Opika Organic Market, One Utama: Think Out of the Shell NutriPlus Egg Degustation Lunch!

An Egg-stasy Degustation Lunch by NutriPlus Think Out of the Shell Cookbook Launch!

After the recent event of Think Out of the Shell Cookbook II Launch, we headed over to Opika Organic Market for the NutriPlus Egg Degustation lunch by Chef Ryan Khang and Opika Organic kitchen team. Thanks to Quay Po Cooks for the delicious invite!

My first time visiting Opika Organic Market and I didn’t realize how big the market cum restaurant is! Housed in one of the busiest malls in Petaling Jaya, One Utama, Opika Organics is set to make a healthier difference in today’s lifestyle by selling and serving organic ingredients. There are huge racks after racks of organic vegetables, meat, dry goods and even household products for everyone’s perusal. I was immediately attracted by the cozy and warm ambience in the restaurant section of the place while I kept checking out all the items for sale!

If choices are your thing, Opika Organics Market has it all! The amount of organic household products is pretty decent while the organic ingredients are even more impressive. Stock up on organic grains, nuts, oils and more for a healthier diet… J

It was a glorious lunch! Not only was the ambience and food great, I really got to know quite a few new friends that day…nice to meet you Fan, Treedson, Shannon, Kelly, and more. Of course, it was fun catching up with Veronica and Kevin that day too!!

We sipped Iced Lemongrass drink while we wait for the meal to start. Nice hint of lemongrass… I lost count of how many I enjoyed this drink that day.

Our first course of NutriPlus Canapés consisted of three items.  Two items were NutriPlus chicken nuggets and the third was a stuffed chicken wing. The first one from the bottom is Stacked Chicken Nugget with cucumber, lime aioli and poached vannamei shrimp. A creative combination to jazz up the nugget with a citrus creamy sauce, flying fish roes, heirloom tomato jelly and served with mint cream summed up the first one.

The second one was New York Style Buffalo Nugget echoing the flavors of a slightly piquant tangy and heat from the sauce. My favorite was the third Stuffed Chicken Wings with red quinoa, four angled bean, vannamei shrimp and Balinese sambal. Preciously deboned and stuffed, the filling was light and filled with assorted textures from the ingredients. Juicy and succulent, the wing was seriously good!

It’s all about Deconstruction! We savored a Caesar Salad Deconstruct for our next course. Here, the classic Caesar is beautifully set as individual instead of tossed up. Romaine lettuce, NutriPlus Smoked Chicken Frank, parmesan nest, omega-3 dressing and a lovely poached egg painted a lovely picture of deconstruction. Meld them all together and you get a crisp and creamy Caesar salad with a nice hint savory flavor. Kudos for the parmesan nest as it really makes a nice touch to the salad!

I love soup, any kinds of soup. I was happy to see the Pumpkin Soup. The soup was comforting and sufficiently pleasant with its organic Japanese pumpkin and chicken broth. A light touch of cream and sea salt concluded the soup to counter the sweetness of the root vegetable.

The next dish was a crowd favorite! The dish was inspired by Quay Po Cooks and the recipe is available here. A giant Ravioli and Black Truffle sits in a pool of clear consommé. Stuffed with ricotta cheese, black truffle, spinach and round up with an omega-3 egg yolk and bits of walnut, the ravioli was surprisingly light and comforting.

The Egg-stasy of the meal was when the golden yolk spill over and coat everything in the dish! I thoroughly enjoyed this dish to its max because of its luscious flavors and textures. Silky and luscious, the pasta was splendid with the soft egg yolk and ricotta. The bits of aromatic earthy truffles were an added bonus!

Our main course arrived and had all of us curious with Confit of Chicken Leg in Percik Sauce. Gorgeous in colors, the flavors was as bold as the colors. I was told that the drumstick was slowly cooked or confit in red palm oil till melt-in-the-mouth tender. What makes this dish stand out was the spicy Percik sauce. Tinted with spices, the sauce was delicious with hints of heat, sweetness, savory, creamy and nutty. Particularly worthy was the creamy root mash with the sauce… I wiped my plate clean for this one!

Dessert was just so pretty at sight! Inspired by Italian, Millefoglie alla Crème di Limone featured layers of crisp puff pastry sandwiched with citrus Napolean cream and served with lemon sorbet with pieces of citrus fruit in lemongrass syrup. Definitely a mouthful but the sweet and sour flavors were simply refreshing to counter the puff pastry. I adored the lemon sorbet for the vibrant flavor to cleanse up my palate after so many courses. What a lovely lunch!

  

*More pictures at my Facebook @ChasingFoodDreams

Opika Organic Market and Restaurant
Lot No. 105 & 106 Lower Ground Floor
One Utama (Old Wing)
Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7732 2581

Website: http://www.opikaorganic.com/

Think Out of the Shell Cookbook Volume II Launch and The NutriPlus Pastry Competition

A New Cookbook & A Pastry Competition!

