We had Penang food for lunch that afternoon and looking around, I was amused by a signboard “Ministry of Rojak”. I had thought the shop to be selling music CDs (somehow the name brought to mind, Ministry of Sound) or different types of salad since rojak, to me, means “chap pa lang” (a bit of everything) and this being a food alley near the MRT. It was only when Valerie asked, “Do you want some Indian Rojak, mom?” did I realise OMG I haven’t had them since my last post on it from Siraj at Albert Complex Food Centre and that was in September 2013! “Yes, please.”

I could barely remember but the first time I ate Indian Rojak, it was probably in my pre-teens at Rasa Singapura Food Centre, now defunct. It was located in Tanglin Road at Tudor Court, near The Regent, Singapore and had a signboard that said “Waterloo Street” or something like that.

Rojak (Malaysian and Singaporean spelling) or Rujak (Indonesian spelling) is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The term “Rojak” is Malay for mixture. – Wikipedia

There are several types of rojak (salad). There’s the Chinese rojak, Malay rojak, Indian rojak and then there’s the standard rojak of fruits & vegetables, the youtiao & taupok rojak and just fruits only rojak and the list may go on. I am not a big fan of Chinese rojak with the pungent prawn paste known as “Haeko” and when I do eat them usually off a friend’s plate, it’s the pineapples, youtiao and century eggs that I go for. When it comes to ethnic “salads” I am most interested in the Indonesian Gado Gado and Indian Rojak!

Indian Rojak is also known as Mamak Rojak in Singapore, or Pasembur in Malaysia (popular in Penang). While the items on offer may have a slight variation, the key difference between the two countries’ offering is the presentation. Pasembur has shredded cucumber and radish piled on top of the chosen ingredients and then drowned with the gooey sauce while Singapore’s Indian Rojak are served with thickly cut cucumbers, green chillies and raw onions, and with the sweet potato peanut sauce in a separate bowl for dipping.

Ministry of Rojak (MoR).

Ministry of Rojak is an expansion of Abdhus Salam Rojak, hailing from the Ayer Rajah Hawker Centre.

MoR’s offerings are quite extensive and I wonder if they were all “home-made” or if they do buy some items like ngoh hiang, fish cakes, alkaline squid, paru, etc… etc…  from food suppliers.

My daughter and grandson, picking out the items we had for Indian Rojak.

These are mostly dough fritters with different fillings some examples are desiccated coconuts, vegetables, potatoes, hot dogs, crab sticks and real seafood of sorts.
There’s items like squid and tofu that’s not coated with batter.

After you’re done choosing, you pass your plate to the vendor who will reheat/deep-fry the items and serve them with some sliced cucumbers, green chillies and onions together with a side dip of savoury sweet sauce, not spicy and has crushed peanuts in it.

With Siraj, I mentioned that I found the sweet potato sauce to be a little on the sugary side. The viscosity of the gravy was too thin for my taste. I felt the sauce could be slightly richer. I am not a food critic nor connoisseur and perhaps with Siraj’s, that is the traditional recipe that is being adhered to and I am pouting modern taste but MoR has scored on their nutty sweet potato dip and seemed more palatable to me. The fried ingredients may be slightly compromised through no fault of MoR since we did not eat them there and then but had brought the fare back home and only open up the package to “shoot” (these photos) and eat after rocking little TJ to sleep. Even then, I am satisfied! During our makan, I was telling Valerie it is very big leap of faith taking Indian Street Cuisine to a new level by paying exorbitant rental in a shopping mall with quite limited seating capacity.

Here we have (next to the sauce from right) sliced whole squid with roe intact, taukwa (firm soya bean cake), coconut dough (bottom – with some black specks, that’s from the coconut), and vegetable dough (spinach and carrot).

Some of the standard must-haves in Indian Rojak is the taukwa (firm tofu) and the small prawns fritters and for me, it would be the coconut dough.

In my personal opinion, the most important item to complete an Indian Rojak meal is the dipping sauce!

I usually write my food posts without browsing the net first so as not to be unconsciously swayed by other foodies’ taste experiences. After I’m done with my draft do I check what others (if any) have penned as I am particularly keen on the facts and not opinions about that business. As I surfed the internet to see if there’s more information about this gungho vendor, I came across this crowd funding article:

“Today, I am turning my dream into reality. As a young boy, I witnessed firsthand my parents’ tireless efforts to make a living for our family. Now is my time to give back. I left my job as an assistant engineer at a semiconductor company to take over my father’s rojak business. Despite naysayers saying that I would be wasting my Honours Degree, I knew it was the right thing to do; I was more cut out to run my own business.

At Ayer Rajah Food Centre, where my father runs Abdhus Salam Rojak, days begin as early as 3am. 7 hours of preparation goes into the ingredients before the stall opens at 11am, only to close at 11pm.

My turning point came when my father started experiencing chest pains, and I knew it was time for him to retire. I couldn’t just stand by and let him work such long hours when he was unwell, so I made the decision to step into this full time. My dad worked so hard to build the Indian Rojak Empire that exists today, and I do not want it to be a wasted effort. His efforts to be the best, has won the shop several awards and achievements. Some of the awards include:-

Awards:-
1. City Excellence Hawker Award (King of Kings – Indian Rojak) by City Gas
2. Where the Queue Starts 4 (Mediacorp Channel 8)
3. Best Food Awards 2013/14 by Green Book

Achievements:-
1. Handpicked by the Prime Minister’s Office to represent Indian Rojak as one of Singapore’s Iconic Foods
2. Participant in Singapore Day Events in London, Sydney and Shanghai, representing Indian Rojak
3. Participant at the World Street Food Congress 2015

All the skills and secrets that he has passed down to me will amount to nothing, unless I make use of them; and I want to expand on the journey he began. Publicly recognised as a young hawker-preneur, I have been featured in newspapers and magazines, and on TV.

I am in midst of expanding this business to the heartlands, at White Sands Pasir Ris Shopping Centre. With time, I want to increase the number of outlets across Singapore. The new outlets will be named Ministry of Rojak by Abdhus Salam Rojak. Once established, I plan to penetrate the overseas market as well.

Why am I making this move? My vision is to preserve Singapore’s food heritage. I don’t want Indian rojak to be something of Singapore’s past, I want it to be something that younger Singaporeans can also connect with. Opening an outlet at a mall would create a comfortable environment for people of all ages to enjoy Indian rojak.” – Mr. Abdhus (http://www.cfasia.org/en/CrowdfundingAsiaFestivalBOLD2015/pitcher/Ministryofrojak/)

I am always intrigued by young entrepreneurs who dream big. They remind me of my son-in-law, Ryan, a go-getter! I sincerely wish the young Mr. Abdhus all the best in his business ventures!

Ministry of Rojak by Abdhus Salam Rojak
Address: White Sands Shopping Centre.
1 Pasir Ris Central Street 3,
Singapore 518457.
Unit #01-30

Opening hours: Daily
11am – 10pm

Happy eating and bonding :)

See more localised Indian food:
Indian Street Food – Siraj

Remember I talked about salted egg yolk and gooey lava craze in Singapore’s F&B industry? Well, it has finally hit our local bakery scene of late from eastern liu sar bao to western croissants and now, Lava Cheese Tarts and a variant Salted Yolk Lava Cheese Tarts!

Salted Yolk Lava Cheese Tarts.

Launched on 8th April 2016, the Lava Cheese Tart is priced at $2.40 each and the Salted Yolk Lava Cheese Tart at $2.80 each. And from now till 30th April 2016, these tarts are offered at introductory prices of S$2 and S$2.40 respectively.

There’s a Prima Deli outlet near us. This outlet only serves waffles cooked on the spot but the other items are made in their central kitchen and delivered to the stall in the foodcourt. Valerie and I were walking by that particular outlet when we saw its promotional poster already printed with a “SOLD OUT”. Prima Deli was pretty confident that their tarts would fly off the shelves as “engineered”. It always pay to have clever marketing tactics in addition to good products!

“FIRST IN SINGAPORE – Salted Yolk Lava Cheese Tart!
Building on the popularity of the baked cheese tarts that have taken Japan and Hong Kong by storm, we are proud to introduce our take on this mouth-watering treat!

Rich & creamy cheese paired with molten salted yolk encased in melt-in-your-mouth buttery crust. Need we say more? You will fall in love with these tarts at first bite! These treats are also available in original lava cheese flavour.

Grab them before they fly off the shelves at all PrimaDeli outlets islandwide from Friday, 8th April 2016.” – Prima Deli

Eating is our national sports and thus when a new product is launched, foodies like us die die must have a try la! Vanessa placed an order of 2 Salted Yolk Lava and 2 Cheese Tart Original 2 days in advance since these are only available in limited quantity daily at all Prima Deli (40 outlets in Singapore) and we finally had a taste last Wednesday! As I retrieved the boxes gently out of the plastic bag, I saw a “how to enjoy these tarts” sticker on the packaging…

It is recommended that you eat them off the tray! Haha, just kidding but not too far-fetched actually. “Best to enjoy it Fresh!” or keep chilled and consume within 24 hours from time of purchase. One should reheat according to instructions pasted on their packaging for that perfect “lava” ooze. Which begs the question, “ah ne ho jiak, meh?”

