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Simple yet delicious comfort food Posted: 22 Aug 2011 08:56 AM PDT I REMEMBER having my first plate of Hainanese chicken rice at the Chinatown food centre in Ja l a n Ungku Puan, Johor Baru, when the adjacent Segget river stank like a s e we r. When the tide was low, the mouthwatering flavours of freshly cooked food had to compete with the pong from the river. Even with this river's r e p u t at i o n , foodies knew that Chinatown offered some of the best Chinese food in the city at that time. I remember how the feisty but friendly hawker lady would serve this fluffy, fragrant long-grained rice by packing it tightly into a rice bowl before putting it on a plate. This created a neat little mound of rice which I enjoyed eating. I ate meticulously so that I could maintain the lovely shape of the mound of rice for as long as I could. This flavoured rice, in a pale shade of yellow, tasted so good that it could even be eaten on its own. After Chinatown was demolished, the hawkers moved to other parts of the city. Some retired as there was no one to take over the business. As food centres flourished in malls and residential areas, a variety of Chinese street food including chicken rice could be found in almost every food court. Hawker fare also moved upmarket long ago with live cooking stations at private parties and h o t e l s. They also serve the halal variety, which was an excellent way to pro - mote local street food to hotel guests and tourists. Some hotels have earned the distinction of serving tasty loc al favourites such as chicken rice. One of the best hotel versions of chicken rice in Johor Baru is the Hainanese Chicken Rice set served at Café Downtown in Tropical Inn. Fans of chicken rice will agree that the taste of its fluffy rice and chicken is consistent and there are side dishes to make this variety a more balanced meal. I was delighted to see the three sauces — chilli-garlic, minced ginger and dark soy sauce — neatly served on a single plate, which had three s e g m e n t s. I also scouted around the city in my quest for a good plate of chicken rice over the last few months and discovered the different ways the food is ser ved. Of course, the standard serving included the flavoured rice with a choice of boiled or roasted chicken chopped in pieces, served with a few slices of cucumber and a bowl of chicken soup. This meal comes with several dips like the mandatory chilli-garlic sauce and ground ginger sauce. Light soy sauce is usually available but thick, dark soy sauce is commonly served here while oyster sauce mixed with garlic may be offered in upmarket restaurants. Chicken rice lovers will agree that the right chilli sauce made all the difference in the meal. My friend Margaret, a self-confessed chilli freak, said the only way to enjoy chicken rice is to eat it with plenty of chilli-garlic sauce. At a chicken rice lunch with my friends, I watched in fascination as William and Shane, one after the other, picked up the dark soy sauce bottle to drizzle it copiously on their bowls of steaming hot rice. They insisted that it was the best way to enjoy chicken rice. The dark soy sauce was such a perfect complement that it brought back childhood memories of how my grandma taught us to mix dark soy sauce with hot rice and Chinese sausages during our Chinese New Year meals. During a recent stay at a resort hotel, chicken rice was listed on the menu. My hosts were puzzled that I picked such a common meal instead of something more exotic from their extensive menu. What they did not know was that I wanted to see if they were serving an authentic version of it. It was delicious. The chicken rice came with a bowl of soup and three types of sauces — chilli-garlic , minced ginger and dark soy sauce. Chicken rice remains a favourite comfort food as it's mild enough for the young and old. Foreigners with low tolerance for chilli can leave out the chilli-garlic sauce. Chicken rice is available daily in many stalls throughout the city and Hua Mui Restaurant regulars know that its chicken rice day on Wednesd ay s. But here's a friendly word of advice on behalf of my dentist friends to chicken rice lovers: never eat chicken rice with lots of chilli-garlic sauce before going for dental appointments because dentists also deserve a more conducive working environment.

TAI CHI FEAST Posted: 22 Aug 2011 08:48 AM PDT 2011/08/22 By Sim Bak Heng 2,000 people gather at a restaurant to watch local and foreign tai chi masters perform various styles, including pushing hands IT was a night of flashing sabers, spears and swords with a spectacular push-hand performance, at the International Classic Taiji Performance and Dinner 2011 in Johor Baru recently. Over 2,000 people packed the Peking Restaurant auditorium in Taman Sutera Utama to dine and witness 37 action-packed performances rolled out for the audience by tai chi experts. It seemed as though kung fu stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li were on stage, but the performers were from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, China and India. It looked like tai chi, which originated from China, has also spread to Western shores. The night began with a tai chi extravaganza featuring sabers and swords by members of the Society of Yong Nian Taijiquan Johor Baru. This was followed by the Shaolin kuan tau performed by Tan Miau Fung of the United Kingdom. Next, a team of six women from Sunrise Wushu Taiji Training Centre flashed Chinese paper fans in their performance of the slow but steady tai chi movement. Solid but feminine, the act also resembled a paper fan dance and enthralled the women in the audience. As the women receded backstage, Gago Trottino Ezequiel from Spain emerged to turn the audience breathless with a one-minute performance of nan quan. Nan quan literally means "Southern fist" and describes the Chinese martial arts that originated south of the Yangtze River of China. His swift body movement with arms and legs in kung fu mode won the audience's applause. Even a hoe can be used in tai chi, as artfully demonstrated by Master Cheng Tze Ming of Johor Baru. He swung the farming tool left and right, up and down, as though working the land. The performance named "Ploughing on Farmland" showed how a simple tool could double up as a weapon in times of need in an agrarian society of the past. Below the stage, Chinese calligraphy was presented by Lim Yun Kuan of Southern College, Johor Baru, The artist drew Chinese characters with a brush using tai chi motions. The audience had a rare chance that night to witness one of the highest forms of tai chi -- the push-hand. This form of martial art involving the use of inner strength to push an enemy away is usually only mastered by the experts. Masters Tan Liang Poh (Kuala Lumpur), Yuen Zhi Jiang (Singapore) and Liew Chin Hoon (Johor Baru) showed the technique by pushing away volunteers, some who were thrown up to 10 metres away, as though were blown by a typhoon. The night ended with a performance by Grand Master Fu Sheng Yuan of Australia. He is also the chairman of the Federation of the Society of Yong Nian Taijiquan. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong, who opened the performance said martial art was one of the co-curricular activities in school. Society of Yong Nian Taijiquan Johor Baru chairman Ooi Kean Seng presented a token of appreciation to Fu for his attendance as well as his enthusiastic promotion of tai chi as a sport. The event was organised by the Society of Yong Nian Taijiquan Johor Baru in conjunction with its 16th anniversary celebration.

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