Kampungkayell

Food, life, and fun in my "kampung,"(village), KL (Kuala Lumpur). Did I mention "food?"


Favourite Eats

By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy

Instead of the usual post per restaurant, I thought something different...

So here's my experiment; one post about my favourite eats through the last couple of weeks. Including the ones that I cooked myself. This is most definitely NOT a halal post.

Hatyai Street

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Honest to goodness trotters. Braised or deep fried. Sweet, succulent, juicy and decently priced. Won't break the bank. You can get away with around RM35 per person for dinner. And look at that rich braising liquid. It's like a mahogany nectar raining down on the braised trotters.

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We happened to bump into the owner Vivian and she whisked out a whole passel of dishes for us to stuff down our already overstuffed gullets that night. The highlight of which were these deep fried prawn heads. Omigod. These crunchy, savoury, rich, little morsels were like peanuts. You could just keep on eating them. And on. And on. And on.

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A Devil's food cake we taught in our class. Moist, chocolatey, and above all EASY!

Hatyai Street
No. 63E, Jalan Ara
One Bangsar, Bangsar, 55900 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-2283 3116

El Cerdo Redux


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Spring lamb. Little Kafka couldn't bring himself to eat it because he had visions of bouncing, cute little fluffy lambs in his head. I, on the other hand, believe there's a certain order to things. I believe that we should be respectful and not waste what we buy. AND we should know the provenance of our food. Also ask to ensure that all livestock is killed humanely, I also believe that this lamb did not give up its life for naught. It was tender, juicy, beautifully spiced, delicate, and all around just meltingly flavourful. I know the rest of us that night went almost reverentially silent when this little morsel passed our lips. Surprisingly, it was SO delicate it didn't even taste like lamb.

El Cerdo 43 & 45, Changkat Bukit Bintang 50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Mum's Pork Chops

AND, my fave thing...Mum's pork chops.

Mum used to make these pork chops quite often. It's SOOOOO EASY!

A few sprigs of english parsley. The cheap English bushy one. Not the flat leaf. One small onion. One egg. 2 decent sized pork chops bone in (about 2.5 to 3cm). Nice and thick.

Sprinkle salt (about a teaspoon each) on both sides of chops and leave for an hour.

Blend parsley, onion, and egg and add a pinch of salt. Pour on top of the marinated chops and leave for another 30 minutes.

Blend stale white bread in the blender and spread it on a large plate. Take the marinated pork chops and and make sure some of the parsley/onion/egg mix on the chop and put it on the bread crumbs.

Press in firmly so the crumbs sticks thickly to the chop with the parsley onion mix.

Heat a non stick pan over high heat till hot. Take the pan off for about 15 secs and allow it to cool a bit. Turn fire down to medium low. Chuck in a glug of oil and put back on the fire. Use a large enough pan so it doesn't crowd. Leave it on medium low for 8 mins per side. Check the chop at 4 mins to make sure that it isn't burning. If it it is nicely caramelised before the time, flip it and allow the 8 mins on the other side before flipping it back to cook for the requisite time again.

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My cherry tomato mozarella basil salad, Mum's pork chop and baked beans

Allow to rest for 10 mins then eat with baked beans and your yummiest salad. That Golden Brown crust is what you're going for. A small, slice of juicy, tender chop, slathered with an oozing spoonful of a potato-ey tomato-ey beans. That's my perfect bite.

This recipe came out of Mum's 45 year old Kenwood Stand Mixer recipe cum instruction book. It's something she used to make for us ever since I was a little boy. And it brings back all sorts of memories of her.

Mum, I miss you but you're always with us. In our hearts and lives. Allan's keeping me in check and he misses you too. So does Dad. But we're all doing good and we live exactly as you taught us. You'll be pleased to know nothing much has changed. The fruit drawers are still full although really only 3 of us eat. The freezer is still full. And the veg drawer is still full. And we still have 3 fridges and 1 freezer for a household (including helpers) of 5. Except Dad now does the shopping and picks up RM15 organic sesame oil for our stir fries. I don't think we'll ever learn how to shop for just what we need. :-)

But he's learning as are we all. :-)

And we're all happy.

16 Comments

im u sure every1 is happy, nigel..and u r making me droolingly happy from all these pictures!

hahaha ;-) glad :-) Joe

*sniff*

I love posts like these.

I miss my Mom ... though I saw her in US 3 months ago.

Family rocks, don't they Nigel? :)

Love to you, Allan and Uncle.
Ken.

My mom keeps everything stocked to the brim as well. Hehehe...

*hugs bro*

Pork Pork Pork. Me happy.

And yeah, I've tried Hatyai as well. Loved the lil newspaper pages they placed as tablemats.

Kenneth, ya I know what you mean...say hi to mum

Unkaleong; hugs

Dr P;-) Ya :-) very cool

Mum's pork chop and baked beans + the cherry tomato salad looks amazing! awww.. its good to know that the food larder never runs dry..! good luck u know ;) mum wld be proud:D

Ciki; I think she is :-) I was so proud the day I made marshmallows...hmm maybe that's something else I could bring ;-) and she was bedridden by then...I went home showed it to her and she said quietly with a smile "lek chai" ;-)

Funny how you remember silly things like that at the oddest moments

whats this redux word that keeps popping up ah? whatever does it mean?

It is wonderful how memories are just as sweet always. *Hugs*
And the porkchop looks fantastic and I am sure taste as fantastic as well.. hehe.. *hint* *hint*

FBB; Redux, http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redux. It must a return to or brought back. ;-)

Toyboy; I like a man who likes his meat! ;-)

"It's like a mahogany nectar raining down on the braised trotters."

woah, it's getting hot in here! ;)

that is one very yummy pork chop you made. that is happiness. well done!

TQ for your Mom's porkchop recipe. Can't wait to try it out soon!

Tell me, are Mum's pork chops not the best among the 3 porks dishes you've tasted?

I wish I can have more than one fridge. As it is, my tiny fridge (came with the aptmnt) is already so stocked to the brim with essential food supplies brought from home that's supposed to last 6 mths and more, that there's barely any more room for fresh produce! Like you said, have to practise JIT stock managemnt.. :D

Could you possibly spread your lek-ness around and share your marshmallow recipe please?? My kids love marshmallow and I would love to give them homemade ones.

Nic; ya I like that metaphor ;-) I can envisage a gorgeous (muscular smooth body) (feel free to substitute erotic fantasy of your choosing) being bathed in a luscious rain of deliciousness then just devouring it. See how sex and food is really all about cannibalism? ;-) hehehe

Tummy; not a problem...try it and tell me how it turns out. Don't forget ya ;-)

GFAD; Marshmallow ;-) Got a really good one but will need a strong stand mixer...pass me your email pls dear ;-)

Oh and GFAD; yes...Mum's pork chops in top 3 pork dishes...the other two are not in any particular order;

Mum's Char Siew (Though the one from Melting wok's one is good too)
And Babi Guling from Warung Ibu Oka in Bali (I think I've cracked the spices for that one too - needs old ginger)

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