PCL

Oh yeah, I forgot Yetty, that you don't do Bak!!!! and what's a an SB concoction?? I just meant that like, for some people, CKT is like, not the real thing... i mean, a caffe latte is one thing, why go double de-caf etc etc... OH, I give up!

Shal, where's the meat or is that a dumb question?? Nice pics though. I did a similar sauce not long ago for pasta, but cooked the tomatoes from the start to almost puree consistency... mounted with butter, couldn't resist, and ate. then had a second serving mounted with EVOO. Then had to have a porterhouse with asparagus.

Tim, your website has been promising an online store for over a year and a half now. Is this ever going to happen? ← Yeah Tim! Do tell!!

With all these herbal ingredients, do you use them in raw (non-shredded) form to make BKT? The package my friend sent me was just a pack of some herbal shreds in a cloth bag. (Very small quantity too it seemed) Would the shredded form be just as good or slightly degraded compared to cooking with the whole herb? ← I think the shredded form makes flavour extraction quicker... especially when used with the cloth bag, so it's like a tea bag... At the stall I mentioned earlier, it's not unusual to find some kei-chee floating around with some yoke chok etc.

Danger danger Yetty... for some, and I don't count myself amongst them anymore, though I once was... chik kut teh can be like asking for a double de-caf triple skinny soy latte-mocha-cino....

Ahhh... Mr Wong... my main man in LA... good to see you here Russell... and thanks, visit often now y'hear?

my grandma always says to go easy on the BKT because it's very nutritious, and can imbalance one's equilibrium. short answer is that it can raise it, but that's not a bad thing if your blood pressure needs raising!

Rendang and nasi lemak for breakfast... too good...

And thanks to Shal, skunk, Dim Sim, Chris... et al... Shal, we're going to be relying on you and Chef's Office!!... for Sydney happenings, but more to come once Dan and I get our projects up and running. Watch this space!!!

Ribuan terima kasih Michael!!

foodie: i just looked back through the threads, and yes, you did mention you were coming down this way!... i shoulda asked you to get the rubs for me, but luckily, fou de bassan has already arrived with a bagful, which i've yet to collect!! thanks for the report, and Dan and I will be sure to add your experience to an up an coming pinned thread covering locales/regions in Australia/NZ. glad you enjoyed your trip!... and do come back and say hey!

There's a very good stall in Old PJ, Malaysia. I'll speak to dad about the address and post it here for reference. We've been eating there since, day dot. I think a word needs to be said about condiments, just a small word Many of us have a saucer containing hak-yau or thick dark soy sauce, and minced fresh garlic and a couple pieces of chopped cili padi. I drizzle it over the rice too, before pouring on the soup. Ah Leung... with all due respect.... YOU THREW OUT THE SOUP??? Now, on the soup, to add my 2 cts worth, my mother says there is dong-kwei in there which makes it heaty. So don't indulge too much unless you're in confinement Being an overseas Chinese, I have to rely on packs sent over, and I find the Eu Yan Sang brand very good. I generally throw in a couple pieces of rock sugar (ping-tong) and a bowl of light soy sauce when it comes to a boil. For the meat component, I use pork belly and spare ribs . Spare ribs in first, up to simmer, blanch the pork belly (in 2in cubes) then into the pot. At the Old PJ place, they also have a selection of offal such as liver, intestines, trotters <----- EXCELLENT, and also mushrooms (dried shitake variety) in addition to tow-fu-pok. DAMNIT... the count for homesickness is not up to around 10 threads on eGullet... can't do a pot of the stuff now, it's almost summer down here and too heaty lah!!!

Attended a session at Mexicali again last night. Chili was a little dry, but man, them fried fish taco's... to die for. No dessert this time neither Shin... no sweet tooth at the moment lah... Will be attempting the Johnson St option soon... And also, Mexicali Rose have a customer card system, eat there like, 5 or 6 times and get a Main course free... or something or rather... but worth going in any case.

G'day & Kiaora in no particular order! Happy to be of service, and cheers! Manifesto to be published soon... ...kidding...

...hmmm... might be able to get an Aussie wine personality to chime in on the guest speaker forum side of things... ...but... sign me up for Vino due cent'uno please!! (wanky way of saying Wine 201)....

Or you can try making them yourself! It's not hard really...

Daniel, you might want to ask this question in the Chinese food forum, or the elsewhere in Asia Pacific forum. As you mentioned in your thread starter, sichuan is one way, but there are other regional Chinese options which may 'hit the spot'. I can think of soy/oyster sauce braised tongue (teochew style) and a cold pickled salad version, sometimes served at dim sum.

yes i do son, so when are you doing another round??? i am so serious, like, i'm sure shinboner would be in on it too...

Bloody hell... roti canai to be cooked in Toronto via recipes from Melbourne and feedback and recipes from KL... this is like, dude, so, uh, awesome.

Dim Sim.... you're invited over to my place any time... did I say anytime? yeah i did, and I mean it...

Ai Ya... tell us one lah!!! Puchong, yeah i think i know where that is, but then again, i'm not so sure... but he does go there now and then... for the record, no home style places in TTDI... good Ipoh hor fun though...

No no no, I tap, they thank me... or you or anyone else taps, they thank you, ask for water, they thank you, ask for anything... you get the idea...

The weekend turned out to be a gastronomic marathon. 4th November, The Flower Drum. 5th November, Murasaki. 6th November, Tea House on Burke. It had been over a year since the family’s last visit to the post-Gilbert Flower Drum, and it must be said, I was skeptical. After hearing unconfirmed reports of considerable ‘Westernising’ of the cuisine, and ever increasing prices, it was enough to make anyone’s chopsticks quiver in nervous anticipation. To heighten the pressure on the evening, it was mum’s 60th birthday dinner. Table of 7, to span over 6 dishes. From the beginning, the experience was just as how it always was. Warm welcomes from all, with the diligent front of house crew pouring out from the woodwork to shake hands and re-welcome one back to this venerable institution of Melbourne fine dining. Even Gilbert himself (now a consultant to the operation) was at the 1st floor reception, pressing flesh (coincidental no doubt!) Even the quality of the tea poured may be said to be exceptional. Fat chance picking up whatever it is they serve you at some place like T2!!! For the record, the tea we had was “Iron Buddha” aka “Ti-Kua-Yin”. Needless to say, course by course, the presentation and actual in-mouth experience can be described simply as superlative. The traditional birthday classics were present, such as: - braised sea cucumber (sea slugs) with fatt-choy (fine black funghi), dried shitake and lettuce - long-life noodles with crayfish in ginger/spring onion sauce - steamed whole sand grouper - abalone in the shell, steamed with ginger/spring onion soy dressing In a break with tradition, there was no chicken, but “pei-pa” crispy skinned duck was served instead. This is a dish that no one else in the region (meaning Australia), in my experience, has come close to serving it up in a way that even approximates how it’s done at the Drum. It’s not peking duck, and it’s not a traditional roast duck. With ‘pei-pa’ duck, the seasonings used are different, and apparently a special treatment is used on the skin, resulting in crisper, tastier skin, soft fragrant flesh, and a superb plum based dipping sauce. My wife says it tastes like chocolate. This was served with the most excellent young tender tips of steamed asparagus. There were more greens, in the form of excellent kai-lan, lovingly cooked with stock, ginger and garlic. The word that captures food at the Drum is ‘essence’. Each dish is exactly what it should be. That cray was swimming just moments before being broken up and worked over in hundreds of thousands of BTUs, sauced with velvety stock, garnished with spring onions that were just a moment ago, sitting in an iced bath to maintain crunch. And the noodles, procured by Gilbert himself from Hongkong, where artisanal producers still operate, were light, full of sauce, but maintaining mouth feel and resistance, ‘singing on the teeth’ if you like. And the fish? Yes, alive till the last moment, gutted and cleaned, and into the steamer before being sauced with a sugar/ginger/garlic combination held together with a soy sauce that should probably be tasted and ranked by a vintner. Exaggeration? Maybe, but well deserved. The service? I hear you asking, and the answer is, attentive beyond belief. You will do better by referring to the Good Food Guide, and all past issues of Mietta’s for the unending descriptions of what Flower Drum service is all about. My criticism would be that sometimes, they do try too hard, and the plentitude of ‘thank you’s’ after each and every service action (serving/removing/topping up) can sometimes become a little grating. The solution? Keep drinking the good stuff, and we had a Macedon sparkling to kick things off with (non-vintage @ $60 or so a bottle) and a lovely Yarra Valley Pinot from Turramurra, 2001, to complement the banquet. For dessert, we snacked on long life buns, steamed with lotus paste in the centres, all shaped as peaches which are traditional symbols of longevity. To accompany the buns, the Drum had prepared a visual feast of a fruit platter resembling the something along the lines of Monkey Journeying to the West, but sadly lacking in flavour. Every piece of fruit was chilled and crisp, but a sluggish end to an otherwise noteworthy meal. My sister had ordered a sensational birthday cake and in total, 8 dishes for an auspicious occasion. On interesting side note as far as I’m concerned anyway, is that of the thousands of words written about the Flower Drum, I’ve yet to see anything on the almond biscuits/cookies they offer at the end of the meal. Everyone I know who has experienced the Drum rave on and on about these sensational little critters, baked with lard and all the good things one expects. I do have one piece of advice here, and it’s something I never follow all the time: ask for them to be packed away if you don’t finish them, because then, they’ll oblige by handing back a full pack. For the price and the occasion, the Drum can’t be beaten. You get pretty much what you pay for, but it must be stressed that you get something you don’t need everyday. I note too that most of what we ate, you won’t find on the menu. It also means, they will work on a flexi-pricing system with ‘market price’ being the leading justification. Whatever the damage at the end of the day, it sure beats lemon chicken and beef ‘n black bean sauce. For an everyday experience of gastronomic significance, but not requiring re-financing of your mortgage, stay tuned to part 2 or 3. If you've been to the Drum, or will do one day, I'd like to hear what you've got to say.

TP, can you please post the address of the restaurant? my dad will be very interested to visit. he's just left melbourne for KL this morning. i am keeping score of the number of times TP and Shiewie et al have made me almost impulsively book multiple return tickets to KL just to EAT!!!!

This simply reaffirms my belief that until I own such a burner, my life is incomplete. Well done infernooo. ah Leung, i'm planning to stick mine outside with a couple wind breaks thus mitigating the need for internal fan upgrades. i'm more worried about raising the temperature inside (open plan kitchen and living) than anything else.