ramen

Ramen burger + short mention

by

ramen burger

This is a homemade ramen burger that my better half made for me during our anniversary. It’s not burger in ramen but the other way round – the bun in the burger is substituted with ramen noodles! Thus, the patty is encased in ramen noodles instead of a regular burger bun.

ramen

I hear it’s all the rage and she managed to do it on her first attempt. You need to cook the ramen noodles, add a bit of the seasoning, and mix an egg inside (once the noodles have cooled) before sealing it in Glad wrap in the fridge overnight for it to set.

ramen burger bun

The ramen burger is delicious! You have to fry the ramen burger after it’s formed and set before using it as a bun replacement. It stayed intact throughout the eating process so I’m very impressed – the “ramen bun” didn’t fall apart. I’ll love to pick her brains and do this again myself during the weekend!

Just writing about it got me hankering for burgers!

Short mention:

It’s difficult to explain. Words just doesn’t do it justice. You’ll be better off watching the video above of two grown men talking in a totally heterosexual manner (one on the porcelain throne, the other submerged in the tub) in an attempt to describe the awesomeness that is the KFC Crazy Crunch. It features Reuben Kang so expect his classic humor to shine through!

Post by Shaheizy Sam Samad.

There’s a parody out on Facebook by Shaheizy Sam (not sure who this dude is) and I personally don’t think it’s funny but it has gotten a quite a few Likes so maybe different people have a different sense of humor. I apologize in advance for wasting 16 seconds of your time that you’re not going to ever get back (watch the first Germani Network video instead) but it just goes to show – is the KFC Crazy Crunch really that hard to describe?

Hmm…

Tiny Noodle with Oyster Flavor

by

tiny noodle oyster

I found this on the shelves while grocery shopping. We were there to buy stuff for sandwiches and ended up buying two different ramen instead. This is one of them! It’s made in Taiwan and retails for RM 7.90 per packet.

tiny noodle oyster flavour

You just gotta love the translation – tiny noodle. smirk It’s basically instant oyster mee sua.

cooking mee sua

The packet is huge! It’s meant to be cooked in a single session for 3 servings with:

  • 2 individual packets of noodles
  • 2 flavor sachets
  • 2 oil with spice sachets
  • 2 packets of starch

water

The instructions are all in Chinese and it calls for 2,000 cc of water, which is 2 liters. I was a bit surprised at the ratio, considering the tiny (heh) amount of noodles but it’s correct. I measured the water out using 4 x 500 ml bottles.

starch

The starch needs to be prepared separately using a bit of water to dissolve the powder. It’s added in at the last moment, producing a starchy mimic of Taiwanese oyster mee sua.

adding starch

It really can’t compare to the oyster mee sua at Shihlin but it’s not too bad for instant noodles. Adding a salchichon slice or some pork floss does wonders in improving the flavor! 😀

oyster mee sua

Short mention:

There’s a contest on Facebook where you can win a 4G LTE modem with 3 months data for free! Just show your best Usain Bolt pose and upload it!

He has several poses that he always does if you’ve seen him in action. He’s not just the fastest sprinter on earth, he’s quite a charismatic person too – I’m sure you’ve watched in awe as he left the competition behind at the Olympics.

I always need more data (especially at super fast speeds where I can download stuff faster) so I’ll join the contest during lunch break later. It’s very simple.

Take a photo, bolt over to the Celcom First Facebook page and upload the photo using the Can You Bolt app for a chance to win! 🙂

Chilli Crab Noodles with Scallops and Asparagus

by

This is a really simple but delicious meal. It’s basically ramen that’s been spiced up with “premium” ingredients. The chilli crab instant noodles caught our eye while grocery shopping in Seremban – all of the ingredients were bought there while on the way back from Melaka.

chilli crab noodle scallops

The “semi dry” bit sparked a bit of discussion between us about how it’ll turn out so we chucked it into the basket. It turned out to be a great decision! Myojo Chilli Crab Flavor Semi Dry Ramen is currently our favorite brand of instant noodles.

chilli crab noodle

It’s a lot more expensive than regular instant noodles though – there’s only 4 packets in the RM 12.99 pack but this Singaporean ramen weighs in at 135 grams per packet (regular ones are somewhere between 65-80 grams)! I remember my girlfriend telling me it’s like eating out since each packet is slightly over RM 3 (!!!).

frozen scallops

I also got a packet of scallops – these cost RM 32.50 for just five (5) of the juicy mollusks but I wanted to follow the seafood theme. 😀

sandwich ham

Ham was her addition. It’s pork sandwich ham from the cold cuts section but she insisted and I have to admit, it turned out well.

asparagus

The final item to round up the chilli crab noodle dish is asparagus! I’ll tell you a funny story about it:

pan fried asparagus

I was doing all the cooking and heated olive oil in a frying pan before dumping in the asparagus. I was using a spatula to push it around and we were both standing around the heating element chatting and noticing nothing amiss.

cooking asparagus

It then dawned on me that we didn’t have water so we had to scramble to add water and salt to cook the asparagus.

cooking ramen

What was even funnier was that we found out (much) later you *can* actually pan fry asparagus but we didn’t know it at the time.

scallops

The scallops were pan fried till golden brown and an egg done sunny side up for good measure.

chilli crab instant noodles

Ham was added to the chilli crab noodles and since we didn’t have bowls big enough, we used a rice cooker pot to serve it. Haha! It was good though, we couldn’t finish it and reheated the rest by using the “Keep Warm” setting on the rice cooker the next morning (which tasted even better).

scallops asparagus egg

It’s pretty good, these semi-dry noodles – if you follow the instructions carefully, it turns out to be like noodles coated with gravy. It’s so good we’ve been looking for it ever since! 🙂

Santouka Hokkaido Ramen @ Tokyo Street Pavilion

by

santouka ramen pavilion

I headed down to Santouka Hokkaido Ramen in Tokyo Street at Pavilion a couple of days ago to check out their acclaimed premium pork cheek and ramen goodness.

santouka ramen

Santouka Ramen is an actual franchise from Hokkaido in Japan and I heard a lot of interesting anecdotes about it from Julian and Inggrid.

roasted premium pork cheek

Roasted Premium Pork Cheek (RM 17)
This came heated in a ceramic mesh. Santouka Ramen also has the same treatment for char siu but I found the pork cheek to be slightly better. It still maintains its juiciness despite the thin slices and the tender pork cheek comes encrusted in charcoal goodness.

santouka roasted pork cheek

Next up came the parade of the different ramen they have:

shio ramen

Shio Ramen
This is translated as “salt” although it is best described as the original taste of the pork infused ramen base. It’s my favorite, hands down. It comes with a small ume (plum) on top.

santouka gyoza
An side order of gyoza to go with your ramen.

Shoyu Ramen
This is the soy sauce version, which tastes pretty good if you like a bit of saltiness to your ramen. I still prefer the shio though.

Miso Ramen
Yup, you know what this is…it’s just like what you’ll expect – ramen in miso (fermented soybean) soup.

kara miso ramen

Kara-Miso Ramen
This adds a twist by adding a bit of spice into the miso soup. It’s quite interesting but can be overwhelming to the palate if you’re looking for more subdued ramen bases.

Each of the ramen bowls comes with char siew and a sprinkling of sesame seeds – the number of slices and amount of noodles differ according to the size you’re ordering. The prices are RM 22.50 (Small), RM 25 (Regular) and RM 29 (Large) except for Kara-Miso Ramen which runs slightly higher (add RM 2).

premium pork cheek ramen

I highly recommend you order Santouka Ramen’s specialty – Tokusen Toriniku Ramen. That’s Premium Pork Cheek Ramen and they only have a limited quantity per day since you can only harvest about 200 to 300 grams of pork cheek per pig.

premium pork cheek

The Premium Pork Cheek Ramen (RM 36 for Regular) comes with a side of tender and decadently fatty pork cheeks slices. It’s different from the roasted premium pork cheeks and I found that I enjoyed this one more. The pork cheek slices goes well with the ramen and absorbs the flavors of the ramen base perfectly.

komi tamago

Don’t forget an order of their famous Komi Tamago (Flavored Boiled Egg – RM 2). This decadent slice of heaven is a boiled egg that has a semi-runny yolk. The flavor and texture is orgasmic and you have to order at least one or two to go with your ramen. Guaranteed satisfaction for all egg fans.

santouka us

Thanks for the lunch! I will definitely be going back for the melt-in-your-mouth pork cheek, shio ramen and komi tamago (the breakfast of champions).

Interesting facts:

  • The broth gets tested every single day coz the amount of fat per pig is different
  • The ramen at Santouka Ramen is “al dente” coz that’s the way it’s supposed to be in Japan
  • The komi tamago had more than 50% wastage when they first started making it
  • Santouka Ramen actually had the owner and chef from Japan come over to ensure quality control
  • The chopsticks are even tested to make sure it doesn’t have a smell and grips the ramen properly
  • Each bowl of ramen is prepared individually
  • The char siew meat must face you when they serve the ramen
  • It started 23 years ago and Santouka Ramen has the same bowls and pretty much tastes the same all over the world

tori karaage
Tori Karaage – some good ol’ fried chicken as the appetizer.

Santouka Ramen
Tokyo Street, Pavilion KL
Lot 6.24.03, Level 6, Pavilion,
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2143 8878

santouka food

——————————————————————————–
Want dessert? Head over to Suchan for some awesome cakes. I actually bought the previous offer from MilkADeal and the cakes are superb!

suchan
RM25 instead of RM48 for Award-winning 5″ x 5″ Cake at Suchan Bakery Specialty Cakes, Jalan Universiti. Choice of Tiramisu, Moist Chocolate Cake or Eggless Chocolate Cake [48% OFF]

Grab the offer while you can! 🙂
——————————————————————————–

Bak kut teh ramen with drumstick and egg

by

Bah Kut Teh Recipe #2: Bak kut teh ramen with chicken drumstick and egg

bak-kut-teh-ramen

This is the second meal that we usually have after a bak kut teh cooking session. Remember the first recipe of chik kut teh with oily chicken rice? You’ll still have a lot of leftover BKT soup after that so here’s a quick and easy meal for breakfast!

drumstick

Take a chicken drumstick out of the fridge and dump it straight into the leftover soup. I didn’t defrost it so as you can see, the intense change from freezing cold to boiling hot warped the bone of the chicken. Heh! You just need to boil this on high heat for 3 minutes for the chicken to cook.

egg

Next, transfer the cooked chicken drumstick and a bit of bak kut teh soup into a smaller cooking pan. I do this to avoid stray bits of noodles from going into the main BKT pot. Crack an egg into the new pan of soup for a more complete ramen meal. It’s probably wise to use low heat now if you like your eggs to be firm and yet have a runny yolk.

ramen

The final step is to open a packet of ramen and put the brick of instant noodles into the soup. The best thing about this is that the BKT soup is more than tasty enough to stand on its own and as a bonus, you have extra ramen flavor sachets which you can use in the future. I love eating 3 packets of instant noodles with 4 packets worth of flavor sachets. 😀

chik-kut-teh-ramen

Let it cook for about 3 minutes and you’ll have a healthier version of ramen – a hearty bak kut teh broth ramen with chicken drumsticks and an egg. You can also try adding crab sticks if you like your breakfast ramen with more condiments. It’s delicious! 🙂

Ajisen Ramen @ 1Utama

by

ajisen ramen

Ajisen Ramen is a ramen eating establishment in 1U. Oh wait, I usually start off my food reviews like this, time for something different. Ajisen Ramen is a Japanese place that we finally decided upon after countless minutes of aimless walking around 1U. I was there with Zoe to get a dSLR and to catch a movie (we watched Ip Man – not Internet Protocol Man, Ip Man).

ajisen ramen interior

The interior of Ajisen Raman is a bit predictable and antiseptic…nothing you won’t find in the other 1k odd Japanese restaurants out there.

zoe vegetarian

Zoe is a vegetarian (by choice), which I keep on forgetting. She doesn’t really like meat, although I force fed her chicken in Nando’s. I cannot understand how someone can withstand the appeal of warm, succulent meat. Mmm…meat. Me carnivore. You vegan? I shall eat you!

tuna sakura

This is Tuna Sakura (RM 6.80), which looks a lot like a certain part of the female anatomy. We had one each and I challenged Zoe to the Wasabi Challenge (TM).

Zoe

Me

ajisen fish ramen

Zoe opted for the rather tame Fish Ramen (RM 12.80), which is one of the recommended dishes. She’s not a big fan of meat, as stated above. It tasted great though – I love fish as well.

ajisen volcano ramen

I went for the more masculine sounding Volcano Ramen (RM 19.80) which is not only a recommended dish but a 5-chilli rated dish. Very spicy. It comes with pieces of pork in a very savory soup. I like!

ajisen us

Ajisen Ramen is a great place to eat if you’re lost and craving for some ramen goodness. It’s located conveniently at some secluded corner of 1U which I can’t remember for the life of me…but that’s what the 1Utama directory is for right? 😉

Ramen, cold beer, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream @ 3 AM

by

c11 kuching

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep…I looked at the clock. It said 2:56 AM. I always remember the time if it’s close to a certain hour e.g. high digit 50 minute to the next hour. I felt like getting something to eat. There is nothing to eat at my place, so I thought about which establishment would be open at this hour. I wanted:

Instant noodles (ramen) in a cup (craving for it for some reason)
Cold beer (nothing like a cold beer in the middle of the night ;))
Haagen Dazs ice cream (or just any ice cream, but Haagen-Dazs would be good)

These are not very easy criteria to meet at 3 AM in the morning in Kuching. I wanted a place with seating arrangements too (the F&B industry calls it “tables and chairs”).

I drove out in the direction of my office (while under the influence of a cocktail of benzos, namely, alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Rivotril), and a lot of midazolam (Dormicum)). I suddenly saw the light – C-11!

C11 is a 7-11 clone in Kuching. It’s supposed to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 10 years a decade, 100 years a century, you get the idea…

Not all of them do, though. Ironically, some close at 10 PM but the one right after the Simpang Tiga Flyover (King Center roundabout bypass) opens 24/7 AND has tables and chairs outside too.

I parked and entered the establishment. It was a little after 3 AM.

c11 ramen

I randomly grabbed a Styrofoam container of instant noodles…

c11 beer

…opened up the cold drinks fridge and grabbed a can of Skol beer.

c11 haagen-daz

…and went to the Haagen-Dazs freezer

c11 cookies cream

…and picked up a mini tub of Cookies and Cream ice cream.

Sorted!

c11 staff

I paid at the counter (and got the C-11 graveyard shift people to pose for me)…

c11 hot water

…filled up my instant noodles using the self-service hot water dispenser.

c11 food

…and went outside to dig in. Instant noodles, beer and ice cream. This combination is great, take my word for it.

c11 chinese serial

The C-11 outlet right after the Simpang Tiga flyover even has a projection TV system showing some Chinese serial.

c11 mtv

One of the staff came out and asked me if I wanted to watch another channel. I said I didn’t mind and he probably thought I was on something coz he switched to MTV and turned down the lights (“Is this better?”).

Damn good service, I tell you. Minimum wage workers at the equivalent of a 7-11 going out of their way to please a customer coming in at 3 AM in the morning.

…albeit a customer that wonders around the aisles blankly, forgets the change from a RM 50 note (which they kindly returned to me), and leaves his keys at the table (which they kindly reminded me of as well). Three cheers for the three friendly staff!

Back to the question:
Where can you get a meal of instant noodles, cold beer and Haagen-Dazs ice cream at 3 am in the morning?

Nowhere.

c11 end

…er, I mean at C-11, that’s where. The service is great to boot!

(and they don’t mind if you come in looking fucked up)

]]>

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...