#ewew tries Ottogi Instant Noodles

I recently came to be acquainted with this particular brand of instant noodle after our first visit to Don Dwae Ji Sam Gyeob Sal where we had a super enjoyable Korean BBQ meal.

Since our meal was so satisfying, not to mention great value for money, it was easily predictable that we would return again at some point (and we did...and this time my husband came along too).

The All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ was still at a great price of RM29.90+ (drinks not included) on our second visit.....and still as good too.

The same banchan was served but instead of the usual ten, one was noticeably missing...the Korean-style hard-boiled (or soy-marinated) eggs (must be due to the shortage of eggs we had at one time...lol).

Oh well, as long as our favourite banchans, the sweetish, fragrant nuts and exceedingly juicy pickled radish are still among them, we're content.  These two, we asked for refills, of course.  In fact, these are the very two banchans that are bottled up for sale.  So you can get a jar and bring the flavours home with you.

We managed one refill of each type of meat...the non-marinated meats (of pork belly and pork shoulder loin except the sausages) and marinated meats (of pork and spicy chicken) coz my husband was present to help this time).

We also made sure we got refills of onions, garlic and green chillies coz those (when grilled) are great accompaniments to the meats.

My husband's favourite meat was the spicy marinated chicken (coz meats that are marinated are so much tastier, he said) while my son and I prefer the fragrant, charred pork belly.

Not only did we manage a refill of each type of meat, we also asked for a refill of the ramyeon (Korean-style spicy instant noodles) which we loved the first time round.  And that brings us to the subject matter (or focus) of this post...the instant noodles!

When settling the bill, we were able to take a peek and noticed that the brand of instant noodles used was none other than the Spicy Jin Ramen by Ottogi.

They can be found selling at Family Mart sometimes....and I'm sure they're in some supermarkets too but I find it most convenient to buy them from Shopee.  They come in a packet-of-five and retails for around RM15.90.

Its net weight of 120g means it's a bigger portion size than our Maggi (Big) instant noodles.  I find the portion just right (on its own) as a supper snack and even enough as a meal replacement when we feel like eating something light.

Of course, even more convenient is to get them in the cup noodles packaging but this we have to fork out more lah...about RM5 for one.  I stock both versions in my pantry.

Each packet of noodles comes with a (dehydrated) veggies mix (of green onions, shiitake and carrot) and a (powdered) soup mix.  For the cup noodle form, the dried veggies are already in the cup with the noodles, so you just need to empty the soup mix.

Pour hot boiling water up to the level indicated in the paper cup, close the lid, let it steep for 4 minutes...and your noodles will be cooked just right.

This is obviously for the nights when you're hungry for a supper snack and the words "washing up" is not in your vocabulary.

On days when I don't feel like cooking and want to make this as a meal replacement, I would cook it on the stove top so that I can add extra ingredients.  Cook the noodles as per instructions given on the packet and you'll end up with a noodle that's slightly chewy in texture.  I don't even bother to loosen them up with chopsticks while they're in the pan and it still comes out great.

This bowl of noodles I made with added fried egg, (restaurant-quality) fried fish cake and bok choy.....a pretty complete bowl of goodness that's super filling and satisfying.  I love the deep, rich and spicy flavours of the broth (made from beef bone stock reportedly).

This one is more simple with just (restaurant-quality) fried fish balls and daikon radish, finished with a spoonful of (store-bought) fried shallots.  I've actually never thought of adding radish before but since that was the only veggie I had in my fridge, I had to make do.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a great choice as the softened radish soaked up all that lovely flavours of the spicy broth.  Since discovering this, adding radish to instant noodles has become more of a regular practice for me (plus radish can also keep way longer than greens).

The first time I made this, I held back on the soup mix and didn't put all in just in case it was too spicy...but it wasn't.  After that, I put everything in....it's actually quite spicy but a spiciness level I'm willing to tolerate.  Lagi pedas, lagi syiok...plus when it's pedas, it'll stop you from drinking up all the soup...which is a good thing, right? ;)

I love it for its chewy noodles and the deep, spicy flavours of the soup long before BTS' Jin's endorsement. Well, this instant noodle now has a legion of fans (obviously) and was reported to be sold out everywhere in Korea at one time (a predictable outcome when you have someone like a member of BTS as its brand ambassador!)...lol.

