my little cyberspot - November 2004

6.49pm, 28 November 2004, Sunday

The Incredibles

Look what we spotted in the car parked next to ours? (I oso wan!) If you haven't already, you must absolutely go & watch The Incredibles. It's the best animated film I've seen, beating Shrek & Toy Story, hands down. ^__^

7.43pm, 27 November 2004, Saturday

Chako Japanese Restaurant

Last night, we returned to one of our favourite restaurants - Chako. It's a small, very non-descript, humble Japanese restaurant at Hong Leong Condo. You might walk past it without even realising it's there! Here's how the entrance looks.

My husband & I discovered it because I used to live near there (before we got married) and we were always looking for new places to pak-tor (date). Chako is the sort of Japanese restaurant that is usually filled with Japanese clientele. I still remember the first time we found enough curiosity and courage to slide open the main door - everybody in there was Japanese, male & middle-aged! All of them gave us a perfunctory stare, and then promptly ignored us! We figured, if Japanese people patronise this place, it must be good. So we stayed for a meal, and boy were we glad we did!

Chako is run by a lovely Japanese lady named Chako and her two daughters. This 'family-run' atmosphere really adds something to the place! Food is only prepared when you order it. This means you might have to wait quite a while for your food, but you are guaranteed a scrumptious 'home-cooked' meal, served with a lot of care and love. Here's a pic of the Chako family, with President Nathan and his wife!

My husband & I have always felt very relaxed and at home at Chako. There's something special about the whole place. In the wake of chain giants like Genki Sushi, Hoshigaoka & Sushi Tei, Chako is unique because it is small, family-run and home-cooked delicious! The entire restaurant is so small, it can only seat about 25 - 30 people max. There is a shelf of Japanese comics that patrons can help themselves to, the entire menu is in Japanese and parts of the menu have been neatly put up in English atop a set of bamboo blinds, using thumbtacks! (See pics below) How "home-school", yet how charming!

This is the kind of place where the cook & her two daughters will walk you to the door to thank you for coming & stand there bowing as you walk away with a warm, happy belly. As we bade farewell to the "Chako ladies" last night, we told ourselves this won't be the last time we come here, again and again!

p.s. ok ok, you're probably wondering, where's the pictures of the food? Well, they didn't turn out too well probably cos I was trembling with hunger or gluttony by the time the food came. But, here's one of my husband's (half-eaten) Hamburg Steak. (it came with salad, but we had gobbled that up already) Hope you don't salivate too much!

8.44pm, 22 November 2004, Monday

Chicken with ginger & spring onions

My husband commented this is a very un-"me" dish. I don't usually do stir-fries, but I guess there's always a start for everything! I used a sauce that is very similar to the braising sauce I always use. The result - a warm, comfort food-y type Chinese dinner for two.

Chicken with ginger & spring onions

2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

1 tb dark soya sauce

1 tb light soya sauce

1 tb chinese wine

1 tb sugar

1 ts bicarbonate soda

1 ts potato starch

1 tb sesame oil

5 - 6 thumb-sized slices of ginger

2 cups of purple onions, roughly chopped

6 - 8 stalks of spring onions, cut into hand span-length pieces

1. Marinate the chicken with all the seasonings, except ginger, onions and spring onions.

2. Heat oil & stir-fry the giner and onions until fragrant. Make sure not to burn or brown them. Keep fire medium & steady.

3. Add chicken and stir for a minute of so. Lower fire, add 1/4 cup of water and close lid for 5 minutes.

4. Throw in spring onions at the last minute and stir around. Turn off fire and serve immediately.

8.06pm, 21 November 2004, Sunday

Flowers that make you smile

Saw these at Tanglin Marketplace and had to buy them. Only $3.50 for 3! They're so cute - white balls of soft petals! Not sure what they're called, but don't they make you smile? ^__^

8.14am, 20 November 2004, Saturday

My Choice Cuisine @ River Valley Road

I've always been a bit self-conscious about taking photographs in crowded restaurants or public places. Especially, photographs of the food that's being served. Although it may not be true, I feel like everybody simultaneously turns their heads and stares the moment a camera is whipped out and aimed at the dishes on the table.

Sigh. Having this phobia meant I did not take any photos of the rather exceptional Chinese food (zi-cha) I had last night. Chinese restaurants are kind of a dime in the dozen in Singapore. They're everywhere, and come in all shapes and sizes, from the non-air-conditioned stalls in markets and shophouses to the Crystal Jade-type "classy" places.

