Monthly Archives: January 2018

3pax Family Dinner = Experimental Dishes Tapas & Fiduea on 10Dec2017

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tapas + fiduea

i experimented some tapas dishes & a fiduea this evening on 10.12.2017. ^^

what i prepared for 3pax family dinner –

  • chorizo prawns
  • ika sugatayaki (jap fusion)
  • seafood fiduea

i made my own fiduea😜cannot find in cold storage..so just cut up angelhair 😂

chorizo prawns very flavourful dish…

i had something similar recently at –

  1. gambas al pil pil at sabio on 5.11.2017 – a prawn in alio olio dish
  2. chorizo prawn liguine at porta on 8.11.2017

enuf of inspirations to do my own..lol! 🙂

i bought an expensive spicy chorizo from cold storage, like S$18 for 300g, anyway can cook many times so ok la…

& i experimented chorizo prawns first time on 9.11.2017 – recipe here! 

so this evening i just repeated that..very tasty, plump, succulent prawns, with excellent chorizo & alio olio flavours..

ika sugatayaki 

& this evening i did my most successful ika sugatayaki..

previously i used the oven. but there is the great difficulty of getting a dry enough squid w/o overcooking it. very difficult. 

ika sugatayaki 

so i decided to switch to flaming with a torch.

a flaming not enuf to cook the sotong, i steamed the sotong first about 70% cooked, then put in the fridge & dried with kitchen towels.

when about to cook, i added sea salt, 1 tbsp olive oil, then drizzle honey (or agave nectar) on the squid, on a metal tray. then i flamed it.

ika sugatayaki 

it was a delightful, delicious dish. superb chow tar (BBQ) flavours, just the right texture, tender & tasty…

seafood fiduea

& my very first experiment with my own “fiduea” concoction a big success haha! by my own standard only la!

so the key of any pasta is the stock. i had very intense tasty chicken stock. can also add prawn stock if have.

as angelhair cooks in 2 mins & the small squid pieces cooked quickly & so would the prawns, it is tricky getting the quite amount of stock so that it would infuse the angelhair while reducing, and all the angelgair, squid & prawns would be cooked right.

seafood fiduea 

i first have the stock ready – browned one whole bulb of garlic cloves, added chilli padi, sweet basil, then off fire, and added 1 cup chicken stock, & 1/4 cup white wine, and reduced by 1/2 i think, all agaklogy..then i added the prawns (seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper) & cooked like 70%, and removed.

when cooking the dish, i added the cut angelhair first & covered for a minute, then added the squid & stirred thoroughly & covered for another minute.

anyway all by looking & tasting. when pasta about ready, added some butter & the prawns, stirred & covered for 1/2min.

seafood fiduea 

the dish turned out superbly this evening.

& i have repeated it for couple dinners with friends with different amount of pasta & they worked out quite well.

seafood fiduea 

angelhair was al dente, so while looked like bee hoon texture was different from the softer, clumpier, stick-together beehoon.

the squid & prawns were dne just right so bouncy & plump and tasty.

a very good dish considering that it was make-shift using angelhair & not the real fiduea.

c.h.e.f andy

OK Mee Rebus at Rahim Muslim Food on 18Dec2017

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mee rebus at rahim muslim food

6 of us RI bros  (JLKY, JT, YKK, NCL & me) met up at rahim muslim food at  721 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 for mee rebus. TCH joined us later.

rahim muslim food queue

rahim muslim food queue 

a queue formed up as the stall opened at 11.30am. my friends queued for quite a while actually, maybe c15mins even for a short queue.

they have this S$3 mee rebus that had been featured i news articles. top up S$1 for chicken. my friends bought 5 bowls all with chicken, S$4 each.

the bowls were topped with satay sauce, added a nutty flavour but i thought a bit sweet. some friends thought it was better w/o the sauce.

mee rebus not really my favourite, so i was not hot about the dish..

just OK! edible & good taste, not something i would come just to eat.

