Salted vegetable duck soup | 咸菜鸭汤. Charcoal boiled. Souper Saturdays!

Ingredients:

 1/2 a duck (1 kg), chopped

 1 head of kiam chye, about 600g (salted vegetables), cut into large pieces

 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled

 5 thick slices of ginger

 Water

 A handful of white peppercorns, washed

 3 tomatoes, chopped into 8 pieces for each tomato.

 1 tsp of light soy sauce

Method:

1. Wash and rinse the salted vegetables

2. Clean duck and remove any remaining feather stubs. Remove fat as necessary. 

3. Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Blanch the duck to remove any crushed bones and blood trails. Take out the pieces and discard the water.

4. Fill a pot with water. I used about 5 litres of water in a large aluminium pot.

5. Place the salted vegetables, duck, garlic clove, ginger slices, white peppercorn and tomatoes.

6. Cover and boil over the charcoal stove.

7. Add 1 tsp of light soy sauce for added fragrance and a slight tinge of colour.

*I added a packet of soya beancurd after the soup was ready. :)

*Many recipes call for sour plums but it's fine to leave it out.

*I didn't soak my salted vegetables, which I bought from the wet market and the saltiness of the soup was just right for the amount of water I used.

*I had the pleasure of using a charcoal stove but this works well on the stovetops and pressure cookers. 

From our kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Birthday Treat @ Au Chocolat

With absolutely no plan in mind.

No destination considered.

We hopped onto a train and headed towards the city.

Tapas perhaps?

Two hungry people.

Probably not.

Oh it's about to rain.

Let's just do something indoors and sheltered from the rain.

How about MBS then.

Au Chocolat?

Dinner.

Let's go!

Oh.

A store!

Selling a selection of sweets and treats, a takeaway gelato counter and their adorable mascot.

And chocolate of course!

Truffles.

With generous dustings of cocoa powder.

Train tracks! But there weren't any trains running.

It reminded me of the Macdonalds at the old King Albert Park.

There was an old world charm in the theme of their decorations.

With clocks that displayed different timings.

I didn't pay close attention.

Might've been local and one other time zone?

What should we have for dinner?

Signatures of course.

Duck confit with mash, carrots and poached pears with creamed spinach.

Deep fried instead of pan fried for a confit made it drier than it would've ideally been.

But fork tender and satisfyingly crisp on the outside.

My girlfriend was extremely pleased with the order.

It's the first time I've seen her wipe her plate clean!

Calamari Rings with their special green sauce.

Just looks like tartar with chives perhaps? 

I actually made an order for a chicken mushroom crepe and side of truffle fries.

Till...

My google page decided to load itself.

And the reviews appeared in front of me.

From a few websites.

"Can you check on my order. I'd like to make a switch from crepe to burger, fries to calamari. Since I already have fries on the side."

"Sorry mam, it's already been cooked."

"Well. Would someone else possibly order what I just did?"

"Let me check again."

"Okay. I've voided it and put in your new order."

"Thank you. SO much." :)

I enjoyed it.

We both did. 

She could eat the bacon and portobello mushroom and fries even though she didn't take beef.

MMmmm. 

This is our bestseller for 2012.

The Praline.

It wasn't a top choice for me honestly.

I wanted a chocolate tart.

Or maybe an apple pie.

Hmm.

And just to balance out the sweetness.

We chose a tart White chocolate raspberry cheesecake.

I could taste the white chocolate.

Which was a definite plus.

And the raspberry swirls were refreshingly tart.

But the base?

Soggy and insignificant.

Must've been kept for a bit.

We were stuffed.

But Friday night hey.

We had to be out for some drinks.

Let's do Coast on the MBS Boardwalk.

Lychee mojito.

Upsized.

At $17.

And Australian chillax bar.

They've got support from the Aussie community.

So much so that there's a private dining area located in a level below inside the bar.

How privileged mate!

These might actually be refried.

And full on FAT.

But let's just do it with the works.

Tomato, thai chilli sauce and garlic aioli.

We had additional pots of these sauces.

Deliciously addictive.

And at $9,

decently satisfying portions.

It was a crazy Friday night out with girlfriends.

Thanks for the birthday treat.

Much <3 ed="ed" hey.="hey." p="p">

BURP. 

*hugs :)

Makan Gathering @ High Society Mansion (Pacific Plaza)

It's been a rough week for me.

I definitely was not feeling the least bit Ms Congeniality.

But I guess it was time to take a break.

To see my friends.

And have a good mEAT-up session.

Thanks to MissTamChiak for accomodating three of us at such short notice. :)

For just $35 nett.

Minstrone soup.

Pretty interiors on the second level of High Society Mansion at Pacific Plaza.

We didn't take lamb, so between fish and pasta,

we settled happily on haddock.

Only to be sorely disappointed by the size and taste of thin dried flaky fish with encased in a salty batter.

Whip out the flash already.

It was fun focusing all our cameras on the pork knuckle sharing dish. :)

That also meant,

*slaps hand away.

everyone just had to wait for the photo madness to be over before eating.

Crabmeat ceasar salad.

The seafood taste was too strong to be enjoyed.

And serving us the heart of the lettuce stalk?

Dear Chef,

It was an oversight right?

I'd like to think.

Yay brussel sprouts.

And mash and gravy.

But the cajun chicken tasted dry and tough.

And where's my cajun spices anyway?

Salted prawns.

It seems.

I took a scallop instead.

Juicy but not tenderly so.

Pasta tasted reminiscent of mee siam more than laksa.

Duck confit.

The carrot puree was key for our table's discussion.

My grip was in the skin though.

Where's the crisp? :(

And duck that tasted like KFC's originals.

So says my dining companions.

Oxtail stew.

Oh I totally mopped this one up with the bread. :)

Yummy delish!

And I scream, you scream, the girls all scream for dessert!

Cupcakes. Topped with cream.

Lots of cream.

And if it wasn't chantilly cream, I'd not want to pile on the fats for this.

These cupcakes were unique with that dollop of cream with various tastes and addition of nuts.

These things should come with placards.

Or maybe not.

We had our fairshare tasting and guessing.

Noisette cake slice.

Aside from tasting frozen, this was decadent.

The macarons were an ultimate sweet treat to end off the night.

It wasn't the food but the company.

I had awesome table mates.

And we even had goodiebags to bring home.

Hello 1kg of Huiji honey, kaya and coffee.

I had a good Saturday night out.

Thanks @misstamchiak and @dashtaz.

To more makan gatherings! :)

wonderful taiwan delights

This was their swan song. And since this place is now defunct, I write a tribute to them and I do hope that someday soon, they would find a suitable location to serve up their delicious homestyled taiwanese fare.

A nondescript shop along the Jalan Leban area with limited parking space, it's hardly the kind of place I would choose as a dining option. That night was no different from the usual. We wanted to try out a new hotpot place, the irvin's seafood restaurant but in the end, we settled for this cramped but quaint shop. With its faded signage and simple set up, it seemed the perfect dinner venue for a girlfriend catch up. :)

 

For their size, the variety on the menu was more extensive than I expected. Of course, it also turned out that every other thing was sold out. I exaggerate. But their house specials were sold out. No more dumplings nor pot stickers. :(

Well, we still had to eat anyway. Never fear! For the other menu items are just as much a treat as their house specials.

The herbal duck mee sua lived up to its namesake.

The soup base was herbal indeed- a delicate balance between an overkill on the herbs and a sweetness imprated from the wolfberries to the clear soup thickened slightly by the mee sua itself. Black fungus and duck meat completed the dish. It was healthy and tasty food. :)

This was not on our original order. But we ate it anyway. Fried chicken bits with a generous dash of chilli pepper and salt. It's passes as an appetizer alright but I'd rather have the Shilin chicken anyday if you know what I mean.

And this, was the star of the night. For this, they have every reason to continue shop operations. Please? I really should just let the photo do the talking. For they speak volumes. The delicately braised pork. The peanuts were not mushy but if there was an al dente for peanuts. This was it! And the gravy. Of course the gravy. Suddenly, plain white rice seems to be the perfect accompaniment. :)

And there's reason why the hot sour soup is last. The photos are in chronological order. But heck, every dish was a treat except the chicken and sadly, we never made it back for a second round. As with all good things, they do come to an end.

Towards endings and new beginnings. Or a pending trip to Taiwan, pronto! :)