Just an aside - have you ever noticed how all "classy" Chinese restaurants look the same? My husband and I went to Spain on our honeymoon and in a little hobbo town in the middle of nowhere, we found a Chinese restaurant of the exact same pedigree as the ones we were familiar with in America and Singapore! It had the same ugly carpet, with the same plastic/metal cushioned chairs, round tables covered with ugly pink table cloth and... the same big painting of the Great Wall of China hanging on the wall! It struck us that perhaps, all the Chinese Restaurants In The World are being run by a cartel. Either that, or they all get their wares and decor tips from some chineserestaurants101.com website or something!

But anyhoo, back to the main point of this post. (Yes, I do have one!) The food last night was exceptional for a ze-cha place. I'd even put it above Crystal Jade. My Choice Cuisine is an air-conditioned joint occupying the ground floor of a shophouse unit along River Valley Road. It's along the same stretch as Five Stars, Boon Tong Kee and a few other ze-cha places - all very keen competitors with much longer-established reputations. But My Choice Cuisine has clearly won over a steady stream of customers. It was packed! (Definitely, more packed than Boon Tong Kee that has gone all upmarket with silk waitress uniforms!) And deservedly so.

Well, you're probably asking, how good can a ze-cha place be? They all tend to serve the same kind of food. The stir-fried venison, the hotplate beancurd, the steamed fish, the noodle dishes and the rice dishes. Indeed, the first thing you'll notice about My Choice Cuisine is the menu. And get this, it is organised according to wines that would complement the food. So, there are sections entitled, "Food to go with champagne", "Food to go with red wine", "Food to go with white wine". I found this quite unique.

The second thing that is unique is the dishes itself. Don't get me wrong, they do have the standards if that's all that is required. But we tried some of their house specials - home-made spinach tofu with mushroom conpoy sauce, deep-fried sea bass and mee-pok with eggplant, minced meat and chives. You could tell the food was prepared very carefully, with attention to taste. It was almost gourmet in flavour, but all hidden behind a seemingly innocent I'm-just-another ze-cha restaurant facade.

The meal was a pleasant surprise. Although the food was slightly pricier than normal ze-cha standards, it was definitely worth the try! Next time I go, I'll try to sneak a few pictures. Hope no one stares!

6.18pm, 16 November 2004, Tuesday

Kiam Chye Aar (Duck & preserved vegetable soup)

One of the most heartwarming soups to have is Kiam Chye Aar. We had a huge family gathering last night (including 2-month old Samuel!) and I made some "family family"-type dishes - y'know, the kind that parents like - ngor hiang, kung ba pao, chap chye and ... kiam chye aar! All the hearty stuff. Warm belly rub. :)

Here's the recipe, adapted from Terry Tan's Straits Chinese Cookbook - Soups of the Nyonyas.

(As a side note, I'm proud to say that I successfully navigated the chaotic maze that is Chinatown Complex wet market and emerged with one of the freshest (dead) ducks I've ever had! Sadly, the price of the duck was $20. EXPENSIVE, but only due to the Malaysia poultry ban. Otherwise, Chinatown Complex is a very reasonable place to shop!)

Kiam Chye Aar adapted from Straits Chinese Cookbook

1 whole duck, de-skinned as much as possible, cut into 8 - 10 pieces *

400g salted vegetables (kiam chye), cut into bite-sized pieces **

2 + litres of water ***

3 sour plums (sng boey)

2 tomatoes

Handful of chinese wolfberries

2 + tbs sugar

1. Soak kiam chye in several changes of water for 30 minutes.

2. Bring water to boil and add duck pieces first, then kiam chye and sng boey. Return to boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes or so, then turn fire low and simmer for 2 hours.

3. With lid on, turn off heat and let stand for 24 hours. Then, remove lid, skim off fat at surface. ^

4. An hour before serving, add chinese wolfberries. ^^

5. When about to serve, taste soup and add sugar, if necessary. ^^^

6. Turn off heat and throw in tomatoes. Wait 3 minutes or so and then serve immediately. ^^^^

* I was cooking for 8, so naturally cut the duck into more than 8 pieces. But, it doesn't really matter, anything above 6 pieces is fine, so long as the pieces can fit into the soup bowls you're serving with.

** Use the stalks of the kiam chye, not the leaves, as the leaves would be withered and near-disappeared by the time all the boiling and simmering is over.

*** My general measurement is X no. of bowls of water + 1, X being the no. of people you are serving. So, in this case, since I was serving 8 people, I used 8 + 1 bowls of water, which worked out to be 2+ litres. A minimum of 1 litre is required for this dish though.