“Thank you everyone for your support!
Due to overwhelming response, we are sold out of our Lava Cheese Tarts today. Please come back tomorrow for fresh tarts. While stocks last.
Kindly be informed that availability differs at each outlet due to their staggered delivery timings.” – Prima Deli announced on their Facebook page at 6.23pm, 8th April 2016.

Re-heating instructions:
At room temperature: 180°C for about 5-6 minutes.
If chilled: 180°C for a slightly longer time of 10-12 minutes.

Our tarts were not as “lava” nor “molten” as those posted by others but I am sure their essential tastes remained the same.

Since the tarts were still warm when Vanessa brought them over, we gathered that a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 5-6 minutes would do the trick but alas, we didn’t get the ultra flowing gooey-ness others had posted. Please don’t tell me that I was at fault because I took a few photos of them!

Anyway, Vanessa got pretty excited when the buttery aroma wafted through the air as the tarts came out of the oven while Valerie sulked since she couldn’t eat them (TJ is highly allergic to cheese and Valerie is still giving him breastmilk). I took a few shots for this blog post and we began eating. How did the taste test fare?

The Salted Yolk Lava Cheese Tart with creamy salted yolk custard atop the cheese filling had balanced layers of sweet and savoury flavours. Its delectable molten filling was revealed (didn’t ooze though) once we cut into the tart as shown in picture above. The Salted Yolk version passed the test. However, Vanessa’s pick is the Lava Cheese Tart Original, which featured the same luscious mound of tasty cheese filling in an almost-melt-in-the-mouth buttery shortcrust pastry that had been baked till golden with a slight caramelised finish. That said, I am not in a hurry to go out and buy it again. Don’t get me wrong, these tarts were delicious and indeed they passed our taste test with flying colours (jin jia ho jiak ah!) but the days of cheese cakes and cheese tarts are over for me. I don’t know… Maybe it’s the maternal guilt kicking in that since Valerie cannot enjoy them, I shouldn’t too. Who knows?!!!

Happy eating and bonding

“ah ne ho jiak, meh?” is Hokkien dialect meaning “are they really that tasty?”

“jin jia ho jiak ah!” literally means “very nice to eat!”.

I have waited 27 years to celebrate this day with my first grandchild! That’s not too bad considering I have friends who are still waiting…😉

Cheeky TJ and I celebrating Mother’s Day at OFC last Sunday.
I have to be vigilant with his inquisitive mind and exploring hands as anything that comes within his reach means an episode of intense struggle!

My firstborn and my first grandchild = picture perfect!

This year officially marks Valerie’s first Mother’s Day celebration (TJ was still in her womb last year) and we were looking forward to brunch at Open Farm Community where its casual environment is suitable even for families with very young children.

“Open Farm Community (OFC) is Spa Esprit Group’s initiative in spearheading local farming, connecting the community to nature, and celebrating local spirit. Sitting on a 35,000sq ft of green-land, OFC unites local farmers, creative chefs and an innovative spirit in a first-of-its-kind dining concept in Singapore.

Our vision is to bring to life, the impact of urban farming in Singapore, and in doing so, strengthen our understanding and respect for food and its origins. Our children, in particular, have been too segregated from nature. OFC is an ideological and physical reaction to this.” – from the website of OFC

Reception area of OFC.

Owner Cynthia Chua puts it, ““We want to provide a platform where families can come together and explore the many facets of food together through art, tours of the vegetable and fruit orchards, talks, gardening workshops, and of course, eating. Their layered experiences will also strengthen inter-generational relationships through quality time spent together.”

“In the open-concept kitchen and restaurant, Chef Ryan focuses on locally sourced, seasonal and innovative dishes. Every month, curated farmer’s markets allow guests to deepen the pleasures of simple, freshly harvested ingredients that is both nourishing and a visual feast.” – from the website of OFC

Let’s get to the food! In order of appearance:

‘Hail Caesar’ house smoked chicken, 5J jamon, horseradish caesar dressing, fresh romaine lettuce.
The rustic croutons are huge! This dish makes a good light lunch.

Sautéed Local Clams with warm bread and lemon meunière sauce.
I loved the bread but I found the sauce a little too sour for my taste.

Vanessa’s main course of Fresh Clam Taglierini, garlic sauce, parsley shad and lemon butter.

Ryan’s main course of Mud Crab Pappardelle with Thai curry sauce, crunchy yellow squash, coconut and crispy shallot Thai basil.

My main course of Carnaroli Risotto, chorizo, cuttlefish, ebi, green peas, saffron threads and crispy serrano.

I had thought them to be jamón but the crispy serrano were just as delicious!
“The majority of serrano hams are made from the landrace breed of white pig and are not to be confused with the much more expensive jamón ibérico.” – Wikipedia

The 48 hour Barolo Braised Oxtail Strozzapreti, parmesan wafers and wild thyme is the only dish Valerie can have on the menu.
We had requested that the parmesan wafers be served on the side as Valerie cannot take dairy products since she is still giving TJ breastmilk. TJ is allergic to milk proteins especially cheese.

Valerie enjoying her main course.

Valerie had Oxtail Strozzapreti not because the pasta looked like umbilical cord nor because she wanted to choke any priest but because that’s the only dairy-free option. By the way, the pasta has a very interesting origin to its name:

“There are several legends to explain the name: One is that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by the savory pasta that they ate too quickly and choked themselves, sometimes to death. Another explanation involves the “azdora” (“housewife” in the Romagna’s dialect), who “chokes” the dough strips to make the strozzapreti: “… in that particular moment you would presume that the azdora would express such a rage (perhaps triggered by the misery and difficulties of her life) to be able to strangle a priest!” Another legend goes that wives would customarily make the pasta for churchmen as partial payment for land rents (In Romagna, the Catholic Church had extensive land properties rented to farmers), and their husbands would be angered enough by the venal priests eating their wives’ food to wish the priests would choke as they stuffed their mouth with it. The name surely reflects the diffuse anticlericalism of the people of Romagna and Tuscany. Another possible explanation is that the pasta resembles a clerical collar, commonly referred to as a “Priest Choker”.” – Wikipedia

Chicken Katsu Burger, carrot spaghetti, iceberg lettuce, chiffonade, shoestring fries, lime mayo – all in between a spring onion bun!

Valerie was afraid Ryan may not have enough to eat with just a plate of pasta so she ordered this mains as a “side” for him, lol…

Lemon Tart with basil ice cream.
This was really good!
I loved the short-biting biscuits. The chilled lemon custard had the right sour. There were so many textures and flavours all bursting symphonically in my mouth as I paired the tart with the basil ice cream.

And, of course, there must be coffee to end a good meal with my wonderful company! Not skinny Latte this time round

Time for TJ to have his meal.

Taste is subjective and at every meal there will be some good and bad dishes. By bad, I mean dishes that do not match up to my (or my family’s) personal taste preferences but others may like them. We didn’t like the chicken katsu burger. And although I did luxuriate in the floral, earthy, and nutty flavour of the Spanish ham in the “Hail Caesar” salad, overall it was still so so experience only. While my children enjoyed the fresh clams starter, I find the sauce too sour and heavy for my liking (and I do love clams a lot)!

All of us enjoyed our main courses. According to my children, the pasta was cooked to perfection with every al dente strands coated nicely, and not drowning in its respective sauces. The oxtail, I stole a bite from Valerie, was scrumptiously tender. Despite the fact that while I was very pleased with my risotto (not a single grain of rice was spared), the big oomph for me was OFC’s lemon tart! I nearly freaked out on it! Maybe I should eat dessert for mains, haha… Happy Mother’s Day in advance my dear friends!

Open Farm Community
Address: 130E Minden Road,
Singapore 248819.

Tel: +65 6471 0306.

Opening Hours:
Mon – Fri: 12pm – 10pm
Sat – Sun/PH: 11am – 10pm

Note: Brunch Menu is available from 11am – 4.30pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays ONLY.

Take-away Shop:
Daily: 9am – 9pm

Happy eating and bonding!

Open Farm Community.
There’s outdoor seating (to the left of this photo) with 4 giant fan-coolers at each corner, and a take-away shop facing the restaurant.

See other Mother’s Day celebration I had:
NOT JAMES BOND BUT MATERNAL BOND!
MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH @ NOSH RESTAURANT & BAR
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION @ IMPERIAL TREASURE SUPER PEKING DUCK

We were on our way to Malacca, Malaysia to shoot the Malacca Straits Mosque but before that, we needed some foreign exchange and lunch. Steven said let’s go to Woodlands Centre a stone’s throw away from the immigration checkpoint, “There’s a great fish & seafood soup stall in the hawker centre that you may like”. Immediately, my mind recalled a post by Tony Johor Kaki. This dish was also replicated at home by Andrew who was kind enough to gave me some when he cooked them almost two years ago! I was getting excited now that I was about to taste the real McCoy!

