Homecooked Food in Kajang

Finally went home in July after years of absence. My younger sis showed how much she missed me, by cooking up delicious food. Actually, this is my conjecture only. Haha! Truth is, she has always been the better cook since, I don't know... forever, I think. At the moment, she is the only family member that cooks on a daily basis. Eternally grateful to her for being there with and for our elderly parents.

Here's a collection of the good stuffs I had for that few days when I was at home recently.

Day One (Dinner)

fried rice

radish pork ribs soup

The grains of the fried rice were well defined, and texture of the rice was good. Diced french beans and carrots gave it a crunchy texture and some colour. Of course, must have egg. Pair this with a hearty bowl of soup. Chunky radish and carrots as the base, meaty flavours from the pork ribs and a tad of umami-ness from the dried oysters. Throw in one or two honey dates for the natural sweetness.

We have some homegrown chili padi, so cut chilies was a must for my meals.

Day 2 (Breakfast)

Penang-styled char kway teow with clams

Impressive plate that had legit awesome flavours. The generous amount of small clams and chinese sausage provided savoury-sweetness to the plate. Kway teow was bouncy and each strand was well coated with the dark sauce. Sprouts were juicy and the chives 韭菜) added authenticity to the plate. My sis said she use special sauce and sambal meant for ckt for this.

Day 2 (Dinner)

three dishes (三菜)

brinjal petai in bean sauce

turmeric baked drumlets and wings

steamed white pomfret in soy sauce

All these dishes actually made me wanted to have more rice. But, need to control... 

Day 3 (Breakfast)

chicken feet wanton noodles with char siew

Day 3 (Dinner)

stir fried lettuce with garlic

simple panfried fish

Hakka zhar yoke with black fungus (客家黑木耳炸肉) 

This meal was double wow! The zhar yoke was lovely as the pork belly was tender and so easy to (over)eat. No funky porky smell. The black fungus is one of my favourite foods and it pairs well with the zhar yoke (Cantonese) or zhar bak (Mandarin).

Panfried fish is a simple delicacy that I had always enjoyed. Just rub some salt all over the fish and panfry each side till cook. Take extra care for the head and usually need to baste it for it to be a little bit crunchy. The drizzle lightly with soy sauce and drop some chopped spring onions to garnish. Pour over a bit of the hot oil over the spring onions.

My sis said we have some white chili padi and asked if I'd like to try. Ok, although I've never heard of it before.

white chili padi

Turned out that it was not exactly white, just a very very pale shade of green. But it was indeed more spicy and more fragrant than the normal birds eye chili. Hmm, 1.5 times more spicy I'd say.

Day 4 (Breakfast)

Taiwanese-styled breakfast of shou zhua bing (手抓并)

I think my sis missed travelling and this breakfast was reminiscent of Taipei. Home version means you could add more greens (shredded lettuce) and a thicker piece of spam. Yums!

Thank you sis!

Kedai Makanan Wan Fatt @ Jalan Mendaling

Revisited this place for some zhichar when I was back in Kajang during the December festive period. Read about my first documented visit here in 2012.

Wan Fatt feels rather run-down actually...but as long as the food is good and price is reasonable, then it is still one of the go-to places in Kajang. Rather unique to be going to a place that is like within temple grounds.

large tables for families

menu board

My cousin and uncle met us for dinner so there were 7 of us. Ordered five dishes; fish, pork, chicken, vegetable and a tofu dish. This place has a rather extensive menu and ordering was easy as the menu has pictures.

When eating zhichar in Malaysia, usually the dips would be garlic and bird-eye chilies with soy sauce. Drinks would be a pot of tea.

must-have

yum cha

Food arrived fairly quickly as we were there around 630pm. The crowds for weekends usually starts after 7.

(from top, clockwise - stir fried yau mak, pork ribs in golden pumpkin, two types of almond chicken, braised beancurd

The steamed tilapia with minced ginger was good. Think the fish was probably a good one kilo in weight. Vegetables were done stir-fried with preserved beancurd (the one's that is eaten with plain porridge).

The golden pumpkin was a bit bland though, but the pumpkin was naturally sweet. The chicken was a combo of crispy chicken skin with fish paste served with plum sauce, and the middle one would be deep fried chicken in salted egg yolk.

closer view of the almond chicken

The braised beancurd pot was really good and it has some vegetables in it as well. The sauce was good with the rice.

This meal for 7 pax cost about RM153.

Kedai Makanan Wan Fatt

Location: Temple Bangunan Tin Hong See, Jalan Mendaling, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Contact: 012-656 6553, 019-326 8476
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kedai-Makanan-Wan-Fatt-Kajang/137778679626580

Old Man Restaurant 老吔海鲜饭店 @ Taman Kajang Impian (Sungai Chua)

Dinner with family, aunties, cousins and nieces. Ventured to a new place as the usual one at Bukit Mewah had ceased their evening zhichar operation apparently.

The Old Man's restaurant is spacious and diners can opt for upstairs dining as well. With elderly folks, naturally we won't be climbing any stairs.

interior

You can bring your own bottle here but am not sure what's the corkage fee as the dinner was sponsored by cousins. At other places in Kajang, the corkage is RM8.

Had purchased an Argentinian Malbec a couple of days ago from Giant supermarket for RM38. An impromptu buy as I kind of like the taste of Malbec which is smooth, gentle with some spice.

Argentian red

Passed it to the restaurant staff, and voila; wine bottle in an ice-bucket.

just chilling for now

Colour was deep ruby and tasted fine though it had a bit of dregs in its bottom half. Nice and drinkable.

tofu soup with tiny shrimps

The soup texture was reminiscent of 酸辣汤 (sour spicy soup) but without the sour and spicy part. Eaten with a dash of black vinegar.

tummy warmer

In Malaysia, seems like we always order the '4 heavenly kings' or 四大天王. The version here has french beans, okra, brinjal and petai. It's like légume du jour.

