Monthly Archives: March 2019

Excellent Roast Duck & Dishes @ Xin Cuisine on 9Mar2019

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tea flavoured roast duck S$32

went with wife to xin cuisine 2pax dinner on 9.3.2019..^^

haven’t been here for ages..they closing for reno on 17mar till 1jun2019.

had our usual tea flavoured roast duck 👍👍

it was exquisite, very flavourful very good as always, among the best roast duck anywhere. 🙂

steamed cod S$18

steamed cod S$18

we had one order of cod. it was good even though ordinary, sweet flaky tasty fish, quite to be expected. 🙂

mei cai with kai lan S$20

mei cai with kai lan S$20

the mei cai now came with kai lan instead of 娃娃菜，better actually kai lan done to perfection.

it was very good, love the mei cai flavours. wawa cai 娃娃菜 was good but this hk kailan just as perfect – crunchy stems sweet and and luscious green leaves.

fishmaw strips fish noodle soup 花胶丝鱼茸面S$18

fishmaw strips fish noodle soup 花胶丝鱼茸面S$18

fishmaw strips fish noodle soup 花胶丝鱼茸面S$18

this evening we ordered something new, a fish meat noodles with shredded fish maw 花胶丝鱼茸面..

it was very good, the soup especially was fantastic., better than many sharksfin soup, such tasty broth.

2pax 4 dishes S$56 nett

tea flavoured roast duck S$32

2pax dinner with 1/2 roast duck and such great dishes came to S$56nett after amex love dining discounts.

no less than excellent!

c.h.e.f andy

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

Xin Cuisine (新故乡)
Address:
317 Outram Rd, Holiday Inn Atrium, 169075
Phone:
6731 7173

Opening Hours:

Monday to Sunday 12–2:30PM, 6:30–10:30PM

 

 

with amex discounts just $56 nett for 2pax

Spicy Bean Paste Pork Cubes 辣豆瓣酱猪肉粒 and Potatoes – 85th Teban Gardens Community Breakfast on 8Mar2019

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spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes

made spicy bean paste pork cubes 辣豆瓣酱猪肉粒 and potatoes for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 8.3.2019.^^

this my 85th 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.

spicy bean paste pork cube

spicy bean paste pork cube

spicy bean paste pork cube

this an easy preparation as i can do the evening before and just add potatoes this morning.

i ordered 2kg pork cubes (i think S$7.95/kg).

defrosted and cleaned with salt and poached in boiling water to remove scum, and drained.

then fried with 1 tbsp chopped garlic and 3tbsp spicy bean paste 辣豆瓣酱 for 5 mins. added water and boiled for 1hr 15mins (till tender – chopstick poke thru cleanly).

spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes

spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes

this morning i added 5 cut large potatoes, cooked and reduced, about 12mins (until potatoes just cooked – chopsticks poke thru cleanly or potato breaks when pushed against the side of the wok).

spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes

and basically that’s it.

a simple easy to make dish of spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes.

spicy bean paste pork cubes with potatoes

 and quite delicious.

c.h.e.f andy

Really Enjoyable 4pax RI Bros Home Dinner on 7Mar2019

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4pax RI bros home dinner

CCG birthday this week and he was free for dinner.

4 of us (NCL, LKY, CCG, me) had a small home meal at my place on 7.3.2019. ^^

i made a few dishes-

1 hk ateamed garoupa
2 garlic hk steamed sotong
3 braised wine chicken with potatoes & carrots
4 char siew
5 fried broccoli

hk steamed fish

hk steamed fish

i bought a tiger garoupa, the cheapest type, from sheng shiong. it was S$7.50/kg so just S$4.30 for the near 600g garoupa.

usually tiger garoupa not so sweet and tasty like red garoupa which is much more fine.

this evening it turned out beautifully, very fragrant hk steamed from the light soy sauce and actually the flesh was quite fine and sweet. this was NCL best dish for the evening.

garlic hk steamed sotong

garlic hk steamed sotong

we had recently taken several times hk steamed sotong and lala at-

  1. crab at bay on 11.2.2109; and
  2. 7th miles seafood on 26.2.2019.

it is really a simple dish to do, no preparation almost, just hk steamed and heaped with chopped garlic.

the sauce was fantastic, basically the same as garlic steamed razor clams 蒜蓉蒸, really perfect with the tender squid and perfect with plain rice. 🙂

char siew

char siew

char siew

char siew

i recently kind of perfected my char siew recipe

and i did again this evening. very good.

CCG happily “tasted” the char siew before dinner. some tasting portion lol! 🙂

braised wine chicken with potatoes and carrots

braised wine chicken with potatoes and carrots

the braised wine chicken with potatoes and carrots was excellent this evening.

this a dish i cooked for teban gardens often. usually for the 140pax at TG i used 2kg – 3kg frozen boneless legs.

of course today i used fresh 1/2 deboned chicken. the braise was excellent and nicely reduced, and the chicken and potatoes were timed perfectly so very tender and tasty chicken and just the right “mouthfeel” for the potatoes.

fried broccoli

broccoli was the usual, simple fried just oyster sauce and slight crunchy texture which all my friends loved.

