Wednesday 15 July 2015

[June School Holidays: Week 3] Resort World Sentosa, Food Hunt and Recipes

On the 3rd week of June holidays, we continue our food hunt at Hong Lim Food Centre, Monster Curry, Boon Tong Kee as well as feast on our favouite durian since it is on peak season. Besides food the boy and I also went for a day trip to Resort World Sentosa which you can read more in details below.

As for this week recipes we are featuring huai shan chicken soup, fried dumpling and braised chicken with bitter gourd which I hope you will like it.



MONDAY, 15 JUNE 2015
(Huai Shan Chicken Soup - 淮山莲子鸡汤)


[Lunch] Korean Spicy Tofu Soup from Soleme at Sembawang Shopping Mall
Monday lunch was at Soleme which is a homely Korean restaurant located within the foodcourt at level 2 of Sembawang Shopping Center. I ordered their Spicy Soft Tofu Soup (Soondubu jjigae) which costs SG$6.30 on their promotion price. And you can choose to add extra SG$1.50 for choice of meat like pork, chicken or beef.  Each main dish is served with steamed white rice, two banchan (side dishes such as kimchi, fruit salad, stir-fried anchovies and etc) and seaweed soup.

[Soleme] Other than Spicy Tofu Soup, Bibimbap @ SG$10.90 is another of my favourite order
Overall the price of their food items are quite reasonable; taste wise considered above average for food court standard and I often see many people patronize this stall during lunch / dinner hours whenever I am there.

SOLEME KOREAN CUISINE
Sembawang Shopping Centre
604 Sembawang Road
#02-20
Singapore 758459

Operating Hours:
10:00am - 10:00pm (Daily)


[Soup Of Day] Huai Shan Chicken Soup
Even though we are not Cantonese (dialect group) family who must include soup in their daily meal I still insists to boil nourishing soup for at least 3 - 4 times a week depending on the available ingredients. Above is Huai Shan Chicken Soup with added lotus seeds to nourish the heart and calm the nerves as well as prevent insomnia. Hui Shan also helps to lower blood sugar level, improves digestive system, boost up immune system and etc.

Ingredients for Huai Shan Chicken Soup.

(Yield: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/2 Portion Kampong Chicken (free-ranged), halved
1/2 Cup Dried Lotus Seeds
350g Huai Shan (淮山)
8 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries

Method:
1. Soak lotus seeds (do not rinse) in hot water for 10 minutes till soften. Rinse and drain. Set aside.

2. Blanch chicken in boiling water, rinse and set aside.

3. Bring 1.2 liters of water to boil, add in all ingredients (except wolfberries) and when the mixture comes to boil again. Lower the heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

4. Lastly toss in wolfberries, simmer for a minute or two. Season to taste and serve.

Benefit:
- In TCM point of view lotus seeds can help to nourish heart and calm the nerves which in a way prevent insomnia or diarrhea caused by spleen deficiency as well as urinary disorder.

- whereas huai shan helps to improve digestive system and helps those who feel fatigue with poor appetite and etc.

淮山莲子鸡汤是一道非常养颜滋补的家庭好汤。它采用莲子健脾益气,淮山补益脾胃还有甘榜鸡也能确保鸡肉的鲜美让汤更入味。这道汤适合常常享而你也可以用排骨来代替鸡肉。

(分量: 2-3 人份 | 准备: 10 分钟 | 炖煮时间: 30 分钟)

材料:
半只甘榜鸡, 切半
1/2杯莲子
350克怀山(淮山)
8颗红枣
少许枸杞

做法:
1.莲子浸泡(不需要冲洗)在热水10分钟然后冲洗,沥干备用。

2.鸡飞水, 洗净备用。

3.用一个汤锅把1.2毫升的水烧开然后加入所的材料(除了枸杞),当水再次沸腾时就转为小火煮至少30分钟。

4.最后放入枸杞再煮1分钟,调味后即可享用。





TUESDAY, 16 JUNE 2015
(Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd + Deep-Fired Meat Dumpling)


[Dinner] Deep-fry Meat Dumpling
Generally there are a few ways to prepare dumpling such as boil, deep-fry, pan-fry or even steam. For us we often make our Dumpling (shui jiao - 水饺, wanton - 云吞, gyoza - 饺子) using ground meat from either pork or chicken together with extra ingredients like water chestnut, mushroom, carrot and etc to enhance the flavour and natural sweetness.

