8pax dinner dishes

made 8pax dinner for wife’s friends this evening on 5.11.2018. ^^

LT & WG brought jane’s chocolate cake and tiramisu cakes for wife.

WG also brought some nice char siew and braised pork…both were nice. i like the char siew better..i think she said she used pork loin and the texture was very good, it’s like sous vide almost.

wife told me last evening her friends including CM who we visited couple times in UK were coming, CM from UK and LK visiting from australia. she said she would buy chicken rice.

she didn’t want to ask me to cook as i just cooked tapas for her other friends 9pax dinner 2 days back on 2.11.2018.

anyway i make chicken rice also so no point to buy from outside. we decided i should make claypot rice and drunken chicken and saliva chicken instead of 白斩鸡. and a prawn tofu dish. aunty bes will cook the romaine lettuce

so i went to buy 1 large chicken for claypot rice and 1 kampung chicken for drunken chicken and saliva chicken, and romaine lettuce for aunty bes. i debone the large chicken and boil the bones with carrot, ginger, red onions, spring onions, garlic to make intense stock for the prawn tofu dish.

clapot chicken rice

the claypot rice was not my best, but it will do, flavourful, i think quite ok texture. chicken were tender & tasty.

i made a mistake in the process, not one i normally make. i forgot to fry the rice before adding water. to the claypot rice. lol! this dish does not need stock as the whole deboned chicken already very tasty.

drunken chicken 醉鸡

for drunken chicken 醉鸡 and saliva chicken 口水鸡, it was the usual 白斩鸡 preparation, but becos kampung chicken is 1-1.1kg c/w large chicken 1.4-1.6kg, i have to adjust the timing = so boiled 9mins & poached 20mis.

last evening, i salted the chicken and dry in the fridge and washed thoroughly this morning before boiling in the chicken stock.

so the usual ice water treatment to produce the smooth taut skin and chill in fridge, then debone, and place 1/2 chicken in each dish.

for drunken chicken 醉鸡 i added 1/2cup huatiaojiu, 1/2 cup chicken stock, 2 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp sugar. mixed well then added to the chicken and placed sealed in the chiller.

saliva chicken 口水鸡

or saliva chicken 口水鸡, i added 2tbsp 老干妈 mala sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, mixed well and added to the chicken, sealed and put in the chiller.

both dishes were quite excellent. all the friends liked them. wife especially like the drunken chicken.

steamed minced pork with light soy sauce

they all liked the steamed minced pork dish. it was smooth (added corn flour) and very flavourful from the good light soy sauce, simple dish and everyone like in all my dinners. 🙂

 

prawn tofu

i shallow fried the tofu and made the very tasty gravy from the chicken stock.

when serving, i added one egg, drew with a chopstick then added prawns and covered to cook. a great dish and nice presentation. unfortunately i did not take photo.

steamed red snapper fillet with gimson nonya sauce

the red snapper fillet was fresh and sweet, and they all loved the gimson nonya sauce, tasty, tangy, great combination of taste with the hk steam light soy sauce, olive oil & mirin.

drunken chicken

we also had WG’s char siew & braised pork. unfortunately i did not take photos.

& aunty bes fried nice romaine lettuce.

afterwards wife had her birthday cakes and photos.

i left a little earlier as david is in town visiting from cupertino and the guys were meeting him for a drink at hopscotch.

c.h.e.f andy

tapas & donburi homecooked dishes

made tapas + donburi dinner for Lisa’s friends, 2 couples CSS & hubby LF and B & hubby L.

9pax home tapas + donburi dinner

daughter SL, son & PT joined dinner so 9pax dinner.

I made-
1 teriyaki salmon belly
2 nobu miso cod
3 ika sugatayaki (grilled whole squid)
4 japanese chashu
5 tamago
6 chorizo prawns

wife served sashimi from kuriya, and made sushi rice for donburi & cooked the mirin steak..aunty bes made very nice charred brussel sprouts.

L’s friends brought very good sake = kokuryu 黑龙 sake & another more expensive sake, and dessert wine almost ice wine standard..also brought le tau cheese cake 👍

teriyaki salmon belly & nobu miso cod

food was excellent this evening, exquisite actually!

teriyaki salmon belly

the teriyaki salmon belly perfect charring and texture, and very tasty marinade combined well with the oil belly and dill. par excellence!

nobu miso cod

nobu miso cod was very good too.

the hilarious thing was i never been to nobu, while CSS and LF went to nobu nextdoor years ago & tried the real nobu miso cod.

japanese tapas

tamago

i made very good tamago this evening too, good taste, not too sweet & well rolled even w/o a tamago pan.

japanese chashu

the japanese chashu was excellent this evening.

in a way it was the first time i did with an entire 1 kg slab. and it made a subtle difference that the slab was fully rolled with only skin outside instead of having one whole side w/o skin exposed for the 3.5hrs.

japanese chashu

the texture was perfect, tender still crystalline.

the ends were a bit frayed but it was still good. son said it tasted less porky that it should be.i think that partly because of the japanese marinade mirin, tsuyu etc not the teochew type braise.

ika sugatayaki (steamed, chilled & dried, before flaming)

ika sugatayaki

ika sugatayaki was the usual, flamed with agave nectar, olive oil, sea salt & coarse pepper. 🙂

chroizo prawn gravy (add prawns when serving)

chorizo prawns

chorizo prawns very good with very tasty, intense chicken stock, chorizo, basil, chilli padi flavours. the prawns were just frozen prawns. my eldest daughter (not with dinner this evening) actually prefer the frozen prawns to fresh ones. for me i still prefer fresh.

beef donburi

wife made sushi rice and served beef donburi.