braised wine chicekn with potatoes and carrots

braised wine chicekn with potatoes and carrots

hk steamed fish

5 dishes for 4pax

dinner was really simple, as i only had to cook the chicken dish. fish and sotong steamed on the spot and fried broccoli too. and char siew was marinated 2 days in the chiller and grilled in the oven for 16+4mins at 4pm. so not much to do.

recently we had a bigger 10pax RI bros dinner on 21.2.2019.

i didn’t get to hear CCG share much as i was in the kitchen for a few dishes. this time we had lots of time to share and chit chat.

a most wonderful evening with close friends.

c.h.e.f andy

 

Poor Tsukiji Fish Market 1 for 1 Wagyu Don Lunch Set on 7Mar2019

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2pax lunch with godsis

had lunch with my godsis at tsujiki fish market L12 at orchard central on 7.3.2019. ^^

last time went to godsis housewarming 2 months back..didn’t sit down for a chat for a while..had a good time sharing…godsis was concerned with my god daughter too which i am not much in contact recently.

tsukiji fish market menu

tsujiki had various lunch set (above).

we decided to go with the chope 1 for 1 lunch sets.

ususally i would take the chirashi don, but since godsis doesn’t really take sashimi so we decided to have the beef set. the server recommended the S$39.80 Japanese Wagyu Yakiniku Jyu Yakiniku Beef on Rice in box which was also the most expensive.

S$39 grilled wagyu donburi set

the set came with salad, chawanmushi, potato salad, soup, pickles etc…but all these not important if the main dish beef not good la…

S$39 grilled wagyu donburi

unfortunately the wagyu beef was a disappointment!

some parts of the wagyu was tough! wagyu tough?

& it was not grilled, more like stir-fried.

even though 1 for 1 at S$39.80, meimei commented the heijoen wagyu yakiniku lunch set much better. indeed it was!

S$39 grilled wagyu donburi set

maybe we should have take the the yakiniku set but we were lazy to cook ourselves.

this wagyu donburi i absolutely DO NOT recommend.

c.h.e.f andy

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

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

Tsukiji Fish Market
Address:
181 orchard road, ＃12-02 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896
Located in: Orchard Central
Contact:
6634 2803
Opening Hours:
Sat-Thurs
  • 12–2:30PM
  • 6–10PM
Fri
  • 12–2:30PM
  • 6–11PM

Recipe 5th Sharing & Demo = Egg White Fried Rice and 回锅肉Doublecooked Pork @ Teban Gardens on 6Mar2019

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cooking demo and sharing

was asked to do a cooking demo at teban gardens on 6.3.2019. ^^

this my 5th cooking demo and sharing.

today i chose –

  1. salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice
  2. 回锅肉 doublecooked pork

fried rice i could do on the spot. 回锅肉 doublecooked pork i cooked the belly pork first and also the leeks and onions first as leek took some time to cook. then i fried with leeks and onions on the spot.

preparations for cooking demo

so there were many ingredients/boxes i have to bring – like cooked rice, minced pork, salted fish, egg white, chopped garlic, oil chopped scallions and crispy chilli for garnishing the fried rice, mala chilli for frying the 回锅肉 doublecooked pork etc.

cooking demo and sharing

cooking demo and sharing

cooking demo and sharing

i started with fried rice dish as it took a while to cook on the spot.回锅肉 doublecooked pork is easy & quick just mixing the 2 items – belly pork and vegetables together.

this a very interactive class. they have many questions throughout the session = like can use salted egg or olive vegetable instead of salted fish, why egg white, what’s the difference using whole egg etc..

i started by explaining that i fried the chopped garlic and salted fish together as i didn’t want to burn either and i happened to have broccoli stems which i cut into small pieces to give texture to the fried rice.

cooking demo and sharing

cooking demo and sharing

salted fish gives a very fragrant flavour when you fry. i turned the fire to high and added the cooked rice and fried, mixed thoroughly, high heat, not too long, then dished out and set aside. the fried rice is tasty as it is.

(so of course one can add salted egg or olive vegetables instead of salted fish OR not to add any..likewise one can can seafood or prawns instead of minced pork etc..or char siew in yangzhou fried rice…so many ways la…)

i explained that the proportion balance of ingredients is important so by agaklogy i did not add all the rice (2cups) so as not to diu=lute the taste.

frying egg white

now i fried the egg white – i had 5 egg whites, so maybe equal to 2.5 eggs.

it is important to let the egg white formed, so that it would not be messy. this step is most important whether using whole egg or egg white.

adding fried rice to egg white

now i added the fried rice and folded the egg over and broke it up so like in the restaurants you see the distinct bits of egg whites. if the whole egg or egg white is added to the rice and fried, then it coats the rice and the texture is more sticky and mushy, whereas this way the rice are individual grains.

egg white or whole for me is just aesthetics..of course the taste also a bit different and a golden colour fried rice is also appetising as well. i like both preparations.

salted fish minced pork egg whtie fried rice

salted fish minced pork egg whtie fried rice

the fried rice is best presented on a large plate garnished with chopped scallions. i added crispy chilli.

they all like the crispy prawn chilli and several added extra to their bowls.

回锅肉

the 回锅肉 doublecooked pork is quite straight forward.

i explained that 回锅肉 is a sichuan dish 四川菜肴 and generally done with mala chilli and fried with various vegetables.

the english translation is doublecooked pork (double cook as in returning the pork to the wok to cook a second time so the name 回锅肉).

doublecook though is a common technique used in every cuisine western or asian…teochew has 半煎煮鱼1/2 fried and braised fish and western dishes even steak has reverse sear method sous vide then pangrilled or flamed etc.

回锅肉

today i have leftover leeks so i fried leeks (the white part) and yellow onions with a bit of oyster sauce. covered wok to cook for 5 mins and make sure leek was just done and not overcooked. the simple veg dish alone smelled great actually.

the belly pork i salted for few hours then boiled in water for 1hr 40mins, most important test poking a chopstick through the lean meat going through cleanly. cooled it and put in fridge. this so that i could cut the belly pork cleanly w/o fraying when adding to the veg.

so now just put the leek and onion to the wok on high heat, added the cut belly pork, then added 1 tbsp of mala chilli oil…(because request to add less, i added 1tsp…later everyone said it was very fragrant not enough though so some added more themselves).

salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice and 回锅肉

salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice and 回锅肉

trying out the dishes – fried rice and 回锅肉

it was a very meaningful day for me and i hope for the participants as well.

everyone was enjoying the food and they were full of questions and very participatory so i guess it was time well spent for them as well.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Value Thai Food with Eatigo Discounts @ Royal Thai Restaurant on 5Mar2019

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S$20 tomyam talay

had 4pax family lunch with brother, sis & bil @ royal thai restaurant fairway drive on 5.3.2019. ^^

they have eatigo discounts = 50% off at 11.30am, which suited our timing quite well.

lunch came to S$45nett for 4pax 5 dishes, i should say very good value, though there were some serious failures.

4pax lunch with bro & sis

4pax lunch with bro & sis

problem with this place as with many reasonable food places, is that no business. we were the only table in the aircon room throughout.

there was another table at the al fresco seating outside.

S$20 tomyam talay

the S$20 tomyam talay (seafood) was as good as any. nice flavour soup, 3 large and fresh prawns, a lot of sotong and some fish.

at S$20 it was a good dish good serving and with 50% at S$10 it is unbeatbale anywhere. 🙂

tomyam talay

good stuff!

S$20 roast duck curry – inedible

unfortunately the roast duck curry was a disaster.

this is a special thai dish and very nice at top restaurants like patara and i thought it good for my bro and sis to try it.

here it was inedible really, some funny taste or herbs my brother commented. i was in 2 minds to reject the dish but we already took some each so i let it go. when i asked the server later when closing the bill if the duck was not fresh, she said ya the duck was not fresh!

S$20 fried beef with basil

the fried beef with basil was good. the usual thai style stir-fried beef, very good serving and the right taste, not special but entirely comptent and very good value after discounts.

S$14 salted fish with tow gay

S$12 fried kang kong

both the veg were good, and a fair size serving.

egg plant garden

they had nice vegetable garden at the back and also on a small plot by the side.

S$20 tomyam talay

we saw the table outside ordered green curry chicken which looked good, and fish. fish though at S$49 is i think overpriced. i would rather go to patara which also has eatigo 50% discounts at certain timing.

so if i come back here, i think the tomyam talay, basil beef and grren curry chicken are 3 ishes and cannot go wrong.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Royal Thai REstaurant
Address:
60 Fairways Dr, Singapore 286966
8QWW+6R Singapore
Contact:
royalthai-sg.com
9235 9797
Opening Hours:
daily
  • 11am–10:30pm

Recipe = Delicious Salted Egg Pork Chop on 27Aug2018

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for this evening, i decided to do salted egg pork chop for 10pax RI bros dinner on 27.8.2018. ^^

just last month we had great salted egg pork chop at hk street old chun kee at commonwealth crescent recently on 9.7.2018.

so i decided to replicate this evening, my very first salted egg pork chop 排骨王.

and it turned out it was very good. both CM & KK both commented.

i used frozen pork chops from sheng shiong, sliced the 5 pieces in 1/2 to make 10 thin pieces, marinated with fish sauce, white pepper & 1tbsp corn flour.

then shallow fry…i hate deepfrying as waste a lot of oil after that no occasion to reuse. 🙂

i used the salted egg paste given to me by WM & J. ^^

it was that simple, just fried the salted egg paste  with little oil and 2 twigs of curry leaves, then added back the pork and mixed thoroughly.

voila!

c.h.e.f andy

Recipe = Good Standard Salted Egg Prawns on 21Feb2019

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 i made salted egg prawns and made my own sauce for RI bros dinner on 21.2.2019.^^

salted egg prawns 21.2.2019

prawns were done the same, coated with egg yoke and cornflour and shallow-fried for 1 min to golden.

