五饼二鱼 Five Loaves Two Fish

Hidden in the small corner next to Young Su's Ice Cream at Precinct 88, Jalan Song, Kuching is the small cafe that is so popular on over the internet which is called Five Loaves Two Fish or 五饼二鱼 in Mandarin. After all the hype, finally I get to try it today for lunch.

Hard to See from Main Road

I went around 12 and as lucky to get a table there as it was a really small shop. This shop has a fusion of Taiwanese Cuisine and Malaysian Foochow delicacy. So we tried the Braised Pork Rice 卤肉饭 and Three Cup Chicken Rice 三杯鸡饭. In addition to that we also tried the Foochow Gong Pia with Braised Pork. Service was good and quite fast although there were quite a lot of customers.

Three Cup Chicken Rice 三杯鸡饭

The three cup chicken rice was served first. The portion was quite small but filling enough. The three cup chicken had a good ginger fragrance which is fused with aromatic mint leaves that produced a refreshing taste for the mouth. The pickled vegetables went well with it together with the rice.

Braised Pork Rice 卤肉饭

Braised Pork Rice is actually kind of like a Taiwanese appetiser dish. This is like the larger version. Minced Pork was used and the braised sauce was delicious. The saltiness and sweetness of the sauce was well balanced. I mixed everything together, the braised minced pork, the pickled vegetables and the rice before I started eating. I was really happy with the taste.

Foochow Gong Pia

A foochow traditional dish is the Gong Pia which is the bread thingy that has a tough texture. Inside it was filled with the braised meat. For me, the gong pia is a bit too blend and lack of authentic taste, but the braised meat inside compensated for that. So overall, I really liked the food there and definitely will come back again.

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.

Chicken Soup Mee Sua 鸡汤面线

Chicken Soup Mee Sua is one of the most traditional foochow dish and is often eaten during birthdays and chinese new year. The "mee sua" which are the long and thin noodles represents long life. Today is the first day of Chinese New Year and I had this home cooked chicken soup mee sua.

Chicken Soup Mee Sua 鸡汤面线

Just that simple dish. Some people like to add red wine into the soup to enhance the flavour. Well the most important element of this dish is definitely the broth/soup which is actually chicken soup, therefore the chicken must be of good quality. For this time we used "kampong chicken" and thus the meat has more taste and flavouring so the soup was good. Another important element is not to overcook the noodles and only put in the noodles when the water is boiling. A simple dish like that full of flavours. Wishing you all a blessed Chinese New Year.

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.

“Dao Sha Bao" 豆沙包 (Red Bean Paste Bun)

Red Bean Paste inside the Steamed Bun

When I was a little kid I often had this "dao sha bao" which is Hokkien language that means Red Bean Paste Bun. I used to love it until I grew older and started to lose my interest in sweet food. Today I went to "The Chef" at Parkcity with my dad for afternoon tea and we ordered this "dao sha bao" again. I once again got to reminisce the times of my childhood as I enjoyed this perfectly tasty red bean paste and the soft chewy texture of the steamed bun. Main thing here is the red bean paste was very nicely made and wasn't too sticky or gooey and the aroma of the red beans stood out. Once again, I believe many people have their own story behind this "dao sha bao". What is yours?

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.

For Lamb Lovers!

Black Pepper Lamb

Just love that special taste of lamb although some people gets disgusted by it right? Just want to share a dish at Reggae's Grill, Bintulu that is the Black Pepper Lamb with Rice. For me the main aspect about this dish is the black pepper sauce. A lot of times when I order food with black pepper sauce, the sauce is just sometimes "overwhelming" and lose their aroma ending up destroying the whole dish. However the black pepper that I had this time was at a balanced and gave me the "just nice" taste. One thing I realised is that the chef added mint leaves into the sauce as well to spice it up and onions definitely blended well with the sauce and the lamb.

Balanced Sauce and Lamb

The lamb on the other hand was something quite special. I find that the lamb was deep fried instead of stir fry. The texture of the meat was tender yet chewy which perfectly suited my liking. I seldom dine at Reggae's because I normally feel that their food is just "so-so" and does not really impress me, but today's black pepper lamb really gave me the "wow" factor. So all lamb lovers out there in Bintulu, you would want to try this.

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.

Nasi Lemak Fight Off!

This is my first post of 2014! Wishing everybody a blessed new year to begin with. Once again I'm back in Bintulu, Malaysia which is my lovely little hometown and of course, a town with good food around too! Today I would like to write about the traditional Malaysian dish which people love and can have it for breakfast, lunch or even for dinner. Guess what? It is the Malaysian Nasi Lemak! Traditionally Nasi Lemak is served with Coconut Rice, Anchovies, Peanuts, Hard Boiled Eggs, Sambal and some cucumber for garnishing. However, nowadays Nasi Lemak usually comes with various types of meat as well. The most common ones are curry or rending either chicken or beef, fried chicken and even sambal sotong (squid).

So lately I've tasted 2 different kinds of Nasi Lemak here. The Nasi Lemak Chicken Curry and the Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken. Although Nasi Lemak in my opinion always taste better in West Malaysia, the two dishes I tried here was at good standard and resemble traditional taste, especially their sambal which is the chilli paste. First let's talk about the Nasi Lemak with fried chicken.

Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken

So I tried this at Tumis Cafe, in the Park City Commercial Square area. It was a very popular spot for Nasi Lemak that is why I had always wanted to try it, but every time I get there, they were either sold out or closed. Today I did not have the intention to go there but I was just driving pass it and saw that it was open, so I decided to try my luck. So as lucky I was, here's the Nasi Lemak. The main specialty for me was the Sambal (Chilli Paste) and the Fried Chicken. So the sambal tasted different from other Nasi Lemaks that I've tried. This sambal was strong in the aroma of the spices and it was not really spicy, so this is a good news for those of you who cannot withstand spicy food but love Nasi Lemak. However for those who cannot live without chilli, you may be disappointed. Nevertheless, the aroma and taste of the sambal gave life to the whole dish. Regarding the fried chicken wing, normally when I eat fried chicken wing I find them tasteless or else just a little taste on the skin. However, the fried chicken wing here was perfectly marinated and coated with turmeric powder which really brings out the taste of traditional fried chicken. The marinate also went through the inside of the meat so even the meat tasted awesome. So fans of fried chicken, this is your place! My only complain is that the rice was not aromatic enough I guess it lacks coconut milk or they did not put much.

Nasi Lemak Chicken Curry

So now for the chicken curry Nasi Lemak, I had it at "The Chef" also at the Park City Commercial Square area. Notice the sambal here is different as well. This is more of a "drier" sambal if you want to call it that way, the taste of it is also different and it is less oily. Neither the less, it is just another kind of specialty and it is spicier than the previous one. In fact, in the menu, this dish is called Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang, however I find the chicken is more of a curry instead of rendang, but cannot say that it is 100% curry either. It is kind of a fusion of both so it tasted special. They use drumstick for the chicken and goes really well with the curry/rendang sauce.

So now it is time to take your pick. Curry/Rendang or Fried Chicken? Leave a comment below regarding your taste!

Photography by Nokia Lumia 1020.