Interesting Jap Vegetarian @ Teng Bespoke on 21Apr2016

Posted on April 24, 2016 by chefquak

radish salad

my niece (sis’ daughter) & her hubby bought dinner this evening on 21.4.2016. ^^

my niece & her husband are vegetarian…i did a 10-course homecooked vegetarian dinner for her birthday last year 2015.. 🙂

their baby is just past 6months, and it was a good occasion for family to get together & have a great time. the we had 7pax. we all took time carrying the baby & had lots of fun & laughter. 🙂

teng bespoke is located at sunshine plaza bencoolen street.

vegetarian is not my favourite. i was not expecting much, but it’s always good to try some new experience. reviews were mostly good. one review said to go for the “real” vegetarian stuff rather than expensive “mock sashimi” etc…seems like sound advise to me, and that’s what we did. & overall it was a very pleasant enjoyable dining experience, thanks to my niece! 🙂

the radish salad was a great start. 🙂

salad was refreshing & good for 7pax. we ate it like lo hei…toss around..haha!

the goma (sesame) sauce was light & quite perfect. radish was crunchy. we were saying it felt like turnip didn’t feel like daikon texture, but actually usually we had daikon cooked not in thin strips for sashimi garnishing, so this quite interesting variation.

black sesame yu tofu

didn’t think much of the black sesame yu tofu.

i not hot on yu tofu anyway. it’s like teochews eating fresh tofu with tau jeon kind of thing, which i quite like, but no need to pay much for that.

king mushrooms

king mushrooms was one of the recommended dish. it was pretty good.

king mushrooms

nice mushroom taste, good texture & great condiments.

nabe

niece ordered a nabe dish. there were like 5 or maybe 6 dumplings. pretty ok too.

soup was plain, good taste.

tomato spring rolls

wife ordered a tomato spring roll. i like this wonderful dish, crispy skin, very tasty spring roll, simply excellent!

saw one comment on yelp – Tomato spring roll – probably the best spring roll I’ve had!

mushroom tempura

niece ordered a mushroom tempura. it was very good too, not like the usual tempura at all, more like a korokke (croquette).

it was nice…i loved the cheese!

avocado maki

the avocado maki was ok, pretty good actually.

avocado maki

still i like the usual maki a whole lot better, so in the sense just like mock sashimi, i would rather have the real thing la… 🙂

it was a very enjoyable get together.

on their website, teng bespoke claim they are excellent alternative to shojin ryori (精进料理 temple devotion cuisine)..i don’t really know, have not tried in japan. they are too expensive & did not want to spend money on it. this may not be quite equivalent in class i think, but certainly enjoyable. i think i will come back & try other dishes la…

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. checked with niece..dinner was about S#110..i was expecting S$120 or higher…quite ok for the food. 🙂

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

Teng Bespoke

Address

91 Bencoolen Street
#01-50 Sunshine Plaza
Singapore 189652

Opening Hours (everyday)

11:30am – 03:00pm

05:30pm – 10:00pm

Phone

+65 63377050

Good Value Lunch (with Amex Vouchers) @ Chui Huay Lim on 25Jun2014

Posted on June 27, 2014 by chefquak

ter kar tan – S$10

jumbo group have an ongoing amex promotion giving out voucher booklets for every S$120nett spend by amex card. i was given a booklet expiring 30jun2014, and 5 of us arranged to have lunch at chui huay lim on 25.6.2014. 🙂

i find chui huay lim kind of on the expensive side, but when there were substantive discounts like the good lunch we had on 4.11.2013, then it was pretty worth it.

for this time, we were using 1 S$60 voucher which require a total bill of S$150nett or above. i ordered the usual pig trotter jelly, hae chor & cold crab. also ordered 1/2 braised duck, 2 vege & a seafood meesua & ended with orh nee. including tea, bill came to S$111 for 5pax after the S$60 discount. & since we could get another voucher booklet if the net bills was S$120, we ordered 2 more ah bo ning (mochi dumplings) at S$4each. 🙂

#1 ter kar tan (pig trotter jelly) always good here.

hae chor – S$10

#2 hae chor good too, very crisp.

teochew cold crab – S$30

#3 cold crab was sweet, among the better ones.

1/2 teochew braised duck – S$28

#4 the teochew braised duck was also good, flavour, tender, moist. 🙂

kai lan with ti poh- S$14

#5 kailan with ti poh pretty ok, i guess kind of standard.

#6 i ordered another spinach also S$14 (no photo).

seafood mee sua – S$18

#7 seafood meesua quite ok, also standard issue.

orh nee – S$4.50

#8 the orh nee was much better than i expected, very smooth, not too sweet & nicely presented. better than ah orh which served a good orh nee too.

overall, though we did not order too many dishes or expensive ones, it was quite a good lunch for 5pax at only S$121nett & we took back a new voucher booklet include another S$60 voucher for chui huay lim. not bad la! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. photo credits to my good friend, 1 of the diners as i did not take any photo.

