"Gong Xi Fa Cai Wan Shi Ru Yi!" It's a common greeting traded during Chinese New Year, meaning "Congratulations for your wealth, may all your wishes be fulfilled." It is the time in Indonesia where those with Chinese relatives or friends would expect to receive some Kue Keranjang or Dodol Cina. The sweet delish would then be eaten as it is, steamed, or fried with egg batter.

While some people in the hotelier industry prefers the term "Lunar New Year," it is a less common term to be used in Indonesia since there are many other ethnicities and religion using their own lunar based calendar. Instead, Lunar New Year in Indonesia is better known as "Imlek."

It is also the time when both amateurs and pro photographers in Jakarta, Surabaya, and other Indonesian big cities joined the mass praying at temples, to catch a glimpse of the beautiful ceremony.

An early celebration

Afar from the celebration, about a month before the actual ceremony happened, there was another sort of celebration happening at Hard Rock Hotel Bali, a lunch feast!

Hard Rock Hotel was hosting a "Chinese New Year Menu Tasting" attended by people from the media, including news reporters, writers, magazine editors, broadcasters, and yours truly.

While it's a full scale buffet lunch serving various kind of delicious goodies, the highlight of this Chinese New Year Menu Tasting is "Lo Hei Yu Sheng," or "Prosperity Toss."

Lo Hei Yu Sheng

While the Yu Sheng itself is a traditional dish of China resembling salad with raw fish, doing Lo Hei Yu Sheng during Chinese New Year is a custom established and popularized by Chinese people of South East Asia. The ceremonial toss itself is symbolize the hope of prosperity and longevity in the new year.

The custom was brought forward by Chinese living in Singapore where in the 60s four legendary chefs "Four Heavenly Culinary Kings" created the modernized version of Yu Sheng. While the original Yu Sheng uses raw carp, the renewed Singaporean prefers to use wolf herring, which later (current) version now uses sashimi grade raw salmon which is more palatable to the modern taste buds.

Lo Hei Yu Sheng is done with mixing various ingredients in a big table, each symbolize different meaning and wishes. After mixed together the compound are then tossed into the air by the diners using chopsticks.

Since the height of the toss symbolize the height of a diner's growth in fortune, it is expected for Lo Hei Yu Sheng participants to toss the dish enthusiastically.

After Mr. Andrew Khoo's opening speech, followed by Fandy Lo's introduction about the history of this custom, the guests are then invited to join Chef Low Keng Meng at the round table to start the Lo Hei Yu Sheng.

A table of Yu Sheng, ready to be messed up.

This is the table prepared for Yu Sheng. As you can see there are many ingredients presented, each with specific meanings, and according Wikipedia are mixed according to following procedure:

1. To start, participants gathering around the table saying Gong Xi Fa Cai meaning “Congratulations for your wealth,” Wan Shi Ru Yi, meaning “May all your wishes be fulfilled.”
2. The fish is then added, symbolising abundance and excess through the year. Nian Nian You Yu meaning “Abundance through the year”, as the word "fish" in Mandarin also sounds like "Abundance".
3. The pomelo or lime is next added to the fish, adding luck and auspicious value. Da Ji Da Li meaning “Good luck and smooth sailing”
4. Pepper is then dashed over in the hope of attracting more money and valuables. Zhao Cai Jin Bao meaning “Attract wealth and treasures”
5. Then oil is then poured out, circling the ingredients and encouraging money to flow in from all directions. Yi Ben Wan Li meaning “Make 10,000 times of profit with your capital” Cai Yuan Guang Jin meaning “Numerous sources of wealth”
6. Carrots are added indicating blessings of good luck. Hong Yun Dang Tou meaning “Good luck is approaching”. Carrot is used as the first character also sound like the Chinese character for red.
7. Then the shredded green radish is placed symbolising eternal youth is added. Qing Chun Chang Zhu meaning “Forever young”. Green radish is used as the first character also sound like the Chinese character for green.
8. After which the shredded white radish is added - prosperity in business and promotion at work. Feng Sheng Shui Qi meaning “Progress at a fast pace” Bu Bu Gao Sheng meaning “Reaching higher level with each step”
9. The condiments are finally added: First, peanut crumbs are dusted on the dish, symbolizing a household filled with gold and silver. Jin Yin Man Wu meaning “Household filled with gold and silver”
10. Sesame seeds quickly follow symbolising a flourishing business. Sheng Yi Xing Long meaning “Prosperity for the business”
11. Yu Sheng sauce, usually plum sauce, is generously drizzled over everything. Tian Tian Mi Mi Meaning “May life always be sweet”
12. Deep-fried flour crisps in the shape of golden pillows is then added with wishes that literally the whole floor would be filled with gold. Man Di Huang Jin meaning “Floor full of gold”