=============

afters we visited OCH at ang mo kio – thys hua kwan hospital..

c.h.e.f andy

5pax Family Dinner at Our Favourite Yakiniku @ Aburiya on 15Dec2017

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wagyu sashimi S$18

had 5pax family dinner at our favourite yakiniku restaurant aburiya this evenin gon 15.12.2017. ^^

really shiok better than buying & cooking wagyu ourselves la! 🙂

this a place we come regularly. the last time i made a blog post on aburiya was on 3.6.2017. 🙂

we took the wagyu sashimi. very sweet. some parts have small bits of residue, but bascially a very good beef sashimi.

kurobuta platter

we ordered the kurobuta platter.

it was good but perhaps next time we would try individual cuts like secreto…

wagyu karubi

we had wagyu karubi (ribs)…

aburiya yakiniku

aburiya yakiniku

the open hearth was smokeless, with good ventilation.

wagyu jo karubi

& 2 orders of wagyu jo karubi (prime ribs)…

wagyu jo karubi

we added another 2 orders of wagyu jo karubi..

kimchi chigae

the other dishes we like here were kimchi chigae (stew), bibimen (cold noodles) and bibimbap.

the kimchi chigae here is the best i had any place, better than some of the kimchi hotpot..very very tasty soup with lots of oomph!

bibimen

& we all like the bibimen. it had lots of vege & also some meat, also among the best korean cold noodles i had..

bibimbab

bibimbab

bibimbap also very good here…better than many other places in singapore.

we came for the meat, but balance of dishes very important, so it was quite perfect that we get good bbq meats here and also all these favourite cooked dishes to match.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aburiya 烧屋
Address:
60 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238252
Contact:
aburiya.com.sg
6735 4862
Opening Hours:
daily
  • 6–11:30PM

7pax Hotpot Home Dinner 海底捞火锅 with OPS Buddies on 14Dec2017

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7pax home 海底捞火锅 with OPS buddies

had 7pax home 海底捞火锅 with my OPS buddies this evening on 14.12.2017. ^^

followed by MSW durians from ah seng@ghim moh…

海底捞火锅items

this time it was quite easy, a breeze, having learned from my last one with my RI friends.

steamboat is easy as only need to prepare stock & ingredients, no cooking required.

last time i spent too much effort cooking individual bowls of soup & noodles. this time i just let everybody do their own as in usual hotpot meals.

海底捞火锅 ikan bilis + yellow bean soup base

i used ikan bilis & yellow beans as stock base..

so the stock was clear & sweet…

海底捞火锅items

i had meats, seafood, of course vegetables & mushrooms..

meats, fish, prawn & sotong + cheese & egg beancurd

2 types of pork – iberico at 300g for S$14.95, very ex…ordinary pork collar just 500g for S$4.30!

the iberico was good of course but the pork collar was pretty good too!

meats, fish, prawn & sotong + cheese & egg beancurd

i had also seafood – prawn, sotong & fish fillet, cheese & eff tofu & also a sheet tofu..

meats, fish, prawn & sotong

& i made a very nice sauce, combining 沙茶酱 & mala sauce. everyone loved the sauce. it was like the sauce at 海底捞..i had not been to one in singapore but the one at shanghai was good!

i also had the goma – roast sesame sauce, which was also very good especially with the meat.

mushroom, lettuce & beancurd skin

and i had lots of mushrooms – shitake, abalone mushrroms & shimeji, enoki mushrooms.

steamboat not really my favourite..but it is a very communal dining & popular in singapore, HK & china, i guess many places.

i don’t mind it, and it was a great occasion to gather the friends & shared a hotpot together.

ah seng MSW durians at ghim moh

i pre-ordered some MSW & D13 from ah seng & this time i was able to collect in good time w/o too long queue.

we really enjoyed the MSW. i think this recent season MSW very creamy & flavourful & small seeds, and some with bitter flavours. D13 was good but the more expensive MSW much more satisfying & maybe more worth the money.

c.h.e.f andy

4pax RI Bros Home Lunch on 13Dec2017

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4pax RI bro lunch

JLKY, LKH, TCH came by for lunch..

We had-

1 HK styled claypot rice 
2 steamed minced pork with lifgt soy sauce
3 white braised belly pork
4 scallions baked salmon fish head 葱焖三文鱼头
5 fried romaine lettuce 油麦菜

HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭

i cooked the HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭 as it is easier than claypot chicken rice – no chicken to prepare, just add pork & hong kong liver sausage..

an important addition for this is the drizzling sauce. this the sauce they used at dimsum places to add to steamed rice like 凤爪排骨饭 or 粉肠. i did not have recipe but i gazak something similar which i had used many times.

just 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 6 tbsp water… 

while claypot chicken rice would be much tastier by comparison, the pork & especially liver sausage flavours stood out in this simple HK claypot rice 香港沙煲饭 , very “pang” ie fragrant…

white belly pork 白腩肉

i got the texture right, but flavours so so, as i did not braise in the sauce & only added the sauce afterwards..limited taste..

minced pork

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce a very simple, and really tasty dish, the fragrance of top quality light soy sauce…

salmon fish head

i got the salmon fish head for just S$3 at sheng shiong.

it was a good opportunity to test the scallion baked fish head, like the very good 葱焖鸦片鱼头 at老吉士in shanghai.

scallions baked salmon fish head

i added light soy sauce, olive oil & mirin (the last i shouldn’t have), then added the scallions & pinned them down with bamboo skewers, and baked in the 250degC oven for 15mins.

scallions baked salmon fish head

scallions baked salmon fish head

the result was ok. it’s like any good tasting fish head, nothing special, not quite the result i was looking for.

i think my recent scallion baked seabass experiment was better!

looking at the photos, perhaps today’s was too wet, so did not achieve the baked but instead more like steamed fish head…so maybe no mirin & drier if i would experiment again.

after lunch we set off for amk again. i bought the bosch vaccum hose this time. after went for coffee at teck huat amk.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Friend Called, We Went Out for Kopi @ Teck Huat on 11Dec2017

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my RI bro JLKY came by..

i cooked a spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头 (above photo)..

..didn’t eat myself..not feeling so great & didn’t want to eat..

the looked delicious..i know it is delicious! haha! the thickened sauce was just right..it’s a small fish head..so no problem for my friend 1pax to finish..

teck huat kopi

 

teck huat kopi

after that i needed to get flexible hose & hepa filter from bosch in amk so we went together..

then had coffee at teck huat, as good as 五十年代Chinatown … 

================

also bought persimmon, dole pineapples, envy apples

later in the afternoon, nespresso delivered the capsules & free gift = 4 cups cappuccino & expresso cups + saucers

dinner was fried romaine lettuce & fruits…bot eating much today..

c.h.e.f andy

10pax Homecooked Dinner for RI Makan Group on 6Nov2017

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had 10pax homecooked dinner with RI makan kakis…i made 8 dishes –

#1 白斩鸡 chicken rice chicken 

#2 lor arh -braised duck

#3 braised hock 元蹄

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

#5 (sio bak – JLKY brought)

#6 (big & small intestines – doc brought)

#7 steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

#8 chinese herbal mutton soup

#9 spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头, topped with crispy lard

#10 fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce

==========================

this the second time i cooked for this group of RI makan kakis.

the last eat together we had was 8.9.2017 when WCM was visiting from london…

it was a very enjoyable evening & camaraderie

DP returned to bangkok & GCG could not attend..

JLKY brought sio bak he made himself 👍 CCG foodtasted 1/4 of of it..or was it 1/3?

doc brought very nice big & small intestines perfect texture & good taste..

LCM brought his first champagne dessert..

HK & other friends brought veuve cliquot champagne, red wine & grapes

sadly, one who was with us during the last dinner & subsequently at hong lim hawker food tour is now in hospital…

i made 白斩鸡poached chicken with chicken rice & chilli etc…

very smooth & tasty & chilli was good.

rice was very fragrant, fried with chicken fat, ginger, shallots & cooked with intense chicken stock.

braised duck & 白斩鸡

this time i made a braised duck also.

this was easy to make using tai hua braising sauce, adding cinnamon bark, star anise, cloves, and whole bulb of garlic cloves.

duck was braised & steamed for 1hr 10mins, to get the flavourful braise infused in the duck & a moist, tender texture.

a flavourful, tender duck.

kept a drumstick quarter for wife

wife not joining dinner this evening, so i kept a drumstick quarter for her.

i made braised hock 元蹄 (upper part) and trotters (lower part).

actually i just used the braise for the duck. lol!^^

it was very tasty. just the right gelatinous skin texture & the lean meat was tender, moist and not old. that is important as if over-braised the lean parts become old & not tender or moist.

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

i experimented with jogbal 족발, the korean chilled trotters which is sold all over shenzhen & shanghai also.