4 heavenly kings of greens

egg furong 芙蓉蛋

The egg furong has diced char siew, onions and some tiny shrimps in it. But the omelette was so flat and a tad burnt.

The steamed tilapia was good. Big enough portion for 13 pax, yet the meat was so soft and silky.

steamed tilapia with minced ginger

quick fry mixed vegetables

The other vegetable dish with lotus roots was tasty. The celery and lotus roots were crunchy.

Simple dinner with family, a gathering of cousins and nieces. Till next year, take care.

Sate Kajang Haji Samuri @ Kajang , Selangor Malaysia

The most famous food that one can find in my hometown Kajang, is satay. Delicious grilled meat skewers that taste of spices and sweetness, dunked in a spicy bowl of aromatic peanut sauce. Satay and Kajang is almost like a synonym. According to wiki, Kajang is also informally known as "Satay Town". And when you want to eat satay Kajang, one would usually head to these two places; Haji Samuri or Restoran Malaysia.

Sate Kajang Haji Samuri is located at Bangunan Dato’ Nazir, which used to be Kajang's old public library. Parking could be problematic at times with limited lots. Self-order at the counter and make payment. It feels like a fast-food joint nowadays. However, they do deliver the food to your table.

for large groups

In the olden days, you order satay and a bunch of meat skewers are delivered on a plate to your table and you eat what you want. At the end of it, the seller will come and count the sticks and charge in accordance. The uneaten ones are then taken back to re-grill and served to other customers. Thankfully, this was no longer practiced since aeons ago.

ayam (chicken), perut (cow's stomach) and daging (beef) satay

peanut sauce with a dollop of sambal

ketupat (rice) and timun (cucumber)

Though the satay nowadays is not as good as 20 years ago, the ones that we recently had at Haji Samuri was still tasty and flavourful. A major grouse would be that they do not seem to have sugarcane water on every visit. Satay and sugarcane goes hand-in-hand! Must haves!

closer view of beef satay

If you are ever in town to try Kajang Satay, you must must order the 'perut'. That's cow stomach (tripe) satay. First had it when I was a kid, and it tasted like cheese. Really. Of course now, it doesn't taste like cheese but is still as splendid. Yums!

perut satay (right)

Chicken satay here comes with a bit of skin, which is just the way I liked it. The beef was a tad tough. Also tried the fish satay and it turned out to be fine. Sweetish and not mushy. But give me tender juicy chicken satay that's not miniscule, plus some perut and I'm happy.

Chicken, fish, beef and tripe satay are RM0.80 per stick. Chicken gizzard and liver at RM0.70 per stick. For an adult male, expect to eat between 20 to 25 sticks, while adult females can usually do at least 12 sticks. A jug of drinks here are costly though at RM17 per jug. The orange drink was nice.

grilling yummy satay

Restoran Ayza @ Kajang

The small town of Kajang, Selangor, is known for being a satay town. Of course, more recently, Kajang is also in the limelight for politics.

About its food, apart from satay, there are other things to eat. Usually, if we're in the mood for prata (or roti canai as the locals calls it), Restoran Ayza is one place that we'll visit. It's located near Metropoint Kajang.

For drinks, one would usually order teh tarik (pulled tea), nescafe tarik (pulled nescafe) or teh limau ais (ice lime tea). Nescafe tarik here cost RM2.

teh tarik

view from our table

My mom likes her rava thosai. Crispy thin sour dough, eaten with a myriad of sauces.

rava thosai with dhal, chutney and curry

For myself, I'd take the roti telur bawang (prata with egg and onions). Best eaten while its hot, with fish and chicken curries.

roti telur bawang (@RM2.70 per piece)

For something more substantial, there's maggi mee goreng (fried instant noodles) and rojak mee (rojak noodles). The rojak has a sweet peanut sauce, and ingredients included fried beancurd and fried dough, julienned cucumbers and turnip, with hardboiled egg.

maggi mee goreng

rojak mee

For the meatatarians, there's fried chicken @RM3.80 per piece.

2 pieces of fried chicken to share

If you're eating rice, the style here is they'll scoop the rice for you and then, self-service with the dishes. White rice with fried chicken and one vege will cost about RM5.50.

Here, one pays after they've eaten.

Chong Tian Seafood Restaurant @ Taman Bukit Mewah (Part III - CNY)

Had dinner on the 3rd day of CNY with family and relatives. Since it's CNY, we did 'lo hei'. The salmon slices were rather limited edition and so tiny. Would've preferred if they used grass carp instead.

yee sang @RM38

ready for tossing

may everyone be blessed with good fortune and best of health!

Next, was the platter dish...similar to that starter dish in most Chinese wedding banquet. As expected, very pricey at RM120 per plate. Liked the minced meat with beancurd wrap the most.

shrimp roll, minced meat with beancurd skin, fried omelette with 'fins', top shell and baby squids

steamed tilapia with spicy sauce

The fish here was always of a good size. Fresh and good. Tender flesh and yummy sauce. Quite shioks.

braised pork with mantou @RM23

stir fried greens (qing long cai)

First time having the Qing Long vegetables. Looks like spring onions. Not too sure of what to make of it. Just eat. Hahaa!

table full of food

Hope everyone enjoys the Lunar New Year period, and have many many good food with family and friends! May this year brings you pleasant surprises, happiness and abundance of good stuffs! 新年快乐， 身体健康，万事如意！

Read previous entries here: Visit 2 and Visit 1