Yuzu Cheese Cake

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

the other day my good friends & mei mei bought a dinner for my wife & i at imperial court restuarant.

they also bought a nice yuzu cheese cake from cat & the fiddle..

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

i already make a good tofu cheese cake.

cat & the fiddle’s yuzu cheese cake was very nice with distinct yuzu flavours but not really that much different, so i thought i should be able to make one quite easily.

gold citron tea yuzu jam

gold citron tea yuzu jam

gold citron tea yuzu jam

gold citron tea yuzu jam

the main ingredient missing was yuzu, so i went to phoon huat & got a bottle of citron tea yuzu jam (which looks much like orange marmalade but with yuzu flavours), about 580g costing S$7.95

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

i varied my tofu cheese cake recipe, dropping the tofu & increasing the yogurt. i added 2.5heap tbsp of the yuzu jam, and reduced sugar from 4.5tbsp to 2 tbsp. it’s a bit of a experimentation, basically to taste as i blend.

the result was a pretty good yuzu cheese cake, tangy, light & refreshing.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 105g digestive biscuits (7 pieces)
  • 60g melted butter – i used unsalted
  • 250g cream cheese (cut to 2cm pieces)
  • 280g plain yogurt (2x140ml yogurt cups)
  • 100ml whipping cream
  • 30g Sugar
  • 40ml yuzu jam (to taste)
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 3 tsp gelatin powder (15g)
  • 50ml warm water

Directions:

  1. put a wax paper over the bottom then tighten the springform cake pan & ensure bottom is smooth.
  2. put digestive biscuits in ziploc bag & break & roll to powder. melt butter in microwave (40sec) & add to biscuits. mix well then empty into cake pan. spread evenly to form an uniform flat base. put in fridge.
  3. add plain yogurt, cream cheese, whipping cream, yuzu jam, lemon juice & sugar to a blender, pulse & blend
  4. add 3 tsp gelatin powder to 50ml hot water & stir to dissolve completely (i heat another 30sec in microwave to help dissolve). add to blender & blend.
  5. empty into the cake pan & place in fridge for 4hrs. when serving release the springform & remove from the bottom. voila!

Wonderful Dinner Treat by Our Good Friends @ Imperial Court on 5Nov2015

#1 (excellent) half suckling pig

#1 (excellent) half suckling pig

my good friends & mei mei arranged a dinner for my wife & i at imperial court restaurant at the grassroots club on 5.11.2015. ^^

6pax suckling pig menu

6pax suckling pig menu

i have wanted to try the gimtim group of restaurants but have not done yet, so this suited. 🙂

they have a 1/2 suckling pig set for 6. we had 7pax so my friend ordered 2 additional dishes.

#1 (excellent) half suckling pig

#1 (excellent) half suckling pig

the #1 half suckling pig was a large helping. it was much larger than what i had at ah yat & other places like hung kang & summer gardens.

i thought ah yat’s suckling pig was very good but this was equal or better & much bigger portions by comparison.

it was extremely good, very crispy skin & very flavourful, tasty meat. it seemed to be a combination of the 片皮 & 南乳 styles. usually the 片皮 style came with wraps & the 南乳 comes with the meat. my wife & i prefer the 南乳 style.

#2 (quite poor) fish maw soup

#2 (quite poor) fish maw soup

the next dish #2 fish maw soup though was quite poor.

no comparison like the fish maw soup at beng thin.

#9 addition sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 dish

#9 addition sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 dish

#10 additional beef dish

#10 additional beef dish

my friend ordered 2 additional dishes=#9 addition sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 dish & #10 additional beef dish.

sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 was so-so, maybe below par. the beef was pretty ok, not the very tenderised chinese style beef which i don’t like.

#3deepfried seabass in thai sauce

#3deepfried seabass in thai sauce

the #3 deepfried seabass in thai sauce was very good.

#3 deepfried seabass in thai sauce

#3 deepfried seabass in thai sauce

the sauce was not the usual thai sweet sauce (best for deep-fried chicken wings) but a bit tangy.

#3 deepfried seabass in thai sauce

#3 deepfried seabass in thai sauce

a very good fish dish by my reckoning.

#4 abalones with broccoli

#4 abalones with broccoli

the #4 abalones with broccoli dish was the usual good standard, with nice broccoli & mushrooms.

#5 (the best) steamed scallops

#5 (the best) steamed scallops

i love #5 the steamed scallops. i think they were the best! ^^

#5 (the best) steamed scallops

#5 (the best) steamed scallops

usually i prefer steamed razor clams to steamed scallops because usually steamed scallops get overdone (i don’t know why?).

these ones were very tender & sweet & tasty. excellent is the word!

