Confession of A Korea-holic

I am crazy about anything and everything Korea, so much so that i think i am all ready to marry a korean already.

To start, I have to confess that I am a K-drama addict. I watch comedy romance drama till the wee hours, almost every night..

photos courtesy of dramawiki.com

And of course, who dont love the korean men???? tall, dark and muscular......... *drool*

photos courtesy of dramawiki.com and google.com

I am constantly craving for korean food : Kimchii jiggae, soodonbu jiggae, taebokki, korean bbq, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

Then, there is korean drink too : the refreshing barley rice drink which served after meal,

and cheap alcohol : soju (RM12 at Lotte Mart and around RM20+ at korean restaurant), bokbunjajoo / korean blackberry wine (RM25 at Lotte Mart, or around RM40+ at korean restaurant)..

You see, cheap food, cheap drink, addictive drama, and handsome korean hunk... who cant fall in love with Korea, rite??

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I was searching for some korean recipe one day and came across the recipe for Yogurt Soju here, i decided to try out. So out i go to grab some Soju from Lotte Mart, Vitagen and Sprite from 7-11, and mix one part of everything.

Ta~daaa~~~~~!!

A refreshing yogurt soju, which taste like carbonated-yakult with hint of soju. So easy to drink that i tossed down the whole glass in an instant!!

Now i need to mix a 2nd glass.... *hic*

Claypot Lunch @ Kien Kee Restaurant, Serdang

Last public holiday, I brought my parents and Clare to Kien Kee for claypot lunch.

In order to enjoy your lunch more comfortably in the air-con room, you ne ed to pay extra RM2, which i do not mind at all.
Hey, you know how hot malaysia weather is lah... some more want to drink spicy soup wor... no air-con want to die mer....

We ordered  fah tiu kai (chicken in chinese rice wine), lat tong (hot pepper soup), blanched chinese cabbage and steamed beancurd.

The soup is packed with chicken, stripes of pork and a bucket of guts. It was still boiling hot when served. Very peppery but with an aftermath of sweetness lingering in your throat. Very tummy warming. Especially during rainy days. Best if served during winter... Unfortunately, this is Malaysia. Summer whole year round... so now you understand why i insist to be seated in the air-con room eh?

Fah tiu chicken is cooked to perfection with thick soy sauce and chinese fah tiu wine. Free-range chicken meat is firm and tender. The thick gravy has only slight hint of fah tiu wine teasing the tip of your tongue, making it almost impossible to stop yourself from wanting more rice...

The two side dishes, blanched chinese cabbage and beancurd complimented our meal well. Veggie is crispy while beancurd is smooth and refreshing.

All in all, it was a satisfying lunch. Worth every minutes of lost sleep (eh, i woke up before 11am on a holiday ler...)

Ratings :

Ambiance : 2/5

Service : 3.5/5

Price : 4/5

Total bill for lunch was less than RM50, including drinks.

Taste : 4/5

Recommendation :

Fah tiu kai and lat tong. Am not a big fan of wong chow kai (drunken chicken) but alot of diner order that too.

Business hour Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30am to 3.00pm

Closes every Monday

Contact : 012-350 990, 012-254 9822

Address and Map :

Jalan Sk 10/2, Seri Kembangan

GPS Coordinate :

N3 01.330

E101 42.292

Famous Fish Head Noodle @ Goon Wah Restaurant

Since the first day i tried Goon Wah, I have been dying to bring my parents here, but they opens only on weeekdays. So during the previous Raya holiday, I finally had the chance!

On the 2nd day of Raya, I woke up early (10 am IS early for me on holidays, ok...) and got ready for my fish head noodle. I wanted to be there early so i can get better seating, but as we were there around 11 plus, there were already crowd queueing for seats and i had hard time getting a parking space!! arghhh~~ arent they out of town holidaying in other states?? dont they need to balik kampung?? why are they up so early on a holiday???

Anyway, we needn't wait too long to get a seat near the kitchen. And as soon as we were seated, orders were fired up!

"Fish head noodle is a must! fried rice good too... eh, want to try nyonya fried noodle too??"

"jie~~ that  kau york looks good tooo....." Clare's saliva was dripping everywhere eyeing on the stewed pork from other diners.... bla bla bla....

To start, we ordered each tong sui of the day, fu chok yee mai (bean curd skin with barley and ginkgo), which tasted fine with just enough sweetness and smoothness.

First came our MAIN highlight of lunch : fish head noodle. (RM22 for a big serving)

The cook was very generous with the fish : fresh, chunky and meaty. I dont think they added milk to the broth, as it is not the creamy type. The milky-coloured broth was results from long hours of stewing with fish bones. It is sweet with a tad of sourness from tomatoes and pickled veggie. Light aroma of chillis added more body to the broth. Yam was added, just like the penang style. The noodle was cooked just right to the bite. 

Fried rice came next. Crispy little anchovies, thinly sliced long beans, eggs and small chunks of char siew - simple ingredients created this heavenly fried rice. Every single individual grain of fluffy rice was cooked al-dente.

Then came the 2 side dishes : Marmite Fried Chicken Wing and Kau Yok (stewed pork with yam).

