I cooked: Tiger Prawn Spaghetti

This is a simple but absolutely delicious way to prepare spaghetti with a few basic ingredients. We managed to get our hands on some large, fresh tiger prawns, so I revised my original plan to use a tomato based sauce to go with the spaghetti; and the results proved to be stunning! The slightly sweet white wine sauce married with the piquant taste of the chilli and garlic, was brought to another level by the fresh and succulent tiger prawns. I used a Pinot Grigio which I felt would provide a fruitier, sweeter sauce.

Spaghetti with tiger prawns

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g spaghetti (or linguini,tagliatelle, etc.)

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 medium chillis, deseeded and chopped
6 large tiger prawns, deveined
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped finely
white wine
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to pack instructions until al dente. Drain the water and leave the spaghetti in a colander.

2. Heat olive oil into a frying pan and cook the garlic over a medium-high heat, until golden brown. Add the chillies and cook for 1 minute before adding in the tomatoes. Cook for a further minute.

3. Add in the white wine depending on how much sauce you want. Put slightly more as you want to let the white wine simmer for a few minutes.

4. Add the prawns and cook them for about 2 minutes. At the same time, add the parsley, salt and ground black pepper to taste.

5. Mix the spaghetti with the white wine sauce and toss well. Divide between 2 pasta bowls and serve.

Voilà!

*This is a guest post by The Unc.

Restoran TC Keong, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

My first ever post on this blog is on TC Keong, our favorite tai chow place in Seremban. However, the lack of a good camera at that time did not do the food here much justice, hence we revisited this restaurant twice during the 3 days we were in Seremban recently for some Chinese food loving. These are just a few of our favorite dishes here, which we order on a regular basis. There are many good dishes here, you can always check out their whiteboard menu or ask for recommendations.

Our favorite dish here, the stir fry beef with ginger, spring onions and oyster sauce

We used to frequent this place at least once or twice a week, we sorely miss this place now that we have moved to KL. I have been eating here since I was 3 years old, well not this particular shop, but the chef/owner of this shop used to cook alongside his brother in another shop in Temiang called "Dai Shue Tau" (literally meaning under the big tree, very common name for restaurants which are located under a big tree). One of the specialties in that particular shop was the steamed carp fish head (soong yee), and my father's friends from KL used to drive all the way down and would order a fish each. Previously, the mother of the owner (the fish expert), helps out and cooks the steamed fish at the other branch but during our recent visit, we noticed that she is helping out here now.

During our first visit, I was shocked to see how busy the restaurant was at lunchtime. Although we dine here on a regular basis, this was our first time having lunch here. I usually come in the evenings as it is cooler, but since we had prior dinner arrangements this time, we had to make do with lunch. Baby C kept herself amused with the fishies swimming about in the tank before our food arrived.

Oh-oh, one of you is going to be our lunch today :P

One of our must order dishes here is the stir fry beef with ginger, spring onion and oyster sauce. The beef is achingly tender and delicious. On this ocassion, I was also craving for some noodles, so we ordered the Beef Wat Tan Hor (noodles with egg gravy), which substitutes the pork with beef strips. More of that tender beef for us.

My mum loves the Stir Fry Kangkung with Belacan here. Give her this and she will be a very happy woman.

Baby C's favorite is the Deep Fried Red Tilapia (hoong fei chau), which we order almost everytime we come here. Believe it or not, she can eat almost 1/2 the fish on her own. Nice and crispy and as fresh as it can get.

Baby C enjoying her fish!

On our second visit here, we had the Sweet and Sour Pork. Great comfort food, simple yet so delicious. Coated in a crispy batter and appetizing sauce, it was very addictive.

Since my mum and I are not big on carp fish head, we ordered the Steamed Tilapia in Cheong Ching sauce which they serve up with the carp. The sauce is the secret ingredient here, and what makes this dish so good.

And not to be missed, the beef again.

And some vegetables to balance it all out. I am fond of the Stir Fry Beansprouts with Salted Fish and Stir Fry Sweet Potato Leaves (shue miu) with Garlic and Cili Padi.

Prices are very affordable here, but most importantly the food is absolutely delicious. If you ever find yourselves in Seremban, do give this place a try. On weekends, it is advisable to call in advance to reserve a table if you're turning up after 7 pm.

Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 12.00 to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sundays.

Price: Dependent on portion size, but a meal including fish, 2 meat and 2 vegetables usually cost around RM50-60.

Location: TC Keong Restaurant, No. 7 Ground Floor, Jalan Seri Rahang 1, Taman Seri Rahang, 70100 Seremban (near Cosway)

Tel: 012-6118286 / 012-6189960

GPS Coordinates: 2.717239, 101.948973

Curry laksa @ Restoran Asia, Seremban (Revisited)

Update April 2015: Price of a bowl of curry laksa is RM5.30 now if I am not mistaken.


I have written about this place before about a year and a half ago, but I feel it deserves another mention on my blog since it is, in my honest opinion, the best curry laksa I've ever eaten. My personal favorite anyway. We were recently in Seremban again, and this time, we made sure we made it here for breakfast.

Curry laksa is a coconut-based spicy curry noodle soup. I adore the soup as it is flavoursome, rich (but not too thick) and I just want to drink every last drop. The Unc likes it even spicier, so he mixes in the accompanying spicy chilli paste into the soup. The cockles are plump and juicy and the chicken smooth. Other accompaniments in the bowl include tofu puff, and beansprouts. You can add on half a boiled egg for an additional RM0.50.

I have mine with meehoon

The spicy chilli paste packs a punch.

Baby C who usually does not like spicy stuff can eat half a bowl of noodles (minus the soup) because according to her "Mummy, these noodles are really nice, really really nice".

Slurpilicious

You can read the earlier post here.

Service: Efficient.

Price: RM3.50 (small), RM4.00(medium), RM4.30 (large)

Location: Restoran Asia, 364, Jalan Tok Ungku, 70100 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. (opposite Pejabat Pos Rahang and a few shops away from Kong Guan)

GPS coordinates: 2.702364, 101.953962

Eggs-traordinary Easter Feast @ Atrium Cafe, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Petaling Jaya

This Easter Sunday, 24 April 2011, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa is offering a Eggs-traordinary Easter Feast at Atrium Cafe between 12.00 noon and 4.00pm. For only RM55++ per adult and RM27.50++ per child aged 12 years and below, it is one of the most reasonably priced hotel buffets around KL / Selangor. Here, you will find an eggs-cellent spread of food which you can enjoy in a casual relaxed atmosphere.

Easter Bunny greets you to the Eggs-traordinary Easter Feast

Pretty painted Easter eggs

Atrium Cafe is located at the Lobby Level of Pyramid Tower Hotel (next to Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa i.e. the Main Tower) and offers an array of Pan-Asian delights, ranging from Hong Kong noodles to Tandoori dishes, pasta, carved meat and pulled noodles at 'live' cooking stations plus loads more.

Buffet spread

Most often at buffets, food quality is compromised for quantity, however this is clearly not the case at Atrium Cafe's Hi-Tea spread as I enjoyed almost everything I sampled that afternoon.

The roast beef was just calling out to be eaten, so I started off with some of this and some satay skewers. According to the chef, the doneness of the beef here varies from well done to medium. The best bit was the crust, which was pretty flavoursome. Both the chicken and beef satay was good, accompanied by the peanut sauce.

Roast beef

Chicken satay and beef satay

You can make your own salads, from a selection of greens, cheese and dressing. However, I skipped this, and went straight for the cold appetizers. A few of my favorites were the smoked salmon, prawn salad, lamb salad, and the tomato and mozzarella cheese salad. I could easily have had seconds, but I decided to leave room for the rest of the food on display. Other Western appetizers featured here are Grilled Beef Salad with Roasted Garlic, Fish Salad with Fennel and Orange Vinaigrette, fresh seafood such as oysters, crabs, and mussels. There are also Asian appetizers such as Pecal Jawa, Tandoori Prawn Salad with Cumin, Serunding Ayam, Serunding Daging and Indian Fruit Salad with Yoghurt and Spices. There are also hot soups available.

Salad Bar

Cold appetizers

Smoked salmon

Tomato and mozzarella cheese salad

Mushroom and Prawn Salad with Pesto Dressing

Prawn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

Lamb Salad

Some of the cold appetizers that I sampled

One of the must-try dishes here at Atrium Cafe is the Hong Kong wantan noodles. I was skeptical at first; good wantan noodles in a hotel restaurant? My doubts were unfounded as the noodles were delicious. It was slightly different from our local wantan noodles as it uses oyster sauce hence the sauce is thicker and sweeter, but I enjoyed it. This is cooked to order in one of the live cooking stations, so a bowl of hot piping noodles is guaranteed.

Must try in Atrium Cafe

The chef preparing my Hong Kong wanton noodles

Eggs-cellent wantan noodles

Indulge in a large selection of scrumptious mains such as Pan Fried Salmon Fillet with Citrus Butter Sauce, Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy, Ayam Panggang Kuah Lemak, Chicken Biryani with Cashewnuts, Stewed Beancurd Ribbon with Shimeji Mushroom and Grilled Lamb Cutlet with Herb Crust and Rosemary. I tried the latter, and it was succulent and tender. There are also live cooking stations for pasta, seafood porridge, lok lok and kebabs.

Ayam Panggang Kuah Lemak

Chicken Biryani with Cashewnuts

Stewed Beancurd Ribbon with Shimeji Mushrooms

Oven Baked Quail with Prune Compote

Beef Medallions with Mushroom sauce

Kebab Counter

Pasta made to order

Lok Lok

Lok Lok dipping sauces

What really stood out for me here were the desserts. I could spend all afternoon eating what's on display. From what I observed, everytime they refilled the buffet, it would be something new and different from the previous rounds. Chef Ahmad Zauhudi explained that all the food is prepared in Atrium's kitchen, with the exception of the dessert which comes from the Main Tower.

Desserts on display

My personal favorite was the opera cake with gorgeous layers of almond sponge and coffee buttercream. Heavenly!

Another outstanding dessert worth a mention is the bread and butter pudding. I usually dislike bread and butter pudding in hotel buffets as they have either gone hard or the sauce is overly sweet. But the bread and pudding here is beautiful, a perfect balance of soft, moist pudding with the vanilla sauce.

The chocolate brownie was also good.

Um Ali, an Arabic bread and cream pudding with toasted nuts

Mango cheesecake

Date cake

An assortment of ice cream

Orange tartlets

Peach crumble

Pyramid Tower with cones filled with mango custard

Chocolate cake

Some Malay kuihs. There are also hot desserts such as bubur jagung and a cold teh bunga and honey dew sago.

Onde onde

Seri Muka

Kuih Tayap

Baklava

Sweet cakes

Easter is most evident at the dessert section with adorable chocolate bunnies and also a quaint egg-tree masterpiece adorning this area. A little birdie told me that these chocolate eggs will be given out after the Easter Hi-Tea. So, if you ask nicely, you might score one.

Easter birdie

Chocolate eggs

Traditionally eaten during Easter, hot cross buns can also be found here.

My dining partners together with Chef Zauhudi and Chef Malak

Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa exterior

View from the Hotel - Sunway Lagoon

What a delightful spread! Thank you to Ms Virgillia Lee Freddy of Sunway Resort and Rebecca Saw of Adverlets for extending the invite.

Advanced reservation is highly recommended. Please call 03-7495 1888 for reservations and enquiries.

Location: Atrium Cafe, Pyramid Tower Hotel, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Persiaran Lagoon, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Website: http://kualalumpur.sunwayhotels.com

GPS Coordinates: 3.071221,101.605446