After the mixture is ready, all of the participants starts on cue to toss the ingredients into the air, practically mixing the ingredients together. One messy but fun stuff to do! And if you think you're a master with chopsticks, the version used in this Lo Hei Yu Sheng is almost three times longer and many times heavier than your regular chopsticks, so tossing and messing the ingredients around requires extra attention.

It was fun!

How does Yu Sheng tasted? 

As the tossing ends, and laughters settled, I quickly grabbed some of the salmon poking out from the now messy mounds, and some of the colourful mound of vegetables. On a quick note the dish tasted like Asinan Bogor for its mixture of flavour, but a lavish one since it incorporates the creamy salmon sashimi, the nutty sesame seed oil, and the delicate sweetness of plum sauce.

After the second trip of Yu Sheng, I then decided to follow the crowd trying out the rest of the dishes served.

Some sushi and sashimi to follow up on that Yusheng.

And followed through with the big boys' meal of roasted beef.

However after rounds of inspecting and trying around, I found myself settled on the assorted cold dishes and salad; my favourite table.

There were other stations presented, like the noodle soup, pork ribs, and other Asian dishes prepared by Chef Low Keng Meng crew, and a table full with delicious desserts, one of Hard Rock Bali's specialities, but I don't thing any of the guests managed to eat through them all.

Orange to symbolize the sun/gold/fortune, a mandatory fruit for the festive season.

And different with other Bali based invitations, this time I got a company from a fellow foodie who's happen to be visiting; it's @melbudiman from Jakarta.

Thank you Hard Rock Hotel Bali for the invitation, and Gong Xi Fa Cai Wan Shi Ru Yi to all our friend celebrating Chinese New Year! (byms)

Hainan Chicken Rice with Mapo Tofu Sche Zuan
and Mixed Mushroom with Chicken at Tan's Kitchen
Denpasar, Bali 

So far it's been a constant quality dining, and their fish soup with century egg bits in milk based stock continues to become our favorite, even to our two years old, who has even more picky food selection than his mom.

And we also noticed with each visit that more and more people are eating here, including from the Chinese ethnicity itself; meaning that business is growing, and its quality is above standard  -- since I'm among the believers that good food will be frequented by people from the food's ethnic/regional origin.

Which is a good news for us since it's really hard to find a Chinese food in Denpasar that's both affordable, delicious, and Halal. (byms)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8, added picture from the web UI

Located right beside our favorite Ayam Presto Genteng Biru, a new Chinese food restaurant was opened. What catches my intention are two things; first is that they looks like specializing in the more sophisticated kind of Chinese food; the barbecue dishes, and the second is that they claimed to apply halal standard!

Now two of them standing alone meant nothing special, since there's a lot of Chinese restaurant that specializing in BBQ dishes in Denpasar alone; but to find one with halal standard, now that's a rare gem. And as it's been a while since I had a good plate of Hainan Chicken Rice, so it was set into our family schedule that the new restaurant is our next aim for a try out.

View to the open kitchen at the front

And so we did stick to that schedule since on last Friday after office, me, my wife, and kid (the usual gang) manage to drop by the "Tan's Kitchen The Claypot & Chicken Rice" at Genteng Biru shopping malls, right after the rain stopped pouring. Wife was tempted to go next door instead (her fave), but understanding that her husband was longing for a good plate of Hainan Chicken Rice so she willingfully enters the premise where you can see the hanged duck and chicken right up front where the open kitchen is.

After inquiring the waiter about their specialty, I set my choice on Nasi Ayam Rebus (20K), which is a combination of Boiled Chicken a la Tan's Kitchen, and plain rice. I changed the plain rice to the Hainam rice however, since those two are like twin siblings that should never be separated.

