Lion City’s ‘Get Out of the Box’ Blogger Challenge Plus Dinner At MEDZS

Last Friday, I attended a bloggers get together event which was organized by Brand Cellar on behalf of Lion City (parent company of Gold Kili and Frezfruta) to kick off a "two weeks blogger challenge". For this fun contest, bloggers are to come out with creative ways to incorporate Gold Kili and Frezfruta products in their daily life as well as complete a list of easy tasks such as include sharing creative photos or recipes of the coffees and bread share it over social medias such as blog, facebook and twitter.

The bloggers meetup was held at MEDZS which is located at Millenia Walk and while waiting for the everyone to arrive, there were also some Gold Kili and Frezfruta products for us to sample and take photos with.

Believe me, eating cream crackers with Frezfruta Kaya/Jam can be really addicting and you won't just stop with one or two pieces.

Briefing by Ms Joanne from Brand Cellar on the event topic for "Lion City Blogger 14-Day Challenge" before the dinner starts.

DINNER AT MEDZS, MILLENIA WALK

Above shown were our main courses at Medzs during the event and some of these Mediterranean cuisines really taste good base on the flavour and aromatic spices used. Since there are 3 of us at the same table, we decided to order 3 different types appetizer and main course to share among ourselves. 

Before the dishes, we have some Mocktail Of The Day such as:-  Morning Glory (Essence of Lemon Grass with Lime, Grenadine and Cherry), Lemon and Lime Bitters (Freshly Squeezed Lemon and Lime with Refreshing Taste of Sweet, Sour and Bitter) and Orange Blast (mixture of Fresh Orange and Cranberry Juice with a Twist of Soda).

Personally I don't really fancy any of those mocktails above as I find it way too "strong taste" for my preference.

{Appetizer} Home-made Cured Salmon Bruschetta with Pesto is one of my favourite appetizer for that night. The smoked salmon is served with crusty bread together with some flavorsome pesto to enhance the taste and texture leaving bursting flavour in your mouth.

{Appetizer} Spanish Omelette "Tortilla" with Aioli Dip is soft and nicely done without being overcooked and I love the Aioli Dip (garlic sauce) which has a light and refreshing taste from the lemon and garlic which is quiet similar to Hollandaise sauce.

{Appetizer} Classic Caesar Salad on the other hand seems to lack of some flavour which was quiet "tasteless" despite of some chunks of unknown hidden in between the greens which might be either anchovy, capers or black olive (did not really check as we were busy with the photoshoots, eating and chatting). But I think I still prefer my Caesar Salad with added Chicken.

{Main Course} Charcoal Grilled Baby Sea Bream with Aubergine Gratin, Mashed Potato and Watercress Salad. Certain part of the fish was rather a bit dry but overall it still taste quiet decent and  I love the accompany Aubergine Gratin and Mashed Potato.

{Main Course} Moroccan Beef and Caramelized Apple Stew Tajine with Couscous comes with two different flavour in a dish. The Couscous is perfumed with sweet rose scented caramelized onion which gives it a lift on the plain couscous. On the other hand, the Moroccan Beef Stew was tender but the taste of the spices was a bit too "over powder" towards our liking which ends out this dish being our least favourite for that night.

{Main Course} Braised Cook Chicken Paella with Chorizo and Saffron earns the most votes from our table as we love the texture of the rice which is not too mushy and overall the flavour of the dish is well balance with the spices and ingredients used.

At the Bloggers' event each of us also received a Mystery hamper with some Gold Kili (Kopi Kosong, Double Shot White Coffee and Double Shot White Milk Tea) and Frezfruta (Strawberry Jam, Apple and Blueberry Jam plus Kaya) products to assist us to accomplished the assigned task for the "Lion City Blogger 14 days Challenge".

MY DAILY NEEDS TO PERK MY DAY

I must confess, I am a coffee lover who loves "Black Coffee" especially those without sugar or less sugar content. And over the years I have tried many different brands of instant coffee products and I have narrow my choices to only 3 favourite brands including Gold Kili as one of it.

Can you spot the "Smiley Face" from the beverages?

Honestly speaking I used to drink my daily "Kopi O" from another brand till I tried Gold Kili, Kopi-O with 35% Less Sugar which taste just as good as those coffee served in coffee shop which use grind coffee powder. On top of it, their Double-Shot White Milk Tea is also superb, smooth and fragrant which is not too sweet for my liking. For my personal preference I love to add in a slice or two of Ginger to enhance the taste which is pretty similar to Teh Halia (ginger milk tea).

