AirAsia Malaysia (AK) Inflight Hot Meal Review 2: Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak

As I open the second entry of this meal review, let me just say Malaysians as a whole love to eat. We live to eat rather than eat to live. Nothing separates us from good food and it's what we identify ourselves in. So naturally, regardless of which spectrum of the multi cultural melting pot you fall upon, we all have this one favorite Malaysian dish. And AirAsia being a Malaysian-born airline is more than obligated to offer nasi lemak on their inflight menus. Now I haven't tried the nasi lemak offered by Malaysia Airlines but hey, you can never go wrong with nasi lemak especially when you're the country's flag carrier.

To be honest I haven't always been a nasi lemak fan. The strong aroma of the santan puts me off and the lingering smell usually indicates somewhere i wouldn't want to be. However I find the aroma of the accompanying freshly cooked sambal much more appetizing. And ever since that one fateful day where I forced myself to have a portion of nasi lemak, I have been an easy convert ever since.

So this is what you get when you pre-book your meals online. Nice little black microwaveable container with the meal wrapping. No illustrations of what you might get inside and of course, ingredients and allergen information.

'Santan', the latest incarnation of the AirAsia inflight meal branding

Tear open the packaging sticky wrap and voila! A nice visual treat awaits you. And when you heat this up in the microwave, the smell is really strong and you can already smell that signature nasi lemak smell so opening this was just releasing everything out into the open. Also, I've noticed whenever I fly with AirAsia and the cabin crew start heating up the meals in the oven, the nasi lemak smell is always the dominant one and the easiest to identify. Seems like it's a hot item!

Ingredients/condiments wise, everything you might find in a good helping of nasi lemak is present. We've got some nice sambal, chicken rendang, half a hard boiled egg and the customary ikan bilis & kacang. I wished they given more kacang though because they stay crunchy and crispy forever! But overall it's pretty much exactly the same as what you will find on the product illustration.

Starting off with the rice, it is properly cooked nasi santan. It has a nice rich coconut milk taste with just the right amount of greasiness without being nauseating. I find overly nasi lemak with a strong santan taste a tad nauseating. 

The spicy stars of the show, nicely portioned on one side really does add a kick to the dish. The sambal is everything you might expect from a good nasi lemak. It is sweet and savory and it sure packs a punch! Foreigners having this might find themselves constantly reaching for water. But for Malaysians, tak pedas pun!

The accompanying chicken rendang does not fare too bad on its own. I was actually expecting beef rendang probably because I'd choose that over chicken rendang anyday but this was a good accompaniment for the sambal. It really is not spicy. It's a tad salty and the flavors gravitate more towards a kari ayam flavor. But as I've said, it can hold its own. It's a good chunk of chicken there but it wasn't as tender as expected.

Now for people who don't take spicy food well and just happens to be someone who doesn't like to waste food, I find eating the sambal together with the rendang dulls the spice. That way, it's easier to finish off everything.

Final thoughts?

Nasi lemak being a Malaysian staple for basically any hour of the day needs no introduction. Having it onboard can either be a feast for locals traveling home from abroad or a final taste of home before they set foot on a foreign land. Malaysians being a picky bunch with regards to food need not worry. AirAsia's nasi lemak has got you covered. I think it will be well worth the RM15 paid. Or you can prebook it before your flight online for only RM10 and get a complimetary beverage with it!

Overall verdict: 4.5/5

AirAsia Malaysia (AK) Inflight Hot Meal Review 1: Ginger Fried Rice with Vegetarian Chicken

Hello readers and welcome to the first of (hopefully) many other hot meal reviews from Southeast Asian LCC giant, AirAsia. 

It's no secret that most of us don't bother ordering food on-board when we fly with AirAsia unless we are really hungry and the sweet aroma of the food being heated in the ovens wafting throughout the cabin surrenders us helpless to the temptation. But why do people not often order food on-board? Is it because they may not live up to expectations just because it's airline food? Or is it because they are pricey? Well I'm gonna give you a little helping hand here, just in case one day you may be flicking through the menu wondering what to try and what to stay away from. Also, if the price of the meals bother you, you can always prebook them online together with your ticket!

AirAsia has revamped their inflight food services menu in what they call Santan. And recently they've come up with the Santan Combo Meal offer with prices as low as RM10 when you book your meals online! Each meal comes with a complementary choice of mineral water, coffee or carbonated drink. Find out more here.

So I will start with something I've never had before and which I assume is less popular. AirAsia's Ginger Fried Rice with Vegetarian Chicken. 

Here's the illustration on the menu:

With AirAsia, prebooked meals and on board purchases have different packaging styles. The on-board purchases usually come in a red aluminium container with an illustration of the meal on the cover. Prebooked meals come in a black microwaveable container with no illustrations of the product.

Allergen information should be very useful to people with allergies. 

Vegetarian Chicken does not sound very convincing to me, given my personal accounts with vegetarian meat. I just can't bring myself to take a huge liking to them. But I was excited and curious about the fried rice.

Safe to say the actual product was represented quite well by the menu illustration. Opening up the package, it did not seem to have a very strong distinct aroma. Keep in mind that I had this microwaved for a good 4 minutes before.

The rice was cooked well. What caught my interest was the presence of capsicums in the dish. A mix of an Asian staple with ingredients normally found in Western cuisine proved to be quite interesting. However I thought it went well with the ginger flavors. The fried rice itself was average. It didn't have any 'wok hei' to it but it did have a gingery taste to it, which it should. The capsicums complement the ginger pieces well and introduced a welcome crunch to the dish. 

The chicken, however got me a little apprehensive. At first glance, the 'chicken skin' looked very convincing. However when you take away the skin, it is just a roll of fake meat. The texture felt slightly rubbery but not hard to swallow. It actually tasted like 'ngoh hiang' (five-spice pork rolls wrapped with beancurd skin). I can reaffirm you this will not change the mind of someone who's not a fan of vegetarian meat.

Overall I find the meal to be rather decent. It tastes like a menu item which you won't bother ordering but at the same time won't mind eating if there aren't much choices left. Just...put some real meat in there please.

Overall verdict: 3/5

Sujebi (수제비) - The Korean Hand-Torn Noodle Soup.

I'm not sure how many Korean places in Kuching offers this dish on their menu. I would imagine it's not exactly a popular dish for both customers and the restaurant. Simply because it is not that well known among Kuchingites and also because it takes quite some work and a slightly longer preparation time. I know my boss used to grumble whenever she sees Sujebi on the order sheet and sometimes she would pull one of us into the kitchen and help her make it.

Sujebi is basically a kind of noodle soup but not with noodles that you would expect. The noodles are made out of a simple dough made with just flour and water which is then kneaded and then rolled flat. It is then hand-torn into little strips or flakes  to be boiled in water or broth. This results in a nice hearty filling soup. So far in Kuching, I've only had Sujebi at my former workplace. And just like so many other dishes on the menu that I haven't had in quite a while, I decided to go back and get a taste down memory lane.

At this particular Korean shop in Kuching, the sujebi comes in quite a huge bowl, enough to be shared by 2 or 3. But being the pure glutton that I am, it's all for me! :D
The way people eat sujebi differs. Some just eat it like that straight from the bowl, some scoop it into smaller bowls for portioning and to cool it while some just take the noodles first, leaving the soup behind, waiting to be absorbed by fresh hot steamed rice later on.

There is also, another version of sujebi which is kimchi sujebi. As the name suggests, this version of sujebi is cooked together with kimchi. I haven't tried it myself but I assume it would be a spicy version as it has chilli flakes added to it. But either way I'll come around to trying it one of these days. If you don't want kimchi cooked with your sujebi but you still want a little kick of spice, take advantage of the side dishes (반찬) that comes together free with every Korean meal! Get some of the noodles on the spoon and just top it off with kimchi or whatever you want :)

Sujebi = RM10
1 can drink = RM2
Total = RM12.
And 12 bucks for a filling Korean meal is actually legit good. Keeping in mind that with RM12 you can't get much in other Korean restaurants in Kuching. The kimchi sujebi version costs an extra RM2, tho.

Food for comfort - Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥) @ Kimchi Korea Onejaya, Kuching

It's one of those days where I crave something warm with a little bit of heat. And as always, I think of the flavorful red hot soups and stews served with pork, egg, tofu you name it with some kimchi on the side. But I also wanted something rich and chewy, slightly greasy. I crave kimchi fried rice. I've had a love/hate affair with this dish in the past. When I was working at the small Korean restaurant under Mdm Mee Kyung, she would always whip up some kimchi fried rice for us after doors open for the evening shift. Initially I disliked it because it was spicy and I hate being slowed down at work by spicy food. But at the same time it was delicious and I loved it. And soon after she left Kuching to return to Korea I began to miss it more and more especially when she made it.

So I went to my old workplace for a late brunch before heading off to college to get some work done. I haven't had this dish for almost a year. I wonder if the new boss maintained the taste..
As always with any Korean dish which involved a fried egg, I would always order an extra egg just to slightly dilute the spice. The runny yolk is guaranteed to leave a smooth creamy texture in your mouth and amplify the flavors it comes into contact with.

Sweet heavens it looks divine

I forgot to ask for some ssamjang (쌈장) but oh well. I was hoping the egg yolk to be all runny and silky and it was! No pictures tho hehe ^^

Banchan (반찬) of the day was the usual kimchi coupled with another which is different every day.Today it was seasoned sauteed cucumber. I have always loved it when my boss made spinach, sprouts or steamed egg (계란 찜) for the second side dish. Sometimes we would be the ones eating more of it than the customers! =P

Lemme just take a minute or two to appreciate the beauty before diving right in

And dive in I did. You gotta mix the yolk in with the rice yo!

The taste was just as I remembered. Spicy, salty, slightly sour and almost crunchy. The crispy edges of the fried eggs gave a little bit of smokiness. The spring onions and the chopped kimchi really gave my mouth a workout. The overall flavors were rich when eaten with the still liquid egg yolk. The sesame oil was really essential to finish everything off nicely, as with a lot of Korean dishes. Eating this once again brought back memories of scrambling to finish breakfast or dinner before customers came to our tables WHILE WE WERE STILL EATING!! This also brought back memories of me scraping the leftovers of rice off the pan in the kitchen when I was hungry.But I did notice it was less spicier than it was. Maybe the 'kakak' who does the cooking now knows I can't handle spicy food well and remembered it.
I managed to survive the meal on one can of Sundrop.

Taking care not to spare even one grain of rice.

The whole meal amounted to RM15. Which I guess was pretty decent. For sure cheaper than any other Korean restaurants in town if not, the cheapest.
Rice + 1 extra egg = RM12 + RM1
1 can of drink = RM2

And I'm guessing you guys want me to reveal the recipe for this dish? I guess I will but I will not reveal 100% of it ^^

Now kimchi fried rice is normally made with kimchi, rice, some vegetables and that's almost about it. At least that's what I observed from reading many recipes online. But there's this one key ingredient that makes the whole dish so flavorful, that makes the rice slightly sticky, greasy and almost a glutinous consistency.

GOCHUJANG!!!!
Now gochujang alone is not responsible for awesome tasting kimchi bokkumbap. The original form of gochujang is like thick heavy paste. The gochujang has to be mixed with a number of different ingredients which I shall keep secret for now. But I will give you some hints. The result of this gochujang mix will leave the gochujang slightly liquidy but still thick, almost like a crepe batter consistency but thicker. As for the ingredients, they're sweet, and one of them will make you go 'seriously??' That's it, sorry can't say more ><
However I shall teach you guys how it is done as I have previously done it which remains faithful to how my boss used to do it with perhaps a little variation.

Ingredients
Cooked rice
Kimchi (chopped into small pieces, old sour kimchi is preferable)
Kimchi juice (the liquid left over at the bottom of the kimchi container. DON'T EVER THROW IT AWAY IT IS PRECIOUS)
Onions (chopped)
Sesame oil
Gochujang (pre-mixed with secret ingredients ^^)
Green onions for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds
An egg

Method
1. Add sesame oil, salt and the cooked rice into a mixing bowl. Mix well with a spoon or...whatever. The rice should taste slightly salted with a hint of sesame oil.
2. In a pan (durh), heat some cooking oil and add onions and the kimchi. Sautee well for a minute or two. At this point in a separate frying pan you can fry up your egg(s).
3. Add the rice, keep frying well. Make sure the rice and the vegetables are mixed well. You can also add in your kimchi juice now.
4. Add a ladle (or less) of gochujang. The gochujang keeps the rice from drying out and helps it from burning easily so go on and fry on medium high to high heat.
5. Fry until you think it's enough. Remember to taste as you go. At this point the rice will be sticky and kinda oily but that's normal. Once you think it's ready, serve it.
6. Get yo' fried egg on top of it, sprinkle with maybe a tablespoon and half of sesame oil, be generous with the sesame seeds and green onion. And there you go!

Note that I didn't include any specific measurements for the ingredients. The answer to that is because: I am Malaysian! (Y) and Malaysians cook agak-agak style. If you think it's enough, it's enough. We estimate almost every single shit when cooking. Usually by instincts and with Korean cooking, well you can to a point cook by estimation also. But to make y'all lives slightly easier, I will give you my estimations.

1 portion of rice = 3/4 small bowl of kimchi + a handful of onions.
1 portion of rice = 1 ladle of gochujang.

Sesame oil and garnish no need estimate lah. You wan little, you don't put also can. You want a lot, drink the sesame oil like soup also can =D
This is a versatile dish. You can add anything from spam to bacon to minced pork or you can even make it in the samgyeopsal pan when all the pork is finished! A great way to use up the pork fat left in the pan. Imagine the flavors mmm...(sorry to any Muslim readers >_<)

Kimchi Korea @ Onejaya, Jalan Song is open Monday to Saturday. On weekdays do not come between 3pm to 5pm as it is their idle time. Saturday is full day 10-10 with no idle time.
I highly recommend this place not just because I used to work there but because I do think it's one of the two Korean places which will really give you value for money. They serve mandu, ramyeon, japchae, samgyupsal, stews and lots of other things. Be sure to check it out!
And for a halal option, you can visit The Kimbap opposite Cityone which until know seems to be the only halal Korean restaurant in Kuching. In case you missed it, here's my post on Dolsot Bibimbap at The Kimbap.

Any Korean restaurants in Kuching or dishes you would like me to try? Or have you been to this little cozy restaurant? Or even better, did you try making this dish with my recipe? Sound off in the comments below and tell me what you think :)

Demon Deli? Perhaps not too demonically good.

What do you do when it's midday and you're at home, hungry? I don't know what you usually do neither do I care too much but I log onto Facebook and browse the ever popular Kuching Food Critics group, the group which consist of some people that glorifies vendors who treat them (so called food reviewers) the way they want and condemn those who don't, plus the occasional self-appointed-charity-like-body but ANYWAYSS..*cough*

Browsing through and using the search button to look for nice foodie recommendations around my area I stumbled across this place called Demon Deli, just a 5 minute drive away.

Should I go for it? I'll be damned if I don't. I'm starving. So 5 minutes later I found myself at the place. Easily distinguishable from its not-too-attractive yellow signboard and yellow walls.

Both exterior photos are taken from the Deli's Facebook page. But honestly with a name like that (I mean, come on. Demon Deli?) I won't expect to see Chinese characters defacing the signboard. I mean sure the demon serves as a reminder of the demonic presence but whatever..it is Kuching, anyway. Almost 80% of signboards in this city are defaced in various degrees by Chinese characters.

As you enter the door, you are welcomed by a loud voice saying 'Welcome' in Chinese. I thought it was one of the staff from the back shouting out the welcome but it was in fact one of those recorded machines that screams at you when you cross the sensor. And it seemed to work both ways because the voice yelled 'Welcome' even as a patron was exiting the shop. Least they had a sense of humor, accidental or not.

I sat down and was given a menu, an order sheet and a pencil. I have no problem whatsoever with filling out order sheets myself but seriously why do they always give such blunt, weak HB pencils?
There was but one wait staff on duty and she moved around the place, dragging her feet along like a young Becky Jackson from Glee. Except she wasn't mentally challenged. It was like each step she took screamed 'I hate my job'. Which is understandable if she does. I mean the place is already decorated with Lunar New Year decorations and on a miserable tall vertical shelf stood a lonesome tiny Christmas tree. Perhaps they thought the shelf was too good to be filled with some books or magazines or ornaments, they decided a miserable tiny Christmas tree would fill the gap nicely. Chinese pop music was blaring from the speakers. Perhaps they should rename the place something else which doesn't contain any English words.