#4 족발酱猪蹄chilled trotters

i thought it was quite the correct texture. it was a more crunchy bite c/w with gelatinous braised hock 元蹄 texture… so by comparison not as laku as the latter. 🙂

#5 JLKY brought sio bak

JLKY brought the sio bak he made himself, so deserving highlight.

he brought twice before to my makans. those were made by the helper.

anyway CCG attested to the good taste, as we were left with a much shrunken portion at the dinner table after his food tasting.

#6 doc brought big & small intestines

doc brought very good big &small intestines. did not get the name of the shop. ask him next time. quite perfect both texture & taste, and no smell…

the steamed minced pork with light soy sauce was a dish i recreate after a daipaidong meal during my previous hong kong trip, at minsheng daipaidong 民声冰室 on 23.2.2017.

with top quality light soy sauce, this simple dish was quite delicious, smooth minced pork (with cornflour  & olive oil added), and superb light soy sauce fragrance.

this the second time i made chinese herbal mutton soup , and it was as good as my first time.

only that this time i did not have the longer 2.5″ ribs, only 1.5″ ribs. made a difference for me. i like the longer ribs.

CL was going to donate the ribs in his bowl. he generally avoided mutton becos of the smell.

this one though, he discovered no smell got flavour and quite perfect tenderness (6hrs in 95degC oven). the soup, which was just tai seng kong bkt soup sacket base added large red dates, lots of thin julienned ginger, whole bulb of garlic cloves & coriander, with wolfberries at the very last, was very smooth, tasty & flavourful.

i prepared 2 fish dishes.

first was a spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头.

lar pok – crispy lard for song fish head 松鱼头

this reproduced my favourite prepartion (by hk street chun kee clumpy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头) at commonwealth crescent food centre. & i topped the dish with lar pok – crispy lard.

LYF took apart the entire head.

as there were enough food, with the addition of JLKY’s sio bak & doc’s big & small intestines, the guys said no need to go ahead with the HK steamed garoupa, which was ready for the steamer.

#10 fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce

the final dish was  fried cuttlefish & kang kong in gimson nonya sauce.

everyone liked the nonya sauce special flavours, as with the last dinner where GCG commented. HK had the dish right in front of him & that was his first & last & favourite dish for the evening.

for myself it was my chinese herbal mutton soup.

grapes

champagne jelly

the friends brought the grapes, red wine & HK the veuve cliquot widow special brew….

must highlight tai kor LCM’s effort to make the champagne jelly for the first time…texture was a bit firm..LYF made an interesting comment & finished the jelly, so tai kor was mightily impressed. we all knew who didn’t finish…lol! ^^

great fun, even as i looked back & relished the memories as i blogged. one among us in hospital. just yesterday i received another bad news….we know what is important to us at this time in our life journey…having such great time together & treasuring our friendship & fond memories.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Chicken with Potatoes – 49th Teban Gardens Community Breakfast on 5Jan2018

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curry chicken with potatoes 

made curry chicken with potatoes for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 5.1.2018.^^

this my 49th friday breakfast community meal dish at teban gardens community service centre.

i first started doing a community meal dish for teban gardens CSC on 8.1.2016.

the centre was started in 2002 after much effort & challenge by our RI friend who is a pastor of pasir panjang hill brethren church (pphbc) which owns & runs the CSC.

curry chicken

i cut 2kg boneless chicken thigh, cleaned with salt & placed on colander in fridge to dry yesterday.

curry chicken 

this morning i got up at 7am.

fried 1 cut yellow onions, 1.5 twig of curry leaves in 2 tbsp oil.

heng’s chicken curry sauce

added the heng’s nonya curry paste & fried.

then added the cut chicken, well coated with the curry, & added 200ml coconut milk.

chicken has lots of water so add water sparingly..covered & cooked 6-8mins. do not overcook the chicken.

curry chicken

a very tasty curry chicken dish.

potatoes 

meanwhile i peeled & cut 5-6 medium potatoes. about 100-120 pieces.

removed the chicken & added the potatoes. cooked for 10mins. potatoes is cooked when it breaks when pressed. do not overcook.

curry chicken with potatoes 

then i added back the chicken. added fish sauce & salt to taste. (or marinate chicken with fish sauce before cooking).

