pie

Pie Face Malaysia, Wangsa Maju

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Pie Face Wangsa Maju

Pie Face! It’s a huge institution in Australia and there are many branches down under, not just in their New South Wales origins but in Victoria. I remember seeing it when we were in Melbourne 3 years ago and I even took a photo of the Pie Face shop. They’re famous for the quirky and funny faces they put on their pies to tell them apart.

Pie Face Malaysia

This was actually a little after my time as my convocation was in 2003. I spent almost 5 years in Melbourne and in between snowboarding, raves and doofs I managed to eat quite a lot of pies. Pies are very big in Aussie, and I do miss chowing down on a nice meaty Australian style pie. Thus, when I passed by Pie Face while finding parking during the weekend, I immediately walked in.

Pie Face Pies

The friendly tudung-clad girl behind the counter told me this branch just opened earlier this month. I think she said 10th of February. I was here for a Hearthstone event at 1 pm but I thought I could spare a bit of time to grab some lunch so I ordered the 2 Mini Pies + Coffee or Tea for RM 10 deal. The mini pies usually go for RM 5 and the regular sized ones for RM 7 so that’s a good deal – the drink is essentially free. I opted for a long black.

Mini Pies

There is a wide selection of pies divided into roughly two categories – Australia Premium and Local Favorites. I got one from each, the Mini Chunky Steak Pie and the Mini Beef Rendang Pie. You can choose to have “The Ultimate Aussie Stack” as an add-on. This is a topping of mash, peas and gravy for the pies and I highly recommend it. It costs RM 3 for The Stack (regular sized) and RM 1.50 for Mini Stack (mini pies).

Pie Face Stack

This is more of a Perth and Sydney thing, back in Melbourne we mostly just ate pies with ketchup on top. It is quite good though and the hot mash and peas goes very well with the chunky steak pie. It provides a more substantial meal too – all those carbs are quite satisfying to eat.

Chunky Steak Pie

You can see the generous filling of the pies here.

Pie Face Takeaway

I liked the mini pies, it gives you an opportunity to try out more flavors since the pies are about 1/2 the size of regular ones. You can also have them to go – I packed 6 of the mini pies back for my better half for RM 18 (a dozen mini pies are RM 34) as part of their Pie-tastic Deal. I got one of each flavor: Black Pepper Chicken Pie, Creamy Mushroom Pie, Curry Chicken Pie, Spicy Chicken Pie, Creamy Vegetable Pie, Classic Mince Beef Pie.

Pie Face

I think the two premium Australian pies from Pie Face are the best – Chunky Steak Pie and Classic Mince Beef Pie. The local favorites can be a little hit and miss. Some, like the Black Pepper Chicken Pie is decent but others like the Curry Chicken Pie is quite awful with too much potatoes inside. The latter tastes like a badly made karipap (local curry puff).

Apple Crumble Pie

I also grabbed an Apple Crumble Pie (RM 6) for dessert. Pie Face has a couple of sweet offerings as well and this was palatable enough.

Pie Face Me

It was good to see Pie Face in Malaysia. I know they opened an outlet in Sunway Pyramid but I’ve never seen it or heard about it until the weekend. I went to the recently opened one in Wangsa Walk Mall and I just happened to spot it coz I was parking to go to a Blizzard event. I actually started eating pies when I went to New Zealand for high school when I was 15 so I’ve been scoffing them for a while. It’s worth a visit if you’re ever hankering for a good ol’ Aussie pie. 🙂

Rosti cottage pie with fresh Chorizo sausages, bacon, minced pork, fennel, curly kale and kidney

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rosti pie topping

This is my attempt to do a cottage pie with lots of pork inside a pressure pan with a Rosti topping instead of mashed potatoes. I think it turned out pretty good despite the medley of ingredients – that’s what makes it work! 🙂

rosti cottage pie

You will need:

  • Rosti
  • Chorizo sausages
  • Minced pork
  • Fennel
  • Curly kale
  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Whole pig kidney

frying rosti

I made the Rosti topping first. It’s a Swiss potato dish that comes out flat. It consists of sliced potatoes and herbs and you can make your own but we bought this packaged Rosti that had just enough to fill the pan.

rosti

I needed it to fill the pan coz it’s supposed to be a cottage pie – like a Shepard’s pie, the Rosti needed to cover all the ingredients underneath. I pan fried it until it was cooked and set it off to the side while I made the other ingredients in the pie.

bacon fryup

Next up was the bacon. I fried about 12 rashers of streaky bacon so I ended up with about 3 heaped tablespoons of fragrant pork oil.