beef donburi

usda prime ribeye mirin steak by wife

usda prime ribeye mirin steak by wife

wife made mirin steak using qbfood usda prime ribeye. it was very good. the mirin caramelised and increased the charring of the steak, and of course impart flavours too.

beef donburi

it was a wonderful beef donburi.

for me, i still prefer plain steak to the mirin steak, though mirin steak was very nice too.

i don’t drink much, so only had sips of wife’s sparkling sake, and the good expensive sake and dessert wines her friends brought, the light le tau cheese cake were very good.

this a very good group of friends, totally natural & direct – if you want something just say it! exactly what i do too…

and i actually knew L’s dad was a respected elder in my past engagements many many years back, small world it is. and when memories came calling, then i realized they looked so alike. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

4 tapas dishes – watermelon salad, chorizo prawns, dubrovnik chicken, ika sugatayaki

we already had birthday celebrations at alba last evening attended by my family, close friends/RI & OPS bros and godsis & hubby.

so decided to have dinner at home today on 26.10.2018. ^^

I made 8pax dinner, 8 dishes comprising 4 tapas, 3 pasta & 1 meat-

1. watermelon feta cheese salad
2. Dubrovnik orange jam chicken
3. ika sugatayaki 
4. chorizo prawns
5. tagliatelle fruiti mare 
6. vongole spaghetti 
7. seafood paella
8. tagliata di manzo (aussie wagyu MS4)

4 tapas dishes – watermelon salad, chorizo prawns, dubrovnik chicken, ika sugatayaki

4 tapas dishes – watermelon salad, chorizo prawns, dubrovnik chicken, ika sugatayaki

ika sugatayaki was best, and everyone loved the chorizo prawns and the watermelon salad.

for this evening, i messed up my dubrovnik orange jam chicken a bit cos i forgot it was in the oven resting when i used another compartment of the oven. still it was good taste just texture was not perfect as it should be. 🙂

tagliatelle fruiti mare

tagliatelle fruiti mare

my pasta were all par excellence.

stock was very tasty, and pasta now always perfectly al dente.

vongole spaghetti

vongole spaghetti

i went to get 1kg lala clams for the vongole 1hr before cooking, so la la clams were fresh. and perfect in texture.

daughter said tagliatelle was a bit spicy so i did not add chilli padi to the vongole. for myself i think spicy always better tasting.

seafood paella

seafood paella

seafood paella also had very tasty stock.

for this i added prawn head & shell stock to the chicken stock. so paella was excellent in taste and al dente texture also.

for mussels and razor clams, i used frozen ones…for me, the mussels were very good even though frozen, the razor clams were doable, and as my sil said these did not need the tough cleaning (which razor clams need, and really laborous).

the difference between paella and risotto primarily, risotto more wet and paella like claypot rice you just leave it and it’s ok to be slightly burnt though mine wasn’t. and risotto a bit more refine, usually you do not add so many items on it so the one big colourful plate ones with lots of ingredients kind of usually paella.

tagliata di manzo

wife bought wagyu MS4 i think 50% off from cold storage, so we made tagliata di manzo with nice perino cherry tomatoes and rockets.

it’s not as good cut as usda prime ribeye or aussie grain fed angus ribeye, a bit more fat and tendon, so i charred it more PLUS cross cut to make the steak more tender…

birthday cake

PT brought the chateraise birthday cake. we all liked the light japanese cakes. 🙂

tagliata di manzo

it was a very joyful evening for me.

after the memorable evening and excellent dinner last evening, it was good to just celebrate at home enjoying a delicious homecooked meal with family. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

chashu over rice

made some jap chashu & pork soft bones for 6pax dinner with OPS bro & friends on 3.10.2018. 

but haha! i forgot to serve them. luckily got WM to tapao the soft bones & 1/2 the chashu back. lol! 🙂

chashu over rice

i got like 2/5 the chashu strip in the chiller so decided to slice and steam over white rice in the rice cooker (after rice cooked). added some crispy chilli. lazy to do sushi rice so not quite donburi haha! 🙂

chashu really tasty & tender, yummy yummy, very shiok la!

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

i used the usual method for jap chashu by seriouseats.com.

130degC for 3.5hrs.

braising sauce –

• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup sake
• 1/2 to 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 4 cloves peeled garlic
• 1 shallot quartered
• 1 stalk spring onions
• 3cm ginger (sliced)

c.h.e.f andy

7 dishes for 6pax dinner

GY’s close buddy 闺蜜 PY is in town for 2 weeks.

PY bought us dinners at 荣 expensive ala carte buffet and at 海底捞 when WM & I visited shanghai in nov2017. 🙂

this time i was away on family holiday for 2 weeks+ in sep, so arranged to have one dinner at my house & one outside with OPs bros, GY & PF.

for this evening, i made 6 dishes for 6pax home dinner on 3.10.2018. ^^

1 腊味煲仔饭 sausage claypot rice
2 剁椒红鲷鱼头 steamed red snapper head with chopped chilli & garlic
3 nonya sauce steamed red snapper head 
4 醉鸡 drunken chicken
5 口水鸡 saliva chicken
6 prawn tofu
7 fried long beans

actually i made 2 other dishes = japanese chashu & a chashu method braised soft bones. but haha! i forgot to serve them. luckily got WM to tapao the soft bones & 1/2 the chashu back. lol! 🙂

腊味煲仔饭 sausage claypot rice

claypost rice my usual, very flavourful, rice texture & moisture just right.

only adjustment was since i not adding chicken to the claypot rice, to make the rice more tasty other than having the flavourful sausage, i used intense chicken stock boiled from chicken bones & a bit more of salted fish. i did not add salt.

i cooked 2 cups for 6pax. it was enough. we all don’t take too much carbs.