Ingredients for meat dumpling

(Yield: 15 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
120g Ground Meat
3 Water Chestnut, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Chopped Carrot
1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onion
1 Medium Shiitake Mushroom, finely diced
1/2 Teaspoon Grated Ginger Juice

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
Dash of Pepper

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients together and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat up a frying wok or small saucepan with hot and deep-fry the prepared dumpling until golden brown. Remove, drain and serve.

- I use my new Korean K-Art wok pan to shallow fry these dumplings and it works well with even heat that promote quick cooking and also no splatter of oil which enable easy cleaning.


[Dinner] Braised Chicken with Biter Gourd
Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd (苦瓜焖鸡) is one of the classic Asian dish which most of us familiar with. Although they might be different methods in preparing this dish, we love ours with added black fermented bean, carrot and cut chilli to enhance the flavour making it a satisfying dish to go with steamed white rice.

Homegrown Bitter Gourd
For those who follow my Dayre (mobile blog) account, you will realize we have a mini veggie garden whereby we get fresh supply of items like choy sum, bitter gourd, ladyfinger and cherry tomato depending on what is ready to harvest in that week. As you can see above is one of our bitter gourd which we use to make our favourite dish mentioned below. Will share more about our garden and how to grow hydroponic vegetables in another post.

Ingredients for braised chicken with bitter gourd.

(Yield: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Wings, halved
1 Small Carrot, sliced & halved
2 Bird Eyes Chilli
1/2 Tablespoon Black Fermented Bean
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Slices Ginger
Bunch of Coriander
1/2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
100ml Hot Water

Marinade:
1/2 Tablespoon Cornflour
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Dash of Pepper

Method:
1. Cut chicken wings into drumlet & mid-joint, marinate them with marinade for at least 30 minutes.

2. Saute chicken on both sides for 3 minutes till slightly browned. Remove and set side.

3. With the same pan, toss in garlic, ginger, chilli and black bean and fry until fragrant add in bitter gourd and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Add in chicken and give it a quick toss before stirring in 1 tablespoon oyster sauce and 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce then continue to cook on low heat on 1 minutes.

5. Add water and simmer until chicken is tender.


While I am preparing the Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd, the boy on the other hand helps me with wrapping the Dumplings.

[Dinner] Weekday night bento
Here is our homemade bento that I packed for my mum with two of her favourite dishes like braised chicken with bitter gourd and pan-fry fish. Besides that I also add in some Stir-fry Choy Sum with Mushroom for her to try our homegrown veggie from one of our hydroponic kit.


WEDNESDAY, 17 JUNE 2015
(Resort World Sentosa, S.E.A Aquarium & Sky Lodge)


Day trip to RWS (resort world sentosa)
On the beautiful Wednesday morning we had an impromptu trip to Sentosa since the boy wanted to re-visit S.E.A Aquarium again. Even at around 9.45am in a mid-week morning the crowds had already flooded into the island while we were waiting for the monorail at Vivo City Station. 

[S.E.A Aquarium @ RWS] The Sharks Sea Zone
The Sharks Sea corner at S.E.A Aquarium is one of our favourite hangout place where we could spent almost an hour sitting there watching the sharks moving around the tank. Furthermore my boy is a huge fans of shark and he collected many shark related items such as Tees, stationery, toys and etc

First time on Sky Ride!
To end the day, we decided on an exciting ride which brings us from Beach Station to Cable Car Station on Sky Ride chairlift. Bet I am be crazy at that point of time to agree with the boy to go for the ride because it was so high up (at least more than 3 storey high) and there was barely any protection around the chair except the safety bar. But indeed the ride was thrilled with breathtaking bird eyes view of Singapore city skyline as well as beautiful coastline of Sentosa Island.

Will share more about this trip in another post on Day Trip to Resort World Sentosa. So do check it out on our site. To read more about our day trip to Resort World Sentosa; S.E.A Aquarium, Skyride, Beach & Food please refer to the link @ http://www.ellenaguan.com/2015/07/resort-world-sentosa-sea-aquarium.html


THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2015
(Hong Lim Food Centre, Seriously Ice Cream & Minions Movie)


[Hong Lim Food Centre] Our Brunch
Since we had another free day on Thursday without enrichment classes, we decided to Hong Lim Food Centre for brunch because the boy was craving for his favourite Braised Duck Rice whereas I missed the Crayfish Hor Fun.