^ Turning off the heat while the lid is on allows the dish to continue to simmer for hours. It is ok (apparently) to leave such a dish standing overnight. When you open it 24 hours later, you will notice a layer of oily "gunk" floating on top. Promptly remove this and let no one see it! It's quite unappetising! Also note that you are ALLOWED to skip this step. So, if time does not permit, ignore this step and jump to the next! In any case, if you have de-skinned the duck as instructed, there shouldn't be too much oil la!

^^ Only add the chinese wolfberries at the last hour because they tend to become bitter if simmered for too long.

^^^ I found the soup a bit too salty when I tasted it, so added in sugar. This is purely based on personal taste.

^^^^ I threw in the tomatos at the last minute because actually, I hate it when tomatoes simmer for too long and then they become mushy. They also add a rather sour taste to soup, if left in there for too long. Throwing them in the last minute ensures they are bright red & pert when you serve them. Also, none of that sour-y taste!

IF you have persevered to the end of this post, then here's a question for you - does anybody know the full value of letting soup stand for 24 hours with lid on? I've read it in several recipes and heard people say it, but not sure of the full value. Would be interesting to understand this more! Thanks!

1.05pm, 15 November 2004, Monday

Return of the Husband

My husband came back from overseas early this morning. The welcome lunch included honey wheat wraps with tuna, lots of chopped purple onions and a hint of garlic mayo, creamy corn & crabmeat soup, homemade barley and 2 very lovely "sweetheart" pastries from Polar cakes. Yum!

Have been trying to figure out how to cook less fatty food...will try to avoid all that deep-fried beer batter fish or tonkatsu that I love cooking. Wraps seem to be the way to go! Wraps & soups ... a winning combination! Whoohoo!

6.38pm, 11 November 2004, Thursday

Crispy skin chicken - honey, look what I hung in our balcony?

I attended a cooking class at Gourmet Haven a month back and we learnt how to make crispy skin chicken - the restaurant kind that's most commonly eaten at Chinese wedding dinners.

The recipe involved drying a whole chicken either above a hot stove for 45 minutes or in the hot sun for 4 to 6 hours. When I told my colleagues this, we had some jolly good laughs visualising a whole chicken carcass hanging from a bamboo pole outside my balcony. Since a whole chicken is too much for my husband and I to consume at one go, one colleague suggested trying the recipe with individual chicken wings & drumsticks. We then had an even jollier time visualising several chicken wings & drumsticks being attached via clothes pegs on clothes hangers, out in my balcony to sun!

Well. Since I'm having some guests for dinner tonight, I decided to try out the recipe. It's a public holiday and yea, I had 4 to 6 hours to spare. ^__^. Not wanting to dirty my clothes pegs or hangers however, I bought an "S" hook to hang my chicken.

Such a hook was quite hard to find (found it eventually in Chinatown), but not as hard as a key ingredient for the recipe - maltose. Maltose is the secret ingredient X that makes the chicken skin dry, and thus, crispy when fried. Part of the problem was not knowing what the packaging looked like - did it come in a plastic container, a packet, a tin, a glass bottle? Thankfully, I remembered seeing a pic of maltose from Renee's shiokadelicious site, and with a visual picture in mind, I was able to find maltose at a corner grocery store in Tanjong Pagar. (Later, I found maltose at NTUC too, but it was more expensive.)

Before I post the recipe, I wanted to show you a pic of what I hung out the balcony this afternoon. Don't laugh! Er, and don't puke either!! Apparently, sunning the chicken gives it an amazing colour when fried. Heating it over a stove won't have the same brilliant effect. The things I'll do for good food. Ha.

So, with all the introductories out of the way, let's get to the recipe! Crispy skin chicken - oh what an adventure! Here we go!

Crispy skin chicken by Chef Keong (Gourmet Haven)

1 whole chicken, about 1.5 kg

2 tb maltose

6 lime, sliced into halves

2 tb black vinegar

1.5l water

1 stalk lemongrass

4 shallots, crushed

4 garlic, crushed

2 thumb-size pieces of ginger

2 parsley head (optional)

1 ts 5-spice powder

2 ts salt

1 ts sugar

dash of pepper

1. Wash & drain chicken till dry.

2. Boil water, black vinegar, lime & maltose together. Stir well to dissolve everything.

3. Use large spoon to scoop the boiled mixture over the chicken carcass. Cover the entire chicken carcass with the boiled mixture. Repeat several times.

