What makes a better steak?

by Celine Chan

Couldn’t figure out how steak should be served? Not sure which sauce suit best? Confused about the beef cuts?

Starting off will a small introduction, steak is actually cuts from cow the animal. And steak is basically the best and the most tender meat anyone could ever ask for. But questions like 'Cow only have grass for meals isn't it?' or 'Steak are cows?' usually confused many people. Yes, cows only have grass for meal but I am sure grass are healthy that's why steak are so tender compared to pork or chicken. And yes, steak are from cut beefs and it is from a COW.

It is pretty obvious that cow is a huge animal. And from the size itself, there are nine different types of cuts of beefs. Chuck, brisket, rib, plate, short loin, flank, sirloin, round and shank. But the well known parts are rib, sirloin, t-bone or porterhouse from short loin and skirt from plate.

Beef cuts 

Rib eye is mainly from rib primal of the beef animal which is attached to the rib bone. In United States, bones are usually removed; despite in certain areas or outside of the US, terms are often interchangeable. Rib eye implies on the center best beef portion of the rib steak, boneless.

On the other hand, sirloin steak is part of the sirloin area which is near to the cow’s rear. Sirloin is spilt into two parts which is the upper sirloin and the lower sirloin. The upper sirloin is normally much more expensive than then lower sirloin as the tenderness of it is comparable.

Furthermore skirt steak, placed at the cow’s abdomen. Commonly the steak is long, thick and tender. But skirt steak has a slight differences than other steak because skirt steak are priced by flavour instead of its tenderness.

T-bone or porterhouse, from the short loin part which is the cow lower back area. But it is usually slice where the tenderloin is still attached. T-bones have smaller tenderloin section compared to porterhouse steak.

Different types of steaks best serve in different method of cooking. For example, upper sirloin is best in rare while rib eye and T-bone or porterhouse is perfect in medium rare. Skirt steak will taste delicious in medium well. Never cook steak until it is well done, because steak are not meant to be served that way. Why go for steak when you can have raw meat?

Trying to differentiate is your steak cooked based on what you asked for is not as complicated as it is. Rare, medium rare, medium well and well done. It can be differentiate based on the inner meat colour. In a simpler way, steak will have to be slice a little to check it out.

Differences between rare, medium rare, medium well and well done.

The more pink is it, the more tender it usually is. The cut of the steak also determines how tender could it be.

Even though steaks are best served in medium, but we have to add sauces to have a better meal. For steak, black pepper sauce will be the commonly asked sauce. Following with creamy peppercorn sauce or red wine sauce. Least recommended sauce would be tomato sauce. It will be a major turn off for steak lovers.

Black Pepper Sauce

Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

Red Wine Sauce

 Highly recommended steakhouse in Kuala Lumpur is definitely Cedar on 15, Impiana Hotel. Big portion accompanied by delicious black pepper sauce with beautiful night view. Impiana Hotel is located opposite of Grand Hyatt. 

Impiana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur entrance

Cedar on 15 outdoor environment 

Cedar on 15 indoor environment

One Of The Most Famous Chilli Pan Mee Branches In KL

 By Daniel Newton

22th July 2014

Restaurant Kin Kin is a legendary restaurant that is known as the birth place of Chilli Pan Mee that has one branch in Pandan Indah in addition to its original outlet that was located along 40, Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman 1, Off Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur being well known for its delightful springy and chewy handmade noodles. The fiery hot noodles were invented by the restaurant owner, Tan Kok Hong, in 1985 and you'll still be able to see the 70-year-old owner if you happen to visit the old shop in Chow Kit.

It's served with a moderate portion of noodles with anchovies and minced pork, smothered with spring onions, fried onions, all crowned by a snow-white poached egg and a bowl of hot soup with sweet potato leaves, which helps to tone down the spiciness of the noodles and giving you a tub of chilli flakes on the side letting you decide how much of chilli that you want to put inside together with the pan mee.

Moreover, to be a speciality restaurant is never easy. There are many new food and beverages outlets selling variety of food because it is simply hard to please customers with one or two types of food. Hence, that is the reason why they are one of the many success stories of Kuala Lumper food scene.

Furthermore, many, many people dines at this restaurant because it is really that good, making it fully packed whenever lunch hour approaches even though they have two shop lots. Only a few pan mee restaurants have that luxury of selling a single type of food even though there are many of these restaurants. for dining in the Pandan Indah outlet.

Most of the time, if the food is good then they will be successful. You will not see customers frequently dine in if your food isn't good, if the food is good, you will see them often return. Mainly because of the tremendous amount of new Food & Beverages outlets mushrooming in Klang Valley and because of this, customers will be spoilt with so many choices.

