US Potato Culinary Festival KL 2015

I knew that the underground tuber stem fondly known in our kitchen and plates as the Potato is in fact a very healthy food for our tummies, that is when it is cooked right and cooked well with good ingredients.

That is why last Tues Night, I was blessed to be able to sample over 20 titillating dishes cooked with US Potatoes by 13 amazing chefs from all over the Klang Valley.

The restaurants participating this year include popular hotels and restaurants such as

1. Best Western Hotel, Petaling Jaya


2. Big Hug Burger


3. Burger Factory


4. Jibby & Co.


5. La Bo Ca Latino


6. La Risata


7. Maria’s Steakcafe


8. Naughty Nuri’s


9. Rendezvous Steak Garden Restaurant


10. Secret Of Louisiana


11. Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur


12. The Daily Grind


13. The Roulette Bar

Mr Eddie Saw, The US Potato Board Country of Malaysia

The US Potato Culinary Festival Kuala Lumpur 2015 is a bi-annual culinary fest held for the second time in Malaysia. For a whole month from 1-30 June 2015, Malaysians from across the Klang Valley can dine and delight at 13 venues and restaurants that will be participating this year to offer an assortment of mouthwatering dishes specially created using high quality and nutritious US Potatoes.

We also heard a welcome speech by Mr Chris Rittgers, US Agricultural Trade Attache for Malaysia and a Nutritional Talk by Ms Indra Balaratnam, on why US Potatoes is the ultimate food. We learned a lot from her on how potatoes are actually really healthy and probably had been misjudged the whole time.

The truth is, one medium-size (5.3 ounce) skin-on US potato contains just 110 calories per serving, boasts more potassium (620g) than a banana, provides almost half the daily value of vitamin C (45 percent) and contains no fat, sodium or cholesterol. At the end, it all boils down to the other ingredients used to cook the potato that adds to its other nutritional values. In Malaysia, we tend to only eat potatoes in its fried, baked or mashed form. Did you know that potatoes can be made into chocolate and ice cream too? It is such a versatile food, that it can be cooked savoury, dessert, sweet and more.

Check out below all the dishes I get to sample that night, my favourite being the milkshake, and the Mont Blanc pudding, I have a sweet tooth after all.

Fusion Potatoes Salad from The Roulette Bar – This is basically raw vegetables on top of mashed potatoes

Curry Mashed Potatoes from Rendezvous Steak Garden Restaurant- This reminded me of our curry puffs, filled with chicken and potatoes.

Their Chicken Potato Canape is a perfect cocktail dish, small and easy to sample

This is another great dish from Rendezvous Steak Garden Restaurant, the US Potato Skin with cheesy filling filled in a halfed potato.

Just the thought of cheese can make me salivate, thus I wished I can have this whole cheese fondue with US Potatoes on my table. The Rendevouz sure knows how to capture my taste buds.

Wedges is definitely a favourite dish of my kids. Check out these Golden US Wedges..

The Tok Kamir Style Braised Beef Brisket with US Mashed Potato from Naughty Nuri’s – I love this dish as I am carnivorous that way, the beef is cooked real soft and just fine, but the sauce is most commendable

The Char-Grilled Bali-Bali Spring Chicken with US Potatoes from Naughty Nuri’s, a dish basically more focused on the chicken then the fries on the side. This was the chicken that Sidney Kan wanted to devour.

This is the Bali-bali beef Hamburger with US Curly Fries  from Naughty Nuri’s, it looked really good to me maybe I love dark burgers. The beef patty is so thick and juicy, like a steak. Fries are not too salty and just nice and crunchy, you can see it is fried just right without any over burned.

Maria’s Steakcafe cooked up a storm with this homey US Potato and Pear Soup that I kept hearing the diners rave about. Sweet and savoury, who knew it would be a perfect combo.

Maria’s Steakcafe stick to their tagline of Simply Good Food with this no fuss no frills Shepherd’s Pie, looking like something my mother would bring out of the kitchen, in a good way. Brings you right back home with that kind of taste.

Mashed US Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Beef Bacon is another delightful dish from Maria’s Steakcafe.

The Kerabu US Potatoes is so interesting, cooked local style by Best Western Hotel PJ.

The same can be said of the US Potatoes with Seafood by Best Western as well.

Best Western also whipped up this platter of Crispy Fried US Potato with Ginger Flower and Sweet Chili Dip, looks like everything on offer there is local flavoured.

If Japanese flavour is your ideal, then try out Big Hug Burger for their Japanese Curry Spaghetti with US Potato. Japanese Curry is perfect for me as I love curry minus the spiciness.

Another cheesy dish to my delight! The Cream of US Potato with Blue Cheese and Cauliflower. The flower is really like blooming over the dish, another heartwarming dish to be savoured slowly from Big Hug Burger.

Big Hug Burger’s final dish is the massive Cheese Layered Beef in US Potato Pocket. Very interesting, certainly a surprise when you cut it open and the runny sauces flow out, looks amazing right? I love cheese so what else can I say.

On the other side of Villa Danieli are more dishes, and these are from The Daily Grind, another burger joint. Named the Stuffed US Potatoes Croquettes. Interesting for a party dish, it’s on sticks so it’s so easy to eat and walk about.

The Daily Grind must have a grand sense of humour when they create this dish, The Dog’s Dinner? Seriously? I really thought of my pet when I saw this.

Well, they managed to save themselves with this Crispy US Potato Milkshake, seriously one of my favourite dishes of the night. Win hands down, I love it, so sweet.

La Risata played safe with this traditional looking pizza, Pizza with US Potatoes and Lamb, but lamb is really yummy with pizzas, a first time for me. Of course, there are potatoes in the toppings too.

This curious dish is the US Potato Gnocchi in Crispy Parmesan Cracker and Creamy Tomato Sauce. In case you’re wondering, a Gnocchi is a dough dumpling made of flour with potato as part of the ingredient, usually eaten as first course. Should try this at La Risata when having your meals there.

This is the reason why you should go to La Risata! The Smoked Wagyu Beef with US Potato Confit! This dish was snatched up pretty quickly but I had the chance to try it. I love Beef, but Wagyu Beef? Out of this world.

The earlier nutritionist told us about this dish, which was why I watched out for it on the buffet spread. This is one of the few desserts La Bo Ca Latino’s US Potato Macaroon Bars with Chile Ancho Chocolate. I would eat anything chocolate, but this is quite amazing, take a bite and inside it’s a sweet filling that I wouldn’t know is made with potatoes if I was not told. I could eat a few of this.

This will also be available at La Bo Ca Latino, US Potato Chili Con Carne.

I love how this is served, the US Potato Nacho Fries with mango and avocado cubes on the side.

Jibby & Co doesn’t just have an interesting ring to their restaurant, but they sure know how to present their dishes well. Check out the fine looking Crisp US Potatoes and Shredded Duck with Spicy Onion Jam. Tasted as good as it looks, very delectable and juicy in the inside.

This is the Parisian US Mashed Potatoes with Sumac Spiced Chickpeas and Basil Pesto Sauce. Did you realise by know they put really great detail into naming their dish?

Their final dish is the Spiced US Potatoes with Smoked Lamb Bacon and Saffron Aioli. Lamb bacon was delish, mixed with the US Potatoes it sure made a perfectly filling meal.

The Burger Factory is another burger joint participant in this festival. This is their special TBF Trio US Potato Platter, great for those who want to taste three different things in a dish.

However, it is this Mont Blanc Pudding that I cannot forget even now. It is like waffle sandwich topped with a fried Strawberry, all the tastes of sweetness and sour berry just matched together perfectly.

The Burger Factory made this English Curry Fries, another curry dish for us who love the local taste. Not sure why is it English?

Villa Danieli, Sheraton’s own restaurant came up with three amazing dishes as well. This is the Wood Oven Baked Cheesy US Potato with Smoked Duck Breast, I definitely love the cheesy look and couldn’t wait to dig in that.

This is another one of the rare desserts presented, aptly named US Potato Cake, just taste like any cake but made with potatoes.

The US Potato Espuma looked so pretty, made in the form of flower petals, sure to delight any lady.

I just love the dishes created by Secret of Louisiana, as they are all seafood based. This is the very popular Cajun US Fries Chili Octopus, everyone loved the octopus for sure.

Another dish that was snapped up quick by diners, The Shrimp Etouffee US Potato Boat, featuring the juiciest biggest Shrimp with sauce that tasted like Bolognese.

The US Potato Crawfish Pie is another one sure to delight seafood lovers like me. Lovely presentation too. There you go, the secret of Louisiana is out of the bag.

There you go all the dishes presented at US Potatoes Culinary Festival 2015. Be sure to check out all the listed Restaurants for this whole month and lookout for their special limited US Potato dishes! Special thanks to Sidney Kan for the invitation. I will never look at the humble Potato the same way again, the essential ingredient in nearly every dish be in Western or Asian.

Blogger Girlfriends that dined with me for an amazing night and amazing company. Photo courtesy of Sherry.

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