Orh Nee with Pumpkin & Ginkgo Nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

Posted on June 6, 2014 by chefquak

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

decided to try making the popular teochew dessert orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥).

looked up some internet recipes, surprisingly turned out to be quite easy to do. 🙂

orh nee with pumpkin & ginkgo nuts (白果金瓜芋泥)

i bought a thai taro (yam) from sheng shiong (about 600g) & 1/2 a pumpkin (i used a 1/4 about 300g). i also had an unused packet of ginkgo nuts (200g) in the fridge.

ginkgo nut took a while. i added 3 heap tablespoon of brown sugar over the ginkgo nuts & melt the sugar over medium heat. i added some water & boiled the ginkgo nuts until the syrup reduced. then i repeated the process. took 15 to 20 minutes for ginkgo nuts to fully soften & be infused with the syrup.

i fried 2 shallots (sliced) in 4 tablespoon oil over low fire till brown and set aside.

i peeled & cut the yam in 1/2 & then 1 cm thickness. i diced a 1/4 pumpkin. then i placed both in a steamer & steamed for 20 minutes. i then mashed the yam & pumpkin (separately), pressing with the flat of the knife. it was quite easy to do. i added 1 tablespoon brown sugar to the pumpkin & 2 tablespoon to the yam. i then heat the yam over low fire in the non stick pan & added the onion oil, and checked for taste. i added another 2 tablespoon oil & some water, then mixed in the ginkgo nuts & topped off with the pumpkin.

the orh nee was quite good in colour, texture & taste. i would say better than the average ones in restaurants, some quite bland & tasteless.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

1 thai yam (600g)
1/4 pumpkin (300g)
1 packet ginkgo nuts (200g)
2 shallots (sliced)
6 tbsp oil
6tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

add 3 heap tbsp brown sugar to ginkgo nuts & melt the sugar over medium heat in a non-stick pan. add some water & boil ginkgo nuts till syrupy. repeat the process adding water, take about 15 to 20 minutes for ginkgo nuts to fully soften & be infused with syrup.
fry 2 shallots (sliced) in 4 tbsp oil over low fire till brown and set aside.
peel & cut the yam in 1/2 & then 1 cm thickness. peel & dice a 1/4 pumpkin. place both in a steamer & steam for 20 minutes. mash the yam & pumpkin (separately), pressing with the flat of the knife. add 1 tbsp brown sugar to pumpkin & 2 tablespoon to yam. heat the yam over low fire in non-stick pan & add onion oil, checking for taste. add another 2 tbsp oil & some water, mix in the ginkgo nuts & top off with the pumpkin.

Protected: RI G20 23pax Dinner Get-Together @ Ah Orh on 20Feb2014

Posted on February 21, 2014 by chefquak

Great Teochew Food 23pax Dinner Get-Together @ Ah Orh on 20Feb2014

Posted on February 21, 2014 by chefquak

teochew braised duck

had our largest G20 gathering last evening at ah orh at jalan bukit merah on 20.2.2014. 🙂

it was the handy work of 1 of our friends, with his megawatt smile & shining hallo…lol…especially his ability to ring in the gals. we had 23pax (including 3 ladies) on 3 tables, a meeting (or eating!) record! it was 25, but 1 was held up in a meeting, another was ill.

ah orh had mixed reviews & mostly dated. most thought it was expensive for the food (it may still be probably but it often depends on food ordered). anyhow there was a deal.com offer & the organiser bought 3 vouchers of S$150 worth at S$97.50 each – 1 voucher was allowed for each table. 🙂

some friends went early to order the dishes. we had in total 9 dishes & the cost came to S$23+ all-in (about S$180+ per table) after redeeming the vouchers, so it was in fact very good value-for-money even considering that we did not order the usual teochew pomfret, cold crab etc.

deep-fried fish skin

there was deep-fried fish skin as table starter. pretty good!

teochew braised duck

#1 the braised duck platter (top photo & above) was good – moist, flavourful. i would say as good as imperial treasure teochew & better than muliangzai liang kee & chui huay lim. 🙂 the lor bah (braised belly pork) was good too.

fishmaw soup

#2 fishmaw soup was tasty, but maybe just average. the one at beng thin we had recently was substantially better.

ter kar tan (pig trotter jelly)

ter kar tan (pig trotter jelly)

#3 the ter kar tan (pig trotter jelly) was very good – firm, flavourful. there was also good chilli & “seng ni cho” 蒜泥醋 dip. this was as good as chui huay lim, imperial treasure teochew & crystal jade.

yam basket

#4 the yam basket was i supposed really excellent for this dish – yam was tasty & very crisp outside yet “sang” inside & very good combination in texture & taste with the fillings. a very good dish though yam basket not my favourite. 🙂

kailan with ti poh

#5 the kailan with ti poh was competent. vegetable was fresh & crunchy. the ti poh (a teochew favourite condiment not so often seen) added to the attraction but perhaps the wok hae was kind of lacking a bit.

teck kia fish with bitter gourd in black bean sauce

#6 not sure about this teck kia fish (竹仔鱼) dish, certainly competent but the fish had more bones than meat. at kok sen, they used some fish head & added chunky fish meat which worked well to accompany the black bean sauce & was much better overall by comparison.

hae chor

＃7 hae chor was quite ok, competent, nothing special.

orh luah

#8 orh luah was pretty good, large fleshy oysters.

orh nee

#9 orh nee was better than expected, tasty, i liked it but would have been better with pumpkin though. 🙂

company & fellowship were the key in our get-togethers of course, but we did come to eat & overall the food was quite good & the price of $23pax very reasonable after the deal.com offer, not much different from say muliangzai liang kee, and food we had here were better. 🙂 w/o the offer, it would cost about $30pax which was still not a bad deal, about same as what we had at shin yeh at our last 20pax dinner.

c.h.e.f. andy

S$2.80 Teochew Fishball Noodles @ Guan Kim Coffeeshop on 30jan2014

Posted on January 30, 2014 by chefquak

teochew fishball noodles S$2.80

was going to get some sugar & cornflour at sheng shiong at commonwealth mrt at 12.30pm on cny eve 30.1.2014. the queues were like 20pax, so i gave up. but since i already put parking coupon, i decided to walk over to the tanglin halt market to take wei yi laksa. however laksa stall was closed. wanted to try the very nice tau huay with ginko nuts. this time, they sold out of tau huay. no luck…

guan kim coffeeshop @ tanglin halt

teochew fishball noodles S$2.80

anyhow i went to the coffee shop next to the hawker centre & found a teochew fish ball noodles which i ordered.

c/w xin lu at mei chin food centre, the fish balls were just slightly harder (i guess means more starch) & maybe less tasty. the noodles were done well, qq (al dente) & not soggy however, the chilli sauce was too salty.

overall it was not as good as xin lu and also hup kee, the other fishball noodle stall at mei chin food centre. it was ok fishball noodles but not something i want to go especially to take.

c.h.e.f. andy

Protected: Satisfying G10 Dinner @ Beng Thin Hoon Kee on 23Dec2013

Posted on December 25, 2013 by chefquak

Satisfying 10pax Dinner @ Beng Thin Hoon Kee on 23Dec2013

Posted on December 25, 2013 by chefquak

duck salad

organiser of this months’ G10 dinner picked beng thin hoon kee. the hokkien restaurant started in 1949 & moved to its current premises at ocbc centre rooftop carpark in 1979. the founder, a lim yew hoon, recently passed on at 91, after building a very successful restaurant from scratch. it is a restaurant my wife liked & we used to go often in the past. 🙂

we had 10pax for the evening & had a nice quiet corner, good for the restaurant really as we were usually the noisy lot. anyway beng thin was less than 1/2 full this evening on 23.12.2013.

duck salad

fishmaw soup

skewered prawns

claypot herbal chicken

steamed promfret

brocoli

seafood mee suah

teochew orh nee (yam paste)

the organiser pre-ordered 9 dishes.

we started with the signature duck salad (top photo). this was really a great creation. it’s like a cny “loh hae”, looked wonderful & tasted refreshingly good every time. i took this countless times & enjoyed always. 🙂

next we had another signature dish – crabmeat fish maw soup. its chokeful of ingredients & well, tasted good every time! 🙂

my friend ordered the skewered prawns. this was something i had never tried. prawns were just prawns & mostly fresh & good, but these were really good & tasty. i know a many friends like le chasseur’s version skewered prawns. for me though these were a lot larger & tastier. 🙂

the claypot herbal chicken was next. i had not taken this dish too. usually i would go for the sea cucumber duck. it was good though, nice herbal flavour & a tender, tasty chicken. it was not my favourite however, i will always go for the duck. 🙂

and wow, we had 2 servings of the steamed promfret. it was really good, as good as any good teochew restaurant. few os us ate up the four 1/2 fishheads. my friend knew the entire table consisted of hungry big eaters!

after all the meat dishes, we had a broccoli. ok, competent dish.

then it was the carb, a seafood mee such. another nice competent dish.

the org nee was ok average, had pumpkin not oily & not “pang” aka tasty, maybe because of…haha! 🙂

missed my sea cucumber duck & crispy oyster egg, but then we had too much food for 10pax already. it was actually intended for 12pax but 2 could not make it. 🙂

$52nett per pax was kind of ex for this restaurant. still, we had 2 promfrets & large skewered prawns & the orders were intended for 12pax, so price was probably ok. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: G10 Teochew Dinner @ Swa Garden on 28Nov2013

Posted on December 1, 2013 by chefquak

Good Teochew Dinner @ Swa Garden on 28Nov2013

Posted on November 29, 2013 by chefquak

teochew cold crab

many friends were away. we had a smaller group of 9 for the monthly dinner at swa garden on 28.11.2013. i had wanted to come to this place the longest time but never got to it. had the impression it was expensive but looking at set menus (the one for S$268 looked ok & the more pricy ones included suckling pig), price looked ok.

the friend who organised for this evening pre-order 9 ala carte dishes. we started with the cold crab, it was good. 🙂 perhaps no difference from other teochew restaurants like chui huay lim, but good.

teochew braised duck

scallops with yellow chives

pig tendon & fish maw

steamed mullet with salted vegetables

crayfish in XO sauce?

prawn balls & liver roll (or ngoh hiang)

teochew char kuay teow

orh nee (芋泥)

the braised duck was good too, “pang” ie flavourful & not tough or overcooked/fibrous. it said “goose”on paper but they readily admitted it was duck (a 半菜 duck). still my favourite braised duck remained the excellent 1/2 duck for S$28 @ imperial treasure.

the scallop with yellow chives was good, scallops plump & tasty.

& i liked the pot with pig tendon & fish maw, tasty & well done dish, though 1 friend thought the helping was not large enough for 9pax. i thought it was quite ok.

the mullet was a wet steamed version which i very seldom had..usually i took the air dried cold version at some bakuteh stalls like lao ah ti @ boon keng. i liked this version. the chye sim salted vegetables were nice & it was easier to pick up the fish meat c/w the dry version but both version had their own attractiveness. 🙂

the crayfish was a competent dish, tasty. i still preferred the ah orh style though as i felt the sauce masked the sweetness & flavour of the crayfish.

the prawn balls & ngoh hiang was another average, ok dish.

teochew plain char kuay teow was good, had wok hae, though not my favourite. i liked chui huay lim’s seafood beehoon better.

the orh nee was very average, not “pang”. the ones we had recently at much cheaper muliangzai liang kee was better.

S$268 10pax menu

overall we had 9 dishes for 9pax costing $297nett=S$33pax. perhaps slightly more expensive c/w with the S$268 10pax set menu (above). price was ok, the food was average to above average. i was not overly impressed but it is a place i would come again for fairly good quality food at ok prices. 🙂

c.h.e.f. andy

Good Teochew Zi Char @ Mu Liang Zai Liang Kee on 12Nov2013

Posted on November 13, 2013 by chefquak

braised duck & tau kua

6 of us had teochew zi char at muliang zai liang kee on 12.11.2013. few of us started a hawker & zi char tour some months back. it was mostly touch & go. the zi char at kok sen @ keong siak street was very good. woh hup @ hong lim was quite poor it was not worth a post!

mu liang zai liang kee is located along the same row of shophouses along havelock road at the opposite end of g7 liangkee. it is owned by the 5th son of ng bak liang (so 木亮仔=son of bak liang). you can read the story of the 3 liang kee here.

we had a very enjoyable dinner, true tecohew comfort food, mostly good standard & tasty & at very affordable prices, w/o service & gst. we had 8 dishes adding up to S$136, about S$22+pax nett. 🙂

ter kar tan – pork trotters jelly (猪脚冻)

hae chor （虾枣）& liver roll (肝花)

deep-fried tofu with minced pork (金牌豆腐)

yellow chives with prawns

chilli crayfish

orh nee (芋泥)

the pork trotters jelly (猪脚冻) was just ok, competent. imperial treasure, crystal jade & chui huay lim versions were much better. it was cheap though, a large portion for S$10.

the hae chor (虾枣) & liver roll (肝花) were quite good, no much different from other teochew restaurants.

the braised sliced duck was surprisingly good. i did not expect much as many teochew restaurant like huat kee had very average (or poor) braised duck, and the braised goose we had recently at chui huay lim was poor c/w with this duck. still i very much prefer eating the style of braised duck like the 1/2 duck for S$28 at imperial treasure c/w this tiny plate of sliced duck for S$18. that was just my personal taste preference though.

the deep-fried tofu with minced pork (金牌豆腐) was excellent, equal to that at kok sen.

the orh nerng or oyster egg was an average & passable dish (passable in both senses – not failed OR can skip). like good teochews the few of us still preferred the sticky orh luar version with sweet potato flour at hawker centres.

the yellow chives with prawns (S$18) came with 7 large prawns. the prawns were large, fresh & springy, so it was not a bad prawn dish. it was though a bad yellow chives dish, no wok hae & swimming in sauce. it should be much dryer with strong wok hae flavour. 🙂

the crayfish (S$28) i did not consider a well done dish (though some of my diner friends were obviously relishing it). i preferred the ah orh version of teochew crayfish with yellow onions & egg. the crayfish itself were plump, bouncy & tasty. not quite sure what chilli it was, not sambal & not really chilli crab chilli, though it did go well with the steamed buns.

the orh nee (芋泥) was good too – another pleasant surprise!

overall it was a good dinner for S$22nett. will be back again!

c.h.e.f andy

Good Teochew Dishes @ Chui Huay Lim on 4Nov2013

Posted on November 6, 2013 by chefquak

a friend & fundonate partner bought 5pax lunch @ chui huay lim restaurant on 4.11.2013.

chui huay lim is a club with history – all 168years! it has been called a “teochew gentlemen club” or to us a teochew towkay club. 🙂

anyway the restaurant is part of the jumbo group, which has also acquired ng ah sio bakuteh (黄亚细肉骨茶), which now has an aircon branch located on level 1, which chui huay lim restaurant is also located. 🙂 i tried a few very good set dinner promotions in the rooms with karaoke set in 2012 not long after the restaurant started, they had chefs & servers from shantou. the food was generally good though not better than the other good teochew restaurants in singapore.

teochew braised goose

crispy sea cucumber in brown sauce

steamed red garoupa with chye poh

we had the ter ka tan (猪脚冻) pork trotter jelly – top photo. it was good here as usual – flavourful, nicely set & presented. i had not been here for maybe 1 year, it used to be harder to get braised goose (i had duck the last few times here), however this time there was no problem & my friend ordered the goose. i must say it was “underwhelming”. i prefer braised duck or goose to be served with little sauce & not drenched in them & most important is the “pang” flavour. this goose was to me quite average, & the few times i cooked braised duck (though i was not 100% consistent & made mistakes), my duck was more “pang” than this “wet” goose.

the crispy cucumber with mushroom & brocoli was excellent, both taste & texture with excellent brown braising sauce. it was not better than what i had at tunglok signature @ central though. the prawn rolls & liver rolls were ok, i guess competent (ordinary?).

the red garoupa (very large one almost 1 kg) with chye poh (salted dried radish) was excellent! very fresh, tasty, great sauce & chye poh condiments. 🙂

jumbo was having an amex promotion where you get a S$50 voucher for every S$100 spent, and a S$50 voucher can be redeemed next round for every S$100 spent. the bill came to S$230, so my friend was able to redeem S$100 & paid S$130. w/o voucher redemption lunch was S$46pax net. i guess it was not too ex but not cheap either. i will probably come again as i have the jumbo card & some jumbo $ to redeem before they expire. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Not Great Teochew Fishball Noodles @ Food Opera Ion Orchard on 8Oct2013

Posted on October 8, 2013 by chefquak

teochew fishball noodles S$5

meepok tar

6 bouncy fishballs

went to daiso at ion orchard to pick up something on 8.10.2013. thought i would try out some stalls at food opera at B4. 🙂

i tried the bakchormee the other time i was here so decided to give the teochew fishball noodle a shot. i ordered meepok tar. its S$5, i guess they have to pay for rent so ok. the fishballs looked great & they were good & 6 of them, quite satisfying. even though i am low in carbo preference, still a good chilli noodles is what makes it shiok! otherwise might as well eat fishball soup? anyhow the noodles were much below par, just a little done which was ok still fairly qq, but made it unpalatable was the heavy mix of sweet sauce. somehow it managed to taste like yongtaufu! it was way off xin lu’s S$3 fishball noodles (former margaret drive now at mei chin food centre) and of course nothing like the jalan tua kong stall at 6th avenue. won’t do this stall again but the bakchormee stall here was ok, will try that again next time.

c.h.e.f andy

Jalan Tua Kong Meepok Tar @ 6th Avenue on 12Sep2013

Posted on September 12, 2013 by chefquak

teochew meepok tar – S$3.50

decided to stop by good good coffeeshop at 6th avenue for the jalan tua kong teochew meepok tar today on 12.9.2013. i don’t take this so much these days, but had a nice teochew fish ball noodles at mei chin road last week with son, & this stall was nearer & i like meepok tar more than fish ball noodles. 🙂

teochew meepok tar – S$3.50

the stall has been at this coffeeshop for several years, apparently the owner had previously worked at 1 of the jalan tua kong stalls and now pays a fee to use the name.

i like this teochew style more than the tai wah type mushroom sauce bakchormee & fish ball noodles (though i like them all..haha). the noodle is qq with a nice bite (al dente) and not mushy. there were 2 fishballs, pork, prawn, fishcakes & minced pork, and most important the chilli & of course the fried lard (lar pok). love it! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

For Old Time Sake @ Xin Lu (新路) Teochew Fishball Noodles on 3Sep2013

Posted on September 8, 2013 by chefquak

xin lu teochew fish ball noodles (former margaret drive)

decided to drop by xin lu (新路) teochew fish ball noodles (formerly from margaret drive) at mei chin road food centre with son after sending car for servicing on 3.9.2013.

xin lu teochew fish ball noodles (former margaret drive)

this one of the popular stalls relocated from margaret drive (see another relocated stall why we queue? @ hai kee cha kuay teow). i had frequented a few times after they relocated, though these days i am less enamoured with this style of pure fishball noodles c/w the teochew meepok tar type or the bakchormee, both which i like.

the price was S$3 for noodles with 5 fish balls. i ordered my usual 1/2 portion noodles to reduce my carbo intake haha (but made sure i had the same amount of chilli) & they gave me 1 more fish ball. whatever!

for me the noodles were just as good as before, qq, & the fish balls were excellent – bouncy & “shouk shouk”! i love the chilli & to go back to old times pouring the soup into the chilli after eating the noodles. it’s just that i don’t take this much nowadays and my preference is anyway for meepok tar or bakchormee. will be back after a while. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Why We Queue? @ Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow on 3Sep2013

Posted on September 5, 2013 by chefquak

cha kuay teow – S$3

as some hungrygowhere reviewers said – lost & found! 🙂 see also for old time sake @ xin lu fish ball noodles.

used to frequent often to buy back when the stall was at margaret drive. though i knew it had moved to telok blangah crescent, i had not bothered to go look for it – somewhat less craving for cha kuay teow of late.

hai kee teochew cha kuay teow

cha kuay teow – S$3

hai kee teochew cha kuay teow

anyway decided to go last evening on 4.9.2013. everything was as before! 🙂

the cha kuay teow man looked as “young” & healthy as before. the queue was as long as before – about constantly 10+ pax & on average 3plates/packets per pax & our friend cooked 1 plate at a time just as before, so long time to wait – we waited 40 minutes as before! 🙂 the “hum” (cockles) were as huge & plump as before, and the taste as good & “pang” (fragrant) and quite a bit of “la pok” (fried lard) as before. 🙂

price was S$3 which was very fair for a large plate with lots of “hum”. where this was concerned, i was a risk taker so i had my “hum”raw (uncooked & just place on top of the noodles).

c.h.e.f andy

10pax Homegourmet 9-course Dinner on 1Jul2013

Posted on July 8, 2013 by chefquak

had a wonderful dinner get-together with friends on 1.7.2013. 🙂

got the usual faithful to come over to try out a few new dishes like Nobu miso cod, simmered crispy skin salmon & kurobuta steak. 🙂 few other dishes like Jap chashu belly pork, funghi risotto, pistachio lamb etc, some have tried before but many have not.

10pax Homegourmet 9-course Dinner Menu

i did a 9-course dinner – the first 4 were served as tapas for sharing, followed by baked funghi risotto & spicy seafood alio olio with white wine, and then 2 main courses Nobu miso cod & Spanish slow-braised beef ribs OR pistachio crusted rack of lamb, and finish off with the usual chocolate lava cake. 🙂

as i had learned earlier, everything was about planning, so planning what could be precooked & the cooking/reheating. serving sequence was the key. the kurobuta steak & wagyu of course had to pan-fry on the spot when all the diners arrived. likewise tossing of the mesclun salad with olive oil, balsamic vinegar & sea salt only when about to serve. the best that could be done for risotto was to precook (mine was a baked version in oven) but still needed to add stock & cream, reheat & reduce w/o overcooking the rice. for the seafood alio olio, the prawn & squid & spaghetti were pre-cooked but the wine, reduction etc & tossing was best done on reheating, again to keep the pasta al dente w/o overcooking. 🙂 likewise the rack of lamb took 22mins in the oven, and i had to start that while reheating the risotto, so that the lamb could be served not too long after the spaghetti which came after the risotto. the beef ribs was precooked but needed reheating and the miso cod which took 11 mins had to be done after the lamb. 🙂

1010808_10151674793889494_1645205892_n

first 2 tapas were pan roasted brined chicken breast & thigh (i used to serve only breast but seemed like many preferred thigh) and a sampling of pan-fried kurobuta steak & Japanese chashu oven slow-braised belly pork in mirin, sake, sugar & light soy sauce. these served together with mesclun salad. 🙂 after resting the meats & cutting, i saw that the kurobuta was slightly pink so i decided to re-fry 2 of the 3 pieces. that delayed the start of the dinner a bit, but seemed that many friends actually did not mind the less well done piece, so i think would be better to serve it just slightly pink (about medium well) next time. 🙂

next up was pan-fried MBS 4/5 wagyu steak. the above left photo showed the kurobuta steak which looked more marbled than the wagyu. i did the wagyu medium rare at the centre, so it was a bit well at the ends. i think i would do it rare the next time. 🙂

ebi miso yaki

as WL did not take beef (everytime he had to repeat the story, this time to Oonch), i did ebi miso yaki (the medium prawns were marinated in miso for 3 days & stored in the chiller) for him from the miso i made to use for Nobu miso cod. 🙂

i did 2 fillet of salmon first simmered 8 mins skin-up in mirin, sake, sugar, then pan-fried to get the crispy skin. this dish was quite easily done & just needed to heat up before serving. i cut the 2 fillet into 10 bite-size pieces & served in a white bowl & just poured the slightly sweet tasty sauce over it. the salmon did look nice & tasted quite ok, but i think it was kind of a “nothing” dish that just looked good but could do with or without. 🙂

everyone liked the baked funghi risotto which had nice, intense mushroom flavour from button mushrooms & shimeji. this time the rice (i used a cheaper USA sushi rice & not real stuff – italian arborio rice) was al dente. JK felt it was too wet. that was because i did not estimate well the stock + cream to add on reheating but had to leave it wet as it would overcook before i could make it drier. 🙂

next, spicy seafood spaghetti alio olio. so far this had turned out quite well in taste everytime & visuals too. 🙂

then we had a choice the pistachio crusted rack of lamb (i cooked only 1 rack of 8ribs to serve 4) OR Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (which had 2x3ribs to serve 6). 🙂

the Spanish ribs were inspired by a lunch last year at La Cicala with my son. my son preferred La Cicala’s beefy brown sauce. i decided though to pick up an internet recipe with a sweet vegetable ratatouille to balance the beefy ribs. i used carrots, celery, yellow onions, & red pepper, i did not get chorizo so substituted with chinese sausage & also used tumeric for the colour in place of expensive saffron. 🙂

Nobu miso cod

the last main course was Nobu miso cod. like the rack of lamb, kurobuta, & wagyu, i got the cod from mmmm at West Coast Plaza. the key was to marinate in miso for 3days or more. the result was a very “jit bee” 入味 tasty cod. the cod was firm, tasty & quite tender. my personal preference is a firm & springy (& oily) fish, so i like cod but i like chilean seabass a bit better, though it is not so environmentally correct to consume them. 🙂

chocolate lava cakes with cherries, strawberries & grapes

the last up was chocolate lava cake. this took just 3mins 40secs in the oven so anything could go wrong. this time it was my phone timer (phone was in silent mode! OMT!) so i thought the first batch might turned out to be brownies. but it turned out to be ok with quite a bit of lava. the second batch though had lots of lava.

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: Teochew Restaurant Lunch @ Wei Liang’s House on 12Apr2012

Posted on March 29, 2013 by chefquak

Dinner Gathering for 10pax @ Yuanxing Restaurant (Guan Hin) on 19Mar2013

Posted on March 22, 2013 by chefquak

longevity bun for the 55s

the significance of 55

We had a gathering of 10 friends the other evening. One friend did a make-shift “gold-plated” 55 sign and also arranged for the restaurant to serve longevity buns 寿桃 -(a nice touch!) – this being the 55th season of our journey on planet earth – though we could not help speculating which houses and/or shops might have number(s) 5 missing. 🙂

None of us had heard of Yuanxing Teochew Restaurant..it turned out to be Guan Hin, an old street name (老字号) which now uses the hanyupinyin name.

We started off with the usual appetizer platter. The ter kar tan (pork trotter jelly 猪脚冻) was very good here – I reckoned Crystal Jade Paragon standard and better than Chui Huay Lim and a few other teochew restaurants I had tried..The other items – spring rolls, hae jor & another deep-fried item which I don’t know the name – were good too. The jellyfish & century egg were usual fare.

appertizer platter

Next came the ubiquitous yam basket. This is more of a common cantonese restaurant dish – anyway supposedly hailed from the 4 heavenly kings of cantonese cuisine from the sixties, and still being contested by both Dragon Phoenix and Lai Wah each claiming to be the rightful inventor.. 🙂

the ubiquitous yam basket

Next came some deep-fried meatballs? – I haven’t a clue what it was – quite good tasting, so ok lah..the garlic fried kailan was quite ok, got some wok hae though not near the best..(the picture on the left below is a close-up of the ter kar tan猪脚冻)

We had braised goose (卤鹅) next. This was very good. It was real goose and NOT braised duck served in most restaurants (unlike Hong Kong where it is everywhere, goose braised or roasted, are not commonly served in restaurants in Singapore). Why is that I wonder? bird-flu? Hongkongers more resistant or tidak apa towards bird-flu?

braised goose – yummy!

Next came a deep-fried chestnut prawn. This was their signature dish. hmmm, I wonder..not sure the chestnut added anything to the prawn & might have taken away the fresh, plump, sweet-tasting feel of a usual good prawn dish..

deep-fried chestnut prawns

We had the usual roast chicken. and taken with five-spice salt, it was quite nice – though it is rare in most restaurants that serve this dish to deliver one that has moist, tender, sweet breast meat – usually it is on the dry, sinewy side & not s0 tender, and so it was the case here.

The kong ba pao was quite ok here, the usual and a nice dish to enjoy, if packing high calories & cholesterol.

The mustard greens with chinese mushroom and gluten was a very nice dish, great texture and very tasty indeed. I would certainly order this, as well as the braised goose & ter kar tan 猪脚冻 when I next visit.

mustard vegetable with chinese mushrooms

mustard greens with chinese & button mushrooms & gluten

Next we had these huge slipper lobsters (we call crayfish in Singapore). This apparently is also a signature dish here, though I am not a fan of the sauce (which was like a non-spicy chilli crab sauce) – I prefer the one served at Ah Orh which is a more yellowish sauce with lots of yellow onions & egg – and I thought the meat was overcooked and not tender.

a slipper lobster dish

And to round up the sumptuous meal & an evening of F3=food, fun & feel-good, we had the sea coconut & longans – nice dessert, though the few teochews among us were wondering why we were not having orh nee..hahaha..I guess the friend who organised this great dinner was worrying about our cholesterol & waistlines..lol. 🙂

sea coconut with longans dessert

The “damage” came to just $36nett per person, though we were missing some big-ticket dishes like pomfret, soup & cold crab or other crab dishes.

One friend, the teochew expert among us, who never fail to enthrall us with his own remarkable romanised teochew language system, commented afterwards on Facebook that the standard of food here was not consistent. On the face of what was served & the price though, I would still give it another go sometime.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Family Lunch @ Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant Ngee Ann City on 17Mar2013

Posted on March 18, 2013 by chefquak

har gau (蝦饺)

See also my review on imperial treasure teochew on 1.9.2013. 🙂

had a really nice family dimsum lunch today @ Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant at Ngee Ann City today.

They are really packed. We managed to book 11.30am and supposed to clear out before 12.30pm. The food came really fast, and though we did not feel rushed at all still we did not have any problem leaving before 12.30pm after a very satisfying lunch indeed. 🙂

We ordered Su Min’s favourite har gau & fun cheung with prawns (or har cheung), pork neck char siew, braised duck, steam pork ribs, a teochew dumpling, and 2 deepfried dumplings. The entire lunch came to $79 for 4pax – a really great lunch, good food, good friendly if speedy service, and very enjoyable meal. 🙂

The har gau was very good, skin not soft or soggy, prawns fresh & firm. The steamed pork ribs were very tasty & have good pieces of meat, not too fatty.

steamed pork ribs

The har cheung was one of the better ones, though still could not compare with the very good smooth ones we had in Hong Kong.

har cheung (虾肠粉)

The hum sio gok was also very good, fillings were tasty & the dough nice & little sticky too (as it should be).

hum sio gok (咸水饺)

And the teochew dumplings were actually better than I expected. I had some not so great ones previously.

teochew dumplings (潮州粉果)

The pork neck char siu was slightly sweet but overall very good, portion was small but it was only S$8. I have tried cooking this before & I know pork neck is really the best part for char siu, much better than the loin or belly. 🙂

pork neck char siu (炭燒猪项肉) – S$8

I could not remember the name of this crispy dumpling, it was something I used to like much before but did not take often lately. It was still good.

crispy dumplings

The braised duck here & in Crystal Jade were always good. The portion (partially eaten already in the poorly focused photo below) was good for the price – just S$14.

teochew braised duck – S$14

We ended with the salted egg buns which we all liked. This was very good here. The salted egg taste was strong but not overpowering & it was not too sweet. One of the best I had – I liked this a lot.

salted egg buns (咸蛋流沙包)

I think Crystal Jade & Imperial Treasure have really improve Singapore’s dimsum & restaurant food quality at affordable price over the last 10 years, and now we have really good eats at prices that do not burn a hole in the pocket. 🙂

Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant @ Ngee Ann City

c.h.e.f andy

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c.h.e.f

cook.hangout.eat.fun

Tag Archives: teochew

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Protected: Teochew Restaurant Lunch @ Wei Liang’s House on 12Apr2012

Dinner Gathering for 10pax @ Yuanxing Restaurant (Guan Hin) on 19Mar2013

Great Family Lunch @ Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant Ngee Ann City on 17Mar2013

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