When we reached there, Steven ordered one for me. Although he claimed this soup was famous (thus equating to great in my thought) he was not going to eat it. I wonder why? Something’s fishy going on here.

Yan Ji Wei Wei Seafood Soup 炎记威威食品.
Seafood Soup $6 (several thick slices of dory fish, 2 prawns, 3 meat balls).
Rice is an additional 50 cents.

Steven’s lunch of Charsiu Siew Yoke Fan (叉烧,烧肉饭).
The stall is on the same floor somewhere in the middle of the food centre).

Steven came back with his food and two cups of sugarcane drinks. He ate his Charsiu Siew Yoke Fan without event but professed that it was good when I asked him two days later.

After several minutes, my miserly-looking seafood soup came. There was a bit of mixed up during the order. We had seen other diners having seafood like prawns, crayfish and scallops (on half shell) filled to the brim of their bowls. Steven must have thought the menu is the same and that the different pricing are for S, M, L portions.

I took a sip of the broth first. Boom! The murky broth got my attention. It was rich with full-bodied umami sweet and savoury notes. I remembered Tony said that one of the key ingredients in Yan Ji’s seafood broth is the sun-dried Hokkaido scallops. I thought I detected gritty bits of tee poh fish in it, too! Tee poh fish is sun-dried flat fish that is usually added to minced pork or stock; it imparts a savoury sweetness to the dishes. Looking at those meat balls made me optimistic about my lunch! They looked nothing like the dreaded factory-made meat balls which I loathed. There were other chopped ingredients (i.e. mushrooms) and indeed, these balls were very yummy. The slices of dory fish were smooth and tasty. Although prawns are not my choice seafood, these were fresh and succulent!

Yan Ji Wei Wei Seafood Soup Stall 炎记威威食品.

It’s been a long time since I ate anything good enough to rave about in a post. Lunch at Yan Ji Wei Wei Seafood Soup 炎记威威食品 was so impressive that I told Steven, “This is one meal I would come back for” even if I have to travel 20km for it! Next round, I shall have the crayfish scallop version and yes, with lots more meat balls, too!

Yan Ji Wei Wei Seafood Soup 炎记威威食品
Address: Woodlands Centre Road Food Centre
Blk 4A, Stall #02-11
Hours: 11:00am to 4:00pm (Closed on Mondays)

Branch: BroadWay Coffeeshop
Blk 19, Marsiling Lane.
Singapore 730021.

Happy eating and bonding

24 Karat Edible Gold Dust Brownie from Chalk Farm, a cake company in Singapore. Don’t worry, it didn’t cost me an arm or leg.

A kilo cost S$60 and this chunk was one of the 12 slices so it cost me only S$5. That said, how was the taste? Like any good old brownie should! Fudgy and moist with rich chocolatey taste. Now you can get your glitter game face on!

24 Karat Edible Gold Dust Brownie.

Happy eating and bonding!

Last Monday could not be any more blue…

TJ was (still is) ill with no conclusive diagnosis from the doctors we visited. The first doctor said TJ likely has false measles – Roseola, sometimes called Sixth Disease or baby measles, which is characterised by a high fever, followed by a pink-red raised or flat rash. It is a disease of children, generally under two years old.

Monday came and TJ’s fever was under control but there are times (lasting a couple to 4 hours) where he would shriek hysterically and slap his own cheeks, contorted in pain. Was he teething, his molars? Valerie went berserk! She had been unable to eat or sleep well during the weekend caring for TJ, so I offered to bring her to lunch. Val indicated she would like something spicy. I suggested nasi padang.

We drove past where Garuda Padang was supposed to be located in East Coast Road but couldn’t locate the shop so we made a U-turn to Glory Catering, their shutters were down! We then U-turned again and decided to park the car and walk along the shophouses to Kartika Jaya Indonesian Food. Lunch crowd had gone along with the food, their displayed items dwindled.

“Western?”

“No.”

“Ramen?”

“No.”

“Laksa?”

“No.”

“Thai?”

“No.”

We had been walking up and down along the 3 blocks of old shophouses and I could feel my temperature rising even though it was a cold day. And TJ was starting to fuss which added to my anxiety.

“Where to now?!!!” I asked impatiently. You see, I, too, was under the weather during the weekend and had not eaten for nearly 24 hours. I could feel my gastric coming on and was losing patience due to helplessness – we still could not decide on a cuisine, talk about picking a venue, for 4pm was also the rest-between-shifts-hours of most restaurants!

How about Delicious Boneless Chicken Rice?

“Ok!”

So we trudge along in the rain, carrying TJ, baby backpack, baby carrier and an umbrella towards Katong Shopping Centre. Guess what? They are closed, too! I could have knocked myself on the head coz I have reviewed this place before and should have known the operating days!

“WTF” was about to be spouted but I bit my tongue and asked, “YTF?”

“Ok, Yong Tau Fu!” KT was relieved that Valerie and I finally settled on something he was keen.

Sour Plum Drink S$1.80 each.

Ampang Yong Tou Fu Set for 3 persons.

We finally get to dig in!

I had eaten here with Keef many years back and he had done the ordering so this time round I was a bit stumped but the lady was quick to recommend us, “You can choose à la carte or get a set with a mix of everything for 3 persons.” We took the set and 3 rice. They do not serve noodles.

The food came in a jiffy, which was good since we were starved. In the green platter were clear stock broth presumably made of ikan bilis and soya beans. All their Niang Tou Fu or as we locals called it Yong Tau Fu (YTF) pieces, except for quail eggs, are stuffed with not just fish, but a combination of minced fish and pork paste, so that the stuffing looked a little greyish. KT loved it!

There’s 2 fried brinjal, 3 ladies fingers, 2 bitter gourd, 3 fishballs, 1 green chilli, 1 red chilli, 2 fried pig’s skin, 2 quail eggs, 4 fried crispy soya bean sheets, 3 fried soy puffs (taupok), countless taukwa (firm white tofu), and a couple of ngoh hiang. Don’t take my word for it, I failed my math but all in all, there was more than enough for 3 adults.

If you have bigger appetite or preference for certain ingredients, you can add the extras at 70 cents a pop. You can also ask for certain items that you do not like or are allergic to, to be removed from the standard sets.

Although their sweet and chilli sauces are great, I was able to eat these delicious YTF on their own and still detect subtle savouriness. Good for those on a “go light on seasoning” diet.

They do not have noodle options, only rice is served. Drinks menu are also limited to 2 items, sour plum and plain water.

Their YTF are made in-house daily to ensure freshness. This is definitely a no-frills eatery that focuses only on quality not quantity!

Ampang Niang Tou Fu 安邦酿豆腐.

Ampang Niang Tou Fu 安邦酿豆腐
Address: 225A East Coast Road,
Singapore 428922.

Tel:(+65) 6345 3289

Operating hours: 11.30am – 8.30pm
Closed on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Happy eating and bonding

I went to Valerie’s earlier than usual as she had to attend to some work and when I arrived she was about to order breakfast from McDonald’s.

“Hotcakes, mom?”

“No, I’ll have a Double Quarter Pounder.”

“Oh, that’s one of the regular items and only available after 11am.”

“Hmmm… What other items do they have?”

I went over to her screen, picked out one item which I hope would not be disappointing.

The order was placed and we waited for our delivery. Immediately, Valerie realised that the address on record was different as she had sent some burgers previously to Vanessa. She called their Customer Support, who then said he would cancel this order as the delivery outlet would be different even though the two addresses were a stone’s throw apart and he cannot amend the address online! So Valerie had to place a new order altogether. What a dread!

Anyway, food came and in no time, I would begin to understand why my some of friends, especially KT, are fascinated with McDonald’s breakfast!

Here’s what we had:

McDonald’s Breakfast Sausage McMuffin and Breakfast Wrap Sausage.

Breakfast Sunrise Roll Sausage.

Breakfast Hotcakes with Sausage came with the usual butter and syrup, packed separately.

The Hotcakes were very fluffy but I am not keen on their overall taste – the pancakes, butter and syrup. The Sausage McMuffin was slightly better as I like the gritty bits and chewy texture of the toasted muffins. The Breakfast Sunrise Roll Sausage (mine) had a juicy succulent elongated sausage patty and delicate scramble wrapped in soft wholemeal tortilla. We also had hash brown and corn cup for sides which are pretty standard.

I’ve only had McDonald’s twice since they introduced breakfast a long time ago but that could change. Next time KT asks, “McDonald’s breakfast?” It can happen! Lol…

You can order McDonald’s breakfast in Singapore here:
https://www.mcdelivery.com.sg/sg/home.html

Happy eating and bonding!

