Delightful 8pax Homecooked Western Dinner with Good Friends on 21Oct2017

8pax dinner dishes

made a delightful 8pax dinner for wife’s good friends J & hubby, and another couple L & TH, on 21.10.2017. ^^

son joined dinner & later J’s son joined as well. 🙂

tortilla – spanish omelette

the tortilla – spanish omelette quite ok. wife thought i had done better ones…

red wine 5hr slow braised pork collar

quite happy with the result of the red wine 5hr slow braised pork collar.

red wine 5hr slow braised pork collar & tortilla

i used 300g frozen pork collar from sheng shiong.

marinated in red wine (50ml) & 1tbsp mustard, 3 shallots in the fridge for 1 hr.

added water to cover pork in small oven dish & braised in 90degC oven for 5hrs.

then i pan-charred the pork, adding some seasalt & coarse black pepper to the pan.

result was a tender, tasty pork steak (as seen above 2 photos).

i did a pan roasted brined chicken breast & thigh. was good tasting, but the skin wasn’t done well.

overall, wasn’t the standard of what i made for wife’s office salad lunch!

miso & korean citrus tea marinated slow braised pork belly

the miso & korean citrus tea marinated slow braised pork belly was pretty good too, but not as tender as the pork collar, maybe needed a little longer time than 5hrs in 90degC oven i used for the pork collar!

same thing, i pan-charred the belly pork like the pork collar.

nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly

my Nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly have been consistently good, and invariably a crowd favourite.

nobu miso cod was very tasty today, no fishy taste. i got a very good cut of cod too from NTUC.

likewise the teriyaki salmon belly.

J said she like salmon belly best. her son M said he liked the cod best…

grilled vegetables

i did some grilled vegetables too.

today i had dutch eggplant, zucchini & baby carrots. & the cherry grape tomatoes with sea salt, olive oil & balsamic vinegar also good with the rocket salad with pomegranate.

seafood risotto

for the carbs, i made seafood risotto. i used the leftover arborio rice i had. maybe carnaroli rice would be better.

the usual preparation – fry & soften vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, green pepper) with few slices of chorizo & butter, add 1.5cups arborio rice, add 1/2tsp tumeric, fry & coat. add 1 cup intense chicken & prawn stock, boil, add large de-veined prawns with shell on(marinated with fish sauce & white pepper), & place in 210degC oven for 6mins.

that is like 90% done, when serving, boil stock, add squid cook 1minute then add to risotto, boil to cook risotto & reduce liquids. and voila! serve.

creamy white wine sauce prawn fettuccine

for fettuccine, i browned garlic in olive, added cut chilli padi & basil & fried. off fire & added 1 cup white wine & 1 cup intense chicken stock, then reduced.

when serving i heated up the sauce, added 3tbsp thickened cream, tasted the sauce, then off fire & added fettuccine & tossed. then added some dried parsley. i forgot to get my fresh basil..

red velvet cake

red velvet cake

wife’s friends L brought red velvet cake for deesert. very nice!

j’s fruit platter

j’s fruit platter

but stealing the show was the fruit platter.

i messaged wife’s friend J & said i wanted to order her fruit platter. you can see why, that’s the best dish all night i guess. all my friends were impressed just looking at the photos.

fruit platter looked alluring, and the fruits were nice & sweet too – fresh fig, gold kiwi, melon, honey jackfruit, dragonfruit, grapes & blueberries.

had a wonderful dinner & great evening. wife was very happy & bought me dinner the next day. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Very Tasty Chicken Congee on 20Oct2017

chicken congee

R, the director of teban gardens made really good congee…well among many other dishes she does so well for such large groups…

she made the congee for 130 teban residents on 12.10.2017.

when i delivered my 回锅肉double cooked pork belly breakfast dish on 13.10.2017, i took back some to eat & really enjoyed it. 🙂

chicken congee

so i decided to try also..

i checked & confirmed that the ingredients she used were shredded chicken breast, minced pork & fish cake strips.

chicken congee

chicken congee

boiled 1 skinless chicken breast for 2hrs to make tasty stock.

then added 1/2 cup rice. 100g minced pork & 1 fish cake cut to strips to give texture to congee…

boiled or another 2hrs, anyhow until congee was smooth.

chicken congee

congee was very sweet & tasty, quite similar to what R did.

added pepper & enjoyed the congee. can also add fish sauce to taste if need.

c.h.e.f andy

Exquisite 8pax Birthday Dinner @ Xiyan Private Dining Craig Road on 18Oct2017

amuse bouche – ham

my OPS friend WM & wife J bought an exquisite scrumptious 8pax dinner at xiyan craig road on 18.10.2017. ^^ 2 of us including moi have birthdays this october month. 🙂

i came xiyan only once (the captain lewis chin said must be 12yrs ago) when they first opened. must say i wasn’t much impressed with the food nor the price! it was a very pricey S$88pax at the time, and the only dish i remembered was good & fine was the hokkaido momotaro tomatoes. i looked at the online menu, and after all these time the menu looked quite the same, and price still S$88pax.

WM’s wife J though entertained here a few times & today she arranged for us her “specially curated” menu, and she booked the entire restaurant for the occasion.

just kidding lol! this evening we were the only table in the restaurant. the original date 12oct though was fully booked so we had to change to 18oct. so hard to tell whether restaurant well patronised or not…

today we were served an amuse bouche, kind of unusual – 3 cuts of ham (lewis said they are the exclusive distributor). i liked it. wife not so into the ham thing, slight salty taken alone w/o sides…not the typical amuse bouche..

xiyan S$98pax menu

the special menu was S$98pax, but J has 10% discounts, so back to the usual S$88pax…

hokkaido momotaro tomatoes

the hokkaido momotaro tomatoes were delicious, did not disappoint. the sauce was goma (roasted sesame) with wasabi. 🙂

hokkaido momotaro tomatoes

sauce was nice if nothing special..i do goma with tsuyu for vegetable salads for my 14days vegetarian diet recently.

prosciutto & smoked salmon salad

the prosciutto & smoked salmon salad with asparagus very good too..& so beautifully plated..

prosciutto & smoked salmon salad

salmon was very lightly smoked, almost like cured, nice & not salty.

the prosciutto (aged parma ham) was good, the usual…

prosciutto & smoked salmon salad

the asparagus & mesclun salad were good, refreshing…

tea smoked chicken

the next dish was tea smoked chicken, again nicely presented. thai styled mango salsa was tangy & refreshing.

tea smoked chicken

overall the dish was underwhelming!

chicken was competent and no more. so actually by the standard of the whole dinner, this would be a below average dish…

some parts of the breast my wife had were “old” meaning slightly dry, overcooked. the tea flavour did not stand out…

unlike say the tea infused roast duck at xin cuisine which was super delicious!…

i almost never order roast chicken outside, whether at chinese or western restaurants, as they usually very mediocre dish….

one outstanding roast chicken i had was at restoran pekin sutera mall recently – “skin was so crispy, and the meat was moist, tender & sweet. among the very best roast chicken i had…

tea smoked chicken

basically unless one can produce a really moist, tender, tasty chicken, otherwise this would be a very average dish…a filler & not much more…

prawn chawanmushi

the captain lewis chin said this dish was akin to chawanmushi, and it was smoother & came with chinese hua tiao wine.

it was a beautifully presented dish, and wonderful colours.

the prawn though was overcooked. my wife told me, and i was thinking the same. prawn texture was slightly tough, not the bouncy, fresh texture…just on the prawn standalone, the simple poached prawn & drunken prawn dishes at peach gardens miramar & tunglok were better.

prawn chawanmushi

the taste of the dish, maybe not the chawanmushi t i am used to in good japanese restaurants…

for myself, no comparison with a good, very sweet & tasty chawanmushi especially one with crabmeat & ikura.

东坡肉 pagoda

the 东坡肉 pagoda was an excellent dish.

a braised belly can easily spray (ie not good texture) if not done correctly, so to be able to slice this thin & having this texture shows the skills of the chef. it is truly 肥而不腻!

东坡肉 tower

it was an outstanding dish in it’s own right, whatever the name.

东坡肉 with 梅菜

so i have just 2 comments-

first – same as what my wife also told me, when eating 东坡肉, the i guess non modern experience is to eat an entire piece, and feel the gelatinous texture & flavours. eating this current way felt more like eating 梅菜扣肉though this texture is more tender than 梅菜扣肉.

东坡肉 with 梅菜

东坡肉 with 梅菜

and second – this 梅菜 was not done well.

it was salty, unlike the very nice flavour, soft & tender steamed 梅菜dish served at xin cuisine.

blanched red garoupa with crispy rice & silken tofu

the best dish for the evening was the blanched red garoupa with crispy rice & silken tofu..

blanched red garoupa with crispy rice & silken tofu

red garoupa was sliced very very thinly, so it cooked when it was added to the soup. it’s like shabu or 涮…

blanched red garoupa

very tasty. really excellent dish!

poaced garoup & rice porridge

& the crispy rice was a great variation, added texture & new dining experience to the dish…

the concept is similar also to ozasuke in japanese cuisine, where a very tasty broth is added to rice. this dish was indeed very enjoyable…

淮山with spinach & wolfberries

the 淮山with spinach & wolfberries was competent dish, nicely done.

淮山with spinach & wolfberries

nice bit of greens. a healthy dish..tasted great…

bomb alaska

the restaurant served a complimentary bomb alaska because we were celebrating our birthdays.

this not on their menu.

bomb alaska

chocolate origin mousse cake & bomb alaska

it was an outstanding dessert.

the burnt meringue was very light & tasty, and the ice cream was excellent..& the birthday cake WT bought from chocolate origin also very good!

ginger soup with dumplings姜汤

we had a choice of dessert.

the ginger soup with dumplings姜汤 looked great.

ice cream

the vanilla ice cream with lychee was ok too, wouldn’t have chosen this if we knew we were having that excellent bomb alaska.

overall, it was a very good dinner, and scrumptious, great tasting one. the food ingredients were not expensive items, so not quite sumptuous i guess. but preparation, presentation, colours (like salmon salad, 东坡肉 pagoda and blanched garoupa) were refine, service was good & knowledgeable, so i consider quite exquisite dinner of fine dining standard. & of course the bomb alaska was a really great touch by the restaurant & really enjoyable..

will i come back here?. not sure really…i still think the S$88 price is too high for the food they serve.

if it is like this evening, i would gladly pay the price for this dinner. but J knew them & could arrange the change of menu & 10% discounts, and there was the bomb alaska, so on this occasion i think i would also pay this price. on the regular S$88, i think it would be totally outside my radar…

my wife & i really enjoyed the company of these very good friends (wife told me so) and it was a most fun evening for both of us…this evening especially, WM & J bought such a wonderful dinner & WT bought a delightful birthday cake from chocolate origin.

c.h.e.f andy

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