4. Mix the remaining ingredients & seasonings together and stuff into chicken carcass. Use satay stick or toothpick to seal the carcass so as to prevent stuffing from falling out. *

5. Use the "S" hook to hang the chicken out to dry in sun for 4 to 6 hours. Or, hang it over a hot stove for 45 mins.

6. Heat enough oil in a deep wok to cover half the chicken.

7. When oil is hot **, immerse the chicken (that's right, the entire chicken!) in the oil ***, breast side up first. Rotate the chicken every 5 minutes or so. Cook for a total of about 20 minutes.

8. Let the chicken cool down for about an hour. Then, chop, remove the stuffing and serve.

* The stuffing is meant to flavour the meat and give it a lovely aroma. So, you can vary the ingredients of the stuffing as you please. For example, I put in 2 lemongrass and more garlic!

** It's important not to wait till the oil is too hot. Drop something into the oil and if it sinks to the bottom and stays there a bit before floating up, the oil is ready for the chicken. If it sinks and immediately rises, the oil is too hot already.

*** To help you immerse the chicken in oil, sit it firmly on top of a metal spatula and then lower the spatula into the wok.

And I almost forgot, here's a picture of the final product. Yummy...

(my chicken chopping skills are still wanting. Anybody with tips on how to chop a whole chicken, pl share!)

7.30pm, 9 November 2004, Tuesday

Photos of my neighbourhood

My husband is overseas for the week and he took the digicam with him. So, I was "forced" to use a manual SLR to take these shots over the weekend. I guess it was a blessing in disguise - the digicam wouldn't have yielded quite the same effect, plus I have been wanting to improve my manual camera skills for a while now.

The above view is within a minute's walk of my house. Who said Singapore wasn't beautiful? You just have to look! ^__^

I also found a grand beauty in HDB blocks, when I looked up...

OK, after staring for too long, I have to admit, I found the symmetry in HDB architecture too harsh. Too many lines, too many squares, everything the same and repeated over and over again. (It's like a metaphor for the entire system, isn't it? Shivers.)

Well, thankfully, my moribund thoughts were distracted by other objects of interest around me. Here's two more photos before I sign off. Need to eat!

A really old plant:

Hope you like my photos! Cheers!

8.37pm, 7 November 2004, Sunday

The kitty's gone mad

So, I couldn't find Meow tonight. Looked everywhere. She changes her hang-out spots every so often, so I checked them all, to no avail. Then, to my immense amusement, I found her - sitting pert & pretty in our shoe cabinet area, surrounded by our (cough) scented footwear!

The kitty's gone mad I tell you, and this is not the only sign.

Lately, she's taken to meow-ing at our bedroom door. You'd think this is because she wants us to come out to feed her/play with her, but the thing is, we're standing right next to her! Then, there's the whole galloping-across-the-room-in-a-frenzy thing. This is when she's walking casually from point A to point B and then, suddenly, with a mangled "meeorrrrraahhh", she leaps like Bereznokov, angled limbs and all, and disappears into a corner.

We-ird. Can anyone tell me if my kitty is mad or what I should do?

12.28pm, 6 November 2004, Satuday

Morning Bak Kut Teh - the not peppery kind

In one of our earlier Saturday morning runs, my husband and I breezed past a bak kut teh stall that was in the midst of preparing to "open shop". I was surprised, even a bit horrified to spot several ready-made spice packets in a large steel pot of boiling pork ribs. I had expected the stall to make the lovely pork rib dish from scratch, instead of resorting to pre-packed spices that could be easily obtained from the grocery store. Have to admit, since then, I've been a bit more suspicious of other bak kut teh stalls as well.

Today's morning jog yieled much better finds in terms of bak kut teh. We found a grimy little stall in the Hong Lim Complex area that calls itself Morning Bak Kut Teh. The authentic pork rib soup served is not the peppery type (which is the more common version in Singapore.) Insetad, the soup is mildly herbal and darkened with soya sauce. So it's a bit sweet. I like.

The pork ribs were really huuge. Check them out:

Each table even had its own pot of tea brewing over hot coals, just in case we wanted to go the whole hog and have tea with our food. (Traditionally, bak kut teh is supposed to be eaten with hot tea.)

It was a lovely meal, sipping hot soup and watching the world wake up in Chinatown. I'm glad to have found good bak kut teh in Chinatown, and one that is not the peppery kind. Will definitely go back for more! Whoohoo!

12.02pm, 6 November 2004, Saturday

Stunning sashimi

Had the most satisfying sashimi spread yesterday with J, Cheemo & husband. We weren't sure what to expect as the menu said, rather innocuously, "a mix of sashimi". Hmm. So, it was a very pleasant surprise when we were served this:

(Picture's a bit blury as we were using a camera phone.)

The orange stuff in the small plate, bottom left corner, is raw sea urchin. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to some, but I guess that's because those people haven't seen live sea urchin before. Here's a pic from our last dive trip:

Gulp. I'm sure you can understand why I was more than a little bit cautious about eating sea urchin. After all, these were the annoying little buggers I was desperately trying to avoid when diving, because their spikes are poisonous!

However, I'm happy to report that the sashimi sea urchin was amazingly yummy. It was soft in texture, almost melt in your mouth, and a bit sweet. The scallops were also very fresh. And then, there was a whole range of raw fish to sample, including some very good tuna. As we licked up the last few slices, the waitress took the fish head (see picture) away and got the chef to deep fry it for us! Cool.

In case you're wondering, we were dining at Kuriya Dining at Great World City. It's a huge restaurant and yet, it has managed to create many intimate corners through the use of dark panel wood and warm spotlight glows. There was a cavernous outdoor dining area and two seprate dining wings. We sat in the wing that was broken up into many smaller rooms, each with booths spacious enough to seat six. All in all, would highly recommend it! And if you go, do try the sea urchin, yea? ^__^

7.24pm, 3 November 2004, Wednesday

Always use your brain... even when feeling lazy!

So tonight's dinner has raised my blood pressure to sky-high levels. And this, all because I did not use my brain. Sigh. Was feeling very lazy, - it must be the rainy weather! Makes me so languid and sleepy - so, I blindly followed a recipe passed to me by my mother-in-law's friend, without applying much judgement. The recipe was for braised soya sauce chicken. That sounds simple enough doesn't it? I actually have a tried-and-tested recipe for soya sauce braising, which I've used on countless occasions for braised pork belly. And it's yum. But for some unknown reason, I did not feel like using it tonight and decided to happy happy try something that, on hindsight, did look rather suspect. Groan.

Therefore, the lesson for the day is... "Always use your brain... even when feeling lazy!" Could have saved me an early-age heart attack if I had remembered that just now! Boohoo.

10.16pm, 1 November 2004, Monday

Pork rib & watercress soup (xi yang cai pai gu tang)

One of my favourite soups is xi1 yang2 cai4 pai2 gu3 tang1, also known as pork rib & watercress soup. I first tasted it on a cold rainy day in, of all places, the canteen at my workplace, and it completely transformed my mood. There's something very calming about the taste and smell of the soup - the watercress has a tranquil effect on the sweetness of the pork ribs and the result is... something quite sublime. Ah...

OK, enough rapture. Here's the recipe! This soup will go a long way on a cold rain day (just like today). Remember it yea? ^__^

Pork rib & watercress soup (xi yang cai pai gu tang)

about 300g pork ribs, rinsed *

2 regular-sized carrots, chopped into bite-sized chunks

1 bunch of watercress, stems chopped off **

2 tbs soya sauce

9 cups of water

small strips of squid (optional) ***

1. Mix the ribs with the soya sauce and set aside.

2. When the water has come to a full rolling boil, add the pork ribs & carrots (and optional squid) and close lid. When water returns to full rolling boil, wait about 3 minutes and then turn fire very low ^ and simmer for 1 - 2 hours with lid closed. The longer, the better.

3. 20 minutes before serving, return fire to medium and add watercress.^^

4. Once watercress turns slightly dark green (about 20 minutes), turn off fire and serve.

* The proportions in this recipe will give you 2 very large bowls of soup, which you can then devour with steamed rice and sauteed veggies. You can choose to have more or less pork ribs, depending on how many people you are cooking for.

** 1 bunch of watercress is usually about 75g. Chop off most of the stems as they can be bitter if not cooked long enough.

*** Yes, you heard me. Squid. I find it gives the soup body and a bit of a seafood flavour. Hee.

^ This technique is used to ensure the pork doesn't come out looking old and over-cooked. You must add the pork only when there is a rolling boil going. And then, after the water returns to a boil, don't over-boil the pork. About 3 minutes should be sufficient before you lower the fire and simmer for a few hours.

^^ Returning the fire to medium will allow the watercress to cook in boiling soup. Watercress actually does take some time to soften, about 20 minutes, so be patient!

back to top