Fatt Kee Roast Duck @ Sri Petaling

We came here wanting to eat at Spade's Burger but was told that their buns had run out and that the replenishment stock was due to arrive later that evening (yeah, don't ask...how could a burger place run out of buns, right?).  We didn't want to wait, so we left (we've since managed to taste Spade's burgers through delivery).

After leaving Spade's (with no back-up plan in mind), we started walking around for another place to dine and finally ended up at Fatt Kee Roast Duck @ Sri Petaling.  As you walk in, you'll be greeted by some kind of a window display at the front showing their variety of roasted meats.  Unfortunately, the window display was bare....with just one miserable chicken and one duck still hanging even though it was only dinner time (business must be slow since only two tables were occupied).  Perhaps the display would have been brimming and more enticing to look at earlier in the day, I suppose.

Well, if you're one who likes to have a variety, then the best way to savour everything would be to order the All-In-Fatt @ RM28, a special four-in-one combo featuring roast duck, roast chicken, siu yuk and char siew...and that's precisely what we got! ;)

This dine-in was quite some time ago, so pardon me if I can't quite remember what they tasted like exactly though I do remember that nothing quite caught my attention other than the roast duck.  The siu yuk wasn't the best of cuts, a bit too fatty and the skin was a little hard.  The char siew was ok I suppose, just that the sauce wasn't among my favourites while the roast chicken, we got all breast meat...what do you think?  I hate it when some shops take advantage of a situation (where we forgot to request for the cut we want or can't coz it's a combo platter) by getting rid of as much breast meat as possible (more like dumping it on unsuspecting customers if you ask me).  The roast duck was the only thing I do remember.  Perhaps my experience might have been different if I had eaten there earlier in the day when the meats were at their best (perhaps these had been hung at the shop front for too long?).  And yes, I saw the worker removing the last hanging duck and taking it into the kitchen to cut up for us.

As much as it's a good idea to go for a combo platter in order to be able to taste test all their meats in one sitting, it may also not be such a good idea coz each meat has a specific sauce and they tend to mingle with one another on the plate thereby not allowing one to taste each component (with their respective sauces) separately.

You can have the roasted meats with yellow (chicken) rice @ RM1 a bowl.....

.......or with plain wantan mee @ RM3.80 a plate.  It was quite nice as the wantan mee (the thinner type) was tossed in a sauce with fragrant pork lard and I did like the inclusion of the little cubes of crispy chee yau char (pork lard bits).

You can partake all that with their freshly blended chilli dip and ginger sauce.  I can't really remember if I liked their dips but I always welcome any blended ginger with chicken rice/roasted meats as I like how they cut through all that fattiness and oiliness.

But the one thing I do remember very well was how much I liked their Tofu with Dried Shrimps @ RM8.80. The fragrant and super crispy dried shrimps, together with freshly made fried shallots and flavourful sauce, made the bland silken tofu all that more delicious to eat. ^o^

This was yet another chicken and duck rice shop that doesn't come with complimentary soup (is this becoming a trend?).  I seem to have encountered quite a few of them lately as in Loke Yun Chicken Rice, Soon Fatt Beijing Roast Duck, Chen Chen Roast Goose & Duck and now Fatt Kee Roast Duck.  At least this one was because they offer double-boiled/steamed soups on their menu.  So, obviously, they won't offer you free soup lah.....lol! >_<

My Personal Opinion

I've passed their branch in Pudu quite a few times but have never ventured in to try.  Who knew I'd end up eating it at their outlet in Sri Petaling (by chance) instead.  I'll reserve my judgement on Fatt Kee until I've had a chance to try the roasted meats at their original Pudu (HQ) branch.

Anyway, there's this pulling factor that make me want to return to eat their utterly sumptuous dish of tofu with dried shrimps.  Who would have thought that a simple tofu dish would be the one that entices me to return to a shop specialising in roasted meats. ^_~

Fatt Kee Roast Duck & Chicken Rice Shop

No 47-G Jalan Radin Bagus

Bandar Baru Sri Petaling

57000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 011-1622 3320

Kafei Dian @ Pandan Indah

I first got to know about this kafei dian (which literally means kopitiam) when they opened in Chinatown (Petaling Street) in 2019 with their old-school coffee shop vibe of cement floors, wooden chairs, marbled and tiled table tops with lots of greenery.

