Monthly Archives: June 2014

Average Lunch Buffet @ Street 50 Bay Hotel on 7June2014

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fried prawns

fried prawns

bought a S$20pax weekend asian lunch buffet voucher @ street 50 at bay hotel from groupon, so went there for lunch on 7.6.2014.

place is new. there is outdoor setting but it was hot & most part in the sun at lunch & very high ceiling (like 12m) so not useable when heavy downpour. it was fully booked so i could only get outdoors but i was there among the first few just before the crowd so managed to get seated inside anyway.

service was very good in terms of attitude & politeness, and i also got free parking coupon at the end. the food did not look exciting but did not look bad either. coffee was not included but iced water was quite fine. 🙂

pineapple curry chicken

pineapple curry chicken

fried beef average

fried beef average

curry mutton

mutton rendang

first foray

first foray

first foray

first foray

otah good

there was nothing to talk about in my first plateful. scallops & mussels were poor & tasteless (but they usually are even at say carousel for >S$60pax) w/o the thai? green dip sauce, which was also average. best was the otah (i had a second one later). the small octopus was quite good, and the long bean minced pork salad was ok. steam prawn was competent.

second foray

second foray

of the cooked food, curry chicken was quite good. curry was tasty, chicken ok but not really tender enough. mutton rendang was ok. fried prawn was tastier than the cold dish but just a competent prawn dish. mushrooms & spinach was pretty good. achar too.

beef ball beehoon soup

beef ball beehoon soup

the beef ball beehoon soup was competent. soup was very tasty but too oily.

crispy yam

crispy yam

sweet & sour fish

sweet & sour fish

third foray

third foray

fourth foray

fourth foray

the crispy yam was pretty good. sweet & sour fish was also good. 🙂

chendol good

chendol good

mochi is poor

mochi is poor

like the 9-layer cake

like the lapis sagu (九层糕)

and i liked the chendol & the  lapis sagu (九层糕). pulut hitam ok but mochi was poor – skin was thick & the inside was hard.

indoor seating

indoor seating

outdorr seating

outdoor seating

overall, i don’t really have much to comment about this place. food was competent. at S$20pax nett using groupon it was really very ok, though i am unlikely to return myself. at S$25++pax, hard to say, i mean, there are many alternatives like dinner@peach garden miramar for S$30nett pax.

c.h.e.f andy

Orh Nee with Pumpkin & Ginkgo Nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

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orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

decided to try making the popular teochew dessert orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥).

looked up some internet recipes, surprisingly turned out to be quite easy to do. 🙂

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

i bought a thai taro (yam) from sheng shiong (about 600g) & 1/2 a pumpkin (i used a 1/4 about 300g). i also had an unused packet of ginkgo nuts (200g) in the fridge.

ginkgo nut took a while. i added 3 heap tablespoon of brown sugar over the ginkgo nuts & melt the sugar over medium heat. i added some water & boiled the ginkgo nuts until the syrup reduced. then i repeated the process. took 15 to 20 minutes for ginkgo nuts to fully soften & be infused with the syrup.

i fried 2 shallots (sliced) in 4 tablespoon oil over low fire till brown and set aside.

i peeled & cut the yam in 1/2 & then 1 cm thickness. i diced a 1/4 pumpkin. then i placed both in a steamer & steamed for 20 minutes. i then mashed the yam & pumpkin (separately), pressing with the flat of the knife. it was quite easy to do. i added 1 tablespoon brown sugar to the pumpkin & 2 tablespoon to the yam. i then heat the yam over low fire in the non stick pan & added the onion oil, and checked for taste. i added another 2 tablespoon oil & some water, then mixed in the ginkgo nuts & topped off with the pumpkin.

the orh nee was quite good in colour, texture & taste. i would say better than the average ones in restaurants, some quite bland & tasteless.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 1 thai yam (600g)
  • 1/4 pumpkin (300g)
  • 1 packet ginkgo nuts (200g)
  • 2 shallots (sliced)
  • 6 tbsp oil
  • 6tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup water

Directions:

  1. add 3 heap tbsp brown sugar to ginkgo nuts & melt the sugar over medium heat in a non-stick pan. add some water & boil ginkgo nuts till syrupy. repeat the process adding water, take about 15 to 20 minutes for ginkgo nuts to fully soften & be infused with syrup.
  2. fry 2 shallots (sliced) in 4 tbsp oil over low fire till brown and set aside.
  3. peel & cut the yam in 1/2 & then 1 cm thickness. peel & dice a 1/4 pumpkin. place both in a steamer & steam for 20 minutes. mash the yam & pumpkin (separately), pressing with the flat of the knife. add 1 tbsp brown sugar to pumpkin & 2 tablespoon to yam. heat the yam over low fire in non-stick pan & add onion oil, checking for taste. add another 2 tbsp oil & some water, mix in the ginkgo nuts & top off with the pumpkin.

Best Value Chirashi-don Lunch @ Ginza Kuroson on 6Jun2014

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mesclun salad

this truly the best value chirashi-don in singapore.

P.S. subsequently i had dinner at momoya on 6.7.2014. the sashimi selection were slightly not as good as kuroson (with amaebi & mirugai etc) but it was like double the quantity.

i had taken this ginza kuroson chirashi-don quite a few times previously, but had not been there lately. having lunch with my sis today & decided to go kuroson on 6.6.2014. 🙂

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iced green tea (free flow)

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miso soup & pickles

at S$20++, the chirashi-don alone was good value. the set came with free flow iced green tea,  mesclun salad (& this had a lot of arugula & not a cheap salad), miso soup & a pickle.

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chirashi-don

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chirashi-don

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chocolate pudding

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chirashi-don

the chirashi-don itself was quite perfect as always. there were like 9 pieces of sashimi over the don. i counted 2 tai (or perhaps 1 tai, 1 hirame – the 2 white fish), 1 maguro, 1 shake (salmon), 1 katsuo (seared bonito), chopped aji (horse mackerel), 1 tako, 1 mirugai (geoduck) & 1 amaebi (sweet prawns), & piles of ikura, & some pickled ginger, sliced zucchini & chopped eggs. the rice itself was well vinegared & very tasty. this 1 of the worthwhile carbo I actually finished.

this would be much better quality & better value c/w the chirashi-don at tonkichi orchard central & the bara chirachi-don set at sun with moon.

lunch was very satisfying after quite long while. will come back soon.

c.h.e.f andy

Peranakan Feast at Friend’s House on 30May2014

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assam fish head curry

assam fish head curry

was looking forward to the peranakan feast at a friend’s place on 30.5.2014. this was the 3rd year i was invited to his fabulous lunches. 🙂

the first was a teochew gourmet lunch on 12.4.2012 & last year we had another delicious peranakan spread on 7.6.2103. and i kept thinking of the fish head curry. 🙂 and the penang laksa as well, especially when penang laksa is really not my favourite dish, much prefer lemak laksa with lots of “hum” (cockles). for me though this year’s babi ponteh was even better than last year. 🙂

assam fish head curry

assam fish head curry

#1 just look at the fish head curry, and it tasted as good as it looks. 🙂

peranakan feast

peranakan feast

nonya braised trotters??

nonya braised trotters??

nonya braised trotters??

nonya braised trotters??

#2 and the braised trotters. not sure what was the sauce & the name of the dish, but the texture was super, especially the unhealthy skin, quite gelatinous (“kar kar”) & the taste was wonderful. 🙂

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lontong

lontong

lontong

lontong

lontong

lontong

#3 lontong was also great, just enough lemak & very tasty, though lontong not quite my favourite dish, say c/w laksa or mee siam.

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chicken curry

babi ponteh

#4 and nothing beat this babi ponteh! it was so good, the sweet taste apparently from the onions. i must try doing this dish. 🙂

dhal sayur curry

dahl sayur curry

#5 this apparently not sayur lodeh but some dahl curry, with lots of sayur anyway. i love dahl curry with roti prata.

itek tim

itek tim

itek tim

itek tim

#6 itek tim (salted vegetable duck soup) was good too, very tasty.

#7 there was a smaller bowl of pig intestine soup in a photo above. it was good, just a bit more sour.

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1 of my 3-4 platefuls

plateful of food

plateful of food

there was papadum too.

nice dessert

nice dessert

there was a very good desert, was told the name but forgot. it looked a bit like pulut inti, but tastier. the coconut shavings were not so sweet & overall this was much better dessert. 🙂

bak chang & kee chang

bak chang & kee chang

bak chang & kee chang

bak chang & kee chang

& we got to take back bak chang & kee chang. i did not realise the last time that the kaya was for the kee chang & was happily eating it with bread & butter…lol. this time i ate the kee chang with kaya & i really liked it. the bak chang was great too! 🙂 i went to google bak chang recipe, don’t think i want to do this, lots of work. let me just work on babi ponteh first. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Oyster Egg (蚝煎) – Orh Jian

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orh luah = oyster omelette

orh jian = oyster egg

had a very nice orh jian (蚝煎) – crispy oyster egg – at beng thin hoon kee on 1.6.2014. 🙂

IQF (individual quick freeze) plump oysters from China

IQF (individual quick freeze) plump oysters from China

i enjoyed it so much i decided to have a go at it myself. i bought a 1kg packet of huge frozen oysters from sheng shiong for S$11.50. these were IQF=individual quick freeze, so very easy to just take out a few & put the remaining in freezer w/o defrosting them. i took out 12 plump oysters.

orh luah = oyster omelette

orh jian = oyster egg

beng thin's version orh jian = crispy oyster egg

beng thin’s version orh jian = crispy oyster egg

i saw a good internet video a hawker making crispy oyster omelette & also look at some recipes.

i mixed 3 heap tablespoon cornflour in a mixing bowl & added 1/3cup tap water for the batter, 1 teaspoon fish sauce & some pepper. i beat 2 eggs with chopped spring onions, 1 teaspoon fish sauce & some pepper.

i added 4 tablespoon oil to a non-stick pan on high fire, then drizzle the batter on the hot pan to form the base. i then added the egg on the batter, slightly spilling over the edges. i then pushed the egg batter aside (like in the video) & added in the oysters, making sure the oysters are not overcooked (& still plump & not shrunk). then i covered the oysters with the egg batter & flipped it on a serving plate. voila!

it was pretty ok for the first attempt. the egg batter was crispy. c/w beng thin’s version orh jian (crispy oyster egg) in above photo was like paper thin crisp.

i will probably try out sweet potato flour ( in place of cornflour ) OR a mix to see if i can get the more sticky starchy batter texture orh luah (蚝烙) that i like. & get some coriander to garnish. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Simple Nice Dinner @ Beng Thin on 1June2014

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orh jian = oyster egg

orh jian = oyster egg

went back to beng thin for dinner. we only 3pax, so just ordered their signature dishes = oyster egg, crabmeat fishmaw soup & sea cucumber duck. 🙂

was last here for a 10pax dinner on 23.12.2013, was pretty ok too, satisfying.

sea cucumber duck

sea cucumber duck

crabmeat fishmaw soup

crabmeat fishmaw soup

orh jian = oyster egg

orh jian = oyster egg

crabmeat fishmaw soup

crabmeat fishmaw soup

#1 the crabmeat fishmaw was a bit low on crabmeat. somehow it was not as tasty as before. 😦

#2 the orh jian (蚝煎) – very crispy oyster egg – was every bit as enjoyable (as always!) so much so i decided to try it at home myself. here’s my own oyster omelette. 🙂

#3 sea cucumber duck was also great. duck meat was soft not sinewy & sea cucumber & soup combination with the duck was quite good. there was a bit of tomatoes & celery. great dish. 🙂

there was a 15% discount for UOB cards. we paid S$77 nett after discount, quite ok for the 3 substantial dishes for 3pax.

c.h.e.f. andy