口水鸡和 醉鸡 saliva chicken & drunken chicken

both the 口水鸡和 醉鸡 saliva chicken & drunken chicken were very tasty & texture of the kampung chicken excellent. my friend finished the drunken chicken & only 2 wingstick of the saliva chicken left so they were well received.

GY doesn’t like singapore chicken rice chicken much as it was (genuinely) soft & tasteless w/o the ginger & ginger scallion sauce, so i was deciding whether to make salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡。

anyhow i decided to make 1/2 口水鸡saliva chicken & 1/2drunken chicken 醉鸡 so i used the chicken rice poached method & added the sauce.

WM thought the wine was too strong tasting. GY preferred the drunken chicken to be stronger wine tasting & saltier otherwise it was ok. 🙂

steamed red snapper head with chilli & garlic 剁椒鱼头

WT caught a 3.5kg/4kg red snapper 1 month ago, and chopped into 3 portions for me.

we were finding an occasion to have a fishy dinner 全鱼宴.

couldn’t really do that with just 6pax so i cooked only the fish head…still a big problem for me to chope the fishe head in 1/2.

the steamed red snapper head with chilli & garlic 剁椒鱼头 was quite competent, so they all liked it. its the smaller 1/2 so i steamed for 10mins. meat texture quite perfect & basically it was the top quality light soy sauce that did the trick, bring out great flavours.

nonya steamed red snapper head 娘惹红雕鱼头

the nonya steamed red snapper head 娘惹红雕鱼头 was even better tasting with the tangy sauce, and something new for PF.

my friends finished most of the 2 fish heads.

prawn tofu

the prawn tofu was ok. i have done better.

today the fried tofu not that good, not done well. otherwise it was ok and the dish was cleared out.

fried long beans

my fried long beans didn’t look great. but taste was pretty good, with oyster sauce and a bit of mala chilli. the dish all finished too.

腊味煲仔饭 sausage claypot rice

for the preparations, i fried chicken fat & ginger, off fire & added 3tsp chopped garlic and 2 slices of salted fish & fried in the residual heat.

then added 2 cups rice, 5 thick chinese mushrooms quarterred, fried & added 2 cups intense chicken stock & set aside.

& time it to cook about 20-25mins ready for dinner at 7pm.

poached kampung chicken

i salted the kampung chicken overnight in fridge.

first time i did poached chicken method for kampung chicken 1.1kg (usually 1.4kg-1.6kg battery chicken).

so i reduced 12 minutes boiling to 9mins & poached in the boiled wtaer for 20mins instead of 25mins.

then plunged in ice bath.

deboned poached kampung chicken

the poached chicken came out quite perfect. 🙂

for the saliva chicken, i added 2tbsp mala chilli sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1tbsp sesame oil, 2tsp sugar and tasted. it was quite perfect. i added to the 1/2 debone chicken & covered with clingwrap in fridge.

for drunken chicken i added 1/2 cup hua diao jiu, 1 cup chicken stock, 1.5 tbsp fish sauce & 1tsp sugar.

2 fish head dishes

the fish heads were the usual – basically 2-3 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 2tbsp olive oil.

and for the nonya style, 2 tbsp gimson nonya sauce.

fried tofu with gravy for prawn tofu dish

today fried tofu not good.

had to change non stick pan a my usual one losing non stick property…texture of tofu not ideal after frying twice.

chicken stock & gravy was ok. so taste was ok.

fried long beans

i did the long beans a bit earlier as i did not want to rush when guest were here.

but it became a bit old (earlier photo) when i reheat. luckily taste was ok.

6 dishes for 6pax dinner

was a fun dinner entertaining good friends & spending a wonderful evening together.

WT brought a very sweet pomelo from SKC. we had that & did a bit of karaoke in the room after dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

HK claypot rice 

made hk claypot rice & steamed red garoupa for 2pax home dinner with wife on sunday 9.9.2018. ^^

HK claypot rice 

didn’t want to spend too much time, and a sausage claypot rice easier than chicken claypot rice.

& of course i still have lots of pork & liver sausage from hong kong la. 🙂

i washed pork & liver sausages thoroughly…then dried with kitchen towels…i think they very unclean hanging around & stored at wet markets…

HK claypot rice

HK claypot rice 

the i just fried 2 slices of salted fish with chicken fat & added 2 tsp chopped garlic, then added 1 cup rice, fried then added 1 cup water, placed sausages on top and cooked for 20mins thereabout.

took out the sausages & cut & put back then garnised with coriander.

HK claypot rice 

i do this when i am lazy to do claypot chicken rice.

very much easier, and still very fragrant, with the salted fish & sausage flavours & claypot aroma. quite perfect dish.

steamed red garoupa 

i also steamed a small red garoupa i thin about 300g+ about S$5.

steamed red garoupa

steamed red garoupa

super fresh & tender & sweet, and the hong kong steam was perfect for this fresh fish, light soy sauce was wonderful.

HK claypot rice

a quick, simple & delicious 2pax home dinner, easy to do & delicious for the palate.

c.h.e.f andy

6pax lunch dishes

got my OPS bros to come for pong’s laksa 7pax lunch on 6.9.2018. ^^

WT brought son HQ, who studied history of arts at waseda & returned singapore for summer break.

my RI bro brought me 4 packets of pong’s laksa paste recently & i did a 5pax pong’s laksa dinner recently on 24.8.2018. 🙂

prawn & chicken pong’s laksa (leftover i took next day)

for today, i prepared salt baked chicken and some prawns to add to the laksa.

pong’s laksa

pong’s laksa is really easy to prepare. the key though is the stock so i made really intense chicken stock from bones of one chicken with added carrots, red onions, ginger & spring onions.

