Archive for April 2015

RICE WILL SUFFICE: MUI CHIN, CHICKEN RICE

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F
orget what you know about conventional eating. Today, you’re going to be eating rice for breakfast like a Filipino. Only not with big red sausages, Catsup and Spam (We will be discovering this culture in the near future, don’t you worry). You will be doing so with Chicken, and it will be delicious chicken for that matter.


Why Chicken for breakfast you may ask. I asked myself this very question when childhood friend, Joshua Voon (A brilliant chef by the way. Keep your eyes out for him) invited me to Mui Chin. Was it simple breakfast culture in this area? No. It just simply sells out by 10am. Who on earth sells out, or the better question might be who on earth eats something like this so early?

Well for today, that who will be me and a slew of friends.

Anyone else but me wishes this bike would have parked elsewhere?
Aunty Telar, is the very shy but lovely lady who prepares this dish and has been doing so for about 10 years, ever since her mother in law who herself has been doing this for 30 years passed away. This recipe is first generation mind you, as her mother in law was a Hainanese from China.


Chicken rice in most occasions is always best when simple. It’s getting the simple things right that make this dish an understated delicacy. It is the combination of all the simple elements here that come together to bring an experience that people flock towards to eat lunch for breakfast.


The only way I can think of to explain the journey of flavours you will be experiencing is by showing you step by step how I would being to enjoy a meal like this.

I agree. Someone went a bit overboard with the extra bowl of soup. 

At first glance, you can tell that this bowl of soup is going to be packed full of flavour instead of tasting like hot water and MSG. A sip of this hits you with authentic flavours of chicken and hints of pepper and you can see why. The broth constantly has chicken feet in it when simmering which allows for absorption of delicious fat, essential for natural flavours.




To get a good feel of how the Chilli Sauce will taste like overall, it’s good to start by having it over your rice. The chilli as you can see is pretty simple at best but has a nice acidity from vinegar and bright zesty flavours while being slightly spicy with fruity flavours of the chilli pepper.



Coupled with the rice that is quite soft but carries flavours similar to a post I did awhile back which can be found HERE, you have a nice blend of savoury ginger and garlic with a bright zesty chilli sauce.


Another condiment that I am grateful for having is the sweet pickled cucumbers. Lately, most have stopped serving these but I don’t blame them as they are on most occasions cast aside and not eaten. It has become more of a service that owners like these provide as opposed to a must, but having something fresh and sweet like this is always a welcome addition.





As for the star of the show, the Chicken is as you would hope for. Delicious with mild flavours of light sauce and sesame oil. The tenderness is what you would expect from a Hainanese style of cooking that requires a steeping in sub-boiling temperatures to not only cook through, but to also extract delicious oils that you get in your soup.



This is why here, it is equally important to have everything eaten at once. If you’re also wondering, the skin is also jelly like and springy for those who enjoy these things. I know I do from time to time.

Now you might want to me to reassure you again if something like this is worth the trip so early in the morning. Yes. Yes it is. I have never wanted Chicken Rice more than I ever did before Mui Chin. You may also ask the people that wait in front of the shop as early as 6:30 in the morning for a packet of this to go.

Overall, a good simple meal like this is underrated. With Chicken Rice being found in almost every coffee shop, Mui Chin is definitely the family run needle in this haystack. 


Mui Chin is open every day from 6:30 am to 10:00 am for Chicken Rice. Usually and on this occassion especially, they ran out of ingredients by 9:30. 



Please come back again on Friday where I post my articles from SEEDS which I write on as well and every Tuesday from around 7pm to 8pm Malaysian time.

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Resting Hangry Face

TopShop Model

Chef Voon


OODLES OF NOODLES: ORIENTAL PARK, KOLO MEE

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B
efore we begin, I wish to inform you that I am fully aware that this is my second Kolo Mee post in a month. I would also wish to inform you that I was guilty of not being able to help myself. It’s Kolo Mee, and I was in the area! Julian, the brilliant photographer who takes all these beautiful food shots for your reading pleasure was also with me at the time so as the saying goes, Carpe Diem.