Now this Ottogi Instant Noodle is one of only two brands of instant noodles you're more likely to find in my pantry cupboards these days.  If you enjoy eating instant noodles in a spicy broth (like I do once in a while), you might want to consider giving this brand a go. ^.^

Jing Hoe Mei @ Pandan Indah

As you all know, I love steamed fish to death but it's not always possible for me to eat steamed fish since my family does not share the same love for the dish.  Once in a blue moon I would ask my husband to go for a steamed fish meal...and I would have to be ready to finish the whole thing by myself. >.<

So, on one rare occasion when I had the opportunity (when my son wasn't joining us for dinner), we made a visit to Jing Hoe Mei @ Pandan Indah (apparently there are two other branches in Bukit Tinggi, Klang and Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru).  I find the name rather charming as it simply translates to mean something like "Has it finished steaming yet?" in Cantonese.  The name of the place clues you in that it specialises in all things steamed!  And yes, that's also the very place made infamous by a homemade car bomb that exploded in an ongoing murder case (of a worker there)....so drama oh! O_o

Well, I'm here for one thing and one thing only.....and that's their steamed fish obviously (this first visit was before the car bomb incident!).  Although their speciality is their steamed song fish head (or Asian bighead carp) @ RM4 per 100g, they also offer tilapia (the black variety) @ RM5.50 per 100g.

I ordered the Garlic Steamed Fish Head @ RM32 (an 800g sized-one, fish is charged here based on weight).  When it arrived, I realised it was just one half the head (the fish head had been sliced lengthwise)...that goes to show how big a song yue tau (fish head) is.  Not that I wanted the whole head, heck I can't even finish half.  The fish head was super fresh and perfectly steamed to yield tender, flaky flesh.

I decided to go with garlic steamed (which I've not had before) as their other choices of shredded ginger with bird's eye chillies, blended ginger paste, jeong jing (bean paste sauce) and just chopped chillies are the more common forms of preparation of steamed fish.  I'm also not a fan of jeong jing as I feel the salted bean sauce overpowers and takes away from the subtlety of the true flavour of the fish. 

When the fish arrived, I noticed a layer of yellowish paste on the fish (besides the fried garlic) and thought it was ginger paste.  Although I love ginger, I don't like steamed fish with blended ginger paste as the ginger flavour can be pretty strong when blended + they also tend to use too much (I prefer shredded ginger which can be easily scrapped away if there's too much).

I was clearly mistaken as the paste turned out to be blended garlic....ooo, I loved this + they didn't use too much which might have overpowered the taste of the fish.  It needed a combination of fried garlic and blended (raw) garlic paste for it to work.  It wouldn't have worked with just the fried garlic (in my opinion) as that will just act as a garnishing to the fish whereas the blended raw garlic added punchy, but not too potent, flavours to the fish.

The other key factor to a good steamed fish (besides super fresh fish) is the soy sauce used.  This one wasn't the most fragrant I've had but it's delicious enough and (more importantly) not too salty (which I like) and when the blended raw garlic steeped into the sauce, the sauce tasted even better.  You can see that in the portion of fish that I tapau-ed home (which I reheated the next day and topped with fried shallots).  I proacted and brought along my trusted glasslock container as I know I wouldn't be able to finish the fish in its entirety on my own.

This is the aftermath of someone who clearly enjoys eating steamed fish.....bones and all! ^o^  One thing that deserves mention is that the condiments of chopped garlic and green bird's eye chillies were one of the freshest I've seen.  The garlic was a bright sunshine yellow (no brownish blemishes) and the bird's eye chillies a vibrant green, nothing like those with darkened, browned spots in the seeds.

I ordered the Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish @ RM15 for my husband since he won't be having any fish.  When it was served, the generous amount of soy sauce in the dish made it look like it was very robust in flavour.

Topped with some fried garlic, chopped spring onions and chillies, the minced pork patty was very decent, tasting tender and smooth, just that I didn't get much of the salted fish taste (then again, I only had two bites as I wanted to leave that for my spouse).  He commented that the soy sauce wasn't very salty....no wonder by the time the steamed minced pork was gone, so was all the sauce.

I also got us a plate of greens, Siew Tong Choy @ RM12 (listed as such on their menu but I know it as siew pak choy or baby bok choy).  The baby greens were blanched and so lightly drizzled with light soy/oyster sauce and fried garlic (there's also hardly any oil).  Bland to most but acceptable for me.  If you're looking for healthy greens, this is it as I've eaten (far too often) greens that are drenched heavily in oil and oyster sauce.