1 packet pong’s laksa serves 4-5pax. all you do is to add laksa leaves & fry, then add 1 litre chicken stock. i then boiled the cut taupok for 40mins in any case to soften it, then i added 300ml coconut milk & 2 tbsp crispy chilli, everything to taste of course. 🙂

then i off fire & added the sliced teochew fish cake. meanwhile i grilled & cut 3 fish cakes and set aside.

when all arrived & ready for lunch, i heated up the laksa gravy, added 50ml evaporated milk, then served.

prawn & chicken pong’s laksa

i served total 11 bowls (7+3 at lunch and 1 bowl leftover i took next day) instead of 4-5 because i added very little gravy. usually gravy were left wasted & really no need to add that much. my friends all ok with small serving of gravy. 🙂

prawn & chicken pong’s laksa (leftover i took next day)

laksa was excellent! tasty, flavourful as always, with nice chicken & prawns. fish cake, taupok & teochew fish cake all great complements.

(these fresh prawns not as good as the frozen prawns from causeway pacific though. my family & all my friends love the frozen prawns).

& i had chopped laksa leaves to add to the laksa. for me the laksa leaves & the crispy haebeehiam chilli really enhanced the taste of the laksa.

WT’s delectable dish

WT mad a delectable dish of fish roe, fish naw, sea cucumber, sotong, fish balls, la la clams..👍👍

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken)

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken)

to complement the laksa, i made 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken).

the usual recipe here.

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken)

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken)

chicken was tasty, but not as good as last time. today i was lazy so did not make the ginger scallion sauce (like for samsui chicken).

the sauce was a great taste & experience enhancer. i served that for my best 盐焗鸡 (salt baked chicken) for 10pax RO bros dinner on 27.8.2018.

i will make that again next time for my chicken.

braised pig trotters

i also made soem teochew braised pig trotters, recipe here. 🙂

braised pig trotters

braised pig trotters

i liked the trotters, very gelatinous especially the pig skin also.

& nice flavourful braise.

salted egg chicken fried rice

salted egg chicken fried rice

our friend CH cannot do w/o rice. so i made salted egg fried rice.

very easy. fry chopped garlic & chopped salted egg. add overnight rice & crispy haebeehiam chilli. off fire. when serving, add a bit oil, add 2 eggs to wok & let eggs spread & formed, then spread over the rice & mix. voila!

quite tasty & flavourful fried rice.

6pax lunch dishes

prawn & chicken pong’s laksa

had a wonderful time with my OPS bros. nice laksa lunch & great dish from WT. HC brought a red wine.

c.h.e.f andy

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

made a scrumptious 10pax RI 14bros zi char dinner on 27.8.2018. ^^ ..missing TC, HAB, CJ & BT.

1 gimson nonya sauce steamed tilapia 👍
2 spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head 松鱼头
3 yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 with ginger soring onions dip 👍
4 german knuckles
5 JB yawang 鸭皇 roast duck chong lee brought 👍
6 salted egg pork chop👍
7 salted egg bittergourd
8 white beehoon 👍

CM brought ching chow dessert

LCH brought daily scoop lai chee & salted mr brown oce creams

TCH brought cut hami melon

really shiok dinner..missed TC…..

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！best this evening. very tasty, tender & sweet. 🙂 everyone’s favourite.

and i was inspired by noodle place to make the minced ginger scallion sauce as the dip = minced 3 stalks spring onions, 2cm ginger, 3tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1/4tsp salt.

JB yawang roast duck

CL returned from melacca today & bought yawang roast duck 十全烤鸭.

sauce was flavourful. duck was ok but a bit dry…i told CL next time buy the whole duck uncut, i will debone it.

crackling german knuckles

german knuckles (recipe here) was really crackling,

the coke (i used coke cos it was S$0.85 vs like S$4.60 for beer) with red wine sauce & mustard also gave a nice flavorur to the meat. a successful dish.

salted egg pork chop

salted egg pork chop also very good. both CM & KK both commented.

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

salted egg bittergourd

salted egg bittergourd was good too.

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头

KK commented both fishes were steamed perfect timing & excellent texture.

a really lovely dish. the thickened sauce which is flavourful & tangy need to be taken with the fish in the correct amount.

gimson nonya steamed tilapia

everyone love the superb gimson nonya steamed tilapia.

this was the same excellent dish at restoran yawang at jln segget JB on 28.7.2018.^^

white bee hoon

today’s white bee hoon was superbly delicious. ^^

very well infused with intense chicken & prawn stocks.

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

for the dish preparations, yim goke gai 盐焗鸡 (recipe here) was salted for 5hrs & washed thoughly, then stuffed with spring onions, red onions, cut ginger, 6 garlic cloves, and 2 tbsp huatio wine 花雕酒.

becos the salt baked chicken was wrapped in baking paper then aluminium foil & placed in 175degC oven for 1hr 45mins (1hr 15mins + open up wrapping 30mins), it was very tender & moist, and also sweeter with the salt & also all the aromatics in the cavity & the sweet huatiao wine,

more so than poached chicken 白斩鸡.

crackling german knuckles

crackling german knuckles

crackling german knuckles

crackling german knuckles

my second try at german knuckles also very successful. recipe here.

very crackling becos salt on the skin pulled out the water content & 3hrs in 175deg oven, flavourful becos coke & red wine on a bed of onions also ensured that the meat is moist & not overcooked over 3hrs.

