Improvised Green Chicken Curry (Recipes)

Ever thought of making your own green curry? That thought came across my mind many times and I did actually put them into motion. Nonetheless I failed miserably because I just couldn't get the spices right. This whole idea of exploring with different spices, sauces and ingredients which sounded wonderful at that time spelt trouble in the kitchen. It was also hard work mind you; with the grinding, pestling of lemon grass, chillies, coriander etc. Finally, I decided instead of taking the road travelled by the few; instead of reinventing the wheel; why not try out some of the spices off the shelves? Why not end the misery now and move on? I did just that without any hesitation!

The game plan is dead simple. All you need is to go to your nearest hypermarket and purchase the green curry spices from One Fine Spice. I chose them because they marketed themselves as using natural ingredients and without any mono sodium glutamate or preservatives. Additionally,I bought some chicken and brinjal or egg plant to make the curry as authentic as possible but hey, it's parts like these where you need to improvise. If you feel like beef or lamb works for you, feel free to change. And may I remind you too that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to cook this especially you do not have to deal with the spices any more. Just add in the spices into a cooking pot and pour in some water and coconut milk to help thicken the gravy. Let it simmer away for 10 minutes and add in the brinjal and meat. Continue to stir for another 10 minutes and you are all set.

I finally triumph over my nemesis! It feels great!

Finally, a piece of advice. If you do have any intention of making your own green curry from scratch, think more than twice before you set out for the kitchen. The pay off may not reflect the amount of work invested and the results may not be desirable. Sometimes.... just sometimes, it does pay to stick to the path travelled most.

JL Steamboat Restaurant (Georgetown)

One of our favourite restaurants for steamboat has to be JL Steamboat Restaurant. The food is great considering it's a buffet concept, the location is convenient as it's located at Nagore Road with plenty of car park at New World Park and more importantly, it's a all-you-can eat buffet at RM 19.90 nett per adult and RM 12.90 nett per kid /senior citizen. With such a bargain like this, it's no surprise that this place is quite pack especially during weekends.

For those of you who wants to get your bearing correct before making a trip here, JL Steamboat Restaurant is located next to Sugar Dynasty which itself is just opposite the well known Continental Bakery. Just to point out an interesting fact about JL Restaurant. As advertised on the bill board, the novelty of JL Steamboat is that you can customise the buffet to your own preference or personal taste. After all, it's a buffet and you can choose what to include in your pot.

Watch out for the grill section located outside the restaurant as this is the highlight of the dinning experience.

The restaurant itself isn't big and is broken into two sections. The first section has limited dining space as it includes the buffet area. The second portion on the other hand, offers a more comfortable sitting arrangement and quiet atmosphere since it's located at the far section of the restaurant.

So, how does the buffet concept works in JL Restaurant? Firstly, you need to order your steamboat soup or stock to cook your items. The steamboat stock comes in a few variety -chicken, fish, tom yam or herbal. You can request up to two choices of stock of your preference since the pot itself can be separated into half. Once you have done that, you are all set and the fun begins. The buffet itself offers a huge range of items from different types of meat, vegetables to a full range of seafood including oysters. For more novelty items like fish maw, mutton, sea cucumber, kwai fei abalone or Australian scallops, these can be requested as side orders.

Besides steamboat, JL Steamboat Restaurant also has a grill section which dish out an assorted grilled items from prawn mantis, pandan chicken and other types of meat and seafood. Unlike the buffet section which is self service, the grilled items need to be ordered at the grill section. Upon ready, they will be served to your table.

Other selections offered in the buffet may include appetisers like belacan chicken, fried rice or noodles and finally a section for desserts.

All in all, it was a great dinning experience considering the fact that the price was reasonable and the food was good by buffet standards. If you have a huge appetite to fill up, the JL Steamboat Restaurant is worth paying a visit. For details for JL Restaurants, see below:

Name: JL Steamboat

Address: 25 & 27 Jalan Nagore, 10500 Penang

Tel: 04-2101122

Business hours: 5pm-11pm (Weekdays); 12pm-3pm & 5pm-11pm (Weekends)

Special promotion: Ladies Night Every Thursday - RM 17.90 nett per person