bacon grease

Check it out! All this yield from just a dozen rashers of bacon. 🙂

chorizo sausages

The oil was used to fry up the fresh Chorizo sausages. I chose the fresh Chorizos as opposed to the cured sausage coz I didn’t want the flavorful sausages to overpower the taste of the pie.

fresh chorizo sausages

Plus, it was on special when we bought it so it cost just RM 31.57 for 4 sausages – about RM 8 per sausage (!!!). I also set these aside.

sliced fennel

Next, I cut up the fennel to small pieces and set it aside. I learned how to prepare fennel from a YouTube video and wanted to add it to the pie. Again, set this aside. I didn’t need to cook this so everything that needed to be cooked was given the heat treatment then set aside and the raw ingredients were just set to one side to be combined later in the cottage pie.

steamed kale

The curly kale was steamed while I was working on cooking the Chorizo sausages. Steamed kale is the best way to prepare it coz it retains all of it’s nutrients. It tastes delicious too!

kidney

I went on to cook the whole pig kidney. I didn’t slice it up or do anything fancy – it was just chucked into the frying pan with the remainder of the oil from the bacon fry up and then cooked for a bit.

broke spatula

It was a bit of a challenge to do this coz I forgot to take it out of the freezer and I actually broke a spatula while trying to fry it evenly!

pork mince

After replacing the spatula, I took about a pound of fresh minced pork and fried it. There was still bacon grease at this point! smirk

rosti pie ingredients

Now that I had everything I wanted to cook prepared and waiting set off and ready for the final combination. This is everything that goes into the Rosti cottage pie!

egg filling

I used four (4) eggs and beat them with some flour and baking powder…

raw milk

…before topping the mixture off with raw milk. This is an awesome find. It’s unpasteurized and non-homogenized milk. It’s supposed to be heated up before drinking (due to health concerns) but it tasted just fine from the bottle. Every bottle tastes different too coz there’s no homogenized treatment! I love this milk but it’s really *expensive* at about RM 9+ for 1 liter.

butter lined pan

I also used a long tube of butter and greased up the surface of the non-stick pressure fryer.

kidney pie

I then dumped everything except the vegetables into it – Chorizo sausages, bacon, minced pork, kidney.

meaty pie filling

The egg + fresh milk + flour + baking powder mixture was poured to cover all the meat inside.

setting pie

This was cooked for about 3 minutes and right before the egg mixture solidified, I put the pieces of sliced raw fennel into it.

fennel pie

I then closed the pressure pan again and let it cook until everything was done.

kale topping

The steamed curly kale was added on top and then the pressure pan closed so that it’ll retain the pie shape.

rosti topping

I left it for a couple of seconds before opening it again and sliding the cooked Rosti for the topping. It was left for another minute so the general shape of the cottage pie would be firm.

rosti pie serving

I served this just like a regular cottage pie. It tasted really good! The fresh Chorizo sausages and bacon added a lot of flavor to the pie. The minced pork filled it up and the generous bits of fennel and the curly kale topping made this into a full nutritious meal.

rosti pie

I think my Rosti cottage pie with fresh Chorizo sausages, bacon, minced pork, fennel, curly kale and kidney was quite awesome! My better half even ate more than her usual serving! 🙂

Shepherd's Pie

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shepherd pie

Shepherd’s Pie is traditional British dish that consists of a bottom layer of minced (ground) lamb in gravy covered with mashed potato and (often) a layer of cheese. (from Wikipedia)

penny shepherds pie

This is Penny’s version of the Shepherd’s Pie – it consists of ground beef, mushrooms, carrots, green peas and the killer ingredient – onions. I strongly belief that good Shepherd’s Pie should contain onion. Onions are great!

shepherds pie

She brought it to work (said she’s make some for me) and I ate it for lunch. The recipe she uses consists of herbs and cheese mixed into the mashed potato. It works…and it’s delicious when it’s still piping hot.

Who there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch? 😉

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Fray Bentos Chicken & Mushroom Pie in a can

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fray bentos pie can store

I thought I’ve seen everything, but I chanced across a Chicken & Mushroom pie in a flat can
on the shelves of the supermarket (!). It’s by Fray Bentos and the
product is called Chicken & Mushroom Pie. It retails for RM 16.80
and it’s made in England.

fray bentos pie can

The can describes the Chicken & Mushroom pie as having a “New
Improved Recipe” and “Light Puff Pastry”. It’s supposed to contain
“Tender chicken & sliced mushrooms in a delicious creamy sauce
topped with light puff pastry”. I am doubtful that something that came
out of a tin will possess those qualities, but I decided to try it out
anyway.