Think Out of the Shell Cookbook Volume II Launch

An obsession with cookbooks, I am always hungry for more. When Quay Po Cooks extended an invitation to the launch of Think Out of the Shell Cookbook Volume II Launch, I immediately agree with excitement. A big Thank You to Quay Po for the invite! I have already owned the Think Out of the Shell Volume I, so it’s without any doubt that I must have Volume II.

The cookbook is a collection of recipes with bakers from all over together in partnership with NutriPlus and published by My Nourishment Sdn. Bhd. Featuring 11 bakers and a hoard of their recipes, there is a little something of everything baked from the heart!

Arriving early, I managed to check out some of the goodies on display for sampling by the enthusiast bakers. From breads, to cakes, pastries and more, everything dessert and bread is a sight to behold.

Rainforest Bakery by brothers, Jesse & Jerry

Hagen’s Bake & Brew by Michael Lemke

Jenni’s Homemade Cakes & Bakery by Jenni Khoo

Biz Café by Clement Lim

Charco Restaurant & Grill by Alan Ooi

Thyme Bakery & Café by Chui Ping

pH Pastryhouse by Tan Joe Lee

Haute Food by Li Goh

Babycakes Sweet Shoppe by Nicole Goh

Ecole de Patisserie by Kenny Lim

The event kicked off with a speech from NutriPlus Management and followed by the launched of the Think Out of the Shell Volume II by NutriPlus Management, Jaya Jusco and the Bakers!

The NutriPlus Pastry Competition

A Think Out of the Shell Baking Challenge organized by NutriPlus for all home cooks and bakers enthusiast! The competition takes place five days from October 26^th Saturday to October 31^st Wednesday a Aeon One Utama. The mission of this challenge is to provide an opportunity to home bakers to showcase and share their passion with the public.

You may want to check out the live competition at Aeon One Utama concourse area at the scheduled dates to see the participants bake off among each other!

A few of the participants were present and they are Yee Ling, Shannon, Treedson, Fan, Kelly and Aris. Do check out the Think Out of the Shell Facebook for other participants. Good Luck to All of Them!

I caught up with two judges of the completion that day. Quay Po Cooks, aka Veronica Davis, is the author of Quay Po Cooks, who won hearts of everyone for her genuine love for her family, friends and her love of food! Her blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call the "joie de vivre" (joy of living). Her wish is to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so. She has tested and tasted 300 over recipes of which, many were featured in the Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook page.

Chef Niklesh Sharma of the Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia was once the executive pastry chef of the Renaissance KL. An award-winning and highly experienced chef, he has a strong base in hotel development and pastry kitchen upgrades

For more information about the cookbook, this is for sale at major bookstores, and the Pastry Competition, check out the Facebook and Website!

*More pictures at my Facebook @ChasingFoodDreams

The Tranquerah, Encorp Strand: Launching of Florence Tan’s Best of Nyonya Recipes in conjunction with The Tranquerah’s 1st Anniversary Celebration!

A Nyonya, A Cookbook & An Anniversary!

Time flies… a favorite Nyonya restaurant of mine turned One recently! It was a double happiness affair at The Tranquerah where the restaurant held a lovely event to celebrate Chef Florence Tan’s launch of her new cookbook and the restaurant’s first anniversary.

The Tranquerah oozed with heritage charm that evening as the whole restaurant was set with old school memorabilia, authentic Nyonya cuisine and guests dressed in sarong and kebayas! Chef Florence had also prepared a sumptuous feast from the recipes of her new cookbook, Florence Tan’s Best Nyonya Recipes.

Stay tune for a gorgeous recipe from the cookbook at the end of this post…

The Tranquerah is synonymous with Malacca Nyonya cuisine, serving dishes of southern Nyonya from Chef Florence’s recipes. Having visited the restaurant a few times here and here, dishes are as authentic as it gets. Besides authentic cuisine, the ambience is unbelievably charming with lots of recycled furniture, décor, memorabilia and old school treats.

The lovely Chef Florence was busy autographing her new cookbooks for guests as I arrived. She looked as beautiful as ever… must be all that delicious Nyonya food! Wink, wink!!

Check out her latest cookbook, Best of Nyonya Recipes, showcasing an array of gorgeous and almost forgotten recipes. Recipes in this book are simple with easy to follow instructions. Sectioned into basic categories like Fish, Chicken, Seafood, Vegetables and Desserts, one should be happy to find lots of delicious Nyonya recipes like Otak Otak Belanga, Fish Pais, Tempera Chicken, Sek Chicken, Spicy Prawn Curry with Pineapple, Kerabu Lady’s Fingers, Mango Patchree, Bubur Cha Cha, Kuih Genggang and more to name a few.

Here’s wishing a very Happy 1^st Anniversary to The Tranquerah and many more to come…

The Tranquerah Partners, Alan, Uncle John, Florence and other partners

Guest lingers for some photos while the rest enjoy the evening with lots of food, candies and a candy making session!

Alan Yun & another Partner… don’t you just love their outfits!

Alan and Florence

Alan, Florence & Zoey Rahman

Alan, Florence & Nelson

Chef Zam and Sidney Kan

Sidney & Zoey

That evening, we tasted signatures of The Tranquerah with Ayam Pongteh, Otak Otak Belanga, Gerang Asam Stingray, Asam Prawns, Squid Curry, Chicken Curry, Sambal Belachan with raw vegetables and a very delectable Mango Patchree.

Every dish really stands out in flavors with lots of spices used. My first time savoring Otak Otak Belanga, mackerel fish paste cooked in curry, a truly sumptuous dish that made me want to eat more rice. Gerang Asam has always been one of my favorite at The Tranquerah while Ayam Pongteh remains the classic in my heart.

Mango Patchree wowed me tremendously as this innocent looking side dish packed quite a punch in flavors. Strongly sweet, sour and spicy, I had fallen hard for this dish. Guess what? The recipe for Mango Patchree is in the latest cookbook so I have included the recipe at the end of this post… its Seriously Good!

Remember these lollies???

Dessert was lusciously prepared Nyonya Cendol! I like how the coconut milk is fairly thick and rich, embodying the silky strands of Pandan cendol and creamy red kidney beans…

Ah… sweet childhood memories… a blast from the past! Candies, Rabbit sweets, iced gem cookies and even those small tubes to blow bubbles… I believe the adults had a great time reviving their childhood memories while the children enjoyed these to the fullest!

Here’s another old time favorite… Ting Ting Candy or Gula Ketuk. It’s really hard to find one now and Leo, 23 year old, was purposely hunt down by The Tranquerah team to make this nostalgic candy for guests that night!

The art of Ting Ting Candy is almost gone but I am very impressed that this young man decided to continue his father’s legacy to make this candy. He cooked the candy mixture till caramelized and deep amber before swirling the mixture in a wok placed on top of water. Once the candy mixture has cooled to the correct temperature, he uses a Y-shaped tool to hang the candy and pulled till it oxidized and turn to the hard candy we all know. Guests were definitely amazed and charmed by this candy maker!!

I was given a small piece that was still slightly warm. It was still pliable and taste really lovely. Once totally cooled, the candy hardened, therefore one has to use the steel utensils to break up the candy making the infamous Ting Ting sound!

Mango Patchree by Florence Tan

Ingredients

6 ½ Tbsp     Cooking Oil

3 sprigs       Curry Leaves

2 Tbsp         Sugar

¾ tsp          Salt

3                 Green Chilies – deseeded & cut into triangles

3                 Red Chilies – deseeded & cut into triangles

Poached Mangoes (prepare a day in advance)

600g           Small Unripe Green Mangoes – peeled and deseeded

1 ½ tsp       Salt – dissolved in 1 litre water

450 ml        Water

240g           Sugar

1 Tbsp        Salt

Finely Ground Ingredients

10               Dried Red Chili – deseeded, soaked in boiling water for 20 mins

3                 Red Chilies

2.5cm          Fresh Tumeric – peeled

4 Tbsp         Coriander or Cilantro Powder

5                 Shallots – peeled

Method

1.   Prepared poached mangoes a day in advance. Halve the mangoes and soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

2.   Bring water, sugar and salt to a boil in saucepan. When the sugar has dissolved, add mangoes. Cover saucepan and remove from heat. Do not boil mangoes again of they will become too soft. Leave to cool overnight.

3.   Heat oil in wok. Fry finely ground ingredients and curry leaves until fragrant. Lower heat and add 5 Tbsp syrup from the poached mangoes, 2 Tbsp sugar and ¾ tsp salt.

4.   Add chilies and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add poached mangoes.

5.   Leave curry to mature overnight before serving.

Serves 4 -6

Psst… there is a Pineapple Patchree recipe too in the book! There are lots more awesome recipes so make sure to check out Florence Tan’s Best Nyonya Recipes cookbook available at all leading bookstore.

Thanks to Alan, Chef Florence and The Tranquerah for an evening to remember… It was definitely a Blast from the Past and a New Memory! J

*More pictures at my Facebook

THE TRANQUERAH

62A-G, Red Carpet Avenue

Encorp Strand, Jalan PJU5/22

Kota Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya

Tel: 603 – 6142 4106

Email: nyonyplace@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Tranquerah/233497760007021