Oven Slow-braised Chashu (Japanese Braised Belly Pork for Ramen)

Posted on June 22, 2013 by chefquak

chashumen

have not done any blogging on recipes for a while.

lately, after seeing some internet recipes on cooking Japanese chashu (see a very good one by http://www.seriouseats.com on chashu pork), I did a few attempts myself, with some reasonable success. 🙂

I had also in fact undertaken a 10pax homegourmet dinner recently on 11.6.2013, where I also served 10 bowls of chasumen, which was rather well received. 🙂 the top photo (and the one right at the bottom) were taken during that dinner. 🙂

chashu (Japanese oven slow-braised pork belly)

now on the cooking. I blanched a 300g belly pork in boiling water to remove the scums & then rinsed with slow running water. I then used a string (butcher twine) to tie the pork belly to make the semi-circular shape. 🙂 I prepared the braising sauce which comprised 1/2 cup sake, 1/2 cup mirin, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1 cup water. I added sliced ginger (3cm block), 4 peeled garlic cloves, 1 stalk spring onions, 1 shallot quartered and heat till boiling. I added the belly pork & transfer to a preheated oven at 130degC for 1/2hr. I then let the oven cooled and set to 90degC and left the belly pork to slowly braise over 2hrs. 🙂

chashu (Japanese oven slow-braised pork belly)

the result was a very tender texture of belly pork including the skin. 🙂 & it was sweet & tasty from the sauce marinade. 🙂

the above photos were from my very first attempt.

just to add – I have now perfected the 6 minutes runny yoke egg (will make a separate recipe post later!). also though the chashu would go very well with the regular ramen, I prefer the much lighter version using the thin Japanese noodles, especially when this carbo item is served as part of a 8-course menu. 🙂

the bowl on the right with the runny york egg was from the recent 10pax homegourmet dinner on 11.6.2013. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

300g belly pork
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 cloves peeled garlic
1 shallot quartered
1 stalk spring onions
3cm ginger (sliced)

Directions:

blanch 300g belly pork in boiling water to remove the scums & then rinse with slow running water. use a string (butcher twine) to tie the pork belly to make the semi-circular shape.
prepare the braising sauce which comprises 1/2 cup sake, 1/2 cup mirin, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoon light soy sauce, and 1 cup water. add sliced ginger (3cm block), 4 peeled garlic cloves, 1 stalk spring onions, 1 shallot quartered and heat till boiling.
add the belly pork & transfer to a preheated oven at 130degC for 1/2hr. let the oven cool and set to 90degC and leave the belly pork to slowly braise over 2hrs. serve or store in fridge for future use.

Marvellous Thai @ Patara Fine Cuisine on 19Jun2013

Posted on June 20, 2013 by chefquak

curry NZ sirloin

Pork Shabu Shabu Dinner at Azmaya & Coffee Chocolates at Laurent on 18Jun2013

Posted on June 19, 2013 by chefquak

had a wonderful evening out with a few great friends. 🙂

we were going to do Indian but the restaurant we decided to try, Balle Balle Cafe, was closed on Tuesday! (odd!), so we picked Azmaya. It was a great choice!

I had the A5 Japanese wagyu shabu shabu at Azmaya previously so I did not take photos this time. 🙂 we took the pork shabu shabu 2hrs 放题 (all you can eat) which was S$12pax after 50% discount (promotion extended till end Jun2013). the same for A5 Japanese wagyu + pork which was S$45pax after 50%, till end Jun2013. 🙂 there is 1 catch – you have to order 1 drink, which starts at $5. that was fine really, our dinner came to $173nett for 7pax inclusive of 9 drinks (2 beers, 1 red wine + 6 non alcoholic drinks), and ice water was free. 🙂

the pork came in 2 very thin machine cuts (we could see the machine slicing away on the countertop near the kitchen) – a belly cut & a (I am guessing) collar cut. they were very good really. we had 2 refills of meat as well as vegetable basket which included leek, golden mushrooms, Jap glass noodles, chinese cabbage, bean sprouts etc. there was no room left for udon which was also included but we did not order. 🙂

after dinner, one of us introduce the group to Laurent (pronounced lor-hon) Cafe & Chocolate Bar. they had a tiny aircon area that just about squeezed in 4 small tables, 3 of which were occupied; but there was a persistent one amongst us & we managed to pounce on it the moment a second table was vacated & put the tables together to sit the 7 of us. 🙂 we didn’t want to breathe the 108PSI air at the alfresco area. 🙂

we ordered the favourites – a pure chocolate which was “heavenly sinful”, a chocolate tart which had an excellent texture combination, & 2 others. they went very well with coffee though some of us had hot chocolate & ice creams etc. the bill came to S$90nett for 7pax.

& we had wonderful conversation hahaha.. 🙂 from Loire Valley misty chateaus to Cinque Terre to San Sabastian to Amalfi Coast (the last a friend’s very selective 3 bucket list items-all completed), capital & inheritance tax considerations when buying foreign properties & living in Kowloon or Discovery Bay, walking the trail from Wan Chai to mid-levels, dental surgeon (NOT one of us) & probiotics, being educated by our all-round sportsman on the difference between complete & finish (not to be repeated!). all in all, an evening to remember & savour. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Whole Suckling Pig Birthday Dinner Set @ Hung Kang Teochew Restaurant on 14Jun2013

Posted on June 16, 2013 by chefquak

longevity buns (寿桃)

was organising a birthday dinner for my brother & sister.

Whole Suckling Pig Birthday Set Menu

saw that Hung Kang Teochew Restaurant (韓江潮州酒楼) had a whole suckling pig birthday set for S$438+ so decided to do it there. Hung Kang is 1 of the old names like Yuan Xing (Guan Hin) & Tai Seng, but we had not been there for a while.

dinner started with longevity buns (寿桃). nice touch for the mood so I didn’t mind it though everyone seemed to avoid carbo these days, but can always “ta pao” (take out) right? 🙂

appetizer platter

the appetizer (& later even more so the longevity noodles & orh nee dessert – oddly the start & the ends haha..) I would rate the poor dishes. the jelly fish was ok, spring roll was crispy so quite good, the pressed pig head meat was not my favourite but ok with the “kek you” (桔油) citrous dip & I took couple pieces. but the chicken didn’t quite belong there. should just have a salad prawns etc like most others do.

sharksfin with crabmeat & fishmaw

the sharksfin with crabmeat & fishmaw was tasty, not the watery type so maybe in the “quite good” category. haha. 🙂

whole suckling pig

and the main event – the suckling pig – was good! I guess that was most important. many restaurants now do this very well, so it was not out of the ordinary but it was a great dish which everyone enjoyed. 🙂

the teochew steamed pomfret (斗鲳) was very good too. Many restaurants do not serve pomfret in the cheaper sets, and pomfret has a stronger taste (ie more fishy) than other more delicate textured fish, so its not easy to do it well. but this pomfret was excellent! real tecohew stuff! 🙂

cereal prawns

the cereal prawns looked great & tasted good too.

teochew stewed chinese cabbage

this teochew slow stewed chinese cabbage was wonderful, really nice – another excellent dish!

longevity noodles

I didn’t quite like this longevity noodles. somehow it was far too sweet? too much sugar? places like say Chui Huay Lim do their teochew fried seafood beehoon so well & flavourful. this one was carbo we didn’t really need.

looking at the photos, the orh nee (yam puree dessert) actually looked quite ok. unfortunately taste not there! it was not “pang” ie flavourful as orh nee went (maybe too healthy no lard?) so another carbo we didn’t need!

whole suckling pig

well, some misses but we did get to have our fix for suckling pig, and a had few other great dishes too! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

S$19pax Indian Lunch Buffet @ Yantra at Tanglin Mall on 10Jun2013

Posted on June 15, 2013 by chefquak

chick pea curry

11pax Homegourmet Dinner on 11Jun2013

Posted on June 13, 2013 by chefquak

experimented with chashumen & curry chicken noodles recently with some success. 🙂

chashu is Japanese braised pork belly in mirin, sake, soy sauce & sugar. it is commonly served with ramen as chashumen & can come with tonkotsu, soyu or miso tonkotsu soupbase. 🙂

for curry chicken noodle, the aim was to recreate or model the famous Ah Heng or Heng Kee curry chicken noodle stalls at Hong Lim Park hawker centre. The curry for curry chicken noodle is somewhat different from the usual curry, and there is no internet recipe to be found. so I had to improvise. The chicken is not curry chicken but more like Hainanese chicken rice chicken. anyhow, I cooked quite a good nonya curry chicken so I varied the curry by adding dried prawns (虾米), lemongrass (香茅) but I did not have the special chilli they had.

so I invited my usual gang of friends & this time including the few of us who went together for the Hong Kong Trip 10-13May2013. I designed a menu which included braised duck, curry chicken, spicy bean sauce pork prime ribs, wok fried prawns & HK kailan to go with the 2 carbo dishes, namely the chasumen & curry chicken noodles. 🙂

the top photo was the braised duck. I did a very good one for a 22pax homegourmet buffet dinner on 5May2013. For this one I made some small mistakes but managed to rectify it & the end product was quite flavourful duck & nice colour & presentation too. 🙂

nonya curry chicken

the curry chicken was also very tasty & flavourful. I took off 1/2 the curry though to make the curry for the curry chicken noodles.

we also had a very good spicy bean sauce pork prime ribs dish made by my domestic helper. she had mostly perfected the wonderful dish. 🙂

dry wok medium prawn

poached HK kailan with shitake

I cooked the high heat dry wok prawns (kind of my very own speciality recipe) which never fails to please. 🙂 & my helper did the poached HK kailan with shitake mushrooms. 🙂

the braised duck, curry chicken & spicy pork ribs were pre-cooked & only needed warming up. The prawn & poached kailan were whipped up when all the guests arrived, and so we were able to start a relax evening dining with 5 piping hot dishes & plain rice. 🙂

chashu (Japanese braised pork belly)

perfect 6mins runny yoke egg

the Jap chashu was also done beforehand. So was the perfect runny yoke egg – direct from fridge into boiling water & simmered for exactly 6mins. 🙂 instead of heavy ramen, I used small pinch of thin Japanese light noodles that was cooked just al dante & dropped into ice water to stop after-cooking to ensure the “qq” effect. 🙂

chicken – hainanese chicken rice method

for the curry chicken noodles, I had a really nice, tender & sweet chicken done the Hainanese chicken rice style with smooth, taut skin, again courtesy of the ice-water bath. 🙂

& we had taupok, potatoes & fishcake added to the yellow noodle & thick beehoon.

my friends brought durian puff (unfortunately it was frozen though I took out of the freezer for 1/2hr but it was not enough), ice cream & very sweet strawberries & rambutans. 🙂

what a fun evening, company, conversation & food! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

“Michelin Star” Homegourmet Peranakan Feast @ Friend’s Place on 7Jun2013

Posted on June 9, 2013 by chefquak

assam fish head

I was among a privileged group to be invited for a peranakan feast at a friend’s house on 7.6.2013. 🙂

scrumptious peranakan feast

last year this same friend did an incredible teochew spread complete with all the dips like ‘kek you’桔油, seng ni chor 蒜泥醋(minced garlic vinegar) & also buay jeun 梅酱 etc. this time round it was a peranakan feast like no others…haha. 🙂

there were assam fish head, babi ponteh, gado gado, chap chye, bawan kepiting, ayam buah keluar, itek sio, ngoh hiang, incredibly delicious penang laksa, and apom berkuah. 🙂