I was tempted though to try their Peking Duck (35K a quarter, 138K whole), and I was also curious about their Ayam Panggang Wijen (sesame roasted chicken - 36K a half, 70K whole). However, a simple cooked dish like boiled chicken in this case, is a good indication of the chef's skill, and the premise's overall quality.

Here's one Chinese style seafood restaurant in Bali, minus the usual entitled high price. Choices are abundant, from chicken to beef (no pork), shrimps to mud crabs. Cooking varieties consisting of the usual goreng mentega (in margarine sauce), saus Inggris (in Worcestershire sauce), saus Tiram (in oyster sauce), saus pedas (in hot chili sauce), and some consisting of the not so usual saus madu (in honey sauce), and the special goreng telur asin (in salted egg sauce). The last one is made with mashed yolk of the telur asin, a local delicacies of preserved egg, usually made from duck's egg, hard boiled, salted, then left fermented for some days in a mix of ash and terracotta compound, before consumed. It's a bit of acquired taste, but once you get it then there's no substitute for a good moist oily telur asin.

Their Udang Telur Asin (pictured above) consist of medium sized shrimps, fried in flour batter and then sauteed in the mixture of foamy margarine sauce and telur asin's yolk. It's a treat for those who enjoy rich and salty tastes.

Don't forget to taste their "Terong Magic" also, which is a batter fried eggplant, served in sweet and hot soy ketchup sauce.

Except for some, most of the menus here are priced according to their size. Small portion is abundant for two, enjoyable by four, while big portions is suitable for family dining.

With a very decent price and good enough taste, this place is a favorite among budget eaters as well as friends celebrating special occasion.

Interior is not much though, stair to the second floor is weathered, uneven floor level, but it's quite clean, and air conditioned room are available to drove away the heat of Denpasar weather.

Beside of the Chinese food, Cak Asmo also serve simpler variation like Mie Ayam (Chicken Noodle), and Siomay Bandung (Dumplings with peanut sauce and sweet soy ketchup).

Cak Asmo has two locations, one is the newer and bigger restaurant at the Teuku Umar street, about 20 minutes drive from Kuta or Seminyak. The other, and older location is tucked in at a small street near the Simpang Enam; same road further north.

Expect to spend about 60K for a meal with two dishes, rice, and ice tea for two. (bay)


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Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Chinese
Location:	Jl. Kertajaya No. 111-113, Surabaya. Phone: (031) 5032054 / 5039848

Setiap kali Ammal ke Surabaya untuk mengunjungi Eyang Putri, ia selalu menyempatkan untuk mampir ke Halim dan membawakan saya seporsi burung dara goreng sebagai buah tangan. Seperti sudah menjadi sebuah kewajiban baginya yang saya nikmati hasilnya. Hehehe… Dan, pada hari pertama ketika kami tiba di Surabaya kemarin, paman saya lantas mengajak kami sekeluarga, bersama Eyang Putri, untuk makan siang bersama di Halim. Yummm!

Halim tidak pernah berubah wujud. Masuk pintu, deretan meja dengan taplak plastik berjajar rapat. Dengan dinding bersih, sepi dari dekor. Beberapa standing AC terlihat di sudut ruangan. Dalam acara makan kali ini, bibi saya yang memilih serta memesankan makanan. Sayangnya, selain Burung Dara Goreng, Sup Perut Ikan dan Ca Baby Kailan, pilihan lainnya terlalu ‘pop’ buat saya.

Sup Perut Ikan (55K)
Sup Perut Ikan ini disajikan paling awal. Isinya; irisan besar perut ikan, ati, ampela, kembang kol, bakso ikan, dan daun horenso. Belum pernah makan perut ikan? Bayangkan saja kerupuk kulit sapi (a.k.a. dorokdok a.k.a. rambak) yang direndam dalam kuah sup hingga merekah. Tambahkan 4 level tingkat kekenyalan. Superb! Dengan kuah bening pada sup ini, terdapat citarasa khas yang selalu saya temukan di setiap sajian sup perut ikan – yang, entah asalnya dari mana, namun - segar sekali. Rasa bawang putih yang biasanya cukup dominan di masakan Chinese, hanya tersirat tipis di sini. Saya menambahkan condiment berupa kecap asin dengan irisan cabe rawit, untuk menambah kesedapannya. Seporsi sup ini, bisa dibagi menjadi sekitar 8 mangkuk. Pembangkit selera yang mumpuni ini wajib dipesan.

