Italiano..... but not really

It was pissing like no tomorrow.... yesterday but the silver lining in that was it stopped the suppossed mass demonstrations in parts of Jakarta. ( PHEW)

I had to meet a friend and I was told to go to this Resto in Niaga Bank Tower... it's called PEPENERO. It's an Italian Resto with outlets in some parts of Jakarta, but this one is very chic... If I were to have a resto, I would make it to replicate Pepe's, Very Nice! I didn't bring my camera with me and taking pictures of the place and food with my Blackberry will do it much injustice. But if you would like to have a good meal and at a good price (about SGD10 / dish) and with such a chic ambience, get your asses here!!!

After a bread basket and a pork belly main dish, I was filled. The cuppa was also typical Italiano.... MIA BELLA......perfecto. Chatting continued and a handshake after, we parted ways.... I swear the pork bellies called me back, but I had to go off. It was still raining!!!

<-- the building on the LEFT

I swear I will try to make it back in SG, so watch out for it all.

A friend on facebook wrote to me about this blog and she commented that she liked the way I did some of my abalone dishes, so I'll share with you lot 1 of the dishes. Abalone with Kailan and Shitake Shroom in Oyster Sauce.

Abalone is a delicate shellfish. Its going to taste like a deflated basketball when cooked wrongly (trust me I know, I had a bball smacked to my face when I was in secondary school). Anyway, it's actually not that difficult, its all in the timing.

New Moon (no ladies, there will be no Camp Edward nor Camp Jacob) is my fav brand for abalones and I had 1 stacked away in the cupboard and since the Mrs loves Abalone, I decided to cook for her some time back.

- Abalone, remove it from can but keep the brine, it will be useful. Rinse the abalone with water and paper towel dry it.

- Oyster sauce, 2 table spoons of it would be enough. Add a tablespoon to dilute it. Leave that for now.

- Kailan to be soaked in boiling water for 1 minute to retain its hard and crunchy texture. Add oil and salt to the boiling water.

- Shitake Shroom takes some time to cook if it's the dried type but I suggest using the fresh one. Blanch it for 1 minute and then on a grill pan, grill it over high heat for 1 minute on each side. There will be the sweat of the shroom and that is sexy when mixed with the oyster sauce to give that extra 'ka-pow' to the taste!

- Oyster sauce to be reduced in a pan over mid-high heat and add the shroom juices to the pan. Add olive oil and also some chopped garlic to make the taste better. A touch (1 teaspoon) of honey will make the suace flowing with saltiness and sweetness at the same time.

- Back to the star of the dish. In the same water that was used to blanch the Kailan, turn off the heat of the stove and slide the Abalones in. Let it soak in the hot water for 1 minute. Toss it around in the hot water. Remove after 1 minute and lay it over the veges as in the image.

To top it up, add a teaspoon of olive oil when serving and drizzle some dried chilli flakes to add colour and slight taste. Well guys, hope that this will remind you of that sexy abalone dish that you have tried in many restos..... Buon appetito!