and seldom the two together, but I’ll concede that this was not a bad dish, especially when it’s complemented with white rice.

curry fish kungpow porkI was rather in love with the three-layered pork and the soft white buns to wrap around it. One could feel the fat and meat give way as one’s teeth cut through it. Sinful and almost orgasmic. Quite a lethal combination in public, I can tell you that.

It was a very affordable dinner, considering that there were 5 things on the table, beer and whatnot. It came to RM17 each. That’s USD5. Five-course Chinese dinners seldom come at USD5 per head. The chef at SH used to work in Kuching’s oldest and once grandest restaurant. So the place does have a good track record.

Sweet Happiness, behind the Stutong roundabout, Kuching. They kept me happy that night.

September 29, 2009

Chong and Low

Filed under: food — Tags: , , , , , , , — The Wordsmith @ 6:32 am

kuew tiaw_changlow“See you at Chong and Low!” said my friend, Angel.

“What’s that, a law firm?” It turns out that Chong and Low Cafe has some pretty fantastic stuff on their menu, legalistic name notwithstanding.

The kueh tiaw (flat rice noodles) is deelish. The barbequed meat is the real thing and not a watered down version with the fluorescent red colouring. It comes in a plate instead of a bowl, which is always a psychological brain-teaser for me. Just because it’s a plate, it’s not really kolo kueh tiaw. There is a mee (egg noodle) version of this of course; plus, the noodles are handmade and extra yummy. What can I say? this is old fashioned goodness from my childhood. How can anyone resist tastes and smells from halcyon days?

hokkienmee_changlowThe piece de resistance that Angel had been eyeing for was the Hokkien mee. It is absolutely essential to eat it with the belacan and lime that comes with it. I’m not much of a Hokkien mee person. I tend to be the uppity connoisseur of kolo mees – the noodles are just the wrong width, the texture is too soft, there’s a funny smell, there’s too much sauce, it’s too wet, yadda yadda yadda… BUT, with the belacan and lime, I concede that the Hokkien noodles at Messrs. Chong and Low are not bad. Not bad at all. The combination of spicy, tangy and savoury packed a very nice zing in the mouth.

There’s other stuff at the establishment. The nasi lemak looked pretty tempting to me. There’s also laksa, and claypotty things that I’ll try the next time I go.

changlowcafeChong and Low Cafe. Corner shop at BDC, next row from Hiang Mun Low. Definitely worth trying, and as far as the prices of food are going these days, pretty reasonable.

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