Burung Dara Goreng (60K)
Berisi 2 ekor burung dara yang masing-masing dibelah menjadi 7 potong. Berbeda dengan sajian-sajian burung dara goreng lain yang saya dapatkan di Jakarta maupun di Jogjakarta, di sini, burung dara goreng datang dalam size sedikit lebih besar dan dengan tambahan lapisan tipis lemak di bawah kulit, yang menambah rasa gurih. Tingkat kematangannya pun tepat; tidak sampai garing sehingga tidak menghilangkan nikmatnya mengulum daging burung dara dalam mulut hingga lumat habis. Harga burung dara goreng di sini memang lebih mahal, tapi rasa jauh di atas segalanya! Sebagai condiment, ada cocolan lada garam serta jeruk nipis. Saya sendiri, lebih suka memakannya plain – tanpa condiment apapun. It tastes already too damn perfect. Hehehe… Saya nobatkan sajian dari Halim yang satu ini sebagai Juara Burung Dara Goreng Se-Indonesia. Yihaaaa!

Ca Baby Kailan (25K)
They say it’s a baby kailan. Tapi setahu saya, ini adalah batang kailan ‘dewasa’ yang menyisakan sedikit daun di ujungnya. Ah, whatever. Yang jelas, tekstur sayur ini crunchy. Mengingatkan saya pada batang brokoli yang jadi campuran salah satu menu di Toko You, Bandung. Enak! Sayangnya, saus tiram yang digunakan terlalu pekat dengan rasa asin. Kalau saja tingkat keasinan bisa dikurangi barang tiga level saja, jadinya bakalan sempurna.

Ayam Kolokee (35K)
Ayam asam manis? Sama nggak ya? Duh, yang jelas rasanya yah… Gitu aja. Asam manis gitu lohhh. So so. Not my thing.

Fu Yung Hai (45K)
Tidak saya sentuh sama sekali. Not my thing either. Sorry.

Bihun Goreng (22K)
Tidak ada yang istimewa dengan bihun goreng di sini selain isinya yang banyak (baik macam maupun kuantitasnya). Bihunnya sendiri agak terlalu garing, dan penampilannya juga tidak cantik. Taste? Standar.

Nasi Putih (5K)
Di sini, nasi putih dihitung per-pax.

Next time, saya akan mencoba untuk memesankan makanan deh. Supaya lebih banyak yang bisa saya ceritakan. Tentu, bukan menu-menu yang ‘pop’ dong ah! :D



ADE-licious-o-meter:
Taste: 8 of 10
Food Presentation: 7 of 10
Service: 8 of 10
Hygienic Level: 8 of 10

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Chinese
Location:	Jl. Raya Kuta No. 530, Tuban, Bali. Telp: (0361) 7429068

Salah satu tempat pilihan makan di area Kuta, Bali, yang buka 24 jam. Sering menjadi pilihan tempat breakfast saya & Brutus karena sarapan bubur selalu menyenangkan. Apalagi kalau citarasa bubur-nya sangat authentic. Yummm!

Warung Laota ini tidak terlalu mencolok sign board-nya, agak ‘tenggelam’ di antara deretan sign board lainnya. Maka, perlambatlah laju kendaraan Anda jika tulisan “Nasi Pecel Ibu Tinuk”, “apotek Kimia Farma”, dan “Mini Mart” sudah terbaca. Itu tandanya, Anda sudah dekat sekali. Bubur dimasak di depan; dan Anda akan disajikan pemandangan berupa ikan, udang, kodok dan kepiting yang masih hidup di dalam aquarium sebelum nantinya bisa kita pilih untuk dimasak.

Di dalam, ruangan ber-AC dan smoking area. Dengan pemandangan beragam foto-foto menu makanan yang telah dibingkai, dan beberapa foto sang pemilik bersama ikan berukuran gigantik, hasil tangkapannya. Dan inilah review saya…

Bubur Sampan [jellyfish, sliced beef & garoupa fish] (28K)
Dengan isi irisan ubur-ubur, daging sapi dan ikan kerapu dalam jumlah yang banyak, Bubur Sampan ini menjadi menu yang paling sering kami order. Tekstur buburnya halus dengan tingkat kekentalan sedang; khas bubur masakan Cina pada umumnya. Disajikan dengan taburan kacang tanah goreng, irisan daun bawang memanjang, lantas diberi condiment irisan cabai merah, daun bawang dan kecap asin. Saya sendiri selalu memilih untuk meminta condiment berupa sambal merah yang teksturnya oily dengan cita rasa yang pedas sekali. Nyam! Ultra recommended. O ya, porsinya besar lho. Kalau dituang di mangkuk kecil, bisa jadi 4-5 mangkuk.

Baby Buncis Tumis Bawang Putih (25.5K)
Untuk sayuran, inilah yang paling sering kami pesan. Baby buncis ini bentuknya kurus panjang, dan dimasaknya tidak pernah over-cooked, jadi gigitannya pun masih renyah. Bawang putih cincangnya banyak banget, tapi belum membuat saya mampu mengusir drakula. Sedikit saus tiram di campuran bumbunya juga membantu menetralisir nuansa bawang putih. Balance. Well recommended.

Telur Pitan (8K)
Jangan lupa pesan telur pitan untuk menemani bubur pilihan Anda. Apalagi sebelum disajikan, telur yang dibelah menjadi 4 potong ini selalu disirami minyak wijen terlebih dahulu. Yummm! Kami kadang juga memesan cakwe (sayang, saya lupa mencatat berapa harganya) yang disajikan setelah digoreng kering. Crispy banget… Enak!

Harga minuman; Aqua 4K dan Chinese Tea 12K. Tanpa pajak.
O ya. Yang saya tidak rekomendasikan adalah Bubur Cumi-nya. Somehow, cumi memang tidak mengandung kaldu yang mampu menambah tingkat kenikmatan semangkuk bubur. Jadi sama sekali nggak spesial. Malahan, cumi-nya jadi alot.



ADE-licious-o-meter:
Taste: 9 of 10
Food Presentation: 7 of 10
Service: 7 of 10
Hygienic Level: 8 of 10

Rating:	★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Chinese
Location:	Pasar Mayestik

Perlu di-review karena menurut gw dan isteri, Mie Ayam Boy samasekali nggak sesuai harapan. Yah, harapan sih personal things ya, tapi on overall sih kami salah informasi. Menurut temen isteri, tempat ini menyajikan "Mie Ayam", cuma dia nggak nyebut kalau mie ayam nya itu Chinese style, bukan Jawa style. Padahal kami dah bilang sama ybs kalau perbandingan kami adalah Mie Ayam Yunus di Tebet (Javanese style).

Selain sulit banget nyari tempat duduk kalau pas jam sibuk, suasanya juga yah nothing to enjoy karena setting tempat bener2 minimalis ala kedai mie jaman baheula seperti Bakmi Gang Kelinci era 80-an.

Pilihan makanannya ada tiga: Mie, Bihun, dan Kwetiau. Masing-masing bisa dipilih dengan variasi plus ayam, plus baso, plus pangsit (kering/kuah) atau variasi antara ketiganya.

Tastewise sih yaaaa lumayan enak lah, dengan kadar minyak yang rada-rada overloaded. Cuma, dengan total damage makan bedua yang bisa jatuh hingga diatas IDR 50K untuk berdua (kalo pesen menu komplit), rasanya gw tau beberapa alternatif yang cukup nendang dengan harga yang lebih bersahabat. Apalagi kalo dibandingin sama Mie Ayam Yunus yang semangkuk cuma 8K.

Tapi kalau menilik suasana toko saat itu, keliatannya lidah kami berdualah yang "salah", karena Mie Ayam Boy yang ngetop dan sudah ada sejak bertahun-tahun silam ini kelihatannya nggak sulit menjaring pengunjung, terutama dari kalangan wanita, wanita, dan wanita. (bay)