The assam fish head (top photo) was totally awesome. one of my friends parked herself right in front of the dish..haha. 🙂

I will never attempt this gado gado. just look at the effort – 4 vegetables, egg, tau kua, potatoes, peanut sauce. I feel exhausted just counting them..eating them was quite ok though. haha. 🙂

chap chye

ngoh hiang

the chap chye was very good, but regrettably got to keep space for every other super good dishes leh..same with the ngoh hiang…

I had 3 rounds before I started on the penang laksa. some fellas had 5 rounds, but of course he had to work on a phone conference while the rest of us were feasting so he deserved to be rewarded. 🙂

itek sio

itek sio was a new dish according to my “michelin star” chef friend. it’s very tasty taken with the sauce…well he could keep adding new dishes if they all tasted like that. 🙂

bawan kepeting

ayam buah keluar

the bawan kepiting was a very tasty soup..the only dish I had not dived into was the ayam buah keluar, but then a few friends said the buah keluar was really good..I didn’t remember liking this but I tried anyway, scooping out the soft flesh from the nut..it was good indeed though I am unlikely to crave this.

babi ponteh

this one I could not resist, had 3 helpings with pick of collagen rich pieces. 🙂

regrettably I did not take picture of the penang laksa. I was never keen on penang laksa as I preferred the lemak laksa with cockles to the sour version, but this one was really delicious & flavourful, not too sour & lots of fish.

apom berkuah

& we had an awesome dessert too -apom berkuah. and some more, we got to ta pao back nonya bak chang & kee chang with kaya, more of the apom berkuah & penang laksa. 🙂

later I was chatting with another friend on Facebook. and I observed that a mark of a true chef=perfection ie no small miss in every dish. I had many “homegourmet” (not to be taken seriously we just say all these for fun) dinners myself, and I would have 1 or 2 misses in some dishes. and in all honesty what we had was better than most good peranakan restaurants – so michelin star it was for me. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Sumptuous Semi-buffet @ One Ninety at Four Seasons Hotel on 30May2013

Posted on June 9, 2013 by chefquak

roast suckling pig with stuffing was sooooooooo good!

It’s my turn to buy the monthly dining quartet meal. I had not been to One Ninety @ Four Seasons Hotel for years but I recalled they had a good semi-buffet. & there was a 1 free for 3 paying promotion using DBS card ending May2013, so we went there for lunch on 30.5.2013, in time for the promotion. 🙂

& it was a super, super lunch. I would go again w/o the promotion. 🙂

the appetizer & dessert buffet was priced at $38pax, and $48pax if we added a main course on the menu, which we did. & on saturdays & sundays, they throw in a Moet champagne buffet at $58pax.

The suckling pig with stuffing (top photo) was nothing short of fabulous – sooooooooooo good! it was so flavourful, tasty. I always felt nothing beat chinese roast suckling pig. still do. but this was as good as it gets, perhaps different (as the focus was not just on the crispy skin but overall flavours) but on par. 🙂

langoustine or scampi – sweet, quite good

snow crab legs

the langoustine or scampi was sweet, quite good but I actually thought the snow crab legs were better. though not the very best but still very good quality, and a few of us had a few helpings. it was sweet & not so salty as what Kuisinbo & some poorer buffets served.

the pork terrine in above left photo was the poorer one- could skip as there were so many good dishes. there was a better one with pig ears, which I had forgotten to take picture.

sushi – most sushi in buffet were a waste of time! this one I only took the aburi mayo prawn & smoked duck (twice I took meaning quite good..haha..). 🙂

pork pate below & pressed foie gras on top

the pork pate was extremely good – I took 3 pieces. 🙂 I did not take the pressed foie gras which according to my friends were even better.

excellent roast duck & stuffing

the excellent roast duck was almost as good as the suckling pig – both the duck & stuffing – & yet tasted different. 🙂

1st of my 3.5 plates haha!

nobody would believe me after this if I tell people I generally do not go for buffets. haha! 🙂

we didn’t really need to take the main course. we tried to cancel the main course but to be fair to the restaurant they said they already prepared the items once the order was placed. and the waiting staff here were really exemplary – they even “ta pao” for one of us the main course as we really could not finish. we would really not expect to ta pao for a buffet but it was a great gesture so we accepted happily! 🙂

we thought the main courses might be 1/2 portions like the French servings, but here they came in full portions. 🙂

I had a medium rare rack of lamb (above left) – it was very good. I thought it didn’t look great – my first impression was that the sauce might kill it -but it turned out to be quite complementary. the medium rare tenderloin was very good too.

glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared

WH had the glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared. I guessed it was good too but braised items were usually too heavy even for normal-sized meals. 🙂

my dining companions were thrilled with the dessert spread..they seemed quite average to me though. i was told the chocolate mousse was very good. the macarons were a bit too sweet for me. I did enjoy the cheese spread & condiments though. 🙂

I certainly plan to come back for this again (w/o the main course), with or without the promotion. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Dinner Get-Together @ West Coast Seafood (Joyden) Restaurant on 5Jun2013

Posted on June 8, 2013 by chefquak

we had our usual monthly get-together of RI friends at West Coast Seafood (Joyden) Restaurant on 5Jun2013. another evening of fun & laughter, this time with 3 bottles of wine thrown in by our generous organiser. no corkage here! 🙂

we had 12pax for the evening.

appetizer platter=mayo prawns, ngoh hiang, some rolls & topshell salad

we started with an appetizer platter of mayo prawns, ngoh hiang, some rolls & a topshell salad. quite good. 🙂

seafood fishmaw soup

next up was a seafood fishmaw soup. quite ok. comparing the appetizer & soup with what we had at Roland, I would think Roland’s was better in both instances.

wasabi mayo prawn fritters with Thai kailan

this was followed by wasabi mayo prawn fritters with Thai kailan. I was not sure a prawn fritter could be better than the usual wasabi mayo prawns (say at Majestic or Tung Lok, though Peach Garden made a singularly bad one heavily coated with green mayo), but this one was pretty good! 🙂

garoupa HK steamed 港蒸

the tiger garoupa HK steamed 港蒸 with light soya sauce was excellent as expected. In the absence of Chee Hong, our undisputed chief fishhead eater, I had the honour to conjure up the disappearance of the fishhead, being the next-in-line “ngeou” person around the table. 🙂

coffee ribs with yam basket

next on the menu was coffee ribs with yam basket. tasty & the yam was suitably fluffy. 🙂

roast chicken

roast chicken was good. skin was crispy & meat quite ok dabbed with some 5-spice salt. I would put Roland’s as better than this & Yuan Xing’s as worse.

scallop, brocoli, mushrooms & macadamia nuts

the scallop, brocoli, mushrooms & macadamia nuts was a very good dish.

chilli crab

butter crab

both the chilli crab & butter crab were very good. the sri lankan crabs were meaty & both the chilli (not spicy enough) and butter sauces were very good. 🙂

yee fu noodles

the yee fu noodle, though run-of-the-mill, was a good ending to the sumptuous dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: G15 Dinner @ West Coast Seafood (Joyden) Restaurant on 5Jun2013

Posted on June 8, 2013 by chefquak

Really Fun Hong Kong Trip 10-13May2013

Posted on June 6, 2013 by chefquak

this final instalment concludes my travelogue on our really fun Hong Kong trip. 🙂

thanks to the characteristic eagerness of our trip leader, who booked this 2-room serviced apartment at Ovolo Hotel 256 Tung Chau Street West Kowloon at Sham Shui Po >2 months before our 10-13May2013 Hong Kong trip, we checked into the 25th floor “penthouse” (top floor) on 10.5.2013. 🙂

there were 2 tiny bedrooms with queen beds but a huge living area. the only complaint was that the toilet & bathroom facility were kind of small & not well designed.

& we had a free refillable mini-bar (like a hotel Club Floor) – a waste as we were all teetotallers & the Singha beers stayed put in the fridge in our 3 nights stay. 🙂

this trip had come about as someone wanted to redeem his expiring krisflyer points (though he could not make it in the end for important reasons), and with a trip leader perpetually nosing for good travel deals, and a couple other eager recruits, things kind of came together easily. 🙂

as there were 4 of us and my – everyone is a lighter traveller than the other! – we took a cab (which cost in total HK$272, the maths gymnastic had somehow baffled our national schools gymnast champion) from the airport to Ovolo doorstep instead of the usual Airport Express.

busy street at Sham Shui Po

though I usually stayed at Tsimshatsui for convenience, Ovolo was about 10mins walk from Sham Shui Po MTR station, and I found it quite ok. besides there were other untold advantages to sharing a 2-room apartment (such as juicy gossips even for a lazy me..haha). 🙂

Sham Shui Po area was also a flea market heaven for apparel and pc/electronic products, though my interest was limited to snapping a few pictures to capture the vibrant street scene. 🙂

Hong Kong’s beef noodles 牛腩牛杂面.

I am an unabashed sucker for HK’s 牛腩面. 🙂 unlike Singapore 牛腩 which are brisket with connective tissues, HK’s 牛腩面 uses the belly or parts nearest the belly.

I felt bad this time though as JK wanted to have wanton noodles, and for some reason the street leading from Ovolo to Sham Shui Po MTR stations though dotted with 牛腩面 stalls which also sold wanton noodles but somehow did not have the type of 牛腩 I was looking for. & my friends had to patiently walk up & down the streets with me in order to locate a stall that did. I got what I wanted but JK’s wanton noodle was below the standard of Jordan stall which she craved.

we had completed both the 5.7km Dragon’s Back hike (and another 5.3km hike of the Pak Fu Lam park & reservoir route at The Peak which was more than what we planned for) all in 1 day on 11.5.2013. On Sunday 12.5.2013, we decided to go for the mid-level escalator walk. 🙂

1/2 Roast Goose 烧鹅

we did not want to go Yung Kee 庸记, and having earlier read Robyn Lee’s recent visit to Yat Lok 一乐, we decided to start at Central MTR and walked to Stanley Street (rather than IFC Mall at the start of the escalator at Hong Kong MTR station side).

we were not disappointed. we ordered 1/2 roast goose for HK$200 and I think HK$80 for a plate of char siew & siew yoke to share among the 4 of us. they were very good – goose was crispy & fragrant (tasty), so was the pork. 🙂

mid-levels escalator (from IFC Mall to Conduit Street)

parts of the escalator were under maintenance..

Tai Cheung egg tarts

we came down from the escalator at Lyndhurst Terrace & found the famous Tai Cheung egg tart shop, apparently a Chris Patten favourite. 🙂 we each took a HK$3.50 egg tart each. it was good. egg tart not something I particularly fancied or craved for but I enjoyed it all the same. 🙂 and we had a bean curd drink each as well, I think it was like HK$5 for each bottle if you also bought the egg tart. 🙂

we walked a bit along Hollywood Road. none of us was like really must see temple type so we gave Man Mo Temple 文武庙 a miss. 🙂 JK was looking for bicycle shops & found one for accessories. 🙂

good street map that shows the mid-levels escalator route

we walked further up the escalator & passed SOHO (South of Hollywood) & the mosque & ended at the Conduit Road mid-levels residential area which was 135m above the start point. here we took the bus & got back to Central MTR 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Kaiseki Dinner @ Kuriya Dining on 4Jun2013

Posted on June 5, 2013 by chefquak

scallop with truffle,anago,miso prawn,lily bulb & cucumber

wife & I went for the June kaiseki course dinner at Kuriya Dining. 🙂

the starter platter include scallop with truffle which was good, conger eel (anago) also good, miso prawn (nondescript), lily bulb & cucumber (to make up numbers???). overall a rather average starter.