fray bentos cooking directions

The instructions for the Fray Bentos Chicken & Mushroom Pie (in
a can) is pretty straightforward – just open the lid and chuck it into
an oven for about 20 minutes or so. It’s just like a microwave dinner.
😉

fray bentos pie can open

Unfortunately, opening up the can proved to be a bit of a
challenge…it took two different can openers, a knife and three cuts
(on me) before the can could be pried open. The pie looks interesting
once I managed to get the lid off though – it’s like a soggy mess. It
looks like Spam, even.

fray bentos pie raw

I was interested to see how this would turn into a Chicken and
Mushroom Pie, so the oven was preheated to about 180 degrees Celsius
and the entire open can was put into the oven with the timer set for 25
minutes (it’s a fan assisted oven).

fray bentos pie cook

This is what it looks like after the 25 minutes were up. The crust
wasn’t “golden brown” yet and my girlfriend insisted that it’s not
done, but being the stubborn mule that I am, I insisted on eating a
couple of slices.

fray bentos pie 8

Thus, I took the Chicken and Mushroom Pie out of the oven and sliced it into 8 slices (like a pizza).

fray bentos pie chicken

There are some generous chunks of chicken inside and the pie crust
was flaky, but just on the top layer. It’s sufficiently cooked IMHO,
and I ate two slices before putting it back into the oven for another
10 minutes (coz my gf won’t eat it in that state).

fray bentos pie cooked

This is what it looks like after a total of 35 minutes in the oven.
What did it taste like? It tastes like a soggy reheated pie…out of a
can. :p

Hong Kong Pau Cafe (Xiao Pa Wang)

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hk xpw

Hong Kong Pau Cafe or Xiao Pa Wang is the newly established pau cum dim sum cum bakery cum cafe. It has literally cummed on the…er, stiff
*cough* competition along Jalan Padungan, which is famed for having the
best paus in town. Hong Kong Pau has just recently opened its doors and
the crowds have been thronging to this establishment and haven’t
stopped ever since. I have noticed a remarkable decrease in patrons to
the 6 other pau specialty establishments here ever since this place
opened.

al fresco

Hong Kong Pau Cafe brings about a new light to pau establishments,
giving this old industry a complete new makeover. It has a fusion of
foods to choose from and cool al fresco *smacks myself upside the head*
seating arrangements to the side.

dim sum

The place only serves one type of pau – char siew pau or pork bun,
but they also have a remarkable array of dim sum offerings featured in
front. Their dim sum repertoire contains about 20 odd dishes of dim sum
offerings – more than most other dim sum places here offers.

interior

Xiao Pa Wang’s most prominent area is to bakery to the side.
Finally, we have a bakery with seating arrangements! Xiao Pa Wang
serves all sorts of innovative and imaginative (for Kuching, anyway)
pastries and baked goods.

pork floss bun

We finally have pork floss rolls! w00t! It tastes about the same as
Bread Story/Bread Talk offerings; it’s the secret semen-consistency
type sauce that gives pork floss rolls the oomph! 😉

heated pastries

There is also a small heated oven to the side where they serve all
sorts of pies – strawberry pies, blackberry pies, egg cream pie, curry
chicken pie etc. The list goes on and the menu keeps changing.

eating in

kopi peng

I have visited this establishment many, many times. I have ate here
and had some to go, before writing this review because I believe this
place deserves a proper review due to it’s innovative (for Kuching)
nature.

buns

The flagship offering – the paus or buns are always warm and fluffy.
I’ve never had a hard crust one from here, you know, the leftovers
which have grown tough. This place serves fresh paus all that time.

pau inside

Here’s a look at the inside – the filling is just nice and the fluffy small bun goes well with it.

pork ham

The most famous offering from the bakery here is undoubtedly the
pork ham. It’s a piece of ham wrapped in a swirl of soft pastry and the
illustrious semen type filling with coriander to top it off. I’m
telling you, that semen mixture that’s all the rage in bakeries
nowadays is great!

blackberry pie

This is the blueberry pie. The crust is flakey and the filling tastes good, not artificial, like from a jam jar.

egg pie

Here’s the egg cream pie, it tastes like a cross between an egg tart and a cream pie.

take away

The pastries can be ordered to go as well, and this place has the proper packaging for everything, unlike other bakeries.

chocolate roll

This is the chocolate roll. It’s a phallic looking pastry with a
flaky crust and a nice cocoa filling. It’s not too sweet, which is
great, the cocoa tastes like real unsweetened cocoa.

lotus bun

This is the lotus pastry. It’s also spherical and contains lotus
paste. It’s good, but I won’t rate it as great. It’s certainly better
than most offerings from Kuching, I’ll tell you that.

strawberry pie

Here’s the strawberry pie – exactly like the blueberry pie, but with strawberry filling. It’s good, better than I expected.

pork bun

This is one of their new menu offerings – it’s called a pork bun or
something, it has bacon or ham folded inside the pastry and a generous
dollop of that Special Sauce (TM) on top. I love that stuff.

Hong Kong Pau Cafe or Xiao Pa Wang gets two thumbs up from me. The
place changes its offerings regularly so there’s always something new
each time you go, while retaining the old classics that everyone loves.
The service here is extremely nice, the girls are friendly, and the
place just offers good food, all the time. Oh, and I think they read
the blog coz the girls called me yesterday.

Chong Chon Biscuit Maker

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chong chon biscuit maker

Chong Chon Biscuit Maker is nestled right in the middle of old
Kuching town and has been producing quality pastries for quite a while.
There is generally no one at the front of the shop in the morning, and
you have to shout a bit to get the proprietors from the back.

chong chon pastries

These are the common offerings that they have – pastries of Chinese
origin of all sorts, they’re famous for their sio pau (the ones with
flaky pastry). One little known delicacy they offer is Century Pie.
This is not normally available, you have to order it in the morning and
pick it up in the afternoon.

chong chon industry

The afternoon is when the shop goes into full industry mode. Here’s
a shot of the proprietor posing for the camera while in the midst of
making pies. I picked up the two century pies I ordered in the morning
and also had an egg tart while I was at it. There’s no seating in here,
it’s a bakery, but coffee shops are abundant nearby where you can sit
and consume the pastries.

chong chon egg tart

This is the Chong Chon version of an egg tart. It’s slightly baked
and the best way I can describe it is as a cross between a regular egg
tart and a Portuguese egg tart.

chong chon egg tart whoa

They’re very generous with the egg filling too, as you can see above.

century pie

Now, this is the real gem the shop produces – an acquired taste, the
century pie is made with century egg. It’s wrapped in paper, old skool
and they don’t advertise this product much. Century eggs are those eggs
that are glossy black, with a murky black egg yolk. The eggs are made
by packing it with all sorts of dirt and earth and fermenting it, so to
speak, for a while.

century pie inside

This is what the inside of the century pie looks like. It has meat,
veggies, gravy and other stuff in addition to the century egg.

century pie century egg

Here’s a closer look at the best part of the century pie – the century egg! 🙂

Star BBQ Restaurant

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starbbqo.jpg
Star BBQ Restaurant exterior.

I went to Star BBQ Restaurant at Westfield Shopping Town yesterday
with Adrian and Christopher. It’s a buffet BBQ where there’s a variety
of pre-marinated meats and seafood in addition to cooked foods like
fried rice, honey chicken, peppered fish etc. It seems pretty popular
coz the place was packed the whole time we were there.

bbqarea.jpg
Hot Food, BBQ Meats, Desserts etc.

Anyway, I can’t remember what happened much but I ate more plates of
food than I could count. I particularly liked the drunken chicken
(yeah! had heaps of the drumstick bits) and the squid marinated
(drowned?) in Thai sweet chili sauce.

shangpie.jpg
Shanghai pancake/pie.

Other things that I remember having: some strange Shanghai pancake
thingy that was filled with spring onions and a tiny bit of egg and
cooked on the spot, honey chicken, fried rice, fried noodles, mussels,
really large squid, variety of marinated meats and seafood, peppered
fish, green tea/mango pudding, heaps of soft serve ice cream with nuts
and caramel/choc sauce, sago pudding, jellies etc.

bbqpit.jpg
BBQ pit on every table.

and I just remembered that after I looked at the pictures, last
night was pretty much a blur. 😉 I felt so bloated after I finished
that I was sure my stomach lining was going to give way anytime. I
really reached full capacity last night. Heh.

aftrmath.jpg
The aftermath (some plates have been taken away).

It put me in a bit of a dilemma too. The food was salty and MSG
laden and I was so full already so I couldn’t drink more water. I was
like:

drink more water?
noooo…stomach can’t take any more volume
but msg, salt! me thirsty
hold…
wait for my go
can’t…take…any…more…right…now

and so it goes. 🙂

meadr.jpg
Me (Huai Bin) and Adrian.

mechris.jpg
Me (Huai Bin) and Christopher.

I was holding onto my stomach the whole time coz I was sure it was
going to burst at any time and I was helping to reduce the pressure.
Haha! I look very sedated in the photos but I swear that my Xanax face
[itsariot.com] is not due to a combination of Xanax + cannabis but
because I was too full. 😉 With hindsight, it was a bit torturing but
it sure is giving me much needed energy for tonight’s 36 hour run to
finish my assignments and tutorial exercises. Good thing I don’t have
classes on Mondays. 🙂

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