curry chicken with potatoes 

a delicious dish of curry chicken with potatoes.

curry chicken with potatoes

the residents were very pleased with the dish. looked great & tasted marvellous.

c.h.e.f andy

2pax Lunch with Dutch Friend @ Porta Park Hotel Clarke Quay on 14Nov2017

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2pax lunch @ porta

my dutch friend is in singapore…

we had a great lunch & chat, lots of catching up at porta..on 14.11.2017. ^^

afterwards my friend bought coffee ..we were lazy decided to just sit at the al fresco area still at porta..coffee was expensive at $8++pax

2pax lunch @ porta

my friend is 10yrs older than me. he is retired, back in holland, and visits sngapore once a year.

we always meet up for makan.

squidink seafood pasta S$20

there is a UOB 1 for 1 main course & pasta promotion, which require reservations by phone or via chope online. 🙂 so the cheaper main course/pasta is free. 🙂

squidink seafood pasta S$20

we shared the 2 pastas – a squidink seafood pasta.

prawn & chorizo linguine S$22

and a prawn .& chorizo linguine S$22.

both were very good indeed, a good restaurant pasta standard.

grilled norwegian salmon S$22

my dutch friend always takes fish. so i was guessing salmon for lunch.

grilled norwegian salmon S$22

i did not try the salmon. but it looked perfectly charred, and with good mash & sides. 🙂

iberian pork secreto medium well S$26

for myself i had the iberian pork secreto, medium well per chef recommendations.

a big helping. i gave my dutch friend couple pieces.

iberian pork secreto medium well S$26

it’s an excellent main. iberico pork had good marbling & great flavours, and it was done very well, tender & moist.

so with UOB 1 for 1, 2pax lunch was just S$48++ for 4 dishes, basically each having a pasta & a main.

hard to beat that in terms of value for money & quality!

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Porta @ Park Hotel Clarke Quay

Address:
1 Unity St, Singapore 237983
Contact:
6593 8855
Opening Hours:
daily
  • 11AM–10:30PM

2pax Lunch with Wife @ Saveur The Cathay on 13Nov2017

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chilled capellini S$5.90

went to handy road to do something with wife.. decided to drop by for a quick bite at saveur @ the cathay… on 13.11.2017.^^

did not come here (used to be called concetto by saveur, now just saveur) for the longest time…looking back it was 23.9.2015, maybe not that long ago…haha!

3course set lunch S$22.90 (no change).

we not really hungry, so decided to just have the chilled capellini each & shared a salmon confit starter. 🙂

chilled capellini S$5.90

the chilled capellini still good! still al dente, tasty, great combination of textures.

of course it’s not quite the chilled truffle angel hair with sakura prawns & caviar=S$30! at portico prime, but that is S$30, this is S$5.90!

salmon confit S$11.90

salmon confit S$11.90 

salmon confit was done well too, kind of very lightly poached…

anyway we were not really hungry & the 2 items were sufficient for us. total S#23.70++

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saveur @ The Cathay

Address:

2 Handy Road #01-11/12 S229233

Contact:

The cathay

6735 1141

Opening Hours:

Daily 12pm -9.30pm

 

Mediocre Ming Shan Chinese Herbal Muttob Rib Soup on 5Dec2017

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S$6 ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup

my RI bro to bought me 2 bottles of 沙茶酱 from yue hua in chinatown today on 5.12.2017.

i met him & parked at smith street food centre carpark.

 

ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup

ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup

there wasn’t much food here that i felt like eating.

finally we settled on ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup.

S$6 ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup

S$6 ming shan chinese herbal mutton rib soup

mutton soup ok not comparable with 柴船头at bukit merah view.

of course any stall is better than –

those unedible la! lol!

my own chinese herbal mutton rib soup better la…

fifties coffee 五十年代…

after lunch, we walked over to fifties coffee 五十年代…good every time! thick & flavourful!

c.h.e.f andy

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Noodles, Four Seasons Chendol TPY Lor 8 & MSW on 4Dec2017

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ah heng curry chicken noodles

went with my RI bro to ah heng curry chicken noodles on 4.12.2017. ^^

my favourite hawker food of all times la!

hong lim food centre tai hwa bcm & outram road ckt queues

at 10.30am, there were queues at both tai hwa bakchormee & outram road char tuay teow.

ah heng curry chicken noodles

for me though, it’s strictly curry chicken noodles.

i like the bcm & ckt too, but nothing takes the place of curry chicken noodles for me.

good as always, though i felt that perhaps coming after (say) 1.30pm the gravy is tastier than what i had at 10.30am….

chicken was the best al! as good or better than chicken rice chicken.

tpy lor 8 four seasons chendol

after curry chicken noodles, we had coffee chat, then went to four seasons chendol at toa payoh lor 8.

tpy lor 8 four seasons chendol

four seasons chendol good as always, very intense & flvourful, both the gula melaka & also the coconut milk.