TIPS

  1. it was fun for me making the prawns, as i generally hate to do deep-frying – a lot of wastage of oil & additional cooking steps, i just do this shallowfried like <2cm of oil sufficient, in a small diameter pot.
  2. do in batches, do not crowd the pot. i did like 6 at a time, just couple mins to cook prawns.

salted egg sauce 21.2.2019

the last time (for a 27pax family CNY day2 lunch on 6.2.2019), i used a ready made sauce. it (the sauce) was not that good even though the prawns were done well.

so this time i decided to make my own sauce. this evening i served 15 prawns, so i decided 3 salted egg yokes would be enough, and it was. so fried the salted egg yokes with 3 twigs of curry leaves and 1 cut chilli padi.

the salted egg prawn dish came out quite perfect, with great salted egg flavours and slight powdery texture, just right! 🙂

for the 27pax family CNY day2 lunch on 6.2.2019), i used a packet salted egg sauce bought at tiong bahru market stall.

prawns were good but the the packet sauce didn’t give good enough flavours and texture.

i did at an earlier version (using for the first time a sauce given to me by WM & J).

this time, i shortcut the process by mixing the prawns in a mixing bowl with fish sauce, white pepper, 1 tbsp corn flour, 1 tbsp plain flour, 1 egg yolk & just mix.

this way cut out the inconvenience & messiness of dipping the prawns in cornflour, flour & egg yolk before frying.

it worked well too, as can be seen in above photo! ^^

and then it’s just to fry cut chilli padi + curry leaves in the salted egg mayo sauce mix, then add the prawns to coat.

was quite excited doing salted egg prawns, my first attempt at this dish in 2014. photo looked ok but that was to me, considered a failure.

prawns were deep-fried. paste was done using salted duck egg york, curry leaves & milk. prawns were very fresh but less crispy as it was done at 4pm like 4hrs before serving & set aside with paste added on in pan before serving. too much milk, paste not viscous enough & salted egg flavour was too dilute. will improve next time. 🙂

SUMMARY

in summary –

  1. i prefer to make the sauce myself (4 salted egg yokes sufficient for 20 large prawns).
  2. use shallow fry in a small diameter pot to save oil
  3. can coat with cornflour, egg yoke when preparing or just mix all together.
  4. quite ok w/o milk, if adding milk make sure sauce is not diluted but have consistent texture and viscoity not too dilute

c.h.e.f andy

Recipe = Potato Mash on 28Feb2019

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for our family dinner on 24.2.2019, i decided to make a mash…

it was very good, everyone loved it. i just used one large potatoes will make more next time.

this time i added pangrilled scallop and also a flamed belly pork. the same belly pork i did for the buddha jump over the walk, braised in the stock 2hrs so very tender..then added seasalt, black pepper, olive oil adn drizzle with honey, then flamed. superb!

i had made this mash once before on 22.7.2018 =it was very good.👍👍👍both wife & daughter loved it!

i didn’t add milk & heavy cream. i just had gourmet butter, chopped garlic, olive oil, salt & ground black pepper.

i served the mash with flamed red wine slow braised belly pork and kale.

the flamed red wine slow braised red wine belly pork was just exquisite=perfect texture (braised 4hrs in 130degC oven) and wonderful flavours (red wine, strawberry jam, mustard, mirin, and scallions, red onions, garlic).

so a very simple preparation and a wonderfully satisfying outcome-

  1. just one large potato, boil 10mins till soft, remove skin, cut in small cubes.
  2. add 1tbsp gourmet butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1/3tsp salt and black pepper
  3. blend

i just need to make more next time.

c.h.e.f andy

Recipe = Buddha Jump Over The Wall on 24Feb2019

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buddha jump over the wall 24.2.2019

I made buddha jump over the wall this evening on 24Feb2019. ^^

it was very good..wife children all loved it…JH had 3 bowls…

buddha jump over the wall 24.2.2019

Recipe

i use 2 pig trotters & a SKINLESS chicken leg (thigh plus drumstick) and belly pork to provide a very sweet, tasty, gelatinous soup base. then added fish maw, sea cucumber, pig tendons, chicken breast and each at the right timing to deliver great texture.

i use cold slow cooker on low heat method, about 6hrs. i just based on estimation “agaklogy”, but can also use a meat thermometer set at 90degC on the belly pork.

remove belly pork, and 1/2 the trotters (that i wanted to preserve the excellent texture and not just used for stock base).

added fish maw and turned to high, about 2hrs, pig tendon 1hr and sea cucumber about 1/2hr to 1hr depends on quality of sea cucumber and thickness. then off the cooker and poached the skinless chicken breast.

buddha jump over the wall 

when serving prepare the bowls with the ingredients, boil the soup and add to the bowls.

i microwave the bowls of ingredients for 1 min so that it is warm. then added the soup.

today was the second time i prepared this soup so everything went smoothly, and quite perfect. the ingredients texture all good including the chicken breast and the soup was just incredible, so smooth, so tasty, so flavourful.

piggy jump over the wall 21.2.2019

the first time i did this jump over the wall thingy was for a 10pax RI bros post CNY dinner on 21.2.2019.

piggy jump over the wall 21.2.2019

that day since i was already having pencai 盆菜, so i used cheaper ingredients like pig trotters and belly instead and called it “piggy jump over the wall”. lol!

turned out that this (the soup) was the best dish.

i think at least one bro had 3 bowls of soup.

a truly delightful dish.

buddha jump over the wall 24.2.2019

there are many ingredients so it seem complicated to make, but actually like any other dishes it came to managing/delivering taste and texture.

so the soup base was important, and once we have a tasty soup, it is to ensure the correct texture of the ingredients, so each has toe be managed at the correct timing.

as i said before a truly delightful dish, a wonderful feeling of satisfaction.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 2 pig trotters halfed and chopped
  • SKINLESS chicken leg (thigh plus drumstick)
  • 400g belly pork
  • 200g fried fish maw
  • 300g sea cucumber
  • 200g pig tendons
  • 1/2 skinless chicken breast (from 1/2 a chicken)

