Eastern Restaurant @ Centrepoint

A few of us were invited to a food tasting session last Friday at “The Eastern Restaurant” which is located on the 1st level near the back entrance of Centrepoint Mall, Orchard. We were all very excited about this event because of some highlights on their “New” dishes and their famous "Eastern Yi Ping Steamed Pork Dumpling (东方一品小笼包)” that is freshly made by their Dim Sum Chef.

From their menu you could easily scan through each categories before making your order from the range of Cold Dish, La Mian, Main Dishes, Tim Sum and Desserts. And as usually while waiting for the dishes to be served you could also try out their complimentary sides such as mixed vegetables pickles and braised peanuts which is quite different from the usual braised dark soy sauce type.

First to arrive on the table was this basket of "Eastern Yi Ping Steamed Pork Dumpling (东方一品小笼包)” which is the main item that lures us to this tasting gathering. In Singapore it is not difficult to get Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) as you can find them easily in most Chinese Dim Sum Restaurants or even food court and hawker centres. But if you are looking for some with thin wrapper, well seasoned filing and lot of soup broth I guess you might have to spend slight more.

But here at Eastern with a reasonable pricing, their "Eastern Yi Ping Steamed Pork Dumpling (东方一品小笼包)” has a fragrance scent from the “Chinese cabbage” that is used as a base on the bamboo basket for the pork dumplings. So before you nip the top off to taste the soup broth you could already smell the lovely scent circulating around your nose which makes it a great combination for both sense and taste.
Price: S$4.00 per basket (4 pieces)

"Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce (红油抄手)" is one of the famous Chengdu snacks in Sichuan, China. It is a delicious meat dumpling that is cooked with soup broth, chilli oil and spices that makes it taste a little spicy and sourish. Although the filling of these dumplings served at Eastern are well seasoned and moist but we find the accompany chilli sauce was rather a bit too spicy that it actually covers the taste of the dumplings and leaves our mouth with a slight numb feeling.
Price: S$6.00 per plate (6 pieces)

Usually most of the similar "Century Egg with Tofu (皮蛋豆腐)" dish is pair with pork floss or just century eggs iteself but at Eastern restaurant the chef actually drizzle some crunchy peanuts bits on it to contrast with the soft texture of the tofu. Overall we agreed that this is a very tasty cold dish that blends well with the ingredients used as well as their special soy sauce that comes with the tofu.
Price: S$5.00 per plate (New!)

For me I am very particular with chicken dishes especially those ‘cold” chicken such as Hainanese Chicken as I would be totally turn off and lost my appetite if the chicken contain those frozen/strong “smells”. So before I tried this “Chicken Marinated with Shao Shing Wine (绍兴醉鸡)” I was kind of hesitate till I confirmed with Lobs and Maureen that this is worth trying. To my surprised the chicken taste great even without any dipping sauce and it is infused with a very nice shao shing wine aroma that tingle in your taste buds.
Price: S$6.00 per plate

From some read up at the local forum, most people recommend on their "Stewed Beef Noodle (清汤牛腩面)" which is a must try item in from the noodles category. The soup broth is filled with a light and sweet fragrance when taste and it goes well with the spongy hand pulled noodles that makes it a great lunch treat especially on rainy day.
Price: S$8.80 per plate

I have tried a few version of this "Noodle with minced meat & mushroom in spicy sauce (炸酱面)" in different Chinese restaurants. And I find most of the noodles taste quite similar except for the taste of the minced meat sauce which might be either too sweet, salty or sour due to the ingredients used. And since I don’t really fancy dry version of Lai Mian and when I get to try this it is already cold (as we are busy with the photo taking and other dishes) so I could not comment more on this.
Price: S$7.80 per bowl

If you like Sichuan type of sourish food, this "Noodle in Hot & Soup Soup (酸辣汤面)" would definitely be your choice. But remember you have to eat it while hot or else the texture and taste of the noodles would be different.
Price: S$8.00 per bowl

This "Sautéed Green Bean with Minced Pork in Chilli Sauce (干煸四季豆)" is one of my favourite dish among all the dishes that we tried that day. This dish has a lovely fragrant that makes you keep popping those crunchy green bean into your mouth. These green beans have been blanched in hot oil before frying with the minced pork and etc to give that extra wok taste and most importantly this dish is not oily at all.
Price: S$9.80 per plate

"Braised Tofu with Scallop (瑶柱豆腐)" is another good option for Tofu lover where these homemade tofu are deep-fried till golden brown and braised with shredded dried scallop and superior broth.
Price: S$16.00 per plate (New!)

For regular readers of my blog you would notice that our family loves fish dishes so when this "Pickled Fish Soup (酸菜鱼)" is served I was very excited to try it out. But since I am not a person who likes sour dishes I was kind of pull back by the spicy and sour taste of the soup and we also find that the fish is kind of salty too. Perhaps for those who like stronger taste in their food, this would be a great choice to go with steam white rice.
Price: S$15.00 per pot (New!)

When comes to “Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy (梅菜扣肉)” what is the first thing you would look for, the soft and fatty pork that taste good and not greasy or the rich aroma from the pickled mustard? For me a good pork belly with mui choy dish should be something like when you bite a piece of the meat it should be soft like tofu and the oil from it will burst in your mouth leaving a light fragrance from the mui choy. But this dish at Eastern Restaurant taste rather a bit sweet and I find the pork belly is still not soft enough.
Price: S$12.00 per plate (New!)

“Fu Rong Special Scramble Egg (芙蓉赛螃蟹)” is one of their “New” dishes, which use egg white as the main ingredients. The whites are stir-fried together with crabmeat, green beans and broth/fresh milk till cooked then top with a raw egg yolk. Indeed this is a very special and delicious dish that we all love and before you start eating you have to mix the raw egg yolk into the dish so that the texture of this dish would be even more smooth and fragrant.
Price: S$10.80 per plate (New!)

Although this is not the best "Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Bun (上海生煎包)" that I had ever eat before but the taste is still ok for those who prefer pork bun. For me I find the skin is rather too thick and the filling is not as moist and juicy compared to those that I have tried.
Price: S$4.00 per plate (3 pieces)

We were so excited about this "Steamed Custard Bun (蒸奶黄包)" the moment it was placed on the table. When Maureen (Miss Tam Chiak) starts to break open one of the bun we were all very eager to see the yummy custard oozing out from it. But when she breaks it open, we were quite disappointed as the custard was kind of dry compared to what we look forward to. If you don’t mind having paste like custard, these custard buns are still soft and fragrant to taste.
Price: S$4.50 per basket (3 pieces) (New!)

Deep-fried Red Bean Balls (高丽豆沙) is a very popular dessert in Yunnan, China that always attracts people of all ages. The red bean balls have a crispy outer skin that is infused with a light “egg scent” together with its smooth and fragrant mixture of red bean paste and banana fillings which I am sure you would set aside your diet plan just for that moment.
Price: S$4.50 per plate (3 pieces)

I would like to thank Dennis from Flaunt PR & Communications and Eastern Restaurant (Centrepoint) for having us on this tasting. From more reviews about this tasting you could also refer to the following blogs of those who attended the outing too:- Daniel Food Diary(BanBan), Keropokman, Lobsterpaints and Miss Tam Chiak(Maureen).

There are so many dishes availables during this tasting and out of those, I recommend "Chicken Marinated with Shao Shing Wine (绍兴醉鸡)", "Century Egg with Tofu (皮蛋豆腐)", "Fu Rong Special Scramble Egg (芙蓉赛螃蟹)", "Sautéed Green Bean with Minced Pork in Chilli Sauce (干煸四季豆)" and "Deep-fried Red Bean Balls (高丽豆沙)".