And sometime last year, they opened a branch in my neighbourhood, Kafe Dian @ Pandan Indah.  My sister-in-law informed me of them coz she happened to pass by and was invited in to try some of their food, yam cake in particular.

One of their most popular dishes is their Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang @ RM11.90 served with half a hard-boiled egg, crispy ikan bilis & groundnuts, sambal and a refreshing acar (pickled vegetables of carrot, onions, pineapple, cucumber & chillies).

I'd consider the ayam rendang good (but a bit spicy lah) for a Chinese version.  The sambal was also spicy seeing that it's from a Chinese eatery.  The green-coloured, pandan-infused rice didn't have much of a santan aroma and the consistency was a little sticky and starchy.  I'm guessing that there must be some glutinous rice in the mix.  If you're looking for santan-flavoured rice, you won't get it here.

Next, I gave their Nasi Lemak with Fried Ikan Kembong @ RM11.90 a try.  It was served with the same condiments as the earlier nasi lemak ayam rendang.

Their ikan kembong (fried Indian mackerel) was super, super crispy....too crispy if you ask me until it was over-fried and the slit on the fish made the flesh dry out even more.  My preference would be for the fish to be crisp and fragrant around the edges while the flesh remains slightly moist.

And again, I was tempted by yet another fish dish, their Fried Tenggiri Fish + Rice @ RM16.90.  Why not?....since I love fried fish (and I enjoyed this fish more than the fried ikan kembong.

The tenggiri (Spanish mackerel or kau yue) was fresh and nicely fried with some ginger shreds.  I think they can afford to give a little bit more veggie, don't you think?  They call the veggies Penang Mengkuang Char (similar to stir-fried yam bean with dried squid, Chinese mushrooms and shredded carrot).

What I found a bit weird was that it came served with an assam broth (I'm guessing it's the same one you get with assam laksa) as a sauce since, overall, it didn't have any sauce.  This was probably an afterthought to throw in this assam broth since the dish may be difficult to consume (for some, me included) when it's predominantly dry.

The Seafood Fried Rice @ RM13.50 came with prawns, fried egg, fish cake slices and carrot bits.  You can detect a light hint of wok hei but otherwise the rice was just bland.  The prawns texture was the overly crunchy type which didn't have any flavour in them (aka frozen farmed/lower quality prawns).  Let's just say you can get tastier and cheaper fried rice from any siew chow stall and they will be heads and shoulders above this one.

Other than the nice egg layer on top, the Penang Fried Kway Teow @ RM10.50 wasn't very successful either. The noodles didn't look nor taste like they were well fried, so don't expect any charred flavour or wok hei. Again, the dish was accompanied by crunchy, frozen prawns that were devoid of flavour.

I saw quite a few people order the (Dried) Shrimp Curry Chee Cheong Fun @ RM5, so I thought I'd give it a go.  Unfortunately, the curry was not the thick kind.  Don't underestimate the little bit of chilli sauce provided as it packs quite a punch to the overall taste.  It was a just ok curry chee cheong fun but certainly not quite in the league of Yap Hup Kee's chee cheong fun by a country mile.

The Yam/Taro Cake @ RM4.30 (for 2 pcs) had a balance texture of smooth with bits of yam pieces within it.  I was glad to see it come with a good sprinkling of minced dried prawns, fried shallots, fresh peanuts, chopped spring onions and tiny bits of fresh red chillies.  This (incidentally) is not on their menu...you have to get them from the counter already pre-packed.

Though it wasn't the best yam cake I've had, it was still a very decent yam cake by many standards and probably the best you can find in my neighbourhood even though there weren't much fragrance in the dried prawns and the fried shallots were no longer crispy.

Of course, when one comes to a kopitiam like this, an order of Half-Boiled (Kampong) Eggs @ RM3 is a must.....but their eggs were served barely lukewarm.