Directions:

  1. poach & clean trotters and belly pork, clean them and skinless chicken leg, place in cold slow cooker filled with water (about 1.5l to 2l) turn to low, add 1tsp flat salt, about 6hrs. (can also use a meat thermometer set at 90degC on the belly pork).
  2. remove belly pork, and 1/2 the trotters (the portion i want to preserve the excellent texture and not just used for stock base).
  3. add fish maw and turned to high, about 2hrs, pig tendon 1hr and sea cucumber about 1/2hr to 1hr depends on quality of sea cucumber and thickness. then off the cooker and poached the skinless chicken breast.
  4. when serving prepare the bowls with the ingredients, boil the soup and add to the bowls. (i microwave the bowls of ingredients for 1 min so that it is warm. then added the soup).

 

Recipe = The Ultimate Char Siew on 4Mar2019

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char siew

char siew 

made the best char siew today on 4.3.2019.^^

perfect texture & taste 👍. nothing less! 

super tender and tasty

better than chinatown…far far better la…

char siew 

recipe quite simple..should be able to reproduce regularly…

char siew

Recipe

1 poach, clean, dry 500g belly pork
2 cut in 1/2 to make 2 slender slices 2cm thick (i have thick 500g+ slab)
3 marinade with 1tsp each of LKK char siew sauce, worster sauce, hoi sin sauce, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, 2 tsp of red fermented beancurd and chopped garlic, 1/3 tsp salt overnight in fridge
4 place on rack drizzle 1tsp honey and place in 250degC oven for 16mins. leave char siew in oven for 4 more mins.

c.h.e.f andy

Recipe = Grilled Baby Ribs on 28Feb2019

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my grilled pork ribs

i wanted to experiment grilled pork ribs.

bought several frozen baby ribs form qbfood, about 700-800g. 🙂

it turned out quite beautifully. i was quite sure the texture would be great…i did 180degC for 1hr 40mins and 250degC for 20mins.

i wasn’t sure if my marinade would be ok.. i used 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil, and rubbed sea salt, black pepper and sprinkled dry parsley and rosemary…

it turned out quite tasty. son said nice a few times. maybe i will try less herb and just a tad more honey. mustard was great!

my grilled pork ribs

fork tender baby ribs.

quite tasty. can improve on the marinade.

c.h.e.f andy

 

Ingredients:

  • 700g baby ribs
  • 2 tbsp mustard
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • rubbed sea salt, black pepper and sprinkled dry parsley and rosemary…

Directions:

  1. place ribs in boiling water for few mins to remove scum, remove back membrane, clean & drain dry.
  2. rubbed sea salt, black pepper and sprinkled herbs – dry parsley and rosemary…
  3. marinade ribs with 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil. put in fridge overnight.
  4. place wrapped in aluminium on rack in 180degC oven for 1hr 40mins. then open the aluminium foil and grilled for 20mins at 250degC

Delicious Thai Dishes @ Patara Fine Thai Cuisine Tanglin Mall on 3Mar2019

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8pax family lunch

son bought 8pax family lunch at patara to celebrate an event on 3.3.2019. ^^

initially wife had another engagement so we put that off, but when wife became available and patara was mentioned, everyone down tools did away with previous “engagements” and came for lunch. lol!

we took the S$38++pax alacarte buffet.

daughter ordered most of the dishes.

pomelo salad with prawns, roasted coconut

pomelo salad very appetizing. wife wondered where they always get sweet pomeloes. could do with a few more prawns. 🙂

tomyam gung

clear spicy and sour soup with seafood

all of us had the tomyam gung. good as always.

son took the clear soup with seafood. later i ordered one tasted a bit off.

shredded duck springroll

the shredded duck came as a springroll. had this here before. it was good now as then.

deep-fried beancurd with chilli-tamarind sauce

deep-fried beancurd everyone’s favourite. crispy outside, soft texture inside and great sauce.

golden-fried fish fillet in savoury three-flavoured sauce

fried fish fillet another favourite. server said garoupa, sometimes dory.

chicken cashew nuts

chicken cashew nuts ordinary, competent, a bit like japanese karaage, not a style i prefer, usually thick batter. but ok la…

grilled australian beef sirloin in red panang curry

grilled sirloin among the best dishes, nice tender beef with great panang sauce.

crab meat fried rice

everyone liked the crabmeat fried rice. it was good…youngest daughter and me thought no biggie, any of imperial treasure crystal jade & paradise would do as good or better.

my own egg white fried rice just as good too! 🙂

olive rice

olive rice was good, my usual favoruite.

stir–fried prawns with garlic and peppercorn

prawn was very good..much like what aunty Bes did for our homecooked sunday dinner.

green curry chicken

green curry chicken was good enough. among all the delicious dishes, i would rate this second worse dish after the salted egg sotong.

red curry chicken

red curry chicken very good. red curry somehow more flavourful than green, maybe more lemak.

pepper beef

pepper beef not so popular, basically me and E eating it.

beef though was very tender, maybe tenderised. pepper sauce though no one’s favoruite like zi char stalls, pepper beef a dish i never order at zi char…

salted egg sotong

for me this the worst dish today!

tasted nothing like salted egg. sotong was soft, mushy, wilted.