The Eastern Restaurant(Centrepoint) Pte Ltd
(东方｜上海拉面，小笼包)
176 Orchard Road
#01-57 Centrepoint
Singapore 238843
Telephone: 6736 2638
Website: http://www.easternrestaurant.com/

Operating Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 11.00am - 10.00pm

Li Fang Porridge @ Albert Street Food Centre

Taking about porridge/congee in Singapore there are a few choices for patrons to select such as Cantonese Style, Teochew Fish Porridge or Hainanese Lean Pork Congee. Today I would to share with you a stall at the newly renovated Albert Centre Market & Food Centre at Queen Street. Whenever I drop-by this food centre, I could always see people queuing up at this “Li Fang Porridge” stall that is near the lift area facing Fu Lu Shou Complex. This round since we want something light for lunch I decided to join in the queue to try their porridge.

From the appealing menu at the stall, I ordered these two items which are Mixed Pork Congee and Century Egg & Lean Meat Congee. Personally I preferred "Mixed Pork Congee(猪什粥)" since childhood because I love the mixture of pork intestines and liver in the congee. I still remember my granny would always share a bowl of this with me whenever she picks me up from the school. Although the porridge at “Li Fang” is smooth and fragrant but the ingredients were kind of less in quantity that makes the congee look rather empty. I think I only managed to find 2 pieces of deep-fried pork intestines and pork liver in that bowl.
Price: S$3.00 per bowl

This is the "Century Egg & Lean Meat Congee(皮蛋瘦肉粥)" with a few cubes of century eggs and slices of lean meat. The good factor about this porridge is it comes with a compliment hot and crispy fried dough fritter(油条, youtiao) which makes the congee taste even more delicious when eating them together.
Price: S$2.80 per bowl

This congee stall also have other choices such as sliced fish congee, mixed scallop congee, chicken congee, frog congee and even raw fish(生鱼片) to go with the congee. For your information there is another "Li Fang Porridge (丽芳粥品) " located in ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre too. Just wonder are these two stalls under the same boss or related business. Do share with us if you know any place that sell delicious congee that is worth trying.

丽芳粥品 Li Fang Porridge
270 Queen Street
#01-78
Albert Centre Market & Food Centre
Singapore 180270

CP Thai Shrimp Cake

Recently I got a pack of CP Thai Shrimp Cake (泰式虾饼) which I was wondering what I could do with it. And with my busy schedules I would prefer something quick and easy rather than sweating in the kitchen. So here are some quick ways on how I have make use of these delicious shrimp cake to whip up simple dishes to satisfy our hungry appetite in the shortest time.

First let's look at these yummy snacks; you don't even need more than 10 minutes to prepare them before you could enjoy these soft and fragrant Thai shrimp cake bun anytime of the day even on weekday breakfast. All you need is to get the necessary ingredients ready on the night before so that you could save some time on waking up earlier to prepare the ingredients.

For those who are tired of having the usual coffee and bread for breakfast, why not give this a try and you can even add in some lettuce and tomato to make it healthier too.

Ingredients: (makes 4 buns)
4 Plain Leaf Bun
8 -12 Pieces of CP Thai Shrimp Cake
1 Medium Tomato, thinly slices
Some Lettuce Leaves

Method:
1. Steam the leaf bun together with shrimp cakes on the same plate for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and set side.
2. To assemble them, slowly peel open the leaf bun, place some lettuce leave and a slice of tomato then sandwich it with 2 - 3 pieces of shrimp cakes.
3. You can also drizzle some chilli sauce (recipe shown below) over it and serve immediately.


Drizzling Sauce: (optional)
1 1/2 Tablespoon Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 Teaspoon Hot Water
1 Shallot, thinly slices
1 Small Chili, remove seeds & chopped

Method:
1. Mixed all the above ingredients together and served as dipping sauce or drizzle on the fillings.

Note:
~ Drizzling Sauce can be prepared overnight.


