Archive for May, 2010
CHAPTER 9 – ENCORE PRESENTS WONDERLAND
May 28th
Mildly twisted.
Massively fascinating!
at 7ate9.
Attended the whimsical Encore presents Wonderland event with my girls on the 13th May, 2010 at 7ate9, Ascott Hotel.
Proudly brought to you by Horeca School of Excellence.
The school that specializes in mixology training.
Boo! Esty the Red Indian.
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” Alice.
“Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!” Rabbit.
“What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversation”, Alice.
“Speak English! I don’t know the meaning of half those long words, and I don’t believe you do either!” Eaglet.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Alice.
“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does”, The Duchess.
“If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think”, Alice.
“We’re all mad here”, The Cat.
“I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir, because I’m not myself you see”, Alice.
“Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at”, The Hatter.
“Off with her head!” The Queen.
“Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.” The Duchess.
“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” The Hatter.
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us”, The Mock Turtle.
“Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense”, The Mock Turtle.
“Sentence first — verdict afterwards”, The Queen.
“Tut, tut, child! Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” The Duchess.
“Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is — oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!” Alice.
“You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” Alice.
“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop”, The King.
“Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision”, The Mock Turtle.
“Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin”, Alice.
“Ah! Then yours wasn’t a really good school. Now at ours they had at the end of the bill. French, music, and washing — extra”, The Mock Turtle.
“It was much pleasanter at home, when one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits”, Alice.
“There’s a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is — The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours”, The Duchess.
“Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin; but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever say in my life!” Alice.
“What is the use of repeating all that stuff, if you don’t explain it as you go on? It’s by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!” The Mock Turtle.
“No wonder you’re late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow”, Mad Hatter.
“Juicy strawberry is love!” Esty.
“Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction”, Doorknob.
“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change”, Alice.
Love, Luck and Laughter…Esty.
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CHAPTER 8 – THE ART OF MAKING RICE DUMPLINGS WORKSHOP, BROUGHT TO YOU BY NIKKO HOTEL.
May 12th
“Rice Dumpling Festival or Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th month on the lunar calendar and is widely a celebrated festival amongst the Chinese, to pay respect to the patriotic poet, Qu Yuan.
The rice dumplings are glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves or lotus leaves with an assortment or fillings or just simply without filling. They could be just white rice dumpling or brown.
In celebration of this annual festival, Toh Lee Chinese Restaurant’s Dim Sum Chef Lo Tian Sion has concocted three different variations to add a touch of difference to this occasion: Mutli Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling; Rendang Chicken and Shrimp Floss Dumpling and ‘Kwai Far’ Dumpling with Imo and Vanilla Ice Cream.”
- Hotel Nikko Kuala Lumpur.
Now, ever wonder how rice dumplings are made?
Lucky me! I was given a great opportunity to experience the art of making rice dumpling with none other the renowned Chef Lo himself.
Everything was very well prepared before we arrived.
The overall ingredients for Multi Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling.
The Lotus Leaf is a must.
Obviously.
Let’s see what do we have here!
1. Multi Grain Rice
2. Glutinous Rice
3. Roasted Duck Meat
4. Roasted BBQ Chicken Meat
5. Salted Egg Yolk
6. Peeled Chestnut
7. Dried Scallop
8. Sea Cucumber
9.. Mushroom
10. Dried Shrimp
11. Lotus Leaf
12. Bamboo Leaf
13. Salt
14. Ginger Powder
15. Five Spices Powder
16. Cooking oil
Drooling yet?
Well I am!
The gloves to keep our dirty hands off the food!
Chef Lo getting ready to start the class.
I found it quite difficult and uncomfortable to wear them actually.
I am not very good at cooking but it was not that bad.
Pretty easy I must say.
Not to mention so much fun too!
There!
Everything on the bamboo leaves, and the Lotus leaf as the base.
Wrapped up in a pillow shape.
Now the tying up part is really NOT easy!
Make sure it’s secure.
I failed miserably, and the master chef himself had to come over and help me tie up my huge pillow dumpling.
That’s my rice dumpling over there! *giggles*
Ta-da!
I have a perfect one too.
Our pillow dumplings are ready to be boiled for SEVEN hours!
And no. It’s not finished yet!
Guess what’s next?
Table cleared, and hotel chefs brought out new ingredients for the next dumpling.
Here we have…
1. Osmanthus
2. Peanut
3. Roasted Sesame
4. Brown Sugar
5. Water
6. Glutinous Rice Flour
7. Wheat Flour
Mixing all the ingredients together.
Those roasted nuts smelled really good, ya know? *grins*
The chef then taught us how to wrap it up in a ball.
Edward was paying full attention.
Mine done!
Now the DIFFICULT part.
Using one piece of bamboo leaf to wrap the dumpling into a triangle shape.
Nicely wrapped and ready to be steamed.
Last but not least!
Here we have the ingredients to make Imo (Sweet Potato).
1. Mashed Sweet Potato
2. Glutinous Rice Flour
3. Shortening
Mixing the sweet potato with glutinous rice flour together.
Then, mould them into balls.
Balls of Sweet Potatoes!
Fried till golden brown!
It will be ready soon!
There! Golden brown Imos.
Class’ over!
We were then led to Nikko Hotel’s Toh Lee Chinese Restaurant to have some rice dumpling indulgence.
The grand entrance.
I smell fooooooooooooood!
Dining tables properly aligned and nicely decorated.
With an antique vase in between.
Master Chef Lo.
Table settings.
Boiled Garoupa Fillet, Poaced Egg and Coriander Leaf Soup.
*slurps*
Multi Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling.
*My eyes aiming at those juicy mushrooms*
Ooo…the ingredients in it!
Time to dig in!!
Century Egg Wedges, Pickled Ginger and Jellyfish with 80 year old Balsamic.
Century egg and jellyfish are always my favorite.
Steamed Marble Goby or Bamboo Fish.
Extremely fresh!
Deep fried scallops with Egg Floss and Oats.
Mmm…everyone loves it!
Stir-fried Siew Bak Choy.
Traditional Peking Duck with condiments.
The steaming basket.
Nicely wrapped.
The skin of the Peking Duck and other condiments in it were so delicious.
Not to mention the mouth-watering sauce that paired so well!
“Kwai Far” Dumpling with Imo and Vanilla Ice-cream.
Strawberry too!
Baked Cream Brulee with King Fruit Flavour.
This is Heaven!
Witchy Witch and I, fully contented and feeling satisfied after the great dinner.
Beautiful Rice Dumplings nicely placed in a dessert gift box for us to bring back home! *grins*
To experience The Art of Making Rice Dumpling…
Here’s your opportunity to learn from the master at the one-day hands-on Rice Dumpling Culinary Class on 5th June at 10.00am at Toh Lee Chinese Restaurant.
And the good news is that a prize will be giving out for the ‘Best Wrapped Dumpling’ as adjudged by the Chef at the end of the class.
Price: RM100++ per person inclusive of recipe booklet and Dim Sum set lunch.
To reserve your place, call +603 2782 6188.
Go have fun! I’m sure you’ll love it too. *winks*
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CHAPTER 7 – I WAS IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA.
May 6th
Hello there stranger.
I’m back!
Again.
Just touched down KL not too long ago.
Was in GuangZhou for the past 5 days and boy it was UNFORGETTABLE!
The worst city I’ve ever been to. Frankly.
CULTURE SHOCK MAX!
The locals suck.
Not all. But most of them.
They are loud, rude, and UNHYGIENIC!
I literally have to keep looking down on the streets everywhere I go just to make sure I did not step on any disgusting greenish-yellowish phlegms.
OOwH ya. They SPIT e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!
Men and women. Middle-aged mostly.
NOT only that.
I wasn’t allow to take pictures in half of the places I went.
Especially along the street markets, or the food stalls. I wonder why.
Got scolded several times because I just would not STOP trying.
Definitely need a hidden spy cam on my hat or something.
And in GuangZhou, you can’t log in to Twitter or Facebook.
I had VERY STRONG wi-fi SIGNAL in my room and imagine how frustrating that is when I can’t tweet!
Now, the BAI YUN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
Worst airport EVAR!
I have never in my life queued up for more than an hour in an airport just to get through the custom check!
And I nearly missed my flight!
Imagine the freaking LONG QUEUE!
Well for once, thank God we have the always-flight-delayed-AirAsia.
Despite all squawky dissatisfaction above…
I still consider myself lucky to get to travel there.
As long as the grumble goes…
GuangZhou brings you UNDENIABLY good food!
It was awesome fun to go food-hunting all the way.
Not to mention that there’re beautiful architectures and buildings that I was pretty much in awe of.
Especially this particular one.
Well.
Another tiny pin on my map this year. *grins*
And hopefully more to come!
Till then.
Love, Luck and Laughter…Esty.
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