Happy New Year 2015!

Posted on December 31, 2014 by chefquak

Happy New Year 2015 to all my friends
新年快乐
즐거운새해보내세요
Yoi otoshi o! よいお年を！

A very happy new year 2015 to all!

4 things that made me really happy & feel good in 2014 are-

my weekly 10km jog with a close friend & the 100plus, nespresso chat afterwards

my 2 close friends organising 2 birthday dinners – one for me at chef chan’s & one for my wife at tunglok central

visiting my relatives in china – 汕头澄海

learning korean & making 3 good friends in korea

i continued my jogging in 2014. timing had slowed significantly & i now usually do 10km at 1hr 13mins on the track where previously i did 1hr 9mins in 2013 and 1hr 6mins in 2012. on the treadmill in the gym i can still do 1hr 6mins. 🙂

also for 2nd half of 2014, i did mostly 2 times a week where previously i did 3 times a week consistently.

i had a lot of family time including with my son in london, and we also travelled to cambridge, lake maggiore & milan.

before that i had a wonderful vacation with wife & daughter to amsterdam, lake como, cinque terre & milan.

i spent lots of times with friends, including lots of home cooking. i am very grateful for their friendship. and on 22.12.2014, we had 128pax gathering at our alma mata raffles institution auditorium including 10 teachers. 🙂

xxxxxxxxxx

this evening, the children have their own programs. tomorrow, we have a 20pax homecooked family new year day lunch. so for this evening, my wife & i decided to have a simple dinner at home just 2 of us (二人世界). ^^

i bought a piece of USA Harris black angus ribeye from mmmm at west mall. it was expensive today, no discounts & price went north as well!

black angus ribeye (USA Harris)

black angus ribeye (USA Harris)

pumpkin tofu salad

portobello

coffee from our jura machine

wife made the pumpkin tofu salad, portobello & onions. i did the ribeye. we had a very good sake to go with the meat.

nice, simple dinner. after that we slowly sipped a nice cuppa!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

c.h.e.f andy

2014 in review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by chefquak

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 190,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 8 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Excellent Teochew Cold Crab @ 帝威Di Wei Teochew Restaurant on 28Dec2014

Posted on December 29, 2014 by chefquak

S$16 large cold crab

帝威Di Wei Teochew Restaurant is located at food canopy @ singapore botanical gardens. it’s a nice airy canteen, not crowded and with ample parking.

di wei teochew restaurant @ food canopy botanical gardens

we came here to have roti prata at the muslim food stall S.M. Aisha on 28.12.2014, and was staring at the 2 large cold crabs on display at the teochew stall next to it.

we finally decided 1/2way through our roti prata, to end the staring & all unfulfilled desires and bought one S$16 cold crab.

S$16 large cold crabc

it was really good! ^^

it was large, packed with roes, and the meat filled to the shell. meat was sweet.

at first, they gave us a sweet red chilli, the type used in some dimsum restaurant. after some bites, i decided not to let live & asked if they had the teochew “kig you” 桔油.. they had, and very friendly & cheerful about it. so, always ask… ^^

ya..i love this crab..cold crab was S$28++ last time at chui huay lim. this S$16 was just as good.

i plan to come back & try their other teochew food, like braised duck, sambal crayfish etc.

c.h.e.f andy

Love This Place – Assembly Coffee (on 28Dec2014)

Posted on December 28, 2014 by chefquak

cafe mocca

son is back for 2 weeks winter break, & i am having more coffee breaks than i had for the whole year. 🙂

this time we had sunday brunch – roti prata at S.M.Aisha & teochew cold crab at di wei teochew restaurant at food canopy at botanical gardens. :-).

afterwards, we walked over to assembly coffee for a cuppa on 28.12.2014.

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assembly coffee

flat white

lemon meringue

assembly coffee is a nice cool place to chill. we had 2 flat whites, a cappuccino & a cafe mocha, plus a lemon meringue.

the young lady barista created a beautiful, delightful swan latte art on the cafe mocca. it looked so easy…

the coffee & milk micro-foam were smooth & nice flavour.

daughter ordered a lemon meringue. it was very nice. lemon was tangy not too sweet & combined well with the biscuit crust & cream. i think i can make this one. so definitely try it at home. ^^

bill

cafe mocca

i will put this on par with chye seng huat at tyrewhitt road & dutch colony at pasarbella @ grandstand turf club road, with the advantage that it served a really good lemon meringue. i will also try the waffle & the salted caramel nut cake? next time. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Roti Prata @ S.M. Aisha at Food Canopy Botanical Gardens on 28Dec2014

Posted on December 28, 2014 by chefquak

roti prata gosong

family went food canopy @ botanical gardens on 28.12.2014. 🙂

roti prata gosong

muslim food stall @ food canopy BG

we had roti prata at the muslim food stall S.M. Aisha. each of us had 2 prata gosong. son added a egg prata as well.

total for 4pax for 8 gosong + 1 egg prata = S$7.80.

last 2 times prata here was very good.

this time was ok but not as good. for me, whether crispy or doughy, most important is the taste. today it’s so so. daughter said recently she went back to mr prata, & it was good. these food do vary a bit.

c.h.e.f andy

Wok Fried Manila Clams 香锅炒蛤蜊

Posted on December 27, 2014 by chefquak

#1 stir-fried manila clams with curry leaves

stir-fried manila clams with curry leaves – 28.10.2015 update

oct2015 update – i have done this dish a few times now. the best rendition was when i did a 9pax teochew muay lunch for my friends on 28.10.2015 (top photo).

wok fried manila clams 香锅炒蛤蜊

wife went to chinatown today & bought S$6/kg manila clams, a kind of soft-shell clams or steamers.

manila clams are much lighter & tastier than the hard shell littleneck clams (the usual lala) though some called manila clams lala also. so even though they cost higher per kg, you actually get your money’s worth.

wok fried manila clams 香锅炒蛤蜊

for today i fried it with butter, chilli padi, curry leaves, orange zest, sliced ginger, white wine, oyster sauce + corn flour on high fire.

need to drain (keep sauce) so as not to overcook clams, return sauce to pan to thicken, then return clams to coat with sauce for few seconds.

this time, the result was a super nice wok-fried manila clams – 特好吃香锅蛤蜊。。。

i was thinking probably need not mix the 2 styles also-

i can try the usual butter, chilli padi, orange zest, ginger & white wine which is my usual preparation for mussel pot or clams & mussels for pasta & risotto.

or i can do the curry leaves, chilli padi, sliced ginger, oyster sauce, corn flour good for toa tao & clams the asian style.

this time though the mixture of taste was quite excellent. everyone enjoyed the dish. ^^

stir-fried manila clams with curry leaves – 16.10.2015

stir-fried manila clams with curry leaves – 16.10.2015

subsequently, i did this dish a few times, and they were consistently good.

the best was still that shown in the top photo!

c.h.e.f andy

Deconstructed Strawberry Cheese Cake – Soooo Delicious!

Posted on December 27, 2014 by chefquak

deconstructed strawberry cheese cake

deconstructed strawberry cheese cake @ relish gardens

revisiting the deconstructed strawberry cheese cake @ relish gardens earlier on 1.12.2014 very much piqued my interest to give it a go.

the presentation & especially the taste was great! (above photo). i did not have any recipe & searching the internet did not yield much results. anyhow i make a good pumpkin cheese cake & figure i can do it with strawberries w/o much difficulty.

the end result was pretty good (see top photo). my biscuit crust was excellent, cripsy, tasty. cream & strawberries were great too. the cake though was much below the very tasty & better textured cake relish had.

strawberry cheese cake

to experiment, i started with the full (not deconstructed) version.

i tasted caramel & nuts in relish’s version, so i added 50g caramel (leftover from making my banoffee cake) & about 50g cashew nut mill (baked crispy 2mins+ in microwave then pounded in a mortar) to 7 digestive biscuits (105g) & 60g butter.

i blended 200g of strawberries, 250 cream cheese & 100ml of whipped cream with 3 tablespoon brown sugar.

I first baked the biscuit crust for 15mins in a preheated 180degC oven, & left it for another 30mins to dry out & become crispy. then i poured the cake mixture into the springform cake tin & baked for 30mins.

i let the cake cool & then topped it with 200ml whipped cream with 1 teaspoon brown sugar & 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

result was above.

caramel cashew nut digestive biscuit base

for the deconstructed version, i did the same thing & left the biscuit crust in the fridge overnight & break it into bite-size cookie pieces next day. they were delicious, nutty & caramel flavoured. ^^

strawberry cheese cake

i baked the cake mix separately in a baking dish. the cake mix tasted great before the baking, but the texture & taste was quite far from the excellent cake i had at relish.

my thoughts are to increase the whipped cream to 200ml, reduce the strawberries to 120g, and reduce baking time to 15mins.

whipped cream

strawberries

i made 200ml whipped cream separately.

& served another 250g cut strawberries.

deconstructed strawberry cheese cake

for assembly of the deconstructed cake, it was straight forward.

everyone D-I-Y & added their own caramel nut biscuits, strawberry cake & topped with whipped cream & strawberries. it was really delicious!

but, it can be improved.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Cuppa @ Dutch Colony Pasarbella on 26Dec2014

Posted on December 27, 2014 by chefquak

flat white small – S$4.50

family decided to go out for a cuppa on 26.12.2014.

ducth colony @ pasarbella

grandstand at turf club road is nearby. we decided to go to the dutch colony @ pasarbella. it’s quite a hip joint, nice cosy place, great ambience. 🙂

banana cake with cream cheese

flat white large – S$5.50

i don’t go out for coffee often. the last time i had a nice cuppa with wife was at chye seng huat at tyrewhitt road on 17.9.2014.

i have a good coffee machine at home & recently i ordered 8x1kg caffe aurora from qbfood (it’s like 40% the price of lavazza coffee from culina! mostly when i had coffee outside it would be the “kopi-c go song tilok” aka kopitiam kind. ^^

we had flat whites & the children had some banana cake. like chye seng huat the coffee here was quite good. flavour was great, frothed milk was velvety smooth & combined well with the coffee. this reminded me also of the nice cuppa i had in london with my son-

at monmouth cafe in covent gardens on 22.8.2014, and

at melrose & morgan during our walk along regent’s canal to primrose hill on 24.8.2014.

the 2 in london were much better but that could also be the colder weather & we were doing a bit of walking & the mood was right & perfect for a cuppa.

by comparison i feel chye seng huat is better but really not by much. CSH place is cool but dutch colony is nearer if i really want to place with good coffee to chill.

c.h.e.f andy

Nice Dinner with Son @ Arossa on 23Dec2014

Posted on December 26, 2014 by chefquak

1/2 dozen oysters

arossa @ scotts square

had a nice, quiet dinner with son at arossa on 23.12.2014. 🙂

was last here with wife on 3.9.2014.

we were given a corner table by the window overlooking scotts road with all the christmas decorations.

son wanted some oysters as starter. we decided to order a wagyu steak each & a lobster ravioli to share.

nice oyster

the oysters were excellent, very sweet, plump & tasty.

lobster blackened spinach ravioli

the lobster blackened spinach ravioli were tops too. 🙂 the restaurant split for us so we had 3 ravioli each. the lobster broth or emulsion was superb.

A5 miyazaki wagyu 150g

the A5 miyazaki wagyu was also top fine dining standard. so what’s missing?

first, it was now 150g instead of 180g. i guess that’s ok. wagyu was good, very tender, good tasting, presentation was good also, definitely equalled or beat any fine dining restaurant serving good steaks.

but i could tell instantly that the presentation, sauce etc basically everything was different from the japanese presentation the last 2 times – see photos of the kagoshima wagyu on 3.9.2014 & the miyazaki wagyu on 16.8.2014.

& taste-wise somehow it did not have the standout marbled fragrance of a top japanese wagyu cut.

dinner for 2pax was S$143 after 50% palate discounts with amex.

sadly, arossa is closing by end jan2015 & we were told watanabe-san, the grill chef helming the restaurant is returning to japan to start her own restaurant. good for her & all the very best! 🙂

i will probably return before end jan2015 to have a last go.

c.h.e.f andy

冬至吃汤圆 (Eating Sesame Mochi Dumplings with Arrival of Winter) on Winter Solstice 22Dec14

Posted on December 26, 2014 by chefquak

冬至吃汤圆 (eating sesame kochi with arrival of winter)

冬至吃汤圆 (eating sesame mochi with arrival of winter)

some korean friends were sharing with me on email about eating 팥죽 (red bean soup) & 동지 (winter solstice) on 22.12.2014.

i later posted on Facebook-

yesterday was 冬至means arriving of winter.

did not pay attention when younger..always thought it was “tan joyk” 冬节 but a friend on wechat 微信 said they are the same thing – 1 is a day the other an event. maybe?

my china relatives eating 汤圆 & putting out a table, i guess to pray?

some korean friends too eating 팥죽red bean soup – din understand that part (later i googled & saw that that’s what they do..& sometimes they also added 汤圆 to the 팥죽).

black sesame mochi 汤圆 – 2packets x 10 for S$2.95 only at giant

冬至吃汤圆 (eating sesame mochi with arrival of winter)

bought some from giant – 2 packets x10 for S$2.95.

i still like it now. ^^ 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. ok from wiki = http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/冬至

冬至，又稱「冬節」、「賀冬」，台灣又稱「入冬」….因为冬至并没有固定于特定一日，因此和清明一样，被称为“活节”。…never knew that was the meaning of <warh joyk>“活节”

one friend said-

It is “活节” based on Lunar calendar. It is always fixed on 22 Dec based on solar calendar.

another friend found this-

http://www.yourchineseastrology.com/holidays/winter-solstice-festival/

the debate or musings continue…^^

So-So 4pax Dinner this time @ Kok Sen Keong Saik Street on 21Dec2014

Posted on December 25, 2014 by chefquak

claypot yongtaufoo

the family went to watch dimsum dolly at esplanade. after the show 4 of us decided to go kok sen for zi char food. we were early before 6pm on a sunday 21.12.2014, & was lucky to get a parking lot right next at kok sen right away. 🙂

claypot yongtaufoo

we ordered the usual. claypot yongtaufoo was very good.

deep-fried tofu drizzled with minced pork

the deepfied tofu dish though was much below par. tofu was ok, sauce very average. quite strange…just looked at the photo of dinner here on 7.8.2013. the dish did not even look the same.

blackbean snkaehead (tomen) fish belly with bittergourd

blackbean snakehead (toman) fish belly with bittergourd

the blackbean fish belly bitter gourd was a good as always.

sanlo horfun (生捞河粉)

but the sanlo horfun (生捞河粉) was also below par, not much of wok hae. there were a lot of snake head (toman) sliced fish though.

we had our favourite romaine lettuce (油麦菜) as well.

the 4 dishes with some lemon juice drinks cost $56. but mainly the food was a bit tak shiok! not so fun…maybe should try dongya (东亚) next time.

c.h.e.f andy

Scrumptious Lunch at Friend’s Home on 19Dec2014

Posted on December 25, 2014 by chefquak

scrumptious spread

a friend organised for us to watch exodus (& we had light dinner at timhowan at west gate mall after the show). got homecooked lunch thrown in some more. fully fed before crossing the red sea. haha. ^^

there were 6 of us joining lunch on 19.12.2014. we had a scrumptious lunch..truly a labour of love.. 🙂

another friend came later & brought back the thai curry & some other food which they then had for dinner after “dry swimming” & was singing praises on how good the thai curry was over whatsapp.

our superbred teochew ah hia who knows everything under the sun about teochew food, culture & whatnots brought some teochew cooked fishes from chong boon market at amk ave10.

buddha jump over the wall bjotw

we had buddha jump over the wall bjotw. there were thick mushrooms, fish maw, chicken & sliced abalones.

糖醋排骨 sweet sour pork ribs

the 糖醋排骨 sweet sour pork ribs was excellent, very tender & mildly sweet, great texture & taste.

claypot rice

i loved the claypot rice, very nice flavours. the chinese sausage & duck liver sausage were just wonderful. had a second helping for someone who eschew carbs.

thai curry chicken

thai curry was ok for me. nice aromatic thai curry using pre-packed sauce bought from beach road.

dried oysters with moss

& there was dried oysters with moss or 蚝屎髮菜 or 好事发财 all ready for chinese new year.

cooked treadfin & yellow croaker

cooked silver fish

the teochew ah hia bought some “her poon” cooked fish (鱼饭) = 1 “gnor soon” (treadfin), 2 “ang huay tor” (yellow croaker or 小黄鱼) & some silver fish. the friend prepared some bean paste 豆浆 & some “sng ni chor” 蒜泥醋 for fish dip. great stuff!

i am teochew & though i like cooked fish (i mostly prefer mullet 乌鱼) i am not overly enamoured with them. we managed to finish 1 treadfin & 1 yellow croaker & some silver fish among us.

egg pancake

egg pancake used some thai vegetables (looked like dill). nice, i liked it.

buddha jump over the wall bjotw

claypot rice

rosella jelly with mango dessert

& we finished off with some rosella jelly with mango dessert. i finished 1 whole lot. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Average Too Ordinary Dimsum @ Timhowan 添好运 at Westgate Mall on 19Dec2014

Posted on December 23, 2014 by chefquak

crispy char siew pao

a friend cooked an excellent lunch today for 6pax on 19.12.2014. 🙂

after that 4 of us went to JEM (jurong east mall) to watch “exodus”. carpark was full so we parked at westgate mall which was linked to JEM at level 2.

after the movie we walked back to westgate mall & had a light dinner at timhowan 添好运 (still full from the excellent lunch).

we dutifully ordered the crispy char siew pao.

i must have had one too many of this. had much better crispy char siew pao at canton paradise several times. didn’t like it as much it now.

teochew dumplings, hargao & 马拉糕

har gao was good but for me canton paradise’s har gao & imperial treasure teochew’s har gao were better.

马拉糕 was never my thing, even at hong kong timhowan outlet – an enigma to me. tasted like “wa kor kuay”.

teochew dumpling 潮州粉粿 was competent.

fu pei quin 腐皮卷

fried carrot cake

fu pei quin 腐皮卷 & fried carrot cake were ok.

anyhow overall the food was really mediocre, which to me meant a disappointment.

dinner was just S$39 but we had very little food for 4pax.

for me, there is no reason to have these average food when i can get better food at canton paradise, imperial treasure & crystal jade for largely the same price.

c.h.e.f andy

Instant Chashu Mala Ramen (麻辣快熟面)

Posted on December 23, 2014 by chefquak

instant chashu mala ramen (麻辣快熟面)

had some 蒜泥白肉 belly pork ingredients leftover from my 14pax RI friends & spouses dinner on 18.12.2014.

added them to instant sichuan mala noodles (麻辣香锅快熟面) the next day on 19.12.2014, just putting 2 & 2 together.

instant chashu mala ramen (麻辣快熟面)

it said only mildly spicy on the packet. indeed this was just the ideal level of spiciness & still quite explosive flavours. & the chashu (slow braised belly pork using cold crockpot on low) made a perfect combination.

i am rediscovering instant noodles – this one just S$3.50 for 5 packets. the other very good ones i had were –

nissin kyushu black japanese ramen,

mykuali penang white curry noodles.

all 3 cost about S$0.70 per noodle packet, between S$3.50 and S$3.80 for 5 packets.

i liked all of them. currently i like this 麻辣香锅面 best! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: Fun 14pax RI Friends & Spouses Homecooked Dinner on 18Dec2014

Posted on December 22, 2014 by chefquak

6hr “Sous Vide” Miso Lamb Shoulder

Posted on December 21, 2014 by chefquak

miso lamb shoulder

this (above photo) was my very first attempt on miso lamb, which I did for a 11-course dinner for 11pax on 5.5.2014.

i do a good pistachio crusted rack of lamb but no other variations. decided to do a 3-day miso marinade on a cheap frozen lamb cut & coincide the 6hr sous vide bath in 90degC oven with the char siew (to save electricity).

90degC (oven temperature) is also the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours.

160°F/70°C — Connective tissue collagen begins to dissolve to gelatin. Melting of collagen starts to accelerate at 160F and continues rapidly up to 180F.

miso lamb shoulder

i did again for a 12-course 9-pax homecooked chinese dinner for friends on 15.7.2014.

that was the best i did then, better than the last 2 times & w/o the gamey taste. the 3-day miso marinade & 6hrs “sous vide” in 90degC oven did the trick. many liked this.

miso lamb shoulder

most recent was a homecooked dinner for 14pax friends + spouses on 18.12.2014.

the miso lamb shoulder chop was ok, very tender, with strong lamb flavours nicely masked by miso.

lamb though is in general not much a favourite dish among my family & friends, and a tenderised lamb shoulder, even miso-falvoured, cannot really match a good rack of lamb.

after having the most wonderful rack of lamb i had so far at american club amarone wine dinner on 29.11.2014, i was thinking of trying out a herb crusted rack of lamb as a variation of my pistachio rack of lamb.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

packet of lamb shoulders from Giant S$4.95 (300g)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp miso paste
3tbsp cup mirin
3tbsp cup cooking sake

Directions:

mixed saké, mirin, sugar & miso paste in a large bowl and whisk.
scald lamb shoulders with boiling water to remove scum. place lamb shoulders in a ziplock bag & pour in the cooled marinate and leave in fridge for 3 full days. turning over once in the morning & once in the evening to ensure all sides are fully coated.
take out lamb shoulders & place it in an oven dish with lid with the miso marinade just covering the lamb for 1/2 hr to get it to room temperature. place it in the preheated oven at 90degC for 6hrs. 90degC is the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours.
cut the lamb shoulders to bite size & serve.

Fun 14pax RI Friends & Spouses Homecooked Dinner on 18Dec2014

Posted on December 21, 2014 by chefquak

#8 dry wok prawns

invited my regular group of RI friends (this time with spouses) for a homecooked dinner on 18.12.2014. we had 14pax = 5 couples + 4 guys. 🙂

i prepared mostly pre-cooked food that could be served buffet style, so we could all sit down & enjoy the food & conversation together. 🙂

planning was important. i intended several items which i cooked/made final preparations only when all the guests arrived – tagliata di manzo (angus striploin steak), dry wok prawns, pumpkin salad, fried rice.

in the end timing was quite well managed for dry wok prawns & fried rice. for the salad & the rockets/cherry tomatoes bed for tagliata di manzo, they were done too early & the rockets were soggy (unlike my recent lunch which the pumpkin salad & the rocket bed for tagliata di manzo were quite perfect).

#1 pumpkin tofu salad

#1 my wife’s pumpkin tofu salad was an excellent dish when i served during the recent lunch.

this time it was a bit lacklustre. seasoning with sea salt, olive oil & balsamic were done too early. somehow pumpkin was not as sweet.

#2 beer can chicken

#2 beer can chicken was good as usual – tender, moist, tasty. 🙂

＃3 miso salmon belly

＃3 oven grilled miso salmon belly had been a favourite with my family (& friends also during recent lunches), and again a favourite this evening. 🙂

#4 teriyaki cod

#4 teriyaki cod was good as cod goes. i made it very much less sweet & healthier (no sugar only mirin this time).

#5 6hr sous vide miso lamb

#5 the 6hr “sous vide” miso lamb shoulder chop was ok, very tender, with strong lamb flavours nicely masked by miso.

#6 tagliata di manzo

#6 tagliata di manzo (using angus striploin). the bed of rockets & cherry tomatoes were mixed too early so a bit soggy.

steak was medium rare & flavourful, but i was slightly distracted & the charring was somewhat insufficient to produce good enough mallard reaction. also the angus striploin, unlike ribeye, had a bit of tendon, not so ideal.

#7 spicy belly pork 蒜泥白肉

#7 spicy belly pork 蒜泥白肉 was simply wonderful. it was slow-braised using cold crockpot on low almost 6 hrs to 79degC. belly was very tender & the sichuan 麻辣 chilli mix was excellent. 🙂

#9 spicy seafood fried rice

#8 my dry wok prawns is of consistent good standard, charred & flavourful, taste of chilli padi & fish sauce.

#9 my spicy seafood fried rice will never get to crystal jade standard, but it is also consistently good, nice wok hae & flavours with lots of prawns & squid.

#10 stir-fried romaine lettuce

my helper cooked the romaine lettuce, one of our favourite vegetable dish.

#11 chocolate ganache vanilla banana cake

a friend brought a #11 chocolate ganache vanilla banana cake.

#11 chocolate ganache vanilla banana cake

it was a lovely 2-layer vanilla cake with banana in between & covered with chocolate ganache – a really standout first attempt by him! 🙂

#12 tiramisu

#12 my no-bake tiramisu is now another crowd favourite. it was 1 of the easiest dessert to make.

#13 healthy peanut candy

a friend brought a #13 healthy peanut candy (held together by maltose instead of unhealthy sugar), it was nice.

#14 pumpkin cheese cake

i had a #14 pumpkin cheese cake on standby. i sensed that the friends wanted to try, so it was served & we managed to finish 1/2 the cake. it was ok but not as good as the pumpkin cheese cake we had for our recent lunch which was really good.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Crab Dinner @ Momma Kong’s on 20Dec2014

Posted on December 20, 2014 by chefquak

crab beehoon soup

daughter & friend bought 6pax family dinner @ mama kong’s at mosque street on 20.12.2014 🙂

we were worried about traffic & parked 2 streets away at temple street, but actually there were quite a few lots at mosque street at 6pm on a saturday.

we seldom eat crabs. mainly because everyone is lazy to do the shells, and crabs are kind of rather ex in singapore. the last time my wife & i had crab at ming kee, very enjoyable of course – the 1.4kg sri lankan crab alone cost S$75.60++. not quite my thing but once in a long while i can be a bit crabby.

momma kong’s

the small restaurant was packed full. we had a table which was comfortable for 4pax but kind of cramped for 6pax.

stir-fried chilli squid

i guess everyone came here to eat crabs, so stir-fried chilli squid was the only non crab dish we ordered.

crab beehoon soup

chilli crab

butter crab

we ordered crab beehoon soup, butter crab & chilli crab = any set of 3-crab for S$118 on the menu, a small discount from ordering 3 separate crabs at S$42each.

later we added another crab beehoon soup. no prizes for guessing which crab we liked best. 🙂

all the crabs were good. they were smaller crabs, from vietnam or indonesia maybe, about 800g? not sri lankan crabs. all 4 crabs we ordered, the meat were firm & completely filled the shell and very sweet, so for me it was very good & not overly ex.

the chilli crab sauce was competent but i guess boring. the butter crab sauce tasted like the very nice salted egg pumpkin crab sauce at ah yat which i like a lot. it’s a toss up with the crab beehoon soup. usually the impression is that the crab flavours go into the soup (which it did) so the crab is less tasty. in this case though the crab was still tasty & i guess the beehoon soup trumped the butter crab sauce. ^^

we had buns of course, both deep-fried & steamed to wipe up the chilli sauce & butter sauce. 🙂

overall, it was an excellent dinner. excluding wine & beer etc (seems that corkage is only from second bottle onwards, so first bottle free). table was really cramped & i broke a wine glass when reaching out for food. crab! very sian! a server later broke another glass. maybe my table is jinxed.

i may actually come back again though i am not so very crabby person.

c.h.e.f andy

Delicious Dinner @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 16Dec2014

Posted on December 17, 2014 by chefquak

bamboo clam S$12.80pax

had a wonderful dinner with wife at tunglok signature, orchard parade last evening on 16.12.2014. 🙂

we had the amex palate privileges (50% discounts for 2pax). tunglok group though have this strange rule that it applies only to ala carte orders during weekdays & only to set orders during weekends.

so we did ala carte orders. 🙂

the bamboo clams with tanhoon was excellent!

lie tong 1/2 pot – S$16

& the lie tong 例汤 (soup of the day) was good, as always. this time it was pumpkin with pork rib, a really sweet, delicious soup. i am sure going to try this at home. 🙂

garoupa 2 ways – S$22pax

the garoupa in 2 preparations was good too. the steamed with peppery sauce preparation was very tasty, the deep-fried fish fillet was ok but ordinary.

lobster noodles – S$25pax

& the lobster noodles was always our favourite served in the excellent lobster 6-course set.

this was also the preparation that i replicated at home in my king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面).

tube juice – palate cleanser

they always serve a tube juice – pineapple, watermelon etc. nice! 🙂

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雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops ice cream

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雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops ice cream

we had 1 order of 雪中情怀, a mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops coconut ice cream, again our favourite here.

the dinner came to S$84.50nett, about S$72++ for 2pax.

well, we keep coming back! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Most Enjoyable Autumn Course Dinner @ Mikuni on 11Dec2014

Posted on December 17, 2014 by chefquak

#1 japanese taro, hokkaido uni in sesame tofu topped with ikura

had another splendid dinner at mikuni with wife on 11.12.2014. 🙂

we had the excellent autumn course menu, like a mini kaiseki.

i have never taken a course menu or kaiseki since the name changed from inagiku to mikuni some years back. instead we had been exploring the ala carte menu, creating our own Andy’s kaiseki (just in jest). and lately i am quite sold on mikuni’s chirashi don (i would say almost choutokusen 超特選 chirashi don). 🙂

cracker appetizer

mikuni autumn mini kaiseki

we were very pleased though with this autumn course menu. 🙂

#1 japanese taro, hokkaido uni in sesame tofu topped with ikura

#1 there was uni inside – hokkaido uni in sesame tofu topped with ikura

#7 complimentary drawer tray dessert

#1 japanese taro, hokkaido uni in sesame tofu topped with ikura

#1 japanese taro, hokkaido uni in sesame tofu topped with ikura – taro was just so so. the uni, ikura tofu was of course very nice. did not taste much of the sesame though.

#2 sashimi – hamachi, maguro & white prawns topped with caviar

#2 sashimi – hamachi, maguro & white prawns topped with caviar – sashimi was good cuts but otherwise ordinary except white prawn but that was kind of smallish.

#3 shell grilled scallops, & kagoshima beef robatayaki

#3 kagoshima beef robatayaki

#3 shell grilled scallops

#3 shell grilled scallops, & kagoshima beef robatayaki – kagoshima beef was heavenly. scallops was very nicely done too. quite excellent! 🙂

#4 chestnut tempura & sillago fish tempura

#4 chestnut tempura

#4 chestnut tempura & sillago fish tempura – the sill ago (whiting) fish tempura was par excellence. chestnut was ok, quite nice really if non descript.

#5 osaka styled barachirashi don – uni, maguro, tai, kampachi, kajiki, ikura, lily bulb

#5 miso soup with gohan

#5 the osaka styled barachirashi don – uni, maguro, tai, kampachi, kajiki, ikura, lily bulb was superb. came with pickles & miso soup

#6 chestnut ice cream & japanese honey dew

#6 chestnut ice cream & japanese honey dew was ok. i prefer yuzu ice cream & black sesami ice cream, and of course japanese rock melon to honey dew.

#7 complimentary drawer tray dessert

mikuni offered very good complimentary drawer tray dessert. 🙂

the 6-course dinner cost S$158pax. after 50% feed at raffles discounts, it was S$79pax exceeding sake/drinks. a quality & very good value dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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Monthly Archives: December 2014

Happy New Year 2015!

2014 in review

Excellent Teochew Cold Crab @ 帝威Di Wei Teochew Restaurant on 28Dec2014

Love This Place – Assembly Coffee (on 28Dec2014)

Roti Prata @ S.M. Aisha at Food Canopy Botanical Gardens on 28Dec2014

Wok Fried Manila Clams 香锅炒蛤蜊

Deconstructed Strawberry Cheese Cake – Soooo Delicious!

Great Cuppa @ Dutch Colony Pasarbella on 26Dec2014

Nice Dinner with Son @ Arossa on 23Dec2014

冬至吃汤圆 (Eating Sesame Mochi Dumplings with Arrival of Winter) on Winter Solstice 22Dec14

So-So 4pax Dinner this time @ Kok Sen Keong Saik Street on 21Dec2014

Scrumptious Lunch at Friend’s Home on 19Dec2014

Average Too Ordinary Dimsum @ Timhowan 添好运 at Westgate Mall on 19Dec2014

Instant Chashu Mala Ramen (麻辣快熟面)

Protected: Fun 14pax RI Friends & Spouses Homecooked Dinner on 18Dec2014

6hr “Sous Vide” Miso Lamb Shoulder

Fun 14pax RI Friends & Spouses Homecooked Dinner on 18Dec2014

Good Crab Dinner @ Momma Kong’s on 20Dec2014

Delicious Dinner @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 16Dec2014

Most Enjoyable Autumn Course Dinner @ Mikuni on 11Dec2014

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