So I placed my order: 1 Original Cheese Tamago, 1 Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea and the signature Home Made Deep Fried Cheese Sauce Pork. I brought the order sheet to the counter and returned to my seat. I was thinking perhaps I might save the wait staff the energy of getting off her chair at the counter in the back, talking to her other colleagues.

The wait wasn't long. I was served my Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea which was enormous. If I remembered correctly almost all the iced beverages on the menu seemed to have been labelled with a '750cc' tag on the item section identifier. That's bold. What if someone comes in with a measuring beaker and measures out 749cc? But who has the time, right?

There's even the option to modify your sugar and ice quantity. Seems like they're fusing in some Chatime shit right there. But it didn't disappoint. I ordered my drink with the normal sugar quantity and with less ice. It turned out pretty good.

Except...

What a surprise. Not a pleasant one, too. To be perfectly fair, I was partially at fault for not paying attention to safeguarding the mouth of my glass from any insects wishing to devour the slightly bitter, not-too-sweet chocolate drink. I asked for a new glass and the boss was happy to oblige. I got a new glass (still allegedly 750cc) and decided on some security measures for my glass.

The Cheese Tamago arrived first. Now I must admit this must be the first time I've heard of a cheese tamago so I decided to do a quick Google Image search for it while waiting for my food. What Google gave me and what the menu depicted was just..

This was what Google gave me

This was what Demon Deli gave me.

Now I don't wanna come off as a completely ignorant fool so I did a little bit of research. Turns out a cheese tamago or tamagoyaki, is actually a egg and cheese rolled omelette.

So looks like Demon Deli did not cheat me after all. It was served to me piping hot all around, even in the centre. You might be fooled into thinking this was some kind of pastry with lots of cheese on it but it's not. It's a rolled egg omelette with melted cheese. And it actually tastes pretty good. Makes for a nice appetizer or if you're on a hipster diet this should fill you up. I'll give it a 4.3/5.

Next up was the signature bear paw bun with some surprises (or not) between it.

The pork with cheese came wrapped in a pink bun with a bear paw mark imprinted (or burnt) on it. Talk about stomping on food. But nevertheless it is still something unique at least for me. The dish is presented burger style. The bun is not cut completely in half, rather it's cut down the middle but not all the way through, allowing it to open and close. Like a clam. Open up the top layer and you'll find a piece of sliced tomato, melted cheese, breaded deep fried pork slice and some lettuce underneath plus the bottom layer of bun. The portion of fries isn't exactly as much as what McDonald's would give but that's the way I like it. I never liked too much fries to go with my meal.

The pork itself was cooked nicely and upon peeling away the layer of breadcrumbs and batter, you can see it is quite thin. You would see the kind of meat that has been flattened out with a meat tenderizer before being breaded and deep fried. The meat wasn't flavorful but it wasn't bland either. The saltiness of the cheese helps add flavor where it lacks. Personally it wasn't very filling but considering I've had a cheese tamago with a huge glass of chocolate milk tea, I'd say I was content and seconds would've been too much to handle. I'd give the pork-bun-paw thingy a 4.4/5.

The name on the menu had the word 'sauce' on it. Where's the sauce? Melted cheese doesn't count as sauce. That's misleading.

Prices were:

1. Original Cheese Tamago: MYR6.90

2. Home Made Deep Fried Cheese Sauce Pork: MYR8.90

3. Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea: MYR5.90

Which gives a total of MYR21.70. At the time of writing, no service charge or taxes were included in the bill.

So, final thoughts. Would I give this place another go? Yes I would. I've yet to taste its braised pork rice dish and other items on the menu that I've set my eyes on. All in all, it didn't disappoint but that was because expectations weren't high to begin with. 

Demon Deli is located at Lot 16806, SL41, Ground Floor, Jalan Canna, Tabuan Tranquility Commercial Centre, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. 

If locating places off of addresses like the above ain't your thing, just look for it near McDonald's Tabuan Tranquility, behind Giant. Demon Deli is located just next to a coffee shop called 'Foursquare Cafe'. Or else just look for a place which is yellow and doesn't blend in with the surrounding shoplots. Plus there's a gym above it called Real Steel.

Geez these naming patterns are out of control.