Bak Chor Mee (肉脞面) or BCM for short, is a staple street food in Singapore. You can be sure that if one stall (selling any food) is successful, there will be many copy cats using the same or similar name punctuated with “original” or stories of some relations linked either through blood or previous employment. That’s not much of a problem except confusion arises when they are within a stone’s throw to each other. There are so many Ah Lim’s Bak Chor Mee in Singapore that when I was searching for the intended stall’s exact address, I came across a few funny distinctions to the noodle stalls/street names i.e. “Jin Tua Kong”.

According to Sg Forums (http://bit.ly/2uHjYqs) Jalan Tua Kong = “Jalan” is Malay word for road, trail or path and “Tua Kong” in Hokkien dialect, depending on the intonation can mean either eldest grandfather (the older brother of your grandfather) or solid/big. Therefore, “Jin Tua Kong” in Hokkien means “Really Solid!” but the most hilarious translation has to go to Google when one reviewer Mr. Ong commented “(Original) Must try 肉搓面” to “(Translated by Google) Must try rubbing the surface of meat”.

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee (肉脞面) translation.

But Google is not at fault because Mr. Ong wrote “搓” instead of “脞”. And “面” can be face/surface or noodle. I’ll remember to rub the mince between my fingers next time I visit! Lol…

Definitions of 搓 (cuō) (http://bit.ly/2ufIg8z)
to twist
to rub or roll between the hands
rubbed
VERB: to rub or roll between the hands or fingers

Definitions of 脞 (cuǒ) (http://bit.ly/2uffViN)
NOUN: chopped meat
minced meat
trifles

See Mr. Ong Ken Gee’s original posting here (pls expand his comment): http://bit.ly/2ufEcoS

This article will give you more in depth of the Mee Pok War: http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/simpang-bedok-the-new-mee-pok-hot-spot

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee starts at S$4.

Dumplings available at Ah Lim’s.

Mee Kia or Mee Pok, both wheat noodles, as usual are the popular choices when it comes to Bak Chor Mee…

…but Vany and I prefer Kway Teow (broad rice noodle) with lots of chilli and vinegar.

Ah Lim’s is one of our favourite Bak Chor Mee places to eat.

This is one of my favourite BCM which is located in Soy Eu Tua Coffeeshop. If I am not wrong, it is also the cheaper, if not cheapest among the competitors, which starts at S$4 a bowl. Both the mee pok and fish balls have good QQ (bouncy) texture that is al dente and crisp to the bite. The sambal also has the right amount of savouriness and the ingredients are generous. Still, I prefer kway teow because they soaked up the gravy providing extra oomph to my meal!

There were recommendations that the chicken rice stall also serves good roast so we tried. Not bad but I won’t go out of the way to eat this nor the Cendol that is also sold in the same kopitiam.

Ah Lim Bak Chor Mee
inside Soy Eu Tua Coffeeshop
1 Jalan Tua Kong, along 15 Upper East Coast Rd,
Singapore 455207.

Opening Hours: 7am – 5pm (Close on Mondays)

Happy eating and bonding!

I had wanted to eat the famous KL-style charsiu siuyoke fan (roast meats with rice) but the hawker told us (in queue) that the charsiu is sold out and the next batch would be available at around 2pm.

Roast Paradise at 51 Old Airport Road #01-121, Singapore 390051.

Many dropped out of the line but I decided to stay after seeing a customer in front of me cart off with a bowl of delicious looking noodle dish. I quickly scanned the stall’s menu and placed an order for Hakka Noodle with roast pork. I did not mix the chilli into the noodles, preferring to get an original taste of the plain looking but surprisingly yummy clean flavour. This is a stall that I will be returning to to have a go at their charsiu fan (BBQ pork rice). The roast pork had crunchy crackling but the charsiu, in my humble opinion and personal taste preference, is the star ingredient!

Roast Paradise Hakka Noodle 烧味天堂客家面 – S$5.50. The stallholder managed to give me some burnt ends of charsiu which was delish! There’s no beansprouts (normally served in Hakka noodle) in this bowl but some sliced cucumbers were offered instead. There’s a self-serviced pot of clear broth (gratis) that you can help yourself to.

“There are numerous restaurants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand serving Hakka cuisine. Hakka cuisine was listed in 2014 on the first Hong Kong Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Hakka people have a marked cuisine and style of Chinese cooking which is little known outside the Hakka home. It concentrates on the texture of food – the hallmark of Hakka cuisine. Whereas preserved meats feature in Hakka delicacy, stewed, braised, roast meats – ‘texturised’ contributions to the Hakka palate – have a central place in their repertoire.” – Wikipedia

The Handmade Hakka Noodle Recipe below is from the kitchen of Mrs Lam (nee Lim Tai Moi), age 89. Special equipment needed Noodle/Pasta maker. Mrs Lam uses the Italian Ampia Tipo Lusso 150.

for the Noodles (makes 12 clusters – can feed up to 15 pax):
1 kg of Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon *Potassium Carbonate
450ml Water

for the Minced Meat:
1 cup cooking oil
500g minced Pork
10 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped (or to taste)
3 – 4 tablespoons Fish Sauce (or to taste)
3 tablespoons Dark Soya sauce

Garnish:
500g Bean Sprouts, cooked
Spring Onions, chopped
Fried Garlic + Garlic Oil

MAKE THE NOODLES:
1. Place the flour in a big mixing bowl.

Dissolve the potassium carbonate in the water to form the **lye water (碱水 / 鹼水) mixture.

“If you use too much it’ll become bitter. But if you don’t use it at all, the noodles won’t be nice. It becomes mee sua.”

2. Add the lye water to the flour one bit at a time, using your fingertips to gather the wet clumps.

Knead into fist-sized balls.

“Too much water and it’s not good; not enough water and it’s not good. You just need to agak-agak (estimate). You’ll get it with experience.”

3. Flatten the dough balls with your palm. Make sure it’s thin enough to fit into mode “1” of the machine.

“Use the soft part of your hand, and don’t use too much force, or you will hurt the dough.”

4. Put the flattened dough ball through mode “1” of the machine, take it out and fold the sheet in half, coat with a thin layer of wheat flour if too sticky. Do this step 3 times.

“Remember, don’t use tapioca starch for this, It’ll become very starchy and sticky if you do that. You have to use wheat flour.”

5. Then put the sheet through mode “2” once. The sheet should get thinner and longer.

“Just do it as many times as you need to make it look pretty.”

6. Then put the sheet through slot 3 to make noodles.

Sprinkle some tapioca flour over the noodle clumps.

You can keep the noodles for up to one week in the fridge.

MAKE THE MINCED PORK:
1. Heat the oil up for three minutes.

Throw in the garlic and fry until golden brown.

“Not too hot or it’ll burn. Use more garlic for more flavour.”

2. Add the fish sauce and minced pork. Fry for about 5 minutes, or until oil has “disappeared”.

“Use a lot of oil. Otherwise, you won’t have any gravy for the noodles.”

TO SERVE:
In a pot of boiling water, cook the noodles for about a minute.

“Once the noodles start floating, take it out.”

On a plate, serve the noodles with a helping of minced meat.

Garnish with boiled bean sprouts and spring onions.

Flavour with fish sauce and garlic oil.

Recipe Credit: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/mrs-lam-s-handmade-hakka-noodles-the-recipe-8783482

Watch Mrs. Lam’s noodle-making video here: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/mrs-lam-s-hakka-noodles-recipe-video-8783308

*Potassium carbonate (K2CO3) 碳酸钾 is a white salt, soluble in water (insoluble in ethanol) which forms a strongly alkaline solution. ~ Wikipedia

** Lye water also known as kansui (碱水 / 鹼水) is an alkaline solution that is safe to ingest in the final concentration that it’s used. It doesn’t significantly alter the flavour of the final product but it does change the texture.

Typically it is used in some noodle preparations to create a slightly chewy noodle rather than the conventional soft noodle.

Lye Water Info credit: http://ediblyasian.info/recipes/kansui-chinese-alkaline-salts-for-cooking-

Happy cooking, eating and bonding!

You may add roast meat, like siuyoke (roast pork), as seen in my lunch photo. You can find roast meat recipe here:
100% Crispy Roast Pork Belly Recipe

Assam Laksa is one of Penang’s signature street food fare (others famous street food include but not limited to Penang Char Kway Teow and Penang Prawn Mee Soup). It is a Pescatarian-suitable dish that contains no meat except for fish. This appetite-inducing-sweet-spicy-sour fishy (in a good way) noodle soup is well known in Penang, an island state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait.

The best one I’ve had (in the 80s) used to be served in the food court of Liang Court but it is no longer there. I have yet to find one that come close to it! Recently I visited the food centre at Old Airport Road and tried Penang Signature’s Assam Laksa.

Penang Signature Assam Laksa located at Stall #01-130, Old Airport Road, Singapore 390001.

While Penang Signature’s Assam Laksa tasted good and the stall was generous with their fish, I still find it lacking compared to my memory of the one I had from Liang Court. I supposed I have to tweak recipes and adjust them according to my personal taste preferences. I will certainly use more ginger flowers in my broth and garnish. That said, the stall’s noodle were very springy which I liked; I suspect they are not the normal coarse beehoon (made from rice flour) but the springy lai fun (made from rice flour and tapioca starch). Now where can I get lai fun in Singapore?

While researching for recipes online, I came across one that screams legitimacy – “AUTHENTIC LAKSA RECIPE BY A PENANG HAWKER ~ Penang hawker Madam Cheah Siew Mooi share her family’s recipe”. Clicking on the link led me to Her World’s (local magazine) article (published on 21 Mar 2016 by MIA CHENYZE) – Penang Assam Laksa Recipe by Madam Cheah Siew Mooi of Boon Wah Café, 2nd Floor Komtar Complex, 29 Jalan Penang, Penang, Malaysia. Time to put on the apron and embark on another culinary adventure!

INGREDIENTS (Serves 10)

For the soup:
1kg fresh sardine/mackerel/kambong fish, cleaned and blanched.
3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced.
Bulb of 1 ginger flower, thinly sliced.
8 shallots.
250g belacan (this could be a mistake! I will try 25g first and then increase as I go along if not enough. I doubt this to be accurate as belacan is very salty).
2L water.
2 tbsp chilli paste.
10g tamarind skin.
10g tamarind paste.
150g laksa leaves.
1 tbsp salt, to taste.
1 tbsp sugar, to taste.

1 kg fresh coarse rice noodles, soaked in cold water for 15 min and strained.

For garnish:
100g prawn paste, mixed well with 50ml hot water
300g Chinese lettuce, cut into thin strips about 2cm long
100g mint leaves
1 red onion, cut into thin strips about 2cm long
1 cucumber, cut into thin strips about 2cm long
4 chilli padi, sliced diagonally
1 pineapple, cut into thin strips about 2cm long

DIRECTIONS

For the soup:
Place a large pot of water to the boil. Add the blanched fish and simmer for another 15min, then remove the fish and let it cool on a plate. Debone the fish and roughly break it into small chunks.

Blend the lemongrass, ginger flower, shallots and belacan till smooth. Set another pot with 2L water to the boil. Add the blended paste and the rest of the soup ingredients, except the salt and sugar. Simmer for 30min until fragrant, then take out the laksa leaves.

Add the fish into the pot, bring to the boil, then simmer for 1h. Stir in the salt and sugar, taste, and slowly adjust by half teaspoons if necessary.

To serve:
Blanch the noodles in the hot soup for 15s.
To serve, pour soup over the noodles, a tsp of the prawn paste mixture, and a handful of the remaining garnishes.

Happy cooking, eating and bonding!

Information & Recipe Sharing Credit (and for more recipes): http://www.herworld.com/solutions/recipes/authentic-laksa-recipe-penang-hawker

I’ve heard a lot about this supposedly famous Eng’s Wantan Noodle when I returned to Singapore in 2013 (after 10 years abroad) and its super fiery chili sauce. I have eaten it during their days in Dunman Food Centre in the 1980s but not when they moved into a shophouse at 287 Tanjong Katong Road. I finally got around to try it in 2017 and have not returned as it did not live up to my expectations; noodles were al dente but not QQ and chilli sauce not as tongue searing as touted, fried wanton was crispy but left no impression if they were tasty (overall experience, Koung’s Wan Tan Mee in Geylang and Guangzhou Mian Shi Wanton Noodle in Tanglin Halt Road are more to my palate).

Eng’s Wantan Noodle at 287 Tanjong Katong Road.

Crispy wantons but no special impression in taste.

Found out that hawker Ng Ba Eng, the man who started the business, had passed on from heart attack in 2013 and the shop was run by his son and and the late Mr. Ng’s business partner. The son and business partner split up in 2016, due to differing views in running the business and Desmond Ng parted ways with his father’s biz partner. Maybe that’s the reason why it didn’t taste as good as touted? Lao Huo Tang Group (soup chain) took over the lease for the 287 Tanjong Katong Road shop, and re-opened the eatery in April 2018. That said, Desmond has also opened his own shop “Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee” at 248 Tanjong Katong Road on 13th May 2018​​​​​​​. I have yet to try both eateries but I am hearing/seeing more favourable reviews for Desmond’s with more QQ noodle texture and fragrant chilli sauce.

Have you eaten at any of these shops yet? Hmmm… Time to get out and taste them for myself!

(The Original) Eng’s Wantan Noodle (tried in 2017, before Lao Huo Tang took over in 2018)
Address: 287 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437070.
Opening hours: Daily 11am – 9pm

Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee (I have yet to try the newly opened shop by son, Desmond)
Address: 248/250 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437036.
Opening hours: Daily 10.30am – 9pm

Happy eating and bonding!

P.S. I had not intend to review Eng’s Wanton Noodle in 2017 as it didn’t impress me but now there’s two, I thought it is appropriate to dig up my old photos and do a prelude to the Eng’s vs Eng’s in my upcoming trip to both shops.

Click to see result of Eng’s vs Eng’s here.

As promised in my previous post, I ate at both shops yesterday. The first stop was Eng’s (Original) Wantan Noodle at 287, Tanjong Katong Road. We had parked behind the shop so we went in by the back door.

Entrance from the carpark behind Eng’s (Original) Wantan Noodle at 287, Tanjong Katong Road. Saw a delivery man going in to collect food; I think it’s Deliveroo (not confirmed).

Check your order chit and bring it to the service counter and pay upfront for food. Food and drinks will be served to you at your table.

The infamous super HOT chilli is not that intimidating in reality.

Food came rather quickly with the crispy fried wantons arriving first.

The Wanton Noodle dish came promptly after the wantons. There’s some seasoning mix in the bowl so young kids and non-spicy fans can eat off without adding chilli sauce.

The boiled dumplings had a thick “rim” as the skin-filling ratio weren’t balanced resulting in undercooked wanton skin in that area.

The undercooked parts were discarded as there’s alkaline taste unacceptable to me (but some people like that).

Date of visit: 2nd June 2018
Wantan Mee Dry Small S$4.50
Fried Wantan S$3
Barley Cold S$1.50

I came in through their back door and left by the entrance because I had a Mee ssion mission… 
Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee here I come!

Across the road to Eng’s Wantan Noodle’s left is Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee (two yellow signboards below the street lamp).

Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee at 248/250 Tanjong Katong Road is run by Desmond Ng.

Pardon the poor snap shot of the shopfront as I was standing on a busy road with no room to take a full frontal.

Similar template of order chit.

Same price tag!
Find a table, write your order, bring order chit to counter and pay there. If you have drinks it’s self service. Go back to table and wait for food.

Desmond’s Fried Wantans looked so much more generous. Their appearance alone already scored points with me; bulging parcels in light golden hue.

Food were brought to our table all at once.

Their Boiled Wantan were cooked evenly with no undercooked part where the pinching was executed in the process of sealing these tasty pouches. Sounds painful, right? Lol…

Seated in the middle of the restaurant (I’m facing inward, my back to its entrance), I couldn’t help but noticed a prominent contrast in the shop’s lighting. To my right, the eatery is brightly lit whereas the entrance and towards the drinks service counter were rather dim. From outside, it gave me a feeling as though they were about to close shop for the day.

Battle of Eng’s Noodle vs Eng’s Mee:

Eng’s Wantan Noodle [Original] 榮雲吞麵 [正宗] (by Lao Huo Tang)
Point of Purchase:
Very simple and systematic.
1) You find a table big enough for yourself and your family/friends or share table with other patrons during peak hours.
2) Write your order on the printed sheets provided at every table, bring it to the cashier’s and pay upfront. Transaction done!
3) Drinks and food items will be delivered to you. Service was fast and efficient.

Fried Wantan: Wantans were crispy and hard-textured. If you have soft upper palate, it could poke and hurt you. Technique is to let the filled part into the mouth first. The fillings were almost halved the portion and not as moist in comparison to their rival shop. I didn’t count but I think both shops serve 8 dumplings at S$3 per small portion.

Soup: The soup had a strange Japanese feel to it. It reminded me of bonito flakes or the like of drinking miso soup. That completely threw me off. I cannot and would not be able relate this soup to wanton mee at all if eating blindfolded.

Noodle & BBQ Pork:
Delightfully, the noodle tasted better than what I remembered from my 2017 visit. The char siew were portioned miserly and served with a few strands of limp chye sim (Chinese mustard leaves).

Barley Drink:
Home-made version that is thick and gooey which is the same as most stalls island-wide (not my kind of drink, I prefer those that were boiled for lesser period of time).

Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee 榮高叉燒雲吞麵 (by Desmond Ng)
Point of Purchase:
System is similar but flow is less fluid.
1) You find a table big enough for yourself and your family/friends or share table with other patrons during peak hours.
2) Write your order on the printed sheets provided at every table, bring it to the cashier’s and pay upfront. Transaction done!
3) You go to the drinks counter and get your own drinks. Depending on where you are seated – we happened to sit near the entrance so it was a triangular route (to think that we had to self serve, mind you this is a shop not food court. Am I being overbearing? Nah!). Food items will be delivered to you. Service was slower than the original Eng’s but staff is friendly.

Fried Wantan: Light golden hue in colour (new oil?), their bulging wantons seemed crispy. Just its 卖相 (outward appearance) alone, Eng’s Char Siew Wanton Mee’s is a coup de grâce! Took a bite; crunch crunch crunch… Yup, I can also confirm that the filling was indeed moist and definitely more flavoursome than the original Eng’s. The boiled wantans were also flavourful and juicy and the skin were uniformly cooked through even at the pinched area.

Soup: The soup also had a hint of the bonito/miso flavour but very much subtle than the original Eng’s. Both shops’ soup lacked the umami characteristic of broth made with anchovies. I must stress that the original Eng’s soup tasted sweeter and more bodied even though I could not marry their soup with this type of noodle dish.

Noodle & BBQ Pork:
Unfortunately, the noodle did not taste any better than the original Eng’s. Without chilli sauce, their seasoning mix was delicious when I ate the noodle. After adding the chilli sauce which I had tasted on its own which seemed rather raw and bland (just heat and not any more fragrant) when compared to the original Eng’s. Their char siew were overly sweet for my taste. Xiao bai cai (小白菜) or baby bok choy (a member of the cabbage family) was served instead of chye sim.

Barley Drink:
Home-made version that is thick and gooey just like the original Eng’s but somehow seemed more refreshing. Maybe because it was just a tad sweeter and colder which lifted the dull starchy gruel feel. Maybe it’s just my imagination after two rounds of identical menu.

Chilli Sauce:
I prefer the chilli sauce from Eng’s Wantan Noodle (Original) because the other tasted a bit “raw” to me.

Shop Ambience: I prefer the 287 Tanjong Katong shop. It is bright and well ventilated. The 248/250 shop was a little dingy at the entrance as well as the whole stretch on its left. I am guessing the contractor could not balance the lighting due to the building’s internal structure. There are also many mirrors inside the shop so much so that I’m wondering if they were Fengshui related as those non-full-length mirrors do not seem to play the part of making the shop look bigger. The mirrors do not irk me in any sense, just a note on its decor. What seemed to bother me slightly was the number of mechanical fans mounted on the ceiling and walls – although they are useful climate control great for our thermal comfort, my stray hairs kept poking my eyes due to the wind movement. Sorry, these Asian baby hair will never grow thick enough to be clipped. Our mee and soup also turned cold within minutes. I hope they maintain their fans well (fans are new right now as the shop just opened for business in May) or dust particles may be blown onto our food from all directions. That said, both places were neat as a button, with their tables promptly cleaned as customers leave.

Ok, the nana in me is in a 罗唆 (nagging) mode and rearing her ugly horns  so I am going to digress a little. Please realise that “while fans are often used to cool people, they do not actually cool air (if anything, electric fans warm it slightly due to the warming of their motors), but work by evaporative cooling of sweat and increased heat convection into the surrounding air due to the airflow from the fans. Thus, fans may become ineffective at cooling the body if the surrounding air is near body temperature and contains high humidity. During periods of very high heat and humidity, governments actually advise against the use of fans.” – Wikipedia

If the place is air conditioned, employ air curtains instead.

The invisible curtains are usually installed at the entrances or exits of supermarkets, theaters, lounges, shopping malls, lobbies,  exhibition halls, churches, shops, manufacturing floors or warehouses. Most of the time, these doorways are kept open all the time for operational purposes. It is also used as a way to separate the smoking and non-smoking areas.

Energy is conserved as these curtains help to keep the air conditioned space or heated space to be confined within the building. During hot weather, it creates a barrier that keeps the humid and hot environment outside the building from coming into the conditioned space. By doing this, the internal humidity and temperature of the space are maintained to the comfort level of the occupants.

Of course, the most efficient way to conserve energy is to close the doorways with the doors but sometimes this is not possible due to the frequent use of the doorways. Usually, the energy conserved over a period of 1-2 years is able to justify the installation cost of the equipment. – https://www.airconditioning-systems.com/aircurtain.html

Horns duly retracted and back on track.

Verdict of Eng’s Noodle (a.k.a. Noodle) vs Eng’s Mee (a.k.a. Mee):
I brought along uncle Hee, a self-professed “I’m not a food snob” on this mission. He liked me Mee better than Noodle, while I like Noodle better than hee Mee. Both Noodle and Mee did not possess QQ texture. The Noodle has better bite than Mee which was quite soft, almost soggy with continuous mouthful, this evening. Could be an “off” day for Eng’s Mee. We both agree that Mee’s fried wantans are better. In fact, I think they are way better than many other wanton mee stalls/eateries/restaurants islandwide, too! Both of us were baffled by the “Japanese” soup served at Eng’s Noodle. While my partner preferred the soup at Eng’s Mee, I am still equivocal. Nothing beats a mild flavoured ikan bilis clear broth when having heritage food such as wanton (says who? say) mee!

Taste is personal, it is also emotional and feasibly social. Due to our diverse cultural backgrounds, it is therefore safe for me to assume that we develop and demonstrate exclusive preferences. Every individual’s capacity to sense and accept certain flavours can be extremely subjective when it comes to food. While both the Eng’s seemed to have garnered a huge fan base (and in order not to offend anyone), let’s just say Hee and I would not be headed their way any time soon.

Without prejudice, I shall be sociable and join my friends should they want to eat at Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee. I’ll pursed my thick lips when it comes to mee and open sesame when dumplings arrive.

Eng’s Wantan Noodle [Original] 榮雲吞麵 [正宗] (by Lao Huo Tang)
Address: 287 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437070.
Opening hours: Daily 11am – 9pm

Eng’s Char Siew Wantan Mee 榮高叉燒雲吞麵 (by Desmond Ng)
Address: 248/250 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437036.
Opening hours: Daily 10.30am – 9pm

Happy eating and bonding!

P.S. Wantan is also spelt (spelled) as Wanton and I tend to write more often as wantOn.

See posts of Wanton Mee here: http://bit.ly/2HeNLtb

I have been to Good Year Seafood Village with my family often and have noticed Beng Poh Eating House just next door. However, Beng Poh seemed to lack crowd each time we were there so we didn’t bother trying their food until Uncle Smart posted his lunch photos on Facebook. Steamed shark’s head, that’s what caught my attention! I’m a fan of that dish and usually gets my fix at 83 Seafood in MacPherson Lane.

Recently, I managed to round up a few buddies (most of them living in the western part of central region Singapore) to go there. Although they have been to Ikea Tampines, they still likened the oblique route to Beng Poh Eating House a drive to the kampong (countryside), haha… I cannot disagree as both Good Year Seafood Village Restaurant and Beng Poh Seafood Restaurant are situated in an off the beaten track industrial area, flanked by a number of Chinese temples and funeral homes. It is opposite the two UFOs or funnel-like water towers in Tampines *NEWater Service Reservoir.

Good Year Seafood Village Restaurant and Beng Poh Seafood Restaurant are situated in 17 Tampines Avenue. It is opposite these two UFO or funnel-like water towers in Tampines NEWAter Service Reservoir

*NEWater is the brand name given to reclaimed water produced by Singapore’s Public Utilities Board. More specifically, it is treated wastewater (sewage) that has been purified using dual-membrane (via microfiltration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies, in addition to conventional water treatment processes. The water is potable and is consumed by humans, but is mostly used by industries requiring high purity water. – Wikipedia

Beng Poh Seafood Restaurant @ Beng Poh Eating House.
Noodle dishes are sold during lunch hours.
Satay and hawker-styled BBQ Seafood i.e. Sambal Stingray, Sotong, etc… are only available on weekends.

No aircon inside the shop, outside seating available. No frills but friendly and patient service (we did take a long time to decide our order during my subsequent visit).

Main menu for zi char dishes. There is also a smaller menu recommended by the chef for those who wants something suitable to go with their alcoholic drinks.

Dishes we had at Beng Poh Seafood that night with some repeat orders for certain dishes.

There’s 9 or 10 of us and this was the total bill not inclusive of drinks.

Generally, we were quite happy with the overall taste of the food but I didn’t get good photos so I planned another visit with Jerry to eat at Beng Poh’s since he also like shark’s head. However, that Thursday we visited, Beng Poh was closed so we ended up eating at Good Year Seafood Village (see my future posting). I rearranged another visit after confirming with the lady owner on the operating hours and she said they are opened daily (had some emergency that day). The night Jerry and I finally get to eat at Beng Poh’s was also the day TaeRi was born. I was thinking Jerry might have no luck with the shark’s head meal but thankfully, everything went well at the hospital and so I was able to dine with him after saying hello to my granddaughter.