Seeing that the steamed minced pork turned out all saucy and pretty tasty, I was confident that my son would enjoy it too, so we returned another time for dinner here (second visit was after the car bomb episode!). This time I ordered the Steamed Minced Pork with Sotong @ RM15.

Just like the earlier steamed minced pork with salted fish, my son (like his father) was also of the opinion that the soy wasn't very salty (my family clearly prefers robust tasting food).  I, of course, thought it was salty enough.  I did concur with him that the taste of sotong (actually dried cuttlefish lah) was rather understated.  He said the one I cook for him at home has more dried cuttlefish taste (but that's because I was willing to put in a lot).  It's expected that restaurants will be stingy with it since dried cuttlefish is known to be expensive (I get it from my dried goods seller at RM12 for a small packet of 80g!).

Besides steamed fish and steamed minced pork, one can expect steamed eggs on their menu too.  They do it plain, with tofu & otak-otak or the one we ordered, Steamed Egg with Tofu & Fresh Shrimps @ RM16.

No complaints on the steamed egg as it was silky smooth and slurp-worthy although this one was a tiny bit more compact/dense than some of the softer/more watery ones in consistency from the chap fan stalls. There was a good splashing of soy sauce on top for flavour but only a few smallish prawns (probably not worth the extra RM8 for just 6 small shrimps since the plain steamed eggs cost RM8).

We also had the Steamed Tofu with Dried Shrimp & Shallot Oil @ RM10 consisting of a block of silken tofu (cut into half lengthwise) and topped with crispy fried dried shrimps and shallots.

You'd probably find more fried shallots than dried shrimps. >.<  A simple, peasant dish that's super easy to make at home (after all, it comes out of a box, I make it all the time too) and one that's easy to please (just as long as you find the right brand of tofu).

We rounded our meal with a plate of Iceberg Lettuce @ RM12 tossed in oyster/soy sauce and finished with a sprinkling of crispy fried garlic.  Other vegetable choices include bean sprouts and ladies finger (all at RM12). A cheap dinner for three for around RM60+...a healthier choice of meal and a satisfying one as well.

My Personal Opinion

Their speciality of steamed dishes, especially steamed fish, is what they're known for (but, unfortunately, will forever be known/associated with the car bomb murder case) though their steamed minced pork and steamed egg turned out rather pleasant too.

After only two visits, we've more or less sampled most of what they have to offer (steamed fish, pork, egg and tofu) other than their steamed corn-fed chicken with herbs or blended ginger paste.  So, we were happy to learn that they've recently added claypot curry fish to their menu and a lot more other dishes that you can eat with rice (like dai chow fare) from their advertising banner displayed at the restaurant as well as their Facebook page.  Also included are individual servings of one-dish rice and noodles.

I guess they have to expand their menu from just steamed dishes at some point when diners get tired of the few choices and want more variety (which would explain why they weren't as crowded these days as when they first started).  With the introduction of their new menu, I can foresee my family returning to try those new dishes as a dai chow dinner features regularly in our choice of meals. ^_~

Update: The place has converted to a dai chow (but still offering their steamed specialities) and business was flourishing, so it came as a big surprise to learn that they have since closed.

Jing Hoe Mei

No 39 Jalan Pandan 1/22

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 011-3190 3753

Kenny Hills Bakers @ Bukit Tunku

After our lovely, long-awaited meet-up together with a stunning, delicious meat-up, I knew I couldn't give up the chance of not walking next door since it was just a few steps away.

Kenny Hills Bakers @ Bukit Tunku has been on my to-visit list for the longest time.  I first read about them from when they opened their flagship store in Bukit Tunku.  Back then, they were just a tiny half-lot bakery set up for the sole purpose of providing the neighbourhood with artisanal breads and take-away coffee.

From just a hole in the wall, they've grown and evolved to offer not only fresh bakes of amazing pastries, cakes, pies and organic breads but also gourmet sandwiches, signature pies, toasties & rilletes, soups, salads, burgers, pastas, wood-fired breads & sourdough pizzas, including their famous beef wellington, and more.

Soon, more branches opened in Desa Park City, Ampang, TTDI, IOI City Mall and Putrajaya, including a kiosk in Bangsar Shopping Centre, and a sister brand, Nourish by Kenny Hills Bakers at The Five, Damansara.