hamachi,tai wrapped over negi toro topped with caviar,mirugai

the sashimi plate consisted of very thick-cut hamachi, tai wrapped over negi toro topped with caviar, and the mirugai was tiny but very sweet – not expensive ingredients but the cut was good. 🙂

foie gras & miso on grilled salmon with french pastry

the next dish was grilled salmon with foie gras sauce & miso & french pastry – nice dish. 🙂 not sure if its some attempt at fusion?? now the Japs have added to their kaiseki & course meals some western touch eg the very nice teppanyaki course at Gozanbo. 🙂

awabi (abalone) & nori (seaweed) tempura

the awabi (abalone) was excellent – it was braised first to a tender texture then deep-fried in tempura batter. 🙂 & the nori (seaweed) tempura underneath & ginger were very nicely done too…

the nabe dish was tuna neck (sashimi quality) – nice & I enjoyed it. 🙂 but miso kimchi soup was not quite the best matching dish for kaiseki. 🙂

very marbled otoro topped with uni

the sushi moriawase was superb! it had this very marbled otoro topped with uni – scrumptious! 🙂

the akagai was very good & so were the 2 other fish I did not identify. 🙂

fruit & cake dessert

the fruit with cake dessert platter was quite nondescript…another feeble attempt at fusion?? 🙂

Kuriya Dining June Kaiseki Course

at S$138pax, it’s among the cheaper kaiseki, a bit more ex than Hachi*, but cheaper than Keyaki or Kumo, but then the ingredients were cheaper too, no Jap wagyu in the set.

overall a very satisfying dinner even at this price. 🙂

unless Kuriya bring back their much more value offerings like their monthly S$88 promotion set, I won’t be doing this often though as I can get a lot more value-for-money & really top quality offerings at Mikuni. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

* i had an excellent meal subsequently at hachi on 9.11.2013.

Great Dinner Chat with Friend @ Jumbo Riverwalk on 3Jun2013

Posted on June 4, 2013 by chefquak

steamed cod

my daughter arranged this dinner at Jumbo Riverwalk with a good friend of mine who has been giving her guidance & good advice. 🙂

I generally like the food at Long Beach & Jumbo. I ordered a 6-course set for 4pax. we had a good chat, most enjoyable dinner & pleasant evening.

lobster with ginger & scallions 姜葱

the menu said we start with a 姜葱 lobster with ginger & scallions – this was good standard as expected & I ate a lot of the scallions too. 🙂

sambal spinach

seafood fried rice

for this night though, the restaurant served us the seafood fried rice & sambal spinach first. the menu item was asparagus but the restaurant said they ran out so we chose 蒜茸garlic spinach. when it came to the table it was sambal spinach. not ideal, but the spinach was nice – that’s what counted! 🙂 the seafood fried rice was just ok, average – too average i think for a popular restaurant

the steamed cod (top photo) was very good! 🙂 i think I must try doing it at home.

the chilli crab was decent in taste but for me it had no kick. all the foreign tourists in the crowded restaurant were dutifully ordering this and clearly relishing it, so it was good! anyway, my wife could not take too much chilli this evening so nothing lost. 🙂

ice fruit sago dessert

the ice fruit sago dessert was very refreshing, a little sweet but no sweeter than usual ice jelly at the hawker centre.

restaurants filled with tourists enjoying chilli crab

restaurants crowded with tourists enjoying chilli crab

there were lots of foreign tourists trying out chilli crab so even the mild version was quite good though I liked it to be better. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Dragon Back’s Hike @ Shek O Country Park on 11May2013

Posted on June 2, 2013 by chefquak

view of Shek O from dragon’s back trail

we came Hong Kong ostensibly to eat & hike, so I better put up something to show we did la..hahaha. 🙂

one thing the Hong Kong weather forecast was utterly unreliable. this day (11.5.2013) was supposed to be a mostly wet day & since we had a bit of showers on 10.5.2013 – the day we arrived – we were expecting maybe we had to do this on Sunday. anyhow we woke up to glorious sunshine, so no excuse! 🙂

we had the free continental breakfast of croissant, bread, fruit, coffee etc at Ovolo where we stayed and set off for our morning hike at Dragon’s Back @ Shek O Country Park, voted the Best Urban Hike in Asia (Times Magazine 22 Nov 2004 Asia Issue). Sam Shui Po MTR was a 10mins walk from our hotel. we took the Tseun Wan line to Admiralty and changed to Island line to Shau Kei Wan and took the A3 exit to the Bus Terminus. Here we were queueing up for the No9 bus to Shek O when a private bus tout got into the good books of our adventurous trip leader who thrives on unknowns, and we got shepherded to a private bus waiting nearby. fortunately we were the last passengers they were waiting & the bus took off rightaway. The price was kind of irrelevant (like HK$7 vs HK$7.90 on the public bus) but I guess it was another experience. why not? – except this bus truly “took off” and was like hurtling through the winding country roads at >70kmh! phew – fortunately this time it got us faster to where we wanted & not some place else..heng ah! (means lucky) 🙂

DSCN4770

we started the hike at 9.11am from the point further down Shek O road (you could also start the hike mid-way at To Tei Wan).

the ground was a bit wet from the rain the night before. as we got onto higher grounds we captured the first views of Stanley.

we came to the first fork – the one facing outwards which we took was the dragon’s back trail (4.9km ending at Tai Long Wan).

and we got a great view of Shek O (top photo & above). 🙂 panning back we also had a better birds eye view of Stanley.

more views of Shek O! we took quite a few group photos here for memories. 🙂

looking back at the dragon’s back trail

& the view of the dragon’s back trail looking back. 🙂

view of Tai Long Wan

more walking, and Tai Long Wan unfolded just ahead! 🙂

Shek O peak 284m

and then we were at Shek O peak at 284m. 🙂

mid-way exit to Shek O road at To Tei Wan

we were not planning to go to Tai Long Wan as the return journey would take 5 hrs, so we made a mid-way exit to Shek O road at To Tei Wan Village and that was just a nice 2hrs 5.7km hike. 🙂

we had some time to kill, so we walked around the wet market at Shau Kei Wan. there were live seafood of all description – the rarer ones like conch 海螺, abalones, razor clams (we only see in restaurants in Singapore), mantis prawns, braised goose (we hardly could find in restaurants here).

as we were still in good time and having already made prior reservations, we decided to make our way back to Tsimshatsui & had a very pleasant dimsum lunch at 迎Joyous One.

we did not do the Peak Circle walk the day before because of the rain. so after lunch & a short walk around Tsimshatsui, our trip leader herded us to Central bus terminus where we took No15 to the Peak. I had taken the Peak Tram the last few times when I went to the Peak. The bus offered a very good alternative really -cheap & excellent views during the journey up. 🙂

small falls along Peak Circle route

we were surprised with this mini falls along Peak Circle Walk as usually there was no water flow but maybe the overnight rain brought enough water. 🙂

we were planning to do a casually 1hr walk on paved roads with round-island views of Hong Kong skyline (and would have if we had stuck to Lugard Road) . however we got distracted and decided to take Harlech Road & pursue the Pak Fu Lam park & reservoir route. that became another 2hr+ hike over terrain with quite steep slopes & another 5.3km. 🙂

another excuse for big eats! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Homegourmet 6-course Dinner for belated Mother’s Day on 1June2013

Posted on June 2, 2013 by chefquak

usually my wife & I & family avoid the actual days of public holidays or commercialised offerings like Valentine Day, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day etc to dine out. 🙂 while there are good reasons to do on certain occasions, mostly it does not make sense to spend atrocious amount of monies for lesser service & food quality experience, which is what you get when the restaurants are jam-packed & servers are harried.

on those occasions we would either go on an earlier or later date or select a restaurant that served the usual menu or the very few which served a better menu at better prices on special occasions – Majestic was one which served great ala carte buffet for Christmas & New Year but for this year seem to have stopped doing for Mother’s Day & Father’s Day (not to forget they served an excellent World Gourmet Summit Dinner recently). 🙂

for this time, since I cook a decent meal at home these days, we thought we would do Mother’s Day at home instead. However I was called away by the Hong Kong Eat & Hike group and was in Hong Kong on 10.5.2013. and after that I was away in Kyoto/Osaka with my sis & my wife was away with daughter & her friend also. so we decided on a belated Mother’s Day home dinner on 1.6.2013 which also coincided with another special day for us. 🙂

there were only 4 of us for dinner. I wanted to do the Nobu miso cod for my wife as she was never into lamb & now less into beef . so I designed a 6-course dinner but reduced the quantity. 🙂

calamari

first we had a very good calamari – this one was done by aunty Bes. she did this quite many times now and was becoming very good at it. I added this dish as my eldest daughter does not take some of the other dishes.

pan-roasted brined chicken breast

pan-fried kurobuta steak

the pan-roasted brined chicken breast & the pan-fried kurobuta were served together with the calamari as a tapas – for eating & chatting around the table. 🙂 chicken was good as always & the kurobuta from mmmm was very good (though I think wagyu is still better but this kurobuta is better than the normal ribeye & striploin). 🙂

chashu for chashumen - Japanese braised belly pork

chashu – Japanese braised belly pork

chashumen – runny yoke egg & Japanese braised belly pork

next I had a pre-prepared chashumen dish ready to serve – only have to boil the soup from the braising sauce & pour over the noodles. 🙂 The chashu or Japanese braised belly pork was done the usual standard fare for ramen style & I am now able to consistently produce a 6minute runny yoke egg. I used very small quantities of thin white Japanese noodles instead of ramen so it was less “je lak” and also to reduce the carbo. 🙂

vongole fettucine

I did a really splendid spicy vongole fettucine in white wine the last time in my first attempt. this time the littleneck clams were again super, the pasta was tasty but not as good as the first time. 🙂

Nobu miso cod

the Nobu miso cod was again super -so tasty, and such wonderful bite & texture. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

5pax Dinner @ Tao Heung 稻香超级渔港 Mongkok on 12May2013

Posted on May 27, 2013 by chefquak

steamed garoupa – this was very good everyone liked it

Taohueng 稻香group operates a number of mid-range restaurants catering to different cuisine like cantonese, teochew, shanghai & hakka etc. In my previous visits, I found the individual sets at 迎Joyous One at Tsimshatsui (which was the newest & more up-market within the group) and at Chung Cuisine at Times Square quite ok and good value.

I had a very enjoyable dinner at 稻香超级渔港 at Mongkok with my sis when we visited in Jan2013. However there was always the concern about consistency in these type of restaurants – that one could not really tell the quality of the dish just by looking at the online menu. indeed we had a “not so great” dinner at 潮楼 (another Taohueng restaurant) just the night before (though the set menu had looked very impressive), and we had wanted to change to a late dinner at beef hotpot @ budaoweng 不倒翁 instead. 🙂 however KCP, who was joining us for dinner this evening, could not make the change, so we went ahead with 稻香超级渔港.

酱蹄 sliced sauce trotters

蒜泥白肉 garlic sliced pork

still shy of the set menu the evening before, we decided to go for ala carte instead. the 2 cold dishes we ordered – 酱蹄 sliced sauce trotters & 蒜泥白肉 garlic sliced pork (JK thought this was very good) – were both good & not pricy, so that gave us some confidence. 🙂

scallop seafood soup in wintermelon

the scallop seafood soup in wintermelon, which the restaurant was promoting was kind of disappointing c/w the usual very good cantonese 例汤…so it looked like we were in for some hits & misses.

thankfully we had a really wonderful steamed garoupa next. this was very good & everyone liked it. 🙂

roast goose 烧鹅

romaine lettuce 油麦菜

the roast goose was quite good really but we just had a really good one that morning at Yat Lok 一乐@ Stanley Street which was more crispy & tasty. 🙂 JK complained that the garlic 油麦菜 romaine lettuce did not look like romaine lettuce, and it was just so-so – lacking in “wok hae”.

lobster noodle

we ordered a lobster noodle. the lobster was good but the yi min noodle 伊面 was quite lacking in flavours. it used to be that Mandarin Kitchen in London was the “go-to” place for lobster noodles in London like for 30 yrs. these days any restaurant in Singapore could do a good lobster noodle. it was surprising that the noodles here should be so below par!

稻香超级渔港 at Mongkok

we had 7 dishes including steamed garoupa & lobster for 5pax for HK$930. that’s about S$30nett. price was not high for just above average food but we were really expecting better. the tricky thing about ala carte was ordering the right dishes which were good for their price. in this case we did just ok but probably still safer than going with the set. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Cheap & Good 大牌档 Dinner @ Keung Kee 强记鸡粥 at Tai Wai Hong Kong on 10May2013

Posted on May 27, 2013 by chefquak

chicken porridge-强记鸡粥

<had another fun dinner at keung kee 强记鸡粥 on 28.9.2013>.

JK had been talking about this 强记鸡粥 in Shatin (which was located at Tai Wai 2 MTR stops from Shatin). 🙂

so we went there on our first night in Hong Kong on 10.5.2013. JK ordered the popular dishes.

the chicken porridge – their 招牌鸡粥 (top photo) was the best dish for me..the chicken was so sweet juicy & tender like a very good chicken rice chicken & the porridge was so smooth & tasty. 🙂

红烧乳鸽 roast pigeon HK$58

椒盐濑尿虾 mantis shrimp HK$80

the 红烧乳鸽 roast pigeon was to me just average. we also had the 椒盐濑尿虾 mantis shrimp. the 椒盐 deep-fry was actually very well done & tasty..however the shrimp were really “shrimp”, quite small so not fleshy & juicy..so the dish was passable just ok for me.

soy sauce beehoon 豆油米粉 HK$48

the simple soy sauce beehoon 豆油米粉 was really nice, & we duly polished off the pile of carbo with the porridge. 🙂

romaine lettuce 油麦菜

炸大肠 deep-fried big intestine HK$60

the romaine lettuce 油麦菜 in bean curd sauce was nice though JK felt it had not enough “wok hae”..I thought it was because of wet beancurd sauce whereas usual garlic fry would be “high heat dry wok” & good “wok hae”.

the only 败笔 (point of failure) in an otherwise quite wonderful dinner was, oddly, the 炸大肠 deep-fried big intestine – thought that was like the common standard food?? but looked like even the street stalls did better ones than these.

the whole dinner was HK$396 (S$64nett) for 4pax! 🙂 to me it was a really enjoyable meal & experience, and I would want to do more of these tai pai tong 大牌档 dinners when in Hong Kong. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Dimsum Lunch @ 迎 Joyous One on 11May2013

Posted on May 26, 2013 by chefquak

HK$38 BB pigeon

we completed our morning’s 5.7km 2hr hike at Dragon’s Back (Shek O Country Park) on 11.5.2013 a bit early & decided to make our way back to Tsimshatsui where we had made prior lunch reservation at 迎 Joyous One at Nathan Road. 🙂

we had wanted to take the HK$238pax 6-course set inclusive of a glass of wine, but that was not available so we settled down to a good dimsum instead, which could not go too far wrong in Hong Kong. 🙂

we made the usual dimsum orders. the 潮州粉果. this was ok but i thought Timhowan was better. the steamed fu pei quin was quite good too.

steamed chicken feet

steamed pork rib

the steamed chicken feet was good & much better than Timhowan (we later found the one at Lei Gardens was better than both). the steamed pork rib was also a lot better than Timhowan-the sauce was tasty but the pork rib pieces were just average but at least they were not mostly fat like at Timhowan.

mustard veg pig stomach soup

mustard veg pig stomach soup was just HK$38! this was good we all liked it.:-)

the BB pigeon (top photo) was HK$38 & smaller than the one at 强记 which was HK$58..the skin was more crispy but overall i think 强记’s tasted better.

the 香煎萝卜糕 was again below average. it was really surprising that both Timhowan & here could not do this well. the steamed fishmaw was quite tasty, above average…I thought 糖朝 sweet dynasty was better. the 珍珠糯米鸡 was also below average, Timhowan’s much better though that had lots of glutinous rice & not enough ingredients.

char siew cheung 叉烧肠粉 –

the char siew cheung 叉烧肠粉 was good better than the liver cheung fun at Timhowan but i think many HK restaurants did this better.

the 奶黄流沙包 custard egg bun was just average not as good as Imperial Treasure & Royal China. the 水晶包, a teochew dessert more commonly available in Hong Kong than Singapore was good, except they really should serve this & the custard bun last as a sweet but instead they served both first.

we had 12 dimsum item + tea + 10% = HK$388 (about S$62 for 4pax). though I made many comparisons here, the lunch was really quite good overall with some pluses & minuses :-), very relax and very enjoyable, and of course it’s still much cheaper dimsum lunch c/w Singapore. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Enjoyable Lunch @ Lei Gardens(利苑) Mongkok on 13May2013

Posted on May 26, 2013 by chefquak

lobsters steamed with superior sauce (上汤局)

on the final day of our Hong Kong trip, we did not plan a restaurant to go to.

we first wanted to lunch at the seafood place Rainbow Restaurant at Lamma Island (南丫岛) after the excellent food pictures of mantis prawns, lobsters & what else in my friend’s Facebook set off our “tam chiak” (means greedy for food) cravings…alas we should have done that earlier as Rainbow was only open for dinner & we were taking the 8pm flight.

next we thought to go to Caprice @ Four Seasons, a 2 michelin star restaurant after looking at the online menu for Joel Robuchon, Pierre, Ember & Caprice set lunch. unfortunately Caprice was full for the Monday lunch.

we finally got Lei Gardens(利苑), which I always thought was among the best Hong Kong traditional chinese restaurants, especially their soup (例汤). the one nearest was at Tsai Yee Street洗衣街 ‎Mongkok outlet (as we were staying at Sam Shui Po) and that also happened to be the only 2 michelin star outlet (the other outlets were 1 michelin star). 🙂

鲍汁凤爪 braised chicken feet in abalone sauce

CJ ordered 3 dimsum items. the first – 鲍汁凤爪 braised chicken feet in abalone sauce – was the best we had thus far c/w Timhowan添好运 & 迎. the abalone sauce was similar to that for abalone & goose webs so it was very tasty. 🙂 I guess the preparation was different from the usual deep-fried then steamed with black beans chicken feet so may not be fair to compare.

the soup (例汤) was good as expected,much better than Tao Heung 稻香 restaurants (which was also to be expected). however for this particular soup it was no better than, & indeed not as good as, the many 例汤 I had at Imperial Treasure Nanbei (from green papaya to 鸡脚草). 🙂

小笼包

the 小笼包 didn’t look that great, skin looked thick but actually it was very good, the sauce/soup was very sweet & the skin was normal thin. 🙂

2 small lobsters halved with golden mushrooms

2 small lobsters halved 上汤局 with golden mushrooms

JK was pining for lobsters so we ordered a HK$598 twin dishes combination (common in Hong Kong). the star dish was 2 small lobsters halved 上汤局 steamed in superior sauce with golden mushrooms – this was very good. 🙂

1/2 roast chicken – very crispy skin & tasty chicken

the 1/2 roast chicken had very crispy skin & was tasty so no need the usual 5-spice salt dip. in Hong Kong they called this the 龙凤 dragon phoenix pairing. 🙂

海斑 (garoupa) in claypot

we had another HK$298 2-eats combination. the 海斑 (garoupa) in claypot was also good tasting very flavourful. it was different preparation, not better than a steamed whole live garoupa but very good the way it was done. 🙂

the other dish was a thick beehoon in seafood soup – no fish or seafood but very tasty like our good fish beehoon.

garlic heng chai

and in Hong Kong, always order vegetables. the garlic heng chai was very good & flavourful too. 🙂

both JK & I were fan of 奶黄流沙包 custard egg bun. this was good, but I guess no better than Royal China or Imperial Treasure in Singapore.

we had 3 dimsums & 6 dishes for HK$1320 for 4pax (about S$55nett per person). it was a premium to Tao Heung but for a great deal more satisfaction & “shiokness”.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Value Dimsum @ 1 Michelin Star Timhowan Fuk Wing Street Hong Kong on 10May2013

Posted on May 25, 2013 by chefquak

脆皮叉烧包 crispy char siew bun

1 michelin star Timhowan 添好运 recently started a Singapore branch at Plaza Singapura queue reputed to be 1.5hrs long. I am not one to queue for dimsum. fortunately there was no queue when we arrived at the Fook Weng shop @福荣街 in Hong Kong just before 12pm on 10.5.2013. 🙂 there was some 5-6pax waiting though when we left the restaurant.

1 of my good friends, who was the chief instigator for this HK Eat & Hike (or maybe Eat & Eat) trip, was much fixated with Timhowan, so it was wise that the first thing we did was to satisfy her cravings. 🙂

Timhowan 四大天王 – crispy char siew pao, pig liver siew mai, waxed meat pan-fried carrot cake, & a mala cake

Timhowan has 4 famous dishes 四大天王 – crispy char siew pao 脆皮叉烧包, pig liver siew mai, waxed meat pan-fried carrot cake腊味香煎萝卜糕, & a mala cake马拉糕, as in their paper placemats above. 🙂

I liked the 脆皮叉烧包 crispy char siew bun best! – fillings were that of a great charsiew pao & the crispy skin was unique. I also liked the pig liver siew mai (unfortunately I did not take a picture). It was good, but I guess somewhat less unique as many dimsum places like Star of Canton had abalone siew mai & the 1 michelin star Bo Innovation (& I am sure many others) had foie gras or caviar siew mai. 🙂

pan-fried carrot cake 腊味香煎萝卜糕

I was much less enthusiastic with the pan-fried carrot cake 腊味香煎萝卜糕. It was really quite average, too average. we have very good ones in Singapore like Imperial Treasure & Crystal Jade etc.

mala cake 马拉糕 (left)

mala cake 马拉糕 was an enigma to me???…my very enthused friend obviously liked this, said it had very nice flavour (I wonder why haha?) 🙂 the steamed chicken feet – again this was ordinary & below par c/w many Singapore & HK dimsum place

the steamed fu pei quin -苻皮倦 was good, quite ok. 🙂 the steamed pork ribs were much below par, more fat than meat.

糯米鸡

the 糯米鸡 was good & flavourful though the small amount of filling were overwhelmed by the very large helping of glutinous rice. still taste-wise it was better than the 珍珠糯米鸡 we had at 迎 later.

the 潮州粉果 was very good, both skin & fillings, again much better than we had at 迎 later. the har gao was good but usual I guess

桂花糕 osmanthus jelly

the 桂花糕 osmanthus jelly was very good, very fragrant. 🙂

1 michelin star 添好运 Timhowan at 福荣街 in Hong Kong

we had 12 dimsum items & total bill included tea & service=HK$208 nett (like S$33 for 4pax). well I guess that’s why we came to Hong Kong to eat! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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