Foong Tak Sing Claypot Bak Kut Teh @ Taman Connaught

A Disney Story Gone Bad

  You're cold, your clothes wet from rain and you forgot your umbrella. The only thing you need and could think of is a nice hot meal, you walk into the shop and you sit down with your friends who awaited your arrival. Recommended by them this place and yet there was that tiny doubtfulness in you, could this fill the void ? Out comes a claypot with steaming hot air arising from it and two separate dishes were served, one 'Yao Zha Guai and the other 'Tauhu Pork'. The broth beige in colour with strips of cabbages swimming in it and pieces of pork ribs surrounding it like buoys.

 

Yes, this is what you need after the time you spent in the train trying to breath any clean air amidst the stench of sweat. This is what you need after the energy you used trying to push through from start to finish. With the ladle you pour the soup onto the rice like it was a baptism, forging a tightly knit bond. Together with a piece of pork rib you welcomed it into the mouth. Nothing. Just emptiness there like the void you were hoping to fill and you see some of your friends enjoying it, could it be that I missed something ? Again you try and still it was lacking something, almost like a valentine's day surprise except without the candlelight dinners, the sweet romantic music and the date. That was what it was pure disappointment.

  Bak kut teh is a broth boiled together with pork ribs, pork intestines, bean curd skin, cabbages and some traditional herbs into a hot, aromatic and mouth-watering dish. What holds all these together is the broth like I said before, the aroma in this bak kut teh is nonexistent and just steaming hot air. The soup is the crucial part of bak kut teh as it is the essential part that brings taste in the ingredients by letting it be absorbed. There was no taste of herbs in it and the warmth that we have come to love is absent in it. If it is weak then its counterparts will be too, the meat made a valiant effort to save the day but it was not enough as it bore no flavour. The rest of the bak kut teh was a big empty claypot with no pork intestines and I can already hear the screams in the people who are reading this now blasphemy they would say. Some people that shan't be named said to me once, 

"Gabe, you know what's the best part of bak kut teh ? 'Yao Zhar kwai'(Fried dough)" he said filled with confidence

"haha yea" I replied reluctantly while my irrational side told me to run away.

Fried dough is a condiment that does not contribute to the taste of bak kut teh but pork intestines however carry the taste in them that when you chew into their chewy texture the juices squirt into thy mouth. The pork intestines are nobles in court while the fried dough the handmaidens are there to just compliment the nobles. 

  The only thing you could take away from that is a full stomach but what point is there to it ? Just like the tauhu pork you are filled with the broth but the broth is bland. The vacant spot you hoped to fill with comfort is gone, your taste buds disgusted by your decision and your day ended with defeat. 

Makan meter: Meh

Foong Tak Sing Claypot Bak Kut Teh

12, Jalan Waras 1,
Taman Connaught,
56000 Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Aftertaste Cafe @ Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3

The Burdens of a Carry

  A man with his mind as his notebook carried the orders of food using both his hands from the kitchen and to the tables of eager and hungry people. Their eyes sparkled with anticipation each time the sliding door was pushed aside, "shame it isn't us again" one said on the table beside me. It was a game on its own with patience as the first rule and each time you are either gutted (not the brutal way that involves your intestines) or you were saved by the plate. Day was when it was packed with people and night was more of a relaxing atmosphere and all I can say is I am not a smart man for coming here in the day. Nevertheless we ventured on and played their game. One, two, three plates pass up and still no sign of ours. My brother got what he ordered but mine was MIA "sucks to be you, HAH" he said. 

 "Sorry boss" the tauke said in fluent canton to me. 

  An aroma filled my nostrils. It was fragrant and smelled of flowers in spring and it's hard to find the smell of spring considering that you're staying in Malaysia. With chopped raw cabbage garnished atop the fried rice the dish known in this place as Five-Spice Meat Fried Rice was ready to be consumed. As the name says, Five Spice is a principal spice blend in Chinese cooking containing star anise, fennel, cinnamon (cassia), Sichuan pepper, and clove. It has a warm, sweet, and aromatic flavor that could be use as a meat rub in fatty meats like duck and pork. I took a cube of pork and placed it carefully into my mouth. The gates were closed and I dare say the taste of the spices are present as it was sweet and the peppery taste wasn't too overwhelming because the Sichuan peppers doesn't have the same spiciness you would get from white pepper or black pepper. 

  Taste of five spices in meat ? Checked. Now as a whole it tasted nice but mediocre at most even though the meat had the qualities of a star. However the addition of cili padi or bird's eye chilli pepper elevates the dish to a new level like motivation to an athlete. The hot burning taste caused your nose to fool you into thinking you had flu as I quote my brother "HAH" but even that couldn't hinder the love we have as Malaysians for 'Lat'. Spicy, slightly salty and sweet. The Thais that preach taste and are the Godfathers whenever it comes to incorporating all the different taste our mouth could feel in one dish would be content with this. That is why the cabbage is added to calm down the heat present when you add chilies. The texture ? Chewy and tender pork meat and crunchy chopped cabbage were the notable parties in the texture department. For a price of RM7 it is a great dish but it falls short in some section. Here's a tip, add the cili padi whenever you have it. 

  One thing was peculiar though and that is the shrimps. They were vegan and I don't mean their diet was vegan, these were made for vegetarians. Their texture dissolves instantly once in contact with your tongue and their taste was non existent. Merely there for presentation at most. In the end the meat was the quintessential of five spice meat and the aroma tried to pull it to victory but it was never enough. It is not how much a star can do to carry a team to victory but how long can a star carry its team time to time if all the other ingredients could only be average. 

Makan meter: 6/10 and 7/10 with cili padi.

Aftertaste Cafe
Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3

Kuala Lumpur, Selangor

Aftertaste Cafe @ Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3

Rhythm and Temperature is important

  Neon signs illuminated the narrow road which were shadowed by the old and worn down shop lots. Our car slowly and carefully navigating through it as we look by the sides of our windows for the prized parking spot. "There !" I shouted, the volume of the radio couldn't hide our anticipation, our excitement and as the car came ever so close to it we both shouted in unison "Fuck, it's a Kancil.". With our squinted eyes we eyed that Kancil as we move on hoping that it'll receive punishment for what it had done. Few more meters up ahead we found a place to rest our carriage to only see the spot we wanted left empty by the Kancil before "Curse you Kancil, curse you" I whispered under my nose.

  We ventured by the cafes, the Bak kut Teh stalls and the steamboat to find this peculiar restaurant. The Tauke I assume saw us approaching and proceeded to show us the way in. He opened the sliding door and gave us the menus that had quite some interesting choices but we were skeptical because the place was almost empty with only 4 to 3 tables including us that were filled. We asked for a recommendation and he gave us a few but what pique our interest was the Hokkien Mee because it was a bold statement to recommend something so difficult to master and cook as a hold. So to test that statement we ordered two plates of it and off he went to the kitchen.

  A clank sound was made whenever the wok met the ladle, using her hands like a grappling hook she grabbed a handful of thick yellow noodles and threw it into the fiery pits of the wok. The noodles are then braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of pork fat fried until crispy. She increased the temperature of the flames and stir fried the contents without fear, almost like a knight with a sword on one hand and a shield on the other she battled the burning inferno in the hopes that she won't burn her party/ingredients. All of a sudden the sound of metal hitting each other stopped and she grabbed a spoon to taste her fine sauce. A nod. It satisfied her but could it satisfy us ?

  I mixed the mee and my glasses were soon fogged, I took a bite and puff and puff the hot air from my mouth but my efforts were futile at most. Hokkien Mee 1 : Me 0. For the 2nd bite, I could finally taste and I could see why the tauke was bold enough to bring the hokkien mee to the fore. The noodles had been braised by the thick dark soy sauce for a quite awhile that it had absorbed the sauce and made the dish thick. The noodles had a bit of a creamy like texture from being cooked long in the rich sauce and a little tinge of sweetness was felt at every spoonful. The chicken was tender and not tough from being undercook, the pork lard gave a nice crisp and smokey taste while the veggies were just a garnish at most as it didn't bring much to the table.

  The greatest ingredient that my father told me in a hokkien mee is the temperature and the handiwork of the wok and ladle, the temperature sets the tone for the dish and it decides whether it'd be watery or thick like melted cheese. That's why the best Hokkien mee incorporates temperature as an ingredient. The handiwork however is like salsa dance and in salsa the arms are used by the "lead" dancer to communicate or signal the "follower," just like a chef and his/her wok. The music is the fire and the chef has to lead his/her partner elegantly for a misstep could be catastrophic to the rhythm and the dish itself. Succeed and it will become beautiful and delicious. This chef wasn't the greatest at it in both departments but above average at most.

Makan meter: 6/10

Aftertaste Cafe

Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3
Kuala Lumpur, Selangor

Killer Gourmet Burger(KGB) @ Any Joint

The Raging Bull

  Picture yourself driving back from work after doing overtime, your body is aching from the countless hours you spent sitting in an uncomfortable chair doing nothing but typing virtual letters and numbers at your computer. Your stomach growls back at you whenever you try to sing one of the lyrics of a song and you're craving for something satisfying yet packed with flavour to be thrown at the beast hidden in the abyss of your body. You see a burger joint and it frightens you but thankfully the KGB doesn't take in plebs like you and me. You walk into this place and you see the macho burly middle eastern man at the counter taking orders, you scout the menu at the top of the counter and see something interesting, "a tornado burger ?" you said in an uncertain tone.

  The burger is then given to you in a pocket wrapping together with a wooden basket, the burger peeks out of the pocket like a pearl in a clam except that pearl is obese and delicious. You look at yourself and look at the burly man, he nods at you like a soldier patting the back of his comrade before they enter the battlefield. You can hear a faint whisper in your ear "Good luck my friend" in a thick polish accent, you tighten your clamp onto the burger and jump into its world.

The All Star Team

Your eyes widen at the first bite, the next bite you close your eyes tightly and smile feeling like you're being hug behind, you look at the burger and you can see the yolk of the sunny side egg slowly oozing out and the medium done beef patty. The combination of the tornado if it was a spell would be one of the easiest spell a wizard could learn, so simple yet so powerful, Grilled grass-fed beef, onion rings, sunny side egg and buffalo wing aioli are its components. The buns were put on the stove to give the edges a crunchy crust while the beef patty thick and unlike the ones you would have at fast food restaurants and the addition of some onion rings can easily change the game because of its texture. The salty taste of the buffalo wing aioli sauce coupled with the seasoned juicy yet a bit chewy beef and the yolk provided a show for the mouth, the crispy onion rings were added to not bore the diner with the same soft chewy texture and all kept together by the buns.


The price for a burger can be expensive to some but I can say it is worth the money as it delivers in every single department, taste and texture. For RM16.90 the tornado is the burger you need when you're feeling tired or fatigue from work, it energizes the eater and definitely tamed the beast in the pit. If I were to describe in the whole package as in the burger, it would be the same as the Chicago bulls success in 1990-91. The beef carrying the name of Michael Jordan, the egg Bill Cartwright, the onion rings Horace Grant and the buns Scottie Pippin making one legendary team that destroyed the court and whoever that faced them with their exquisite teamwork and graceful skill plays yet able to defend their side valiantly and with fervour. This is the tornado.


Makan Meter: Jesus Christ, this is worth your bucks and time


Venue: Any Killer Gourmet Burger(KGB) joint