Frozen Food During MCOs

You can practically get almost anything these days in frozen form....be it fresh produce or pre-cooked frozen food.  This was greatly influenced by the series of lockdowns and MCOs that we have had to endure due to the widespread pandemic.  Frozen food (both fresh and ready-to-eat types) is the way to go for many households...and an extended MCO 3.0 means even more frozen food in the days ahead! >_<

Frozen fresh produce (delivered to our homes) has been around for a long time already but gained momentum during the MCOs coz who would want frozen seafood and meat when we can get our hands on fresh produce from the wet markets (which I prefer) or supermarkets.  I, for one, would not want to buy frozen fish or prawns if I have a choice to get fresh ones from my usual fish vendor at the wet market.

But the MCO has forced my hand (or our hands) and I had to make do with frozen fish and prawns (in order to stay safe and away from crowded wet markets)...and depending on luck, sometimes they're adequately fresh while at other times, they disappoint.  I've had that disappointment (from my usual supplier, Vfresh, recently) with a batch of ikan senangin (threadfin) I bought for my sister-in-law that turned out very fishy and a batch of (IQF white) prawns that turned out mushy (the sea prawns I got previously were ok).  I don't believe in buying frozen squid either coz if that turns out mushy, it's even harder to stomach than mushy prawns.  I realise that their vacuum-packed fish like salmon, tilapia, siakap (Asian seabass or barramundi) and saba are much better bets (and that limits me to very few choices I can buy from Vfresh from now on).  I don't think I dare to buy any frozen local fish from them and will only stick to those I've bought before.

Haiz.....I can't wait to get fresh fish from my regular wet market vendor again when the Covid situation improves and it's deemed to be safe(r) to go out again.  Nothing beats fresh fish from the wet market!!  I now even resort to buying fresh vegetables online just to lessen my trips to buy vegetables.

Besides frozen fresh produce, there are also many players in the market now that sells frozen pre-cooked food and meals.  They're ready-to-eat frozen packages that you can just reheat at home and your meal is ready in a jiffy with zero effort and without the need to sweat it out in the kitchen....and that is a godsend for many people who don't cook, don't know how to cook or don't have the time to cook.

Even I, who do cook....knows how to cook...and have time to cook....will resort to some of these frozen ready-to-eat dishes from time to time out of sheer convenience and pure laziness.....lol! :D  It first started when we could not travel interstate for CNY and had some of these frozen, ready-to-heat dishes for our CNY dinners in KL.

#1 - (Frozen) Hakka Wu Tau Kau Yoke (Steamed Pork Belly with Yam)

An aunt (from Ipoh) makes a very good wu tau kau yoke....and she makes it every year for CNY (and she makes it in trays to be eaten over the next few days).  She serves it with sang choy (fresh lettuce leaves) on the side for those who want to wrap their meat in them.  They also use the lettuce leaves to wrap nga ku in a dish braised with nam yue.  I'm not sure if this sang choy wrapping is a thing with Hakkas coz I don't eat it like that and neither do I find a liking for this nam yue braised nga ku either.

#2 - (Frozen) Pork Ribs Curry

I've eaten many good curries in my life but I can't recall having had a good curry pork ribs though.  So, I can't find any photos of good curry pork ribs coz when it comes to curry, it's always pork curry, fish curry or vegetables curry that I'd order.

#3 - (Frozen) Hakka Char Yoke (Braised Pork Belly with Wood-Ear Fungus)

Ah, when it comes to Hakka Char Yoke, I've eaten my fair share of good ones either from chap fan stalls, tai chow places.....

......or proper Chinese restaurants like this one from Dai Cha Dim in Pavilion.

#4 - (Frozen) Lor Bak

Then there were these fried lor bak (5-spice meat rolls) which I first ate during our CNY reunion dinner (previous photo) and again during our hoi nin lunch from a different supplier, I think, which tasted better than the first.

I like the ones from a shop near me, Jia Li Mian Noodle House, Pandan Jaya, as they're pretty good....

.......and the ones from Hoe Fong Chicken Rice in Seapark, PJ, are not bad either.

All the above frozen food that my sister-in-law bought during the CNY period was edible but only average-tasting at best.  The frozen lor bak was probably the best of the lot which I had also gotten from her to cook at home.  I pan-fried them (I don't like to do deep-frying at home) and my husband said it tasted better than air-fried (but still not as good as deep-fried).

#5 - (Frozen) Chicken Chop

Another sister-in-law gifted me a few (more like six!) frozen chicken chops which she bought online from two different sellers.  They come in a few choices of flavours and I got original, lemongrass, rosemary (they used dry herbs from a bottle) and curry (this was the only one that had flavour).  Since these chops come already marinated, so all one needs to do is to cook them in the oven.  

