TASTEFUL MOMENTS IN MACAU

 

Tasteful Moments in Macau is the latest campaign approach taken by the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Representative Office in Malaysia to draw more Malaysians to the Special Administrative Region.

To highlight MGTO Representative Office in Malaysia’s participation in the recent Food & Beverage Expo, guest chef Antonieta Manhao cooked up a storm for the local media during a special sneak preview at Starhill Culinary Studio.

Baked Portuguese Chicken was one of the Macanese recipes rustled up by the talented guest chef with the help of her assistant chef Filomena Noronha. A hybrid dish that merges Portuguese and Chinese culinary influences, it's simple but hearty layered with rich flavours.

Here's the recipe should you wish to try cooking it at home. 

Baked Portuguese chicken

1 whole chicken - cut into chunks

2 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp curry powder

2 medium potatoes - cut into wedges

3-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 yellow onion - cut into 1cm dices

3 cloves garlic - sliced

500 ml coconut cream  

8-10 pitted black olives

2 pcs dried bay leaves

1 small canned tomatoes

300g Portuguese sausages - sliced (optional)

3 tbsp water

to taste salt

to taste sugar

to taste white pepper powder

1 sprig fresh coriander - chopped

Methods

Marinate chicken chunks with turmeric and curry powder and a pinch of salt for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Parboil potatoes. Drain off water and set aside. 

Heat olive oil in pan. Saute onion until soften. Add in garlic.

Once garlic softens, add in chicken. 

Cook chicken for 5-7 minutes before adding in canned tomatoes and water.

Stir well. Cook for 10 minutes then add in coconut milk.

Stir thoroughly and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Add in dried bay leaves.

If using Portuguese sausages, add them in.

Cook for 10 min covered. Stir and add in potatoes. Add black olives. Sweeten with a bit of sugar to taste.

Cover pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until gravy is slightly reduced.

Serve with fresh coriander as garnish.

Chef Antonieta also prepared baked bacalhau com natas and serradura for us to sample. Bacalhau is one of Macau's most famous exports which comprised dried salted cod which has to be soaked overnight (at least three changes of water is required) before it can be used for cooking. The dish featured the dried salted cod cooked with coconut cream and potatoes - an indulgent dish which tickles the tastebuds with its mild savouriness, enriched and sweetened by the lush creaminess of coconut cream.

In Portuguese serradura means sawdust. The dessert gets its name from crushed Marie biscuits which is combined with satiny whipped cream in alternating layers. Now this dessert appears in different variants such as coffee, chestnut and even in cake form.

Other iconic eats to savour in Macau include the famous Lord Stow's Portuguese egg tarts with a scorched caramelised top crust, ji par pau (pork chop bun), juk sing meen (artisanal bamboo pole noodles), sui hai juk (water crab porridge) and sar yoong (sugar dusted fried doughnuts with custard filling).

For more information, please contact your local travel agent or

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) 

Representative in Malaysia

Tel: +603 2144 2500 | Fax: +603 2148 1357

Email: mgto@pacificworld.travel | MGTO website: www.macautourism.gov.mo

MY Macau Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/MY.Macau

MAKAN-MAKAN MALAYSIA

Fancy a culinary whirlwind tour of Malaysia? You can do just that at The Westin Kuala Lumpur’s all day dining  restaurant The  Living Room for its “Taste of Malaysia”  come 4th April 2013. 

Blessed with a fabulous food heritage, The Westin KL will take diners on a plated 'tour' where you can discover varied dishes from all 14 different states in Malaysia. Brace yourself for a surfeit of multi-cultural Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking as well as intriguing ethnic fare from East Malaysia.

Set your tastebuds alight with Straits Chinese or Peranakan/Nyonya specialities such as Chicken Kapitan (Kapitan's Chicken Curry) and Ayam Pongteh (braised chicken in dark soya sauce and local spices) to typical Malay Kelantanese delicacies like Nasi Kerabu (mixed herb rice) and Ayam Percik (grilled chicken basted with spice marinade) from the expansive buffet.

 Local celebrity chef - Dato Chef Ismail will be also conducting a live cooking demonstration at The Living Room. A great chance to watch first-hand how the Malaysian Chef Ismail cook up a storm and share his tips and recipes.

 

Each week will focus on a chosen state, starting with “A Taste of Negeri Sembilan” on 11th April and ending with “A Taste of Borneo” on 24th November 2013.

Don't miss the “Taste of Malaysia” buffet every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday starting from the week of 4th April 2013 at the Living Room based on the following hours:

Every Thursday – “Taste of Malaysia” buffet dinner from 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Every Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays - “Taste of Malaysia” Hi-Tea from 12 noon to 4 pm

Price:    RM128++ for dinner

RM98++ for Hi-Tea        

Reservations are highly recommended at 03 2773 8338 or email westindining@westin.com

For further information, visit www.thewestinkualalumpur.com

RICE THAT SHINES

Curried crab...the gravy's rich and tasty

Are you drooling already at the sight of the above curried crab pix? I'm happy to say it tasted as good as it looked. Besides this delicious delicacy, we also had several other simple but superbly yummy lauk - main dishes to go with some plain rice at this humble, no-frills and no name nasi Padang shop in Tanjung Malim.

Nasi Padang is a speciality of Padang, an Indonesian town in the island of Sumatra. Renowned for its rice meal, plain white rice is eaten with assorted savoury dishes of meat, fish, seafood, vegetable (usually in the form of curries or simmered in spice and coconut based-gravy) and spicy dipping sauces known as sambal.

View of the glass display cabinet where the assorted lauk-pauk were displayed

It was brought over early migrants from the Indonesian archipelago who settled in the peninsular. Now this popular delight can be found at countless roadside stalls and simpler restaurants in nooks and crannies throughout the country.

When we stumbled upon this eatery via our GPS, lunch was already in full swing and the place was filled to the brim. We managed to snag a table and noticed that all the diners were relishing their food with gusto, oblivious to their surroundings.

The old-school setting made lunch even more memorable

This crispy fried fish fired up our tastebuds with its piquant, roughly pounded chilli paste

Since most of the tables had fried chicken, we ordered a portion from the cook too. One bite of the skinless, lean ayam kampung (village bred free range chicken) with strands of sweet sliced onion made us realised why it was such a hot seller here; we literally picked the bones clean!

Chicken licking good!

We also selected some crispy fried fish that came with some coarsely pounded chilli, fried brinjal with chilli paste, chicken rendang and red sambal to complement our plates of white rice.

Aromatic spices and rich coconut milk give this chicken rendang its bold, deep-seated and complex flavour

Soft but creamy, the brinjal comes slathered in pounded garlic and chilli

More freshly pounded sambal to perk up our meal

I can't recall the exact amount we paid but it was a ridiculously affordable price that left us heartily satisfied and grinning from ear to ear.