That tells me it's probably done sous-vide style sitting in a temperature-controlled bath which means no human error of overcooked eggs but also not piping hot fresh out of boiling water.  I like mine so hot it would burn my fingers when I hold on to the egg to try and crack it...lol! :D  If you're one who likes their half-boiled eggs piping hot, this one isn't quite for you. >.<

This was their Toasted Bun with Butter & Kaya @ RM3.  Their inhouse-made kaya was slightly sweet for my taste buds but should be just right for the masses.  The kaya didn't give me that homemade vibe but a decent kaya by commercial standards nevertheless, more sweet than fragrant.

A breakfast of a freshly toasted bun (or bread) lathered with copious amounts of kaya complete with cubes (or slices) of cold butter and enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee on-site (not necessarily this one) is what I miss most with no dine-in. :'(

I can't say I'm totally on board with the taste of their Iced Black Coffee @ RM3.50 nor their Hot Cham (combination of coffee + milk tea) @ RM2.90 though.

My Personal Opinion

Nothing I've tried so far is inedible or bad tasting....but neither could I say that something I had was particularly good either.  The food is generally decent or average at best, so don't have too high an expectation when you dine here.  It's a place where the ambience and comfort is a notch above what you'd get in a typical old-school coffee shop.  Although prices seem reasonable for the type of food charged, some will find the portions a little small (a single dish may not be enough).

I suppose you could say that they're a jack of all trades but master of none as I noticed that they have quite a variety on their menu but you can't put your finger on what they're especially good at since no one dish stood out enough (of all the dishes I've tried thus far) for me to say....yes, this one is better than the other (similar) one I had before.

Still, it has given me and my family an extra option on where to dine for some of our meals.  So, perhaps I'll just say what I won't mind having again here...and that would be the yam cake, toasted bun with butter & kaya, fried tenggiri and ayam rendang.

Kafei Dian

No 1 & 3 Jalan Pandan Indah 4/4

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

#ewew cooks Siakap a Few Ways

Since the pandemic started and with the numerous lockdowns and various MCOs that we've been subjected to, I've hardly had the opportunity to go to my usual wet market vendor to get fresh fish and prawns.  I'm not talking about the small wet market in my neighbourhood but a slightly bigger wet market in a neighbouring taman (housing area).

Instead, I've had to settle for frozen fish delivery from Vfresh....but the experience wasn't always positive.  I know I can't compare frozen with fresh but I'd still want it to be at least of acceptable freshness.  Nothing beats fresh fish from the wet markets which I much prefer but (from experience) I've come to realise that their farm-raised fish is a better bet than wild-caught fish (aka fish from the sea)....and I now only limit myself to buying salmon, tilapia or siakap from Vfresh.

And here are just some of the ways I would cook the frozen siakap (also called Asian Sea Bass or Barramundi) that I get, RM13/pc (about 500g, good enough for 2 portions).  These recipes were chosen to ensure the taste does not suffer too much in case the frozen fish is not always as sufficiently fresh as we'd like it to be.

#1 - Steamed Asian Sea Bass Thai-Style

One of the popular ways of cooking a fresh piece of whole siakap is to steam it Thai-style.  In Thai restaurants, you'd usually get a steamed whole fish and served fancily in an elevated fish-shaped pan over a small flame (to keep the fish hot while you eat just like Chinese-style steamed fish).

But here I'm doing it with (half a) frozen Asian see bass (about 300g)...and mine is not so fancy-lah....served on a plate only (haha!).  Although I was quite happy with the freshness of this piece of frozen sea bass, a recipe like this is able to mask any fishiness that the fish may have with a sauce/broth that has the sourness of lime juice, pungency of freshly chopped garlic and fieriness of red/green bird's eye chillies.

You can use plain water for the sauce but a chicken stock will certainly elevate the taste.  If you don't have a ready-made chicken stock in hand, fret not as you can just dissolve some chicken stock powder in water for a happy medium (and a much simpler preparation).

For the sauce, just boil 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder with 1 cup of water (about 250ml) and add some sugar (palm sugar if you have, I used 1 tsp regular sugar).  Once the sugar is dissolved, let it cool slightly before adding finely chopped garlic (3 cloves), bird's eye chillies (I used 1 red + 3 green) and chopped coriander along with the juice of 1 lime (about 3 tsp) and fish sauce (if you have, otherwise 2 tsp Chinese soy will do). The sauce ingredients is an estimate, find the right balance for your taste buds depending if you like it more sour, sweet, spicy or salty (which is the hallmark of any Thai dish).

Stir and do a test taste...it should be sour but balanced with a hint of sweetness.  Tweak the seasoning until you get the balance right and once you're happy with the outcome, pour it over your steaming hot fish (with a little bit more fresh coriander on top).  I was more than happy with the subtle sweetness, mild and delicate flavour of the sea bass coupled with the refreshing, uplifting sauce which is more like a soup really. My broth may look a little darker than the usual Thai-style steamed fish but that's because I didn't use Thai fish sauce which is lighter coloured than Chinese soy.  Half a siakap fillet is the perfect portion for one person with a bowl of rice...yum! ;)

#2 - Pan-Fried Spiced Barramundi with Potato Salad

If you get your hands on a fresh piece of barramundi fillet, you don't have to do much to it really.  Just pan-fry with salt and black pepper is good enough but since mine is frozen, I added more robust seasonings like garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and dried parsley.  This is like my take on a seriously muted Carribbean-style pan-fried fish (minus the hot peppers...haha!).

I served this with a potato salad of boiled potato chunks and blanched green beans.  I decided to "listen" to David Rocco to skip the heavy mayo to go with this lighter version tossed in olive oil, lemon juice (I used limes) and minced garlic (well, just a touch David says but, hey, we're Chinese...and we love our garlic!) seasoned with salt and freshly cracked black pepper which turned out light and delicious.

The fish had a light crisp on the skin (I didn't dust it with some type of flour before shallow frying, otherwise the skin would have been crispier).  Seasoning the fish with a good dose of herbs and spices is a good way to cook frozen fish to take away the fishy taste (if any).  This makes for a super healthy light lunch served with an equally healthy potato salad (you know I need my potatoes for a fuller meal). ^.^

#3 - Stir-Fried Black Pepper Siakap with Capsicum & Onions

Buoyed by the tastiness of my recent black pepper pork stir-fry, I did the same with the frozen siakap I had in my freezer.  Cooking frozen fish that may not be as fresh with black pepper is a good way to hide the fishiness (and this piece I got from Vfresh was, let's just say, less desirable). >_<

I dusted the siakap slices (try not to cut too thinly) with some cornflour before pan-frying them separately in some oil.  This was because siakap can be quite flaky and moving it around too much during the stir-frying process will certainly break up the fish.

Then I sauteed some chopped onions till soft and translucent before adding the cubed green and red capsicum.  Don't overcook the capsicums as they should stay relatively crunchy to the bite.  Return the cooked fish slices followed by freshly cracked (or coarsely pounded) black pepper.  You can add as much black pepper as you like, a drizzle of dark soy (just a little for colour) and season with salt.  Just mix everything in gently (without stirring the fish slices too much otherwise the fish will disintegrate to small pieces) and the end result is a dish that's both pretty and colourful.

#4 - Fried Siakap with Fresh Chilli Paste

Actually, one of the best ways to use a piece of frozen siakap that isn't of the best quality is to deep-fry it. The fishiness in a crispy, deep-fried fish is not as apparent as when the fish is steamed or stir-fried.  On most days, serving it simply in a sauce of oil, soy and fried garlic or fried ginger shreds is already good enough.

But not this time, as I was feeling slightly more hardworking, so I cooked it with a spicy fresh chilli paste. You just need to saute the chilli paste in oil until it darkens and smells fragrant.  I added a little bit of water to make the sauce slightly wetter.  Spoon it over the fried fish and top it with some fried ginger shreds.

I really enjoyed this one with crispy skin and moist, flaky meat. ^o^  The slightly spicy chilli paste (and ginger shreds) made the fish very appetising indeed and, at the same time, masked any evident fishiness that may be present.

Another good idea is to get your favourite vegetable curry from a restaurant or chap fan stall and add your own fish at home (unless you know how to make a good curry and you don't mind the work entailed in making one from scratch).  The spicy curry will help to drown out any lingering fishiness.  This is what I call a cheat dish but it works too...lol.