MSW at toa payoh lor 8 stall

we passed by the durian stall on the way to our car. shared one MSW very good indeed 👍

c.h.e.f andy

6pax RI Bros Home Steamboat Dinner on 27Nov2017

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6pax RI bros home steamboat dinner

did a steamboat dinner for my RI bros on 27.11.2017. ^^

wanted to let them try the shenzhen style 沙茶酱捞阳春面 served with 猪杂汤…decided to just do it steamboat style..no seafood so more of 陆上捞田里捞haha!😂

For my OPS buddies maybe will do 海底捞with seafood..not everyone like pig organs la 😂😎

6pax RI bros home steamboat dinner 

i had a good spread of meat & vegetables.

steamboat items 

shitake mushrooms

there’s shitake, abalone mushrooms, shimeji & enoki mushrooms.

steamboat items 

also had couple cooked dishes. here i had saliva chicken 口水鸡.

iberico & normal pork collar 

there was iberico shabu shabu pork, and also a cheap thinly sliced pork collar (like 25% price).

iberico pork was excellent…surprisingly the pork collar was very good, considering the price.

pig kidney 

pig liver & spleen 

i had quite a bit of organs – kidney, liver, spleen, heart

minced pork balls 

& i made some meatballs myself…

cheese tofu & egg tofu 

both the egg tofu & cheese tofu were nice addition, in small amount. you don’t need too much of those.

lettuce

spinach 

i had lettuce & spinach.

阳春面 

the 阳春面 tossed in 沙茶酱 & taken with pig organ soup was what i wanted my RI bros to try out at first..it then became a steamboat.

making saliva chicken 口水鸡

saliva chicken 口水鸡 

& i made saliva chicken 口水鸡. first poached 1/2 chicken then added the mala sauce with fish sauce mix.

saliva chicken 口水鸡 

it was a nice dish, though i had done better recently & my friend CL also commented.

pig’s tongue

pig’s tongue tossed with 沙茶酱 

had some pig’s tongue also which i tossed with the  沙茶酱. nice!

pig organ soup 

i made 6 bowls individual soup portions.

needn’t have bothered. additional work & it was better in any case for each to do himself while taking the steamboat.

low temp braised belly pork

braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱

& i braised the belly pork to recreate the braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱 shenzhen style dish. c/w with the shenzhen dish below!

braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱 with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆

the braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱  with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆 was really good! 

沙茶酱 with chopped scallions & celery 

for steamboat i added another sauce – goma sauce, which was a very good dip.

braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱

the braised belly pork 阳春面with沙茶酱 shenzhen style was very good, especially the sauce.

i had practiced this on my OPS bro WM few days back. ^^

the steamboat – is like any steamboat a pretty nice communal dining. the organs were fresh & the meat were nice & sweet & very good complement of vegetables & mushroom, so a quite complete steamboat.

the singel bowl preparation of pig organ soup &  阳春面 was a bit of tedious work & not really necessary, so i did not do that when my OPS buddies came subsequently for seafood 海底捞hotpot dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

3pax Homecooked Dinner with Sis & BIL – Steamed 鲈鱼 & Pig Organ Soup on 24Nov2017

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2 steamed 鲈鱼

sis & bil came for lunch & dinner today on 24.11.2017. ^^

沙茶酱阳春面

I made some 沙茶酱捞阳春面 for lunch, same as what i did for my OPS bro WM yesterday.

