Thornleigh: Makan @ Alice's

One thing I love about being Malaysia is the type of food we're exposed to, in particular the desserts. We do make them at home from time to time, but the amount of effort+time+energy put into it, it's not worth making a small batch.

So it was a real relief when we found a Malaysian eatery that sells Malaysian cakes, or kuih, in a few different ranges. Be quick though, they do sell fast as they are that delicious.

Buying these cakes always brings back memories from the good ol' days, when there were food stalls on the side of the road, quite a few in a row, and we'd pull over, explore what they have (with a bit of explanation from mum or the stall holders) and end up tasting/buying at least something from eat stall. What better way to bring together the different cultures in Malaysia as well as bring together the community.

Ok, back to the kuih in Thornleigh. The day that I went to visit, there were only a few options left, but my current favourite is available so I'm not complaining.

All three types on display

First up, we have Kuih Serimuka. The way to describe this would be to say a pandan flavoured custard set ontop of sweet glutinous rice. Does that sound appertising? You're probably wondering what pandan is too, well, it's a plant with long strap like leaves, long+wide+strong enough to make into bags and sort. The flavour is extracted to flavour rice, desserts, curries...well pretty much anything. To describe the flavour is actually quite hard, but it's delicious and possibly an acquired taste.

Side vision of Kuih Serimuka

The texture of this kuih is two toned as there's the softness of the custard ontop of the harder rice. There's a bit of chewing involved as the glutinous requires more chewy due to its slight stickiness. The pandan flavour is powerful (though could be stronger) but still allows for the slight coconut flavour to break through from the rice base.

Kuih Kosui is one that I haven't tried in such a long time, I've come close to forgetting what the taste is. But after biting into it, it doesn't actually bring back any memory so it makes me wonder if I've even eaten this before. Eitherways, the palm sugar sweetness of the kuih is cut short by the saltiness of the coconut sprinkled on top. It has a texture harder than jelly but still able to be easily sliced through by your teeth...I want to describe it as soft tendon but how many people eat tendon? I'm probably one of a few people who do still eat everything on an animal :) One or two bites and this baby's gone.

Kuih Kosui, it looks larger than it really is

Kuih Ang Koo has been one that's implanted into my memory from my childhood, the red flat blobs of sticky casing sitting ontop of a square banana leaf. This is just as good. A friend has mentioned of their peanut version, which wasn't available, but I'm not fussed as I'm used to the mung bean filling. Taking one bite of this reminded me of the sticky texture the rice flour has turned into, sticking to your throat if it's not chewed probably. The mung bean filling is slightly crumbly and it bitten on the wrong angle, the entire filling could fall out. This definately takes more than two bites.

Kuih Ang Koo: top section and the filling

Having just eaten one piece from each box, I sit there contemplating if I should have another piece. Knowing that there are other family members likely to eat it, I eat one more of Kuih serimuka and kuih kosui, savouring all the flavours and textures not knowing when I will be purchasing these next.

262 - 264 Pennant Hills Road

Cnr and entry via Bellevue St,

Thornleigh, NSW 2120

http://www.aliceskuih.com.au/

Thornleigh: Istana Malaysian/Singaporean Restaurant

Complimentary soup
It's been a while since i last visited Istana in Thornleigh. The last time i remembered it, we were being rushed to finish our meals as there were still people waiting to be seated. Seems like things have changed or it's a different night. Either ways, this trip proved to be more enjoyable.
Heading down to the restaurants with workmates who appreciates food, you know that the choices will be different.

First up was the Grandma Tofu, silky tofu swimming around in nice mildly spice thick sauce mixed with pork mince and bits of vegetables. We would also order this dish when we were younger, so it's been a while since i've had it, but this tastes like the good old days. The tofu is silky and soft, though still firm enough to be picked up by chopsticks.

Grandma Tofu
Balachang Kang Kong is an old favourite for me too as well as one of my dining partner. Balachang is a favourite for malaysians, the hot chilli taste mixed with prawn paste. it's definately an acquired taste. The kang kong were cooked nicely, still being crunchy when eaten and a great compliment to our rice.

Balachang Kang Kong
Hainanese Rice. Unless i have the Hainanese chicken, i tend to order boiled rice, but this was a nice change. The subtleness of the chicken flavour in the rice actually compliments the rest of our dishes. And more personally, they cooked the rice to the way i prefer rice, where the grains are still separate and firm to the bite.

Hainanese Rice
Udang King Prawns. I remember being introduced to this dish in my home town, it was a standard family-run Malaysian cafe. The family, especially the chef, grew such a liking to us, he brought mum back to the kitchen to teach her how to make this dish. Of course what we make at home will never be the same, different ingredients available and we'll never be able to get the maximum heat needed to fry the prawns in a standard home kitchen.
This dish is a close match to what we had in Malaysia, prawns fried so cripsy you can eat the shell, the dry seasoning being spicy and crunchy (I believe its a mix of egg and a type of cereal?), laid on a bed of deep fried white noodles. This is a dish everyone needs to try at least once.

Udang King Prawns $30.80
Shangtung Chicken. The sauce that is added to this dish is what makes this dish unique. The sauce is a little vinegary but finished off with a sweetness. The deep fried chicken sits on a bed of deep fried vegetable leaves cut up into strips. Another restaurant taught my mum how to make this dish at home too...it takes a while as there's a lot of soaking and drying involved to minimise moisture in the final dish. The chicken was still juicy, or it could be the sauce that's made it juicy, but eitherways, there were no complaints to this dish.

Shangtung Chicken
For four people, the four main dishes + rice were more than enough, leaving us all sitting back and grabbing our stomachs. In total, $30 per person, that's worth it.

Address: Shop 15a, 230-238 Pennant Hills Rd