JB yawang roast duck

though sauce was still flavourful, the duck meat itself was a little dry &

not like the first time we had this yawang roast duck at sentosa JB. somehow even the colour also different.

spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head

spicy black bean sauce steamed song fish head

i made the sauce with 1heap tbsp lee kum kee sauce, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp flat sugar, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp mirin, 1tbsp corn flour to thicken & 1.5tbsp light soy sauce.

then heated & mixed over stove & just right to thicken the sauce.

i like this-

hk street chun ke commonwealth crescent level 2 thickened sauce

better than

hk street old chun kee wetter sauce also at commonwealth crescent coffeeshop.

gimson nonya steamed tilapia

gimson nonya steamed tilapia

all credits to gimson nonya sauce only availabel in malaysia? which my OPS bro WM, my sis & Jeanette all bought for me when they were in JB.

2 heap tbsp gimson nonya sauce, 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce, 2tbsp mirn, 2 tbsp oilve oil.

salted egg pork chop

salted egg pork chop

i used frozen pork chops from sheng shiong, sliced the 5 pieces to make 10, 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. 🙂

salted egg bittergourd

salted egg bittergourd

salted egg bittergourd also good this evening, though may not stand out among all the great dishes this evening. 🙂

minced one cooked salted egg, fried bittergourd with salted egg & set aside. when about to serve, heat up, add a little oil, fried 2 eggs on the side till eggs harden, the fold over the bittergourd. excellent zai shun famous dish!

white bee hoon

white bee hoon

white bee hoon

the white beehoon this evening was among the favourite dishes, very tasty very well infused, just right texture, lots of larpok (crispy lard) and prawns & squid succulent, done just right.

cut hami melon

TCH brought nice sweet hami melon.

CM’s cheng chow dessert

CM’s cheng chow dessert

tai kor CM now our regular tong shui 糖水supplier.

& LCH brought nice salted mr brown & laichee ice cream from daily scoop. ^^

nonya kueh

nonya kueh

nonya kueh

nonya kueh

nonya kueh

and CL brought the nonya kuehs from melacca.

yim goke gai 盐焗鸡太棒了！

a very fun evening with RI bros, delectable dishes & wonderful time together, missed TC.

c.h.e.f andy

pong’s laksa

i had some leftover gravy from last evening’s 5pax pong’s laksa home dinner. ^^

so i made 2 bowls of laksa from the leftovers for wife & me for lunch today.

pong’s laksa 

the gravy was really superb, heavenly, especially with chopped laksa leaves & crispy chili. 🙂

pong’s laksa

there was no more chicken, or just a few shreds for wife.

so i added large prawns…i prepared 10 prawns for last evening, but only used 2 for CM’s second bowl as i forgot about the prawns.

pong’s laksa

pong’s laksa

today’s laksa was just as perfect as last evening’s.

no more chicken but the prawns were really excellent – sweet, bouncy, tasty. 🙂

so actually i made a total of 8 bowls from 1 packet of pong’s laksa…of course i added very little gravy each bowl, but i think laksa should be served like that, good ingredients, excellent gravy but not too much, qq beehoon mee & lots of chopped laksa leaves & crispy chili.

the gravy was simply out of this world.

c.h.e.f andy

pong’s laksa thick beehoon mee with 白斩鸡kampung chicken

my RI bro CM brought 4 packets of pong’s laksa paste the other evening when he came for RI bros 7pax ramen dinner last week on 17.8.2018.

i did pong’s laksa once for my RI bros 6pax on 16.3.2018…

this the first time i do for my OPS bros WM & WT. HC was busy couldn’t make it. wife & CM joined dinner so we had 5pax this evening on 24.8.2018. ^^

白斩鸡kampung chicken

for today i made 白斩鸡kamoung chicken to top up laksa like ah heng’s curry chicken noodles. 🙂

i used kampung chicken it is smaller so i adjusted timing to 10mins boil (usually 12mins) & 25mins poached.

白斩鸡kampung chicken

白斩鸡kampung chicken

beautiful & really sweet, tasty, tender & moist 白斩鸡kampung chicken.

i prepared a sauce 1tbsp fish sauce 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp light soil sauce & added over the chicken, really excellent!

Pong’s laksa paste👍 S$4.80 packet for 4-5pax

for laksa gravy i used pong’s laksa CM brought, 1 packet is good for 5pax.

Pong’s laksa using intense chicken stock, taupok & teochew fish cake

i fried laksa paste & laksa leaves, then added intense chicken stock.

i boiled the taupok till soft for 40mins, then added teochew fish cake and 300ml coconut milk (recipe at back of packet called for 400ml but 300ml was more than enough). then off fire & mixed in 50ml of evaporated milk. the gravy was simply delicious!

pong’s laksa thick beehoon mee with 白斩鸡kampung chicken

i also had chopped laksa leaves, fish cake & crispy chili. 🙂

pong_s laksa thick beehoon mee with 白斩鸡kampung chicken

the gravy was so delicious!

& fantastic with the crispy chili..

with 2 large fresh prawns

i forgot to serve the large prawns.

CM had a second serving so i added 2 large prawns for him. 🙂

WT’s chashu 👍👍👍

WT’s chashu 👍👍👍

& WT broght his chashu, first time he made jap chashu, already very tasty & excellent texture, and the 6mins runny yoke egg also excellent, very tasty braise.

WT brought 6kg msw

WT brought 6kg msw

after dinner we retired to the room, and enjoyed the 6kg msw WT brought from SKC sin kian choon.

there were 3 durians in the box – 1 was excellent the best, 1 was very good, & the last was ok.

with 2 large fresh prawns

pong’s laksa very easy to make, nothing to do really, and quite perfect with the 白斩鸡kampung chicken and the large prawns.

i think better than most laksa outside.

and 1 packet made 6 bowls today, & i had enough leftover gravy to make 2 bowls for wife & i the next day.

a very enjoyable evning with wife & close friends & bros.

c.h.e.f andy

bakuteh prime ribs

made 7pax home bakuteh & ramen lunch for my RI buddies today on 17.8.2018. ^^

quite efficient start for today. 🙂

got up at 7am to cook braised belly pork with vegetables dish for 140pax teban gardens community breakfast & delivered at 8.45am & back home by 9.15am.

cooked the bakuteh (1hr).

CH came at 11am & we went together to holland dr to close some account. everything went smoothly & we were back at 11.45am & i told the friends that we would be back by then. 🙂

bakuteh prime ribs

i chose the prime ribs w/o the lean big loin portion.

the parts near the bones with the streaky parts are most tender & tasty for bkt. it was a bit long though, next time i ask them to chop it.

bakuteh prime ribs

bakuteh prime ribs

bakuteh easy to do & nice. ribs were tender & sweet & very important to have good dark sauce & cut chilli padi.

the soup was a bit salty for my friends. this need to be “to taste”. for myself, i prefer to do it more tasty & intense then add boiling water if too salty. the last time i told the friends to add water themselves this time forgot to.

ramen with chashu, braised pork soft bones & face meat

i made the 6mins runny yoke eggs a day before & kept in the chiller in the pork soft bone braise for the colour.

i used the seriouseats chashu method 4hrs in 130degC oven (6hrs for pork soft bones) to make the chashu, braised pork soft bones & for today i had happened to make face meat also.

hakata & miyazaki ramen & ilc bkt sachet

i did not have any more ichiran ramen, so had to make do with 2 packets eahc of hakata ramen & miyazaki ramen bought few days back from donki at amara hotel. 🙂

for bkt, i used the usual ilc sachet, tasty good enough for me. 🙂

runny yoke egg

6mins runny yoke egg pretty standard, though still not perfect, 1 egg a bit ruined.

chashu & face meat

the face meat very fatty. i cut away the fat which was like 50%. it was ok but texture a bit like jelly not really my favourite.

salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

the salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡  quite perfect today. i did 1hr 15mins fully wrapped in baking paper & aluminium foil in 170degC oven, then 30mins open up to give a drier not steamed not grilled texture.

salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

messed up the deboning. friends all arrived so rushing a bit. anyway chicken was nice & tender. KH said it’s tastier than 白斩鸡. i do not prefer this to 白斩鸡 myself (I like both equally).

fried leeks with oyster sauce

i made some simple veg dish, fried garlic with oyster sauce. it was good.

ramen with chanshu, braise pork soft bones & face meat

today the ramen itself was not as good as ichiran ramen which i made the other day for another group of 6pax RI bros on 6.8.2018. 🙂

since i did not have ichiran ramen, have to make do. have not tried both the hakata (same locality as ichiran brand) ramen or miyazaki, so i cooked first 1 packet hakata shared by 3, then the miyazaki shared by 2. i decided hakata tasted better than miyazaki so the 3rd packet for CL & myself i made the hakata ramen.

for the first 2 ramen packets i tasted the broth but not the ramen. as 2.5 mins was just right for ichiran, i did not follow the instructions 3mins. so i think 1st packet for HAB, KH, CH was ramen undercooked though HAB felt his was ok. the second packet i kept longer maybe 2mins45secs for HK & LKY. the 3rd packet i decided to taste the ramen & indeed needed to cook longer so i think full 3mins for CL & myself.

for myself the texture was perfect at 3mins.

ramen was good enough i guess if you don’t make comparison, but clearly not near the best ramen you can eat outside. the tonkotsu stock is the most important, so ichiran is of the standard but these 2 are not quite there.

my slow braised pork soft bones quite perfect now so both groups (the earlier on 6.8.2018) and today both loved the pork soft bones.

KH liked the chashu better! today’s chashu was a lot better than what i had on 6.8.2018. very very good standard.

c.h.e.f andy

ichiran rame with braised softabones, chashu & runny yoke egg 

had 5pax RI bro ichiran ramen party this evening on 6.8.2018. ^^

bakuteh prime ribs 

we started with bakuteh..super tender, sweet & excellent bite..

had very good indonesian fresh prime ribs from sheng shiong for this evening.

i had 10ribs so just nice 2 servings pax.

bakuteh was excellent. soup & ribs were delicious, very sweet & tasty & excellent bite texture, quite perfect la…everyone liked it. ^^

salt baked chicken2

salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

& today my second attempt yim coke gai （salt baked chicken）盐焗鸡

the result was excellent- tender, moist, sweet not too salty, quite perfect..

LKY brought siew yoke

and LKY brought a very nice crackling belly pork..i took many pieces…

i going to try a german knuckle later so will revisit this siew yoke recipe…

ichiran ramen

ichiran rame with braised softabones, chashu & runny yoke egg 

HAB came in time for ichiran ramen….we had 2 packets for 5pax…

i didn’t have any ichiran ramen..so my OPS bro WM came by late morning just to pass me 2 packets of ichiran ramen. & together with WT we went to  kopitiam at cheong chin nam opposite beauty world for coffee. 🙂

6mins runny yoke eggs

6mins runny yoke eggs

i made the 6mins runny yoke eggs.

ok just this time not as good as what i did for OPS bros at WM house on 1.8.2018. 🙂

chashu

chashu

i made chashu, better than what i did for WM place, but this was beaten hands down by the slow braised pork soft bones.

the latter was by the standard of our imperial mouth TCH, so very tasty & flavourful, so chashu was no comparison.

ichiran rame with braised softabones, chashu & runny yoke egg

the slow braised pork soft bones i was trying to emulate the best ramen at hanamaruken ramen (花丸轩) at dotonbori osaka. 

while nothing can really match that, my first slow-braised pork soft bones was very successful by my meagre standard la…perfect enuf?? for me la…

what an excellent evening! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

6 dishes + jelly pigskin for 4pax dinner 

made 4pax dinner for sis & bil, and this evening on 31.7.2018. ^^

salt baked kampung chicken 盐焗鸡

I cooked my first experiment 盐焗鸡, claypot liver, jelly pigskin & 4 veg dishes

salt baked kampung chicken 盐焗鸡 (recipe here) was very good, tasty, moist & tender. 🙂

pigskin jelly

pigskin jelly (recipe here) was superb this evening, very flavourful, and perfect texture.

everyone finds the 3 dishes (claypot liver, pigskin jelly, salt baked kampung chicken 盐焗鸡) tops.

egg plants

eggplants so so..

long beans 

the lady fingers not quite edible=I bought this in packet from sheng shiong..there were no loose ones to choose..& the lady fingers were “sek” too old & tough..

salted egg bittergourd

the long beans & salted egg bittergourd were good…

for this evening, long beans were best…very sweet & tasty.simple dish.just fried with oyster sauce…

claypot liver 

the claypot liver was excellent as before. very good, tasty with hua diao wine 花雕酒flavours…

all in all a really enjoyable 4pax dinner.

after dinner, sis made gongfucha 功夫茶as always.

c.h.e.f andy

9pax RI makan group

made 8pax zi char dishes + 1 vegetarian for my RI makan group friends this evening on 25.7.2018. ^^

we had a lovely 11pax dinner at loong hua zi char recently on 26.6.2018 organised by pete when he was back singapore visiting.

8 home zi char dinner dishes

so i decided to cook zi char dishes & NCL dubbed it “impressions loong hua” dinner! 🙂

i had in total 10 dishes this evening. ^^

Menu

(loong hua/zai shun/zi char dishes)

1 black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头
2 nonya sauce steamed patin 巴丁鱼
3 crystalline (white slow braised) belly pork
4 jelly pig skin 猪皮冻
5 dry wok large prawns
6 claypot liver
7 salted fish steamed minced pork
8 salted egg bittergourd
9 braised pork ribs with yellow pepper
10 fried tofu with red pepper & shitake for suresh

Thanks 🙏 all my dear friends for a fun wonderful evening together…

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头 the usual nice dish.

larpok crispy lard

i made some larpok crispy lard. it went well with the 2 steamed fish.

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头

this evening because i had to steam both patin & song fish head simultaneously (at first i intended to do one in the steam oven, then the next), i had to place it in a smaller round dish to steam over the hob. there is a slight difference as there is less condensation so sauce is drier & thicker.

also this evening it has to compete with the nonya sauce patin. haha! but still good la! 🙂

gimson nonya sauce steamed patin

gimson nonya sauce steamed patin was a favourite dish, more than the song fish head.

gimson nonya sauce steamed patin

gimson nonya sauce steamed patin

patin is my favourite fish, very smooth especially the oily belly, few bones, a really tasty fish.

and the tangy gimson nonya sauce wa just so good. every dish tastes good when when add this sauce la…lol! 🙂

& this patin was about 700g & just

jelly pig skin 猪皮冻

jelly pig skin 猪皮冻

the jelly pig skin 猪皮冻 can be said to be a by product.

i planned it of course! 🙂

when i slow braise belly pork there is very tasty gelatine. also i had lots of pig skin from previous belly pork dishes where i had to remove the skin. so just 2 and 2!

just put the marinade from braised belly pork in a small rectangular dish. cut & added the belly pork (which was slow braised 4hrs in 130degC oven together with the belly pork). placed in fridge & chilled for few hours. 🙂

jelly pig skin 猪皮冻

this really excellent jelly pig skin 猪皮冻 in my opinion. my belly pork marinade is so tasty & it also contained the belly pork taste & gelatine.

crystalline (white slow braised) belly pork

crystalline (white slow braised) belly pork

the crystalline (white braised) belly is my own created recipe.

belly pork is slow braised in 130degC oven for 4hrs. this made it slight overcooked & very tender but will fall apart if you try to cut it or if heated up & boiled.

but when it is chilled, it holds together & cut easily, & the texture is very tender.

my marinade (tbsp flat sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1tbsp white vinegar, 4-5tbsp shaoxing wine) made a very, very tasty braise (and of course excellent jelly for the jelly pig skin dish). 🙂

salted fish steamed minced pork 咸鱼饼

salted fish steamed minced pork 咸鱼饼

salted fish steamed minced pork 咸鱼饼 is a common zi char dish & everyone’s favourite.

nicely minced salted fish mixed evenly with the minced pork with 1 tbsp corn flour, 1tbsp of oil from the bottle, 1tbsp olive oil..& steamed. 🙂

simple, perfect homely dish. 🙂

claypot liver 沙煲猪肝👍👍👍

i seldom take liver. maybe very occasionally if taking pig innard soup.

we had very nice claypot liver dish at loong hua on 26.6.2018.

so i decided to make it, and i did that couple times recently. excellent dish! 🙂

tasty stock for claypot liver

it was easy to make. just a good stock (i use the leftover braise from the crystalline belly pork).

fried cut chilli, cut red onions, cut spring onions, sliced ginger in 1tbsp oil. then i added 2 stalks coriander & 2tsp chopped garlic.

added stock & 2 tbsp shaoxing wine, and reduced.

claypot liver 沙煲猪肝👍👍👍

when serving, heat up the stock, added liver (cut cross-grain, washed with salt & drained dry), stir with chopstick for even cooking, cover & serve.

dry wok large prawns👍👍👍

i have not done this dish dry wok large prawns (recipe here) for maybe >3 years?

we had a nice 虾录at loong hua recently, and i decided to do this today. 🙂

high fire, oil, slice & cut ginger, then added the prawns & chopped garlic. turnover & fry the prawns thoroughly for even cooking, do not add water (water will result in steaming whereas this method burnt the shells giving bbq flavours and the prawns is insulated & baked within the shells).

then added lots of fish sauce while still on high fire, feel the wonderful fish sauce aroma. after reduce to medium low. make sure the prawns are cooked.

it was excellent, colours were beautiful, great bbq flavours, and nice sweet succulent prawns.

spicy bean sauce pork softbones with yellow & red peppers

i made also spicy bean sauce pork softbones with yellow & red peppers.

the usual zi char preparation uses bitter gourd. since i already doing a bittergourd dish i replaced this with sweet yellow & red pepper.

spicy bean sauce pork softbones with yellow & red peppers

the pork ribs were slow braised 6-7hrs in 130degC oven (requires longer time than belly pork), so very tender & my braise (same as belly pork) is super tasty la!

spicy bean sauce pork softbones with yellow & red peppers

very nice dish. aunty bes used to do this a lot w/o the veg & very simply just panfried & pan braised. a dish i used to eat a lot & like a lot. 🙂

zai shun_s salted egg bittergourd 👍👍👍

zai shun_s salted egg bittergourd 👍👍👍

the zai shun_s salted egg bittergourd 👍👍👍 was very good too.

HK commented a few times & later repeated on FB “My favourite: bitter gourd egg omelette. Give me another round I can finish it all by myself!…

but of course zai shun’s is much better.

easy dish to make, just minced a cooked salted egg (vaccum packed from heng shiong, just open the cooked egg & minced it).

fry chopped garlic in oil, add bittergourd (washed with corn flour & the salt, brined in salt & sugar overnight, washed & drained by) & minced salted egg & fry. crack 2 eggs to one side of pan with heated oil, let the egg white & egg yoke set. then flip egg over the bittergourd & fry together.

when serving just cover pan, heat up & plate it.

vegetarian dish for S-fried tofu, red pepper, shitake mushrooms

our friend S is lactarian (lacto vegetarian), so can take dairy but not eggs.

i prepared a vegetarian dish for him, fried tofu as the mains & red pepper & shitake mushroom as sides.

vegetarian dish for S-fried tofu, red pepper, shitake mushrooms

vegetarian dish for S-fried tofu, red pepper, shitake mushrooms

i pan-grilled & caramelised a little the red pepper & shitake with little oil & sprinled some sea salt.

then i shallow-fried the tofu on all sides, added back the veg, and added 1tbsp of light soy sauce & 1 tbsp flat of vegetarian oyster sauce.

also added a bit of cornflour dissolved in a little water.

vegetarian dish for suresh-fried tofu, red pepper, shitake mushrooms

when serving just heat up over the stove, and serve.

*******************************

we had a really enjoyable, fun dinner. all the dishes were pretty good, especially the bittergourd, salted fish minced pork, claypot liver & nonya steamed patin. other dishes sama good.

thanks HK for the durians & mangosteens & just being here.

thanks CL as always for the nice photos & cherries.

kale, flamed red wine slow braised belly pork on mash 

wife bought some kale & wanted to experiment on roasted kale this evening on 22.7.2018.^^

excellent kale, belly pork & mash at foc on 17.7.2018

so i did a red wine belly pork & potato mash (both first time) to replicate the excellent dish i had at my RI bro birthday set lunch at foc on 17.7.2018. 🙂

kale, flamed red wine slow braised belly pork on mash

first time i made mash=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.

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).

crayfish linguine in white wine sauce

only youngest daughter joining dinner, so we just made 2 dishes for 3pax dinner.

crayfish tagliatelle in white wine sauce

i had crayfish in the freezer & good stock so i made a crayfish tagliatelle in white wine sauce.

crayfish was fried with butter olive oil & some sea salt & oyster sauce..

added stock to white wine sauce, tossed pasta & added back the crayfish.

excellent squid tagliatelle for 11pax RI makan group on 3.7.2018

good pasta evening though still not as tasty sauce & as al dente as what i made for 11pax RI makan group friends on 3.7.2018. 🙂

3pax dinner

3pax dinner 

wife also roasted the very sweet small yellow & red peppers.

and poached some brussels sprouts etc

3pax dinner

a really wonderful 3pax home dinner. daughter whatsapped to family “atas dinner”. lol! ^^

red wine slow braised belly pork

first time i made red wine belly pork this way=4hrs in 130degC oven then flamed 👍👍👍

i have done belly pork in various styles. for today decided to use the japan chashu method – 4hrs in 130degC oven.

for the braising sauce, i use my own creation, 1/2 cup red wine, 2tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp strawberry jam, 1tsp salt, plus ground black pepper.

flamed red wine slow braised belly pork

flamed red wine slow braised belly pork

belly pork was nicely tender. after cooling i flamed it.

flamed red wine slow braised belly pork

looked beautiful & tasted heavenly, very consistent tender texture, and very tasty.

potato mash (1st time)

i also made potato mash for the first time – 1 small potatoes cut in cubes, add 1/3 tsp salt, dash of ground black pepper, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1tbsp gourmet butter, 12 tsp chopped garlic, and blend.

came out very well, wife & daughter loved it, wanted me to make again!

kale, flamed red wine slow braised belly pork on mash

kale, flamed red wine slow braised belly pork on mash

overall the dish combination was quite exquisite.

crayfish

crayfish

crayfish linguine in white wine sauce