Want some quick and easy finger food within 3 minutes to pair with your fried rice, bee hoon or instant noodles? Or you are looking for some authentic party food to impress your guests. No matter what is your intention, I am sure these mini CP Thai Shrimp Cakes would always come in handy for all occasions.

All you need to do is just toast them in oven toaster for 5 - 8 minutes or for a faster alternative, microwave them for 2 - 3 minutes on medum high depending on your microwave power(watt).


Or if you are looking for something more filling for lunch or dinner maybe you can consider using these shrimp cake to whip out some fried rice together with egg and vegetable. I can be assured that you would be surprised on how tasty these shrimp cake can tranform the plain rice into an "Egg-wrapped Fried Rice" dish in less than 30 minutes.

Don't worry if you cannot make a nice egg sheet to wrap the rice, you could always mix and match the ingredients to suit your preference and time limit. If egg wrap don’t work well for you, try adding it into the rice itself to make normal fried rice with egg. Here are some ingredients and steps for my “Egg-wrapped Fried Rice” dish: -

Ingredients: (serve 1 - 2)
1 Rice Bowl of Cooked Rice
5 pieces of CP Thai Shrimp Cake
2 Medium Egg, lightly whisk
1 Tablespoon of Green Bean/Mixed Vegetables
2 Cloves Garlic, finely minced
Dash of Thai Fish Sauce/Light Sauce Sauce




Method:
1. Cut the shrimp cakes into small portions (about 6 rectangles per piece), set aside.
2. Pre-heat the frying pan with 1/2 Tablespoon of oil, slowly pour in the egg mixture and give it a swirl around the pan so that the egg mixture is evenly spread out.
3. Fry the egg sheet on low heat till slightly brown, slowly loosen the side of the egg sheet and flip it over with a spatula and cook the other side till done.
4. Remove and set it over a small rice bowl while preparing the fried rice.
5. Add in another 1/2 tablespoon of oil add in the shrimp cakes pieces and give it a quick stir for about 30 seconds, dish up.
6. Next sauté the minced garlic for a few second then drop in the green bean and continue to fry for another 30 second or till the garlic turned slightly brown.
7. Pour in the cooked rice, increase the heat to medium then use a spatula to loosen the rice so that it would be grainy instead of lumpy.
8. When the rice is almost done, add in the shrimp cake and dash of fish sauce to season the rice.
9. Remove from heat and spoon the rice evenly into the egg sheet bowl, fill the fried rice to the rim of the bowl and tuck in the sides of the egg sheet to form a bowl.
10. Over turn the egg wrapped bowl onto serving plate, decorate it with some garnish and served immediately.

Note:
~ You can cooked the rice the night before or early in the morning if you are preparing this for lunch or dinner.

For a quick snack or lunch meal for kids, perhaps you can add in some shredded mozzarella cheese to do a cheesy bake rice for them. I am sure they would finished the bowl of rice without fuss and ask for second helping too.

To prepare this dish, you could use the same fried rice shown above by increasing the quantity and dish up some portion to bake it with cheese for your kids. Or you can always served two different flavour of this dish so that each one of the family members could get a chance to taste both of these dishes.

Ingredients:
Some Shrimp Cake Fried Rice
Decent amount of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Dash of Ground Pepper




Method:
1. Place a layer of shrimp cake fried rice in the baking dish and topped it evenly with some mozzarella cheese.
2. Next place the 2nd layer of fried rice on top and continue with some generous amount of cheese again.
3. Put the baking dish into oven toaster and bake for about 5 minutes till the cheese is bubbling and the colour turns golden brown.
4. Removed from oven, served hot with dash of ground pepper.


As you have notice from the packaging it shows that these CP Thai Shrimp Cake are well seasoned with Thai Chilli paste and it is made with 70% shrimp which are raised at CP's eco-friendly farms in Thailand. And most importantly this product contains 0g Trans Fat and has no preservatives used. Overall I love its slightly spicy and refreshing taste especially the "Kaffir Lime Leaf" that is infused in these shrimp cake. This special lime fragrant makes makes it very appetising on each bites. And for your informatin, you can easily find these shrimp cake at the frozen food department of any local supermarkets.
Price: S$4.95 each packet (260g)

Lastly I would like to thanks Melvin of Vibes Communications Pte Ltd and CP (Charoen Pokphand) Food for the invitation to try out some of their products. And I would also like to share with you some other quick and easy dishes from those CP Food that I received in some upcoming posts too.

CP Food also provides a special recipes booklet by Chef Forest Leong to share her tips on how to use CP Products to whip up some delicious dishes for celebratory occasion. You can get this booklet at these selected community centers for FREE on a first-come-first-serve basis:-

1. Cairnhill CC
2. Buona Vista CC
3. Bukit Panjang CC
4. Pasir Ris Elias CC
5. Toa Payoh West CC
6. The Frontier CC
7. Kampong Chai Chee

Purple Sweet Potato Mantou - 紫番薯馒头

Mantou(馒头) often referred to as Chinese steamed bun or bread is a kind of traditional steamed bun origin from China. It is normally made with wheat flour, water and leavening agents that leaves it with soft and fluffy texture. But in modern days now, there are a lot of ready-made frozen mantou that comes in different varieties and flavours which you can purchase from the supermarkets.

But for us, we still prefer to make our own mantou using fresh ingredients and consume it straight from the steamer rack while it is still hot. We love the taste of the freshly homemade mantou where we could add in more ingredients such as pumpkin, dried fruits, sweet potato and etc to make it more tasty and vibrant in colour to enhance the taste and at the same time attracts kids’ attention too.

For this recipe, I am using some mashed Purple Sweet Potato to make this mantou which gives it a very lovely natural Pinkish-purple colour which you can see from the photos. Purple Sweet Potatoes are richly nutritious as they are fat-free and low in calories, high in fiber and great for people who are carbohydrate sensitive and most importantly it is loaded with antioxidants.

These are the dry ingredients and steps on how to make the mantou dough using mashed sweet potato:-

Ingredients: (make 8 3cm wide medium mantou)
120g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 1/2 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
140g Purple Sweet Potato, cooked & mashed
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 Teaspoon of Dry Yeast
40ml Lukewarm Water
2 Tablespoon Roasted Black Sesame Seeds, optional


Here are the steps on rolling and dividing the sweet potato dough:-

Method:
1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared.
2. Sift plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl with the caster sugar till combined.
3. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand and follow by the mashed sweet potato till it forms soft dough.
4. Add in oil and give the dough a quick knead till well combine or till dough does not stick to your hand.
5. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl, covered with cling wrap and let it proof for about 20 minutes till the dough became slightly bigger.
6. Knead proof dough on a lightly floured work surface for a few second, flatten and roll into a rectangular shape, sprinkle some black sesame seeds on it, roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape.
7. Repeat the process once or twice depends on your preference.
8. Roll the final dough into oblong shape, cut them into equal portions and coat the top of each slice of mantou with some extra black sesame seeds.
9. Place each shaped mantou on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below and rest for another 10 minutes.
10. Sprinkle some water on the mantou before placing the steamer rack into the pot of boiling water and steam them over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes. (depending on the size of the mantou)
11. When done, removed and served hot/warm.

Note:

~ Lukewarm is about 36 - 37 degree Celsius

~ Rinse and cut the sweet potato into chunks, steam it over medium heat till soft (about 10 - 15 minutes), removed from heat and mashed it into paste form while hot and set aside for later use.

Indeed homemade Mantou is something quite quick and easy if you could get the hand out of it. Moreover you could also mix and match with different ingredients according to your own preference and this can be consider as a healthy snacks for both the adults and kids too. Sometime I would also make a bigger portion and keep some of it in the freezer so that I could re-heat/re-steam them for a quick snack anytime we feel like having our favourite mantou.