[Eat] Shang Palace @ Shangri-la KL

Extravagant siu mai topped with scallops! #yummy #dimsum #foodporn #chinesefood

A photo posted by @eugene_the_great on Jul 7, 2016 at 12:46am PDT

I rarely go to extravagant restaurants like this, but once in awhile it's a nice indulgence. We requested and got a room, so we got to dine in a private room in a beautifully designed restaurant.

We were here for the dim sums. 

The siu mai was awesome, with generous ingredients, prawns and most noticably a good sized scallop slice on top. Har kow was plump and filled with prawns. 

The fried lo pak ko was just ok. 

I loved the deep fried prawns wrapped with beancurd skin, It was wonderfully crunchy and generously filled with prawns.

Plump Har kow

Fried Lo Pak Ko

Deep Fried Prawns Wrapped with Beancurd Skin

The most decadent dish we had was the wat tan hor with cod fish slices. 

They were very generous with the cod fish.

However the noodles and sauce was just ok.

Wat Tan Hor with Cod Fish Slices

Overall this is a nice classy restaurant and a great place for family gatherings with good food. 

Shang Palace

Google Map : https://goo.gl/maps/exz3pPWUY9m

Opening Hours : 

Lunch

12noon - 2.30pm (Monday to Saturday) 

10.30am - 2.30pm (Sunday and Public Holidays) 

Dinner
6.30pm - 10.30pm (daily)

Rating : 3 STAR

[Cook] Dan Dan Noodles

The mention of Sichuan cooking often brings to mind the numbing peppercorns. I was never a big fan of the overly numbing sensation. Thankfully now that I am the one cooking, I am able to adjust the numbing properties accordingly. The result is a wonderful blend of aromatic Sichuan peppercorns and Chinese sauces to give a tasty, not overly numbing version of Sichuan Dan Dan noodles.
I have also taken liberties with the toppings and instead added my favourite Sichuan preserved mustard and pork slices. Really love this dish! Highly recommended!

There are 2 parts to this dish, first to make the Sichuan chilli oil, then secondly combining everything to make the Dan Dan noodles.

SICHUAN CHILLI OIL

Recipe from : http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/how-to-make-chinese-red-oil/

INGREDIENTS

Star anise	1
Chilli Powder	0.5 cup
Sichuan Peppercorn	1.5 tsp
Five spice powder	1.5 tsp
Ginger	4 slices
Sesame seeds	1 tbsp
*Corn oil	1 cup

* Any vegetable oil will do

STEPS

Crush Sichuan peppercorns into powder.

Combine everything in a small bowl.

Heat up oil and pour into bowl.

Let cool and leave for a day or two.

DAN DAN NOODLES

Recipe from : http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/dan-dan-noodles/

INGREDIENTS

For Pork Slices

Pork Slices	200g
Sichuan Preserved Vege	70g

For Sauce

Sichuan Chili Oil	1 tbsp
Soy sauce	1 tbsp
Sesame Oil	0.25 tbsp
Sugar	0.5 tsp
Minced garlic	1 tsp
Chicken stock	0.25 cup

STEPS

For Pork Slices

- Marinate pork slices with dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, corn flour and ginger.

- After about an hour, heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a wok and fry the Sichuan vege until fragrant. Put aside.

- Heat up another tbsp of oil on high heat and toss in marinated pork. Cook until done, and toss in Sichuan vege. Add a bit of water to get some sauce going. Season as needed. 

For Noodles

- Cook noodles according to packet instructions.
* I used Taiwan white egg noodles

- Mix ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce.

- When noodle is done, simple add sauce and mix well.

- Top with pork slices.

[Cook] Sour Ginger Soup

I love Szechuan veges and I love soup. So I decided to make a nice hot sour soup, and I tossed in some ginger so it gives a nice warming feeling when you drink the soup.
Tofu and mushrooms are optional, toss in any extra ingredient as you like.

