Meal For A Deal

HAJIME 64, Jalan Damai, Off Jalan Ampang, 55000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-21430073

Nestled in a corner within residential bungalows on quiet Jalan Damai is the Japanese restaurant Hajime. Opened for a little over a year now, Hajime has been getting positive reviews for its sophisticated ambience and refined food; we hear they serve one of the best handrolls in town. The chef put under our test is simply known as B, who is regarded as the most creative in the restaurant – and he’s only 23!

TOTAL COST: RM45.55
TIP: You can get Japanese ingredients like unagi and soba noodles at Japanese supermarkets like Isetan or Jusco.

APPETISER: SESAME TOFU & PRAWN
1 block Japanese tofu (cut into cubes), 50gr sesame seeds, 1 teaspoonful sugar, soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 5 tablespoonful mayo, 1 Japanese cucumber

Cut block of Japanese tofu into desired cubes. With a melon baller (you can also use a teaspoon), scoop a little of the center out. Ground sesame seeds with sugar. Add a dash of soy sauce and water. Taste the mix as you go until it suits your palate. Ground mayonnaise with crushed garlic. Add a teaspoonful of sesame seed concoction into tofu center. Add a dollop of garlic mayo on the prawn (add more if desired). Garnish with slices of Japanese cucumber is desired.

MAINS: UNAGI TRIO
1 packet of broiled unagi, 100gr soba noodles (can be replaced with egg noodles), 100gr tempura flour, 1 tomato (sliced into equal pieces), 1 egg (fried and the cut into strips), 2 seaweed strips, Teriyaki sauce (for drizzling and dipping)

Cut unagi into three equal portions. Prepare cold soba noodles (boil them, and then transfer to cold water). Fry first portion of unagi with tempura flour, and serve with tomato slices as the base on a plate. Warm up the two other portions in the oven. Roll the second portion of unagi with the strips of egg, and then wrap it with a strip of seaweed. Finally, serve the final portion of unagi on top of the cold soba noodles. Drizzle liberally with Teriyaki sauce. You can also add the prepared garlic mayo or sesame seed concoction if desired.

DESSERT: TOMATO JELLY
50gr jelly powder, 1 tomato, 1 kiwifruit

Prepare the jelly earlier; make sure that it doesn’t become too solid. Cut the top off tomato, and hallow out its center with a spoon. Do not throw away the tomato seeds. Scoop chilled jelly into the hallowed center. Cut 2 slices of kiwifruit, and add it into the tomato and jelly. Finally, drizzle the dessert with the tomato seeds. Serve chilled.
ALL DONE:

NERO TECA Ground Floor, Somerset, 8 Lorong Ceylon, 50250 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-2070 0530

If you’re craving for authentic Italian fare, you can’t go wrong with Nero Teca. Owned by the husband-and-wife team of Massimilano Ranauro (affectionately known as Max) and Mellisa Humphrey (just call her Lisa), Nero Teca’s emphasis on the simplicity of their cooking and freshness of their ingredients has won them a loyal base of customers who keep coming back for more. When it comes to specialty dishes, the duo admit that it’s hard to say as they have something special everyday because they bring in fresh produce daily. Friday for example, is the best day to order seafood and on Tuesday, opt for lamb! Max showed us how you can prepare genuine Italian meals with top quality ingredients for under RM50.

TOTAL COST: RM48.20
TIP: Nero Teca doubles as a mini supermarket, so all of the ingredients can be bought at the restaurant.

APPETISER: PIADINA TIROLESE
10gr Rocket salad, 80gr gorgonzola (can substitute with any processed blue cheese), 50gr smoked ham (sliced finely), 1 tortilla 6”

You can opt to make the tortilla smaller by cutting out a smaller potion using a pizza wheel. Heat up a pan, and place tortilla on it. Tear out chunks of gorgonzola cheese and place on tortilla. Let it melt. Once the cheese has melted, add a handful of rocket salad on tortilla, and layer the top with slices of smoked ham.

MAINS: PAPPARDELLE AI FUNGHI E SALSICCIA
80gr pappardelle pasta, 80gr cream, 100gr skinned sausages (can be beef, pork or chicken), 10gr dry porcini mushrooms, 30gr grana padano cheese, 20gr butter, 2 cloves garlic (chopped), salt and pepper

Soak dry porcini in water for 5 to 10 minutes, not any more than that as it will make the mushrooms too soft. Fry garlic in a pan with butter, add a pinch of salt and pepper. Tear pieces of sausages (you can also opt to chop or slice) and add to pan. Squeeze water out of mushrooms before adding it into the pan. Stir fry until brown (10-15 minutes). Add cream into pan. Also pour in the water where the mushrooms were soaking in, making sure not to empty the whole bowl as there is usually sand left at the bottom. Leave on stove for 10 to 15 minutes to simmer. Consistently stir the mix to distribute the heat. Drain the pasta, and add it into the pan. Mix well with the sauce for 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle grana padano cheese.

DESSERT: PANNA COTTA
80gr dark chocolate, 50gr milk, 50gr cream, 1gr gelatina (can be substituted with regular jelly), 1gr vanilla beans, 15gr sugar, 2 strawberries (sliced)

Boil milk, cream, gelatina, vanilla and sugar together until it starts to bubble. Remove from stove and transfer into a mould to cool in the chiller for 3 to 4 hours. Add 2 tablespoonful of water into a pan with the pieces of dark chocolate to melt on stove, or in microwave. For convenience, you can buy ready-made chocolate sauce. Add another tablespoonful of water to slightly liquidify the melted chocolate. Stir evenly. Arrange strawberries on a plate and drizzle chocolate sauce on berries. Remove panna cotta from mould to the plate.

ALL DONE:

TANNER'S WINE BAR & BISTRO H2, Taman Tunku, Off Langak Tunku, Bukit Tunku, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-6201 3222

Tanner’s Wine Bar & Bistro resides in the posh neighbourhood of Bukit Tunku. For the past three years, it has been serving its share of loyal customers quality English and European fare. Owner and chef Michael Tan has spent 15 years in the F&B industry, where he worked his way up from being a dishwasher. When he was part of England’s Royal Caterers, he cooked for personalities like Tiger Woods, Alex Ferguson, the Liverpool football team and Tony Blair. If you’re ever at Tanner’s, we recommend ordering the lamb shoulder as it gets rave reviews every time. But if not, here’s how you can have a Tanner’s meal at home.

TOTAL COST: RM50

APPETISER: CARROT ORANGE SOUP
4 carrots (roughly chopped), 2 oranges (zested), 100gr of butter, 1 celery (roughly chopped), 1 white onion (roughly chopped), 100gr of plain flour, salt and pepper, 1 liter of clear vegetable stock, sprig of parsley to garnish

Once the butter melts in a pan, fry the vegetables until brown. Add flour. Reduce heat, stir butter and flour until it becomes a paste. Add the vegetables and paste into the vegetable stock. Remember to keep stirring as you go to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once you feel the flour dissolve, reduce the heat and leave it on the stove for 30-45 minutes. Add salt and pepper (to your taste). Remove the oranges from the soup and squeeze the juice into the pot. Once done, blend everything in a food processor. Put the soup through a sieve to ensure fineness. Garnish with parsley and serve with bread if desired.

MAIN: CHARGRILLED HERB CHICKEN BREAST
A good handful of fresh green chillies, coriander, thyme, English parsley, 2 lemons (zested),1 lemon (juiced), olive oil (preferably extra virgin, but ultimately up to you), knob of butter, good pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper, 1 chicken breast, 2 sweet potatoes (boiled)

Blend chillies, coriander, thyme, English parsley, zested lemon and olive oil into food processor to create marinade. Make fork marks in the chicken breast to allow the marinade to seep in. Steep the meat in the marinade, wrap it up with a foil/film and leave in the fridge for at least two hours. For best results, leave it overnight. After marination, sear chicken with a hot pan or chargrill. Oven bake chicken for 15 minutes on Gas Mark 4.5/ 180 celcius/ 350F.

The dish is served on top of sweet potato mash. Mash the boiled sweet potatoes with butter, add a pinch of salt, black pepper and lemon juice. Add finely diced parsley and red chillies to mix with the mash.

DESSERT: CRÈME BRULEE
4 egg yolks, 100gr of caster sugar, beans from 1 vanilla pod (recommended, but can be replaced with vanilla essence or vanilla powder), half pint of cream, half pint of double-cream milk

Mix cream, milk and scrape beans off the vanilla pod into a pan. In a bowl, whisk eggs together until it turns a lighter shade of yellow and doubles in size. Add the cream, milk and vanilla into the bowl and whisk it until you feel the mix thicken. Pour it into a small bow, and allow for a lip at the top of the bowl so that the crème doesn’t bubble over later. Place the bowl on a larger tray and pour hot water on the tray until it’s a little less than half way up the bowl. Put tray into oven and at Gas Mark 3, bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Monitor your dessert until it sets: you will see a slight sheen over the top and it will look like small bubbles. Remove the bowl and give it a shake: if it wobbles but doesn’t break, it’s ready. Once ready, cover the top with a clean film and leave it to cool in the fridge for 4 hours. Sprinkle even layer of caster sugar, and caramelize it with a kitchen torch. If you want, you can use berries to garnish and serve it with shortbread biscuits.

ALL DONE:

TWENTY ONE KITCHEN + BAR 20-1 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-2142 0021

Trendy doesn’t even begin to describe Twenty One Kitchen + Bar. While popular for its nightlife scene and killer cocktails, Twenty One’s menu deserves its fair share of attention as well. Chef Sham is the king of the kitchen and brings with him the experience of having worked in Shangri-La, Telawi Street Bistro and La Bodega. The food at Twenty One is a fusion between the East and the West – as you can see in what Sham cooked up, he mixed harissa (North African origins) and honey balsamic prawns. While the dishes shown here are not on the restaurant’s current menu, Sham heartily recommends their Masala Tandoori Chicken and Black Angus beef if you’re dining at Twenty One.

TOTAL COST: RM47.59

APPETISER: HONEY BALSAMIC PRAWNS WITH SPICY GREEN HARISSA
6 tiger prawns (peeled), 50ml honey, 50ml balsamic vinegar, 50ml olive oil, salt and pepper.

To make harissa, you need: 1 garlic, 3 green chilis (finely chopped), 1 green capsicum, 1gr coriander (finely chopped), 1gr mint leaf (finely chopped), 50ml olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice from 1 lemon

PRAWNS: Mix honey, vinegar, dash of salt and pepper together then marinade the prawns in the mixture for 5 minutes in the fridge. After its been marinated, skewer prawns (3 in a stick), and then pour a little bit of the marinade of the skewered prawn again. Chargrill prawns (you can use a hot pan) until red.

HARISSA: On a plate, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on raw capsicum. Grill capsicum on stove, making sure to flip form side to side as its skin sears. As the skin of the capsicum blackens, remove it with thongs and torch the skin with a kitchen torch. Leave capsicum to cool in a bowl for 1 minute and be sure to cover the top of the bowl with a clean film. With a napkin, peel capsicum skin off and wipe clean before finely chopping the capsicum. Mix capsicum with coriander and mint leaves together in a bowl, and add salt and pepper. Pour 50ml olive oil and lemon juice with the coriander and mint leaves, and mix. Harissa is ready.

Transfer chargrilled prawns onto plate, and heap harissa liberally on prawns. Finally, drizzle chargrilled prawns with what is left of the marinade.
MAINS: PANFRIED SEABASS WITH MUSTARD CABBAGE, LYCHEE AND CHIVE TOMATO BROTH
1 seabass fillet (140-160gr), 1 can lychee (drained), I can tomato juice, 50gr round cabbage, 10gr chopped yellow onion, 10ml balsamic vinegar, 5gr seeded mustard, 5gr chives (finely chopped), 10gr butter, salt and pepper

Cut seabass in half and score the fish. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the seabass and drizzle with olive oil. Fry in a pan until the skin is crispy. Pour tomato juice into a bowl, add dash of salt and pepper, and add chopped onions (roughly 2 tablespoons worth). Put the bowl on stove and heat it up until it thickens. Slice a quarter of the cabbage and chop finely. Mix chopped cabbage and a handful of chives in a bowl with seeded mustard. Heat up a pan and add butter to melt. Add onions, the cabbage mix and a dash of salt and pepper to the pan for 3 minutes (be sure you don’t burn the cabbage). In another pan, fry the lychees with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. When the lychees are seared, glaze them with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the thickened soup with chives and pour soup onto a large plate, creating a flat layer. Create a ring in the middle of the plate with the seared lychees. Add the lettuce mix in the middle of the ring. Finally, transfer the crispy sea bass on top of the lettuce and drizzle with olive oil.
DESSERT: GREEN APPLE TART WITH CITRUS VANILLA SAUCE AND WALNUT ICE CREAM
1 green apple (finely sliced), 90gr puff pastry, 10gr butter, 10gr brown sugar, cinnamon powder, 1 lemon (zested), 1 orange (zested), 1 lime skin (zested), 2 egg yolks, 170ml full cream milk, 40gr caster sugar, 5gr corn flour, vanilla essence, 80gr vanilla ice-cream, 5gr walnuts (chopped)

Prepare vanilla sauce by adding full cream milk and vanilla essence in a bowl. Boil the mix. In another bowl, beat yolks until thick with sugar and corn flour. Boil water in a pot. Mix both ingredients in a bowl that is wide enough to cover the opening of the pot. Double-boil the bowl of mix on the pot until the mix thickens. Vanilla sauce is ready.
Mix a pinch of caster sugar and cinnamon powder with apple slices (add more sugar if desired). Grease a small pan with butter before putting 1 piece of puff pastry on it. Grease the pastry liberally with butter also. Sprinkle sugar on the pastry. Make fork marks on the pastry and then arrange apple slices on it, Bake in over for 5 minutes at 180 celcius. Once the puff is ready, torch the edges of the pastry slightly with kitchen torch. Mix vanilla sauce with zest of the fruits. Pour the mix onto a plate and spread it to make a flat layer. Place the puff on the sauce. Mix walnuts into vanilla ice-cream and scoop onto the puff. Add the rest of the walnuts onto the plate.

ALL DONE: