Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL

It has been a week since the Movement Control Order was enforced in an effort to stem out the deadly Covid-19 virus that has engulfed the world.  All of us are looking forward to the MCO being lifted so that we can get back some normalcy in our lives.  But as days pass without a significant drop in cases, the possibility of the MCO being lifted seems remote.  Chances are we'd probably see an extension of the dreaded MCO. Looks like I (and my family) have to endure more of my cooking!  I miss dining out...haiz! :'( 

So, let's reminisce what it felt like eating out...which seems like a distant past now.  We were at Bo All Day Dining @ The Linc KL...not recently (of course) but during the Christmas period with family members for a celebration of some sort.  I thought I wasn't going to write about this dining experience since I've already written a post on the place before...but the rather encouraging pageviews for the earlier post made me change my mind and convinced me otherwise.

When we were given the menu for our orders, we realised it wasn't their usual menu but a condensed one.  I guess the restaurant went with a condensed menu to limit the choices to allow the kitchen to focus on less dishes to better manage the crowd of diners expected over the super busy Christmas & New Year period. Some restaurants do that, so it's best to check before you head out to a restaurant during such periods...but it was too late for us, we came in three separate cars and we had already paid parking fees x 3...and were already seated at their signature 'bird cage' dining table by then. >_<

Since this was my sister-in-law's treat, I'm not exactly sure about the prices (as I also can't remember some of them) + some of the dishes on their condensed menu also showcased a different pricing for the festive period.  So, the prices you see here are taken off their menu in their Facebook which may not necessarily be the correct prices on that day.

Let's begin with the Truffle Fries @ RM22 (festive price was RM33 if I remembered correctly) with a light sprinkle of truffle shavings and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  This was one expensive fries just because of the truffle shavings (which looked like finely crushed seaweed!) but it was so scant you can hardly taste truffles at all.

The first time I was here I really wanted to try their signature roast chicken but it was sold out.  I wasn't going to miss out on their signature dish this time.  We ordered the Bo's Signature Rotisserie Roast Chicken @ RM75 (festive price was something like RM89 or RM98).  A whole chicken ideally can feed up to four smallish eaters but two with a ferrocious appetite can also devour it easily.

I suppose the increased pricing is warranted for this dish since it came with four sides instead of the usual two deli side salads.  There were thick-cut fries and an orecchiette (or sea shell-shaped) pasta with apples and little cubes of feta cheese (which I thought were tofu cubes initially) tossed in mayo.

There was also a coleslaw of fresh greens of purple cabbage, carrot, arugula & salad leaves and white rice with a sprinkle of fried shallots on top.

For the sauces, there were chicken jus (in the little pitcher), basil mint pesto, garlic aioli and a final one that tasted like mushroom sauce.

Their roast chicken, supposedly brined and air dried for 24 hours before being slow roasted in their rotisserie oven, was tender though not particularly outstanding in taste.  You need to eat it with the chicken jus for a tastier bite.

The Smoked Duck Spaghetti @ RM34 had tender, smoked duck slices with sun-dried tomatoes, caramelised onions and fresh arugula.  The flavour of this one was quite nice and the the fresh arugula was a welcome addition to provide some freshness to the dish.

The Beef Ragu Pasta @ RM32 was ok with bits of beef in a classic tomato sauce.  The spiral-shaped pasta, like fusilli (not tagliatelle as per their menu), was the perfect vehicle to trap the meat sauce in its grooves. What's with the thick slices of grana padano? >_<  Shouldn't they be thin savings of cheese for a better bite? My sister-in-law left them on the plate.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza @ RM35 was supposed to have Jamaican jerk flavours of sweet and spicy Caribbean sauce with jerk chicken, onion, red and green capsicum, coriander and mozzarella but it tasted like an ordinary tomato-based pizza and the toppings were a bit scant.  It did come with a nice char on the pizza though since they're cooked in a wood-fired oven.  I think, because this was served last, it got cold before we got to it, so it was the least appreciated dish of all.

I remember liking the Pan-Seared Red Snapper on an earlier visit, so I chose the Jerk Spiced Malabar Red Snapper @ RM48 (RM53 festive price, this price I remembered clearly as it was my dish.  It was served with some spice-tinged, lightly roasted vegetables of broccoli, cauliflower, okra and cloud ear fungus.

If the red snapper fillets were indeed marinated in jerk spices, it was hardly noticeable but the fish texture was still very tender and flaky.  The sauce (which I believe was some kind of a turmeric-infused cream sauce based on the colour) ended up to be the star component which brought the whole dish together as the sauce was commendable.  The dish I ordered turned out to be my favourite of the night (and luckily so since three of us chose the same dish).

My Personal Opinion

I'm glad I finally got to try their signature rotisserie chicken which turned out satisfyingly tender, decently juicy though not particularly outstanding.  I was hoping for a bit more charring on the skin to bring out its smoky flavour and the chicken needed the chicken jus to bring out its flavour as it was under-seasoned.

But the two red snapper dishes (I had on both visits) are probably the ones I wouldn't mind having again, one for its fresh and citrusy flavours, the other for its bright, appealing sauce.

The gorgeous interior is undeniable, possibly even a little intimate, with great spots for photos, but it can be a little cold, so make sure you dress suitably for this purpose.

Bo All Day Dining
Lot 1-10 & 1-11 The Linc
No 360 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 017-211 2842

#ewew cooks Braised Nam Yue Pork Ribs with White Radish

Remember I once said that cooking for a Chinese New Year reunion makan is not the right time to dabble in a dish that you've not cooked before in case it doesn't turn out as expected.  Well, I didn't heed my own advice...and did that this year.

I got the inspiration to cook this dish of Braised Nam Yue Pork Ribs with White Radish from an episode of Home Dining that I watched, the recipe which I tweaked and simplified, of course.  White radish goes by many names....daikon, pak lo bak, Chinese radish, white carrot, icicle radish or Chinese turnip...and nam yue is red fermented bean curd.

Ingredients:

1 kg pork ribs, yields about 10 - 12 pcs cut into 3-inch lengths
3 pcs of red fermented bean curd cubes, mashed with 3 tbsp of the liquid 
1 large radish, roughly cut into pieces
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 red chillies, deseeded & sliced
10 dried mini scallops, soaked in a little water
10 cloves of garlic, peeled but leave whole
A knob of ginger, sliced thickly
Sesame oil, for searing the ribs

Preparation:

Mash 3 pcs of red fermented bean curd cubes together with 3 tbsp of the reddish liquid.  These fermented bean curd cubes are salty in nature, so I started with 3 pcs (as they looked like rather big pieces to me) since we don't know how salty they are.  It's always good to start with less and tweak it later coz once it's too salty, it's too far gone and will be difficult to turn it around.

Rub the pork ribs with this paste and leave it to marinate for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge to infuse the flavours into the meat.

Get ready the rest of the ingredients of radish, onions, tomatoes, dried scallops, garlic, ginger and chillies.

Method:

Saute the whole garlic cloves (don't worry, these will break down through braising later) and thick slices of ginger (to be fished out later when the dish is done) in some sesame oil till fragrant.

Add the marinated pork ribs to sear lightly.  The cook actually used anka which is some kind of homemade red yeast wine I was made to understand.  It looked a lot like nam yue (to me), so I substituted the ingredient and used that instead.

Add all the other ingredients in....radish, tomatoes, onions, chillies and the dried mini scallops (together with the water that the scallops were soaked in).  Pour the rest of the marinade (left from marinating the ribs) in as well.  Top up the pot with water to at least submerge the ribs (I added about 300 ml).  You can use some Shaoxing wine if you like it a little boozy, after all the chef used beer for the braising liquid + the red fermented bean paste also contains hints of rice wine.  Do note that there'll be a bit of scum from the pork ribs once the pot starts boiling since the ribs weren't steeped in hot water beforehand.  You can choose to skim it off or not be bothered at all as it'll be hardly noticeable because it's a sauce and not a soup.

Braise everything for 50 minutes to 1 hour (stirring once in a while) until the sauce thickens and ribs and radish are relatively soft.  I followed the chef and put everything in all at once but forgot that he cooked it for only half an hour.  I braised mine for longer (as I'm paranoid that the ribs will not be tender enough), so the radish became soft after half an hour of cook time.  I'd recommend that you either put the radish in later (if you wish to braise your ribs for longer) or cut them up into bigger chunks (a point to remember when I cook this again).  I had no choice but to fish out the radish chunks first (to be added back later) so that they don't go overly soft (though I don't mind them that way either).

By the end of the cooking, the sauce would have reduced and thickened (check that the seasoning is right at this point by adding salt or more nam yue).  I like mine a little less salty, so the seasoning was just right.  The garlic cloves were terrifically softened though they still held their shape.  I couldn't help but use my spatula to mash them up...ooo, garlicky goodness! ^.^

And this was my first attempt at making Braised Nam Yue Pork Ribs with White Radish.  I think it was pretty successful other than the boo-boo of adding the radish too early.  The pork ribs were really tender and if you enjoy the flavours of nam yue (in dishes like fried nam yue pork belly, nam yue fried chicken or loh hon chai), this would most likely appeal to you too.

I love the extremely soft radish chunks even more than the ribs...but that's just me coz radish is one of the things I love to eat especially if they're braised in stews (beef & radish stew comes to mind) or in soups (like radish & carrot soup with white peppercorns). ^o^

The sauce was sufficiently thick and exceptionally moreish.  I wasn't expecting the sauce to thicken so nicely but the softened onions and mashed garlic together with the disintegrated tomatoes and dried scallops contributed to the sauce thickening to a great extent.  Sauces thickened by natural ingredients (and not the use of starch of some sort) are always more pleasant to eat.

My Braised Nam Yue Pork Ribs with White Radish in my easy-to-transport and keep-warm pot, packed and ready for transportation to my sister-in-law's house.

Also ready to go were my roasted chicken wingettes.....

.....and drumettes.  And these were my two contributed dishes for this year's reunion makan.

This is a good dish to cook for Chinese New Year because of the symbolic reddish colour due to the use of red fermented bean curd.  It's easy to cook as it's pretty much a one-pot dish.  It keeps really well (in fact the flavours improve over time), so it can be made ahead of time and carried to your makan venue and reheated (good as a potluck contribution too).

This recipe is a keeper.  The next time I cook this again, maybe I could make it an even more complete all-in-one meal by throwing in some extra ingredients like dried Chinese mushrooms and hard-boiled eggs.  Sounds good, eh? ^_~