the sauce was a disaster, no powdery, fragrant taste of salted egg.

my own salted egg prawns

my own salted egg prawns which i did recently, though not the best c/w outside zi char stalls, way better than this la.

phad thai

phad thai was good. not that sweet, but for us, still too sweet. lol!

mango sticky rice

thai chendol

thai dessert

the dessert quite average.

mango sticky rice was poor! mango was sweet, sticky rice i think unacceptable.

durian cake was ok just not my favourite.

stir–fried prawns with garlic and peppercorn

overall a very enjoyable lunch with so many delicious dishes, and great family time together.

looking now at the menu wonder why daughter did not order the scallops and the stirfried seafood (the prawns was excellent so the seafood prepared same style should be good too!)

c.h.e.f andy

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

Patara Fine Cuisine @ Tanglin Mall

Address:
163 Tanglin Rd, #03-14 Tanglin Mall, Chicco, Singapore 247933
Contact:
patara.com.sg
6737 0818
Opening Hours:
daily
  • 12–3PM
  • 6–10PM

Very Good Hock Prawn Mee. Ngoh Hiang Good Too on 2Mar2019

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3pax supper with WM and WT

went supper with WT & WM to hock prawn mee at jln besar/dickson road on 2.3.2019.^^

this period WT can only come out for supper.

S$6 prawn noodles dry

the prawn noodles was very good, much above my expectation.

WT bought S$6 which had 3 very tender pork ribs, small intestines, and prawns.

S$6 prawn noodles dry

pleasant surprise for me! the pork ribs were very good, the chilli and sauce very good too. and the soup very intense and flavourful. after alan closed down his “why eat har”(luckily still got J’s to turn to), this like the best prawn noodles i had.

ngoh hiang S$9.40 5 pieces

ngoh hiang S$9.40 5 pieces

WM went to add order of ngoh hiang. he ordered 5 types, they were all pretty good! especially the crispy one, and the sausage etc were all good. chilli also very good!

S$6 prawn noodles dry

ngoh hiang was great, but this delightful prawn noodles was really something. i will surely come back for this prawn noodles.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Hock Prawn Mee @ Jalan Besar
43 Jln Besar, Singapore 208804
8V33+VV Singapore
Contact:
8717 6018
Opening Hours
daily
  • Open 24 hours

So So Xiang Ji Chicken Rice at Hollandv Food Centre on 2Mar2019

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S$5 roast chicken roast pork rice

took S$5 roast chicken and roast pork rice at xiang ji at hollandv fc on 2.3.2019.

very so so la…

looked quite ok…roast pork taste ok texture not so tender, i guess average hawker standard. roast chicken also flavours quite ok texture kind of average. chilli was spicy and quite good, didn’t have ginger sauce.

Xiang Ji Chicken Rice (Holland Village Food Centre)

S$5 roast chicken roast pork rice

i would say an ordinary so so chicken rice, edible and no need to try la..

c.h.e.f andy

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

Xiang Ji Chicken Rice (Holland Village Food Centre)

Address:

#01-22 HOLLAND VILLAGE FOOD CENTRE, 1 LORONG MAMBONG, 277700

Family Homecooked 7pax Dinner on 28Feb2019

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family 7pax homecooked dinner

daughter wanted to eat at home on 28.2.2019. 🙂

aunty bes was cooking this 7pax dinner..wife made ribeye steak.

family 7pax homecooked dinner

i had 1/2 chicken in the chiller so decided to make chicken rice chicken 白斩鸡.

my grilled pork ribs

and i wanted to experiment grilled pork ribs.

it turned out quite beautifully. i was quite sure the texture would be great…i did 180degC for 1hr 40mins and 250degC for 20mins.

i wasn’t sure if my marinade would be ok.. i used 2 tbsp mustard, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil, and rubbed sea salt, black pepper and sprinkled dry parsley and rosemary…

it turned out quite tasty. son said nice a few times. maybe i will try less herb and just a tad more honey. mustard was great!

my 白斩鸡

my 白斩鸡 was the usual, nice, not my best but good enough with the chilli and the sauce dip.

wife’s ribeye steak

wife’s ribeye steak was great especially over japanese rice, like donburi. 🙂

aunty bes sambal pranws

and aunty bes made a tasty sambal prawns. she cooked all the other dishes this evening.

cuttlefish kang kong

and cuttlefish kang kong.

grilled brussel sprouts

we all love brussel sprouts.

prawn omelette

and wife’s prawn omelette recipe, which aunty bes made this evening.

aunty bes lady fingers

and lady’s fingers. very good!

my grilled pork ribs

simple nice dinner.

enjoyable food and time together. youngest daughter coming back late so we kept food for her. 🙂

c.h.e.f quak

Great Zi Char Dishes – RI 14 Bros Lunch @ 7th Miles Seafood on 26Feb2019

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roast duck S$36 for whole

today we had our regular meet-ups to celebrate the jan & feb birthdays of RI 14 bros on 26.2.2019. ^^

the organisers (nov/dec birthday boys TCH, HAB, YKK, LCM) arranged a 6miles walk at BTNR. after the hike we adjourned to lunch at 7th miles seafood.

roast duck S$36 for whole

the roast duck looked great, so we ordered.

it was very good! pang and great chilli..i will come back for this roast duck.

fish maw soup

fish maw soup

fish maw soup was good enough. quite tasty.

but not quite the standard of beng thin. beng thin’s fish maw soup is thicker and chokeful of ingredients. see the photo here on 31.10.2016.

this one here slightly more watery. still good by most zi char standard.

garlic steamed sotong

garlic steamed sotong

the garlic steamed sotong was an excellent dish.

basically it is HK steam ie light soy sauce based with loads of garlic on top. and the sotong was done just right, not like many places which overcook the sotong.

this a real simple dish. i will serve this at my next dinner. 🙂

HK steamed la la

lala also hk steamed.

this one was done well, not like the ones overcooked at crab at bay recently on 11.2.2019.

some friends said the sauce a bit salty. it is good for eating with plain rice, similar to steamed razor clam dishes.

hae choe

the hae choe was actually pretty good, crispy and the fillings were tasty.

it was a huge piece and S$2.50 per piece a tad expensive. of course many zi char would charge you S$8 or S$10 for 10 pieces maybe, which maybe not bigger than this one 4 pieces?

harjeongai

harjeongai was good!

crispy batter, good prawn paste flavours, chicken was tasty and not old, not overdone…

spinach

spinach was ordinary, actually not so good, a bit ”siap” and also tough.

i do a better dish anytime, lol!

crab beehoon – RI 14 bro zichar lunch

crab beehoon

crab beehoon was the signature dish here, the main item.

the organisers ordered 3 servings = S$224.

price wise it was not specially expensive as the crabs were large and 1kg+. if only the beehoon was good! crab was tasty, sweet, mostly thoink “strong”. somehow the beehoon was not well infused with the broth, a bit dry and not so tasty.

really, my own white beehoon is much more tasty than this la! mine had really intense stock and beehoon was fully infused and very tasty.

7th mile seafood zi char menu

S$475 for 14pax

dinner was S$475 for 14pax excluding the S$36 roast duck

crab beehoon

the 6miles walk was excellent, healthy, good air, good exercise.

this 7miles lunch a good and satisfying meal after the walk.

c.h.e.f andy

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

7th miles seafood

Address:
18 Toh Yi Dr, Singapore 590018
8QQF+X5 Singapore
Contact:
6466 0833
Opening Hours:
Saturday
  • 8am–2:30pm
  • 4:30–10pm

Sous Vide Black Onyx Ribeye Delicious Homecooked 7pax Dinner on 24Feb2019

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buddha jump over the wall

wife home this morning from japan trip..

we had 7pax dinner.

wenyu made funghi pasta..very good! restaurant standard!

I made buddha jump over the wall..it was very good..wife children all loved it…JH had 3 bowls…

made also grilled scallops, a flamed belly pork with potato mash..the mash was really good….. wife children all loved it..

got a piece of bkack onyx boned in ribeye which CNM brought during cny get together..her niece brought from australia..

so i made flamed sous vide ribeye 👍👍👍

buddha jump over the wall

buddha jump over the wall

this time no pencai 盆菜.

so i packed all the good ingredients for the buddha jump over the wall 佛跳墙 = abalones, fish maw, sea cucumber, pig tendons, chicken breast and belly pork.

buddha jump over the wall

eveything was done to perfection – the fish maw, sea cucumber, belly pork, chicken breast all superb texture and tasty.

soup was trotters, belly pork, SKINLESS chicken whole leg base, gelatinous and sweet, very flavourful, so children topped up soup, and JH had 3 bowls. 🙂

will write up a recipe for this dish.

son’s funghi tagliatelle

son’s funghi tagliatelle

wen yu made a superb funghi tagliatelle, very tasty, perfect texture of pasta and beautiful mushrrom flavours.

i think i will do this dish for my dinners. 🙂

giant scallops and black onyx ribeye

i had giant scallops. decided to pangrilled and add some sides.

belly pork before flaming 

grilled scallops, flamed belly pork, veg and mash

i decided to make a mash…it was very good, everyone loved it. i just used one large potatoes will make more next time. will write up a separate recipe for this.

also added a flamed belly pork. the same belly pork i did for the buddha jump over the walk, braised in the stock 2hrs so very tender..then added seasalt, black pepper, olive oil adn drizzle with honey, then flamed. superb!

black onyx ribeye 

CNM brought black onyx ribeye from australia during the CNY day2 get together, so i decided to make reverse sear flamed sous vide ribeye.

flamed sous vide black onyx ribeye medium rare

this evening the ribeye piece was too large to pangrilled & flamed, so i flmed a bit more.

my sous vide machine 

sous vide black onyx ribeye medium rare

like last time i set to 53.5 degC medium rare for 2hrs.

flamed sous vide black onyx ribeye medium rare

flamed sous vide black onyx ribeye medium rare

flamed sous vide black onyx ribeye medium rare 

& the ribeye was beautiful..everyone loved it…

i think i will do it a bit just very slight more done less rare (say) 54.5degC next tiem to try out.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Chicken and Potatoes – 84th Teban Gardens Community Breakfast on 1Mar2019

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curry chicken and potatoes 

made curry chicken and potatoes for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 1.3.2019.^^

this my 84th 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 1/2 defrosted boneless chicken leg (drumstick + thigh), cleaned, drained and marinated with heng’s nonya curry chicken paste in the fridge overnight.

