Thursday 2 July 2015

[June School Holidays: Week 2] JB Food Trip, Food Hunt and Recipes

Moving into second week of June holidays, we continue our food hunt with waffle and ice cream at Sunday Folks, dim sum lunch at the newly opened London Fat Duck Restaurant at Scotts Square, weekly movie as well as an impromptu day trip to Johor Bahru (JB) shopping malls.

Besides eating out, I also cook dinner on most of the weekday nights with our favourite dishes like Hong Zao Chicken (红槽鸡), Malay Fried Chicken Rice, ABC Soup and etc which you can refer to the recipes below.



MONDAY, 08 JUNE 2015


As the wet market and food centre on our area (Chong Pang Market) is closed for monthly washing, we decided to go over Khatib Central to have breakfast as well as pick up some ingredients from the nearby supermarket. Breakfast is at the coffee shop call "Huang Restaurant" located at Block 848, Yishun St 81 (beside NTUC Fairprice) where we waiting patiently for our Fish Ball Noodles.

[Breakfast] Teochew Fish Ball Noodle @ Huang Restaurant, Khatib
It has being a long time since I last had this noodle because my boy's tuition class being shifted from Saturday morning to Friday evening. For SG$3.00 per bowl it comes with 2 fish balls, a few slices of fish cake, ngoh hiang and some well seasoned minced meat. Overall the noodles are springy without being overcooked and the taste of the accompany chilli sauce is well balance with hint of vinegar. Oh ya, not to forget you can even request to add beansprout and crispy pork lard too!

TEOCHEW FISH BALL NOODLE
Huang Restaurant
Block 848 Yishun St 81
Khatib Central
Singapore 760846

Opening Hours:
6:30am - 1:00pm (daily)


[Dinner] Monday night's dinner.
Usually Monday night dinner is rather simply (one pot dish) because there are hardly anything in the wet market unless I stock-up some ingredients over the weekend. But since it is school holidays where I have more time to spare, I decided to prepare some of our favourite dishes such as;

1. Stir-fry Baby Spinach with Trio Eggs (recipe);
2. Steamed Herbal Chicken
3. Pan-fry Fish
4. ABC Soup

Ingredients for ABC Soup

(Yield: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients for ABC Soup:
500g Pork Ribs
5 Medium Potato, cut into halved
1 Medium Carrot, cut into 0.5" chunks
2 Medium Brown Onion, cut into halved
2 Medium Tomato, halved seeds removed
2 Sweet Corncobs, cut into sections
150g Pumpkin, skin removed and cut into wedges
6 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
3 Litres Hot Water

Method:
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for 2 minutes, remove and rinse well. Set aside.

2. In a stock pot (I am using Tanyu Stock Pot), saute onion with drizzle of oil till fragrant add in pork ribs, carrot and potato. Give it a quick stir, cover and let it cook for 2 minutes on low heat.

3. Next stir in sweetcorn and tomato, pour in 3 litres hot water and bring mixture to boil.

Cooking ABC Soup
4. Add in red dates and wolfberries, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes before adding in the pumpkin (if using) and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes till potato is soften and soup is flavoursome.

5. Lastly season the soup with sea salt, chicken stock cubes or just leave it on it own.

- I often use this soup stock for making macaroni as weekday school lunch for my boy.

Here is our Instagram video clip on how to prepare ABC Soup.


Our Monday's night dinner with 3 dishes and 1 soup.


TUESDAY, 09 JUNE 2015
(Hong Zao Ji - 红糟鸡)



After a week of school break, the kiddo is back for his tuition class whereas I am enjoying my usual breakfast while waiting for his class to end. Here is a clip on one of my favourite Singapore local treat; Kaya Butter Bread (steamed version) with soft-boiled egg and black coffee.

