Beautifully imperfect

I used to be a perfectionist but not anymore.  I once read an article by Henrik Edberg and he said:

“Does life have to be perfect before you are happy?

Do you have to behave in a perfect way and get perfect results to be happy?

If so, happiness will not be easy to find. Setting the bar for your performance at a level higher than reasonable usually leads to low self-esteem and feeling like you are not good enough, even though you may have had a lot of good or even excellent results. You will likely feel that what you do is never good enough. Maybe once in a while might feel like something goes just perfect, but then it will be on to next challenge."

I agree with Henrik, chasing for our idea of what is perfection will not only place ourselves on uncessary stress but it will spill over to our love ones or co-workers. So, when I bought this duck from the wet market a few weeks ago, I had the duck deboned and then realized it was the wrong thing to do if I were to make braised duck with ginger . In the old days, I would have run out to go buy another duck but now, I decided to just use what I had. Although the meat was a little dry, the flavors were great. By allowing myself to carry on, without stress or rush, and hoping for good enough, I enjoyed the cooking, and I enjoyed the "good enough duck". 

Okay here is the braised duck with ginger. With bone left in, it may come out pretty close to perfect. Let me know what you think of this close-to-perfect or beautifully imperfect dish?

Braised duck with ginger
adapted from smokywok.com with modification

Ingredients:

1kg duck cut into big pieces

150 g young ginger, cut into thick sliced

1 bulb garlic, sliced

½ C shaoxing wine

1 tbs oil

Seasonings:

2 tbs fermented Soya Bean Paste (Taucu)

1 1/2 tbs Oyster sauce

1 tsp Sugar

Method:

Heat oil and brown all the duck pieces. Remove duck pieces and set aside. Saute garlic and ginger. Add in duck pieces and seasonings and stir well. Add wine and leave to boil for about 5 mins. Pour water until it covers all the ingredients. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer until meat is tender and sauce is thick for about 30 to 4o minutes. This dish will taste better the next day.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover 

Zuan Yuan at The One World Hotel

The first time I received an invitation from Feryal, the Assistant Public Relation Manager of One World Hotel, to taste the food at Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant and do a review, I was unable to go because of some prior commitment. The second invitation came at a time when I was less busy so I was able to attend and I am glad I did.

Setting out in my car I didn't bother with the GPS because I thought I knew my way there. First, I overshot the turn into The Curve and then, by the time I adjusted and returned, all I could see was  the Royal Bintang Hotel. No One World Hotel. Oh dear! I have made a mistake again. By then, I was caught in the jam. I quickly pulled to the side of the road and turn on my GPS. Fortunately, with its help I arrived at the hotel on the dot at 6.30pm. PHEW!! Otherwise, I may have become lost again and would have missed all the delicious food!!

Yee Sang with soft shell crab and condiments. The addition of deep fried soft shell crab
was brilliant giving a wonderful mouth feel. The flavor of the sauce was perfect striking a balance between sweet and sour.

Zuan Yuan crispy roasted duck was one of the best dishes of the night. The skin was crispy and
the duck meat was perfectly cooked. It was simply crispy caramel skin over lean but juicy meat, which for me, is exactly what duck should be. Simple, aromatic, and reflecting a light touch with seasoning or spices, allowing the natural husky flavors of the duck to shine through.

Steam Star garoupa with Mandarin orange skin and fresh bean curd. I love the smoothness of
the fresh bean curd and subtle tartness of the Mandarin orange skin in this dish. 

Wok fried tiger prawns with oats and chilli. The deep fried oats adds a nice crunchy texture and
the addition of chili highlighted the fresh briny flavors in the prawns.

Braised abalone with dried oysters and sea moss in "golden" bag. 
I am a big fan of sea moss. A creative and festive dish suitable for Chinese New Year celebrations. 

Steam lotus leaf rice with assorted preserved meat, Chinese sausage and yam. The last dish of the evening and there is very little room for this. The little bit that I tasted was 
delicious. If I had more room, I would have had more.

Pan fried "nian gao" with cheddar cheese. I am not a big fan of pan fried "nian gao" and prefer the deep fried versions. I must have become a traditionalist in my old age. The addition of cheddar cheese in this context seems out of place. However, compliments for the young chef and his sense of adventure. Based on overall execution that sense of adventure is bound to yield new additions to festive Chinese dining. 

The chef for all the delicious food. Meet Chef Woon.

If you guys don't want to bother with cooking a reunion dinner at home, you might want to check their Chinese New Year Menus out. There are three different sets to order from starting from RM1088.00++.  However, I hope you would omit the Shark's fin in the menus and replace it with some other dishes. If no one wants to eat shark's fin, then no restaurants would want to include that in their menus. You might want to read about how to save the sharks at the follwing link.

Stop sharks finning

HERE ARE THE CHINESE NEW YEAR MENUS

I heard from those who have tasted dim sum at Zuan Yuan and have testified as to its goodness. Here is their dim sum menu.

Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant
One World Hotel
First Avenue, Bandar Utama City Centre
47800, Petaling Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia
Tel: 03-76811098

A lazy Saturday for all of us!

Yesterday was the second day of Hari Raya and we all had a lazy Saturday.  We watched a very good movie and decided to eat out for dinner.  Our decisions about going out to dinner are bifurcated. Sometimes it is all about getting dressed up and going for an upscale dining experience. Other times, like Saturday, we wanted simply good food in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Restoran Kar Hiong, which is just 5 minutes drive from my home is always our first choice for home cooked Chinese food from home cooked food, you know what I mean? Check out the review about Kar Hiong by Fay Khoo in Time Out KL: http://www.timeoutkl.com/food/venues/Kah-Hiong.

Address: 9, Jalan SS18/1B, Subang Jaya.  

Tel: 016 328 7022

My Quaylo husband likes to say that the food at Kar Hiong is “ho sek” (delicious) and very reasonably priced. I agree on both counts. All the dishes across the board are priced at RM8.00 for small, RM13.00 for medium and RM18.00 for large.  If you ask me to recommend what to order,  I would answer by saying cannot go wrong ordering anything in their Menu. Nevertheless, some of our favorite dishes are as follows:

Honey pepper chicken. Crispy, spicy and flavorful! 

Spring Onion Tofu. An easy dish to make but the tofu here is extra smooth and silky.

Vinegar Pork Leg.  This dish is a gastronomic treat as always!

Kar Hiong is owned and operated by a family from Ipoh, and their selections reflect the Cantonese undertones of Straits Chinese cuisine that one can easily find in this part of the world. What is not so easy to find is the combination of perfect execution at the wok, friendly and prompt service, clean surroundings, and value that you can find at Kar Hiong. It is obvious that others agree and it is recommended that you get there early.