[Hong Lim Food Centre] Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun
Shopfront of Tuck Kee which is located at end corner beside Chinatown Point Mall. The stall opens around 11:00am - 3.00pm so in order to cut down your queuing time do avoid peak lunch hour and be early. The price of their food range from SG$3.00 - SG$7.00 and they even have freshly made wanton soup to go with the hor fun too.

Hong Lim Food Centre] Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun
I ordered the Crayfish Prawn Hor Fun (SG$7.00) which consists of 1 crayfish (halved), and 2 medium size prawns (halved), some blanched choy sum, smooth thin rice noodles and decent amount of flavourful gravy to enhance the taste. Although it has being a few years since my last visit (used to patronize their hor fun at least twice a month while I was working around that area years back), their hor fun standard is still as good as before but perhaps with a dollar or two more in price.

Tuck Kee Ipoh Sah Hor Fun
德记怡保沙河粉
531A Upper Cross Street
#02-40
Singapore 051531
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tuck-Kee-Ipoh-Sar-Hor-Fun 

Hong Lim Food Centre] An Kee Braised Duck Rice
An Kee Braised Duck Rice is one of our "must have" at Hong Lim Food Centre besides the Ipoh Hor Fun (mentioned above), Fan Ji Bittergourd Fish Soup (#02-70), Fragrant Hong Kong Pork Rib Rice (#02-69) and Teochew Porridge (level 1). Just a small note this stall opens around 12:00pm or as when their braised items are ready.

Hong Lim Food Centre] An Kee Braised Duck Rice
The brown sauce rice served at An Kee is cooked using the braised duck sauce till it gets the right texture and flavour which taste just right for not being too soft or salty. We often top-up our order with extra braised hard-boiled egg, peanut and/or firm tofu that comes up to about SG$4.00 - SG$4.50 a plate.

An Kee Braised Duck Rice
531A Upper Cross Street
#02-18
Singapore 051351


Hong Lim Food Centre] Tai Wah Pork Noodle
While queuing for the braised duck rice, I saw there was another queue opposite the stall waiting for Pork Noodle (aka Bak Chor Mee) so the glutton me decided to join the queue too.

Hong Lim Food Centre] Tai Wah Pork Noodle
After about 15 minutes this was my share of Bak Chor Mee (SG$5.00) from Tai Wah Pork Noodle. Overall the noodles were a bit soft (not springy), sauce was kind of salty and overpowered by vinegar taste which was not for my liking. But for those who queued for this stall I am sure there must be something that they like because food is often subjective to individual taste.

Tai Wah Pork Noodle (High Street)
大华肉脞面
531A Upper Cross Street
#02-16
Singapore 051351


Hong Lim Market & Food Centre at Upper Cross Street

Hong Lim Market & Food Centre
芳林熟食中心
531A Upper Cross Street
Singapore 051531


[Hong Lim Food Market & Food Centre] Poh Guan Cake House
Poh Guan Cake House is one of Singapore's oldest traditional Chinese bakeries that make various type of Chinese dialect pastries from sweet to savoury. On special occasions like Chinese weddings they also take in orders for wedding biscuits or longevity buns and longevity noodles for senior folks birthday celebrations.

For me whenever I am at that area I will definitely grab a box or two of their freshly made Tau Sar Piah (豆沙饼) to go with my coffee/tea for my tea break.

POH GUAN CAKE HOUSE
宝源饼家
531 Upper Cross Street
#01-57 Hong Lim Complex
Singapore 050531
Telephone: (65)6534 0136



After lunch we shop around Chinatown Point Mall before taking a train ride to our next destination at Outram Park MRT (north east line) to grab some Ang Ku Kueh (red tortoise cake) from Ji Xiang (吉祥红龟果) and head off to Orchard area. But since we were at Everton Park and craving for some cold dessert due to the hot weather,  we decided to check out the cafes on the next few blocks and end up at Seriously Ice-Cream!

Will share our review on this place in another separate post on Waffles & Ice Cream Cafes in Singapore soon. So please stay tune for the link update.

[Movie Time] Minions (3D)
While having our waffle, the boy suggest to go for a movie since Minions (2015) is showing island wise at all cinema today. After checking online we decided try out luck and at Golden Village, Plaza Sing for two 3D tickets since they have the timing that we preferred (lucky we managed to make it 5 minutes before the show and grabbed the last two seats at the second last row).

For those who watched Despicable Me (I and II) I am sure you love those yellow minions and their hilarious speech and actions. As for the 2015 movie plot, it started with the history of minions way back before the caveman era and slowly into Queen Elizabeth II where the minions met their new evil master, Scarlett who was planning to be the next queen. Overall the graphic effects are good and it definitely worth watching as a family especially with young kids.


FRIDAY, 19 JUNE 2015
(Durians from Chong Pang Market)


Durian Stalls @ Block 101 Chong Pang Market
Nothing much happens on Friday because the boy had two enrichment classes on the same day so timing wise will be a bit rush if we were to plan any activities. Oh ya talk about Friday; on the way back from class we saw many people at Chong Pang Market surrounding the three durian stalls which bring in different variety of durians such as "D24", "sultan", "red prawn - 红虾", "cat mountain king - 猫山王" and etc from Malaysia.


And due to the abundant of supply of durian in season, you can even price as low as 50 cents durians that comes with bitter sweet taste or yellow flashed.

[Durian Feast] Red Prawn - 红虾 @ $10 each
For overseas friends, durian has a creamy and cross taste between sweet or bitter plus a very unique aroma which you either like or hate. But despite of that do at least try it once and who knows you might get hook on it just like the local.

[Durian Feast] Cat Mountain King - 猫山王 @ SG$18/kg
1.2kg size Cat Mountain King aka 猫山王 for SG$20.00 which comes with thick creamy flesh and bitter sweet taste. The seeds were very small and some of it evenly almost seedless (can you spot the tiny seed at the back) which makes it a good buy indeed!!!!


Yeah with durian season back in June - August again!!! Meaning we can start making durian puff, durian cake, durian rice and etc. All the durians that we bought above comes with bitter sweet taste and yellow flashed which cost only SG$2.00 each! Very worth the bargain.


SATURDAY, 20 JUNE 2015
(Dumpling Festival, Bingsu @ Nunsongyee & Monster Curry)


[Dumpling Festival] Nonya Bak Zhang & Red Bean Lye Water Dumpling
This year's Dumpling Festival (端午节) falls on 20 June 2015 and we are blessed to have homemade rice dumplings (粽子) given from relative. Personally I prefer either Nonya or Cantonese style which has sweet savory meat and mung bean fillings. After which I will end it with another sweet lye water rice dumpling that is either empty or filled with smooth red bean paste. What about you, which is your favourite choice of rice dumpling?

[Dumpling Festival] Red Bean Lye Water Dumpling
I love Lye Water Rice Dumpling (碱水粽) especially those which filled with smooth creamy (with some whole bean in it too) red bean fillings. Always love that springy texture of the rice which serve wither with dipping brown sugar or fragrant bean paste.

[Korean Dessert Cafe] Nunsongyee - Black Sesame Bingsu & Injeolmi Bingsu
In the afternoon we to Nunsongyee which is the first dessert cafe that sells bingsu in Singapore.  Nestled deep in Serangoon Garden Estate, it takes about 5 minutes drive away from Chomp Chomp Food Centre (famous for its local hawker delights). Nunsongyee is best known for their soft and snowy shaved ice that melt instantly in your mouth and their popular flavours are Black Sesame and Injeolmi.

You can read our full review on this dessert cafe @ http://www.ellenaguan.com/2015/06/korean-dessert-in-singapore-bingsu.html

[Dinner] Monster Curry @ NEX
Since NEX is the nearest shopping mall around Serangoon area, we decided to go there after our visit at Nunsongyee so that we can shop a while and have an early dinner before heading back home. There are many eateries at NEX where you can choose from local cuisines to either Japanese, Korean or Indian food and etc.

[Dinner] Monster Curry @ NEX
Actually we thought of having either Nasi Padang (steamed rice with cooked dishes) or Beef Pho but end up we saw Monster Curry which we wanted to try sometime back at ION Orchard but not available due to the timing issue. We ordered the "MONSTER Egg Curry" (SG$24.00) which was really HUGE in serving as you can see by comparing it with my boy!

[Dinner] Monster Curry @ NEX
The size that we ordered can be shared among 2 Adults (or +1 Kid if you family are not with big appetite) and you can even add on some extra sides like cheese or fried chicken if you prefer. Overall we felt the fried prawns and chickens were a bit over fried (the colour quite dark brown) and it was kind of oily too. Egg wise, instead of Japanese style egg omelette rice we were given an egg sheet covered over the rice.

Guess we still prefer the curry rice from Coco Ichibanya Curry House but at least we have tried and experience the HUGE serving size from Monster Curry.

Dinner] Monster Curry @ NEX

MONSTER CURRY
23 Serangoon Central
#B1-08 NEX Serangoon
Singapore 556083
Telephone: (65) 6634 2168
Website: http://www.monstercurry.com.sg/



SUNDAY, 21 JUNE 2015
(Boon Tong Kee - 文东记)


Dinner at Boon Tong Kee
Boon Tong Kee is a well-known chicken rice food chain with seven outlets spreading across different parts of Singapore. To be honest, this was my first time (or perhaps my last visit) visiting their outlet even thought me and the boy are big fans of this local dish.

[Boon Tong Kee] 1/4 Portion of Steamed White Chicken @ SG$10.00
On Sunday we went to their outlet at Balestier and it was quite packed even at around 5.15pm perhaps due to Father's Day celebration and we had to wait around 15 minutes before our orders were taken. First to serve on the table was our 1/4 portion chicken and rice. The chicken meat was tender and smooth but taste wise wasn't any fantastic to blow my mind away or justify the price.

As for the rice we think it smells better than it tastes because somehow the seasoning might be a bit hash and rice was rather dry when compared to some better ones we had from other places.

[Boon Tong Kee] Thick Soup With Crabmeat and Fish Maw @ SG$16.00
As we were looking for some thick soup, we thought Fish Maw Soup (SG$16.00) might be a good alternative in replace of sharks fin soup. But they took so long to serve this soup which only arrived when we almost finished all the dishes. We feel the serving staff who took our order should have at least alert us on the long waiting time so that we know what to expect or change our order.

The soup stock was kind of bland and the ingredients in it doesn't seems to lift up the taste too. So it was rather a waste to order/wait for this soup which we end up didn't finished even half of it.

Boon Tong Kee, Balestier Outlet

BOON TONG KEE, (文東記)
399/401/403 Balestier Road
Singapore 329801
Telephone: (65) 6254 3937
Website: http://boontongkee.com.sg/

Opening Hours:
Monday - Saturday:
11:00am to 4:45pm (last order : 4:30pm)
5:30pm to 4:30am (last order : 4:00am)

Sunday:
11:00am to 4:45pm (last order : 4:30pm)
5:30pm to 3:00am (last order : 2:30am)


[Dessert] Frozen yoghurt with raw honeycomb from Beegurt
While on the way home after our dinner, we stop-by at Beegurt which is located near at the carpark entrance of Thomson V Two (apartments with shops below) facing Sin Ming Road. We ordered the BeeGurt's Special (SG$6.80) for sharing which comes with a small piece of raw honeycomb and two toppings of our choice (we choose kiwi fruit and Oreo cookies which were hidden underneath).

[Dessert] Assorted toppings for the yoghurt
The smooth and flavourful frozen yoghurt is rather different from the one at LlaoLlao which both me and the boy feel it has a slight sourish taste that blends well with the natural sweetness of the honeycomb. Beegurt also offers a range of toppings such as fresh berries, kiwi, melon, raisin, chocolate chips, Oreo cookie crumbs and etc with no extra changer (inclusive in the price of the yoghurt).

Forgot to snap a photo of their menu but basically they have 3 sizes from small to large at S$4.50 - SG$6.50 including 1 (small) to 3 toppings (medium & large) with additional toppings cost 90 cents each.

Beegurt at Sin Ming Road behind Rochor Beancurd House.

BEEGURT
11 Sin Ming Road
#01-21 Thomson V TWO
Singapore 575629
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Beegurt

Opening Hours:
12:00pm - 11:00pm (Sunday - Thursday)
12:00pm - 11:00pm (Friday & Saturday)



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