I guess everyone remembers the most delightful surprise I had when I received all the frozen pre-marinated packs of meat that day and I was saying that we would not have to do any cooking for Chinese New Year and perhaps, for Chap Goh Meh even, anymore.
However, that is not meant to be as my missus insists on cooking her own specialties for these special occasions. Following this turn of events, therefore, I suggested opening the packs to enjoy in the days leading up to the festival. This way, she would not have to cook every day in the meantime, the fattening before the slaughter or so to speak. LOL!!!
We started off with the chicken wings (RM12.00 for a pack of 3)…
Because they were somewhat small and there were only 3 in a pack, my missus opened all 4 in the set, both the honey and the teriyaki. That was quite a lot, enough for both our lunch and dinner that day with a few left over for the next day.
Yes, they…
…were very nice. My girl said that they tasted like her mum’s own oven-baked/grilled chicken wings but because she did not serve them separately and she could not remember which was which, we could not tell the difference between one and the other.
Anyway, to give credit where credit is due, my girl likes those wings more than the ayam madu that we get from the Malay shops and stalls but the honey chicken wings here take the cake.
The next one that my missus opened was the kung pao chicken (RM26.00)…
…which we really liked a lot. I could taste all the flavours from the ingredients that went into the cooking. However, it was very sweet and because I am on a low-sugar diet, I had to refrain from indulging in the dish and had to restrict myself to just a few pieces of the meat at a time. Because of this, there was enough to last a few days.
My missus liked the curry chicken (RM29.00)…
…that was obviously cooked from scratch. I thought it was all right but I prefer our own even though we always resort to the use of that A1 Mountain Globe instant paste.
The rosemary & garlic lamb (RM18.40 per pack)…
…came with a sachet of their black pepper sauce and yes, it was very good. There wasn’t that much of it, just a slab in one pack and two in the other and my girl enjoyed it so much that we finished it all in one sitting.
Everybody loved their beef rendang (RM33.00)…
We all thought it was very much nicer than their curry chicken but if there is just ONE that you would like to buy, it has got to be their kambing perap istimewa (special marinated lamb), RM18.40 a pack…
This was absolutely awesome! Whatever they used to marinate the meat sure went down well – it was bursting with flavours, no lamb smell (for those who would not eat lamb because of this, my missus included…and she loved it), so very delicious!
I was thinking that if ever I were to host a western dinner, I would just go and buy this, a pack per serving for each person and I can have a bit of coleslaw and french fries or mashed potatoes by the side, plus some cherry tomatoes and lettuce for a bit of colour. That certainly would save a lot of trouble compared to having to cook everything from scratch and most importantly, it tasted great!
There is just one pack left now and we’re saving that for Chinese New Year – their daging masak hitam (black-cooked beef)! I do not need to try it first because I have had that a number of times in their kampua mee-daging masak hitam combo…
…and yes, it was so very nice.
Thank you so much once again, all of you at Nica Plus, Nica Gelateria & Noodle House, a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai!
NICA+ or NICA PLUS (2.296883,111.825859) as it is called, is located at No, 18 & 20 Lorong Intan 6, on the ground floor of the block of shops to the right of the Old Sing Kwong Supermarket (Kin Orient Plaza) along Jalan Tun Abang Hj Openg, directly below the Kimchee Korean Bar.BQ restaurant on the first floor. For orders and inquiries, please WhatsApp Nica Plus https://wa.me/60167945449.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Wow, you have try out so many packs already. They all look so good. For hardworking people like your missus, sure she wants to cook her own specialities for the family during this special occasion but for me, I am sure I will keep them for CNY eve in order not to sweat and make myself exhausted…😊😊
Yes, she’s always like that – will never fail to cook up a storm every year – she’ll want to cook EVERYTHING!!!. Not a problem when we had an open house, otherwise the 3 of us will take days and weeks to finish eating it all. So sick of everything in the end! I thought it would be good for her to just relax and enjoy – with that in mind, we have been eating out a few times already but since she insists, let her have things her way. I just eat…whatever!!!
Everything looks so good that my stomach is growling! I am surprised that the kung pao chicken was very sweet.
Yes, I’ve had kung pao chicken before, maybe once or twice and it was not sweet. This one’s much nicer, very flavourful…if only it was not so sweet!
Some dishes sure look a little different to what we usually have in Johor.
For instance, that curry chicken, ours is slightly runnier and thinner, the colour is also slightly lighter.
In my family, we quite often cook a lot so the next day we can use left over to make curry mee. 🙂
As for beef rendang, ours is drier.
Taste wise, I can’t really comment but they sure look yummy to me.
Yes, when I cooked curry in Plymouth, it was a hit among my West Malaysian counterparts but they said it was so pekat, not like their Malay-style curry and yes, the rendang is different from the authentic Indonesian one and one nice one that I had with lemang in KL but it is nice. We do have rendang at the Malay shops and stalls here but somehow, they are all not quite there, nice but not really the same. Some say that’s the local Malay rendang.
Wow. You guys tried out so many yummy dishes. Sure looked good. Look like cny feast is starting early for you. Haha
It certainly has. Something to look forward to every day right through till Chinese New Year, so very blessed.
If I have these, I will keep for CNY so that I will have less one dish to cook for each meal. Everything looks really nice. I am interested in the kambing perap istimewa and the daging masak hitam.
Yes, great choices. Those two are the nicest, IMHO!
I think the kung pao chicken would be my top pick from this list of delicious offerings.
I prefer the lamb, the last one…but we’ve yet to try the masak hitam beef, dunno if this one is as good as what I used to eat there.