Sleeping or Jumping.....Your Pick.

Most of us would have heard of "Monk Jump Over The Wall" dish. Some may call it Buddha instead of monk. I would prefer to label it as monk because the story goes that a Buddhist monk was meditating in a monastery and he smelled of wonderful food across the wall. The smell was so good that he forget about his abstinence from meat that he climb over the wall to indulge in the bowl of soup which contained all the ingredients that can destroy the faith of a monk!.

This Monk Jump Over The Wall dish is both popular as well as making a dent in your pocket. There are many restaurants cooking such dishes and in the course of my checking out I was introduced to this restaurant in Tanjong Malim, Perak that offer a different type of "Monk". The restaurant owner have named the dish " Sleeping Monk". When asked what is the different between Sleeping Monk and Monk Jump Over the Wall. The answer given was just as sheepish as the name. The reason given is that Sleeping Monk is the younger brother of the other dish and the prices is cheaper ( RM 280 for a bowl for 12 pax ).

The ingredients for this dish is similar to its big brother and the taste is better than all the mini Jump Over the Wall dish. This dish have to be ordered 2 days in advance and when served, you are sure to have the waft of the aroma that is famous to make a monk jump or in this case wake up a sleeping monk!

Other specialty are, Sea Cucumbers Stuff with scallops, mushroom and herbs. There is another dish which you have to call earlier to inquiry if it is available and it is dependant on the catch of the day. It is the "Water Monkey". When I ordered this dish, I have a funny look from the neighbouring tables as they literally thought I was ordering monkey meat! Actually the Water Monkey is a fish called Sebarau in Malay and water monkey in Cantonese. It is one of the best fresh water fishes you ever tasted. The dish is served steamed and the little soup that are on the dish will be scoop off onto your rice and you will be asking for another bowl of rice in no time!

This restaurant, FU MAN is on the route for those gourmet tours as you can always see bus load of people converging there for both lunch and dinner especially during weekends.

DIRECTIONS:

On the North South Highway, you exit at the Tanjong Malim toll. Once you paid the toll, you go straight and look out for the sign to UPSI ( Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris ). They are located at the end shop lot near the the university. It is by the roadside. You should have no problem finding the place as the shop lots are rolls of shops selling textile.

ADDRESS:

FU MAN Enterprise

39, Jalan U1

Taman Universiti

35900 Tanjong Malim

Perak.

Tel: 605 4597620

Mobile: 6012 6541587

The Best In Rawang

Whenever my friends know that I am staying in Rawang, their first comment is whether I knew the restaurant famous for its steamed talipia fish. Most of them know the restaurant Lan Je because it have been around for as long as I can remember. This restaurant in so famous that the only dish worth ordering is Steamed Talipia and nothing else.

Since I am from Rawang, I think I should reccommend another restaurant that have at least 18 ways of cooking Talipia fishes. I have tasted several ways of how this Talipia have been cook and I would like to reccommend three types of these cooking.

1) Chin Fong Talipia.( Top Left)

The talipia are fried and steamed before serving wrap in alumminium foil. The wraping seal up the juice and contained the aroma of the curry leaves during the steaming process.

The fish is crispy at the surface yet juicy when you bite into it. It is both appetizing as well as spicy to the taste. A definite to hit with spicy food lover.

2) Kwai Mei Talipia.( Centre )

Literally translated as "Unique Flavor Talipia". It is indeed unique because the fish is marinated in orange juice and fried with curry leaves. It is a favourite with both children and adult alike. The uniqueness is that on one hand you like the smell emitted by the curry leaves and on the other, the savoury taste of orange.

4) Kwai Fei Poh Pin Talipia.

For thos who do not like fried fishes, they have steamed talipia with sliced abalone. Normally, steamed talipia are associated with muddy smell. The way the fish is steamed have removed all the mud smell and with the slices of abalone you would think twice about labelling talipia fish and a lowly fish.

The smoothness of the fish plus the spring texture of the abalone, you cannot imagine the fish is talipia. Most would think the fish to be a Napolean Wrasse fish but not at that price.

Direction:

To get to this restaurant, you need to turn toward the left after exiting the Rawang interchange toward Batang Berjuntai / Batu Arang. It is approximately 3 km from the toll, on the right side of the road directly before the Shell Station. You should see the restaurant before you reach the traffic junction to Bandar Country Homes.

Other Dishes:

There are other dishes to choose from among my favourite is the Shanghai Spicy Chicken ( Top Right Picture). his special dishes are concoction of the restaurant owner. The chickens slices are fried with four types of chillies and add with a tinge of salted fish. When eaten hot, you would enjoy gulping them with plateful of rice.

Price:

The Prices are reasonable. The prices of talipia dishes are from RM 18 to RM 30 depending on the size of the fishes and the style of cooking. It is a good place for family dining as you would have nice food without a dent in your pocket.

Restaurant:

Restoran Chin Hiong

Lot 2, Batu 22, Jalan Batu Arang,

Kampung Sungai Bakau,

48000 Selangor, Malaysia

Tel: 603 6092 0628

ENJOY!