2 steamed 鲈鱼 + fried spinach

for dinner i made 清蒸鲈鱼..& the leftover pig organs soup. ^^

recently in shanghai, we were treated to 鲥鱼 quite a few times…it was like 1/2 fish for RMB360, like S$75…

& there it was like a must eat dish…i quite like it, though they added sugar & it was a bit sweet in my opinion…but to pay S$75 for 1/2  鲥鱼, not quite my cup of tea after a first must try…

 

2 鲈鱼 from sheng shiong for S$3.90

2 鲈鱼 from sheng shiong for S$3.90

i bought 2 鲈鱼from sheng shiong $3.90..

this of course is a cheap fish. i wanted to use this to experiment making the 鲥鱼 dish, also a river fish with many tiny bones, and sweet.

2 steamed 鲈鱼

i googled online recipe for  鲥鱼…

the only distinctive part of the preparation i think was steaming the fish separately & leaving out the broth…

this of course quite a common method just that normally i don’t do that for my other steam fish preparation.

this cheap 鲈鱼 being quite fishy…it makes sense to do that…

i steamed for 8mins (about 600g+ for 2 鲈鱼)

 

for the sauce, i used my usual 2-3tbsp light soy sauce, 2tbsp olive oil & 2tbsp mirin…i had sliced ginger & uncut chilli padi which i fried first in the olive oil. can also add chopped garlic. then added the other light soy sauce & mirin. off fire & added the celery for garnishing.

then poured the hot sauce over the steamed 鲈鱼 and arranged the ginger pieces & the celery garnishing.

2 steamed 鲈鱼

this preparation in my view very much approximates 鲥鱼…

sweet, tender, lots of bones like鲥鱼but no sugar added..quite excellent taste for very cheap fish👍

pig organs soup

pig organs soup

we had the usual fried spinach. and the leftover pig organ soup with kidney, liver, pork balls & sliced pork.

quite an excellent dinner for 3pax, haha!

c.h.e.f andy

2pax Homecooked 沙茶酱捞阳春面 with Pig Organ Soup with OPS Bro WM on 23Nov2017

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沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup

after our very fun OPS bros HK/Shenzhen trip 10-14.9.2017, i had wanted to try out the wonderful 沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup WW (WT’s brother working/living in Shenzhen) brought us to eat at out first stop in SZ. ^^

this time i broiught back 3 bottles of 沙茶酱 from 田子坊 street stalls in shanghai, so my OPS bro WM dutifully came by to be the first guinea pig on 23.11.2017. 🙂

belly pork noodles

the braised belly pork noodles with 沙茶酱  with pig organs soup @ 深圳东贝爱面科学馆 was really good! 

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

沙茶酱捞阳春面with pig organ soup

it shouldn’t be difficult to make. pig organ soup quite standard. i got kidney, liver, heart, spleen, sliced pork, and mined pork balls. i had tasty chicken stock this time but anchovies stock will also do.

braised belly pork 卤腩肉

i made some braised pork also.

excellent texture & very nice indeed with the 沙茶酱, nicer than it looks in the photo above la!

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

& the 阳春面 went very well with 沙茶酱

沙茶酱捞阳春面shenzhen style

quite perfect really & almost same as the Shenzhen noodles we had.

WM said on FB later – Good standard. Very closed to the Shenzhen original i must say. I enjoyed again no doubt.

pig organ soup

my pig organ soup was just as sweet & tasty but a bit mirky, not 清。

subsequently i shabu ie blanched the organs separately & added the soup, to get a nice clear soup appearance.

沙茶酱with scallions & celery

& i made chopped scallions & celery to add to the 沙茶酱.

very nice lunch indeed, reminiscing our breakfast at Shenzhen.

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

after lunch, WM bought MSW at ah seng in ghim moh.

this time really creamy & sweet, one slightly bitter, much better than the early MSW we had couple weeks back.

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

MSW at ah seng durians

a wonderful durian moment after a good lunch.

ah seng durians

not much queue today. so WM went to packet some more MSW to bring back.

c.h.e.f andy

Wine Chicken 黄焖鸡 with Potatoes & Carrots – 48th Teban Gardens Community Breakfast on 15Dec2017

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wine chicken 黄焖鸡 with potatoes & carrots for teban gardens 

made wine chicken 黄焖鸡 for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 15.12.2017. ^^

this my 48th friday breakfast community meal dish at teban gardens community service centre.

i first started doing a community meal dish for teban gardens CSC on 8.1.2016.

the centre was started in 2002 after much effort & challenge by our RI friend who is a pastor of pasir panjang hill brethren church (pphbc) which owns & runs the CSC.