I roasted the first one as it was.  Unfortunately, they turned out tasting quite bland (totally tasteless to my husband's taste buds) but, worst still, was that the texture of the meat was mushy.  A roast chicken that looks as pale as that isn't very inviting, is it? >_<

My husband said the meat was so soft (and he doesn't mean it in a good way) that you don't even need a knife to cut it apart! O_o  Not sure if it was because the chops weren't fresh (to begin with) or that they've been frozen for far too long.

I only ate one (after re-seasoning it, of course) and kinda forced my husband to eat up the rest.  He would eat up anything just to not waste food, that's why he's the one we rely on to sapu anything we can't finish.  I tried to make the balance ones as palatable as possible by throwing in anything that I could throw in (extra seasoning and spices from salt to black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, honey...you name it, I threw it in!). As much as I could save the taste of the chicken chop, there was nothing I could do to save the mushy texture of the meat.

See.....see....I can certainly marinate and make better tasting chicken chops than those frozen ones (and I'm not blowing my own trumpet coz they're really easy to do...I can practically make them with my eyes closed....kekeke!).  In fact, roast chicken is my forte as it was one of the first things I roasted successfully in the oven...and I'd usually cook it for our potluck parties...perhaps that had slipped my sister-in-law's mind. Suffice to say, I had to tell her the frozen ones were no where near good! >.<

#6 - (Frozen) Prawn Roll

I got these to try (through Shopee) when I ordered fresh vegetables.  They're supposed to be prawn rolls wrapped in beancurd sheets (RM7.90 for 5 pcs).

Although I shallow-fried them, the bean curd skin was still fairly crispy (but would have been crispier if they were deep-fried).  I could see whole (more like halved) prawns in the filling but there was also something of a minced nature.  I'm assuming it's part of the chopped prawns in the filling.  The bigger pieces of prawns had this translucent look with a crunchy texture and a lack of sweetness which makes me suspect they probably used frozen prawns in the filling.

Again, I would say the taste was of an acceptable level but also not something I'd be overly eager to buy again coz, at more than RM1.50 a piece, I didn't think the quality was worth the price paid.

#7 - (Frozen) La-La

My sister-in-law also gave me frozen la-la (clams) some time ago before our MCOs.  It was conveniently forgotten in my freezer until I found it while rummaging through my freezer during the first MCO.

What's better than eating la-la?  For some, it's eating peeled la-la where you don't have to contend with the shells.  But peeled la-la also meant the cooking method is very limited as you can't really stir-fry them (without shells) with say garlic, ginger or chillies as it just wouldn't be the same.  So, the only thing I could think of is to make la-la omelette with it.

#8 - (Frozen) Dim Sum

Of all the frozen foodstuff my two sisters-in-law bought, the frozen dim sum turned out to be the best tasting with the easiest, fuss-free preparation (it only needs to be steamed from frozen state).

I received a few types of dim sum....char siew pau (steamed BBQ pork buns), sang yuk pau (steamed meat buns), siew mai (Chinese steamed dumplings) and steamed beancurd rolls.

The char siew pau and beancurd rolls were the most tasty.....and the siew mai was decent too.  This frozen dim sum is the only thing I'd want to eat again (for the third time after eating them twice since the MCO started).  In fact, I made another order recently through my sis-in-law (since she never told me where she got them from).

It's something very convenient (stashed in the freezer) for snacking purposes during this MCO as all it needs is just to steam these ready-to-eat morsels.

I think the reason why most of the frozen food (I've tried thus far) didn't deliver in terms of taste is because every Tom, Dick & Harry (who cooks) seems to have jumped on this 'food bandwagon' as a means to earn a living or make some money as demand is so high for any foodstuff but (sadly) not everything is up to mark and we, the consumers, have to weave out the "not good"! >_<

There had been more misses than hits with some of the frozen food I've tried.  Being disappointed more often than not, I'd still prefer to buy cooked food from places where I know the taste and quality....and reheat (or freeze them for later) than to buy frozen food from people/places I don't know (unless they come highly recommended) coz I'm afraid there are just too many out there that don't cut it.  Anyone had any good frozen food experiences lately that were worthy? ^_~

Jin Xuan Hong Kong @ PJ Old Town

The last time I came here for dim sum, well not exactly here but at another branch of theirs in Damansara Uptown, I never got to try any yam stuff which I didn't know then was one of their signature items.  They had so many variations of it....yam puffs, yam encrusted prawns, yam rings with mixed vegetables and maybe more! ;)

Since we were in the vicinity one Sunday morning, we decided to drop by Jin Xuan Hong Kong @ PJ Old Town and finally get to try their signature item.

