had a really fun JB trip last week with my RI buddies. we had really good bakuteh at shoon huat at sentosa JB & roast duck from ya wang opposite, and dinner at canton-i at city square, but we missed out on the kam long fish head curry.
the guys were coming to my place for lunch & watching jeju slides & guide from a friend who had been there.
so i decided to do a curry rice lunch + bakuteh (reminiscence of the recent JB trip) on 14.3.2016. ^^
7 dishes = curry rice + bakuteh + dessert
i had 7 dishes –
bakuteh singapore style
fish head curry
nonya curry chicken
sayur lodeh (using thai red curry)
kueh chap (pig head, pig ear, belly pork)
sio bak (roast pork)
lotus ginkyo nut cheng chow 莲子白果凉粉
for bakuteh i bought the frozen prime ribs from sheng shiong. it’s the le bao brand 乐宝, just S$10.95/kg.
i used the usual ILC bakuteh sachet, about S$1.50 for 20g sachet.
the bakuteh was excellent! soup was very tasty. many friends so commented.
1 used hara fried bean curd puff this time, i think this had more sweet 黄豆 flavours than the usual bean curd puff i used, the overall soup flavour was excellent, very tasty. a friend said it enhanced rather than overwhelmed the bakuteh sachet.
i think my soup was almost as good as shoon huat, and my pork ribs itself clearly better, more meaty, fatter & more flavoruful & excellent taken with my dark sauce which was very “pang” & not so salty.
#2 fish head curry
it’s the first time i cooked fish head curry.
#2 mak’s curry paste for fish head curry
i went to grab a curry paste from sheng shiong. found this mak’s nonya fish head curry S$2.45 i think, used it for the first time.
#2 fish head curry
wife went to chinatown market on sunday. i didn’t go. she bought a angkoli (sea bream) fish head. i though it was very expensive at S$16, but i had not bought this before not really qualified to comment on the price.
#2 fish head curry
anyway it was super fresh, meat was firm & sweet.
cooking was easy. i just followed instructions at the back of the sachet-
- cut okra (lady’s fingers) and fried first with sliced yellow onions, curry rempah & some coconut milk.
- added cut egg plant, fried another few minutes.
- added fish head & coat with rempah
- added chicken stock & coconut milk, covered, simmered about 8 – 10mins
- added cut tomatoes.
curry was very tasty, maybe could be stronger, almost as good as outside, think curry wok.
i did my usual nonya curry chicken.
i did this nonya curry chicken recently for teban gardens community breakfast.
today though, it was just slightly below my own expectations.
my friends all liked it. the curry was very flavourful & lemak. they said just like outside nasi padang stall.
i did my usual kueh chap too.
i was also not all that satisfied with the flavours. i felt the texture was great but the braising sauce flavours not “pang” enough.
my friends told me i ate too often. for them it was fine. 🙂
#5 sayur lodeh
the sayur lodeh was quite fine. the long beans & hara fried bean curd puffs went very well with the cabbage & curry.
#5 sayur lodeh
i used the dancing chef thai curry paste, but added the wrong one yellow instead of red (hard to tell from a previously open sachet w/o cover description) so it looked a bit more yellowish & just like sayur lodeh instead of red colour, by accident…haha! 🙂
#5 sayur lodeh
anyway this dish i was quite happy with, nice vegetable for curry rice.
#6 airfryer sio bak
& a repeat of my recently “mastered” airfryer sio bak, learned from a friend.
i thought the belly pork was a bit too fatty. & i over compensated by grilling it 5mins longer. i told them this third time was poorer than the first 2.
#6 airfryer sio bak
but all my friends thought it was very good, the skin was crispy.
one friend said the skin was crispy on most, but some parts were tough. i told him probably because i used a fork to furiously stab the skin, kind of primitive, so not evenly done.
#7 lotus ginkyo nut cheng chow 莲子白果凉粉
just boiled the lotus & ginkyo nuts in syrup & added to the cheng chow from sheng shiong. almost no effort & so enjoyable, refreshing to have.
friends brought strawberries & also longan & a friend brought a red, a bottle of michel torino.
after lunch we watched the slides on jeju. looks like a great place to eat & hike. according to guides, oct & nov are the best time to visit, dry & cool weather.
c.h.e.f andy
c.h.e.f 