December 25, 2008
Dining at Jurong Point 2: What’s good what’s not
Part of the mural at entrance of Din Xiao Er
Din Xiao Er
This restaurant strikes the right note immediately with the colourful mural at the entrance, leading into a rustic-looking space. But the best part must be the food. We tried their signature dish, Herbal Duck, choosing the one with Angelica herbs, the Mongolian Spare Ribs, and Yu Mak in Fermented Sauce, and really enjoyed everything they laid out for us.
OldTown White Coffee
On the other end of the scale, mum tried the curry mee there, and could not eat it. Tasted like curry powder added to water! The icky part? the fish cakes were stale. And the staff just kept quiet when she made these observations while paying. Teething problems? Maybe. My mum had tried the food at another branch in KL, and rather enjoyed it.
Jia Xiang Mee
Noodles from Sarawak, or so they say. Service was fast, and their signature dish, jia xiang mee, was tasty. Ingredients were also fresh, another plus. But $6+ for what is essentially a bowl of wanton mee? hmmm…
Lai Lai Casual Dining
A neighbour of ours warned us not to eat the mee sua at this one. And she said that if we were to go, just try the beef dishes. She was not impressed.
Zhou’s Kitchen
We took a look at their lunch buffet spread, and honestly, it all looked very tempting. Good value if you’ve got a good appetite.
June 30, 2008
inSingapore: Best Wonton Mee?
My friennd brought me to a wonton mee stall last week, and she said it’s reputed to be the best:
Foong Kee Coffee Shop
6 Keong Saik Road
Don’t know about ‘best’, but it was certainly very, very good.
What I liked about their noodles was that it was not sweet. For those who don’t know, they tend to put in sweet sauce into dry-tossed noodles here in Singapore. (Hmmm… come to think of it, maybe that’s why I’ve avoided wanton mee cooked outside for many years. I still have northern Malaysian food sensibilities which dictates that dry-tossed noodles must be salty).
And, even though I’m not the greatest fan of roasted pork or char siew, the stall’s specialities, I enjoyed eating the meats they served there. The skin of the roasted pork was really crispy. And the char siew was quite juicy (my friend bought some for me to take back for my mum to try, and she gave it the seal of approval – so it MUST be good). I have to say though that the meat I enjoyed the most was the roast duck, but only because I LOVE roast duck in the first place.
My friend says their meats are always fantastic because they are always fresh from the oven. And tasting the meats, I can believe that.
By the way, I have to confess that I forgot to note down the name of the stall, or its address, the other day. So I had to cheat a bit. I searched around and found this food review blog, which has all the details, and pictures as well: http://ieatishootipost.sg/2007/03/foong-kee-wanton-mee-wanton-mee.html
Patsy, if you’re reading this, thanks for the treat! 🙂 And thanks for introducing me to the stall.
June 9, 2008
The Any-Old-How Cook takes on Fried Rice
The Any-Old-How Cook, that’s me, delights in quick and easy dishes (see also my previous blog post). I actually get to prepare this particular Fried Rice one quite often. It’s a family favourite.
Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage
Serves 1
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 heaped tbsp finely chopped Chinese Sausage
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 egg
- 3 heaped tbsp chopped spring onions
Method
- Heat oil and fry Chinese sausage until fragrant.
- Add garlic (you may want to lower the fire slightly as you add the garlic, as garlic tends to get burnt rather quickly).
- Next, add the cooked rice. Pour the soya sauce on top, and mix evenly into rice. Fry until soya sauce caramelises on the grains of rice.
- Make a space in the middle of the rice. Add more oil if necessary, and break the egg into the hole. Quickly scramble. Once the egg is set, mix it with the rice.
- Turn off the fire, stir in the fresh spring onions, and the dish is ready to serve.
I’ve put my fried rice tips (how to make better fried rice) in my Hubpages article.
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MORE ANY-OLD-HOW COOK RECIPES:
Any-Old-How Cook goes Ga-Ga Over Potatoes
June 6, 2008
inSingapore: Cheap-and-Good “Siew Mai” (chinese dumpling)
Seems like the hot topic in the news these days is the rising grocery and food costs, with newspapers here publishing articles on what costs how much where. So, I thought I’d contribute my two-cents worth to the whole discussion.
If you love Siew Mai, my family found a yummy version selling at the supermarket — Sin Mui Heng Fish & Shrimp Siew Mai. My family finds it at least as good as the siew mai you can get the food court, and it costs you 70-80% less.
And, actually, if you observe the dim sum stalls at food courts these days, most of them don’t make the dim sum items themselves anymore. They get their supplies from food factories.
Do the same — many food factories package their dim sum items and sell them in supermarkets — and you can save quite a bit on your food bill.
Hint: If you don’t have one already, get a steam tray for your rice cooker (or get a rice cooker with a steam tray – it’s extremely useful to have one). That’ll make steaming these dim sum items much easier.
Crooked Turret 