Even if we can't get the freshest fish (during these pandemic times when the wet markets are closed), we can still do something worthwhile and turn it into something delicious...we just need to be smart on how best to cook the frozen fish for a good outcome.  Hopefully, some of the ideas/recipes I've shared here will inspire you to cook a fish dish even if you have less than stellar quality fish. ^_~

Sally's Kitchen Homecooked Food Delivery (for July)

After closing for the first two weeks of MCO 3.0 and about a week during the EMCO, I was thankful that Sally's Kitchen Homecooked Food Delivery has resumed operations once again.  That's good news for those of us who orders from her weekly since they're located in our same neighbourhood.  Good food with no delivery charges is hard to come by these days with food delivery platforms now in such high demand that delivery fees are at its highest with hardly any discounts in delivery charges.

Week 3 of July started with something old, something new, the Curry Chicken & Osmanthus Egg Rice Set @ RM12.  The something new is the osmanthus egg while the something old was the curry chicken from the mee siam with chicken curry kapitan previously.

The only osmanthus I was familiar with is the sweet dessert of transparent osmanthus cake made with osmanthus flower in a jelly-like cake.  Some would even have goji berries or water chestnut in them.  So I was wondering what this osmanthus egg was.....it turned out to be a mixture of scrambled eggs with Chinese dried mushrooms, wood ear fungus, glass noodles, julienned carrot and spring onions that was served on top of a piece of sang choy (lettuce).  It was ok...nothing to be overly excited about.

The curry chicken was pretty much the same in flavour with the previous curry chicken kapitan.  It was still thick and delicious...and I fully welcomed a bit more potatoes this time round.  Knowing how good the curry chicken was from past experience, I did not hesitate to get an extra a la carte portion @ RM8 for our dinner later that day.

A rather generous portion as you can see...this was almost two portions of chicken curry (drumstick & thigh) which I reheated for our dinner (as I only ate one piece of chicken & potato for my lunch earlier in the day).  

That same week, Sally's Kitchen also had for sale their Hae Bee Sambal @ RM12 (for 150g), a classic Nyonya dried shrimp sambal.  This slightly spicy dried shrimp sambal is made with the pounding or blending of lots of dried shrimps (har mai) and frying it with a chilli paste until dry.  So far, their attempts at the dishes they put out have turned out mostly successful but (unfortunately) I can't say the same for their hae bee sambal.

How good a hae bee sambal really depends on how good the quality of the dried shrimps are...and this one fell short.  It was also missing that chilli oil to make it more fragrant.  I have to say my mom makes a much better dried shrimp belacan sambal (har mai ma lai chan lat chiew).  When we visit her, she would make extra tubs for us to take home.  It's so good, I even spread it over a piece of cucumber...simplicity at its best!

It was very easy for me to assemble this look-alike nasi lemak (but with plain rice lah) for our dinner that day with their curry chicken and dried shrimp sambal by just throwing in some fried ikan bilis, hard-boiled egg and cucumber slices.

The following week saw Chinese Pork Chop Rice @ RM12 featured with sides of potatoes & onions in a sweet and sour gravy with stir-fried mixed vegetables of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and shimeji mushrooms.   I liked that there was a variety of vegetables and they were cooked until soft. 

The fried pork chop was cooked in a sweet and sour gravy along with potatoes and onions.  The pork chop was lean but sufficiently tender.  This dish is quite similar to sweet and sour pork except you'll be missing a bit of that crispiness you'd get with the smaller chunks of pork since this was done with a piece of pork chop.

The second option for the week was Nasi Goreng Kampong Inchi Kabin @ RM12 which paired a nasi goreng kampong (fried rice) with deep fried chicken marinated in spices served with fried egg, anchovies & sambal belacan.  Inchi Kabin is typically a Nyonya version of fried chicken and this one was well executed.  Even though the chicken didn't arrive fully crispy, it still had good flavours and the portion was really generous with 3 good-sized pieces of chicken from the chicken thigh/leg section.

Besides the Nyonya fried chicken, you also get a decently cooked nasi goreng kampung with two large prawns (it had the crunch like frozen prawns but at least it had the taste of prawns), a fried egg, crispy ikan bilis and a sambal belacan (the same one served with the previous Nyonya lobak set).  If that is not value for money, I don't know what is.

That same week saw a third dish offered (for the first time), Zha Jiang Mian @ RM9.90 with minced pork & potatoes served over a bed of noodles with sides of pickled radish, julienned cucumber & carrots.  Zha Jiang Mien (or Char Cheong Meen) is a popular noodle dish from China that's often referred to as Beijing Fried Sauce Noodles.  It's a dish where thick, flour-based noodles are tossed with a rich, meaty sauce (usually pork mince) along with finely shredded cucumber and carrot.

The sauce is usually made with a sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce and ground bean sauce (made from fermented yellow soybeans that's saltier and less sweet).  The thick meat sauce was generous and plentiful but I found tiny cubes of potatoes in it (which I initially thought were pork lard bits at first glance).  I don't think this would be in a typical char cheong meen dish, right?

I did enjoy the wide, flat and chewy noodles which were cooked right.  Though the meaty sauce tasted decent, it didn't quite taste the same nor look as dark as some char cheong meen recipes I've eaten (the one I had in Esquire Kitchen comes to mind).  Then again, I'm no authority on zha jian mian since I hardly eat this type of noodle.

The menu for the final week of July kicked off with a repeated dish of Thai Green Curry @ RM13 with sides of Onion Omelette and Stir-Fried Long Beans & Carrot.  The Thai Green Curry was one of the first things I tried (and liked) from Sally's Kitchen, so I reordered when the dish came round again.

This time, the green curry came with added softened cabbage besides brinjal.  Unlike previously, there weren't quite enough brinjal + it was cooked too soft (coz the pieces were cut smaller) until it kind of disintegrated into the curry.  The green curry was still delicious, just not as good as I remembered when I had it the first time.  It was missing a bit of that green curry paste flavour as I tasted creamy santan more than anything else.

Another choice for the week was this Braised Hakka Pork Belly with Stir-Fried Green Vegetables @ RM12.  It arrived in a long plastic container with 3 compartments (I've to say I've not seen a container like this before). Hey, this will come in handy as a recycled container to tapau chap fan (of 3 dishes).  This is one food delivery that have their food packaged in many types of containers. 

The Hakka Char Yoke or braised pork belly was excellent...the half lean, half fat chunky pieces of pork and black fungus were nicely tender and the delicious sauce, with a hint of Chinese cooking wine, was good...maybe just a teeny-weeny bit salty but that will be taken care of when eaten with rice.  I liked that the pork belly this round was not as fatty as the previous Braised Mui Choy with Pork dish.  I also preferred this to their previous Hakka Fried Pork.

The stir-fried greens turned out to be tenderly soft Hong Kong Choy Sum with crispy fried shallots.  A nice touch to round off the meal...just wished there was more of it.

The final menu for July was this Fried Meehoon with Dried Shrimps with Curry Vegetables & Fried Wontons @ RM12 served with a dipping of fresh red bird's eye chillies and soy sauce.

The white-coloured fried meehoon with omelette shreds was not oily and good even on its own (for me) though others would most probably prefer to eat it with the vegetable curry for more flavour.  The fried wontons arrived fully crispy with a pork mince filling...nice and crispy, nothing to fault.

The vegetable curry was really good with ingredients of softened potatoes, carrots, long beans, cabbage, brinjal, ladies finger and beancurd puffs.  If there's one thing they do well, it's their curries! ;)

Again, Sally's Kitchen has come through for me in helping me solve what to eat (and not having to cook) for at least 3 meals (usually dinner) in a week now that they offer a third dish for Fridays.  Actually, I quite enjoyed their fried rice and fried meehoon which they (surprisingly) did rather well, not too oily or overly savoury. The other would be their deliciously tender Braised Hakka Char Yoke & Black Fungus (with its hint of Chinese rice wine) which certainly deserves to be ranked among their top dishes so far.....with hope of more to come! ^_~