Sunday, November 18, 2007

Comfort food!

Nothing like yummy ice cream to cheer up your mood. Some1, you noe who u are, made me crave for green tea ice cream.

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Haha! Just took a pic and feel like posting it.

ANd ice cream put me in a really good mood and reminds me of a really sweet song...



JJ!!! *beams*

Joo Chiat original popiah & Kueh Pie Tee

Dad brought us to this popiah stall today!! Finally~ Something different for lunch! I am getting sick of the same old things we rotate and eat every sunday! They watched the makan sutra show recently and realise this stall where we used to buy popiah skin from also sells the "popiah cai".

I was pretty excited! So long never eat popiah (where you can d-i-y) for a long time! I love my family's popiah parties! However, making popiah requires alot of work~ and usually when u are already willing to make popiah, you will kinda prepare a large portion so that everyone gets to eat it.

When my mum makes them, my job usually is the peel loads and loads of garlic and shell like tons of prawns and cut them in halves. super hardwork. And mum have to prepare everything like a week before. She will usually prepare the peanuts and flat fish. Mum spends her leaves mainly on her other activities these days. With christmas coming, I guess there wun b a popiah party anytime soon. If my auntie is the one preparing the popiah, then all the other aunties will rope in to help make the other ingredients.

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The shop! If you are early, you can catch the uncle making the popiah skin. I am a shy photographer so never take him.

I think the popiah shop combined with "The Beef House" next to it to serve both beef dishes and popiah! Smart business move! We had our popiah in "The Beef House" . Think its a 'Lao Zi Hao', there are quite a few pple eating the beef kway teow. The kway teow looks like the vietnamese kind of kway teow.

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This is a set for 4 pple. $32! Exp hor! But got 8 pie tee shells~ pie tee are exp! Somethings are refillable like the lettuce, chinese celery, popiah skins and the crispy! If only everything was refillable! haha!

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Close up on the 'Popiah Cai'. They so clever, put the prawns on top of it. Save space!

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The pie tee shells! & crispy! They dun have crushed peanuts and flat fish powder!! :(

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The most impt..... to me at least.... Sweet flour sauce, mashed garlic and chilli!!!

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Getting started to wrap my own popiah! Different pple got different way! I still remember teaching my dear to wrap his first popiah!!

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Add watever you want, how much u wan...

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Mine! Ugly one! Still unable to master it! Doesnt matter! Its for my own mouth only. Thats the fun!

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Next! My pie tee!! Hehe! Chio anot?!

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We decided to check out the beef ball soup too! So so la. The soup was quite clear and nice but the beef ball was not really to my liking. Hees!

All in all, I thot it was rather nice but maybe not worth the price. Mum still loves her own 'popiah cai' (naturally). Actually, i really love her much more too! She really use alot of prawn heads and shells to make stock that makes the "popiah cai" really sweet! But for outside standard, i think its good enuff for me. Maybe this will spur her to make her own soon!

If you are interested in popiah skin, there's another place that sells traditional skin too. Its a super old bread shop along a row of shops opposite Temasek Junior College. Mum prefers the skin from there. We usually buy ours there. I love the bread (otah, hotdog, luncheon meat) from there too! Nostalgic taste!! 50 cents only! haha!

The Sandwich Shop

My family has been on a sandwich craze ever since my sister bought a sandwich back from this place.

http://www.thesandwichshop.com.sg/

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Yumz yumz! I really love a good sandwich! It really lifts up your mood when u get to eat something really delicious.

I have been packing food for lunch these days as I have been really busy rushing to meet my deadline. Was in a mood for a really good sandwich to perk my mood up. Made my dad to make a quick stop @ Robinson Centre in the early morning for me to pick up a sandwich. Stopid Sandwich shop only located in the CBD area. So inaccessible for me. My mum was really happy when I grabbed one for her too. She kept "wooing" with excitement over her sandwich. HAha! My mother is as greedy as me! She absolutely adores sandwich!

The sandwich really made my day! I had the BLT! I was so happy and could not stop smiling during lunch, although i was all alone in the office and stressed up. Food is the one of the sure way to lift up my mood.

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But I noe that not many aint willing to spend much on a sandwich. 1 of my colleague was amazed that I am willing to spend $6.50 for a sandwich. But to me, it was totally worth it cause the ingredients were fresh, the taste was heavenly and its rather huge means u can eat it for 2 meals or share it with some1 else.

Pasar Malam's Delight.

There is a Pasar Malam @ Bedok Interchange currently! There is something about Pasar Malam which we can never get enough of. The cheap comfort food is something most of us like.

I noe of 2 fwens who especially loves the fish keropok sold in Pasar Malam stalls. I cant remember the exact name of what it is called. Its really wierd that we can only find those in Pasar Malam or those street food stalls in Malaysia. Whenever either of them found out where there is pasar malam, they will always msg and inform the other. Funny kids.

I aint crazy into those fish keropok as them but there are still more other food which you just simply relate to Pasar Malam. I used to love Taiwan sausage and tea eggs. However, these days i dun go for them cause u can get good taiwan sausages from supermarkets and great tea eggs from Eu Yan Sang. Ever since i bought a tea egg that looks like "tie dan" from pasar malam, i stop buying. Should really try the tea egg from Eu Yan Sang. The smell is heavenly, the taste is fantastic, there's hygiene and quality control plus its the same price!!

I also love tutu-kueh!! So hard to find them these days!!

They have really new things in pasar malam these days like the japanese balls, japanese pancakes and also kebabs! I adore kebabs!!!

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This is the kebab i bought from the bedok's pasar malam! Its really good! but kinda pricey! $4! Haha! N to keep my mum from eating it, I told her what I saw when I was queuing for it! The man who was preparing the kebab kept wiping the sweat with a towel. The guy heating up the "bread" , also collects moneyn with the same hands. Hehe! These things always disgust her! I dun mind! Its yummy!

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N putu piring!!! Not as good as the one I had at Jurong East pasar malam previously. It is similar to tutu-kueh except that its filling is gula melaka!! Suddenly i remember that there is something else that i miss!! PUTU MAYAM!!! I wonder where can u get those these days manz!!

Kinda missing the kebab now. Think maybe grab myself one tomolo or real soon cause we dunno when will it be back again. Hees!

SO......What's your favourite Pasar Malam's delight?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Gyu Don - Beef Rice (my mum's style)

Just had a fantastic dinner of Meidiya's beef bowl again!! So full!!

My fwen is such a good cook!! Yumz! Love the "dong fen" & golden mushroom! Its so wierd blogging abt beef rice when I jus had a big bowl of it. Kinda nausea now..jus looking at my pics. Hehe!

Mum decided to cook her beef rice last weekend. This is a dish from her which I love dearly! mainly because i love beef! I rem her telling me that her father used to make this dish for them. They were not well to do then and this dish was like their occasional treat of meat.

I am still on my learning cooking challenge and bugged her to teach me! This will b a fantastic dish to cook for my family in future! Its quick, easy and absolutely yummy!!

A great cook always start out as a potato or onion peeler! So i volunteered to slice the onions to make those fried onion shallots. (i have no idea what are they called in english terms, in chinese is 'chong tou you').
I really hate cutting onions. I ended up in tears, loads of it by the time i was done. But hey, that's wat i have to eventually when i start my own family. Frankly speaking, I began to eye the tefal onion chopper after chopping those onions! haha! i am afterall a modern woman. bleahz!

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My sliced onions. Kawaii desu ka?

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Toss it with salt. Then its time to fry!

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Golden brown. Crispy. Heavenly.

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prepare the spring onions.

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Prepare marinate for the beef. Soya Sauce, pepper, the oil from frying the onions and corn flour.

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U can opt for small thinly sliced beef or minced beef. Marinate it.

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Now to cook the rice. Add some salt into the rice. Else it b tastless. Just cook rice normally like you would with the rice cooker. My mum find it troublesome and slow to use the rice cooker so she always cook in the old fashion way, with the pot.

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this step requires some estimate. U got to put in the beef when the surface of the rice starts to have holes in it. (When rice is 3/4 done)

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Continue cooking until the beef is cooked. Stir the rice and the beef (with the fire still on). Add dark soy sauce for colouring and taste.

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When the rice is well-mixed, add in the fried shallots & spring onion. Mix again. oh yah, can off fire le. Ready to serve.


If not enuff taste, jus add some light sauce. Its really an easy quick dinner dish.
my mum's estimate is: 2 cups of rice for 300g of beef.

Okie. tats all for my mum's beef bowl. Cant believe i still feel so full after completing the post. haha! FAT!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Food & Travel Magazine

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I love this magazine that my mum reads frequently. I picked it up 1 day from her "library" when i ran out of things to read and got hooked. Its a fantastic magazine for travelling & food lovers.

I like a section of the magazine that teachs us the little knowledge of food(s.a 'type of mustards and it uses' or ' the different kind of herbs') which we can only learn when we chance upon or really into food.

They have tons of recipes and also different travel features each week. The magazine also recommends restaurents. A good leisure informative read!

Only thing, a bit too pricey for me. $4 for a thin book. But the good thing abt this thin book is jampacked with good articles instead of a load of trash and adverts like some other magazines. Despite that, i am still those kind of person who is stingy to fork out $4 for such a thin book. Good thing 4 me, i can jus find it on my mum's desk everytime the monthly issue is out! haha! Free Loader!:p

Sunday, November 04, 2007

My Saturday (with sheperd's pie & Ngoh Hiang)

So fast. The most loved day of the week has past! It's a lazy day for me today! Decided to bum around and not do anything at all. So went to hang out at my friend's place.

Got a craving for sheperd's pie and suggested to my fwen that we shld make them! As usual, I have to do the potatos layer and my fwen will do the meat layer.

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The chef took a pic of his nicely chopped ingredients.

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Mushrooms... gorgeous mushrooms...

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N finally, the great chef's master piece.

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N time for mine.. :)

Unfortunately, me forgot to take the combined FINAL master piece. But u guys shld noe by now how my sheperd's pie look. Both of us felt that something was missing from out sheperd's pie. I noe I did a bad job with the potatos today. Sad!

On the bright side, my fwen's parents decided to make ngoh hiang! I got 'kou fu'!! N i took some really really pics which i like to share (show off... HAHAHA!) Best part? I got to bring some home! hehe!

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a close up on the ngoh hiang filing!

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My fwen wrapped these. such equal sizes. His perfect quick skills makes me feel ashamed! boo hoo!

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Deep fried!!

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Dun you wish to take a bite too? Doesnt my pic whet up your appetite?! hehe! I love my camera!
Feel like taking up food photography manz!!

Anyway, there goes my sat..... a resting and pigging out session... another week ahead!

Pearl River Palace @ Suntec.

Yes.. Late night blogging jus indicates a sleepless night doesnt it? hees.

Went to Pearl River Palace yesterday for a farewell dinner for an ex-colleague. My dad wonders why I have to farewell to an ex-colleague for it makes no sense! Well.. its a farewell dinner for the rest but for me, its an excuse for a gathering to meet all those pple I miss so much!

I bet most pple noe about the existence of this restaurent for u prob see it like me, when we cross the overhead bridge from citylink to get to suntec.

The restaurent serves an all-you-can-eat ala-carte buffet. Its nice to have chinese food for a change. It kinda reminds me of the Tung Lok restaurent at Hotel Paramount which i kinda like. We went there for a couple of farewells too! haha! Loads of farewell we seem to had eh. Haha!

Everyone gets a 1 time serving of 'Buddha jump over the wall', Peking Duck and 100gm of fresh live prawns. The rest of the items in the menu, you can have limitless servings. I like the fact you can control the amount of serving of each item. They also have desserts! The desserts were served in normal buffet style. However, to be honest, I still prefer the wide selection of dessert available over at the restaurent at Paramount.

Took some pics to share...

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'Buddha jump over the wall'. Not a big fan for this. So cant comment whether its good anot. Basically, jus drink it because of all the good stuffs used to make it. heez!

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Our completely filled table! N there were more to come. (I love wasabi mayo fried prawn!!)

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Some gigantic oyster the waitress persuaded us to order. Not in the buffet menu! 1 word! Garlicky!

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Crab Beehoon! Awesome beehoon!! Really!

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1 of the last few dishes! Some pumkin thing. I hated it cause I dun like pumkin! haha! But it makes a pretty picture!

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Dessert! :)! Mango pudding. Red Bean kueh, Mango juice with pomelo. Black Sesame paste. I like the mango pudding! the rest were so-so.

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Everybody! Miss them!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Unhealthy Dinner!

Barely home for dinner these days. Been working really hard. Even if i do go home for dinner, its either mum's not cooking or i b home too late that I told her not to save dinner for me.

My dinner will be either maggie mee where i add my favourite instant food. They are fresh (fresh?? frozen! haha!) shrimp dumplings, meatballs and fuzhou fish balls.

one night i wasnt that hungry, so i jus settled for dinner with a simple soup of just those 3 items only. The msg given with the fresh dumpling make a really tasty soup!! Such an enjoyable dinner for me! easily satisfied!!

But i shld stop eating this way! I am getting too fat for my own good!

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Mum's chicken curry!

Some1 challenged me to learn cooking! Loads of dishes to learn! Chicken curry was 1 of the item on the list. Told my mama like ages ago to teach me her different specialities! But i never seem to be home enuff for her to teach me. Besides, mum is so much more happening these days than me. Always going to different kind of meetings after work. Haha!

I am so dead! My deadline is nearing! Yikes! Loads of more dishes to learn. Took some photos to remind me of the steps.

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First fry the potatoes to golden brown.

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The spices!

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Fry the spice fragrant and then the curry leaves.

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Fry the onions till fragrant. Then add the home made chilli paste(from dried chillis).

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meanwhile make a paste with curry powder and water.

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add the paste and fry. Then chicken and stir-fry!

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Add the coconut slowly in spoonfuls and continue to stir fry.

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Add water till it covers chicken. Bring it to a boil.

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When the chicken is almost cook, then add the fried potatos.

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when the curry is almost ready, add in cut tomatos and curry leaves. Boil a little longer! and the currey is ready! So pretty!

Is this the way you or your mum cook curry too? Seems like different family have different ways of cooking their chicken curry. My mum's curry is always changing. She likes to experiment alot! she stay this cooking way is more of indian style. The nonya one will consist of more coconut milk. Think mum barely cooks nonya style one. so whats yrs?

It's hard to get exact measurements from mother's. They cook by years of experience kind. Everything is estimated. I think i will need loads of mum's guidance before i am ready! Yikes! running out of time! My sheperd's pie until now still cant b compared to hers. ha!