Traversing through alleyways to get to my destination
The location of the coffee shop known as Oriental Park is best known for being in the very close vicinity of the old Cathay Cinema. Unless you’ve grown up coming here with your family, been a movie-goer of the Cathay Cinema days or stumbled upon this by foot, you are not going to be able to find this especially if you are driving around the main road area. Its obscurity and walking through alleyways to get there is all part of Oriental Park’s charm. Do not worry about directions though, because as usual I have a map provided below.  
http://www.susanbkason.com/2014/09/03/the-cathay-cinema-on-borneo/#.VTXnniGqqko

Oriental Park was best known in the days of old when Cathay cinema was still a cinema and not an abandoned building, as a place where movie goers would go grab a meal before a film or some candy to enjoy said film with. Soon after Cathay closed its doors, the food business in Oriental Park was in jeopardy of losing its major clientele. Needless to say, practical food stall owners chose to depart.


Mr Thian, an ex-See Hua Daily newspaper employee who at the time ran the Candy operations in Oriental Park had no plans to leave despite everyone else doing so. He and his wife knew though that selling candy was not going to be sustainable, so they took over the stall that belonged to the previous Kolo Mee stall owner. Along with a new take on how to make Kolo Mee that was different from the previous owner and with the support of his wife, Oriental Park has been selling Kolo Mee and has been family-run for more than 20 years.


Mr Thian, the proud owner of this establishment may be too shy to tell this story, but his lovely wife would be more than happy to speak to you. I enquired if she was scared when her husband left his stable desk job to sell candy and then proceed to sell and make Kolo Mee of all things; her answer was a swift, “Not at all”.

The cause of this bravery is not clear to me, but judging by the crowd that always make it over to Oriental Park despite the obscurity, I’d say it has something to do with the Kolo Mee.



Like most stalls of the like, there are a few choices of noodles you may partake of but today like most days I prefer to play it safe with my noodles.

Speaking of the noodles, the straight ones were well blanched as they came springy and firm, though not as dente as I would normally prefer them. The “Mee Pok” or linguini-like noodles do provide that firmness if that is what you are looking for.


They are also well accompanied by strong flavours of drizzled lard that coat these noodles so well, along with fried garlic that brings a nutty sweetness. Unfortunately they were out of spring onions that day, but believe me if they were present, it would have really brought the flavours full circle with the added light crunchy texture. Coming early is the lesson learnt!


Fortunately, what was available that day was the minced meat and Char Siew. The minced meat is as you can see, juicy and it brings a good saltiness to this bowl.


What does make this bowl special and different from most shops is the Char Siew Pork being made in-house. If you happen to be lucky you may see a Barbeque Pit on the side of the restaurant, where Mr Thian barbeques this Char Siew to a juicy inside and crunchy outside. 



The fact that it is barbequed instead of oven roasted also means that its skin has a smoky flavour to it. You will also notice from time to time, Mr Thian will go to the end of the shop to freshly cut up the Char Siew to make sure that no cuts are left out in the open too long to be dried up.


Another note on the Char Siew is the “Ang (Red)” if you want to “Pang (Hokkien for “put”. At least I think so. I’m not a very good Chinese) Ang” on your noodles. What the “Ang” means is the Red Char Siew Oil and said “Ang” if you choose to drizzle it over your noodles, will also be a sweet delightful experience. 


The sweetness of this has a good porky body to it and does not taste like sugar and food colouring like so many other Angs you may find in Kuching, so yes. That is a good thing. A very good thing.

Oriental Park has gone through a lot, but it is inspiring to see brave people do so well for so long when they have put their minds to it and are determined. From candy to noodles, you know that the experience will be sweet regardless.

Candid while having found a seat amidst the full house. Come early!
Oriental Park opens every day from 6am – 1pm or till they sell out.

The map provided below belongs to a very talented blogger/writer from Kuching, named Anna. She did a very good piece on this shop as well, so do check her out HERE.

Urban Palate posts and tells it like it is every Tuesday from around 7-8pm Malaysian time. If you have enjoyed this article, please do share us on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. Much love!


OLD KUCHING, CARPENTER STREET PART 5: ALADIN CHICKEN RICE

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I
n our final entry for our OLD KUCHING: CARPENTER STREET series, it might seem strange that we’re ending with something that doesn’t sound very Kuching at all. If you’re thinking like the many of us that a shop named Aladin would serve something Middle Eastern or at least gimmicky Disney products, then you’d be like the many of us that got it wrong. If just by their name, you guessed that they sell Chicken Rice, you’d be one of the few whom I’d also ask for advice on lottery tickets.



Yes I agree that it is a strange name, but just like its name – this shop embodies the fact that good things come in strange packages. In this case, really good things. Though tattooed up tough guys carrying knives may be intimidating at first, especially if you’re a specky skinny 20 something like I am, put that fear aside. Do that and proceed to request for some food and watch this charming family-run business cut up what they’ve been cutting up best for thirty something years. Chicken. 



For a while now, Aladin has been touted as serving the best Chicken Rice in Kuching but it may be unfair to say so and compare, as Aladin does not serve traditional Chicken Rice. As the guys over at Aladin call it, it is as original Aladin as Chicken Rice gets. One might wonder how different Chicken Rice can be from place to place as it is just put plainly, chicken and rice. You may be right, but when any food is served with love and care, it becomes more than just the sum of its parts.


When ordering any portion of Chicken Rice, what you will have that comes with it, is a helping of some Chilli Sauce and their signature Black Sweet Sauce. The Chilli Sauce is a perfect addition on top of something mild like their Steamed Chicken. It is because the strong flavours of Cilipadi and vinegar from the Chilli Sauce adds to flavours not present in the Steamed Chicken, as opposed to clashing with them. You may of course spray this on whatever you please, but that’s a personal choice.

The Black Sweet Sauce obviously has some heat judging from the Chilli seeds that can be seen, while the slight sticky consistency is most probably due to the presence of sugar. This is perfect for either the Roasted Chicken or the Fried Chicken, as the sweetness does well to lift the flavours of the already strong flavoured proteins.


As for the rice that also comes with every portion, it is pleasant while being cooked well in a manner that is similar to that of the Hainans with mild flavours of garlic, sesame oil and chicken stock. Though pretty basic, it accompanies the juicy chicken (which is all moist and juicy I might add) that it comes present with very well.

Steamed Chicken RM11.50 for this portion of chicken with one bowl of rice

We’ll start with personally my favourite version of the chicken that they cook, which is the Steamed Chicken. 




Rarely do people get Steamed Chicken right like it is done here, whereby the chicken is drizzled with a sauce that makes the already soft chicken even softer than it already tastes, while still being firm and juicy. The sauce that covers it has a flavour likened to Chinese Rice Wine and Sesame Oil that is quite common with Drunken Chicken.


What it tastes like is a mixture of sweetness that you get from wine, while having savoury nutty flavours of sesame oil. Added with the flavours of chicken that’s cooked well, results in a stark contrast to the usual tasteless Steamed Chicken that is usually in the market.

Roasted Chicken Rice RM5 per plate



The Roasted Chicken does not hold back either. The meat within is juicy as usual, while the skin is where this choice shines. 




It is not very common to have Roasted Chicken which has skin as crisp and light as this, with the seasoning of five spice and sweetness carrying the delectable tasting chicken.

Fried Chicken Rice RM7 per plate


 Last but not least, let us talk about the chicken of choice for most of y’all. The Fried Chicken. I will not lie. I can absolutely see why this always sells out within the first 2 hours, as not only is it juicy but just like the skin of the Roasted Chicken, it is delicious. Delicious in its simplicity, the skin is light but crunchy, with strong flavours of ginger. That chicken, when topped with the Black Sweet Sauce makes for a sandwich of textures.


What I mean by sandwich of textures, is the sticky layer of Black Sweet Sauce covering the light crunchy gingery skin that wraps around the juicy succulent meat of the chicken. Now, for my followers overseas who are reading this in the late of night, I hope you’re feeling hungry.

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Aladin has earned a strong following over the course of time that it has been open, garnering support from young and old customers for good reason. I could list a few starting from their bright smiles, colourful tattoos, charming old layout all the way down to how good the food they serve is.

They open daily from 10am – 2pm and 6pm – 9pm. You’ll need to come early to grab yourself a table big enough for your family, and if you have to wait – It will be worth it.

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Urban Palate posts every Tuesdays around 7pm - 8pm Malaysian time.

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