Hong Kong Cuisine At Kim Gary (Gurney Drive)

When one thinks about Hong Kong cuisine in Malaysia, it's normally associated with Kim Gary. Kim Gary is a a chain of restaurants in Asia which positioned itself as serving Hong Kong style cuisine such as a variety of toast, noodles and other fusion food associated with that province. There is currently an outlet on the island and is located at the 3rd level of Gurney Plaza. The restaurant is constantly full throughout the day so it is quite common to see patrons queuing up. It's certainly a testament that some people find the food cheap and good.

On a personal basis, I can certainly vouch for the fact that some of the food portion is humongous. It's not uncommon to see noodles being served in over sized bowls. For instance, the nissin noodles here is probably more appropriate for 2 person. What's also famous here are the coffee and tea. The ying yong which is a blend of coffee and tea mixture is extremely popular here. The same goes for the ice milk tea.

Kim Gary also offers a variety of set meals all which could consist of a soup (usually Borsh or mushroom), main course, drink and dessert. Prices for these set meals are quite reasonable. I had the western selection some time back which consists of black pepper chicken, sausages, a perfectly fried egg and assorted vegetables. It also came with a good serving of fries.

The pork with nissin noodles is my wife's favourite dish. However, she always never manage to finish the noodles. Let's just say her loss is my gain. Additionally, the pork chop that comes with the noodles deserves to be mention as it's well marinated and very tasty.

While you can make this at home, I usually order the Korea noodles mainly because it comes with well marinated strips of pork. It goes well with the spiciness of the soup.

Kim Gary is definitely an attractive place to dine because it has got such an extensive menu. There's something for everyone and it will take quite a while for you to try out every item in their menu. Additionally, the service at the outlet at Gurney Plaza is prompt and efficient as they constantly check on your orders. As such, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are waiting to queue to dine at this place.

Homemade Crab Stick Maki (Recipe)

Since my wife's nieces and nephews are into Japanese food, my wife decided to make crab stick maki for them last week. We weren't sure how it would turn up but decided that since only the kids were going to eat the makis, it was worth a shot :). You don't get volunteers every day.

Here are the ingredients we used:

• 6 cups of Japanese white rice
• 6 crab sticks
• 2 tbps of rice vineger
• 2 tbps of sugar
• 2 tbps of salt
• 1 tbp of soy sauce
• 6 nori or seaweed sheets
• 1 tbs of mirin or sweet rice wine
  

Following this, here are the steps to prepare your maki:

1. Place you Japanese white rice in a bowl and combine this with vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin and soy sauce. Let the rice mixture set for 10 minutes
2. Cut off the top half of each nori sheet. Place one nori sheet down on the sushi mat covered with plastic wrap with the longer end towards you. Wet your hand and place 1/2 cup mixture over the nori, leaving a one inch border on one long end of the nori.
3. Life the edge of the nori closest to you and fold the filling. Lift the bottom edge of the sushi map and roll towards the top edge while pressing firmly on the sushi rool. Continue rolling towards the end of the roll and continue to add pressure to seal the sushi roll.
4. Slice off about 1/2 inch from each end of the roll and discard trimmings. Slice the roll crosswise into 5 pieces. Repeat the procedure with the rest of the nori and rice.
   
   

You can get most of your groceries from the Japanese mini market called Meijiya along Kelawei Road. I got the sushi mat, rice vinegar and mirin sauce here.

While it looks easy, it's actually a lot harder than I thought. You need to add consistent pressure so that the rice firm up and have an even shape.

The maki initially received mix response from the kids. The really hungry ones walloped a whole bunch of the makis while their smarter cousins watched and waited to see what happen. Eventually senses prevailed and they too join the foray. A delightful sight...at least for my wife.