Since we already had not only an amazing lunch but a rather fulfilling one as well, we came over obviously for the dessert part of the meal....and the most instagrammable Peach Strudel @ RM18 was at the top of my list.  Looking at photos of the visually attractive peach strudel on social media and now seeing this in front of me, I knew instantly that it would taste as good as it looked....and I was delighted that it was.

First, you have these two layers of homemade puff pastry that's super thin, flaky, light and immensely crispy to eat.  Sandwiched between the puff pastry was a layer of chantilly cream and slices of the most beautiful-looking sweet (canned?) peaches (they must be coz they're always consistently the same in colour, shape, size and texture/ripeness...lol).  This same layer is repeated at the top and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar.

The combination of an airy, flaky and crispy puff pastry with a delightful chantilly cream (that wasn't too sweet) and juicy peaches was incredible.  I've not eaten many peach strudels in my lifetime...but I'm glad I ate this one (and I highly recommend that you do too).  Every bite is worth the calories! ^o^

Another popular choice here is their Onde Onde Cake @ RM16.  If you love the flavours of our local onde-onde kuih, you're bound to enjoy this onde-onde cake.  It consists of 3 layers of pandan sponge with 2 layers of coconut and gula melaka filling and covered with a dessicated coconut topping.

I thoroughly enjoyed the texture of the pandan sponge which was very soft and fluffy and I did too the gula melaka filling (in fact, I love anything gula melaka!) although I've to forewarn you that it's rather sweet (it's similar to eating onde-onde kuih where the sweet gula melaka will squirt out and fill your mouth when you bite into them).  This was compounded by the sweetish dessicated coconut topping as well but I found myself going back fork after fork even though it was generally sweeter than I would have liked.

The Key Lime Pie @ RM16 was another pastry of theirs that have been raved about...and if a dessert has the ingredient of lime in it, you bet I'd be interested.  It's a simple pastry consisting of a buttery shortcrust pastry filled with a tangy (key) lime curd that's topped with whipped cream and finished with a sprinkling of (key) lime zest that further enhances the strong citrus aroma.  It tastes absolutely sub-lime (no pun intended)! ;D

The key to a good key lime pie (again, no pun intended) is the use of key limes instead of regular limes as the former is known to be prized for being tart (but not as acidic) and super aromatic.  The more costly key limes have such a distinct aroma that you not only can taste the lime, you can smell it too.  As with any dessert that features lime, you bet it'll be full of zesty flavours (but expect it to be a little sweet also as it needs to balance out the tartness).

The final dessert of Strawberries & Cream @ RM26 was chosen by my friend's girls.  It's a waffle with vanilla chantilly cream, local organic honeycomb, strawberries, blueberries and organic maple syrup.

I didn't partake in this one (so I don't know how it fared) but the whole thing looked like I would get an overdose of sweetness...lol.  But it's a creamy, dreamy dessert for young girls who have the privilege to (and can) eat anything they want at their age.  My friends commented that they were surprised that the vanilla chantilly cream wasn't too sweet.  I did taste a tiny bit of the honeycomb (which is well-known for its intense sugary-rich flavour) and maple syrup which I found to be fragrant and of fair quality.

Of course, no desserts would be complete without coffees as an accompaniment.  I guess Kenny Hills Bakers said it best, "man cannot live on bread alone, he needs coffee too"....and we had 2 Iced Lattes @ RM14 each, an Iced Cappuccino @ RM14 and a Banana Berries @ RM19 for the girls.  The coffees were good.

My Personal Opinion

These delightful desserts are sure to tickle your taste buds....as it tickled mine, especially the peach strudel and key lime pie which I thought were the standouts.  I asked my friend's daughter which dessert she liked best...and (surprisingly) she went with the key lime pie (instead of her own choice).  So there you go, you know which one you must try! ;)

With the pastries and cakes hitting it out of the park, I hope to return one day to try some of their hot food...and you'll be spoilt for choice here as they're aplenty.  If you've got the cash to splash, perhaps you might want to spend it on their expensive but famous beef wellington.

Besides, there are lots more bakery items to try too like the orange polenta cake, lemon meringue pie, butter cake loaf, banana bread, croissants or their well sought-after signature pies (of fish, chicken, beef & portobello) which caught my attention.

All in all, a great place for desserts and coffee.....but a place you can't linger for too long as it's perpetually crowded with an influx of customers always queueing and waiting for a table (especially on weekends). ^_~

Kenny Hills Bakers

Lot B-2 Taman Tunku

Off Jalan Langgak Tunku

Bukit Tunku

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-6206 4111