Garlic Chicken Ham Portabello Baked Rice

Today is the final cook-out day as the long christmas holiday is ending. I decided to whip up a quick and easy Baked Rice as I got leftover yam rice and garlic chicken ham. Baked Rice is a derivative from French Au Gratin and is hugely popular in Singapore F&B restaurants like Swenson, Pastamania etc.

I dropped by neighbourhood NTUC scour all the offer items of the week - Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce ($3.95) and Portabello Mushroom ($2.95) to complete my baked rice creation. The baked rice come out great as the Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce is thicker than the normal Leggo Pasta Sauce as a result you can use it out of the bottle without the need to reduce it consistency. It is also ideal as a pizza base sauce as it's thick consistency will not cause your pizza base to become soggy.

Garlic Chicken Ham Portabello Baked Rice

• 2 slice of Garlic Chicken Ham
• 2 tablespoon of Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce
• 1 Portabello Mushroom Thinly Sliced
• 1 Bowl of Yam Rice
  
• Mozzarella Cheese

Layer the yam rice evenly on the ceramic baking dish.Optionally, you can use any cooked grain like couscous, fried rice or plain rice. Next layer the portabello mushroom slice to cover the rice leaving some for back rice topping. Slice the 2 slices of Garlic Chicken Ham diagonally until you have 8 slices. Layer the ham on top of each other on top of the portabello mushroom slices. Next scoop the Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce and ensure the whole baking dish is covered evenly with sauce. Now add in the rest of the portabello mushroom slice and top it off with mozzarella cheese. Baked in toaster oven for 15 mins until the cheese browned then serve hot.

Chinese Drunken Chicken

A change of work environment had kept me so occupied that I'm close to announcing my retirement to the world of cooking. Despite that, the spirit of cooking still burning strong in me and I took the opportunity of this long christmas holiday weekend to whip up this dish - Chinese Drunken Chicken. It is a chinese cold dish whereby the chicken have trace of liquor. It is one of the most unique chinese cold dish, as the chicken was serve chill which debunk preconception that chicken only taste good when it is warm.

Chinese Drunken Chicken

• 8 pcs of Chicken Mid-Wing (Thigh or Breast meat also goes well)
• 3/4 cup of Chinese Medlar
• 1/4 cup of Jujubes
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 1 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 to 1/2 cup of Chinese Cooking Wine
• 2 tablespoon of fish sauce or soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of honey (optional)

Wash the chicken to remove any excess blood and drain. Add in 1/4 cups of Chinese Medlar, 1 teaspoon of Salt and 1 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking into the chicken wings and marinate for at least an hour or 2. Then put the wings into a steamer and steam it for 1 to 2 hours until the wings is cooked tender and leave it to cool.

Now you prepare the chinese wine marinade that will be use to prepare the drunken chicken. Add 1 cup of chinese cooking wine and 2 tablespoon of fish sauce/soya sauce mix well. Crush the jujubes add it together with the rest of the Chinese Medlar into the wine marinade. Leave the marinade for 1 to 2 hours to let the Jujubes and Medlar flavor to diffuse into the chinese wine. 

After that slowly add in the steam wings into the wine marinade till the marinade cover the chicken completely and chill for 2 hours in the fridge before serving. This is optional, you can add in a tablespoon of honey into the wine marinade to add a sweet twist to the traditional dish.

Thickest Curry - Go! Go! Curry

Another Japanese franchise restaurant (Go! Go! Curry) have bare it fangs in B4 of ION Orchard, competing for a share of Singapore F&B pie with fellow Japanese restaurants Ginza Barin, Gindaco & Aoba. You will a LCD broadcasting in japanese about Go! Go! Curry exploits in other countries and the number of people queuing just to have a GO for their curry. As there isn't much a crowd that day, so we decide to give it a GO as well. 

We were offered a paper menu showing the wide options Go! Go! Curry offer. You will be stumble why they have so many classes (Healthy, Economy, Business & First) amidst the curry type selection. The class is actually determine the amount of rice you get for your curry type you select. You don't expect they will give you additional or bigger piece of Pork Katsu if you order First or Business Class. What you will be getting will be bigger rice serving as you go down the classes. From what we gather about Go! Go! Curry's curry gravy was made from organic onions and no sugar were added to sweeten the curry, only organic onions that were cooked under low heat until caramelized till pure sweetness is added to make Go! Go! Curry gravy and the color of the curry gravy is black reminding you of black sesame paste.

After browsing through the menu, we decide to have Grand Slam as it is the only curry selection with all the toppings offered in under one. So we happily order 2 set of Grand Slam ($18.50 SGD), least to our knowledge, we had opened a door to Jigoku (meaning Hell if translate from Japanese). Before our orders served, we noticed that Go! Go! Curry's curry gravy seem to be premium and they do not seem to serve it in abundance if compared to other curry rice I had in Waraku or Tampopo. So I order extra curry topping of $3.00 for both of us.  

When our Grand Slam was served to us, we got a shock of our life the sheer size of Grand Slam. Grand Slam is a Business Class ranking curry that imbued with all the curry toppings that is enough to feed 3 adults. Neighboring Go! Go! Curry patrons especially a particular Japanese family from opposite table were conversing and making reference to our pure boldness or foolishness to order Grand Slam.

With a do or die conviction, we grit our teeth and assault the curry like mountaineer assaulting Mt Everest. After drenching the extra curry gravy topping on the katsu, we scoop a big of the black curry to taste. Go! Go! Curry is the thickest curry gravy I ever tasted. The sweetness in the curry isn't those "artificial" sweetness you get from adding sugar. It is purely derived from the onions. The curry is rich in texture but in flavor department it is not overwhelming with curry spices that is prevailing in other curry rice offered in Singapore. 

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It is a love or hate depending on individual as it is very thick until you sometimes find you might not have enough to last your whole meal. Luckily, we order extra curry gravy toppings to avert this issue. The chicken and pork katsu fried till very crispy while still maintaining it tender. My friend did complain the pork katsu too thin and do not have enough fat as compared to Tampopo. At this price with so much toppings, such omission is permissible as long the katsu is fresh and not dry. The sausage and the ebi fry doesn't impress me much. The hardboiled egg was overcook as you can see sulphur rings in them.

It took us quite a while to conquer this Mt Everest curry rice with my friend trailing behind barely alive. Go! Go! Curry is a unique curry rice on its own but if they are going to establish their roots in Singapore, they need to do better than just offering curry rice as Singaporean are fickle epicurean that crave for food variety and there are other major Japanese F&B are also offering varieties of curry rice.   

Tonkotsu Ramen Born From Chaos - Ippudo Mandarin Hotel

Last weekend, I grace the newly renovated Mandarin Hotel shopping mall section and discover fabled Ippudo Hakata Ramen Restaurant finally grace Singapore F&B scene. So I gather my usual makan kaki and attend the soft opening of Ippudo Singapore this weekend.

I went to Ippudo early at 5.30pm (the queue was pretty brisk) in hope of making a reservation, however they do not accept reservation at the moment. By 6.30pm my Kakis finally came but the queue had grew immensely snake-like long. Eventually, we persevered for 1 hour and managed to queue into waiting area in Ippudo where you get to chow on peanuts while perusing their menu. There are primarily 3 types of ramen type available for selection: Shiomaru Motoaji, Akamaru Motaji and Shoyu Ramen. I decide to settle for the Shiomaru as I want to taste the Tonkotsu soup in it untainted glory while my makan kaki opt for Akumaru tonkotsu soup blend with unique miso & garlic oil. We decide to go all out and order the both chashu version ($18.00 SGD) with Nitamago ($2.00 SGD) to test out all 

It not long until we are usher to our tables and the attendants took our order promptly. The wait for the ramen is pretty long considering they have a extensive open kitchen with considerable number of chef cooking. You can feel the disorientation in the Ippudo's operation with orders serve wrongly or clients complaining they being overcharge for their order.

Nevertherless, the wait was worth it when you see the ramen serve to you. The first rule in consuming ramen is to drink the ramen soup. Ippudo's Shiromaru Motaji tonkotsu ramen is the richest tonkotsu (pork bone) broth I ever tasted surpassing even Tampopo's tonkotsu. The broth is rich but not overwhelming like Marutama It is lightly flavoured to suit the tastebud of average Singaporean who prefer low salt consumption and I simply can have second helping to the tonkotsu broth if it is free LOL.

The ramen noodle serve in Ippudo is same as Marutama's belong to those thin category. It is a either love or hate for Ippudo's ramen noodle. I generally okay with it although I would prefer those thick ramen noodle with el dente feeling. If you order the charsiew version, you get about 9 slices of tender light flavored charsiew that compliment the ramen well as they are very tender and not salty like some I've tasted. The wood ear is rarely added as a topping in ramen sold in Singapore, it is interesting to find it serve as ramen topping in Ippudo. The only grouse I had with Ippudo's ramen is the Nitamago is too over cook, for those ramen fanatics hoping to taste those semi-cooked ramen egg yolk can forget about tasting it in Ippudo. 

The Akamaru Motaji Tonkotsu Ramen is simply the Shiromaru version added a teaspoon of their own blend of Aka (Red) miso and garlic oil. My friend allowed me to try a bit of the red miso, it is pleasantly sweet and I believed it will bring a tinge of sweetness to the broth while the garlic oil giving support artillery assault on your palate. I would say Ippudo is a strong contender to current ramen operator out there due to its ability to offer a ramen that is close to Singaporean palate while retaining its Japanese roots. Ipppudo Ramen is really "Tonkotsu Ramen Born From Chaos" as a lot improvement need to be done in operation efficiency which is severely lacking in their soft opening.

Chinese Mala Hotpot Condiments

Chinese Mala "Spicy" Hotpot is such a fad in Singapore a lot of F&B importers are  importing the Mala Hotpot soup packs to resale to general consumer. Nowadays, you are easily spoil for choice with the variety of Mala Hotpot soup pack and I have consolidate a list of Mala Hotpot soup easily available in Singapore for those who want to DIY your own Mala Hotpot.

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.    

Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings

It is a busy week for me as I was busy preparing for my work duties hand over that give birth to this recipe - Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings that is equivalent of Mexican Chipotle Wings. The conceptualization of Chong Qing Mala Wings is from the famous Chong Qing Mala Hotpot - a popular chinese hotpot with thick layer of chili oil floating in the broth surface that any food condiments cook in it will have a hot spicy numbing taste that thrill your taste buds.

 Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings

• 8 Pcs of Mid Joint Chicken Wings
• 1 Tablespoon of Chong Qing Mala Hotpot Paste (available for sale in Sheng Siong Supermart)
• 1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine 
  

Marinate the chicken wings with cooking wine to remove raw poultry smell for 5 minutes. Add in the Chong Qing Mala Paste and rub it evenly on all the wings and ensure all the wings are coated with the paste. You do not need to add any other seasoning to the chicken because the Chong Mala Paste Paste is heavily seasoned and any additional seasoning added to to the wings will result in very salty wings. Heat up a non-stick frying pan without adding any oil (as the paste used to marinate the chicken already got chili oil in it), pan fried the wings for 5 mins on both side till you see it brown. Off the stove flame and leave it for another 5mins and serve hot with rice.

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.

Stir-Fried Thai Tom Yam Chicken

This weekend is fully packed with activities for me. As a result, I couldn't cook any fanciful food until I saw my jar of Thai Tom Yam paste in the fridge that spark off this easy-to-cook recipe in my mind - Stir-Fried Tom Yam Chicken. I like to cook this dish during a busy schedule as it is relatively easy and no complex food preparation needed beforehand. I made modification to the recipe by adding few sprigs of Thai Basil Leaves that further enhance the aroma of the Stir-Fried Tom Yam Chicken to a new level. 

Stir-Fried Thai Tom Yam Chicken

• 1 Medium Boneless Chicken Thigh (Cut in Chunks)
• 1 Tablespoon of Thai Tom Yam Paste
• 1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
• 1 Teaspoon of Thai Fish Sauce (Optional)
• 2 Teaspoon of Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Thai Basil Leaves
• 1 Tablespoon of Oil
  

Marinate the chicken thigh chunks with cooking wine, sugar, Thai Tom Yam paste and Fish Sauce. Make sure all the chicken parts are even coated and leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge for best result else at least leave it to marinate for 3 hours. Heat up the frying pan with oil, add in the chicken stir fry it for 5 mins until you see the chicken start to change color. Lower the heat as you do not want overcook the chicken and lose it tenderness, fried for another 5 mins then switch off the stove and add in the thai basil leaves and stir the chicken and make sure the basil leaves even distribute throughout the chicken. The latent heat from the Tom Yam Chicken will release the aroma from thai basil leave making the dish very aromatic and tasty.

Pad Thai That Touch My Heart - Ah Loy Thai

The foodie trek finally is coming to an end. I decide to end it at Shaw Centre (Beach Road) - Ah Loy Thai. Ah Loy Thai is one of the most elusive Thai restaurant I ever encountered as they do not operate in the afternoon or Sunday as a result I never got the chance to taste their Thai food.  

We reached Ah Loy Thai at 6pm and was delighted they are open for business. We are lucky the dinner crowd haven't came in yet. Ah Loy Thai is a no frills Thai restaurant as they do not charge GST or service charge. Basically, you tick down your orders on menu chit, paid for it at the cashier and sit down wait for your order to be serve. We order 2 Pad Thai ($4.80/pax) and a Thai Green Curry ($5.50).

 

 

As we gingerly wait for our orders, the dinner crowd finally comes and Ah Loy Thai  was fully packed in minutes with queue growing. At last, our Pad Thai and Green Curry finally came. When I took my first bite into the Pad Thai, I was amazed of the "Wok Hei" this Pad Thai packed. So far I haven't come across a Pad Thai that was cook with enough "Wok Hei" to touch my heart. The Pad Thai is adequately season with fish sauce coupled with generous serving of Sotong and Prawns that wasn't overcook. It might be a tat oily for some but the lime slice provide is adequate enough to reduce the excess oily feeling this Pad Thai might render.

I moved on try the Thai Green Curry and I find it not too thick (like soup curry) and not overwhelming with coconut cream which is a plus as I have bad experience with thick Thai Green Curry that gave me indigestion. My friend is surprised to find fish ball in the green curry as he no idea that fish ball can add as a accompaniment. The chicken pieces is chunky enough but wasn't as tender as I hoped. Ah Loy Thai would be the contender to rather expensive Thai Restaurant like ThaiXpress or Lerk Thai offering same kind of Thai food.

Temple Street Cookware Shops - Sin Huat/Lau Choy Sing

After finish my bowl of Lor Mee, it is time to move on to my next destination in my Foodie Trek that is cookware shops along Temple Street as I looking for some unique cookware to showcase my culinary creation.

The first cookware shop we set foot is Sin Huat. Sin Huat houses a wide assortment of cookwares as well as F&B industrial appliances ranging from blender to griller/oven. It is like mecca for all culinary artists irregardless if you are professional or amateur. I was deeply in trance when I step in the first level that houses the F&B appliances, pots/pans, glassware which is quite bizarre and not sold at your average supermarket or departmental store.  

I have no idea there is a second level at Sin Huat. So I happily prance up to the second level to find unique dining ware arrange in 4 rows of glass shelf. Some of the dinning ware shown below is even used in famous restaurant like Taste Paradise. But I didn't manage to find the dinning ware I wanted, so I proceed to Lau Choy Sing further down. Lau Choy Sing was bustling with customer therefore, I cut my trip short. However, I manage to find a cheaply price unqiue ceramic ware at Moderne shop across Temple Street.

Famous Lor Mee??? - Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee

After Maxwell Ham Jin Pang, it time to move to the next destination in the Foodie Trek is Amoy Food Centre that is located behind Maxwell Market. There are quite a few notable hawkers in Amoy Food Centre. I already set my target on the Amoy Street Lor Mee that was widely reported in the papers and TV. As it is our first time going to Amoy Food Centre, it took quite a while to reach there as we got lost when we took a wrong turn.

When we reached Amoy Food Centre at 2pm, a lot of stalls had already closed. However, lady luck is smiling in my favor as Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee is still open for business. As I notice they are about to close judging there is not much Lor Mee toppings left on the counter, I quickly proceed to order a small bowl of Lor Mee ($2.50).

Yuan Chun's Lor Mee is traditional style Lor Mee served with stewed pork belly, steam fish and fried crispy flour. However, it didn't hit me as the ideal Lor Mee I used to have when I was just a kid as the noodle isn't cook thoroughly as I can still taste the rawness. The stew pork belly and steam fish is rather dry maybe due to long exposure to atmosphere. Overall, it is a major disappointment (partly maybe because I came late during their closing) if compared to the Lor Mee I had previously in Tiong Bahru Market(Link). However, I will give the benefit of doubt to foodies that swear by Yuan Chun Lor Mee and reassess Yuan Chun Lor Mee at a later date.    

DIY Salty Fried Bun - China Street Hum Jin Pang

After having chicken rice, we still have some void left in our stomach. We decide to have Hum Jin Pang (literally translate as Salty Fried Bun) instead. Ham Jin Pang is a traditional bun that is cooked by frying. It is available either salty or sweet with red bean fillings inside. 

China Street Hum Jin Pang is one of the oldest resident hawker in Maxwell Market as far as I know. I have been eating their Hum Jin Pang since I was a kid and their Hum Jin Pang is simple down to earth without frills that capture heart of locals with price affordable ($1 for 6 buns) for all levels of life be it rich or poor.

The Hum Jin Pang is able to priced cheaply is due to the owner do not hire any extra helper and her belief Hum Jin Pang should be affordable to all walks of life. This belief really touch me as so far there isn't much hawker or restaurant dare lay claim on such belief.   

To keep cost low, everyone who ordered Hum Jin Pang will have to assist the owner to fry the Ham Jin Pang. Once you just place your order with the owner, pick up the long wooden chopstick and you ready to go. As my friend is not so adept in frying Ham Jin Pang, I took his place and fry our share. The main trick is to fry the Ham Jin Pang till golden brown then take out and drain on the colander. After that, you dip the Ham Jin Pang in caster sugar and pack it into paper bag. Ham Jin Pang is best consume when it newly fried as you can feel the outer crispy El Dente bun texture with traces of red filling spilling out that compliment with it. For those who never had freshly fried Ham Jin Pang to give it a try as it will be memorable to eat your own fried Ham Jin Pang.

El Dente Rice - Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

I met up with my dead beat friend (just complete his 10km Nike Run in the morning) at Outram MRT station. He wanted to tag along as I planning to go and feast on a few well known hawkers that lies along Chinatown. The first foodie trek stop of the day is Maxwell Market that lies along Maxwell Road. Maxwell Market house a lot of famous hawker foods that appeared in lot newspaper, magazine as well TV.

We decide to settle for hainanese chicken rice at Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice as we are both famished from the long wait for him at the MRT and his 10km run. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken rice have gain a lot of accolades from newspapers & TV naming it one of  the top chicken rice stall in Singapore. I persevere on even though the queue for Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice is snake-like long. My perseverance is finally rewarded when the auntie asked for my order.

I ordered 2 small plates of Hainanese Chicken Rice ($2.80) as I plan to save my stomach for others along my foodie trek. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken rice is very generous as they don't skimp on the meat even if it is just for $2.80. First bite on the rice, bring you nice aroma of pandan leaf chicken infused rice. The rice is very El Dente like risotto but not dry which is very nice, so far not much chicken rice I ate can match Tian Tian on El Dente department. Tian Tian's rice is oilier than normal chicken rice, if you are counting calories you might want to reduce intake.

Tian Tian's Hainanese Chicken didn't leave me much of an impression as the chicken meat is pretty firm (for those who like firm chicken meat) but I prefer it to be tender like one of the notable one I had in Golden Mile Market. It might be due to the type of chicken use as different type of chickens - farm or kampong offers different meat texture when cooked. Tian Tian's chili sauce is standard kalamansi chili blend with garlic and ginger which is slightly spicier than others. Overall, it is quite a nice chicken rice as for whether it is worth the queue is highly depends on individual. As for me, I will probably give it a miss.

Saturday Cooking Spree Afterthought

While cooking is a chore for most, cooking really bring me a lot of pleasure if compared to other types of hobbies. The sight of seeing the person you cook for enjoying the fruits of your labor is priceless. I would always go the extra miles to made a particular recipe or dish more flavorful or appealing as cooking for someone you know is very personal.

The same cannot be said for restaurant as every dish or recipe are subject to economy of scale and chef in the restaurant are subjected to cooking for many clientele at a single night as a result it might lack a personal touch. This is just a general statement as there is still a lot of great restaurants and hawkers out there serving great food even go to extra miles to customise to your taste. I know a few restaurant that go the extra miles to customise the dish to your preference.

I didn't cook much this Saturday as I plan to go on foodie trek with my friend in Chinatown district. However, I whip up a fast brunch peri peri winglet, ham mesculin salad, garlic potato soup accompanied with toasted garlic french bread for my mother before I moved out. There is a few hit and miss in this Saturday foodie trek which I will post later.

Pasandra Pork Curry

Pasanda Curry is a popular  Pakistani/North Indian curry meat dish originate from a meal served in the Court of the Moghul Emperors. Pasanda was originally made from leg of a lamb, flatten into strips. Mughal empire religious belief originate from muslim, therefore Pasanda Curry is only available in lamb, beef, chicken or prawn.

I decide to add a twist of chinese element into Pasanda Curry. Instead of using the meat commonly use for Pasanda Curry, I decide to use pork as the main ingredient for Pasanda Curry. I decide to use sliced Pork Belly as it is readily available in local supermarket in Singapore and the fat layered between the flesh will add additional flavour to the Pasanda Curry.  The Pasanda Pork Curry came out pretty well within my expectation. It is pretty thick and warmly spiced with a slight tang. For those who don't like tangy curry, you could replace yogurt with whipping cream or coconut cream. It is best serve with rice or naan.

Pasandra Pork Curry

• 125g Pork Belly Thin Slices
• 1 Medium Tomato Chopped Finely
• 1 Onion Chopped Finely
  
• 1 Teaspoon Ginger Puree
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Puree
• 4 Oz Water
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Ketchup
  

Marinade

• 2 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Salt

Combine all the dry spices and salt in a mixing bowl and add in the yogurt and stir it into a paste. Add in the sliced pork and made sure the paste is evenly coated in every pork slice and leave it to marinade in the fridge overnight or at least 3 hours.

Heat a non-stick pan and add in the oil. Add in the chopped onion and cooked until it turn brown and soften. Add in the chopped ginger and garlic and fry it till you smell fragrant release by the garlic and ginger. Add in the chopped tomato. You can add a bit of water if you find the mixture too dry. Fry until the oil separate then add in the marinate pork. Turn up the heat and fry for 5 mins add in rest of the water and turn down the flame and let it simmer for 10 mins then you are ready to serve it over rice or naan. As the curry aged, it get more flavorful.

New Sauce & Cooking Condiments Discovery

I'm always searching for new cooking condiments and sauces that will aid cooking various meal from different continent. Since it is deepavali long weekend, I decide it is high time I update my personal cooking condiment database. I struck goldmine at Mediya Japanese Supermarket at Liang Court Basement as they import quite a lot of new condiments and sauce

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop on my list is gourmet supermarket 360 Degrees at Orchard ION, I'm surprise to see the famous Tabasco Sauce Company - Mc Ilhenny Co came out their own special sauce fusion ranging from spicy ketchup to spicy teriyaki sauce giving those culinary artist more creation avenue.