Bangkok trip – Day 2: Scrumptious meal @China town Scala Restaurant (唐人街银都鱼翅酒楼)

Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, is a good place to me for having a wonderful dining experience. You will find the best and expensive Chinese restaurant, as well as the cheapest food stalls along the road, especially at night. The restaurant I visited is China Town Scala Restaurant, which represents one of the most upmarket dining options in the area, but the prices are still very reasonable to me, albeit much higher than at the street stalls. You can find this restaurant easily, as this large Chinese restaurant is located on bustling Yaowarat Road, right in the heart of Chinatown, and has a big signboard to attract your attention.

Shark Fin, 1000batt

We have ordered Shark fin – their signature dish. The shark fin they presented was authentic Thai-Teochew version, much different with the shark fin we normally have in the wedding banquet. The shark fin came in a clear but thick broth with crab meat, and we added the bean sprout and coriander, while the soup was hot, superb delicious, must try!

Peking Duck, 1000batt

The restaurant also famous with the Roast suckling pig and Peking duck, and we ordered Peking duck for our meal. But, I am wondered where is my duck, lauging, they served the Peking duck without showing us the duck and the portion of each duck’s skin was so big until we wondered are they serving us more than a duck. Anyway, is worth to try.

Claypot Big Head Prawn with Rice Noodles, 600batt

Does it look familiar? If you visit my blog before, you will find it is quite similar with the Crab vermicelli I posted before. Yes, they are in the same cooking way, but this is tastier. The cook will heat the clay pot (or metal pot) first, and place the pork belly as 1st layer, spring onion, onion and garlic as 2nd layer, rice noodles as 3rd layer, and prawn (which cut into half) place on top of all the ingredients. By the high flame, the essence of the prawn will be absorbed by the rice noodles. I love the rice noodle instead of the prawn, yum yum.

Vegetable in 4, 150batt

Fried rice with Peking duck

Osmanthus flowers Bird’s Nest, 300batt

We were satisfied when we have completed our scrumptious meal with this Osmanthus flowers Bird’s nest.  By the way, I enjoyed 10% discount when I present my e-coupon, which I get it from this website http://www.thailandfans.com/.  Do visit this website before you go to Thailand, as it provide a lot of discount coupon, which save a lot of money.

Bangkok trip - Day 1: Cantonese Cuisine @ Grand Sanyod, Bangkok

Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world, but most of them have been influenced by local ingredients, lifestyle and culture. For example, Korean Chinese cuisine is totally different from the original Chinese cuisine, but not Thai Chinese cuisine. Thai Chinese cuisine maintains most of the original cuisine ‘soul’, and even enhances the quality of the Chinese cuisine.

This restaurant is not in my itinerary, we have found this restaurant by accidentally. But surprisingly, not any single dish can get negative criticized so far, and this fabulous meal is considered a good deal instead, l strongly recommend this restaurant when you visit Bangkok. The story was, at first, we planned to go to Yaowarat (Chinatown) to have our dinner as our first meal in Bangkok. But, we were really tired and hungry after the long journey; since the restaurant is located just next to the hotel, we decided to give it a try, and we were satisfied with this New Year eve’s meal.

Fish Maw Soup, 300batt – 700batt
Fish Maw – actually is just the air bladder of large fish, but it plays an important role as one of the luxury ingredients in Chinese cuisine. In Thailand, due to the geographical advantage, she is abundant with fish maw. Therefore fish maw soup is a pretty common dish in Bangkok; you will find it year round and even served by a number of street vendors. But, this doesn’t mean you can find quality fish maw soup easily.

The fish maw soup they served was wonderful. This stock is simply rich, thick… and the ingredients are very fresh and the fish maw was provided in generous. What a valuable foodstuff, which rich in collagen protein… fantastic, a must try dish!

Deep fried shrimp ball topped w mustard leaf, 150batt – 300batt

Personally, I like this shrimp ball, the ball is bouncy and rich in seafood flavour. It absorbs the sweetness of the mustard leaf. With every bite, you can taste the juice, which is full in flavour.

Pork leg stuffed with ham and Char Siu, 150batt – 300batt
Pork leg stuffed with ham – a skilful dish, in Malaysia, you might only have the chances to taste it in banquet (as the chef needs to spend a lot of time and efforts to prepare this dish, and they only serve when ordered in big quantity). But, you can find this dish ready at most of the Thai Chinese restaurant. Does it mean that they are more appreciating the traditional Chinese dishes?

Seafood fried kuay teow, 70batt – 200batt
Our meal had complemented with this strong ‘wok hei’ seafood fried kway teow. Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, there were more great dishes to try, like grilled duck, homemade egg noodles with goose leg in hot pot (we have ordered, but sold out), wonton, hae guen (fried baked shrimp cake). Oh! Maybe one time visit is not enough to try all these great dishes.

The restaurant is no easy to be found as it is located in the alley, but is definitely worth to visit.

1/F The Elegant Court 88 Building,
Soi Jarasvieng,
North Sathorn Rd., Bangrak,
Bangkok, 10500, Thailand
Tel: +66 2630 9200-1

Good Deal @ Elegance Suite Hotel, Bangkok

I love to plan my family vocation trip, but, I always facing a issue - high hotel accomodation cost.  Last year, KH and my family decided to celebrate our 2010 New Year at Bangkok. So, five of us flied to Bangkok on 31st Dec 2009 and stayed at Elegance Suite Hotel, Bangkok; which I believe is a pretty good deal we had make. We spent about SGD629.55 for 3 junior suites, 3 nights. It means SGD69.95 for a junior suite per night (even includes breakfast), is it unbelievable good deal in such a peak period.

All the rooms are in the well-appointed suites and it offers a range of amenities to ensure a relaxing stay. You can’t imagine that you even can enjoy Thai massage in your room. As all the massagers are stationed at the opposite of the hotel, and they will serve you at your room after you make arrangement with the hotel staff. It sounds good as a 3 stars hotel, and worth for money as the hotel is located at the Silom area (where is home of Bangkok's top luxury hotels). Besides that, we were satisfied with the location as this hotel is located near the Chao Praya River, within walking distance of Silom Road and Saphan Taksin Skytrain Station.

That night, we went to find a space on the river near Saphan Taksin, where there is an incredible fireworks display lights up the night at midnight.

Mutton bone marrow stew

‘Dear, they have mutton bone marrow stew, do you want?’ KH

‘Of course.’ I said.

‘Ok, we order a little bit for tasting. But, do you know how to eat?’ KH.

‘Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be too difficult.’

I have mentioned many times in front of KH that I am keen to try the mutton bone marrow stew after I have read an article by a famous foodie (蔡澜).  So we were so excited when we noticed that the Indian food stall have provided this dish.

I was completely clueless when the red mutton bones, which stewed in a spicy sweet chilli, tomato, a little cabbage and mutton stock, arrived with a useless fork in front of me. Since the fork was useless, I found myself clumsily in handling this sticky and slippery bone by my hands. I picked up the bone, sucked it and tapped it repeatedly, tuk! tuk! tuk! ... tuk!tuk!tuk! Finally the buttery marrow slid out.

This greyish brown matter is soft and smooth; you can have it by spread on the toast. It tastes wonderful but not everyone can accept it, for instance KH totally can’t accept it at all.  But still, I suggest you to try once before you come to conclusion. (And always remember not to wear in white when you are trying this dish, hahah)

Tuk! tuk! tuk! after fighting hard with my bone marrow, I went home with red-stained fingers, a ruined shirt and a feeling of happy.

My recipe: Steamed chicken wing with salted egg

Since I was busy in preparing my exam, I didn’t cook for quite a long time. This is the first dish I would like to share with you – as it is a simple and delightful dish. I must admit the idea for this dish came from one of the contestant of a Singapore cooking show (Wonder Chef, 我要当食神) – when I saw him make it on TV it left quite an impression. I don’t have the original recipe, so this recipe is the result after testing and trying, hope that you will be inspired and create yours too.

Ingredients:

8 chicken wings mid section (you can use wing drumette too)

1 salted egg

3 heaped tbsp shredded ginger (depends on your preference, but more is better)

3 heaped tbsp shredded garlic (depends on your preference, but more is better)

Bundle of coriander, cut it to ½ inch

1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine

½ tbsp of sesame oil

½ tsp of soy sauce
Pinch of salt and pepper (control the amount of salt as you have salted egg)

Marinate the chicken wings with sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper for 15 minutes. Put the salted egg yolk in the centre of the chicken wings.

Put all the gingers and garlic on top of the chicken wings.

Follow by putting coriander stem on top of the garlic and ginger.

Pour in the Chinese cooking wine and salted egg white evenly, and steam for 15 minutes over medium flame.

Dang! Put the rest of the coriander and serve it in hot.

This is a rather soupy dish, so I can enjoy the soup while I am enjoying the chicken wings. Remember having the chicken wing with all the ingredients (like garlic, ginger, and coriander) especially the salted egg yolk, as it enhances the chicken wings.

Hokkien Mee @ Kim Lian Kee, Chinatown KL

While we were waiting for our bus at Pudu Raya, we rushed to the Kim Lian Kee, Chinatown to having Hokkien Mee(Hokkien Noodles) as last meal at Kuala Lumpur. This is definitely not our 1st time having Hokkien Mee at Kim Lian Kee, and we never forget how tasty it was when we have had it in our 1st time. Since then, having Hokkien Mee at Kim Lian Kee is a must in my Kuala Lumpur’s itinerary.

Chinese Cuisine @ Restaurant Oversea, KL

Our last stop at Kuala Lumpur – Oversea Restaurant, the restaurant is famous for fine contemporary Chinese cuisine which emphasis on Cantonese cuisine. The group has 7 branches in Malaysia, and we went to the one which located at Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur.