lobster in superior broth 龙虾上汤焗

having 2pax anniversary dinner with wife on the actual date, so did an earlier anniversary dinner for the family so the children & also our helper can join 7pax dinner on 31.5.2017.

2 live lobsters = 1.25kg

poached lobster = 2 for S$75 at sheng shiong

i got 2 live lobsters from sheng shiong, poached them & then short braised with superior broth just before serving.

lobster in superior broth 龙虾上汤焗

lobsters was tasty, all liked it. it was though a bit overcooked & not perfect like what i did recently for mother’s day when i did one single lobster for 3pax dinner on 14.5.2017. 🙂

prawn tofu similar to sek bao sin

i did prawn tofu which everyone likes. also son had not tried it before.

for this evening everyone liked this dish best. it was not my best delivery actually but still a very tasty dish. prawns were just right texture, sweet & fresh & deep-fried egg tofu soaked up the delicious stock with the smoothness of the egg.

golden deepfried egg tofu

for the prawn tofu dish, i made the deep-fried egg tofu. usually i will shallow fry this not to waste the oil.

this time i had 2 dinners then the teban garden preparation in succession, so managed to use the oil over 3 occasions.

prawn tofu similar to sek bao sin

the dish, though not quite my best, was still a very good, tasty & smooth (the egg) prawn tofu.

wok fried lala

the wok fried lala was a very tasty dish too, and the clams were well cleaned & done just right NOT overcooked. great as lala dish.

not quite as good as my really tasty manila clams of course.

i lazy to go chinatown & sheng shiong did not have manila clams when i went to get the 2 lobsters this morning.

claypot vegetables with siobak

the claypot vegetables were overcooked. stock was tasty. roast pork also overdone & a bit stronger porky taste.

ok dish but not quite good.

claypot vegetables with siobak

i was trying to recreate my excellent claypot fish head for my OPS bros & wives few days back but w/o the fish head.

unfortunately though the claypot vegetables looked good on photo, it was overcooked when served & roast pork was also overdone & a bit porky. this would count as failure la…

white beehoon WBH

the white beehoon WBH dish was ok, also not near my best preparation.

too many dishes requiring stock. got to do a dedicated WBH dish next time & use intense stock to get best results.

white beehoon WBH

i only used prawn head & shell stock & just little of the chicken stock as i was reserving the stock for lobster.

also it was difficult to juggle the amount of stock, amount of beehoon & cooking time to reduce the stock & infuse the beehoon. anyhow the prawns were overcooked (whereas the same prawns for the prawn tofu were quite excellent), and the beehoon alos a bit overcooked.

white beehoon WBH

there was also some timing problems as heavy downpour & daughter came back like 50mins after scheduled 7pm, and it was difficult to estimate the time to serve the several dishes.

anyhow the beehoon was still ok, just not among my best.

and when wife & i added the lobster stock to the beehoon, it was very tasty.

crispy lard – larpok

i made some larpok – crispy lard to top off the WBH.

very easy to make. bought like 70cts packet of already chopped fat from sheng shiong, washed & cooked low heat on non stick wokpan. love it!

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to be honest, i was just a little deflated la!

doing the lobsters – buying them on the day, freeze, poach, cut, shell, make stock etc was quite tedious work (apart from being quite expensive at S$75 for 2 lobsters), so the result was quit below expectations.

the other dishes were not too difficult, but the claypot vegetables was an abject failure & the WBH also much below expectations, even though the prawn tofu & the lala were good. and it all still took a whole day’s work but not returning the satisfaction…a bit sian la…

anniversary book present

well, luckily there was still the anniversary book to rejoice.

this my RI bro who was one of 2 travelling companions for my recent london/wales trip took a lot of time & effort to co-ordinate for me to get the book done.

it was made of maple wood & presents a cover with photo, a back page & 2 pages of text inside. & it came with a rose wood case. excellent stuff! wife was suitable impressed. children took some photos for us.

c.h.e.f andy

bamboo clams with tanhoon 竹蚌蒜蓉蒸 S$5.50 each 

had the best seafood dinner =7pax early birthday dinner for brother & sister @ ah yat abalone forum restaurant at hotel grand central at victoria street on 2.6.2017. ^^

this was even better than the 5pax lunch i had here just last week with my OPS bros on 26.5.2017!

seafood promo @ ah yat abalone forum restaurant 

ah yat abalone is having this super offer of S$29.80 for each 500g live boston lobster. that explains why i chose ah yat again so soon for my brother & sister’s early birthday dinner..haha!

i had a prior arranged makan day out wuth my OPS bros but because this dinner was confirmed a bit late, i cut short my OPS makan & just joined the canton paradise dimsum tea. 🙂

the bamboo clams with tanhoon 竹蚌蒜蓉蒸 S$5.50 each (top photo) was among the best i had. wonder why it was better than lunch, like should be the same. maybe better chef for dinner?? the texture ie donesness was perfect & the garlic light soy sauce was really very fragrant..quite superb.

2xboston lobster in superior broth 龙虾上汤焗 S$29.80 each 

the lobster was very good too. maybe still tastier than lunch but i guess less different from the lunch. i noticed that the plating was different from lunch. i like the dinner plating better. lunch used a nice plate but presentation looked squeezy.

steamed turbot 多宝鱼港蒸 1 kg S$48 

the steamed turbot 多宝鱼港蒸 1 kg S$48 was very good this evening.

wife, brother, sister, all like the fish..very幼 (light, tender texture) & sweet, much more fine than tiger garoupa.

steamed turbot 多宝鱼港蒸 1kg S$48 

and the 港蒸 light soy sauce very fragrant…really good!

crab tanhoon claypot螃蟹冬粉煲 S$70=1 kg crab @ S$98/kg less 30% 

brother ordered the crab tanhoon claypot螃蟹冬粉煲. it came to about S$70=1 kg crab @ S$98/kg less 30%.

we all thought it was a bit expensive c/w other ah yat items…eg ah yat grandstand has a S$38 claypot alaskan crab tanhoon which is very good. here alaskan crab is S$248/kg & this crab is S$98/kg.

but this is birthday & the other dishes were heavily discounted & restaurant need to make some money also la..so quite happy to add the dishes.

turned out this was another truly excellent dish…the tanhoon so very tasty & crab wa very fresh & sweet..though we wonder afterwards for 1kg crab, we didn’t seem to see any of the 2 pincers..maybe someone ate & forgot haha!

but i would say i am happy to order this dish again at S$70. it was much bigger dish & overall even better tasting than the S$38 alaskan crab tanhoon at ah yat grandstand.

ginger fried kailan 姜炒芥蓝 S$27 = very good just far too ex 

the ginger fried kailan 姜炒芥蓝 was very good too. can taste the ginger sauce, didn’t know it flavours the vegetable so well, must try this at home next time.

this one of the times where everyone exclaimed how nice the vegetable was.

at S$27, it was just far too ex for a vegetable? like S$29.80 for lobster & S$27 for kai lan.

anyway for this dinner i was happy to order it as it complemented the other dishes very well and that’s what counted. sometimes you get through a meal every dish except 1 or 2 very good, whereas this was an occasion every single dish was good! so well worth it!

probably won’t order this when i come again..

seafood horfun 滑蛋海鲜河粉S$30 = wok hae superb +very good ingredients 

wife too busy to have lunch today wanted to add a horfun.

this seafood horfun 滑蛋海鲜河粉  was fantastic=wok hae superb +very good ingredients, large prawns, scallops, lots of sotong & also lots of fish.

i think the best horfun i had.

seafood horfun 滑蛋海鲜河粉S$30 = wok hae superb +very good ingredients 

again this another dish i don’t mind paying for S$30 when i come again.

only thing is that sometimes taste not always consistent & hopefull these dishes will be just as good when i come again.

dinner for 7pax with all these excellent dishes was S$341nett.

of course they charged S$2.50/head for tea=S$17.50.

and also 2xS$3.50 for peanuts & towel. if you don’t do this, you don’t get towels..haha!

the ala carte items were expensive but we were very happy with the overall dinner, that what counts! like i said, restaurant got to make some money, so give & take la…

had a wonderful early birthday dinner with my brother & sister. their son came along & thoroughly enjoyed it. so i joked with him to look forward to the next makan, outside or at my place haha!

c.h.e.f andy

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Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Address:

crispy char siew pao

my OPS bros decided to do dimsum tea at canton paradise starvista on 2.6.2017. ^^

50% discounts dimsum tea weekdays 3pm-5.15pm

there is an ongoing 50% discounts dimsum tea weekdays 3pm-5.15pm. 🙂

promo applies to all dimsum, congee, and also noodles which did not come with roast meats..

one actually took leave & we were going to like do lunch, then tea, then dinner like a JB makan trip in Singapore, but my brother decided a bit last minute to do his & sister’s birthday dinner today, so i could only join them for tea.

we decided to start with coffee at my place, then proceed to canton paradise at starvista.

peanuts & chestnuts

they probably charged S$3 for the nuts, and i usually pay for water rather than tea. the peanuts & chestnut appetizer here quite good though, and we were having 50% discounts for dimsum, so ok to pay a bit for the tea.

crispy char siew pao

the crispy char siew pao was pretty good actually. nicely crisp dough, just a bit sweet char siew but quite tasty…didn’t mind it..

prawn mango crispy pastry

the prawn mango pastry was very 酥or脆 ie very crisp. maybe 酥is the better word.

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs was very good. pork & sauce looked very clear & nice, sauce very tasty & pork quite meaty, not just fat…

steamed chicken feet

chicken feet also very good, tasty, nicely deepfried & fluffy..

yam pastry 芋饺

the yam pastry 芋饺 not my favourite. the fillings were similar to ham shui kok 咸水饺 which i like but i prefer the 咸水饺 pastry & slightly sticky texture.

as i was having birthday dinner with brother & sister afterwards, i shared (took 1/2 each) most of the dumplings with another friend.

spicy dumplings 抄手

spicy dumplings 抄手 i always liked as i like mala stuff…this was good, generally..

innards congee 状元及第粥

the innards congee 状元及第粥 was chokefull of ingredients like 2 large pork balls, lots of intestines & liver etc. ok for S$8.80++. at S$4.40 after 40% discounts, quite a steal leh…

innards congee 状元及第粥

& congee was really smooth & sweet, very much a real good hong kong congee standard.

string beans

string beans

there’s no 50% discounts for string beans, but it was quite ok la…a nice dish & good vegetable item to complement the dimsum.

so the dimsum tea for 4pax was S$57. without the full price string beans, probably around S$42.50 thereabout.

quite a good promotion. don’t mind coming back. good for the restaurant also, enjoying good traffic at this lull period….

c.h.e.f andy

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