#6 nice done prawns - sauce too sweet

#6 nicely done prawns – sauce too sweet

the #6 prawns were nicely done, fresh, tasty & crisp.

#6 nice done prawns - sauce too sweet

#6 nicely done prawns – sauce too sweet

i don’t like the sauce though, just overly sweet.

#7 (very tasty) braised seafood beehoon

#7 (very tasty) braised seafood beehoon

the #7 braised seafood beehoon was very tasty.

#7 (very tasty) braised seafood beehoon

#7 (very tasty) braised seafood beehoon

& with good ingredients.

reminded me of my own crabless beehoon! 🙂

#8 fruit cocktail dessert with ice shavings

#8 fruit cocktail dessert with ice shavings

the simple dessert of the day = #8 fruit cocktail dessert with ice shavings was very refreshing.

overall an excellent dinner. i liked the suckling pig & the steamed scallops.

i estimate the dinner to cost about S$350nett, so about S$50nett, 🙂

nice yuzu cheese cake

nice yuzu cheese cake

it was a really fun evening. friend also bought a nice yuzu cheese cake. a truly wonderful time with close friends & great dinner. 🙂

& service was very good. the servers took several photos for us & also went digging up a knife & candles for the cake.

c.h.e.f andy

Imperial Court

Address : 190 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 #03-01 The Grassroots’ Club Singapore 568046
Hotline : 6553 2777 (Reservation is needed on Saturday and Sunday)
Fax : 6554 2777
Email : imperial@gimtim.com.sg

Protected: RI G20 15pax Dinner Great Food & Ambience @ Kith Cafe Park Mall on 30Jun2015

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Great Food & Ambience @ Kith Cafe Park Mall on 30Jun2015

crabmeat linguine in tomato sauce

crabmeat linguine in tomato sauce

a RI friend is a proprietor of kith cafe at park mall & sentosa cove (kith has another outlet at robertson quay). kith does all day breakfast (till 5pm) and seems like a good coffee place too.

after our may G20 dinner at peach garden @ metropolis on 26.5.2015, we all agreed we should be young again & be spotted at kith. so this friend volunteered or was volunteered to organise the june dinner at kith cafe @ park mall on 30.6.2015. 🙂

we had 15pax. 🙂

i didn’t know if kith meant anything in particular, but after googling i found out that kith was like kin or kindred or –

acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in thesame general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group

a cafe for friends – good name!

a few friends went early & took a short walk at fort canning park. the rest of us got a tour of our friend’s high end office chairs & system furniture shop adjacent to kith cafe.

watermelon & lychee smoothie

watermelon & lychee smoothie

the friend ordered watermelon & lychee smoothie for a few of us. it was good, refreshing, quenching, not too sweet. not particularly a favourite for me though.

some ordered ABC – apple, beetroot & carrots me think…sounds healthy. i will try that one next time.

sweet corn soup

sweet corn soup

couple friends ordered a soup. think it was the soup of the day, maybe a sweet corn soup. looked ok.

calamari

calamari

my friend ordered some calamari & 2 pizza to share, and each ordered our own pasta dish.

calamari was good. squid was very slightly tough, batter was good.

calamari

calamari

this a common dish in many restaurants, and it’s quite competent here. 🙂

gong bao pizza

gong bao chicken pizza

the gong bao chicken pizza was better than i expected. we all liked the thin crust pizza.

gong bao pizza

gong bao chicken pizza

gong bao chicken may have sounded cheesy & chinatown like but it was actually good – no sticky sauce, taste was not too sweet & combined quite well with the pizza. 🙂

parma ham pizza

parma ham pizza

parma ham pizza was competent also. pretty ok. 🙂

parma ham pizza

parma ham pizza

pizza not particularly my favourite but it is an excellent dish for communal dining & i do enjoy a slice of good pizza (i shared 1/2 gong bao chicken & 1/2 parma ham pizza with a friend) to start the dinner.

spaghetti alio olio

spaghetti alio olio

the spaghetti alio olio was good!

good helping, very flavourful, good garlic flavours & lots of shiitake mushrooms. I shared 1/2 of it with a friend who shared 1/2 of my squid ink pasta. not a usual dish i would order as i like meat or seafood. 🙂

linguine gamberini (garlic prawn)

linguine gamberini (garlic prawn)

the linguine gamberini (garlic prawn) looked good. i will order that next time.

carbonara

carbonara

carbonara. looked ok. somehow looked a bit like hokkien mee. egg was mixed in the pasta. i think it would taste good as most pasta here were good. though i am more used to the look/colour of carbonara at alfresco gusto.

bolognese

bolognese

i had a try of the bolognese, and the tomato sauce was good. meat sauce/ragout preparation not my favourite but this was good.

vongole

vongole

did not try the vongole. it looked fine. 🙂

vongole

vongole

they said vongole is a test of a pasta chef. the lala (littleneck clams) have a distinctive shellfish taste & if the linguine is done al dente the combination is quite excellent. my own vongole linguine here.

veal spinach tortellini in tomato sauce

veal spinach tortellini in tomato sauce

the veal spinach tortellini looked interesting.

veal spinach tortellini in tomato sauce

veal spinach tortellini in tomato sauce

& looked yummy! i must try that next time. 🙂

squid ink spaghetti with seafood alio olio

squid ink spaghetti with seafood alio olio

my friend the proprietor ordered the day’s special, a squid ink spaghetti with seafood alio olio.

i tasted. it was good.

squid ink pasta

squid ink pasta

i liked my own squid ink sauce pasta better though. it was more intense & flavourful, though my immediate reaction was it was a bit salty. my own squid ink seafood spaghetti here.

the friend who shared 1/2 my squid ink thought it was very salty, and that the alio olio was also salty. i was good with the alio olio, & salt does bring out the flavours (though too much would kill it).

my friend the proprietor ordered 2 more pizza – a duck & mushroom ragout & a special – with sausage.

my phone died so i did not have photos. duck ragout was good & had some meat pieces. i liked the sausage special pizza a bit more, sausage very flavourful.

yuzu cheese cake

yuzu cheese cake

the pastry chef among us went to select the dessert.

i didn’t think much of the yuzu cheese cake nor the biscuit base. probably i was programmed to think anything yuzu must be specially good. this was average so-so to me.

tiramisu

tiramisu

didn’t think much of the tiramisu either. i had a small teaspoon scoop near the top, somehow thought it felt like penna cotta.

tiramisu

tiramisu

that did not prepare me for interrogation by our pastry chef. she asked if i tasted the lady finger biscuits. seemed that i didn’t (i guess that’s why i thought it tasted like penna cotta – soft, light w/o the tiramisu texture) nor did i tasted coffee or liquor.

our pastry chef thought it was good, and she said there was liquor at the bottom & she didn’t take coffee anyway, so that suited her. guess i have to defer to pastry chef!^^

anyway my palate a bit hesitant, not very sharp like my daughter…give me excuse to try a few more times.^^

lemongrass chocolate cake

lemongrass chocolate cake

the lemongrass chocolate cake looked really pretty, but it’s not my thing.

lemongrass chocolate cake

lemongrass chocolate cake

my least preferred of the 3 dessert.

i had a flat white afterwards. it was good. but didn’t feel that it was in the chye seng huat, dutch colony, or the assembly coffee category.

it was really enjoyable evening. company was super fun, outdoor ambience was cool & nice open space, & food was great. i will probably come back with my family. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Nice Afternoon Cuppa @ aeiou on 28Apr2015

flat white

flat white

after a satisfying big prawn noodles at why eat har, a friend suggested going to a retro place for a cuppa on 28.4.2015.

i guess the 2 of us were diehard kopi guys, so we drove in 1 car to king george’s avenue to this place called aeiou.

aeiou

aeiou

aeiou didn’t sound very creative? don’t know. it could be that they are a group that is also into children education, edutainment etc.

aeiou

aeiou

inside was quite interesting, retro as my friend said.

aeiou

aeiou

& there was a vertical landscape wall, though it didn’t look particularly attractive.

flat white

flat white

flat white was good, smooth & fragrant-

probably about the same as carpenters & cook

also about same as assembly coffee w/o the standard of latte art (not a great differentiator for me)

my personal preference where coffee is concerned –

chye seng huat is better

dutch colony also better.

torn tyre mirror

torn tyre mirror

a torn tyre mirror? pretty cool idea.

love...smile...hug

love…smile…hug

always remember to love…smile..hug…

oriental antique house

oriental antique house

i supposed cool chic cafe place can be a good way to bring traffic to the antique house. don’t know. 🙂

we did not try the cakes, so my friend suggested we may go again with some friends for the yuzu cheese cake, salted caramel cake & lemon tart. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy