James's Cendol @ Sitiawan

I was away for road hunt a few weekend back and one of the challenge was to find, buy and eat the famous James's Cendol in Sitiawan.

James, he must be the most iconic figure in the whole of Sitiawan and greater Perak sans the Sultan. Ever ready with his RED bow tie and white long sleeved shirt regardless of the heat to faithfully churn bowls after bowls of delicious cendol ice! I absolutely love his service, the man is smilling the whole time. He must love his job very much. Seen here with his similarly dressed wife, Devi.
Besides the basic cendol (+santan+palm syrup+red kidney beans), you could also ask to add pulut.
The lovely cooling cendol with generous palm syrup... I'm gonna miss you so much...

JAMES CENDOL

Jalan Lumut, Sitiawan (In front of Maha Mariamman Temple near Fajar Supermarket.)
Open 11am-7pm. Days off not fixed.

Aglio Olio e Peperoncino

Simple to make pasta dish - one that got my mom singing "hou-sek hou-sek" and made me very happy.

Here's the ingredients, chopped garlic, smoked bacon back, Italian parsley, a handful of cashew nuts, a tbsp of dried chilies and 350-375gm spaghetti and a tsp of oregano(optional). It took me less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook.
When cooking pasta, make sure there is ample boiling water and olive oil is added into the water to ensure the pasta do not stick to each other. Use enough salt in the water till it taste like seawater. Place the pasta into the pot when the water is boiling.

Immediately after placing the pasta into the pot, toast the cashew nuts on dry deep dish pan or using medium hot oil(this is add flavor to the oil for cooking later). Strain the nuts from the oil once it turns gold, do it fast otherwise it will be burnt.

In the same pan of 1/2-3/4 cup of hot oil, toss in the minced garlic, chili flakes, oregano and bacon together. This is to ensure garlic is not over cooked and browned. Add in black pepper, white pepper and salt to taste. Turn of the heat once it is fragrant.

Cut the parsley to 5mm length and toss in the non-leafy parts into the garlic and chili sauce. This is to allow the tougher part, which is usually more aromatic, to blend in gently with the rest of the ingredients.

By now the pasta should be cooked, strain and toss the hot pasta in the pan of garlic and chili sauce. Put in the rest of the parsley(leafy) and cashew nuts and toss evenly. Serve immediately.

Ta-Da! My weekend homemade spicy pasta! If you like it spicy, add more chili flakes and pepper. I find this recipe versatile, you could always stick to the basic garlic and chili flakes and replace the meat - prawns, scallop, roast chicken or veal and nuts - pine nuts, walnut, almond slices, etc.

Jalil Seafood Restoran

To kick start again with seafood at Jalil Seafood Restoran. I was there months ago and picked only 2 tasty morsels to blog about here.
The butter mantis prawn in yam ring! Strange as it is the combination although may seems dry to some is actually very Very VERY fragrant and palatable! Everything is perfectly deep-fried yet maintained juicy within. Extreme demonstration and knowledge in controlling oil temperature. Dessert of coconut pudding, must be crowd favorite cos a family of 10-12 actually went there after their dinner elsewhere just for this dessert. Coconut is opened and juice was taken to make the pudding concoction before pouring it back to the coconut with flesh intact and set in the freezer. Mellow and sweet with the beautiful aroma of a young coconut. 1 serving is good for 2 persons.
Pros: Besides speedy service there is ample parking spaces available. Reasonably priced.
Cons: Limited seating and noise level may be a nuisances when all diners starts talking at the same time

Sorry for the Hiatus!

Well that's me when I'm working anyway - finally getting off busy work to blog now!

Vintry Damansara

Out about at the worst kind of traffic area in Damansara Heights for wine and food. Well me minus wine that is. Flipping thru the menu is all about pork, nearly every page offers at least one pork dish. Like its caption for the menu; Seriously non-halal.

Our orders mostly starters to whet the appetite, of pork, squid, pate and noodles.

Caramalised pork came up with thinly sliced crispy pork generously coated in sweet soy sauce.
Squid Fritters... so crispy and juicy at the same time. Love the spicy Thai chili sauce.
Chicken liver pate is not everyone's palate. Only me and another dining mate took most of these. Caesar salad with roast pork... is AMAZING!! both vegetables and was really crispy and tasty. So much for healthier options the pork does amazing things for the taste buds.Grilled Lamb shoulder... is a bit fat. The dark sauce looked more orange than dark is quite special indeed.Our main dish of Angel Hair pasta was again tossed with the same caramalised pork we had earlier only more spicy. Love the generous portion for the price that we paid.Fried Korean Noodles... ermm... a more flavourful of the two and again with the spicy caramalised pork. The noodle however looks suspiciously like those that cook within 2-minutes.Desserts!! First up is the Tiramisu which is also not a favourite cos they dislike the rich mascarporne cheese top. Others may well keep complaining fat but I ate anyway.Another sweetie, the hot and cold Banana & Peach Crumble. Lovely combination. There were a lot of laughs and the waiter/tress were kinda efficient given the busy crowd that is every demanding of attention. Reservation is a must to avoid dissappointment as seating is limited.

Vintry Damansara
130, Jalan Kasah, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603 2094 8262 (Call for reservation)
Closed on Sundays