Funghi Risotto – Simple & Wonderful!

Posted on March 18, 2015 by chefquak

made a fabulous funghi risotto today on 18.3.2015. ^^

bought 2 boxes of 250g white button mushrooms from sheng shiong earlier i think it was on sale like S$2.80/pkt. they were turning brown though so i had to cook them & i decided it would be fungi risotto.

youngest daughter was just back from library, taking her exam last paper tomorrow & wanting to have food. & this was something easy to prepare. ^^

funghi risotto

everything was excellent. good intense mushroom flavours, just enough creamy texture, very nice texture of rice, slightly al dente in the centre.

even when i got back from dinner (my wife & i were going out to enoch’s for dinner so we had just couple spoons before we went out. my daughter had most of it but left some in the microwave), the risotto was not mushy, still moist & individual grains, flavourful & intense. very nice!^^

funghi risotto

i looked up the recipe i used last time (2 years ago) as i had not cooked this since.

i said then –

It was just so satisfying but also spoke volumes of Foodwishes.com Chef John’s baked mushroom risotto recipe that I could reproduce such a great dish with ease even though this was my very first risotto. 🙂

looking at the beautiful photos then, it was probably as good or better than what i did this time, but it was quite some time back, so i enjoyed it just as much this time.

xxxxxxxxxxx

i had the mushroom sliced & then placed in an oven proof pan with butter (20g or 1+ tablespoon) & 1 teaspoon salt. i went through the dry, wet, dry process, about 10mins until pan was almost dry & mushrooms started to caramelise.

meanwhile i chopped 1 large yellow onion & added to the pan & fried till soft (about 5mins). i also washed 1 cup of arborio rice, added to the pan & fried with the mushrooms & onions.

i thought i had vegetable stock in the fridge but i did not. so i had to improvise. i mixed 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoon mirin, 1 tablespoon sake & 2 tablespoon tsuyu in 1 cup of water, tasted it & i liked the taste. i added this to the pan so it just fully covered the rice & put to medium high until the liquid boiled.

i placed the pan in the oven preheated to 205degC & baked for 10mins. i removed & tasted the risotto. taste was good & centre was still hard. then i added water to just cover the risotto & added 1/3cup (80ml) thickened cream, put to high heat to bring to boil then turned to medium heat, stirred & reduced.

it probably takes 5mins to reduce. taste to make sure that risotto is not overcooked & still al dente in the centre.

it was a very good standard risotto. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Prawn Noodles @ Ah Hui Balestier Food Centre on 17Mar2015

Posted on March 17, 2015 by chefquak

$5 prawn noodles dry

went with my sis & bil to balestier food centre today on 17.3.2015.

ah hui big prawn noodles @balestier FC

sis & i decided to have the prawn noodles at ah hui 阿辉 big prawn noodles. the stall was previously located at long house, the popular 14yr eatery at upper thomson road.

we were early at 11am so there was no queue.

recently, my close friend’s brother started an excellent big prawn noodle stall “Why Eat Har” at thye hwa heng canteen, blk 29 eunos avenue 6. this triggers my interest to try out a few prawn noodle stalls. 🙂

$5 prawn noodles dry

to compare apple with apple, i bought the S$5 dry thick beehoon noodles. ^^

my first reaction was that the chilli was not as good as that at “Why Eat Har”, which was spicier, more tasty & gave a better kick – maybe more haebeehiam?? not sure. i tossed the noodles a bit more and the taste improved. this amount of noodles was just nice & much less than that at “Why Eat Har” as observed previously.

$5 prawn noodles dry

prawns were fresh & nice. there were 6 half-prawns (3 prawns) for S$5 dry c/w with 4 half-prawns (2 prawns) at “Why Eat Har”, but the size of prawns were substantially smaller. in terms of value, the 2 much large prawns at “Why Eat Har” was greater value.^^

the soup was very tasty & intense!

my first reaction was that this soup just pipped the one at “Why Eat Har” which was also very good. “Why Eat Har” is just 2 week old, so have to go back there & try again. will probably try the big prawns for comparison.

$5 prawn+pig tail noodles

my sis had the $5 prawn+pig’s tail noodles. this had 3 half-prawns + 3 pieces of pigs tail. this option was not available at “Why Eat Har”. for those who want pigs tail, this seemed like a very good option.

the soup for the soup version was not as intense as the dry version, due to the noodles. i like both versions but for the purpose of trying out the chilli & more intense soup, i almost had dry version exclusively when i had big prawn noodles at wah kee at pek kio food centre, cambridge road previously. did not go for a few years now. will try it again soon. ^^

overall the S$5 prawn noodles dry at ah hui and “Why Eat Har” were almost equally good in every respect. personally, i will go for “Why Eat Har” for the larger prawns, but i will be quite happy to go back to ah hui also. if i go with my sis who likes pigs tail, then ah hui provides the additional option. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Good 3pax Lunch @ Tess Bar & Kitchen on 13Mar2015

Posted on March 16, 2015 by chefquak

waldorf salad

had lunch with 2 friends at tess bar & kitchen at 38 seah street last fri on 13.3.2015. 🙂

interior is a pleasant modern industrial chic design. tess is helmed by head chef martin wong, alumni of l’atelier of joel robuchon. ^^

there about 5 tables were occupied & only 1 server who was quite good overall though strangely she did not automatically serve us dessert & coffee when we finished food, and we waited a long time before asking her.

deep-fried belly pork

sous vide baby octopus

we ordered the deep-fried pork belly & sous vide baby octopus for starters to share. we had wanted to order the smoked duck & wagyu cubes we saw on other reviews, but they were not available for lunch.

