Recipe: Chocolate Mousse

In all things the Lord taketh, and the Lord giveth.

So when he decided to create mousse, he made it a pain to beat the egg whites, but he also made it very easy to make it at least a day in advance to store conveniently in your fridge. Correctly made, chocolate mousse is light and airy, bittersweet and decadent, but very pleasingly so.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

125g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cream
2 - 3 eggs, separated (about 90g egg white)
1 Tbsp sugar



Notes on Ingredients: The egg yolks are not strictly necessary in this recipe, but add richness to the mousse if you want to use them. Try and use whites that are at least a day old.



Heat the cream till it's almost boiling, but make sure it does not boil or your cream will split and burn and make a frightful mess.



Once the cream is good and hot, pour it over the chopped chocolate, and let the heat of the cream do most of the work in melting the chocolate.



If the cream isn't hot enough to completely melt the chocolate, or for any reason you don't feel like doing it my way, you can also set the cream and chocolate over a pot of simmering water to melt evenly. Be sure not to let the chocolate seize, which will happen if you accidentally let some water drip in, which is why I recommend the boiling cream method.



Once your chocolate is good and melted, set it aside to cool slightly. If you decide to use the egg yolks, whisk some of the chocolate mixture into the yolks before mixing the yolks back into the chocolate until the mixture is smooth. This is a somewhat delicate process, so I don't advise it, since the mousse is fine without yolks anyway, and you can use them for other desserts, and you reduce the chance of salmonella poisoning.



Now for the fun part. Add the egg whites to a clean mixing bowl and add the sugar.



Beat till your whites are nice and fluffy. The result this time was much better than when I was making ile flottantes, mainly because I was using more egg whites, and because they were about four days old.



With a spatula, cut the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.



Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. This is supposed to be done carefully so that the egg whites don't deflate, but it's best to do it quickly, mixing thoroughly, otherwise your whites will deflate anyway. There should not be a speck of white left, merely a voluminous, airy chocolate mixture.



Pour the mixture into four wine glasses, cling-wrap the tops and pop them into the refrigerator overnight for them to set.



Enjoy them straight from the fridge, either plain or garnished with assorted berries or sauces.

The mousses will keep, refrigerated, two to three days, after which the whites will deflate and it's best not to taste what other odours and bacteria the mousses have picked up.

Technorati Tags: Recipes, Desserts, Chocolate Mousse

KL trip: Day Three

We decided to stay within Cititel Mid Valley Mall on our final morning, so we roamed the mall looking for some breakfast.



I'm a sucker for doughnuts, so I had to stop by Dunkin' Doughnuts with their multi-coloured sweet rings for a little mid-morning sugar rush. Had a chocolate-filled doughnut that was sweet and sinful and kept me very happy.



We saw this popiah shop on our first day, so we decided to have some for our breakfast. It's supposed to be a 'crispy popiah', thanks to a generous helping of roasted peanuts and what I think was toasted crumbs. So it certainly was quite crispy, but I thought they were a bit heavy on the sweet sauce.



Unfortunately, breakfast was much more interesting than lunch, since we decided to eat at the local food court, coincidentally named "Food Junction", much like the similarly-named chain here.



Similar food too - I had a bowl of Penang Kway Teow in clear soup, which wasn't as good as the one I had had the night before.



Other offerings included claypot rice and fried Penang kway teow, which weren't all that impressive - a fairly insipid ending to our eating journey in KL.

Technorati Tags: Miscellaneous, Food, KL 2006

KL trip: Day Two

We decided to go exploring by ourselves on Day Two. A short taxi ride brought us to Sentral Station, where we found breakfast at an unremarkable Indian coffee shop by the side of the road. We saw at once that they served something familiar to Singaporeans: roti prata.



I have a theory that the best food a country can offer is generally found off the streets, not in any swanky restaurant or air-conditioned eatery.

We faced a slight language problem when we discovered our Indian shopowners didn't speak any English. Now, if you ask for roti prata in KL, you're not going to get any. Although it's the same thing, over there it's known as roti chennai; something my friend discovered the hard way.



After some linguistic struggling and verbal grasping at straws, we eventually managed to order a roti pisang (banana prata) and a roti telur (egg prata). I must say that the Malaysian roti chennai is much better than the Singaporean roti prata. Crispy and flaky, there is not a hint of the limpness and sogginess that so often disappoints when tucking into a roti prata here. Fresh and hot, the roti pisang and roti telur almost crackled as we attacked them. The sweet, caramelised banana slices and puffy egg were all we needed to whet our breakfast appetites.



We also decided to try a chicken murtabak on the stall-owner's suggestion ("bagus!" thumbs-up), and were surprised to find that it was very different from what we're used to in Singapore. The Malaysian version is almost like stuffed pita, with an interesting stuffing of diced chicken and what might have been chickpeas, though I can't be sure. I'm not sure if I'm all that fond of it, but it was certainly unusual.



Lunch was at another Indian eatery opposite KL's Central Market (a tourist trap if ever there was one).



It wasn't till after I'd ordered that I realised the only other people eating Naan were two Caucasian tourists. Sure enough, my naan was huge, and extremely doughy. I couldn't finish the whole thing, but made a valiant effort. The tandoori chicken was strangely spicy, perhaps something to do with the chilli oil the chicken is infused with.



Most of the other diners had dishes that looked something like this, rice with assorted vegetables and meat. I recognised beef rendang, mutton and fried chicken. Something fairly similar to our own chye png stalls, I imagine.



Since most of our evening was spent bargain-hunting at Petaling Street, it went without saying that dinner had to be somewhere in the vicinity, especially as Chinatown was littered with roadside stalls emitting really amazing aromas.



When I first had lok-lok, or what some rather pretentiously term 'Chinese fondue', I mistakenly thought I was looking at satay gone wrong. While I know better now, it's still not the best thing I've eaten, so it's lucky that in addition to the lok-lok we had for dinner, there were a few other stalls selling other kinds of food.



It is said that good things come in small packages, but I was still a bit disappointed at the size of my bowl of Ipoh Hor Fun. However, I was immediately heartened when I took my first slurp. There is just something so ethereally silky about the smoothness of Malaysian hor fun noodles, and the sweetness of the broth, that one bowl is rarely enough.

Immensely satisfied with our dinner (and our shopping), we went to bed on full stomachs, ready for the following day, our last in KL.

Technorati Tags: Miscellaneous, KL 2006

KL Trip: Day One

No updates because I was in KL over the weekend for a shopping and eating trip. Very fruitful in terms of eating, and fairly successful in terms of shopping, given that I am not a girl and cannot be expected to shop like one.



We arrived at about 4pm and proceeded to have our first meal, being somewhat peckish from the journey. On Pineapple Malibu's recommendation, I decided to check out Madam Kwan's, apparently an eatery famous for its Nasi Lemak and Nasi Bojari.

Although Pineapple Malibu recommended the one in KLCC, there was another outlet in Mid Valley Mall, conveniently next to my hotel, so that's the one we went to.



I had the Nasi Bojari, which I believe is unique to Malaysia. Aromatic rice served with a big fried chicken wing, some beef rendang and additional spicy belachan and shrimp. I wasn't that impressed with this dish, as the rice wasn't particularly aromatic (you'd do better with nasi lemak), and the beef in the rendang was so torn you could barely recognise or taste it as beef.



Chermain had the beef rendang as a whole meal, with some nice coconut rice.



Wai Kit had something a bit more Occidental: chicken chop. Why would you go to KL and order chicken chop? I hope it was good, at least.



Wan Jun ordered a bowl of laksa, which looked and smelled really fabulous, even though I never really developed a liking for it.



Dessert was a shared bowl of cendol, and seriously there is no cendol in Singapore that can match Malaysia's. The gula melaka and the coconut milk are added in loving amounts, sinfully sweet but just short of cloying and sticky, and the texture of the red beans and green worms; rough and smooth, contrasting the shaved ice...delicious.



My cousin and her husband were nice enough to bring us out to dinner at a roadside stall run by his ex-colleague. The best thing about KL is that you can literally be located in the middle of nowhere, outside a decrepit old building, but people will still come and eat your food.



Our first dish was pretty normal - tofu with soya sauce and chopped chives. The only interesting thing was that the tofu was chilled, apparently not all that common, even in Malaysia.



Next, some sort of river fish, steamed with lots and lots of garlic. Didn't really have a lot of this, since I'm not much of a fish person, and it was quite a bony fish. Still good though.



A steaming claypot bowl of braised pork wafted very nice smells around the table. Fatty and oleaginous, the pork has been simmered away in black sauce, breaking down the high gelatin content and rendering the pork soft and flavourful.



Bak Kut Teh needs almost no introduction. Pork ribs simmered in an herbal broth comprising various spices, peppercorns and garlic. Malaysian bak kut teh tends to be less peppery and more herbal than the Singaporean variety. The one I had used rather lean meat, which was a shame, and included less appetising bits of kidney and other offal.

We began and ended our first day in KL with some good food, and we all felt rather stuffed by the time we returned to our hotel room, happy that our food journey was off to such a good start.

Technorati Tags: Miscellaneous, Food, KL 2006

Review: Dempsey's Hut

I stumbled upon this casual eating house after a second unsuccessful attempt at trying to get a meal at PS cafe. That place doesn't seem to open for lunch at all.



Thankfully, I happened to notice this interesting place tucked among the trees, looking like a rainforest cafe, something that appeals to the naturalist in me. Since I was in the area anyway, it made sense to try it out; who knows, it might turn out to have been a serendipitous discovery.

Dempsey's Hut is one of those old-looking colonial bars with its own football team and charming expatriate history. Unlike the venerable Colbar though, Dempsey's Hut, does not seem to have gone through quite as many tribulations, nor does it seem to have the former's fervent support from kids from the international school nearby, or even the loyal old-timers.



As you can well imagine, there is no air-conditioning whatsoever, in keeping with the au naturel feel of Dempsey's Hut. However, this might of course pose a problem during those warm, humid Singapore afternoons, even with the shade of the massive rambutan tree above.

Dempsy's Hut is a restaurant and bar, so even if you don't come here for food, you can come sample some of their drinks - it's an interesting alternative to chugging alcohol at smokey and crowded venues like the pubs at Holland Village. The Hut even has designated smoking areas, so you don't get cigarette smoke in your face the whole time.



There is definitely a lot of greenery at Dempsey's Hut. This is good for nature-lovers, but bad for people who get jumpy around insects and seedpods. Although the two cans of insect repellent displayed near the bar are somewhat disquieting, I had no need of them throughout lunch.



Dempsey's Hut serves mostly western food like steaks and hot dogs, but they also do a few local dishes like chicken curry ($9.50), which is slightly more expensive than the one at Colbar, but I was astonished to see it served in a claypot, not something I'd have expected even from a hawker centre. I was also pleased to note that they were very generous with the chicken, and even threw in a potato to give you your money's worth.



The "juicy beef burger supreme" was cheaper than what you get at most places at $11.50, but unfortunately this time was less generous than usual. The burger was rather dimunitive, but in terms of taste was pretty good. The patty was certainly juicy, so I suppose it only lived up to half its name.

All in all quite an interesting place, worth a visit if you like exploring a quiet meal amidst leaves and dappled sunlight.

Dempsey's Hut
130E Minden Road
Tel: 6473 9609
Email

Location: 3/5 (it's a bit of a walk from the main road)
Ambience: 3.5/5 (depends on how much you like trees)
Service: 2/5
Food: 3.5/5
Overall: Off the beaten track, both literally and metaphorically.

Technorati Tags: Reviews, Casual, Dempsey's Hut