True enough, as soon as we were seated, one of their servers was peddling the yam ring with mixed vegetables but I decided against it as I thought the dish may be too filling.  This crispy yam ring, in a larger form, is a staple of many tai chow restaurants (referred to as fatt putt) and it usually comes with a filling of kung pao chicken with cashew nuts or an assortment of mixed vegetables.

I wanted to have a go at more dishes, so I politely said no to the yam ring. ^_*  The menu showcases their signature items, some of which I've already eaten at their Uptown branch.  These were what we had this round.

While having your dim sum, you'll see many servers coming by to peddle some of their items...and they're usually the more expensive ones (so clever!) like this Marmite Spareribs @ RM13.  They were sticky-sweet alright but you'll be doing a fair bit of jaw exercise chewing down the ribs.  Suffice to say I won't be having this again.

Since I've had the carrot cake stir-fried with taugeh before (and they weren't served steaming hot coz they were pre-fried ones sitting in the dim sum cabinet), I decided to go for the Deep-Fried Turnip (or Carrot) Cake @ RM5.50 this time.  It was really good and among some of the better ones I've had (and the best thing is you don't need it to be served hot).

We had to order the Siew Mai @ RM5.50 again coz this was one of very few siew mai we really enjoy eating.

A dim sum item we repeatedly order is the Fried Beancurd Roll @ RM6.50.  The beancurd skin is crispy but the prawn filling is minced, not whole prawns like the ones we love at Loong Seng.

Deep-Fried Eggplant @ RM6.50 is another must-order item for us and these were plump and juicy with a thick filling of fish paste.

The Lor Mai Kai (Steamed Glutinous Rice) @ RM5.50 is pretty decent too.  The glutinous rice is nicely cooked with the desired softness.

What can we say, we love our glutinous rice, so another order of the Fried Sticky Rice @ RM5.50 (which we enjoyed the last time) was inevitable.  The rice was fragrant with bits of lap cheong (Chinese dried sausage), dried prawns, egg and scallions.

Next, we tried something new, something I saw in their dim sum cabinet.  It looked like their house-made Fried Fish Cake @ RM10 studded with some chives or green onions.  Not too bad.

While prying into their dim sum cabinet, I also chose some kind of fish, prawn and meat paste-stuffed fried beancurd puffs @ RM10.  When I pointed to it, the server immediately squeezed some mayo over it before I could stop him.  Not sure why the mayo is not served on the side but I didn't want that so I asked him to give me another one without.  This turned out pretty tasty and one of my favourite items here.

Of course this time round, I must not miss out on trying their yam items, so I got the Fried Yam Pastry @ RM5.50.  The yam paste turned out alright and the crust was light and crispy but it was the minced pork filling that I didn't fancy.  Unfortunately, this won't be among some of my favourite wu kok.

I never fail to tapau (pack) their Steamed BBQ Buns @ RM5 (for two) whenever I eat here coz the buns here are really good, soft and fluffy with a char siew filling that's truly delicious.  They should have just stuffed this filling into their wu kok.

I didn't care much for their Cold Kopi-O Kosong @ RM3.50 though.

My Personal Opinion

The last time I blogged about their Damansara Uptown branch, I wrote that some people thought (based on what I read online) that the Uptown and Damansara Jaya branches are the better ones and to avoid the PJ Old Town and Kota Damansara branches.

Well, now that I've tried the PJ Old Town branch, I really can't taste the difference.  Recently, I also happen to come across a review by choiyen.com and she seemed to have enjoyed her dim sum experience at the Kota Damansara branch.  Perhaps there's no truth in it. ^_~

Obviously, there are some dim sum items that I liked and some I didn't but I'm sure you'll find a mix of some good ones from their vast variety on offer here.  Among some of my favourites were the fish stuffed root (which I now know as sang kan yuen), fried sticky rice, siew mai, deep fried carrot cake, brinjal, stuffed beancurd puffs and steamed BBQ buns.

Jin Xuan Hong Kong Restaurant
No 19 Jalan 1/21 (Old Town)
46000 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7781 5688

Ho Chiak Dim Sum @ Pandan Indah

Since the one and only dedicated dim sum restaurant, One Nite Dim Sum, relocated to Taman Bukit Beratai in Ampang some three years ago (though they've since returned to my neighbourhood albeit to a smaller lot less than a year later), their previously occupied two lots were taken over by another dim sum restaurant.

Actually, I've no idea what the place is called since there's only a Chinese signboard but from their receipt, I gathered that it's known as Ho Chiak Dim Sum @ Pandan Indah.  You must be wondering what took me so long before I even ventured into this dim sum place.  Well, that's because I noticed that they're barely crowded each time I passed by...and I know that a good dim sum place, especially if it's the one and only dim sum place, will be packed to the brim in my neighbourhood.

Oh well, better late than never, I finally ventured in one fine day.  Right off the bat, I noticed that the steamed items here are steamed to order when I was presented with a tray of yet-to-be-steamed dim sum for my selection.  All the dim sum items are priced between RM2 - RM7.50.

"Siew Mai" (Steamed Pork Dumpling) @ RM5.50

Another type of siew mai (I find their siew mai filling isn't chopped finely enough).

It seems their steamed beancurd rolls come in three variations...this is the one with minced pork & prawns @ RM5 (you get one roll filled with minced pork and one filled with prawns).

Bean Curd Roll with Minced Pork only (the third one comes with minced chicken).

Another steamed item @ RM5 with some sort of a fish (+ pork?) filling on top of pan-fried tofu slices in a sweet and spicy sauce.

The "Char Siew Pau" (Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns) @ RM2 was acceptable but the bun could be a tad more fluffy in texture.  Though the char siew filling had the right colour and texture, it wasn't particularly my favourite as I've had some awesome ones before.

After trying a couple of steamed items, I'd say they were fairly average and none stood out memorably.

But that does not include the "Lor Mai Kai" (steamed glutinous rice with chicken) @ RM4.80 which was undeniably one of the better ones I've eaten thus far.

The glutinous rice was not only tasty but steamed till really soft (and that's how I like it) and coupled with a flavoursome minced pork filling too.  So good! ^o^

If there's just one item I could pick from here, it'd be this.  I'd be happy with just this lor mai kai for breakfast.  Each time we're here, we must order this! ;)

Between the steamed items, the fried ones undoubtedly fared better.  Starting with the Fried Prawn Beancurd Roll @ RM6, this one is at its best, utterly crispy, when freshly fried.

But if they happen to give you one that's already fried and sitting in the glass cabinet, the bean curd sheet may not be as crispy.  The prawn filling of this is minced, you don't get whole prawns like the ones from Loong Seng (which is still the one to beat).

There's also another type of Fried Beancurd Roll @ RM6 with a filling of minced pork, prawns and vegetables.

This one is rather value-for-money as you can see just how jam-packed and generously plump the filling is.

The Fried Wantans are as they should be...crispy.

The "Fried Wu Kok" (Yam Puffs) @ RM6 had a brilliantly super light and crispy crust (very much like the ones I love) but the char siew filling was more or less like the same ones from the char siew pau.  Though I've had better ones before, this filling still fared much better than some of the char siew fillings in other dim sum shops.

The "Char Siew Sou" (BBQ Pork Puff) pastry, topped with pork or chicken floss, wasn't particularly flaky with the same tasting char siew filling again.

Of course, Stuffed Eggplant @ RM5 is always a must-order for us since we love to eat eggplant and this one has our approval.  I liked the sauce that the eggplant was braised in which had a gingery taste to it.

The char siew-filled Steamed "Chee Cheong Fun" (Rice Noodle Rolls) @ RM5.50 with "ma lai chan lat chiew" (cooked sambal belacan) was just ok.  There's also a version with prawns.

The Fried "Lor Bak Gou" (Radish Cake) @ RM7, one of the more pricey dim sum items on the menu, delivered in terms of taste and was nicely fried with lots of crunchy bean sprouts and Chinese chives.  So delish! ^.^

If you like the plain pan-fried version, they have that too.  The Fried Radish Cake @ RM5.50, crisp and fragrant on the outside and soft on the inside, was just as good.

The Porridge @ RM5 with bits of century egg, salted egg and minced pork, topped with a few crunchy slices of "yaw char kwai" (Chinese crullers), had just the right texture and consistency.  I like how fresh and finely julienned the ginger was too that added freshness to the mild-tasting porridge (some might feel the flavour is a tad too light).

My Personal Opinion

If you're expecting trays after trays of dim sum steaming and fried dim sum items filling the cabinet for your immediate selection, that's not the case here.  All the steamed items are steamed to order while most of the fried items are fried to order.  I reckon that's how they keep things fresh and wastage to the minimum when they don't have a high turnover.

That may be one of the reasons why they don't seem crowded (the other would be that their prices may be a little higher than norm) as I, too, passed them by when I found their cabinet devoid of dim sum items.  I guess one shouldn't "judge a book by its cover" which, unfortunately, I was guilty of and that's why it took me so long before I tried! >.<  If you enjoy other dim sum items more than the steamed ones, then you should not overlook this place.

I actually found those items to be better tasting than its predecessor, One Nite (Dim Sum), which occupied the space previously.  Since trying this place, I've been back regularly for their lor mai kai, fried lor bak gou, stuffed eggplant, yam puffs and the various fried beancurd rolls.  At least now I have a not-to-say fantastic but certainly decent dim sum venue in my neighbourhood (after all, the place is called ho chiak for a reason...kekeke!).

Ho Chiak Dim Sum

17-19 Jalan Pandan Indah 1/22

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9134 8131