[Dinner] Bento Meal for Mum
If you follow my social media posts, you will notice that almost every Tuesday my mum will be coming over so we usually get together to bake or prepare some delicious meals. But recently ever since she starts working part-time she cannot make it to join us for dinner. So in order to let mum enjoys her favourite dishes and desserts, I decide to pack "meal box" and bring it to her so that she can have her dinner before class.

Bento Dinner: Pan-fry Mackerel, Stir-fry Broccoli with Prawn & Mushroom and Hong Zao Ji (红糟鸡) serve together with steamed white rice.

Ingredients for Tuesday night's dinner.

(Yield: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
250g Chicken Fillet, cut into strips
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Lees (红糟)
100ml Glutinous Rice Wine (黄酒)
4 Cluster of Fresh Black Fungus, sliced
6 Slices Ginger, shredded
1 Stalk Spring Onion, cut into 2" sections
1/4 Teaspoon Sugar

[Dinner] Hong Zao Ji - 红糟鸡
Method:
1. Marinate chicken with red wine lees, 1 teaspoon each ginger juice, sesame oil and light soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce and 50ml rice wine for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat frying pan with 1 tablespoon sesame oil, sauté ginger, spring onion (use half) and black fungus until ginger slightly brown.

3. Stir in marinated chicken, give it a few stirs till chicken almost cooked.

4. Add in glutinous rice wine, 1/4 teaspoon sugar and continue to simmer until chicken is cooked.

Tips:
- Glutinous rice (sweet in nature) can replaced by cooking wine but half the amount or else it will be much liquor taste.

- Other parts of the chicken such as wings, drumlets or bite size parts of portion chicken can be used for this recipe too. Just remember to adjust the cooking time accordingly.



WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE 2015
(Sunday Folks Cafe + Malay-style Fried Chicken Rice)


[Mid-Week Breakfast] Local Singapore Food
It's hump day of the week and we are having our usual local delight for breakfast with: Fried Carrot Cake - 菜头粿 (white version), Economy Style Fried Bee Hoon (经济炒米粉) and Stir-fried Glutinous Rice (糯米饭). Oh not to forget my old school coffee (black) serve in milk tin.

Waffles & Ice Cream] Sunday Folks Cafe
With a list of places, cafes and food on hand to explore during June school holidays, we stop-by Sunday Folks to try their waffle and ice-cream since we didn't managed to grab a seats months back due to the long waiting queues. The cafe is located in Chip Bee Gardens near Holland Village which is about 5 minutes walk from Circle Line, Holland Village Station.

[Waffles & Ice Cream] Sunday Folks Cafe
Sunday Folks is a dessert cafe which is known for their handcrafted dessert such as Belgian waffles, freshly churned ice cream, variety of cakes as well as beverages like artisan tea and coffee.

Will share our review in another separate post on 5 Waffles & Ice Cream Cafes in Singapore soon. So please stay tune for the link update.

[Dinner] Malay Fried Chicken Rice
Dinner for tonight is Malay Fried Chicken Rice inspired by my neighbour whom is a great cook. KaKak (sister) is a cheerful lady whom always shared her cooking experience with me and she also taught me many of her delicious homecook food which everyone loves such as Nasi Ayam Goreng (Malay fried chicken rice), Roti John (omelette sandwich), Bergedil (potato patty), Spicy Fried Spaghetti with Shrimp and etc.

To prepare this dish I marinate the chicken with turmeric and chicken powder, ginger juice and salt since morning in order to get them well seasoned before cooking in the evening.

[Dinner] Malay Fried Chicken Rice
Above is my homemade Nasi Ayam Goreng aka Malay Fried Chicken Rice which serve with crispy deep-fried chicken that are coated with flavorsome turmeric powder and seasonings. On top of that I also make chicken rice using homecook chicken stock and use the leftover soup broth to make cabbage fishball soup.