Sidetracking a bit here on the car parking at the restaurant:
To be exact, both restaurants are in Hun Yeang Road. There isn’t any proper carpark. Most diners park along the asphalt road but further inside/nearer to the shop lots, it is “park anywhere as long as you don’t block others” kind of understanding. Those with big cars i.e. MPV/SUV may have trouble but a skilful driver would know how to negotiate. As for Jerry’s, all I can say that for both trips, we parked at Giant Hypermarket Tampines, took a cab and then walked all the way back to Giant’s after dinner.

Steamed Shark’s Head with crispy Chye Poh 菜脯鲨鱼头 (S$35) had delicious light soy gravy that was scrumptious on our Jasmine rice (50 cents per portion).

Garlic Pork 蒜炸肉 (S$10) – Not as good as the previous round but still better than Good Year’s version (see future post).
In the previous round, the meat was slightly more coated, not as fatty and more juicy.

Qing Long Cai (青龙菜 literally translates to green dragon vegetable) with Beansprouts (S$10) had been flash fried so that they retained crispness yet the funky smell/taste from the bean sprouts, along with their heads and tails, were also ideally removed. This is a light and refreshing treat from the usual more punchy taste of sambal kangkong (a must-order vegetable dish whenever our family eats at any zi char eateries/stalls).

The flavours of Beng Poh Seafood is subtle and can be quite clean tasting (depending on what you’ve ordered). Our bill came up to S$56, not inclusive of drinks (pay separately). I thoroughly enjoyed the shark’s head, more so this time in fact, as the fish had more cartilaginous bits. However, the garlic pork was a tad disappointing (comparing to the first time I tried) even though it was still better than Good Year Seafood Village’s version (both Jerry and I agree on this). Jerry had not tried Qing Long Cai (Miao) before so I ordered it to be cooked with beansprouts. It was a delightful meal at an idyllic kampong environment to end my hectic day that celebrated the birth of my grand daughter!

Beng Poh Seafood Restaurant 明宝海鲜小厨 (inside Beng Poh Eating House)
Address: 17 Tampines Avenue (Hun Yeang Road),
Singapore 529792.

Operating Hours: Daily
11:30AM – 2:30PM (prawn noodle)
4:30 – 10PM (zi char)

Directions to Good Year Seafood Village and Beng Poh Eating House (Hun Yeang Road):
http://bit.ly/2u2N4PN (to the right at the end of the road, shophouse lot on left) OR
http://bit.ly/2u0x4Ol (NEWater UFOs on left and shops are on the right)

Happy eating and bonding!

Where I get my shark’s head and crab beehoon fix:
83 SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (83 海鲜餐館)
83 LIVE SEAFOOD @ MACPHERSON LANE

Where I have eaten with Uncle Smart (Tampines Guru):
ROMANCING THE DISH @ IVY’S HANINANESE MUTTON SOUP 海南药材羊肉汤
TWE KEE HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE – UNTWEAKED TRADITION
CROSS WAY BAY HONG KONG ROASTED MEAT 尖沙嘴港式烧臘 @ TAMPINES, SINGAPORE
INDONESIAN DELIGHTS BY RITA LIM @ TAMPINES ST 42

Interesting Read: NEWater Technology click here for the PDF

Steven and I travelled to Malaysia for landscape photography just around midnight last Friday. We didn’t get the Milky Way shot we were hoping for but we had fun at the beach shooting sunrise.

We didn’t get our milky way photo (too cloudy) and the sunrise wasn’t spectacular (too hazy) either but we had fun climbing on the slippery rocks trying not to fall off into the sea.

My take on the hazy sunrise Saturday morning. I had no filter on my camera and there was lens flare, perhaps even light leaks but I had a great time still!

On our way back to Singapore, we made a stop at the famous Kiang Kee Bak Kut Tea (Teh) 强记肉骨茶 for a hearty brunch! We turned on the GPS and were on our way to Kiang Kee somewhere in Kota Tinggi. I remember it was a standalone restaurant along the rural roads and one could easily miss it but not this time, we found it after 1.5 hours of driving from our last destination.

Cars were parked quite far from the restaurant but still the occasional wind will carry some sandy grits to those seated outside when diners drive off.

Full house when we arrived but we still managed to find a table easily as diners do not linger after their meals were done. We were at table 83.

There were many cars parked in the restaurant grounds as expected when we arrived around 9.40am. The place operates from 7.30am till 12noon or until sold out. Many families were already enjoying their breakfast (if you consider meals taken before 10am as breakfast). The grounds are huge and the turnover was pretty fast as most families spend at most an hour there (eat-and-go type of place) so we found a table without trouble.

I went to order the food at the front end of the restaurant. There’s a written guide on how to place your order at the service counter.

“几个人吃？”
“两位”

I had placed an order of Bak Kut Teh (BKT) for two persons. I wanted a bit of everything in version (organ meat and what have you) so I asked her what’s inside the mixed version. *She told me that there’s this, this, this, etc… etc… pointing to several items on the counter. She then offered the enoki mushrooms and small intestines which I gladly accepted. I turned to my right and caught a glimpse of the fried bean skin (fu chook) and she said that’s inclusive in the BKT. I also ordered a plate of vegetables and otah which was my favourite dish from my last visit. I saw the youtiao and recalled it was a no go for my palate and skipped that. Three bowls of rice and two drinks. They did not give us any receipt this time but total came out to be $51 Malaysia ringgit.

*Note: When she pointed this this this and this, I thought a mixed version would have those but alas either my bad Mandarin or throaty voice could have led to a communication breakdown somewhere. There weren’t any braised pork belly and pig’s stomach which I had taken for granted came in the mix version. Or did she think I only wanted the enoki and small intestines?

I had wanted a mixed version, something like this one in the fore.

Fresh fruit drink known as “buah long long” among the Chinese population in Singapore and Malaysia. It was refreshingly sweet and sour. “Buah Long Long’s scientific name is Spondias dulcis (syn. Spondias cytherea), native range of Melanesia and Polynesia and has been introduced into tropical areas across the world.” – Wikipedia

Boiled lettuce with oyster sauce garnished with fried shallots. The vegetable retained crunch and natural sweetness.

A letdown when compared to the taste in my recollection of the otah I had in the previous visit.

This is Steven’s first visit to Kiang Kee. The food came in whatever’s ready will be served first kind of fashion. A young lady with a tray of green cut chillies in dark soy dip came to our table and asked how many diners were eating before laying the number of chopsticks, soup spoons and chilli dip onto the table. Next came the drinks and the soon the rice. The vegetables took about 3 minutes. 160 seconds later, the steamed otah arrived. While the lettuce looked luscious and inviting, the otah didn’t quite meet my expectations. The fish seemed undercooked and the spicy egg custard was not yet firmly set. I took a bite and confirmed that it was a letdown – soft starchy filler type of fish paste with translucent bits of fish when I first broke into the otah with my chopsticks. On our journey there, I had claimed that their otah was one of the best I have eaten. I swore it was as good as those sold in Muar if not better – rich aroma of the spices in the smooth yet springy textured coconut egg custard punctuated with meaty pieces of fish. Now I feel like a fraud!

Before I could find dig a hole and hide myself, the simmering hot BKT arrive. Ah, my saving grace! Steven took a sip of the soup and turned towards me. His flashbulb eyes told me he’s excited about the broth! I quickly dug into the redeemer. It was almost orgasmically good! I said almost because as we dine, the broth became oily and murky with a hint of slimy feel. I can only pin the blame on two suspects, the deep-fried bean skin and the (overcooking of) enoki mushrooms.

Steven do not usually eat the ribs and I told him there’s pork belly inside. Apparently, there’s some miscommunication when I ordered.

The ribs were infused with meaty herby flavour and the texture was tender enough to the bite but not fall off bone kind of tender. Small intestines had good chew and not rubbery. Thumbs up in overall taste.

For fussy eaters, I would recommend that you ask the order-taker to serve separately the crispy bean skin in a bowl of broth and not to overcook the enoki mushrooms.

If Ric had come along which he backed out last minute, we would have ordered this dish. Yummy collagen loaded stewed pork knuckles/trotters which is another very popular item. Almost every table had one of it.

What a delightful discovery when I saw the young cook using a mesh ladle to sieve out broth scum!

The food here are mostly served in claypots heated over charcoal and I found their stash of charcoal – next to the toilet!

The charcoal is literally overflowing from the shed!

While GPS-ing Kiang Kee on our mobile app, two Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh popped. Please note that the famous Kiang Kee Bak Kut Tea 强记肉骨茶 Do Not have any branches! And that the Bak Kut Teh is spelt as Bak Kut Tea on premise.

Verdict: Kiang Kee Bak Kut Tea 强记肉骨茶 – Still Yummilicious After 5 Years!

Kiang Kee Bak Kut Tea 强记肉骨茶
Address: Batu 8 ½, Jalan Mawai, Kota Tinggi.
81900 Johor. Malaysia.

Operating hours: 7.30am to 12nn (or until sold out).
Tel : +607 8821290

As I think it is still very relevant to how I feel about Kiang Kee’s food, please read detailed review from my previous post here:
GET IN ME BUT DON’T MAKE ME FAT! – KIANG KEE BAK KUT TEA RESTAURANT 强记早市肉骨茶

Happy travelling, eating and bonding!

We have always enjoyed good food but now that our family has been blessed with the addition of 3 rambunctious grands, eating out can be a hassle if any popular restaurant is not children-friendly. What do I mean by not toddler-friendly? Hole-in-the-wall type of eateries where seats are placed so closely together you could/would be rubbing shoulders with other patrons, proclaimed “family” restaurant but do not have proper (high) chairs, untrained staff that are careless when serving hot foods, etc… etc… you get my drift. So after my recent food tasting session at Sino-Thai Gin Khao, I asked Royston, “Is there any high chairs at your restaurant?” (Answer below).

Sino-Thai cuisine offered by Gin Khao at Tampines Safra.

Newly minted on 17th April 2019, this 3,500 sq. ft. restaurant can accommodate up to 168 seats, making it a perfect venue for family gatherings and corporate events.

One of the three cosy private dining rooms available. The restaurant is also conspicuously located facing the communal lap pool.

The following are the dishes served per my food tasting’s customised menu:
1) Smoked Duck / Salted Egg Salmon Skin.
2) Pumpkin Fish Maw Soup with Crab Meat.
3) Broccoli with Shimeiji Mushroom.
4) Pork Ribs with Special Sauce.
5) Braised Bitter Gourd with Garoupa.
6) Prawn with Pumpkin Sauce.
7) Green Curry Fried Rice with Prawn in Coconut Husk.
8) Black Bean Ice Cream with Sticky Rice.

Steven had the Thai Tea Cha-yen while I had the Yuzu drink to go with our meal.

Smoked Duck and Salted Egg Salmon Skin: These are actually two separate dishes on menu but for variety’s sake has been combined into a single platter for our tasting. The smoked duck is pretty standard and the fish skin was crispy enough with subtle salted egg yoke taste.

Pumpkin Fish Maw Soup with Crab Meat: Steven does not like fried fish maw (a.k.a. bladder) as he finds them “fishy” but this one was quite well prepared so a thumbs up from him. That said, he also does not like pumpkin so he did not enjoy the soup as much as I did as I do like fish maw and enjoy pumpkin soup. I also find the viscosity of the soup to be just the right touch, neither too gooey nor runny.

Broccoli with Shimeiji Mushroom: Although this is quite a common fare that can be found in most cze char stalls and Cantonese restaurants, we like it here because the vegetables and mushrooms were not overcooked and the crisp and crunch made me feel extra healthy and less guilty for abandoning the HFLC diet I was supposedly on.

Pork Ribs with Special Sauce: The special sauce is a combination of Thai oyster sauce, Thai soy sauce and Thai fish sauce sweetened with a bit of palm sugar. The Thai oyster sauce has a sharper taste than the Hong Kong version and surprisingly we like it better than the latter. However, this dish did not wow us as we found the ribs and sauce to be “separated”. Perhaps, a longer marination is called for.

Braised Bitter Gourd with Garoupa: Steven is not a fan of fish so when he said he was on the same page as me, I was astounded. Although we did find this dish to be on the salty side, we loved it because we could taste the bitter in the bittergourd and the fish was really succulent. We had the same notion of coming back just to order this very “Cantonese” dish with a steaming bowl of Jasmine rice!

Prawn with Pumpkin Sauce: Maybe it’s my fault for delaying the attack on these prawns since my camera always eats first but the batter was no longer as crisp as we liked it to be, probably corrupted by humidity. We also found the limp coat to be too thick. Other than that, the prawns remained luscious inside. The pumpkin sauce was rich and delicious.

Green Curry Fried Rice with Prawn in Coconut Husk: This was such a pretty sight! Using whole fruits as container for fried rice has become Gin Khao’s signature, first the watermelon fried rice I had from Gin Khao almost 4 years ago and now this green curry fried rice served in coconut.

Green Curry Fried Rice with Prawn in Coconut Husk: The white piece in the front of the bowl is not fish fillet but scraped tender flesh from the insides of the coconut. This version of fried rice is not the “liap liap” dry type but clumped lightly with moist from the paste. I felt they could be bolder and make the green curry more edgy, to the extent of venomous even, hahaha! Then I’ll have an excuse to order the young coconut drink.

Black Bean Ice Cream with Sticky Rice: We were supposed to be served the mango and sticky rice for dessert but the mango had aged past the point of ripeness so this was the alternative.

Black Bean Ice Cream with Sticky Rice: This is like eating pulut hitam with vanilla ice cream. I truly enjoyed both the black bean ice cream as well as the al dente textured black sticky rice with coconut cream. Be forewarned that this is very sweet and you probably need ice water on the side unless the restaurant tone down their sweetness a notch.

The Kinnari: A beautiful carving of the mythical creature in Thai folklore.

So what’s Sino-Thai cuisine?

Sino-Thai is a marriage of Thai and Chinese cuisine over at Gin Khao Tampines Safra (TS). Helmed by Head Chef, Chang Wing Fai, a seasoned veteran in the culinary scene with more than 40 years of experience in Chinese and Sino-Thai undertakings, HK Chef Chang pledges to reinterpret the flavours of Sino-Thai cuisine for the novelty-chasing local market. The rest of the culinary team are aptly pooled with chefs trained in Sino-Thai cuisine. Newly minted on 17th April 2019, this 3,500 sq. ft. restaurant could accommodate up to 168 seaters and comes complete with hygge private dining areas and 10-seaters round tables, making it a perfect venue for gatherings and the likes.

Their Offerings
Taste the best of both worlds over at Gin Khao Tampines Safra, besides Sino-Thai cuisine, we also offer contemporary Chinese cuisine. For those with more polished gustatory yearnings, Chef Chang is open to customisation of menu other than our standard offerings, on the premises that there is at least one to two weeks’ prior notice.

Sino Thai Food has a strong Teochew heritage and is well known for its seafood and vegetable dishes, not relying heavily on flavouring but instead emphasizes on the freshness and quality of the ingredients (Our ingredients are sourced daily from Jurong Fishery Port) and of course on the chef’s culinary skills (i.e. the wok’s breath) to achieve its mesmerising taste. For the health conscious, it is all the more appealing that Sino Thai cuisine uses oil sparingly and instead rely on cooking methods such as steaming, braising, stir-frying and poaching to bring out the intended taste.

Chef Chang stresses that the key to Sino Thai cuisine is achieving the delicate balance of sweet, spicy, sour and salty. Besides the usual soy sauce, Thai herbs and spices, unique condiments for Sino Thai cuisine, includes the fervent use of Superior broth, reminiscence of a stock that always remains on the stove and is continuously replenished and Fish sauce. The latter served as a flavouring agent in soups, a component of dipping sauces as well as seasonings for dishes.

Thai staples include our Green Curry Prawn Fried Rice served in Coconut Husk, Salted Egg Squid as well as our Tom Yum Hotpot. Complete the meal in delicate renditions with Sino-Thai desserts such as Red Ruby with Golden Tapioca or Thai Chendol with Coconut Gelato. For our Chinese offerings, which revolve around braised meat, steamed fishes, soups and vegetables, perennial specialities include our Steamed Black Cod With Superior Sauce, Braised Thai Fish Maw with Crab Meat and Wok Fried Chinese cabbage with Thai Fish Sauce. There is simply something for everyone at the table with healthier choice variants (usually vegetables) and even Chinese dishes with no MSG added. ~ excerpts from Sino-Thai Gin Khao’s website.

Starter Sets

Mother’s Day Menu

Looking for a cosy, spacious, “toddler-friendly” restaurant in the eastern region of Singapore to celebrate Mother’s Day? Drop by at Sino-Thai by Gin Khao at Tampines Safra this Sunday because “Yes, they have high chairs!” And you’ll have choices of Chinese, Thai and Sino-Thai dishes to choose from (see full menu here).

By the way, the staff are friendly and efficient. Also, find out if they are going to serve mookata outside the restaurant overlooking the lap pool in the near future.

Sino-Thai Gin Khao Tampines Safra
Address:
Tampines Safra
1/A Tampines Street 92, #01-K2, Singapore 528882.

Opening Hours:
Mon – Thurs: 12:00pm to 3:00pm and 5:00pm to 10:00pm
Fri – Sun: 12:00pm to 11:00pm
Last Order: 30 mins before closing

Tel: (65) 6226 0959

See Sino-Thai Gin Khao’s Full Menu, click here.

See my post and review on Gin Khao here:
GIN KHAO – THAI STREET DELIGHTS AND MORE!