15% Off Choco-Durian Cakes @ Emicakes

For the month of November, Emicakes has launched the Choco-Durian cake which sandwich creamy D24 Durian in between fluffy chocolate sponge and covered with a layer of rich chocolate ganache. And if you order this month you could even get a 15% OFF for the 15-20cm sizes (while stocks last).

Cross Section of the Choco-Durian Cake

As you could see the cake is laced with generous amount of D24 Durian between layers of light chocolate sponge which embraced with smooth and semi-sweet chocolate ganache which makes it a "heavenly" combo for Chocolate and Durian lovers.

Thanks to Janina from Emicakes who sent us this delicious Choco-Durian Cake which combines  two of my most favourite ingredients in one.

{Photo Credits to Emicakes} They even have Choco-Durian Logcake for Christmas too!

The Choco-Durian Cake is available in all Emicakes outlets (location here) and you could either call 6749 6782 or visit their website to place your order.

Spicy Gyoza In Chilli Oil

When comes to vote your favourite CP Frozen Food product(s), I believe most of us would choose their "CP Shrimp Wonton" which is a delicious convenient food for most household. And just recently CP Food has launched a few new products such as Japanese Crispy Gyoza, Shrimp Wonton in Tom Yum Soup and Chicken Gyoza which mentioned in this post.

There are many ways that you could cook this Chicken Gyoza like steamed, pan-fry, deep-fried or even add it into your soup together with other ingredients.

3 New Seah's Spices - Kung Pao Spices, Singapore Noodles Spices And Singapore Fried Rice Spices

Even though I love to use fresh ingredients and herbs in my daily cooking but sometime I do have packets of instant sauce, spices, food and etc in my kitchen pantry to stock up for days where I just wish to cook simple and yet decent dishes for the family.

In this post, I am trying out some pre-packed spices which were given by SEAH'S Spices to test out their new products. And as a fan's of SEAH'S Spices especially their Bak Kuet Teh (recipe) and Emperor Herbal Chicken Spices (recipe) which are our family favourite, I am more than willing to try out their new spices.

As most of you would known, Seah's spices is 100% locally made in Singapore since 1991 and it is also a leading local brand which is available in all supermarkets and provision stores in Singapore. Recently Seah's Spices has launched 3 NEW spices packet which are Singapore Noodles Spices, Singapore Fried Rice Spices and Kung Pao Spices.

Each of these spices above has it's own distinctive flavour which you could incorporate it into your daily cooking to impress your loved one with local delight at the ease of home dining. And also most importantly these spices are with "NO added preservatives and colourings" as well as "NO added MSG".

SEAH'S KUNG PAO SPICES

Out of the 3 given spices, I am more interested in their Kung Pao Spices which comes in "powder" form instead of the usual "pre-mixed sauce" that are available in the supermarket. According to the cooking instructions given, the chicken has to be deep-fried before mixing with the spices but for my case on a healthier version I just pan-fried the chicken using Happy Call Pan.

(Serves: 2 - 3  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/2 Portion of Chicken, chopped into pieces
1 Medium Brown Onion, cut into wages
6 Dried Chilli, pre-soak in hot water till soften
1 Stalk Spring Onion, cut into sections
Some Red and Green Chilli (optional), sliced
1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil
1/2 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Rice Wine
1 Packet of Seah's Kung Pao Spices

Method:-
1. Coat and marinate chicken pieces with Seah's spices from the "White Coloured Sachet" found in the packet for about 2 minutes.

2. Preheat Happy Call Pan (HCP) and lightly oil with 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Arrange chicken pieces in the pan, cover and cook for 4 - 5 minutes each side or till chicken is cook with brown outer skin.

3. Removed the chicken, coat it evenly with the spices from the "Red Coloured Sachet" and set side.

4. Add in 1 Tablespoon of oil to the pan, stir-fry onion, chillies and spring onion till fragrant.

5. Stir in the meat and spices and continue to cook for another 1/2 minutes on low heat, covered.

6. Drizzle white vinegar and wine mixture together on the cooked chicken, give it a quick toss and serve hot with steamed rice.

For me, I did not add in the whole packet of  the "Red Coloured Sachet" (still balance 1/4 packet) and I also added in some sliced fresh chilli so my version of Kung Pao dish is a bit spicy. And after eating a piece or two of the chicken you would feel a "numb" after taste feeling on your tongue due to the spices used.

SEAH'S SINGAPORE NOODLES SPICES

At first when I look at the Noodles Spices I thought it was Singapore Chao Mian Spices. Whenever I order noodles from the Cze Char stall, I would always go for either fried noodles or fried bee hoon if I am not having my usual Fried Hor Fun (fried rice noodles). But now with Seah's new Singapore Noodles Spices I could use it on different types of noodles or even pasta to create new dishes with distinctive Singapore flavour.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
500g Fresh Noodles or 3 Pieces Instant Noodles
200g Chinese Cabbage, sliced
100g Char Siew (BBQ pork), diced
8 - 10 Prawns, shelled and devein
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 Medium Brown Onion, sliced
1 Stalk Spring Onion, cut into section
1 Red Chilli, sliced

Method:-
1. Bring a pot of water to boil, blanched or cook noodles according, rinse, drain well and set aside.

2. Meanwhile preheat wok/frying pan with 1/2 tablespoon oil, pour in the beaten eggs to the centre of the pan, tilting the pan so that the eggs spread out evenly over the bottom.

3. Cook until the eggs have set on the bottom, using a spatula flip it over and cook on the other side for a minute or two till set. Remove and set aside till cool before slicing it into egg strips.

3. Next add in another 1/2 Tablespoon of oil, saute onion, spring onion, chilli and prawns together till it is slightly pink in colour.

4. Stir in vegetables and continue to cook till vegetables is soften and prawns are cooked through.

5. Toss in cooked noodles and Seah's Noodles Spices evenly over the mixture and stir-fry for 3 minutes on medium heat.

6. Lastly turn off the heat, stir-in char siew and egg strips. Divide noodles on serving plates and serve hot.

Our opinion this Seah's Noodle Spices has a after taste that resemble instant "Mee Goreng" noodle perhaps due to the spices used. For this recipe, I used the dried egg noodles instead of fresh yellow noodles because we preferred a more springy texture for our fried noodles. Overall we do love the taste of this fried noodles and I am sure it would be something new to share during coming festive season as one of the potluck dishes.

SEAH'S SINGAPORE FRIED RICE SPICES

Since I am not a fan of "fried rice" I don't really get any fried rice spices for my pantry. Even if I would to cook fried rice, it would be just using simple seasoning such as light/dark soy sauce with some frozen mixed vegetables or egg.

To my surprised, Seah's Singapore Fried Rice Spices does not taste any similar to those fried rice from the Cze Char stall but rather it taste quiet similar to Nasi Goreng. 

(Serves: 4  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Packet of Seah's Singapore Fried Rice Spices
800g Cooked Rice, around 2.5 rice cooker cup uncooked rice
1/2 Cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 Garlic Cloves, crashed
2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil
Some Cooking Wine
Some chopped Spring Onion
12 Japanese Chicken Sausages
4 Eggs

Method:
1. Boiled or Grilled the sausages, set aside. Fry sunny side-up eggs individually and set aside too.

2. Add oil in preheat wok, saute garlic till fragrant before stirring in the mixed frozen vegetables and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add cooked rice and continue to stir-fry for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

4. Gradually add in Seah's spices into the fried rice according to your taste (you might not need the whole packet), stir well, drizzle some cooking wine and continue to stir-fry for another 1/2 minutes.

5. Remove, garnish with prepared sausages, egg and etc shown above. Serve hot.

Lastly I would like to thank Seah's Spices for sending us these 3 New Spices, and it's really a good experience to try out these new products before they are available in the supermarkets. So if you are a SEAH'S Spices users, do keep a look out on these NEW products launching in the supermarkets.

For more information and updates on SEAH'S Products, you could check out their facebook page HERE. Like their page to receive latest promotion and updates too.

The Yogurt Place plus Giveaways!

Recent years there are many yogurt stores coming up in Singapore such as Yami Yogurt, Sogurt, Sour Sally, Frolick, Yoguru Yogurt and etc. To be honest I seldom visit yogurt stores unless I have run out of homemade yogurt (recipe), but If I did my frequent stores would be either Yami Yogurt or The Yogurt Place.

At Yogurt Place, they have both Frozen and Greek Yogurt depending on your choice and their Frozen Yogurt could be kept in the freezer for about a week (7days) if you intend to purchase in bulks. Although they might not have huge varieties of fancy toppings and some of the fruit compote might be slight sweeter as compared to others. But I love their freshly made "Greek Yogurt" which is smooth and creamy.

Their Greek Yogurt comes in two different flavour such as "Plain" or "Green Tea" in 4 different sizes shown below:-

~ Standard(180ml) @ S$3.90/cup
~ Large(240ml)@ S$4.90/cup (shown in the photos here)
~ Mini Jumbo(360ml) @ S$6.90
~ Jumbo(750ml) @ S$12.90

To add in some extra flavour or crunch you could choose additional toppings such as Strawberry, Mango, Kaya, Fruit Pebbles (more details here) at S$0.90 per serving

Yogurt Place also offers Frozen Yogurt which available in 3 different flavour such as Plain, Strawberry and Fruity Pebbles. These frozen yogurt could be kept in the freezer for about 7 days so that you could enjoy it even at home too.

Below are some of the Yogurt Place outlets for your reference:-
~ Compass Point #B1-16A
~ Jurong Point #03-114/115
~ Toa Payoh HDB Hub (Basement 1 foodcourt)
~ The Arcade Level 1 (beside Raffles Place Mrt Station)
~ Downtown East (Opp wild wild wet)
~ NUS University Town Koufu Foodcourt

Website: http://theyogurtplace.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yogurtplace.sg

RECIPES WITH GREEK YOGURT

As mentioned previously there are so many ways which you could enjoy eating yogurt either plain with honey, topped with your desire fruit compote, fresh cut fruits, granola, or even use it as an ingredient for cooking/baking.

This is a very delicious and easy to make Lemon Yogurt Cake which you could make use of the Greek Yogurt. More detail of the recipe here.

Instead of the usual Hollandaise sauce which is made using egg yolk, butter, lemon juice and pepper, I have replaced it with Greek Yogurt which is healthier and lighter when pairing with the poached egg and bacon. Recipe of this dish will be available in my recipe blog soon.

VOUCHES GIVEAWAYS

Thanks to Yogurt Place, I am giving away “S$20 Gift Voucher” each to 5 lucky readers.

To win:

1. Like the the above Yogurt Place Gift Voucher photo on Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page;
2. Share the photo and remember to set your privacy setting to “PUBLIC” so that we know who shares it; AND
3. Leave a comment that you have liked and shared the photo.


Closing Date: 21 October 2012 (Sunday), 9.00 PM.

*only for readers living in Singapore*

Ultimate Colla-gen From Korea

Recently I have received a very interesting "product" to try out which is totally different from those daily "food products" that I have tried. When parcel arrived, I was surprise with it's packaging which resemble those "Japanese style" bento box wrap-up. And when I upload a photo of the above on instagram (here) and facebook (here) I received many interesting answers such as "burberry bags, mooncakes, cookbook" and etc.

To reveal the mystery, below is the content of what was being wrapped under that burberry cloth.

I am always curious when it comes to the word "Collagen" whenever I watch those Korean dream where the actor/actress will eat first thing in the morning to nourish their skin and etc. So when I get chance to review this Ultimate Colla-gen from Korea, I was delighted to give it a try.

Ultimate Colla-gen is available in 2 formulations which caters to people of all age groups. For individuals in their 20s to 40s, Ultimate Colla-gen Plus will help them nurtures skin, hair and nails. Whereas for those in their Golden Years, Ultimate Colla-gen Gold will nurtures their joints, bones and skin.

When compared to other collagen products in the current market, Ultimate Colla-gen’s Nano-molecular collagen was found to be 50% smaller which in a way enable fast and easy absorption into the body.

The reason why we need collagen is because as we age at around 25 years old, the collagen levels starts to drop at about 1.5% every year. So by the age of 45, our collagen levels in the body will ave reduced by up to 30%. But with consuming of Ultimate Colla-gen at least it helps to supplement natural collagen loss in line with balanced diet, skin cares and sleeping habits.

Ultimate Colla-gen is 100% developed and blended in Korea, according to strict Good Manufacturing Practice. It has a light and refreshing after taste which is not fishy or oily as compared to some other similar products because it is s made using real blueberry extract. Most important it has NO preservatives, NO trace metals and NO sugar.

Furthermore Ultimate Colla-gen is also Halal-certified in Korea. Each 38kcal sachet of Ultimate Colla-gen contains 5,000mg of Nano Collagen combined with an optimum and synergistic mix of 6 other multi-nutrients like Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Probiotics, Glucosamine, Acai Berry, Real Blueberries extract, Chondroitin, Silica and MSM.

Apart from mixing it into warm/cold water, you could also mix it with your favourite juice and consume together. Just empty the whole sachet into a 200ml glass of water, stir well and drink.

Both Ultimate Colla-gen Plus and Ultimate Colla-gen Gold can be purchased from Nishino Pharmacy outlets, Pharmex Healthcare outlets, Robinsons, Pan Derma Clinique@Great World City and selected Sa Sa Outlets. Each box contains 30 sachets which is enough for one month’s consumption at S$88.00.

Lastly I would like to thanks Absolute PR and Ultimate Colla-gen for the complimentary product.