this morning i fried 3 twigs of curry leaves from my garden with a little oil, then added the marinated chicken pieces, fried thoroughly high fire, added one packet (200ml) coconut milk, mixed thoroughly, added 1/3 cup water and covered to cook = about 5 mins.

the removed the chicken pieces.

potatoes 

i added the cut potatoes and covered cooked about 9mins.

poked with chopsticks clean through and pressed against side of wok, just broke, tasted also so perfect texture la! 🙂

curry chicken and potatoes

added back the chicken, off fire and mixed thoroughly…

curry chicken and potatoes

curry chicken and potatoes

a simple and quite perfect dish.

curry chicken and potatoes

brother decided to join me again this morning, so i again packed a small portion for him to try.

as my brother commented – delicious!

c.h.e.f andy

Sumptuous Post CNY Homecooked 10pax Dinner for RI Bros on 21Feb2019

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#2 pencai 盆菜

made 10pax dinner for RI bros this evening on 21.2.2019. ^^ 🙂

tai kor LCM helped organised the dinner.

LKH brought cheng tng 👍👍👍

CCG brought premium nuts.

LCM brought 4deg white wine.

TCH brought prunes and strawberries

menu

1 piggy jump over the wall – fish maw, sea cucumber, pig trotters, belly pork, chicken

2 盆菜-prawns, broccoli, fish maw, sea cucumber, mushrooms, belly pork, abalones

3 hk steamed golden snapper (ang choe)

4 braised pig trotters & belly

5 salted egg prawns

6 braised scallop with leek

7 salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice

8 orh lua

i recently made the best pencai 盆菜 for CNY eve reunion dinner at my brother’s house, so thought of doing that this evening for my RI bros.

#1 piggy jump over the wall

and to experiment with buddha jump over the wall.

since i am already having pencai 盆菜, so i used cheaper ingredients like pig trotters and belly instead and called it “piggy jump over the wall”. lol!

#1 piggy jump over the wall

turned out that this (the soup) was the best dish.

i think at least one bro had 3 bowls of soup.

so i had trotters & a SKINLESS chicken leg (thigh plus drumstick) to provide a very sweet, tasty, gelatinous soup base, then added belly pork, fish maw, sea cucumber, chicken breast and each at the right timing to deliver great texture.

#1 piggy jump over the wall

a truly delightful dish.

#2 pencai 盆菜

#2 pencai 盆菜

this evening’s pencai 盆菜 was good enough. everyone loved this dish.

#2 pencai 盆菜

#2 pencai 盆菜

the fish maw, belly pork and mushrooms perfect texture and very well infused and tasty.

the gravy was not as good as what i served at my brother’s place on CNY eve.

#3 trotters and belly pork

#3 trotters and belly pork

the teochew braised trotters and belly pork was very good.

texture was perfect, gelatinous and the braise was very tasty.

#4 salted egg prawns

the first time i made salted egg prawns using my own sauce.

#4 salted egg prawns

prawns were done the same, coated with egg yoke and cornflour and shallow-fried for 1 min to golden.

#4 salted egg sauce

the last time, i used a ready made sauce. it (the sauce) was not that good even though the prawns were done well.

so this time i decided to make my own sauce. this evening i served 15 prawns, so i decided 3 salted egg yokes would be enough, and it was. so fried the salted egg yokes with 2 twigs of curry leaves and 1 cut chilli padi.

the salted egg prawn dish came out quite perfect, with great salted egg flavours and slight powdery texture, just right! 🙂

#5 scallops with leek

i did the scallops and leek dish. was going to use broccoli but already had broccoli for pencai 盆菜 so use leek instead. my friends said the leek really tasty.

#5 scallops

i used 20 large scallops.

#5 leeks

for the sauce i fried leek with oyster sauce and added intense chicken stock.

#6 HK steamed golden snapper (ang choe)

#6 HK steam golden snapper (ang choe)

for the golden snapper (ang choe), i decided to do the usual HK steamed.

fish was good, the flavours of the light soy sauce very fragrant.

#7 salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice

i made salted fish minced pork egg white fried rice. the colour and presentation very appetizing. more importantly wokhae was wonderful and teh salted fish flavours very pang!

i fried the the salted fish and minced prok first then added cooked rice high fire, mixed thoroughly and set aside.

when serving, i fried eg white (this time i used 5 egg whites), let it formed and then added the fried rice and folded in the egg whites. a lovely dish. i took 2 servings myself.

#8 orh lua – oyster omelette

and i made orh lua – oyster omelette. it was hawker standard? almost la.. still cannot quite compare. oyster and chilli was good, the crispy sweet potato flour quite ok.

LKH’s cheng tng

LKH’s cheng tng

CCG brought nuts

CCG brought nuts

TCH brought prunes

strawberries

LKH brought cheng tng.

always good and especially this evening, not too sweet and combined very well with the dried persimon and melon. perfect la!

#! piggy jump over the wall

very satisfying evening for me.

the RI bros we had a great enjoyable evening together, and for me i had the opportunity to successfully deliver 2 new dishes (a very great satisfaction la!)=

  1. the buddha jump over the wall
  2. and the salted egg prawns.

for the bros also, the pencai 盆菜, egg white fried rice and orh lua were all new dishes.

a really fun evening! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy