Thursday 15 October 2015

Top notch Fried Chicken with Cendol and Rojak

  
My friends and I are always on the lookout for good makan joints and first on all our lists is the rojak and  cendol combo.
Last Sunday, while scouting for a new makan spot we stumbled upon a famous rojak stall in Taman Pengkalan Batu, Klang on google.
 
Armed with the coordinates from a food blog, we Wazed our way there in 20mins. On our way we had our doubts since the road seemed to lead no where but once again the app did not fail us.
 
This signboard was hidden in the bushes and faced the stalls instead of the road.
 
When we parked we saw this huge banner hanging from one of the stalls at the Klang Municipal Food Court. Mind you there are three sections here but only one section was occupied by the rojak stall while the others seem to be abandoned.
It was a wonder that this one outlet is still operational and rather popular with diners.
 
 
The first glimpse of the stall after we parked our car
 
We were first confused because the crowd seemed to gravitate towards the Nasi ala Kandar as I call it but after establishing that both the rojak and Nasi Kandar was one and the same, we got down to business.
 
We ordered a bowl of cendol, a plate of rojak and of course the Nasi Kandar.
 
First of all lets talk about the Rojak. It was pretty good actually. The gravy was nice and thick, but most importantly it was flavourful. My only letdown was the fact that I couldn't  bite into the crunchy peanut bits because it was ground really well.

The Rojak was quite good but I wish I could bite into the crunchy bits in the sauce
 

Next was the cendol. One look at it and I thought it was Ice Kacang. It was pretty weird that they addsweet corn and other Ice Kacang condiments but surprise surprise it tasted good. It didn't have the overwhelming taste of coconut milk and that is always good.
 
The cendol was unique with additional ingredients like kidney beans and jelly but it was rather tasty.

 
     The Nasi Ala Kandar for me was delicious. The hot steamy rice, coupled with the rich curry was really awesome. I loved the fact that the curry had a good amount flavor and did not taste of curry powder. So thumbs up!

The simple rice with fish curry served with stir fired cabbage
 
 
The fried chicken for me was the best dish for the day. The chicken was juicy and tender on the outside while the skin was crispy and flavourful... Dip in the curry and voila....


The star of the day was the fried chicken. The meat was tender and juicy with a crispy, flavourful skin.
 
We also took the fried fish but it lacked salt for me
 
 


So overall the place is worth visiting.

Rating is 7/10


Wednesday 25 March 2015

Minced Mutton Minestrone Soup





I love Minestrone soup but good ones are really hard to find, so I decided to try making some myself.
I googled the recipe and found several interesting ones that I liked. However I felt there were parts of different recipes that I would like to incorporate into mine. So, that is exactly what I did. :) I added fresh red chillies for a bit of heat, minced mutton because my brother would have gone berserk if I served an all vegetarian soup for dinner and finally fresh basils for a little added flavour. The final result was surprisingly delicious. So here's the recipe for this easy dish.

1 large onion( yellow/Bombay)  diced
1 carrot or two small ones diced
2 celery stalks diced
3 red chillies diced (I used three because they were very mild)
1 packet of minced mutton
1 cup of frozen vegetables ( green beans/capsicum/brocoli/spinach) -I found a packet with these vegetables but you can add in any vegetable you like
3 cloves of garlic diced
6 cups of chicken broth ( I used 6 cups of water and added in 3 cubes of chicken stock powder)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of whole/plum tomatoes
dried herbs
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of oil
Fresh basil

1.Heat your pot, add in the olive oil and fry the minced mutton with a dash of salt and pepper. Make sure you use only one table spoon because the minced mutton will release its own oil.
2.Fry it till its nice and brown. Add in the butter, onions, celery, carrots, red chillie and stir it till its nice and soft.
3.Add in the canned tomatoes, herbs, frozen vegetables and the stock.
4. Stir well and let it boil.
5. Reduce the heat, and let it simmer for some 30mins or until u feel the taste has locked in. Throw in some fresh basils if you have them.
6. Season it and serve.

The best thing about this recipe is that you can throw in anything you like including some pasta for a wholesome meal.

I also whipped up some garlic bread to have with the soup.