Not-So-Simple Dimple

Asian food is my comfort food but it's still risky in Karachi. In your head you might have expected satay but what's on the dish is a generic grilled chicken on a skewer. Simple Dimple Khao Suey Palace deliveries are all the rage among the ladies in my office - Asian salads, soups, khao sueys, satay (like the one described earlier). However, Simple Dimple still does a great job of soothing the office worker's soul.

Last week, I ordered the Chicken and Mushrooms in Oyster sauce. 

It's really easy to over-salt anything cooked in oyster sauce. This was perfectly salted and flavored. Simple oyster sauce and a hint of chilli with sliced garlic. But the very art of balancing the 'caramel' flavour of the sauce with the garlic and chilli, so none over powers the other is not quite so easy - but Simple Dimple has 'balance' down to an art.  The dish was generous on the fresh mushrooms - which is fantastic - and a few of the canned button variety thrown in too. The mushrooms were still moist and chewy.

The chicken, however, was not as stellar as the mushrooms. I fear its yet another case of the rampant eatery affliction called 'general chicken' (name coined by me, of course). General Chicken is exactly what the name implies - cooked in a generic fashion to fit any kind of chicken dish. In this case, the chicken did not taste like garlic, chilli and oyster sauce. It tasted like the basic stir fry chicken marinade of soya sauce, a flour rub and maybe some garlic. I felt that the ingredients did not have to get to know each other. Perhaps the chicken was just mixed in right at the end for a few seconds? More power to the chicken, please?

Also, the dish costs Rs 300. Which is fair. What's unfair is the steamed rice that costs Rs 100. And I'll let the reader decide if the delivery charge of Rs 100 is fair.

Chairman Mao, we have a problem....

I love Chinese food. Hainanese, Sczehuan, Hokkein, Pakistani - pretty much every kind of Chinese works for me.  Chairman Mao Chinese food delivery is one of the best loved (and most expensive) ones in Karachi. After being a delivery only place for a long time, Chairman Mao is now a dining venue too - at Port Grand.

 Above is the entire spread we ordered for four people - egg fried rice, beef chilli with vegetables and American chop suey.With any kind of food, I love it or I hate it - but Chairman Mao at Port Grand left me indifferent. It definitely wasn't good, and not horrible either. Which is strange because I don't know if i I will ever be going back there.

Beef Chilli with Vegetables

Beef has never been so boring. Onions, cabbage, carrots, bla bla - it doesn't really matter because there was no real 'chilli' in the dish. It was like hospital food, with soya sauce of course. It was quite bland and unexciting.

American Chopsuey

I've never been a fan of chop suey and this one at Chairman Mao made sure things stayed that way. Cabbage, onions, chicken and carrots - all sliced up and probably cooked in that ketchup concoction that is characteristic of tacky Chinese cooking in Pakistan. The only thing worth eating in this dish were the crispy fried noodles. Even the egg wasn't fried pretty enough to eat.

Chairman Mao, what can I say? My mother does Chinese food better than you. I think the Port Grand outlet needs an intervention. 

Karachi Chicken Rice

The best things in the life are often the simplest - ones that are comforting and familiar. Chicken Rice is my favorite comfort food. No contest there. There was a chicken rice stall called 'Warong Saga' in Johor Bahru, Malaysia where I lived for some 5 years that started this love affair of mine with chicken rice. Chicken rice and myself are currently in a long distance relationship. But some mutual friends of ours, helped us get together earlier this week.

Before, we get into the 'date' - for those of you who are not familiar with Chicken Rice, here's a quick introduction. It's actually Hainanese Chicken Rice - originating from China and popular in Malaysia and Singapore. The chicken is poached with a few simple ingredients. And served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock. Sounds simple but the preparation must be meticulous, when dealing with such delicate flavors. The chicken may be then steamed, roasted or barbecued. The entire dish consists of chicken, rice, chicken soup, chilli sauce, pounded ginger and dark soya sauce.

This is what it usually looks like:

Chicken Rice @ The Chicken Rice Shop in Vivo City Singapore

Roasted Chicken sprinkled with cucumbers, scallions and soya sauce

So back to my encounter with an old flame in Karachi. My friend Abu Bakar at the Malaysian Consulate in Karachi was kind enough to have me over for some authentic chicken rice. And home made too! Special thanks to our friend Azmir and his wife of course for cooking up a storm. But this was by far, the fanciest, classiest chicken rice I have ever had! Beautiful glassware, silverware and gorgeous blue and white plates and bowls monogrammed with Jata Negara (Coat of Arms of Malaysia). I could not have asked for a more gratifying meeting! Ah, to be reunited with an old fried, lover and care-taker is one of the greatest gifts ever!

What we have above is the best food money can never buy. Rice cooked and flavored to perfection; the chicken chewy and crispy. Ah and the authentic chilli sauce to go with that! The soup was packed with flavors and yet so light. Mix it all up in a spoonful and that's a warm hug right here. I think I closed my eyes on the first bite - rush of memories taking me to Johor Bahru and of course the joy of being reunited with a loved one!

And to just completely render me useless for the rest of the day, there was agar-agar for dessert! Agar-agar is basically a kind of light, sweet jelly.  Agar-agar is derived from sea-weed and sold in powder form for cooking (not in Pakistan, of course). The one we had some lychees and sago worked in to it. The perfect dessert for a hot Karachi day. Light, refreshing, cool and sweet!

Here's hoping that the Malaysian community in Karachi brings more of their culinary heritage to Karachi! Thank you Abu Bakar and Azmir - keep inviting me over! Terima Kashi!

Singapore Eats: Renn Thai

If you are a 'real' traveler and not just a tourist, you must indulge in the local cuisine of your destination. Singapore is a great place for a foodie, a close second to Malaysia. But the debate between which one of the 'causeway cousins' has better food will probably never end. Coming from anywhere other than Malaysia, the variety of food in Singapore is truly mind-boggling. The term 'Asian cuisine' takes on mammoth proportions - Peranakan, mainland Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, South Indian - I could just go on and on but you get the drift. There will be lots of Singapore entries on the blog. We'll start with something more upscale and touristy in the Clark Quay quarter.

Clark Quay is a nightlife hotspot - lots of bars, clubs, restaurants, characters - the whole rainbow. The restaurants are of course pricier than your average Singapore food prices. Our first night in town, my friends and I probably wanted to feel more special than the average weekend so we opted for a fancy Thai place on Clark Quay - Renn Thai. 

Here we have the wonderful honey glazed chicken with fried garlic. The chicken was thinly sliced and fried crisp and the garlic beautifully golden fried. The chicken was flavored with a basic soya sauce marinade it seemed, with a generous drizzle of honey. The strong taste of the garlic and the sweetness of  the honey should have been a good balance but honey was a bit over powering. But nothing some Thai chilli sauce couldn't balance out. The dish works perfectly on its own and with steamed white rice as well. But check this, this meal with white rice and a drink set me back by SGD 50. Bit much if you ask me. Good food but the place is obviously aimed at the tourist dollar. Or perhaps abusing the tourist dollar.

Kuala Lumpur Eats: Jalan Alor

Kuala Lumpur is a popular holiday destination for Pakistanis. And pretty much my favorite city in the whole world, followed closely by New Orleans and Cairo. Malaysia, in general, and Kuala Lumpur particularly is a food lover's paradise. Few cities can replicate the variety, verve and the very culture of eating out the way Kuala Lumpur can. Food is cheap, delicious and aplenty! Name the food and you'll get it....

If you've been to KL, you've been to Jalan Bukit Bintang - the main artery of the tourist hotspot of the city. Bukit Bintang is lined with hotels, malls, restaurants and cafes. But right behind the BB road is the glorious Jalan Alor.

But this post is dedicated to the famous/infamous dried chilli chicken on Jalan Alor. It is a bit hard to name stalls on Jalan Alor, unless you can read Chinese - but surely you can ask around. Here's what it looks like:

Can you find the the bits of crisp, tender boneless chicken in the blazing red of the fried chilli? This chicken is unbelievably hot - like fire in your mouth. Perhaps, this is what created the fire breathing dragons of the Orient. The chicken is deep fried in some kind of batter and then re-fried with the chilli. The chicken retains its juiciness and surpisingly you can still taste the chicken with all the chilli! We ordered a side of slivered potatoes cooked in the same style. The potatoes are served with less chilli but it really doesn't help put out the fire in your mouth. Order some greens and tofu and plain rice to put out the fire.

My mother would not touch this dish with a ten-foot pole but as a true desi I loved it! However, you MUST visit Jalan Alor if you're in KL - try the dried chilli chicken at your own risk. It is advised to follow up the fiery meal with ice-cream to avoid unpleasantness morning after. This could be a walk of shame for those with a weak palate and stomach.