you are a tough one

I can’t wait for the day to master you.

A Royal Treat-ment

I was treated to watch the movie “Julie and Julia” at Vivo GV Gold Class. It costs a whopping $28 dollars! Made me momentarily stunned; it better be well worth the money spent.

We were ushered into a lounge before the movie. The lounge was exclusively for Gold Class members. I was expecting to be given complimentary snacks or drinks. The only complimentary was a bowl of mixed nuts which did not reflect any sense of atas-ness. Even if you packaged it by placing the nuts in a crystal bowl instead of those kacang-putih conical wrappers also does not warrant us pay you $28 bucks leh…

The friendly concierge whipped out a menu; another shocker; charge us so much for ticket and expect me to pay $4 for a can of coke and some lay potato chips? Not a whole pack somemore, picture showed a handful. Thankfully we smuggled in some snacks..hee. They were nice enough to remain oblivious even if they saw it.

I guess we are paying for the plush electronic seats and rug…wow. The seat can recline to a horizontal position in a smooth and silent movement. It’s so roomy that as I snuggled into the seat, I felt lost in the sea of space, not that it was a bad thing. I nearly fell asleep in it if the show did not start. There is even a service call button to order meals which I saw some did. But I thought it was rather distracting to have meals served intermittently when watching the show.

The seat was so comfortable, ambience was so pleasing that I almost forgot how nice the show was. Moral of the show: Behind every successful woman is the support of a husband. It was such a heart-warming show and made me excited about cooking once again.

Ahh…fish soup is my comfort food

From food republic. Not sure whether there is MSG but the soup is one of the better ones I have tried. Flavorful broth with fresh fish, crunchy vegetables and slurp-worthy seaweed with chilli-padi as an explosive side-kick; what’s not to like?

旺角Taiwan Street Food

旺角Hong Kong Cafe has expanded to include Taiwan street food but seems like Bukit Panjang Plaza is the only location. I always longed for a day when I can go Taiwan to experience their wide array of street food. For now, I can only satiate my desires watching Taiwan variety food show. I got all excited when I saw this place, I can at least have a taste of what street food is like!

This is brasied cold tofu. I did not really like it. Felt it was too bland and the tofu was dense, weird combination of texture and taste.

This is oyster omelette with some sweet chilli sauce. Hmm…I prefer singapore oyster omlette to this. The sauce did not really contribute any oomph to the overall taste. It was also not fried to a crisp, thus there was this soggy taste which made this dish rather dismal.

This is taiwan’s famous 盐酥鸡. I guess the five-spice seasoning saved the day, if not the chicken would be tasteless. At least it was the most palatable dish out of the above.

I think 旺角 still has lots of room for improvement in replicating taiwanese street food. If Taiwan street food taste like that, I would be better off going to Hong Kong..

Not so awesome-est blueberry muffins

I was very excited to try this blueberry muffin recipe. It looks so idiot-proof. Being an amateur, such simple recipes which can guarantee awesome-est is a great motivation to try.

It looked quite promising in the oven, the aroma emitted also quite promising, thus I was quite hopeful it should be quite awesome as what the recipe says.

Not so. I should have followed more strictly to the recipe. I cut down on some sugar which somehow affected the taste of the muffins. They tasted quite bland. The muffins were also rather moist, not as crumbly and dry, very un-muffin like. Perhaps I have put too much yogurt. There was also this floury taste which I did not like. Wondering was the cooking time too short or I added too much flour.

The first batch looked rather flat, I thought it was because I put too little a portion. I tried to put more in the 2nd batch but it did not rise a lot too, I guess perhaps I have stirred too much in the mixing.

After my disappointment, I decided to try making cornflakes cookies which is more idiot-proof than the muffins. Maybe my mood affected the cooking, it also did not turn out well. It was too buttery till the base was soaked in oil and I was told it was too sweet. Next time when I do it again, I must remember to make in smaller batches so that if it fails, at least my “guinea pigs” need not suffer

The day when I turned cutsey

With my nieces. I believe they enjoyed it as much as I do. It’s a rare opportunity we can have a photo taken together so these hold special meaning.

Neoprints. I never thought we will meet again after my teenage life. You have become more high-tech. You kept us so busy with your humongous collection of  words, colors, patterns, templates, pictures of the hundreds. It was a crazy whirl, so much so that I forgot there was a timer and ended up not having time to finish writing my name.

莆田

The only reason we stepped into this restaurant was because it was not crowded. Actually no crowd=mediocre food most of the time, but beggars are not choosers, we were rushing to finish our dinner so we can work.

Ice bitter gourd is one of their chef’s specialties. Even though I dislike bitter gourd, I find this dish intriguing and also the waitress said this dish will not be bitter because you are supposed to dip in honey. I decided to be adventurous but regretted my decision…..honey still could not mask the bitter taste. Had to force feed myself…don’t want to waste money and food. After a few pieces, I gave up.

Shredded meat with bun is like eating kong bak pau (braised pork belly with steamed bun) minus the fats in pork belly but plus the oil in fried bun. Don’t know which is more unhealthy though. Was quite nice, not too oily in taste, the sesame seeds on the bun made the bun more fragrant and the savoury shredded meat went well with it.

This is my favorite dish! Stir-fried yam. I love the fact that it’s both sweet and savory. The caramelized yam in addition to its natural sweetness hit a right note with my penchant for sweet stuff. I think it has been fried with shallots which accounts for added sweetness and savory fragrance.  Really yummy especially the charred bits.

This is their lor mee. I like the noodles. But because it’s starchy, after a while, you kind of feel too jer lak to continue eating it. It’s quite an interesting dish and healthy too, a lot of greens.

This is called huang gua fish, not sure is it huang gua as in cucumber? It’s a new dish not on the menu yet. The fish had been cooked very well, firm and tender and fresh. The soya sauce drizzled over the fish was really nice, not too salty, did not overpower the freshness of the fish.

How can I not eat yam paste dessert when it’s on the menu But it’s average only. I think only yam paste done by Teochews can make the mark, except my mother, she is a hokkien but can create this dish very well.

I realise my f50 fuji compact camera is quite an impressive camera. In low lighting, the noise level still not too bad. I am beginning to appreciate her more.

sesame noodles & egg-in-a-hole

My recent food experiments have been very much influenced by the pioneer woman. Her recipes seem foolproof and her step-by-step pictures help a lot in preparation. Of course, with such drool-worthy food pictures, it is an added motivation to replicate what I have seen.

I modified her sesame noodles by adding more greens and sweating onions, garlic and chilies to create the oil. I think it was a big mistake especially the chillies. The oil was so spicy till it overpowers all other sauces. I thought to add some fried shallots too but I did not control the fire well and got burnt.

I guess the saving grace is the greens; sugar snaps, red peppers, bean sprouts, coriander and spring onions. If not for the fiery taste, the noodles tasted quite alright, quite healthy too.

The next one I tried is egg-in-a-hole. I did not cut the bread properly and it was not even so the 1st attempt was a disaster. The egg oozed out and did not stay inside the hole. I tried the 2nd time by pressing firmly on the bread to prevent 2nd time disaster. So below was the result.

I thought it’s a very creative breakfast. I like the buttery crisp coated around the edges of the bread, the buttery fragrance went very well with the cooked egg. I did not use any salt or soya since I used salted butter.

Next time I will try not to flip the bread to the other side, it sort of spoils the aesthetic appearance of the whole dish.

<a href=”http://ieatishootipost.sg/2009/09/cugini-my-favourite-plate-of-pasta.html”>cugini</a>

Cugini is my favorite pasta place (for now)

After reading ieatishootipost’s blog on cugini, I told myself die die must go and try their pasta, it sounds too good to be true. So here I am, right at their doorstep at Club Street. Looks rustic and homely yeah?

I never think bright blue can be part of a restaurant’s color scheme, a bit too loud and garish? But somehow in this restaurant, it adds much cheer and liveliness, I feel like I am in someone’s kitchen, it has that welcoming presence.

I ordered Southern style linguine with clams. OOH! It was really one of the best linguine I have ever tasted. I think it’s the oil they use that makes a difference. It’s unlike those typical white wine vongole with clams with strong garlicky flavor. It has this strong nutty and earthy aroma (truffle oil?) and till this day, I can still remember that unique fragrance. The freshness of the pasta, clams and herbs add a lot of depth to the flavor too. Maybe Southern Italian pastas taste different? But whatever it is, I am really impressed. Somtimes when I go to some restuarants recommended by food bloggers, I will be disappointed but this time round, I am glad I found this gem of a place.

my 2nd attempt to cook

After my successful attempt in making cookies, I got a bit more adventurous and decided to fry bee hoon (rice vermicelli)! Bee Hoon is one of my favorite staples, it simply goes well with anything especially chicken wings..hee, another one of my favorite foods. To be able to cook it will mean that I can have it anytime I like! Ha ha! Thinking about it makes me very excited.

But I think I am bit too adventurous….should not have agreed to cook such a big portion for the 1st attempt. I struggled with the seasoning, not sure how much is enough. I had a hard time trying to mix the vegetables and seasoning without breaking the vermicelli into million pieces with my tossing. In the end, I felt that I am eating bee hoon, ingredients, seasoning separately even though they were all in one dish. I must have done something not right. Perhaps I should have cooked the vegetables in the stock before mixing the bee hoon in?

Looks nicer than the taste

Previously I shared one of my favorite desserts is mango with pomelo , 扬枝干露. I have tasted many and none tastes as lovely as IMM Crystal Jade. I always wanted to replicate this dessert I tried in Crystal Jade. I searched online but most recipes call for evaporated milk which I don’t like. It overpowers the taste of fresh mango and pomelo and I also believe Crystal Jade did not use it too. I think I finally discovered an almost perfect recipe that comes as close to what I have tasted in Crystal Jade! And the secret ingredient is mango yogurt. I am not sure whether Crystal Jade uses mango yogurt or not, or perhaps they use vanilla ice cream, but this creation of mine (at least I think is my creation because I have not read anyone who used it ) did not overpower the mango and pomelo bits. It’s creamy, it’s tangy (I added some lemon juice) and it’s as refreshing as Crystal Jade’s when chilled. Good things are meant to be shared, if you want to try this dessert, blend mango cubes and mango yogurt and with perhaps a little bit of mango juice (I used Peel Fresh). I can’t give you the exact measurement as I used estimation. Try till you get the right mix, and perhaps you can share with me how it tastes like