octopus was excellent, very tender texture & nicely matched & flavoured with chorizo & sundries cherry tomatoes. ^^

pork belly was an ok bear finger food, but not comparable with the standard roast pork in most chinese restaurants like crystal jade, imperial treasure, tunglok & canton paradise.

tomato soup

since there were not many ala carte tapas orders, we decided to order the main courses, which also came with a choice of soup or salad, and a choice of dessert or coffee/tea.^^

1 friend had the tomato soup of the day. 2 of us had the waldorf salad.

salad was good, crunchy veg, & quite a few lovely cheese. tomato soup was good too. it was the standard restaurant fare, not my favourite.

prawn linguine

2 of us decided to skip meat main dishes & ordered 2 pasta mains to share to share.

the tiger prawn linguine was good. prawns had the nice bbq flavour, & pasta was tasty with the sauce. ^^

vongole

my initial taste of the vongole was much less good. when i took it with a lot for sauce at the bottom of the plate, it was much better. there were a lot of clams. ^^

still it was nothing special c/w my own spicy vongole fettucine. even my helper can dish out something like this anytime. as for the prawn linguine, i guess my lobster angel hair pasta (if i used tiger prawns) or more recently my chilli crab angel hair pasta would be just as good or better. 🙂

lamb

another friend ordered the frenched lamb rack. i tried a small piece. it was good. well, i can do that too, but for now my repertoire is limited to pistachio crusted rack of lamb.^^

profitero

1 friend ordered the profiteros. 2 of us had regular coffee.

the lunch came to about S$120 or S$40pax nett. not too bad. food was pretty good restaurant standard if not overwhelming.

this a place i would come back to try out the other tapas dishes.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Dinner (as always) @ Aburiya on 8Mar2015

Posted on March 12, 2015 by chefquak

hokkaido wagyu jo karubi

had an excellent dinner with wife on sunday 8.3.2015.

we went to our favourite yakiniku restaurant, aburiya.^^ last time we were here was 6.10.2014.

aburiya 烧屋

we called up last minute, & was able to still get a seat inside. the outside was quite full though.

hakkaisan

wife ordered here usual sake, a hakkaisan.

smokeless yakiniku grill

the grill is recessed into the table & also has powerful suction on the side, so it is entirely smokeless. contrast this with axmaya omakaseya yakiniku, which has quite bad ventilation & leaves you smelling of bbq meat when you leave the restuarant.

jo karubi with negi (leeks)

the meats were excellent. the hokkaido jo karubi or special boneless beef rib (top photo) was good. so was the jo karubi negi (with leeks). we did not find the hokkaido beef so outstanding for the price actually. the cheaper beef did quite well.

kurobuta belly

the kurobuta pork belly was great too. i liked it.

kimchi chigae

& we just love the kimchi chigae here. somehow the broth was really very very tasty, even better than the hotpot kimchi nabe at shirokiya.

bibimen

& the other dish we just love was bibimen. i was quite converted actually. i used to like bibimbab a lot more (still like bibimbab) but here we always ordered bibimen. my wife loved it & i liked it a lot now.^^

so tasty with the gojuchang sauce, and it came with a lot of beef. 🙂

the dinner came to S$120nett for 2pax. it was kind of expensive. less the sake it would be like S$90 for 2pax. c/w azmaya omakaseya.

azmaya has much better quality of beef & with the 50% discount the price would be about same or less c/w aburiya for much better beef. however aburiya was a more complete & enjoyable meal for us because we like the kimchi chigae very much and also the bibimen. another thing the ventilation at azmaya is really bad c/w aburiya’s smokeless grill.

for myself though i am quite happy to go back to azmaya if the 50% continues.

c.h.e.f andy

Cheap & Good 3pax Lunch @ Havelock Food Centre on 12mar2015

Posted on March 12, 2015 by chefquak

yu mei mei shi red grouper fish soup

went with sis & bio to havelock food centre today 12.3.2015 at 11.30am.^^

carpark was full. looked like >50% taxis. i circled almost 1 round. fortunately turnover was real quick! 🙂 taxis are moving out of lots just as quickly so we managed to park almost immediately.

havelock turtle soup

i saw the fish soup was very popular the last time i came. so this time i ordered a S$6 red grouper soup. we were seated at the other side near to the turtle soup & kueh chap & the fish soup man said he could not serve us, so we had to collect. waited more than 15mins. maybe if you want fish soup it is better to sit near the stall. 🙂

there were about 6 pieces of red grouper fillet. grouper was very nice, fresh & sweet.

soup was very tasty with good savoury & seaweed taste.^^

i am not sure 6 pieces for S$6 was good or not. will try again next time, see if i was discriminated against or not, probably not. haha! 🙂

we ordered a S$10 havelock turtle soup. it was as good as the last time. there was a lot of meat, gelatine pieces, innards, but no turtle leg. the soup was very tasty though maybe psychologically, we all thought it was by comparison more dilute than the intense soup at tan ser seng.

for me this really a very good turtle soup for the price!^^

kueh chap

we also had a S$6 kueh chap & S$1 for 2 large kueh.

it’s probably not expensive as it had quite a bit of kongbak (braised belly pork), big intestines & small intestines, and pig skin. the taste was also very good. not sure how to compare, but i guess this was quite a good kueh chap overall.

actually i did very good kueh chap myself so this one & others were competent but i guess nothing really standout-ish! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Shiok Home Lunch for 9pax Friends on 9Mar2015

Posted on March 11, 2015 by chefquak

poached chicken 白斩鸡

did an interesting & fun 9pax lunch for my RI friends on 9.3.2015. ^^

this time i did –

“hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”

chilli crab angel hair w/o crab

crabless beehoon (with prawns & large oysters)

a char siew pork neck & curry miso belly pork (both first try)

achar

a friend brought very nice appetising achar made by his m-i-l.

crabless beehoon (with prawns & oysters)

i started the 2 dishes – crabless beehoon & chilli crab angel hair pasta when all my friends arrived at 1pm+.

all the ingredients were ready, so i just fried chopped shallots, garlic, chilli padi & sliced ginger to get a fragrant aroma then added & fried the beehoon which were softened in water. i then added the intense prawn stock & prawns (with shell) & the chinese cabbage & reduced under high fire. i added oyster sauce & corn flour & when almost done, i added the large oysters & some cooked prawns (shelled) which i had earlier fried in butter. voila!^^

it was delicious! the beehoon was well infused with very intense shellfish stock. prawns & oysters were plump & tasty. 🙂

chilli crab angel hair pasta w/o crab

chilli crab angel hair pasta was the easiest to do. i had earlier browned some garlic cloves in olive oil, & so emptied these to the pan. then i added the prepared chilli crab sauce & brought to boil (i was distracted & forgot to add an egg which is standard for chilli crab). then i added the angel hair & same pre butter-fried prawns, off the fire & tossed. then topped with fresh basil front he garden. that’s all to it!^^

the angel hair was great in soaking up the chilli crab sauce. my friends liked this dish a lot. 🙂

poached chicken3 白斩鸡

for the “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”, this had to be served last. first its stronger taste would mask the other 2 dishes. second, it has to be served hot in individual bowls – would be completely cold after all the group photos etc.

1 of the key ingredient was the poached chicken 白斩鸡. & my was really good, among the best.^^

noodles, fishcake,bean sprouts

curry for curry chicken noodles

the curry was more difficult, but on this second try, i think it was quite close to the real thing.

curry chicken noodles

i am benchmarking hong lim FC ah heng curry chicken noodles. i have to say between the 2, i will still go for ah heng’s, but mine was pretty close la… 🙂

my close friend’s brother just started a prawn noodle stall Why Eat Har last week, and some of us had already tried it.

i was sharing that it was such a difficult thing to achieve. for me, his prawn noodles was already among the best & serving in large volume to paying customers, but for me, i can get close to ah heng’s curry chicken noodles but still not quite!

char siew

char siew was 1st time using pork neck & also this preparation. char siew sauce was the same recipe i used previously but i used slow cooking for 8 hrs in the oven (at 90degC for 2 hrs and 80degC for 6hrs), then browned slightly at 250degC for 15mins.

char siew was flavourful & tender. many friends did like the taste, but i felt it was not anywhere near a good quality char siew, so i may experiment a bit more with it.

curry miso belly pork

the curry miso belly pork was edible but many things were wrong with it. i made a very good curry miso lamb recently (1st try) so had wanted to experiment on belly pork. for the lamb i added stock & vegetables & the result was like a casserole, very flavourful, tender & moist. but i decided to do this using just the dry rub. the result was the skin was tough not quite edible & the curry taste was too strong & not moderated with the miso & vegetable sweetness. got to rework this.

tofu cheese cake

strawberries

we had my usual tofu cheese cake which everyone loved, and strawberries brought by our usual strawberry supplier.

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Big Prawn Noodles @ Why Eat Har on 6Mar2015

Posted on March 11, 2015 by chefquak

4 halves large angka prawns

my close friend’s brother started a prawn noodle stall. he is much into cooking & did a very good chilli crab for my homecooked dinner previously.

the opening was on 5.3.2015. so many of us dropped by to give it a try on 6.3.2015.^^

“Why Eat Har” is located at Thye Hwa Heng Canteen, Blk 29 Eunos Avenue 6

“Why Eat Har” is located at ThyeHwa Heng Canteen, Blk 29 Eunos Avenue 6

the chinese name literally means “greedy prawns”, which has a good spin to it as it means the prawn noodles & the stall makes you greedy & want to eat more & come back for more.^^

the english version makes use of the similar sounding words “why” (english) and “har” (cantonese) & string them together as Why Eat Har. this can mean why eat prawns as in why eat this prawn noodles? or singlish why eat har? (answer = it’s good of course!).^^

the name was a good start, generating interest & buzz, and according to a close friend (not close enough to know that he is an expert in branding until now….hahaha!) an immensely brandable one (talking about franchising).^^

S$5 beehoon mee dry

well, the defining thing for hawker fare is still the taste. singaporeans will tolerate nazi chefs and travel to far corners of the island just for good food.

& believe me, this prawn noodles is good! 🙂

the noodles & beehoon were cooked just right with a good bite. tau gays still crunchy. most of us though thought the quantity of noodles were a bit much. maybe it suits the canteen location, a good hearty meal to warm up to. but still i finished all the noodles, and usually i am a “low carb” guy, and 1/2 the amount of noodles would be too much for me already.

the soup was flavourful & fairly intense. & one of the best things was the chilli. this really not easy to get right starting from scratch. but this a very good chilli (also the consensus among 10+ diners), 1 of the best i had.

for me, the only place i had chilli better than this (& the soup was also more intense) was at wah kee at pek kio food centre, cambridge road. that again is subjective as some friends find wah kee’s soup a bit oily.

stall proprietors & friend

“Why Eat Har” is located at Thye Hwa Heng Canteen, Blk 29 Eunos Avenue 6

i have not taken much of prawn noodles in the last many years, so i may not be the best person to talk about prawn noodles.

in the early days i liked the 人人 peoples’ prawn noodles at pasir panjang (i think it’s now in geylang but i have not tried that yet). then there is hoe nam at tai thong crescent which i also liked a while back. something a bit more recent (like 5 years back), i liked the noo cheng adam road prawn noodles at zion road food centre (not sure if it is still there). the noo cheng adam road prawn noodles at adam road food centre i find so-so. & there is the beach road prawn noodles everyone talked about( i thought at first that i had not tried it before but i think i had actually taken once >10 years back & it was quite good).

but during all these time my favourite was wah kee big prawn noodles at pek kio food centre at cambridge road. 🙂

S$5 prawn noodle soup

4 halves large anka prawns

S$5 prawn noodle dry

back to Why Eat Har.

the prawns also was very good! they were large & fresh & sweet. there were 2 large prawns (4 halves) for S$5.^^

overall it was very enjoyable meal for S$5, and i must say among the best prawn noodles i have taken.

i will go back & try again after a few weeks. let things settle down a bit.

for myself, i find it a very formidable challenge to attempt this hawker stall thingy. first, it is such an incredible effort & time commitment. so much to do everyday from marketing, preparing the stock & other ingredients like pork rib, fish cake etc, cleaning up etc, & of course all the other issues in running a business. & you are competing with the best which are in business for 30 years, 50years.

i cook a bit myself. just 2 days back i had friends over for a 9pax lunch & one of the dishes i cooked was a “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”.

it was pretty good already but still it was not quite ah heng’s curry chicken noodles standard & to cook for 80 or 100 bowls a day? that’s really something else. so i was sharing with my friends how difficult i think it was to be able to produce what Why Eat Har did. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Crabless Beehoon (with Prawn & Oysters)

Posted on March 10, 2015 by chefquak

crabless beehoon (with prawns & oysters)

“crabless” beehoon 1 of the 3 “newer” dishes i did for my friends at a 9pax homecooked lunch yesterday on 9.3.2015.

i first did this Prawn & Oyster Beehoon (the Crab Beehoon Style) 2 weeks ago, inspired?? or more correctly spurred on by the disenchanting experience with crab beehoon at seng kee the few of us had recently.

anyway i was happy enough with the results first time to put my friends to the test, the only slight difference was the larger portion i had to cook for 9pax c/w my first experiment. i had also other food like chilli crab angel hair (w/o crab) and curry chicken noodles etc though, so the portion was still manageable. 🙂

i fried some chopped shallots, garlic, 2 chilli padi & 1 cm sliced ginger in oil in a wok on medium to a nice aroma. then i added the cleaned chinese cabbage & fried till it softened, and added some fish sauce. i removed the vegetables and added about 300g of beehoon softened in cold water & stir fried a short while. then i added the prawn stock together with the unshelled prawns & turned the fire up to reduce the stock. i added 2tablespoon of oyster sauce & 1 tablespoon of cornflour.

once the stock was reduced and checked for taste & making sure the beehoon was not overcooked, i added the oysters & some cooked prawns (which i butter-fried earlier), covered it with the beehoon, let it cooked for very short time & off the fire.

it was a very delicious dish!^^ may not be really so outstanding, but it was still probably better than seng kee’s which was more like a singapore fried beehoon than a crab beehoon.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Chicken Noodles – Finale

Posted on March 10, 2015 by chefquak

poached chicken 白斩鸡

i tried my hands first at curry chicken noodles because i so like the hong lim FC curry chicken noodles.

i like both stalls but like ah heng’s better-

Irresistible Curry Chicken Noodles @ Ah Heng on 19Jan2015

Heng Kee (興记) Curry Chicken Noodles at Hong Lim Food Centre on 7Nov2014

Shiok Curry Chicken Noodles @ Ah Heng on 16Sep2013

& i make a very good poached chicken 白斩鸡 (i would say as good as ah heng’s & better than most chicken rice stalls) & also a very good nonya curry chicken i.e. a good flavourful chicken curry, i fancied i could combine the 2 & make a decent curry chicken noodles.

that was when i tried my hands and recorded as Curry Chicken Noodles – Part One almost 2 years ago on 29.6.2013.

i served it to my friends at a 11pax Homegourmet Dinner on 11Jun2013, & everyone loved it. still, i said “Curry Chicken Noodles – Part One” because i wasn’t totally happy with the results, it was not near enough to ah hen’s.

this time though i think i have graduated. it was jolly good. haha!^

i had a 9pax homecooked lunch featuring chilli crab angel hair (w/o crab), another “crabless” beehoon, and this curry chicken noodles on 9.3.2015.^^

curry for curry chicken noodles

my chicken curry looked potent, as it should be!^^

since i was using the curry as sauce i.e. not cooking with the chicken (chicken was poached separately), so i used a lot of chicken bones (2 chicken) to make a very flavour broth for the curry soup. 🙂

noodles, fishcake,bean sprouts

fish cake,bean sprouts

i had the yellow noodles & thick beehoon done al dente, placed in cold water & ice to make sure they stopped cooking & were firm & not mushy. same for the bean sprouts, still crunchy (but not in cold water, just aga or estimate, not so critical).

poached chicken3 白斩鸡

& the second most important after the curry soup, the poached chicken 白斩鸡. this my pride & joy. haha!^^ i think it was very good. 🙂

curry chicken noodles

all ready to serve, in 9 bowls.

only thing i could not replicate is the hot, cold, hot sequence! which is (1)cook the noodles (2) put in cold water to stop cooking (3) put back in hot soup to warm before adding soup.

i did the first 2 already. the last is so that the noodles are warm (mine were cold obviously), so the hot soup when added will not have so much drop in temperature.

well, it’s not perfect la!

curry chicken noodles

still it was a pretty good!

all my friends loved it. in the end it’s also that i myself loved it & felt very good about it!

overall the dish was “almost” there la! & my chicken definitely equal if not better.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (I use 1.4kg from Giant hypermarket OR Sheng Shiong)
2l chicken stock (from bones of 2 chicken)
300ml thick coconut milk or to taste
4 star anise
1 clove
2 cinnamon stick
2 stems lemon grass (white part)
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sea salt (about that but also to taste)
1.5 tbsp sugar (about that but also to taste)
10 pieces of dried taupok (each cut into 4 strips)
2 potatoes peeled & diced (about 10 pieces)
3 ikan parang (西刀鱼) fish cake
200g tau gay

for spice paste (ground in mixer or pound in mortar):

100g dried prawns
3 cloves garlic
18 shallots
18 dried chilli (soaked in water & removed seeds)
10g coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel powder
3 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp tumeric powder

Directions:

Cook the chicken curry – stir-fry star anise, cinnamon stick & cloves over low heat. add in the spice paste and stir-fry till fragrant. add the curry leaves and fry them really well. add chicken stock with dried prawns & bring to boil. use the carcase of 1 chicken as stock base. subsequently after cooking & deboning the whole chicken, use the bones/carcase to add to the soup – so 2 chicken bones/carcase to provide the soup stock flavours. add diced potatoes to add to the body of the soup & cook for about 1/2hr or till they break by pressing against the side of the saucepan. add sea salt & sugar & add 200ml thick coconut milk OR to taste.
Cook the chicken – See poached chicken 白斩鸡.
Condiments – grill ikan parang (西刀鱼) fish cake in a toaster oven, let them cool & then slice them. add taupok (dried bean curd) nearer the end of cooking.
Serve with noodles – boil yellow noodles & thick beehoon for laksa till just cooked (al dente) and put in ice bath to stop cooking so noodles are QQ. when everything is done, serve yellow noodles & thick beehoon in bowl & add the fishcake & cut chicken. then add boiling curry soup with taupok & potatoes & serve.

Chilli Crab Angel Hair Pasta (w/o Crab)

Posted on March 10, 2015 by chefquak

chilli crab angel hair pasta (w/o crab)

was making a few “newer” dishes for my friends to try out at a 9pax homecooked lunch yesterday on 9.3.2015.

chilli crab capellini (angel hair pasta) on 26.4.2015

one dish was chilli crab pasta, a dish i tried once before. looking at the date 7.3.2013, it was 2 years back!

i also did “crabless” beehoon & the “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”.

my family & i are not so crazy about crabs & i don’t buy & cook crabs (i may try later).

the idea here is to use prawns stock to deliver the shellfish broth taste w/o using crabs. since i was also trying about my crab beehoon (or “crabless” beehoon) on my friends & making the prawn head & shell stock, so i might as well do this chilli crab dish as well. i decided to use some leftover angel hair. it fit the dish quite perfectly.

my friends all loved the dish. one commented this was actually the more creative dish.

another friend said-

Yes, I like this dish. The angel hair pasta is well infused with the tasty seafood broth.

another even more effusive, exuberant comment went-

Seldom have I eaten so much! Still digesting and trying to figure out the mysteriously delicious spicy angel hair sphagetti with hint of exotic eastern spices that awoken my palate

not sure if we were talking about the same dish though? hahaha!^^

indeed i think it was a lot better than the one i did 2 years back (if i can even remember!). but this time i had more sauce, and i used angel hair which infused more of the chilli “crab” taste. haha!^^

well, only just because it is so-called “fusion” dish, but so many places in singapore (restaurants & cafes) now do this dish, it is nothing special.

also, it was a very easy dish to do c/w the “crabless” beehoon & the “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”.

the main thing was the sauce, which i repeated from the recipe i did on 7.3.2013 (below). only thing i added 6 chopped shallots (instead of 4), 3 ketchup (instead of 4) & 2 chilli padi (instead of 1), & i ran out of shaoxing wine so i added 1 tbsp xo brandy.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

6 chopped shallots
3 tsp chopped garlic
1 in chopped ginger
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp garlic chilli sauce
2 chilli padi
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp flat sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsplime juice
2 cup prawn stock
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
1/2 cup fresh coriander

Directions:

Prepare the prawn shell stock – fry & boil prawn shells & heads in a large dutch oven for 3 hrs, strain and set aside the stock
Prepare the chilli crab sauce –
- mix the ketchup, chilli sauce, oyster sauce, shaoxing wine, vinegar. lime juice in a large bowl.
- finely chopped the shallots, ginger, garlic and chilli padi (or pulse till finely chopped in a food processor).
- add oil to a large wok over medium heat. and fry the chopped shallots, ginger, garlic & chilli padi for few minutes.
- stir in the prepared mix from the large bowl, reduce heat and simmer of 3 or 4 minutes.
- add the prawn shell stock, bring to boil, turn off the fire and set aside to use when required. before use, beat 1 egg and stir in & mix well.
Prepare the spaghetti– add some salt & oil to water and boil the spaghetti according to timing instructions & drain in a colander.
Cook – empty the prepared olive oil & browned garlic into a hot wok. pour the chilli crab sauce into the wok. heat briefly then turn off the fire, add in the spaghetti & toss & add sea salt to taste. Place the spaghetti in a serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander.

8pax Ala Carte Lohei Dinner @ Mitzo Grand Park Orchard on 3Mar2015

Posted on March 8, 2015 by chefquak

lohei

a friend organised a lohei dinner at mitzo, grand park orchard on 3.3.2015. 🙂

don’t think i have even stepped into this hotel since crown prince hotel was sold to the park hotel group in 2005. vaguely remember there was some ala carte buffet at long jiang restaurant here back then eons ago.

coming out of the lift on level 4, the entrance was a bit hidden, right at the end of the hall way.

place looked atas, with a japanese sounding name mitzo, and the waiting staff including at the welcome counter were mostly foreigners, took us a while to spot a singaporean. we were served by a spanish guy. must say the service was very polite & cheerful, and the staff were well trained.

it was only later that i read that mitzo was supposedly inspired by “mat zoe” 蜜枣 – honey dates used in cantonese double boiled soup & lie tong 例汤。whatever.^^

mitzo is also apparently positioned as an inventive cocktail bar, serving some cocktails from a teapot. 🙂

lohei

there were 8 of us.

we ordered a medium lohei. the lady who served us was i think filipino, and she managed to say a few auspicious messages like 年年有鱼(余),大吉大利etc, and some of them in english translations. an interesting diversion was when she used a cocktail tumbler to mix the sweet sauce & oil, not that it would make any difference to the lohei.

c/w with the lohei at char, the amount of salmon here was a lot more, i think 2x more. in terms of taste though, char’s lohei was a lot tastier & more refreshing, and altogether more enjoyable.

here because the end result was a bit too dry, we asked for more sauce & lady came & added what looked like the char siew sauce instead of the sweet sauce & oil, the result was not the taste we associated with lohei.

roast pork

the roast pork was pretty good. i think better than char but it was quite standard & not a stand-out c/w any of tunglok, imperial treasure, crystal jade, canton paradise.

char siew

the char siew was good. it was featured in their website also i guess one of the signature dishes? it was tender moist flavourful, slightly different from the one at char, not necessarily better. for me though, i prefer this (char’s was unique but sauce slightly on the sweet side).

soft shell crab in curry floss

the spanish waiter recommended the soft shell crab in curry floss. in fact we ordered all his recommended dishes.^^

the curry soft shell crab was good, competent. i liked the curry flavour. though it was kind of unrelated, i just happened to be making a curry miso lamb that evening (which turned out to be fabulous) in the oven at 90degC then 80degC for 10hours while i was dining.

roast duck

the roast duck with truffle was good too, a good restaurant standard. my favourite roast duck though is the one at canton paradise.

eggplant

eggplant was good, competent.

scallop, crabmeat, egg white fried rice

the scallop, crabmeat, egg white fried rice though was a bit below par, not enough wok hae. this a dish that i always order in imperial treasure nanbei or imperial treasure teochew at taka, so it was rather poor by comparison.

the food was actually quite authentic & better than my first impression that we were walking into an expensive atas place to eat so-so chinese food. i guess we were quite full & ordered very few dishes for 8pax, so we only paid S$30pax for the dinner.

but from what i saw of the set dinner & ala carte prices e.g. 1/2 roast duck was S$36 c/w S$26 at canton paradise, this place is certainly quite a bit more expensive. again it’s not comparing apple with apple as the ambience & location are quite different. 🙂

this not my usual kind of place for cantonese food but i don’t rule out completely also. not coming back anytime soon la…

c.h.e.f andy

Hotate Ikura Don on 7Mar2015

Posted on March 7, 2015 by chefquak

hotate ikura don

wife brought back hotate sashimi, ikura, uni & hairy crabs from hokkaido after her skiing holiday yesterday.

we took the uni earlier as that could not keep.

this evening, we made our own hotate ikura don, plus hotate sashimi & hairy crab.

i made some tamago – japanese pressed egg omelette. tamago texture & taste was very good, but the shape was not yet right. need some more practice, haha!^^

hotate ikura don

we had very good wasabi. we did not have the sushi rice vinegar, so the sushi rice was not ideal, but overall it was an excellent don.^^

we also used the nori (seaweed) to make a temaki (hand roll).^^

hotate sashimi

the hotate was plump & so incredibly sweet. 🙂

hairy crab

hairy crab was also excellent. very tasty & juicy.

c.h.e.f andy

Pretty Good for the Price @ Havelock Turtle Soup on 5Mar2015

Posted on March 6, 2015 by chefquak

S$10 turtle soup

went to sembawag park for an early morning stroll with 2 friends/old schoolmates yesterday. they were living in the area during school days so knew the place really well, and also very good at identifying the flora & fauna. 🙂

after the pleasant walk, i left to join another friend for lunch at havelock hawker centre. i had some business dealing with this friend in the past. he is 10 years my senior, picked up photography 4 years ago, & after selling off his business 2 years ago, is now very active in travel photography & recently started to be involved in charity missions.

Havelock turtle soup合落山瑞, Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre

we arranged to have lunch at havelock turtle soup 合落山瑞 at 1130am on 5.3.2015.^^

this stall was introduced to me by a friend after the saw my Facebook posting on tan ser seng. i was keen to give it a try. 🙂

timing was good, just before the lunch crowd, and so easy to park.

S$10 turtle soup

i ordered S$10 bowl and small S$0.50 yam rice each.

soup was tasty. there were lots of meat, gelatine & some innards. chilli was spicy, and overall taste was very good. ^^

i didn’t think it was comparable to tan ser seng though.

nor fu he at jalan berseh food centre (in fact i think fu he had the best deal for the price).

both had more intense & tastier soup & also turtle paws etc. but for S$10, this was very good for the price. i would probably just order a S$15 bowl for sharing & try the other food like kueh chap & the fish soup which seemed popular.

S$0.50 small yam rice

the yam rice was quite ok. again tan ser seng’s was more much fragrant & tastier but it cost S$1.30.

S$1.50 soursop jelly

S$1.50 sea coconut jelly

my friend went to grab some dessert. he had sea coconut jelly & i had soursop jelly. as good as any place & only cost S$1.50!

c.h.e.f andy

4pax Fundonate Lunch Chat @ Qiji Funan on 4Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

nasi lemak – S$2.60

a friend arranged 4pax lunch relating to a fundonate charity fundraising matter.

we decided to go to qiji at funan digital mall on 4.3.2015.^^

qiji @ funan

My! it sure was crowded at 12pm – long queue like 15pax! 🙂

we ordered 3 nasi lemak, 1 mee rebus & a popiah to share.^^

popiah with prawns – S$2.60

qiji started in 1984 as hock heng at funan digital mall serving homemade popiah, laksa, mee-siam and nasi lemak. popiah was supposed to be the most popular.^^

we shared the popiah. it was ok, a good popiah. i did not find it especially good.

mee rebus

mee rebus was ok,

the nasi lemak was good. chilli very good. rice too was fragrant. fish was good, tasty & crispy, and chicken wings too. this nasi lemak was about the same as selara rasa, no2 adam hawker centre, and the neighbour no1 adam hawker centre. i guess i still prefer the 2 at adam road, of which i prefer no1 though no2 usually have the longer queue. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good CNY Set Lunch @ Char on 3Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

char siew

a fundonate partner organised a lohei lunch at char on 3.3.2015.^^

we had the S$38pax CNY set. it was good!

lohei

some staff were foreigners, so we waited for a chinese speaking local staff to do the lohei.

a friend asked the staff to drizzle just 1/2 the sweet sauce & 1/2 the oil. results was good.

the amount of salmon was puny, unlike what we had for dinner at mitzo. otherwise, i enjoyed this lohei.^^

fishmaw soup

the fish maw & scallop soup was excellent! very very tasty, 1 of the best i had!

3 roasts = char siew, roast pork, roast duck

the char siew with the special sauce (though a bit sweet) was best! 🙂

the roast pork was tasty, not quite crackling skin but skin was edible. the duck was forgettable, very below par.

steamed garoupa

steamed garoupa was good, fresh, sauce was excellent with a tinge of sesame oil, fish was fresh, sweet & firm.^^

brocoli with crab meat

broccoli with crabmeat was good if quite standard fare.

prawn fried rice

prawn fried rice was simple but good too!

red bean paste with lotus seeds

red bean paste with lotus seed was just ok. no 陈皮 old orange peel & lotus seed not cooked enough.

my friends said this place packed in the evening & he usually just call up & order the char siew.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced pork sauce, sakura ebi

wife was away skiing in hokkaido. SKI=Spending Kid’s Inheritance.^^

eldest daughter organised a 3pax family dinner at saver @ purvis on 1.3.2015. 🙂

we had very good family dinner recently at concetto (another saver restaurant) on 18.1.2015.

& this place was just as fun.

the next day i came with my godsis & a good friend’s daughter for the set lunch at S$22.90, & it was just as good. the set lunch menu here is more attractive than that at concetto, which really had very limited choice (they really should review that!).

saveur @ purvis

the restuarant had 2 adjacent dining area. this one was absolutely packed. we were not able to get sitting at the other side where the sitting was more spacious even though we booked beforehand. i booked the next day lunch, making sure i could get the other, but that turned out to be unnecessary as we were the only table. what a difference lunch & dinner!

chef preparing cold capellini

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

this saveur pasta was different from concetto pasta. that had crab bisque & ikura, this one minced pork sauce & sakura ebi & priced cheaper at $4.90 (vs S$6.90). i liked both (& was quite happy to take it again the next day).

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

one reviewer said it tasted like bakchormee? it didn’t to me, but it was nice, very al dente & flavourful.^^

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

the belly pork was excellent, very tender, moist & still having the texture, excellent low temperature cooking. the crackling skin was not crackling like the chinese roast pork, but totally edible. love the lentils.

pan-seared seabass, potato, crabmeat

the seabass was excellent too! this was really a very good pan seared seabass! liked the potatoes too. 🙂

duck confit, mashed potato, shitake

the duck confit was very good, just like that at concetto.

cookie dough ice cream, cherry kirsch, peanut butter

the cookies & milk ice cream was good, but no wow factor for me, & it was more expensive.

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cottaEx

the pistachio panna cotta was lovely. my doughtier liked it very much. maybe i will try this at home.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Miso Lamb

Posted on March 4, 2015 by chefquak

curry miso lamb

made an absolutely delicious curry miso lamb yesterday.^^

this my own created recipe. & i experimented it for the first time, 1/2 making up as i go. haha! 🙂

curry miso lamb

i had 1 of my best lamb with my son at honey & co london on 22.8.2014. honey & co’s braised lamb shoulder with cous cous was truly superb, a braised dish that was tender & very tasty & not so sinewy.

i had wanted to replicate this, and now i had! ^^

curry miso lamb

i seasoned with sea salt & black pepper & browned 400g of lamb shoulder chops in butter over high heat, then marinated with my own concoction of curry miso in a flat oven dish & kept in chiller for 2 days-

1 heap tbsp curry powder
1 flat tbsp miso
2 tbsp mirin
1 chopped onion softened & lightly browned
sprinkle of dry rosemary

i removed from chiller yesterday, added 2 cups+ vege stock (or can use chicken stock) to fully cover the lamb. then i added 1 cut onion, carrot & celery.

i placed in the oven for a total 10hrs = 3hrs at 90degC and 7hrs at 80degC. i read that 90degC is the optimal temperature to turn collagen (tough connective tissues) to gelatine, which made the lamb tender & gave the dish great flavours & umami.^^

curry miso lamb

& it was excellent, tasty & balanced, the vegetables & vegetable stock combining well & making the dish so very flavourful, delicious & not satiating.

this really excellent stuff!

c.h.e.f andy

Cheap & Good Lunch @ Deitos Hakata B1 Food Alley Shop on 29Jan2015

Posted on March 1, 2015 by chefquak

fugu sashimi

after coming back from dazaifu 太宰府, we were at deitos hakata B1 food alley on 29.1.2015.

deitos hakata B1 food alley shop

& was attracted by a stall displaying fugu sashimi & ika (squid) sashimi set.

ika sashimi set+ika tempura (window display)

we saw this ika sashimi set in many brochure advertisements & had planned to try it.

in the display (photo above), there was also ika tempura. there was also a choice or either beer or gohan set.^^

ika sashimi

wa…the ika sashimi was really good! 🙂

thick & a very great bite w/o being tough..

ika tempura-better than any calamari

we could do the remaining squid as tempura or shioyaki…& wow..the tempura was just superb…better than any calamari i have tried.^^

i would definitely take this again.

ika sashimi set+ika tempura

i had the gohan set of rice, pickles & miso soup once i didn’t need the beer & all the food were good with small amount of rice.

deitos hakata B1 food alley

coming up the food alley escalator, i took a snap. the stall was just down the escalators immediately on the right side.^^

i wanted to make sure i know where to find it when i visited fukuoka again, but i guess there are many such shops selling this ika sashimi set in fukuoka.

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good 6th Avenue Wanton Noodles on 28Feb2015

Posted on February 28, 2015 by chefquak

wanton noodles

had very nice wanton noodles at 6th avenue good good coffeehouse today on 28.2.2015.^^

went to sin min to do something & thought of dropping by at rong cheng 榕城 bakuteh at sin min road, but there was no parking lots or space.

i did not realise that an old RI friend was behind me. got friendly hoots from friend but thought it was impatient Singaporeans! 🙂

wanton noodles

anyhow, went to the 6th ave wanton noodles & had a pretty nice S$3.50 wanton noodles instead. ^^

never tried this stall before. it was very good in fact. noodles were very qq, chilli sauce mix was excellent, & char siew & wantons were good too.

wanton

i thought overall it tasted better than the wanton noodles i had recently at whampoa food centre, and better than wanton mee @ KPT coffeeshop hougang avenue 10 (which was on the sweet side).

now i have more options when i eat at 6th avenue.

c.h.e.f andy

Yatai 屋台 on Nakasu Island, Ramen Stadium & Canal City on 28Feb2015

Posted on February 28, 2015 by chefquak

yatai屋台 on nakasu island

after a very delightful meal of sashimi omakase (haha!) in our JR kyshu blossoms hotel room, we had a good rest & took a stroll to canal city, ramen stadium & nakasu in the evening & to try out the yatai 屋台on 28.1.2015.^^

yatai屋台 on nakasu island

there are some 150 such street stalls in fukuoka. they can be found in tenjin, nagahama & nakasu.

i guess foreigners were naturally attracted to the idea of yatai 屋台. ^^

it seemed such a fun place, which locals also frequent. e.g. in the korean equivalent pojangmacha 포장마차 包藏马车, there’s a lot of socialising, people getting drunk & piggy-back home (in korea dramas..haha!). 🙂

i asked 1 of my korean friends. she said there’s pojangmacha & there’s pojangmacha. everyone has her own favourite & it really depends if you like these street food & what you order.

kushiyaki串烧@nakasu yatai 屋台

the yatai 屋台 we decided to try was on nakasu island by the river.

food was quite poor really, both the kushiyaki & also the ramen which was NOT even comparable to the instant mala chashu ramen & the kyushu black instant ramen i made at home.

oden@ yatai屋台

we did not take oden, not something we were interested.

grilled mentaiko 900yen @nakasu yatai 屋台

we had the grilled mentaiko. so so.

kushiyaki moriawase 6 for 800yen @nakasu yatai 屋台

i guess the kushiyaki moriawase 6 for 800yen was not like very expensive, but my wife said they were not 1/2 as nice as tori-q, which is the truth, not that we even eat much of tori-q. haha!^^

beef stomach 600yen @nakasu yatai 屋台

this was a mistake! couldn’t understand what the stall owner said, we thought it was beef tripes (there was an english menu that said beef stomach) but it was more like literally beef fat!

very poor ramen 650yen @nakasu yatai 屋台

ramen at the yatai 屋台 , don’t order it!

we should have tried at the ramen stadium instead. at least those looked as good as the ramen village (拉麺小路) at level 10 kyoto station.

nakasu island

it was a pleasant place for a stroll in the evening.

canal city – view from nakasu island

view of canal city from nakasu island side.

canal city

ramen stadium – canal city

ramen stadium looked mighty fine.

canal city

canal city was quite nice to walk through. not sure what was there to do.. shopping & more shopping.

c.h.e.f andy

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