Wagyu Hotpot Waterloo - Shabuya Vivo City

We chance upon Shabuya a newly open Shabu Shabu restaurant during a jalan jalan session at Vivo City during pre christmas period. The main highlight of Shabuya is that they are offering premium quality cut of meats (Kurobuta pork & Wagyu beef) to satisfy your fussy epicurean tastebuds.

Best of all, Shabuya is offering weekend brunch that include all this premium quality meat for shabu shabu from 11:30am to 4:00pm at $29.90 exclude GST/Service Charge. I had my skepticism that whether Shabuya is really offering real Wagyu beef for shabu shabu as I have my fair share of false claims.

On one eventful saturday, I gathered my makan kaki to give Shabuya a run for our money. I was late for the brunch as I was suffering burnout from my new job as "great power comes with great responsibilities". I was informed by my friend who was already chowing down to succulent Wagyu that the Shabuya brunch buffet have a 90 minutes grace period. I manage to "websling" to Shabuya with only 60 minutes left on the clock.

Luckily, my makan kaki have pre-order a few trays of succulent Wagyu Beef, Angus Rib-eye Beef & Kurobuta to temporary satisfy my insatiable craving for premium meat that can easily cost $20 per 100gram in Mediya or Isetan Supermart at Shaw House. The wagyu serve in Shabuya is a real deal from the as you can see the marbling of fats distribute across the beef. I wouldn't say it is a high grade as the marbling is not very consistent across the beef to warrant a high grade.

It is cut thinly so you do not really need to cook it too long. Simply run it through the hotpot 3 times and it ready for consumption. The Wagyu beef is really tender and so rich with beefy goodness it put other types of beef slice to shame. But the richness might be too overwhelm for those new to eating beef. Fear not, the Angus ribeye beef slice is there to address this issue. For those who couldn't take beef, there is Kurobuta pork loin and pork belly which is equally as good as Wagyu.

Shabuya is a real deal restaurant as they deliver what their buffet promise and do not skimp when customer request for more Wagyu or Kurobuta. I can substantiate this point further as this is the hotpot buffet I ever suffered "Waterloo" like Napoleon for failing to consume the amount I ordered. LOL. Therefore, for those kiasu buffet buff do take note.

Franchise Viet Food - Pho Phoa

My introduction to vietnamese food started in Pho Phoa, a franchise viet restaurant focus primarily on Viet Beef Noodle with numerous outlets open across US, Canada and Asia. Normally, I don't really like oversea franchise restaurant operating in Singapore as the food served by such franchise rarely live up to its origin. Pho Phoa is the only one so far manage to change my perception.

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Pho Phoa Singapore is conveniently located in a inconspicuous corner at Suntec Mall Level 3, you might miss the restaurant entirely if you do not look for it closely. It is my 3rd visit to Pho Phoa with first visit alone and the second with my makan kaki. I'm pretty famish today as I got long day (AFA 2009 Concert) ahead of me so I decide to order a Phở Tái, Chín Nạc $8.95 (Viet Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Steak and Brisket Slice) and Bánh Mì /Phở Bò Kho $8.95 (Viet Carrot Beef Stew served with Bread) to help tide me off.

The Phở Tái, Chín Nạc was serve first with toppings of fresh chili flakes, bean sprouts, thai basil leaves and not least Pho Phoa's concocted dry lemongrass sweet chili paste. For starters in Viet Pho, add in the toppings that you prefer bean sprouts, thai basil and fresh chili to adjust the Pho to suit to your taste. For my case, add in everything except for the dry lemongrass sweet chili as I would like to savour it individual with the Pho and so as not to taint the beef soup. Before I add in the toppings, I took a sip of Pho beef soup and its strike me the beefy taste is more distinct than those Hainanese style.

Unlike the Hainanese Beef Noodle, the soup is clear as consomme which made it more superior as additional process of removing the scum (coagulation soluble albumin in raw meat during cooking) from the broth enhancing it richness. The Viet Pho (rice noodles) really goes well with the soup but the same cannot be say for the beef steak & brisket slice as it was overcook and tough. Some slices have tendon which make it even more difficult to chew.

If you have more flexible budget, I would suggest you order Phở Tái, Nạm, Gầu $11.95 (Viet Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, flank and fatty flank) and ask for special request that you just want fatty flank. Fatty flank doesn't get over cook that easily in the hot Pho soup while maintain its tenderness. If you not too fussy about the overcook beef, Pho Phoa is a strong contender to Hainanese style beef noodles like Hock Lam, Zheng Yi or Hong Heng with a more upmarket price after you include in the service charge & GST.  

Bánh Mì /Phở Bò Kho was serve next after I start feasting on the  Phở Tái, Nạm, Gầu. I couldn't wait till I finish the Pho Tai and start on Banh Mi. When I took a sip of the beef stew, it is the richest beef stew I ever tasted and it make Pho Tai's Beef soup pale in comparison. But the underside of the stew it is too salty for my palate and you can only enjoy it with bread, noodle or rice. Eating it without any side is suicidal to your general health. For same price, Banh Mi seem to be a better offer as Ban Mi have generous serving of stew beef chunks while Pho Tai only have few thin slice of beef. The stew beef chunks are pretty well stew to tenderness despite a few beef chunks miss the mark. In conclusion for my third visit to Pho Phoa, Ban Mi had left me a deeper impression than the rest.  

Emperor Meat Ball Soup

I'm down with flu and something soupy to combat the flu virus. After rummaging my fridge, I found I got some frozen minced beef left I decide to made Emperor Beef Meat Ball Soup.

Emperor Meat Ball Soup is a dish I conceptualize from the famous Pork Meat Ball Stew (红烧狮子头) that was served to Emperor Sui Yang Di (隋炀帝) of Sui Dynasty. Unlike its origin, my variant is healthier as the meat ball is steam and not fry. It is suitable for people that was down with flu as Chinese herbs are use to enhance efficacy of the dish to combat the flu virus.

Emperor Meat Ball Soup

• 300g Minced Beef (can replaced with pork or chicken)
• 1Teaspoon of soup stock concentrate
• 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1 Teaspoon of minced ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 Teaspoon of A1 Emperor Herb Chicken Spices
• 1 Egg
• 1 Packet of White Shimeji Mushroom

Chop half of the Shimeji mushroom into small bits as it will be mixed into the minced meat. Add in the minced beef, soup stock concentrate, garlic, ginger, A1 emperor herb chicken spices, sesame oil and chopped Shimeji mushroom in a mixing bowl. Use your clean hands and knead the mince meat and ensure the all the spices, mushroom and marinade is mix thorough. Slowly add in the beat egg wash while kneading the mince meat to help it bind the meat with the mushroom. Use your 2 hands and shape the mince beef to considerable size of 8cm. Line the meat balls in the ceramic bowl and top the rest of the Shimeji mushroom on the meat balls and steam it over a steamer for 1 to 2 hours till the bowl is fill with wholesome broth/soup as shown. Turn off the stove and serve it will rice or porridge.    

Lazy Man Pizza Toast

I'm eating this lazy man pizza toast as I writing this on my blog. The rainy days in Singapore is severely affecting my slimming regime namely no supper after 8pm. I decide to break this regime as I'm so famish even though I have a hearty Mala Beef Noodle for dinner. I made this toast because I got cheap salami scrap for mere $1.50 that need to be cleared before it goes bad, ciabatta bread I got from Giant last weekend due to expire as well and mushroom the is starting to withe. The end product is a yummy pizza toast that only took me 10 minutes to make.

Lazy Man Pizza Toast

• 1 Ciabatta Bread (normal bread will work just as well)
  
• 1 White Button Mushroom (can be replace with tomato if you don't have any)
  
• 2 Tablespoon of Ketchup
• Mozarella Cheese (any cheese will do when you are hungry)
  
• 8 Salami Scrap (you can substitute with ham, bacon bit or whatever toast friendly)

Slice the ciabatta bread to half and use a brush and brush the ciabatta bread evenly with ketchup. Layer the ciabatta with sliced white button mushroom follow by the salami scrap. Finally top it off with mozarella cheese and ensure the bread is even covered. Toast it in toaster oven for 5 to 8 minutes and you have your tasty lazy man pizza ready.

Tender Me Hearty Beef Noodle - Hong Heng Beef Noodle Soup & Katong Laksa

I'm meeting my long time friend who staying near Ang Mo Kio for brief get together at the same time to taste the self proclaimed "Beef Noodle King"(Link) Hong Heng Beef Noodle Soup & Katong Laksa. I met my friend at the AMK Hub - CitiBank ATM and proceed to walk to Hong Heng. The journey took us about 20 minutes as it located at deeper part of Ang Mo Kio Ave 3. 

Upon reaching the coffee shop at Block 233, we are quite surprise it is bustling with customer chowing down bowls of beef noodles. We are fortunately to find tables not fully occupied and I proceed to queue and order 1 dry beef kway tiao and 1 beef ball soup with rice ($9.50 for both) while my friend chop the table. The queue isn't that long as the stall attendant work fast in cooking the beef noodles.

 

The wait isn't long before my order came. I'm having Dry Beef Kway Tiao that comes with a bowl of beef soup and chinchalok chili. First, I tried the beef soup and it is on par with Hock Lum & Zheng Yi in the degree of beefiness. The only difference is the herbs used in making the soup. Hong Heng's beef soup is the best I drank so far as it isn't too salty or overladen with soya sauce and you can go for second and third if you stomach allows you.

The same cannot apply to the dry beef kway tiao gravy as it is too starchy and you can't even taste the beefy goodness in it at all. However, the serving is very generous as the owner clearly doesn't believe in profit from skimping on the essential ingredient that make up a good bowl of beef noodle - soup that pack a punch & generous amount of tender beef slices. The beef slices were cooked just right and tender me hearty kudos to the stall attendant. It will be money worth if not for the starchy gravy that spoil it. The chinchalok chili doesn't amaze me much if compared to Zheng Yi. Avoid the dry version at all cost, go for the wet version if you happen to drop by there.

I took a photo of the beef balls soup that I ordered for him. From his standpoint, he agreed with me Hong Heng's beef soup do pack more punch among those he tried. The beef balls doesn't have the overpowering gamey taste that is inherent to others he had tried. Although I do not eat beef balls that much other than those sold in supermarket, I agreed with him on this after he offered to one for me to try. This trip is worthwhile if not for the gooey beef gravy.

Adult Themed Burger King - BK Whopper Bar (Clarke Quay)

After having a hearty lunch at Bismillah Biryani, we decide to go jalan jalan in the search of new food haunts. After traversing through Suntec City, we finally set foot at Clarke Quay and surprise to find a BK Whopper Bar that differs from the regular BK outlets.

Upon stepping into the BK Whopper Bar, we thought we enter a night joint as the interior is dimly lit with rolls of plush leather seats on one side (Link1) and round top tables and chair on the other side (Link2).    

As we move those the cavernous passageway, we are greeted with BK flash menu. You won't find your average BK Rendang or BK Fish Burger here. BK Whopper Bar had revamp their menu (Link) and even give you to option to customise your own burger with topping of your choice. The most significant difference you find in Whopper Bar is alchoholic beverage (Tiger & Heinenken Beer) is available making it a more adult theme fast food outlet and first of it kind in Singapore.   

One of the BK Whopper Bar menu offering caught my eye, Angry Whopper - jalapenos, onions with a splash of Angry Sauce. I'm a fan of hot sauce therefore I proceed to order Double Angry Whopper meal set with 500ml Heinenken Beer priced at $15.90. The burger was made fresh in big open kitchen behind the cashier counter giving me a visual eye candy.

When I take my first bite into Angry Double Whopper, my first impression is BK Whopper Bar beef patties are significantly thicker than other outlets. The Angry Sauce wasn't that tantalizing as the spicy level is not up to my mark yet but the jalapenos do pack a bit of punch. The major displeasure I had with Angry Whopper is the burger bun start to disintegrate as I take further bites as a result my hands are both drenched with the sauce. Luckily, the restroom is just next door for me to do a quick clean up. Overall, it is a valiant effort for BK to revamp their product line. But BK Whopper Bar need to do a lot more if they plan to compete with local and oversea burger house that are offering freshly baked (non-disintegrating) buns and localize flavour meat patties like tandoori chicken.       

Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow

Today, I was "coerced" by my ex-colleague to join her for beef noodle dinner after work as it been quite a long while since we meet and she want to see my fruit of labor (the 9Kg I sheded in just 2 months without any special dieting or exercise). She manage to locate me in the crowd after much difficulty as she surprised how much weight I had shed. As it's pretty late, we cut short the greeting and proceed to the intended destination that is beef noodle.

I had no idea I will be having Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow along Purvis Street for dinner until my friend point it out to me. I had read quite a few positive review on Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow but I had yet taste it personally. So, I proceed to order $5 Dry Beef Kway Teow with the service staff. When the Dry Beef Kway Teow serve to me, I was quite surpise how "big" the serving is as I can get bigger portion at famous Scott Road Dry Beef Kway Teow at Orchard ION at comparable price. Portions aside, I decide to dig in and see how it fare against my favourite Zheng Yi Hainanese Beef Noodle.

Unfortunately, Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow dry version fail to impress me as similar to Scott Road the gravy have strong dark soya sauce aftertaste with just 3 beef slices. Much to my dismay, the beef slice is overcook and pretty tough. The only saving grace is the beef soup that accompanied the dry beef kway teow as the beef soup is comparable to Zheng Yi's beef soup in the herbs and beefy taste. However, Hock Lam's beef soup is more salty for those sodium intake conscious individual. For those going Hock Lam for their beef kway teow should forget about trying their dry version and order the wet version instead.

Chili Cheese Wedges

Why eat chili cheese fries from Carl's Jr when you can made your own no hold bars - Chili Cheese Potato Wedges LOL. My rendition is 2x more meaty, 5x more spicy and 10x more smoky that made Carl's Chili Cheese Fries pale in comparison. Enough blabbering and on to the recipe.

Chili Cheese Wedges

• Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style
• Potato Wedges
• Mozzarella (cheddar preferable as it melt easier)

Fried the potato wedges till golden brown and drained on Daiso tempura paper. Heat up the Tex-Mex Chili in the microwave oven for 2 mins. Then top the potato wedges with hot chili and mozzarellla. Serve it while hot.

Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style

Tex-Mex Chili is a spicy meat stew made from chili peppers, meat, garlic, onions and cumin in Texas with its root believe to originate from Mexico. I like the spiciness and beefiness of Tex-Mex Chili brought by the minced beef and chili peppers. Tex-Mex Chili is very versatile as you can serve it over tortillas, nachos, fries or as a topping for hot dog or sandwich.

Cooking Tex-Mex Chili is a challenge in Singapore as Chili spices are not readily available so you need to really substitute with local ingredients in order to made it as close to the original Tex-Mex Chili. Unlike those Carl's Jr chili, my rendition is smokey and beefy as I request the butcher to have the beef coarsely ground.

Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style

• 300g Mince Beef
• 1/2 Canned Cooked Kidney Beans
• 1 Medium Tomato Chopped
• 1 Medium Onion Chopped
• 17.5g Old El Paso Chili Seasoning (available in Cold Storage)
  
• 1 Tablespoon of Ketchup
• 1 Drop of Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke (available in Cold Storage)
• 2 Tablespoon of Habanero Hot Sauce (1 Tablespoon of Chili Padi Paste)
• 1 - 2 Drop of Da Bomb Ground Zero Hot Sauce (Optional)
  
• 1/2 to 1 Cup of Water
  
• Oil 
  

Warm up a non-stick pot with 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped onion until it start to turn color or soft. Add in the tomato for another 10 mins. Add in the mince, kidney beans and EL Paso Chili Seasoning and fried until the oil start to separate. You can add 1/2 to 1 cup of water if you find the chili too dry. Add in the Habanero Hot Sauce or Chili Padi paste as replacement into the chili to spice it up. Next, add in the ketchup to moderate the beefiness of the chili. If you found your Chili too wet, try mashing some of the kidney beans will help thicken the chili. I prefer my chili to have tinge of smoked flavor, so I add in a drop of Wright's Liquid Smoke. For those who like to scale the scoville, you can add in 1 to 2 drop of Da Bomb hotsauce to further hot things up.

Beef Keema

Keema is one of staple dish in North Indian Cusine serve with Naan bread toast over a tandoor. I used to frequent one of my favourite North Indian stall at Sim Lim Square Food Court as the chef there allow you to customize the spiciness of the Keema according to your preference. Since the stall had relocate to Little India, I hadn't have Keema for years and decide to indulge my craving by cooking my own Keema.

 Beef Keema

• 500g Minced Beef
• 1/2 Cup Green Peas (can add Corn Kernel or Carrot to reduce the meatiness)
  
• 2 Medium Onion or 1 Large Onion
• 2 Medium Tomato Chopped
• 1 2inch Cinamon Stick
• 2 Bay Leaves
  
• 4 Cloves
• 4 Green Cardamon
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Mince
• 1 Teaspoon Ginger Mince
  
• 1 Tablespoon Coriander Powder
• 2 Tablespoon Chili Powder (1 1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder for less spicy)
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
  
• 1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
• Salt
• Cooking Oil
• Da Bomb Hotsauce (Optional)
  

Heat a non-stick pot with 2 to 3 tablespoon of cooking oil, add in the bay leaves, cloves, cardamons and cinnamon stick and fried it till you smell the dry spice fragrance. Add in the chopped onion and fried together with the spice until it start to turn brown. You might add a bit of water if you find it too dry to facilitate caramizing the onion. After that, add in the chopped tomato and ginger and garlic mince to fry it further until the oil starts to separate.


After that, add in mince beef and fried it for 4 to 5 minutes. Add in the Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Chili Powder and Garam Masala and stirred the mince beef till it is evenly coat with the powder spices for 1 minutes. Next you can stir in the green peas and cook for another 2 mins. If you find the keema too dry, add in half a cup of water cover with a lid and let it simmer. Finally, do a taste test on the Beef Keema and add salt accordingly to your palate. The beef keema I cooked lack the spiciness I craving for therefore I add 1 drop of spice it up to my liking. For those faint of heart of spiciness, you have just follow the original recipe.

Zheng Yi Hainanese Beef Noodle

I used to work at Siemen Pte Ltd for a period of time. Zheng Yi Hainanese Beef Noodle is one of the best tasting Beef noodle I ever tasted. It is a located in a nondescript "Kopitiam" at  intersection between Macpherson Road & Tai Thong Crescent. Even now, if I happen to pass by that area on business (because I don't own a car) I always made the effort to reserve tummy space for a bowl of rich beef noodles. The photo here is taken last year when I happen to pass by when I sending a faulty hard disk for RMA and it high time I should give the photo I took due credit.

Zheng Yi's Beef noodle retail from $4 to $6 and and you can customise which beef part (stomach,intestine,cartilage) or just the meat itself. You don't see this kind of offering in famous beef noodles in Katong or Odeon beef noodle. Similar to other beef noodles, you have the option of dry or version with either noodles or rice flat noodles(kwaytiao). The dry version is basically the wet version whereby it was thicken and additional dark soya sauce is added to darken it.

My personal preference is the dry version as you can better savour the beefy rich sauce as its cling on the noodle better. Despite that, you won't find the Zheng Yi's dry version too starchy like Odeon or Scott. Zheng Yi's dry version also doesn't have overpowering dark soya sauce that is very predominant in the common Beef Noodle staff. Zheng Yi doesn't overcook the beef slice like common beef noodles stall which is plus as I don't like overcook beef. The chilli served together is special belachan chili that really blend well with the noodle and being a chilli fanatic I always add it into the noodle for additional spiciness.

The dry version of the noodle is also served with a bowl of beef soup as a side. This beef soup is the best beef soup I ever tasted as its very rich with a tinge of herbs giving you "power" when you drink it. The attributing factor of it richness is due to assortment of beef parts use to made the soup and the soup gets better when you have it near to the stall closure.

Another worthy must try is Zheng Yi's wet version as the noodles is serve with the concentrated beefy soup that was serve as a side in the dry version. Zheng Yi's beef soup is comparable to Viet's beef pho soup with slight variant in the herb use to concoct the soup.The ideal time to eat this beef noodle is during rainy season as the richness can simply warm your heart or rejuvenate your tired soul. For those beef noodle lovers who haven't try it, it is a die die must try.