Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Heaven's Curry @ Ghim Moh Market

I've been hankering after the freshly grinded rice flour thosai offerings at Selegie Road.
But no one. No one entertains me for that. :(
So on a whim this Saturday morning while at Dover Road, I made an order for one masala thosai. And because it was my aunt. What you want, you get. ;)

Despite a long queue and a huge order from a man right in front of her, she perservered and picked up masala thosai, paper thosai and two plain thosais. Complete with generous packs of sambar.



I think I just fell in love. :)
Or at least, I've stopped thinking about the Selegie version.
I've been dreaming about a repeat of this since then!

traditions and more

Ever since Grandma has been getting on in years, I've been ordained to take charge of frying the beehoon as a staple during her open house on day #2 of the lunar new year. I used to have to beg for her to let me do it but at least for the past 6 years, she's told me that she cannot manage to fry the beehoon and will I please remember to come early just to get that done. And my aunt-in-law has an awesome glutinous rice chock full of mushrooms and lean meat. Oh so fatty but ohyum! And the funny thing is? She still cooks everything else. We're talking lor bak, 好事發財- dried oysters with black moss, broccoli and oyster sauce, her signatures of curry chicken and ngoh hiang. And did I forget a mandatory scallops, chicken and white cabbage soup? She manages. Oh how she does I don't know. So that's lunar new year lunch/tea/dinner all in one for a whole day's worth.  






This was from House of Crab. And frankly, it was a thin line distinguishing it from edible to crap. Except for the pok chui (crispy crackers) :) This was a terrible Jigocity purchase. And three sets too! 
Thankfully we topped it up with abalone slices and salmon belly.
Made things a LOT better.
I don't know about you but this wasn't just tossing for tossing's sake.
I'm taking it as a salad. And it better taste good. :p

Saturday, January 28, 2012

variety- the spice of life :)


This was the second ever Jigocity purchase at $12 for 5 bowls of laksa. Seeing as how the original price of these laksa variants was between $6.50 and $7.50, this was a pretty good deal!
Plus this totally falls in line with my idea of at least one new restaurant a year. :)
No better way to kick off Chinese New Year with a little bit of fire red and spice on the Saturday before New Year's Eve at this local delights concept eatery- Laksania.


Laksa is a spice-laden noodle dish that has quite a few variants that I've heard of but never actually tried.
We settled into our reserved seats at promptly 6pm just at the end time of all dine-in redemptions with the voucher. There was no hard and fast rule about making orders by 6pm although she had the right to effect that requirement if she wanted to.
Looking absolutely bewildered by the choices on the menu, the lady boss walks over and goes through the main ingredients and general taste of the popular choices with us. Of course, nothing says it better than taste. To our pleasant surprise, she extends an offer of tasting portions of the soup to help us with our order choices that was very much appreciated. 


This was the traditional laksa in Singapore is also known as the nonya laksa- made with coconut/ evaporated milk and prawn stock. This definitely has coconut milk. And a lot of it indeed. This was rich but probably too much of an indulgence :)


Penang Laksa is very addictive due to the spicy and sour taste of the fish broth. Tamarind is used generously in the soup base and peeled tamarind is also commonly added to give it extra tartness. Another secret ingredient is Polygonum leaf or daun kesom/daun laksa. All these were present and I could also taste the aromatic ginger flower (bunga kantan). And all the shredded vegetables and pineapple slices made this a colourful dish complete with some laksa sambal. But where was the heh ko (prawn paste)? Oh, did I also mention that there was a generous smattering of mackerel fish ((ikan kembung) flakes found right at the bottom of the flavourful broth? :)
But that would also be the only meat in this dish. If you're looking for prawns, tau pok or egg, you'd be sorely disappointed you chose this.


 Sarawak Laksa comes from the Malaysian state itself, on the island of Borneo. The soup contains no curry at all but instead, made with a base of Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns and fresh coriander. This also came served with thin rice noodles rather than the usual thick laksa noodles.


And of course, how could we not try their signature laksa goreng. This was a fried version of the Singapore laksa that although was a little too oily, struck the right chords with me. I liked it for the laksa spices that were all well fried into the noodles which satisfied my craving for laksa. :) But of course, I had the best of both worlds. I had the laksa gravy from my brother who couldn't stomach too much coconut milk. *slurps :p

On a cold, wet Saturday night, dinner couldn't have gotten better than this. With warm, friendly service and authentic variants of laksa offerings to warm the tummy, this was a dinner we thoroughly enjoyed. :)

Laksania
Tel: 66342645 | Website

Monday, January 23, 2012

boon tong kee @ ang mo kio avenue 3


After Chinese New Year Celebrations at school, we decided on a place that would be more befitting for our cheongsams. :) Actually, it was just too weird for us to be dining at the market in our outfits. Plus, we appreciated the aircon. So to boon tong kee we headed.
And what else but hainanese chicken right?
So we had a whole chicken. For $24.
Bone in.
Was too fatty for my liking.
The chicken was served cold as you would expect of typical hainanese chicken but the skin was too fatty to be gelatinous.
And a side of chicken liver for $3.


Just because we like our greens, we had crunchy bean sprouts fried with crispy fish skin as recommended to be a house specialty. Now this cost $12.
A tad too steep for bean sprouts and crispy fish skin wouldn't you think?

Teas were alright the first round and basically just water the next refill.
While the $1 might not be alot for tea cover charges, I'd have expected better from a 'branded' restaurant so to speak.

Service was too slow even with only 4 tables occupied. Asking for the cheque was even worse. It took a while to come and when it did, a correction to be made for an extra rice charged saw the bill going back twice (once to check for the correction and again for the actual bill to be printed) before I actually managed to sign for our lunch.

I left lunch yawning. Not because I was satisfied but more that I was tired just sitting around waiting to pay.

I don't think i'll be going back anytime soon. Chicken rice at a lot of other places around the AMK area are better bets at more wallet friendly prices.


mushroom minced pork balls in oyster sauce


once in a while,
we see something new on the dinner table.
while we love the perennial favourites that she dishes out since our days of youth (or mine at least :p)
we're willing to try new dishes and give our due comments.
and this, falls into the to-be-cooked-again category.
first thing this reminded me of, was the entire black mushroom topped with minced pork paste as they usually do for hotpot places.
i realise that perhaps if it were to be steamed, the mushroom might end up being too dry.
this was just nice. the juices of the minced pork and fragrance of the mushroom.
the oyster sauce that complemented with its saltiness.

thanks for cooking dinner. day after day. :)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

and a very happy year of the dragon to everyone! :)



oh if fire breathing dragons could be so cute. :)
it's a good year.
i, with my will, will it to be!

love,

oh don't be such a tart.





There's nothing better than baking with friends or well, baking with people who love to bake. It's the second year in a row that I've been out and about baking just for the fun of it. Last year, it was with my friend's mother and family for their annual pineapple tart making. It was professional, factory styled, made to meet a substantial number of orders. I remember having my tarts QC-ed for thickness and prints. Measuring out flour and sieving packets of it for an entire afternoon till evening without food or drink because it was just too awkward for me to do much else but bake in the company of virtual strangers. I didn't even get to try a single tart. I know, why do I do these things right? :p

This year, it was over at Carol's. She took a day off work to bake and I just wanted to help her out. :) She had absolute trust that I wouldn't ruin anything and left me to work on it along with her. Although she was equally stressed about meeting orders, this was different. I could get my drink, eat some tarts, play with her nephew and nieces. :) I had fun destressing myself after a day of school, marking and remedials.

Getting home, I bumped into familiar faces and hey, that feeling of serendipity somehow makes me happier. It's like a random meeting with people you haven't made plans with. Like my twin who took a bus over from town to Mt Alvernia to look in on a friend that just gave birth. Macritchie was the last place I'd expected to see her at! :)
But of course, the last time I had positive notions of seredipitous meetings, I messed up my own life. Sigh.
Why did things happen the way they did? I keep believing God has a plan but till today, I cannot help but wish you were never part of His plan for me. It's been too long and of course I do wish you well. But there's just that something that still kills me inside. Or a part that has already died.

Sorry, my train of thought carried me farther than I would've liked it to.
So.
About tarts.
Of course, mum couldn't comprehend why I would go all the way to bukit timah to bake for someone else to meet their orders when I could've been home baking with family. I didn't try explaining it to her. But these babies at home turned out pretty well with a new recipe! Well done lil bro!

And no, I didn't have dinner yet again and I boiled these too-cute (!) farfalles up to be mixed with corned beef for a quick meal. :)
This is my start to the lunar new year and I'm totally psyched up for it already!


And today, I was in school till what felt like forever and I missed almost all of this baking fun! :(
Well, I'll never miss out on eating them. Ohmnomnoms.
These literally melt in your mouth.

Orders anyone? :)


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

sunday brunch @ choupinette





At $19+ for an English Coq Set, I'm hard pressed to find this expensive. I was initially put off by the review on how pricey this was but hey, this was a set that included both a latte as well as a glass of juice.
The latte was good. Just enough coffee and more than enough milk foam. But oh, a pretty latte art would've been nice?
Hmm. Of course the portions were meagre, it's pretty plain to see.
One of the eggs was just a little bit overdone with non-runny yolks but they were busy and I didn't want to make a fuss.
I've come to realise that brunch isn't really about filling one's tummy up. At least not for me.
Brunch's almost always about the company. Food is secondary on brunch days. :)

And just a random note, I haven't had a proper eggs benedict in Singapore before.
I know, how shocking right.
Soon enough, I shall. :)

Monday, January 16, 2012

bangkok's chinatown

With its small alleyways and just too many stalls. Where does one start? Last year we ventured out to Bangkok's chinatown after a long hiatus and were pleased with our kway chap find. Till we realised maybe we didn't even go to the recommended stall! Anti-climax max.
Now this time, it was a tight squeeze, a pre-empted apology for the less than stellar exterior of the restaurant but all that was unnecessary. Not since it came with a guarantee of awesome food.





Case in point: Do not judge a restaurant by its exterior.
Because you'd be missing out on this!


This was a promising start. Let me hear you say PRAWN and then if it's important to you, rolls. These morsels of deep fried goodness had crisp exteriors and ohsojuicyandyummydelish insides that held generous stuffings of prawn meat. Savoury on its own, made better with a dip into the sweet sauce that accompanied this dish.


If you want it any fresher, you are gonna have to slice it yourself. These raw fish slices simply laid onto the plate and sprinkled with white sesame bore no pungent fishy taste. Eaten together with raw pickled radish, white and red carrot strips and scallions made for a healthy treat diabolically opposite from the previous deep fried indulgence. I heard the fish skin had a good bite to it and tasted good. Of course I didn't try it. I wouldn't appreciate it for what it was worth. ;)


Peel and pop 'em prawns. No frills. Just simply boiled. And dipped into seafood sauce. There's a deep sense of satisfaction in enjoying a dish that is so simply made. :)


Goose feet. Have you tried? This brought the conversation back to dad's dear big brother. Uncle Manu who's seen me from birth, been nothing like a business partner, he was just like family. He made time to meet us every Bangkok trip till his demise. This was one of his favourites and a first I saw of dad eating it and savouring every bit of web and collagen. I wasn't adventurous enough.
Listening quietly to their reminiscing of Uncle Manu and his culinary palates, I took a serving of the egg noodles. And found that these were packed with flavour and no strong taste of red meat. It might be the stewing process in the metal pot that has infused all the flavour from the gravy into the noodles and the ginger slices that has done its job well. This was good. Very good indeed.


Hello to oysters that were everywhere in sight in this pillow of fluffy egg fried with chopped spring onions that hid a stash of raw beansprouts that would do well to take away the greasiness of the egg mixture. Take this in moderation. It's good on taste but not so good for the arteries. Of course this was easier on the body system than the ones that come with a good proportion of fried cornstarch. In any case, I always think I only live once. Actually somehow, I seem to have that thought once a meal. Hmm. :D


Teochew style. Fresh promfret. Have you seen one this size? You might have but I wouldn't want to know the big hole that would make in your pocket if we ordered this in Singapore.
A simple fish dish with thai influence that sees itself true with strong salty, sour and sweet flavours all at once in that gravy that could almost pass off as soup. Beware the appetite! :) 
The ohsocolourful toppings of pickled radish, chilli slices, garlic and parsley made for great sides to go with the firm, fresh fish meat that was in abundance on a promfret of this size. A treat for the senses. There was no need to be shy with taking bigger portions of this. It was more than enough for our table of 12.


This was a house special. I have never seen steamed minced meat on crab pincers. I don't see what this might have done for the crab meat except that it was an added layer of taste. The minced meat was liberally marinated with black pepper. A more complex version of a black pepper crab? The crab meat was well done, not sticking to the sides of the shell but coming off with a fair amount of ease. This was novel but otherwise, it probably could do without the minced meat. No loss?


A baby suckling pig! :( I was upset seeing this guy on the table. It didn't help that he was facing me because I had the camera in hand. But eventually I reached out for one piece of crisp skin. And this was crisp, crackled skin with minimal to no fat. Wow. This was some expert slicing. And if this wasn't impressive enough, check out the ears. The ears were skinned too. Impressive innit? Of course I lost my appetite and no, I had no courage to eat no ears nor the skin of the ears. I'm sorry buddy. If it was any help, your skin tasted awesome on its own, or with sweet sauce, cucumber slices wrapped in pancake skin.

And what happens to the meat? This was done with a liberal amount of salt and dark soy sauce. It was too salty and too overfried. Twice fried probably since this baby was probably grilled and deep fried to a crisp already from the start. We each took a small piece and the rest was doggy bagged.


We finished dinner with deep fried yam sticks that had an outer coating of crisp white icing sugar. I enjoyed this but please, just limit yourself to one. It's a very sweet treat indeed. And just about balanced out by that cleansing tieguanyin tea potent even with its minute serving cups.

This was all in one dinner. I kid you not. I was waddling by this time of the night.
I would've appreciated better balance with webbed feet.
If I were a goose, that could have been me served with egg noodles. If it was any consolation, at least I tasted awesome. :)

Yet another eating place for keeps next time we're in Bangkok. Couldn't have managed this without you Uncle Aek. Transport and food. Right after arrival in Bangkok. Every year I get to live a little like kings and queens in a place where I visit family, a place that's become just like home. :)

When's the last time you went exploring in Bangkok's Chinatown?
Do share if you have discovered any hidden treats!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

T restaurant

T Restaurant has been a landmark for almost 30 years at Nai Lert Market in Pratunam until development forced the restaurant out. Just further down the road from the Makkasan Railway Station that offers direct train access to the airport, it now offers a large array of their award winning seafood at their location just up the street on Rajprarob Road. Easy to spot, the restaurant has a large neon sign on the side of the building with a large crab and patrons enter to find the fresh catch of the day in large tanks of fish and seafood and a large dining area with huge chrome style pillars separating the space. The interior has not seen change for the past few times we've dined here and is becoming to look a little decrepit but there must be something that keeps us coming back...


If you haven't had a promfret steamboat. You ain't had nothing yet! This promfret fed a table of 12 people. I have no idea how much it must've weighed but it was fish that had good bite and a taste of simple fresh! The soup was boiled in charcoal steamboats close enough to the dining table so that you could get seconds or like me, thirds during the course of dinner.
Fresh garland chrysanthemum (tang oh) vegetable leaves are quickly blanched in the soup when it comes to a boil and placed at the bottom of the small soup bowl before two pieces of promfret and soup are spooned into the bowl. Naturally sweet tasting soup, fresh greens and firm pieces of promfret meat. This was good enough on its own and made better with their appetizing seafood sauce and green chilli :)

But then again, this was Bangkok and there's no better reason than being in the company of family and friends to get stuffed! Or no, let's put this into perspective. 
Now there's no better time to order everything on the menu that's awesome just because this time, we have the numbers to share these delights with!

So of course the promfret couldn't possibly be the first dish. It's too much of a show stopper. Spoilsport! :p



Crabmeat fried rice. The importance of generous servings of crabmeat as shown right here. The rice grains were loosely fried with egg and scallions with an evident breath of wok fire. The crabmeat fried rice here in Bangkok has always -shown- itself true. Pun entirely intended. This was crabby carbs totally worth their weight :)



These flower clams with their pretty prints. The sauce was savoury, a generous use of fish sauce and slightly spicy. Makes you want to put the shell into your mouths to eat the clams together with that awesomely addictive sauce.
  

I don't see oysters this size in Singapore. The eggy bits were thick and fluffy but it also came with a generous amount of cornstarch which you might skip if you didn't want to make this your carb staple. All this on a bed of raw beansprouts and spring onions which were lightly cooked on the hotplate which it was served on. It was oily, carbo laden and ohsoverygood, it was gone in a few servings. :)



I like my veggies, mushrooms and why wouldn't I sppreciate the addition of bamboo clams? :) The kale retain its green and crunchy stems. Mushrooms and bamboo clams soaking in the flavours of the oyster sauce in which it was stir fried. So much for grandma thinking these bamboo clams were pigs intestines. *shivers.

And here we had a quick advertisement break with the lady boss who came over and was so pleased to hear that we were diners from Singapore, the place where she sent her children for school before going onto universities. She's a very friendly and hospitable boss but don't bother about discounts. We tried asking in jest and all our comments on discounts and VIP cards were ignored. Somehow it was all about hearing the good things. :p



Bamboo shoots are one of those vegetables that could potentially kill if not cooked appropriately.Seems it isn't possible to buy these fresh from any of our local markets already. Grandma gets her stash from the markets in Johor and uses them to cook her HockChiew styled beehoon in thick soup. Now, these bamboo shoot slices had a crunch to them that spoke of fresh good stir frying. And a side kick of fresh prawns with some good bite made it all the better. :)


Just in case there wasn't enough food, why don't we have a pot of green mussels while we're at it. Something my dad has sworn off because he's got psychological issues. Lots of them. But I digress. So he sees them as fish bait and will not touch them at all. These green mussels were simply done with mint basil leaves, lemon grass, chopped garlic and chilli. The flavours weren't very much infused into the mussels or maybe we were just all too full by then.

Now all this was just one dinner. And if I forgot, these came in doubles. Two servings of everything for our party of 12. It was a party alright!

Have you tried this Chinese-Thai landmark and if you haven't, there's no time like the next Bangkok trip to do just that! :)

T restaurant.
78/12-16 Rajprarob Road,
Rajthevee, Payathai, Bangkok


 Thanks for dinner Uncle Aek!