Sukhotai Noodle House @ Gurney Paragon

After work yesterday, a bunch of us met up for dinner at Sukhothai Restaurant.
This restaurant apparently has been around for some time but was located at Burmah Road before moving to the present venue at the 5th floor of Gurney Paragon.

From what I gather from people around, this place is famous for its beef noodles. I'll make a mental note to come back for this one day.
Last night however, we came for their Thai food. We ordered 6 dishes. Bear in mind that the portion is very small, so you may need to order more dishes to actually fill you up.

The mango salad had a balanced sour-sweet taste. Not too bad, but not the best I've had.

Mango Salad (RM 13.90)

The tom yam looked awesome, but when I've tasted it...I couldn't express my disappointment.

It was too sour for my liking, lack in spiciness and aroma. It's as though the sourness has sucked up the taste of the other ingredients. I think they should add a little more of galangal (lengkuas).

Tom Yam Seafood (RM 35.90)

The Chicken Massaman Curry tasted far different from what I've tasted in Koh Lipe. I've personally cooked Massaman curry and I know that this dish should contain roasted peanuts/cashew nuts in it. However, I did not see and taste them at all here.

Chicken Massaman Curry (RM 17.90)

The fried fish cakes were really good. They went very well with the tangy sauce. Thumbs up!

                                                 Fried Fish Cakes (can't find the price on the receipt)

The morning glory (kangkung) was nice too. I can definitely finish the whole thing myself.

                                                               Morning Glory (RM 13.90)

This fried chicken with sweet-sour sauce was appetizing. I enjoyed every bite of it.

                                                 Fried Chicken in sweet-sour sauce (RM 33.80)

Next, the Acacia Omelette. Nothing fancy, but it went well with the sambal.

                                                                                Acacia Omelette (RM 16.90)

For dessert, we ordered Sukhothai's mango sticky rice. Not bad, but the rice should be slightly more creamy, just my opinion.

                                                              Mango sticky rice (RM 9.90)

My first time trying out Miang Kham. I'm never a fan of these...

                                                             Miang Kham (RM 15.90)

The last dessert we had was Pistachio and Peanut butter ice cream.

                                                           Ice cream (RM 3.90/scoop)

The total bill came up to about RM 335+ for the 11 of us.

Couldn't resist a group photo:)

Kiam Chye Duck (Salted vegetable soup with duck meat)

It's a month plus since I last written anything. Nothing interesting has happened although there were some work issues. Oh well, let's leave that behind shall we?

Today, I shall share with you a comforting yet appetizing soup. There are several variations of this recipe online but it's really up to you how elaborated you want your soup to be.

The Ingredients (Serves 2):

Salted (preserved) vegetables - Soak in slightly salted water for 30 minutes and then chopped into pieces.
Duck meat - 200 g (I'm estimating since I got them from my mother). You can use a whole bird or half it's up to you.
1 tomato - cut into wedges
1/2 onion - cut to strips
1/2 knob ginger - slice
Tamarind juice

Do not forget one of the most important spice, peppercorns. Some people prefer to add in a dash of pepper but in my opinion, nothing beats pounding peppercorns. They really give the soup a kick!

Steps:

1. Boil a pot of water (500-600 ml)
2. When the water starts to boil, add in duck meat. Remove the 'scum'.
3. Add in the salted vegetables, ginger and onions.
4. Let the soup boil for 10 minutes and then add tomatoes and peppercorns.
5. When the soup starts to boil, taste the soup. Add in tamarind juice accordingly depending on how sour you want the soup to be.
6. Let the soup simmer for another 30 minutes.

Restaurant Veloo Villas @ Bayan Baru, Penang

While waiting at a traffic light I saw a busload of people heading towards a restaurant. Apparently, there was a function at PISA attended by Indians and during lunchtime, they head over to the newly opened Veloo Vilas for lunch. This was how I knew that there's a new Indian restaurant in town. Woohoo!!

After an unsuccessful attempt to have lunch there yesterday with my colleague SL, I suggested to hubby that we have dinner there instead. We were there about 7.45pm and there were quite a number of patrons there.

This restaurant seems to be a hit among Indians and Chinese alike:)

Velo Vilas serves  rice (both on metal plate or banana leaf) with a variety of finger licking good dishes as well as a selection of roti and naans. I'm eyeing on the Tandoori chicken..lol!

One can opt to sit outside the restaurant, or inside. Young and old seemed to be enjoying the food here.

We both ordered mutton and some vegetables to go with our rice.

Are you hungry yet???

Mutton, mango chutney & cabbage

The 'I can't wait to dig-in look'

The total bill came to RM 22.40 including drinks. I will definitely come back, this time to try the Tandoori chicken and naan. It's calling out to me now.......

Tomato Risotto

Risotto, my comfort food all the time. Cooked this 2 days ago, and albeit slightly watery, it was quite good.

I should put less stock next time so that it would be more starchy not soupy.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cups arborio rice

1 medium-sized tomato (cubed)

Bacon bits (fried 'til crisp)

1 onion (chopped finely)

2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

A splash of white wine

300 ml chicken stock

1 tbsp tomato sauce/tomato paste

Parmesan cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

Basil for garnishing

Steps:

1. Fri bacon bits until crisp. Set aside.

2. Add 1 tsp olive oil to the remaining oil from the bacon and saute onion. Add in garlic halfway and saute the onion and garlic until they've soften.

3. Add in arborio rice and give the mixture a nice stir.

4. Pour in white wine and stir evenly.

5. Pour in chicken stock gradually and keep stirring.

6. About midway through, add in tomato and tomato sauce and continue to stir.

7. When rice has absorbed the liquid, pour in more chicken stock.

8. When the rice is soft, add parmesan cheese and bacon bits. Stir mixture evenly.

9. Add black pepper and salt (if necessary).

10. Garnish with basil and serve immediately.

For a better explanation on how to make risotto, visit this page.

Traditional Lamb-Stew

We got 1/2 kg lamb from Giant last weekend and immediately thought of making lamb-stew. Hubby searched around online for several recipes but they seemed to be too time-consuming or they call for ingredients (such as Pecorino cheese)  I do not have. After much thought, he decided to cook his own version of lamb stew.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 kg lamb - cut into bite pieces
2 large white onions (chopped in medium-sized cubes)
2 medium-sized potatoes (cubed)
1 medium-sized carrot (cubed)
1 medium-sized tomato (cubed)
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
100 ml (or more) red wine
200 ml beef stock (if you prefer saltier taste add more)
50 ml balsamic vinegar
1 pc bay leaf
1 big slice of German ham (bought from Tesco)
Rosemary and Herbes the Provence (bought from Tesco) - all to taste
Salt and black pepper - to taste
Parsley for garnishing (fresh or bottled)

Steps:
1. Heat the pan and pour in olive oil (about 2 tbsp). Fry German ham until crisp. Set aside.
2. Using the leftover oil, add in onions and saute until onions are soft and slightly burned.
3. Now, add in the lamb cutlets and continue to fry them until the meat turns brown. Add more oil if needed.
4. Add in beef stock and continue stirring until lamb is evenly cooked.
5. Add in balsamic vinegar, stir the mixture then pour in red wine and continue stirring.
6. Tear the ham into slices and put them into them mixture. Keep stirring.
7. Add potatoes and carrots into the stew and mix evenly. Add in tomato and tomato puree.
** From steps 4-7 you may add more water if the stew is too dry
8. Let the stew simmer on low fire and stir occasionally for 1 hour.
9. Along the way, add in bay leaf, rosemary and Herbes the Provence, salt and black pepper.
**The secret of good stews are to continue tasting them once in a while to see how much salt/pepper/herbs to add according to your liking. Also keeping stews overnight will bring out the flavours when you consume them the following day.
10. Once the vegetables are soft and meat tender, serve with bread/pasta and garnish with parsley.

Tonight's dinner: Tom Yum Chicken & Stir-fry Mor Kua

I can proudly say that I successfully cooked tom yum chicken today. Clap clap clap!
Hubby even commented that it was delicious (knowing how hard it is to get his compliment when it comes to food).

The recipe below is all based on 'feel' or 'agak-agak'. I'm never the one who follows exact measurements anyway.

Ingredients:
300 g chicken
2 stalks lemongrass (bruise the heads and trim part of its ends)
10 slices of galangal
100 ml of lime juice
5-6 tbsp fish sauce
500 ml water
7-8 pcs of kaffir lime leaves (lightly bruised)
3 chilli padi (slice lengthwise)
10-15 pcs button mushrooms
3 tsp nam prik pao (I used Mae Pranom's)
3-4 small tomatoes
Salt and sugar to taste

Steps:
1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in lemongrass and fish sauce.
2. While the water is about to boil, add in chicken, galangal, lime leaves, lime juice, chilli padi and tomatoes.
3. Once the soup is boiling, add in mushrooms and nam prik pao.
4. Continue to let the soup boil (use low heat).
5. Adjust the taste accordingly. If you prefer more sourish taste, add more lime juice. If you need more salt or sugar add them accordingly.


Stir-fry Mor Kua is a dish which is really simple and I feel pairs well with tom yam.
All you need is mor kua, minced pork, some garlic, oyster sauce and some water.
For a twist, you can cook mor kua with dried prawns or with lap cheong (Chinese sausages).

Nyonya House @ 34, Stewart Lane

Nyonya House is located along Steward Lane, few doors away from Seven Terraces. We decide to have dinner there last night since I needed to use my living social voucher before it expires.

View from outside 

The interior was decorated to create the Peranakan-Chinese feel.

Our voucher consists of 6-course meal for RM 25 ( 2 pax).

Mango Kerabu

Perut Ikan (Nyonya pickled fish stomach curry)

Soup with egg, mushroom and carrot

Hong Bak (pork cooked in bean paste and aromatic herbs)

Gulai Tumis

Overall, hubby and I felt that the food was so-so only. While the gulai tumis was good, the hong bak was not aromatic enough, the soup was too plain, kerabu mango is best eaten at Thai restaurants and the perut ikan is not the best I've tasted. I would prefer Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery anytime.

Another selfie of the day:)