Step-by-step recipe will be up in another separate post. Stay tune for the link update. Recipe for Malay Fried Chicken Rice is @ http://www.ellenaguan.com/2015/07/malay-fried-chicken-rice.html


THURSDAY, 11 JUNE 2015
(London Fat Duck + Nunsaram Korean Dessert Cafe)


[London Fat Duck] Weekday Brunch
On Thursday, we go for Dim Sum Brunch to celebrate Aunty Lily's birthday which falls on the following Monday. And without hesitate, I suggested them a newly opened Hong Kong eatery known as London Fat Duck which is famous for their wagyu duck.

[London Fat Duck] Menu

[London Fat Duck] Menu
Besides their Signature Roast Duck, there also serve common dim sum items such as egg tarts, steamed rice roll, steamed chicken feet, congee, noodles and etc which you can refer from the ordering list above.

[London Fat Duck] Signature Black Pepper London Duck Bun (SG$4.80)
Indeed their Black Pepper London Duck Bun is on pile with those Baked BBQ Pork Bun we had from Tim Ho Wan. These soft buns are covered with a layer of crispy black pepper crust which blends well with the duck meat fillings. But on the downside the bun seems to be quite empty with its fillings with just a few pieces of meat in it. 

[London Fat Duck] Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce(SG$4.30)
Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce is one of our favourite dim sum dish but the one serve above is still not tender and flavoursome to our preference.

[London Fat Duck] Steamed Cheong Fun with Shrimp (SG$5.80)
We ordered two types of Steamed Cheong Fun; shrimp and BBQ pork. The fillings are enclosed within a thin smooth layer of freshly make rice roll before pouring some superior soy sauce prior serving.

[London Fat Duck] Signature London Fat Duck - regular serving (SG$12.80)
Their signature roast duck is the main reason why we came for because base on the reviews that I read online, many praised highly about their roast duck which has crispy skin and tender meat.  But perhaps we were not that lucky on that day as the portion that we tried was rather disappointing with soft skin and chewy meat which don't justify the reviews. And I was a quite embarrassed too when the folks mumbled about the quality of the food which I assured them to be worth trying.

[London Fat Duck] Weekday Brunch
Overall we feel there are some hit and miss on the food which we might consider to visit again in order to justify the review. For example: their crisp skin roast duck.  And also a few of the serving staffs seems reluctant to serve and we have to request our items a few times (some even MIA till we can't bother to ask again) to get their attention which in a way reflect poor image on their servicing. 

London Fat Duck @ Scotts Square

LONDON FAT DUCK
6 Scotts Road
#B1-16/17
Scotts Square
Singapore 228209
Telephone: (65) 6443 7866
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/londonfatduck

Opening Hours:
11:00am – 10:00pm (Mon - Fri)
10:00am - 10:00pm (Weekend & PH)


[Korean Dessert Cafe] Nunsaram @ Orchard Central
After lunch, we went shopping along the stretch starting from TANGS, Paragon and all the way to Orchard Central for our Korean dessert because I promise to treat the folks for some sweet treat. Nunsaram is opened by the same people behind K Cook (Korean BBQ Buffet) which is also located in Orchard Central (#07-01). The cafe serves similar bingsu flavours like most other bingsu cafes like Injeolmi (Korean rice cake), Black Sesame, Mango, Chocolate and etc. But they have a special Purple Sweet Potato Bingsu (SG$14.90) which is pretty at sight and popular among patrons too.

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


FRIDAY, 12 JUNE 2015
(Movie Time: Jurassic World)


[Movie Time] Kaya Butter Toast for Breakfast.
Suppose to have tuition class on Friday morning but Tutor called to cancel because she was down with food poisoning therefore it gives us the opportunity to watch our long awaiting movie a few days earlier.

[Movie Time] Jurassic World
After more than two decade from the first Jurassic Park (1993) movie till now we have better 3D effect graphics that brings you into Jurassic World. The storyline basically based on how the park created a new attraction named "Indominus" in order to re-sparks visitor's interest and increase visitor rates. But instead of bringing in revenue to the park, Indominus begins to rule the park which leads to many intense scenes of terror, suspense as well as bloodshed among the dinosaurs and people. Overall Jurassic World does bring back many of my childhood memories with familiar scenes that everyone enjoins.


SATURDAY, 13 JUNE 2015
(Day Trip to Johor Bahru)


[Family Day Trip] Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Since we did not plan any overseas trip during June school holidays, we decided to join mum and aunty's family for a day trip to City Square at Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. At around 9.30am on Saturday morning, we take the public transport AC7 (bus service between Singapore and Johor Immigration Checkpoint) from Yishun Bus Interchange. The journey takes about 30 minutes from Yishun to Woodlands checkpoint and we managed to clear Singapore immigration in less than 30 minutes despite of the weekend crowds.

[Family Day Trip] Restoran Ya Wang, Johor Bahru
Other than wondering around in the shopping malls, my aunt and cousin whom are frequent patrons to JB bought us to explore some old school shops and eateries too. And with Jalan Wong Ah Fook street as the guideline, we walk toward Restoran Ya Wang (鸭皇药材烧腊大王) at Jalan Segget which is less than 10 minutes away from City Square Mall to feast on their well-known herbal roast duck (an advisor to Singapore's Dian Xiao Er Roast Duck).

RESTORAN YA WANG
鸭皇药材烧腊大王
No 28 Jalan Segget
80000 Johor Bahru
Telephone: (+60)7-224 8624
Facebook: Restoran Ya Wang

Opening Hours:
8:00am - 6:00pm (Daily)


[Family Day Trip] Dinner at Cedar Point Food Centre
In the evening since we are still around KSL City Mall, cousin suggest to go for "cze char" dinner at Cedar Point Food Centre (食得福美食中心) which is three streets away at Jalan Musang Bulan. This old school food centre reminds me of my childhood time (I spent my first 8 years of life living in a kampong near Sembawang area) where my parents used to bring me for movies and food.

CEDAR POINT FOOD CENTRE
食得福美食中心
Jalan Musang Bulan
Taman Century
80250 Johor Bahru

Opening Hours:
6:00pm - late nite (Daily)


Will share more about this trip in another post; Day Trip to Johor Bahur soon. Read more about our JB (Johor Bahru) Food Trail, Malaysia on another post @ http://www.ellenaguan.com/2015/07/jb-johor-bahru-food-trail-malaysia.html.


Sunday, 14 JUNE 2015
(Song Fa Bak Kut Teh - 松发肉骨茶)


[Dinner] Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Changi)
Song Fa, a heritage brand that started off as a pushcart stall along the roadside selling Bak Kut Teh and now they have 5 outlets in Singapore. Each outlet is designed with vintage coffee-shop furniture which enable patrons to experience authentic feel of Teochew Bak Kut Teh with its succulent fall-off-the-bone pork ribs.

Here we are at their Changi Business Park outlet to which is surprisingly packed with people and queues even on a quiet Sunday evening where almost all the shops are closed in that building.

[Dinner] Song Fa Bak Kuet Teh - Menu
Besides Bak Kut Teh and other soup items, they also offer braised dishes like pig's trotter and intestine as well as side dishes for patrons to add-on to their orders.

[Dinner] Song Fa Bak Kut Teh - Pork Liver Soup @ SG$5.50

[Dinner] Song Fa Bak Kut Teh - Bak Kut Teh @ SG$7.00
Overall the soup broth from Song Fa has a flavousome peppery taste which makes you keep refilling one bowl after another (soup is refillable) plus both their pork ribs and premium loin ribs are tender to bite and the meat almost fall-off from the bones too.

As for their side dishes, most of them are fairly average to taste without much to boost and these items might be just some adding variety to the main dishes as to provide patrons with more choices.

[Dinner] Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Changi)

SONG FA BAK KUT TEH
松发肉骨茶
6 Changi Business Park Avenue 1
#01-38
UE BizHub East
Singapore 486017
Telephone: (65) 6694 8098
Website: http://www.songfa.com.sg/

Opening Hours:
10.30am - 9:15pm (Daily)



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