SOUR GINGER SOUP
Szechuan Vege	2 bulbs
Chicken stock	2 liters
White Peppercorn	1 tbsp
Ginger	3 knobs
Tofu	300g
Enoki Mushroom	100g x2

STEPS

- Crush peppercorns and ginger, throw into cheesecloth bag

- Soak Szechuan vege in water for about 30-45mins. Remove and cut into slices. Rinse thoroughly.

- Bring stock to boil then reduce to simmer, put in bag.

- Let simmer for about 15mins, throw in Szechuan vege

- Let simmer for about 20 mins, taste and season as needed.

- Throw in mushrooms and simmer for another 15 min.

- Throw in tofu and simmer for another 5 mins. DONE

Really loved this soup, a good balance of good chicken stock, ginger and sourness from the Szechuan vege.

[Cook] Szechuan Vegetable Soup

I have recently been craving for a good bowl of soup. A nice flavor-packed-slurp-down-till-the-last-drop soup. Browsing online I bumped into a nice tomyam recipe. Gonna save this for later.

But this time I have decided to go for a pork based soup with my favourite Szechuan preserved vege. 
Didn't really find any interesting recipes of the net so I have decided to just wing it.
Definite must haves are the pork bones and Szechuan preserved vege.
Inspired by the tomyam recipe, I decided to add in mushrooms and chillies.
Of course a smattering of Chinese wolfberries to make it "healthy".

INGREDIENTS

Pork bones	476g
Szechuan vege	2 balls(?) about the size of a tennis ball
Enoki Mushrooms	as you like
Straw Mushrooms	as you like
Baby spinach	as you like
Taufu	as you like
Goji Wolfberry	as you like

STEPS
- Boil pork bones in a pot for about half an hour. Dump the water.
- Move pork bones to slow cooker, fill with water and cook on high for 2 hours.
- Set to low and cook overnight.
- Rinse and soak Szechuan vege in bowl of water for 20mins.
- Cut and add to slow cooker. Add a couple of cili padi. Cook for another hour.
- Taste soup, adjust as necessary ( add salt etc).
- When soup is ok throw in any added ingredients. Mushrooms, spinach and tofu for me.
- Wonderful soup is ready!


Overall nice soup. Pork taste wasn't as strong as I'd like.

*** These are cooking notes/experiments and are not perfect recipes.

[Food] Grand Shanghai Food Theme Park @ Setia Walk

Beautifully decorated, the Grand Shanghai was a really awesome place to visit. It was a joy walking around in this beautiful replica of old Shanghai streets. A very photo friendly place. They even have costumes for rent so you can take pics. Cool.

We eventually settled for this shop below. Even the waiters were dressed in costumes!

Food thankfully was also good. Simple, delicious and healthy Chinese food. Noodles were served in a lotus root and peanut soup. The watercress soup was nice and flavorful.

Simply soup noodle with brinjal in minced meat.

Watercress soup. Good and flavorful

As we continued wandering around this wonderful world of Shanghai we had some interesting snacks. Taste-wise though they were not great.

Giant squid! Just novelty. Taste bla.

 Kindori ice cream stall had a queue and so we gave it a try. Decent but nothing to shout about. Maybe it was the nice way the ice creams were presented? They has ice-cream biscuits, lollys, cakes. We only had the biscuit.

Address 

Level 4 of the "Mall building" part of Setia Walk, Puchong.

Hours 

Mon - Sun: 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm  

View MakanZ in a larger map

[Food] Xfrens Restaurant @ Subang Jaya

Simple and nice chinese food. Located at a less crowded area at SS18, this place has awesome Fried Brinjal andd good chinese dishes.

Not that good, a little watery.

Awesome Pumpkin Tofu

Must Try Fried Brinjal

Salted Egg Mantis, hard to go wrong

Nice Sweet and Sour Pork

Vege for balance. Enough said..

Address 

51, Jalan SS18/1B, 40400, Subang Jaya

Hours 

Mon-Fri, 10.30am-3pm, 5.30-10.30pm; weekends from 5pm

View MakanZ in a larger map