They key to their success is that tub of spicy-kicking dried chilli flakes on every table which are stir-fried beforehand, giving the slight burnt flavour. Flavour your bowl of pan mee with touches of dried spicy chilli flakes and toss them well and if you can handle the spiciness, go for a whole lot of it because it's really, really good! You can add as much as you can or want in your noodles. You will get so addicted to it that you will order an additional bowl and you wonít regret it!

Sweetness Take Over

By Kenneth Soo

Dessert has always been in the heart of every Malaysian in many forms and tastes ever since the older generation and now, it is taking over our mind and soul.

The word “dessert” is originated from the French word “desservir”, meaning “to clear the table”. The history of dessert came not only from merely the ice cream on a cone during our older generations but in the ancient civilization, people were already enjoying eating fruits or nuts candied with honey.

Now in our generation, dessert has plays an important role as an energy boosting by ingesting sugar, increasing our production of the so-called hormone of happiness. Other than that, classically it also acts as a post-dinner treat for every dinning no matter Western or Chinese. Hence, dessert is always with us and making us desire for it without us knowing.

Baked Alaska and Peach Flambe can often be seen at the end of fine dining

“I am so full from what I’ve ate just now. I don’t think I can eat any more. Oh, dessert? Sure! ” commonly said by many people nowadays. The study found out that, the reason why people love dessert so much is not only because it has made them happy but more importantly, they want to end their meals satisfyingly with a decent taste staying in their mouth when they leave the dinner table.

Due to the exposure of cultures from overseas, other than local desserts such as cendol, kuih lapis or pandan layer cake, we have discovered even more varieties of dessert like French macaroon, Mille Crepes, Japanese mocha, cheesecake and many are still yet to be found. This means that we can have a hard time by just choosing the dessert.

                           Chocolate Crepe is currently trending among the youngsters.

Milky Red Bean Ice from Snowflake!

“Sweet-tooth” means a fondness or craving for sweets but it has now been used to describe a person who loves sweets as well. Most of the reasons why Malaysians love sweets so much are mainly because it helps to distress themselves from studies or works. It is also part of the ‘yum-cha’ culture favored by the Malaysians, meaning post-dinner treat or supper other than going to mamak or cafe.

               Cakes with a cup of coffee or cold drink are the musts when people hang out.

Dessert is diverse as people nowadays are either trying to invent new types of dessert or they are changing the original forms and flavors into something more sellable. The reason why people nowadays favor new things more often is because they get bored of the same things very easily. Therefore, the options for dessert have never limited as time goes by.

Sizzling brownies with ice cream on top.

Additionally, with the flooding posts and photos about the current trend of dessert on Facebook or Instagram, people can now find out the locations of the dessert shop very easily. Nevertheless, they are also often featured by many food bloggers and food programs on TV. This phenomenon has developed and became more prominent in this modern technological world of ours. In simply, dessert stays not only in the shop but everywhere else.

          

White chocolate bar is the best
sweet snack for children.

         Dessert has clearly plays an important part in our daily life. For instance, it helps most parents to make sure their children finish their meal when they are growing up by saving the special dessert for the last of their meal. Children love to eat sweets and therefore, this system makes sense. “Eat what you need then you can have what you want.” said all parents.

          However, although people love sweets so much, no one should have ever substitute meals with sweet snacks or any other dessert. Scientists have found out that frequent ingestion of sweets is harmful for our body. Ultimately, gaining excess weight or obesity will be a major problem for us if we have consume too much of sugar. As a replacement, we should consume more natural sugar from fruits, berries and vegetables instead. Therefore, we should eat everything in moderation.

 Fruits and berries that contain natural sugar.

         There are several reasons why everyone loves to eat dessert. Undeniably, it makes majority of the people feel happy with many varieties of it and it is a part of the food habit of a person’s life. Hence, dessert will never be an outcast and it will always be a topic for the people and media to discuss about. Nevertheless, it is also playing an important role in our society, reminding people that they should eat everything, good and bad, moderately in order for them to take care of their health.

Nostalgia in a Bite

By: Michelle Leong

What fizzles to the mind when mentioned of root beer, coney dogs, American drive-thru and waffles? Remember as a Malaysian kid, all you could beg for was a frosty mug of root beer and piping hot waffles for a special occasion? That’s the one, the all-time iconic A&W!

The iconic restaurant in the 90s (left photo) and the restaurant in its current days. (right photo)

More than 50 years ago, the iconic fast food restaurant has been established on Malaysian soil. A&W is a chain of fast food restaurants, famously distinguished for its root beer by the tap. The most famous A&W outlet is the first drive-in restaurant in Petaling Jaya, swiftly became a favourite eatery by the locals.

The origin of the company name came after the two owner’s last surnames, Allen and Wright, hence the branded name, A&W. The franchise was brought into Malaysia in 1963 by Mr and Mrs Lie Boff from USA. The Lie Boff family opened their first outlet in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, making it the first fast food outlet in Malaysia. This was followed in 1965 with the first Drive-in restaurant in Petaling Jaya.

Few of the famous selections at A&W

A&W Root Bear, the restaurant’s official mascot

Dropping by A&W to order a cold glass of root beer is a definite must because it would bring the main signature of the restaurant no justice. A sip of the beverage leaves you feeling nostalgic, craving for more of its creamy goodness. Also, A&W is famously known for its all-American food by the locals. The highlights of the menu consists of curly fries, coney dog and waffles, just to list a few.

A&W rings a bell of nostalgia to those who have enjoyed A&W privileges as a child back in the 90s. As A&W’s speciality, most people who have been to the restaurant would also remember how children were more often than not afraid of the large but otherwise super friendly A&W Root Bear. Those who have been to the restaurant would also remember the “party room” where birthday celebrations and other events were often held and the A&W bear would make surprise appearances.

Due to its strategic location nearby to schools, the most famous A&W outlet is the first drive-in restaurant in Petaling Jaya quickly became a favourite gathering place for students. Assunta and LaSalle Secondary students enjoyed every moment they had at the popular eatery.

A scene of Gelora at the iconic fast food restaurant.

The historical fast food restaurant is not only well-known for its food, but famous for being a prominent filming location of many local movies such as Gelora in the 70s and 80s starring the late legendary Malaysian gem, Tan Sri P.Ramlee. One of the famous local movie’s scenes were shot in the eatery, showing the two actors devouring into A&W’s popular signature root beer.

Unfortunately, the iconic restaurant will be closed down for a restaurant revamp and will be shut down for the next three years to facilitate the construction of the KUB tower project. A&W’s company spokesperson said that the 24-hour drive-in concept will be maintained under the revamp to give customers the same atmosphere they experienced in the current restaurant.

In the meantime, do pay the iconic A&W a visit to relive your memories in the 90s and don’t hesitate to dash in for a memorable mug of root beer and a taste of your childhood memories!

First Korean Dessert Café In Town

By Sam Mei Sin

20^th July 2014

     What do you say to taking a break from prancing around Gangnam Style, and coming for a refreshing respite at Namoo on the Park?

     Namoo on the Park is located in Publika, Solaris Dutamas. It opened on 18^th Of July, 2012. This warm and inviting cafe and bistro serves healthy yet delicious Korean fusion fare. While many know it as a Korean dessert cafe, Namoo actually serves main courses too. Take for instance the Bulgogi Taco – a dish where Korea meets Mexico! Then, there is the Bibi Rice Burger, an  unexpected best- seller where East meets West.

          Namoo (나무)means 'tree' in korean, it brings us warm, comfortable and natural feeling. It also grew from a collaboration of four friends – three Koreans, and one Malaysian It is an effort to bring modern Korean food culture to the masses in Malaysia. Yup, Korean cuisine is not only about BBQs and bibimbaps.

Namoo managing director Kim Sung Yong

     “BBQ is basically the typical served by every Korean restaurant same thing in every restaurant,” says Namoo managing director Kim Sung Yong when I met him on a Saturday evening.

     At Namoo, dessert is at the forefront. The reason is simple: to showchase a more modern type of Korean fare.

    “ We take the various food in Korea, modify them and come up with our own desserts,” says Sung Yong.

     The 33-year-old explained that while tteok ( rice cake) and mattang ( caramel coated sweet potato) are street food in Korea, and cafe has combined and modified these two dishes to come up with their own version of Mat Tang.

     Besides, Namoo will serve you the new trend of Korean food by serving a genuine taste in modern style in an awesome ambiance with their modern interior design. Their mission is to change your impression of Korean food.

     As for ambience, wood panels cover the walls of Namoo, giving it a stylish and cozy elegance. Sung Yong revealed that a “sheltered” and warm theme was chosen for the cafe as it reflects its name. K-pop music is pipped into the restaurant, creating very relaxing and comfortable atmosphere where one can just sit back while catching up with friends. 

 Another plus point for Namoo is that the corner unit opens out into a little park.

     Namoo has had many Muslim customers as it is a pork-free cafe. Only chicken and beef are used in its ingredients, and the meats are supplied by the usual commercial restaurant suppliers in Malaysia.

    “ Most ( ingredients) are sourced within Malaysia. Certain things like ginsing and yuza ( a citrus fruit), we cannot find them here. These special ingredients, we have to import from Korea. That's why we cannot get the halal certificate, explained Sung Yong.

     Special consideration and care is taken to ensure that Namoo's cuisine can be consumed by our Muslim friends. After all, the cafe has been birthed out of the ambition to make Korean food accessible to all communities in Malaysia.

     Stay tune to NAMOO, you will get surprise from it !