A mix of North (Penang) and South (Johor) specialty recipes

Combination bound to please after a day of fasting

THE Melting Pot Cafe in Concorde, Shah A/am boasts an appetising mix of Northern and Southern specialty recipes for its Ramadan promotion.

Helmed by chefs Abdul Kinchi Maidin and ghariffah Radzin Syed Abdul Rahman, the Citra Ramadan Special runs with eight menus, focusing particularly on Penang and Johor cuisines.

Shariffah gadzin said the combination was an exciting culinary offer hound to please the taste buds after a day of fasting.

"Penang cuisine uses plenty of sp ces, onions and yoghurt, resulting in strong flavours in the food, while Joboreans use plenty of lemon-grass and galangal in their cooking for that distinctive tas e n their

cuisine," said Shariffah Radzin who is a gues chef from Johor.

For her cooking, she uses Rempah Shariffah, which she brings from Johor to maintain the originality of her recipes

"Rempah Shariffah is made by someone I know in Jobor and the spices are very good," she added.

Some of her specialties for the promotion are Ikan Belimbing. Sarak Kupang Ikan Terutup Jobor and Sotong Halba Jaws.

Atmul Kinchi's specialties include the Gear Box soup, Fish Head Curly, Mutton Masala, Ayam Masak Madu and Daging Gulai gawah.

Also worth looking out for are the yummy rice dishes, such as the Rriyani Cam Ayam, Nasi Bokhati and Nasi Dagallg.

The buffet is priced at RM60++ per adult; there is a 50g discount for children.

Malaysian Flavours for Ramadan

Club offers food from the various states

FOURTEEN main courses each reflecting the best of each state in Malaysia is what the Botanic Resort Club offers customers for Ramadhan.

Dishes such as Asam Pedas Melaka, RendangTok Perak, Otak Otak Muar (Johor), lkan Rakar Muara (Selangor), Patin Masak Tempeyak Kuaia lJpis (Pahang) to Rojak Peaang are among some 50 mouth-watering dishes available at the coffee house of the club at Bandar Botanic in Klang.

“We wanted to offer our customers something special and came up with this idea of offering at least one dish from each of the states," said the chief chef of the five-month-old club Mohd Azmi Saad.

Azmi said the club's spread was divided into five sections, salad corner, soup, hot and spicy items and stall concept.

Five types of Malaysian ulam like pickles, kerabu taugeh, kerabu pemt, kerabu ayam, budu, tempoyak, clncalu and sambai belacan are available at the salad comer, said Azmi.

He said nasi arab, nasi petih, karl kepala ikan utara, patin masak tempoyak Kuala Lipis, asam pedas Melaka, kambing masak kicap, pajeri nenas and daging bamia are among the dishes offered.

"The stalls serve items like ayam percik RampongJawa, rendang hati lembu, otak-otak, curry laksa, murtabek, satay, roti pisang, roti telur, sotong kangkung rebus and more.

For desert, Azmi said they offered a wide range of items such as ice kacang cendol, glutinous rice, ice cream, local cakes such as kuih lapis, serl muka, ondeh ondeh, kuih talam, tepung peria, aneka bubur kacang, pulut hitam and bubur cha-cha.

"We also have fried cempedak, jackfruit, bananas and tapioca.

“Two types of soups are available while fruit juice, cordial drinks, soya bean, sugar cane and tab tarik are available at the beverage section," he added

Club food and beverage manager Shaharuddin Mokhtar said the Ramadan spread would he available from Sept 22.

"We are offering the buffet at a promotion price of RM30 per person for members and RM35 per non member," he said, adding that they also served western and local food.

For enquiries and reservations, call Shaharuddin at 016-219-2169 or 03-33233398.

Botanic Resort Club is at No 1, Jalan Ambang Botanic, Bandar Botanic, Klang

Malaysia Chicken rice balls, Malacca style and food

Chicken rice ball is what Melaka is famous for. Rice is boiled in chicken stock and some chicken oil and salt, flavoured with ginger, garlic and shallot and make into rice balls then served with boiled chicken pieces and garnished with cucumber, and garlic chilli sauce.

The outlet is packed at lunchtime on weekdays

MENTION chicken rice balls and the first place that comes to this writer's mind is Malacca, because it was at an outlet inJalan Jonker in the old part of Malacca town that I had my first taste of that dish one Christmas holiday years ago.

And, over the years, the Nam Wah Chicken Rice gall restaurant and Famosa Chicken Rice Ball outlets that chum out rice balls with specially designed machines were added to the list.

Those who cannot forget the taste of the food at Nam Wah famous for its chicken rice balls made with a difference – and crave for it, can now head to an offshoot of the restaurant that has opened in Taman Prima 5aujana in Kajang.

It has been operating for more than a year and the JR Rice Bowl halal restaurant, as the outlet is known, has been faithfully serving a circle of loyal customers.

"They are rice balls made with a difference because we use the best quality Kangaroo brand rice

grains from Australia. And, [ must say they are slightly more expensive than your regular chicken

rice," said Danny Chew, who coowns the restaurant with a Malay partner.

Chew added that most of his customers were Malays and the dishes were prepared by Malay cooks, but his Chinese customers could not tell the difference.

That is another difference. The rice balls are steamed with ginger and garlic and served with chick en prepared according to 'homemade' redpes. TOe chicken serwings come deep-fried, roasted or steamed." he added.

He added that the soup served with the chicken rice was not the type in which monosodium glutamate (MSG) was added to enhance the taste.

"Here, the chicken soup is made with groundnuts and cabbage which complement the garlic and ginger in the rice balls" Chew said adding that his customers lowd its umque taste and many had comple mented him on the recioe.

The rice balls which are slightly bigger than ping-pong balls, are sold at 5O sen each.

Besides selling the chicken rice balls JR Rice Bowl also nas wanton gnreng which IS served with home made mayonnaise sauce that is yellow in colour - an innovation of the restaurant.

The outlet also offers a variety of dishes that go well with the rice balls.

There are vegetable dishes like Sayur Taugeh, Sayur Cendawan Oyster Sauce and Sayur Pakchoy with oyster sauce, as well as Udang Wanton Goreng.

And, of course, there is also the usual variety of noodles gantonis Kuey Teow, Char Kuey Teow, Nasi Goreng Yong Cheow and Ying Yong Kong Fu.

For dessert, diners can try the fruit jelly custard, Scottish fudge cake or the American fruit cake. all in house specialties.

The restaurant is usually packed at lunchtime on weekdays and those who cannot find seats are usually happy to tapau their favourlte dish.

"I have regular customers who sometimes call me on my hand phone to tell me that they are coming for lunch or want melr )rder packed." satd Chew who added that most of his regular customers had his band phone number and he liked the arrangement as it made things easier.