2kg boneless chicken thighs 

i bought 2kg frozen boneless chicken thigh from sheng shiong, defrosted, cut & cleaned with salt & placed in a colander in the fridge to dry the evening before.

this morning, i woke up earlier to marinate the chicken – 2tbsp fish sauce, 2tbsp light soy sauce, 2tbsp sesame sauce, 2tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp corn flour & 4tbsp shaoxing wine, marinated about 1hr.

light braised chicken thighs 

i fried the chicken pieces in a hot pan with sliced ginger, cut chilli padi, and chopped garlic. then added the marinade, covered & braised lightly 焖..

there is a lot of liquids in the chicken so no need to add water, but watch & act accordingly.

chicken should not be overcooked..about 6-8mins sufficient for smooth, succulent chicken dish.

carrots, onions & potatoes 

i prepared the carrots, onions & potatoes – 2 large carrots, 2 large onions, 6 medium potatoes.

cooking carrots, onions & potatoes 

fried carrots & onions first then added potatoes & liquid from draining the chicken.

make the correct texture for potatoes, just break when pressed & not mushy. liquids should be reduced to give an intense tasty sauce.

wine chicken with potatoes & carrots for teban gardens 

then added back the chicken.

wine chicken with potatoes & carrots for teban gardens

& voila – a tasty dish of wine chicken with potatoes & carrots for teban gardens! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

回锅肉 Double-cooked Pork Belly with Carrots, Onions & Potatoes – 47th Teban Gardens Community Breakfast on 24Nov2017

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回锅肉double cooked pork belly with carrots, onions & potatoes

made 回锅肉double cooked pork belly with carrots, onions & potatoes  for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 24.11.2017. ^^

this my 47th friday breakfast community meal at teban gardens community service centre.

i first started doing a community meal dish for teban gardens CSC on 8.1.2016.

the centre was started in 2002 after much effort & challenge by our RI friend who is a pastor of pasir panjang hill brethren church (pphbc) which owns & runs the CSC.

pork belly after 6 hrs in 90degC oven

i did the usual 6hrs in 90degC oven treatment to produce the right tender texture with bite & not breaking up. left them in the oven overnight & that’s how they look like when i took out of the oven dish this morning. 🙂

pork belly after 6 hrs in 90degC oven

easy to cut, no shredding…

pork belly after 6 hrs in 90degC oven

it’s 1.8kg of belly pork, quite a good amount as the numbers have of late increased to about 130pax at teban gardens friday community breakfast. 🙂

回锅肉double cooked pork belly

so just fried the  sliced belly pork with 1tbsp of oyster sauce & 2 tbsp of mala chilli sauce. and chopped garlic of course.

回锅肉double cooked pork belly

delicious! both taste & texture.

with carrots, onions & potatoes

and i had some cut potatoes carrots & onions for a balanced diet. hehe! 🙂

like 2 large carrots & 6 medium potatoes, 2 large yellow onions…

fried onions & carrots first, softened them, added the juice from the pork belly oven dish & 1 tbsp oyster sauce & reduced. then added potatoes about 8-10mins. must not overcooked potatoes – cooked right when it just break when pressed against wok or pressed with a spoon.

回锅肉double cooked pork belly with carrots, onions & potatoes

then put 2 & 2 together, for a great, delicious breakfast dish! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Resume Blogging after 2-month Hiatus haha!

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blog post stats

have not blogged for almost 2 months. 🙂

looking at my most recent post, that was 9nov2017.

guess i needed a rest.

quite many things happened over the period. my eldest daughter got married. i went with my OPS bro to shanghai. i did several home dinners for my RI bros & OPS buddies afterwards, and of course christmas, new year etc. and i did a few more friday community breakfast for teban gardens.

maybe i should do a new year resolution too.

my last & only new year resolution post was 1.1.2014. 🙂

well, see if inspirations beget me..

quite many posts to catch up over 2 months period…maybe i will start with teban gardens community breakfast first.

i started blogging on 5.3.2013. the post stats has just past 1million views. nothing great of course, anyhow this blog is for my own musing on cooking, dinning & travels & to relish my own memories & good times with my family & friends…so whatever use or reading pleasure for the public if any, is a bonus…

c.h.e.f andy