The chicken wing was finger-licking-good, but nothing special than any marmite chicken wing served elsewhere. As for the kau yok, the meat was too dry and tough to bite while yam was too mashy. It was the one dish i do not fancy.

We polished up the fish head noodle and fried rice, and while our tummy was protesting when we stuffed ourselves with the two side dishes, Nyonya Fried Noodle was served. Damn.... i was being too ambitious when ordering or what..?

I managed to had a bite of the noodle, before decided to have it take away. Noodle was firm and tasted slight spiciness from the dried chillis. If only we had bigger stomach, we would have polish this dish too...

Rating :

Ambience : 3/5

Service : 4/5

Price : 4/5
Total bill for a big serving of fish head noodle, individual serving of both Nyonya noodle and fried rice, chicken wings and kau yok was RM65.40 for 4 diners, included fuk chok tong sui

Taste : 5/5

Recommendation :
Fish head noodle, definitely. Fried rice and nyonya fried noodle is worth trying too.

Opens 9.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday. Closes on Saturday and Sunday.

Map :

Hawker Dinner @ Macalister Road??

Few of us girls went for a "walk-walk-find-food" (literally, jalan jalan cari makan) trip in penang last month to celebrate 2 birthdays. And since I am the one who is most familiar with penang food, and of course, everyone trusted my tastebud, i am automatically being appointed the "makan-planner" for this trip.

And since we had a long drive from kl on the first day, with satisfying good "food-stop" in ipoh, I was thinking of having a simple dinner with lots of variaty so that we can have whatever we craved for, I suggested hawker stalls at Macalister road - full of variaty, and most importantly, my favourite chee cheong fun stall! :-D

Everyone was famished by the time we arrived, and got so excited with REAL penang food !!

Needless to say, the first stall i search for, is my chee cheong fun. Then, my dilemma start : there are not one, but T.W.O chee cheong fun stalls along macalister! so which is the CORRECT STALL???!! you see, everytime when i came with my parents to macalister for chee cheong fun, my mum was always the one doing all the ordering. and we just sit and wait. So i called home, to get my mum. But she was out for her yoga class!! oh no. I had to asked my dad. From his description, the stall i am staring at, is managed by 2 dark-skinned man, who look like a foreign worker to me! I panicked. and i told my dad that the owner is not doing his chee cheong fun anymore!! and i was near tears...........

i want my authentic chee cheong fun and from experience, i know that whichever food stall manage by foreign workers, quality sure sure SURE dropped!!!!

But i still want my chee cheong fun. So i ordered. And the guy spoke to me in perfect hokkien. damn... he is pure penangite.  i guessed he overheard my screaming and panicking when i talked to my dad standing in front of his stall (well... who wouldnt?)

Chee cheong fun is smooth and silky with plentiful of sesame seeds. But the sauce is too diluted. It is not as thick as i remembered, as thick as i like.... why? oh why??

Then came all the other food we ordered randomly :

1) Or chien / fried oyster - one of the famous dish in penang. This plate of or chien failed to woo anyone of us. A few big fat oysters, mostly small and medium one. But the starch killed it all. Too much starch, and too little egg.

2) Char Kuey Kak / Fried carrot cake - Ordered from the same stall of or chien. The cake is firm, but hardly taste the fragrance of carrot/raddish. A mouthful of this gives a taste of black soy sauce, and flour. one word : yucks! (and i am starting to turn bitchy now..) Luckily,there is this char kuey kak stall in air itam to look forward to the next day...

3) Kangkong sotong / water-spinach cuttlfish - blanched cuttlefish and water-spinach and topped with rojak sauce, then sprinkle with lots of peanut. Nothing great, but nothing too wrong about this dish.

4) Curry mee - i nearly scream out of frustration!! blanched cuttlefish, soup tasted like plain water-added-with coconut-milk-with-little-bit-of-chilli... blah!

5) Kuey teow soup - soup = plain water topped with a layer of oil, and some fried garlic. Urgh!!

6) Char kuey teow - unbelievably expensive! RM5 / plate ?!?! Dont they know that by adding some flakes of crab meat on fried kuey teow doesnt enhance the taste??!! Do they really think that tourists are dumb?? Believe me, you can find better char kuey teow in SS2 Wai Sek Kai !

7) BBQ chicken wing - By far the best dish we ever ordered for this dinner. Just dont dip into the chilli dip. Original taste better.

Thank goodness, the ambarella / kedondong / great hog plum juice is great. Especially when you need to wash down all the unsatisfying meal.

Rating

Ambience : 3/5

Service : 3/5

Price : 2/5

I dont mind paying extra, but i do think that for the price i paid here in Macalister, it just couldnt justify with the food quality.

Taste : 2/5

Recommendation : When i returned to SJ and told my mum about my experience in Macalister Road, this is the respond she gave me :

"Aiya..!!! You went to the wrong stall la...!! Look for the fat fat, tall tall, fair fair guy la.. And his mum helps to serve the food... not the dark dark guy,........ some more, the food there is not good one. Only chee cheong fun.... or else why you think la we only go there for chee cheong fun and ordered nothing else??"

NOW she telling me! hai.... and my reputation was at stake on that faithful night!!
so, chee cheong fun which is being managed by the "fat fat, tall tall, fair fair guy with the help of his mum"  -.-!!