KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — When Syrian Ameer Alzalek fled his country due to the war about 10 years ago, he didn't expect to enter into the culinary world and eventually open...
KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — When Syrian Ameer Alzalek fled his country due to the war about 10 years ago, he didn't expect to enter into the culinary world and eventually open the popular Leen's Middle East Kitchen located at Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
The Smoked Hummus is a dish given the 'wow' factor with the ingenious use of smoked oil — Picture courtesy of Leen's Middle East KitchenEventually he returned to Kuala Lumpur to take up a job at Ember Modern Bistro with Chef Gary Anwar. "Tiffin gave us a big push for our exposure so we decided to take a bigger step to open our own place," explained Ameer.
Thus traditional Syrian dishes such as Hummus, Fattoush and Baba Ghanoush are reimagined with new flavours and textures.Two dishes that put Leen's on the map, according to Ameer, have been their Baba Ghanoush and Crispy Syrian Rice. "It was a crazy idea," said Ameer. Initially Ameer suggested smoked lamb fat with the hummus but Choy felt locals may not like that. Instead, they experimented with smoked charcoal oil, which got a big wow from both of them.
Even though there's three lamb dishes on the menu, each item uses a different cooking method, making it unique. Ameer will also be introducing a new Lamb Shank dish soon. "I had the idea but I just didn't know how to plate it." What baffled him was how to maintain the crispiness of the kunafa, with its fine kataifi pastry.
Even the name of the restaurant is non-traditional, as Leen is actually Ameer's wife Serena's nickname in Chinese.
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