Chong Pang Nasi Lemak

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak starts from a stall in the former rustic Chong Pang Village Hawker Centre way back in 1973. Growing as a Kampong Kid around Sembawang area, I still remember clearly that my dad used to bring us to that old Chong Pang Hawker Centre every weekend to eat our favourite hawker dishes as well as replenished our groceries at the same time.

Today Chong Pang Nasi Lemak has relocated at a coffee shop along Sembawang Road that is next to the Chong Pang Camp. And to be honest even though the stall is just about 5 minutes away from my place I don’t really patronize it that often.

During the previous two occasions where we dine-in at the stall around 6pm in the evening (despite of whether weekdays or weekends) there were already crowds queuing up to get their dinner from their wide range of homecook dishes and signature “coconut rice”. You would also notice from the take-away orders or those customers eating around at the tables, everyone is almost having almost the same items such as Otah, Fried Egg and the "Deep-fried Chicken" which is marinated with specially spices that is so crispy and fragrant to taste. And most importantly I am sure everyone loves their signature sweet and spicy "Chilli Sauce" that makes you return for more.

Apart from the common fried chicken wings, egg and otah, this stall also offers a wide variety of homecook dishes to go with the nasi lemak such as Sambal Sotong, Spicy Long Bean, Sweet and Sour Pork, Ngoh Hiang, Fish & Prawn Platter and etc. But personally I think the dishes are too pricey for example; the two plates of Nasi Lemak shown above that consists of 2 veggies and 2 meats cost a total of S$9.80. And compared to a few years back, we find that the taste of their “coconut rice” seems to be different from what it used to be perhaps due to the cut down of coconut milk for health conscious.

Although for many people this might not be the best "Nasi Lemak" in Singapore, but if you are staying around North area I am sure it is still worth trying some of their signature items. To avoid the crowds of parking diffiuclty you have to be there either before or after dinner crowds in order to find seats and parking spaces.

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak
447 Sembawang Road
Singapore 758404
Telephone: 6756 0048 / 9655 1868
Website: http://www.chongpangnasilemak.com/

Opening Hours:
~ 5.00pm until 7.00am on the next day.

Uncle Sun Bak Kut Teh Spices

In Singapore you can easily get a decent bowl of Bak Kut Teh(herbal pork ribs soup) anywhere near your neighbourhood coffee shop or food centre. And there are also a lot of different types of pre-packed Bak Kut Teh spices available in the market for you to prepare this local dish at home. For me I love these quick and easy pre-packed spices, which could easily provides a bowl of hearty homecook soup to fill our dinner menu by the end of our hectic working day.

Here are the ingredients and steps on cooking this Bak Kut Teh:-

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Packet of "Uncle Sun" Sup Herba Oriental(bak kut teh)
1kg of Prime Pork Ribs
2 Litre Water
1 - 2 Bulb of Garlic, depend on the size
1/2 Tablespoon of Black Peppercorn, lightly crushed
4 Red Dates, optional

Method:
1. Trim, rinse and blanched the pork ribs in boiling water for 5 minutes, removed and rinse well. Set aside.
2. Bring 2 litres of water to boil in a soup pot, remove the herbs from the herbal pack and rinse them once before adding them into the boiling water together with the soup spice pack(power pack), garlic bulb, black pepercorns(if you prefer, you can put the crashed peppercorns in a soup bag) and red dates.
3. When the mixture comes to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes before adding in the pork ribs.
4. Simmer the soup on medium low heat for about 2 hours until the meat is tender. OR
5. You can transfer the boiling soup after adding pork ribs to a slow cooker and cook it on AUTO mode for about 2.5 hours or more depending on your preference.
6. Serve it with steam rice and cut chilli with dark soy sauce.


You can purchased "Uncle Sun" range of soup spices such as Bak Kut Teh, Ginseng Cordyseps Chicken, Ginseng Chicken and Abalone with Chicken at either Giant, Sheng Siong or Carrefour supermarket. The price is range from S$4.50 - S$5.50 depending on the product that you purchase.

This "Uncle Sun" brand of Bak Kut Teh taste rather different from the usual "Seah's Singapore Bak Kuet Teh Spices" that I have always cook. For this soup the colour is slight darker and you can taste a mild combination of Angelica (Dang gui), Star Anise and Cinnamon flavour that is infused in the soup. So for those who prefer a strong soup broth maybe you can consider to get a pack and try it out if you happen to see it in the supermarket.

Don't worry if you cannot finish the pot of soup as you could always keep the remaining in the fridge and reheat it in microwave on the next day. Or instead of serving it with steam rice, you could also add in some Mee Suah (面线 ) to make a noodle dish for lunch treat too.

Thai Green Curry Chicken

Our family prefers Thai Green Curry when compared to their Red Curry even though sometime it might tends to be slightly spicy and it has that hint of sweetness that is not usually associated with red curries. Plus by adding some fresh Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves together with extra dose of coconut milk it actually lifts up the aroma and taste of this dish too.

Cream Of Mushroom Soup

Out of all the western soups available, “Cream of Mushroom” is always my priority choice when making orders. To be honest, this is my first time making mushroom soup from raw ingredients rather than the all time favourite Campbell can soup.

Since I cannot find any decent button mushroom or suitable replacement from the supermarkets, I decided to replace it with Swiss browns that have a deeper and earthier flavour than white mushrooms. These mushrooms have a firm flesh that hold their shape well when cooked and they are great to be used for risotto, casseroles or even pasta sauce.

These are the ingredients and steps for making the mushroom soup:-

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
10g Unsalted Butter
1/2 Stalk of Leek, thinly sliced
1 Cloves Garlic, roughly minced
200g Swiss Brown Mushroom, cut into quarters
1 Cup Chicken Stock + 1/2 Cup Water
50ml Thickened Cream
Dash of freshly ground pepper
Garlic Toast, to serve

Note:

~ You can replace Leek with 1 medium Brown onion, thinly sliced.

~ You can experiment with different type of mushroom like a mixture of white button mushroom with Swiss brown, shittake mushroom or etc to achieve different flavour.

Method:
1. Give the mushrooms a quick rinse, remove the stalks and cut each mushroom each quarters then set aside.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat, add leek and garlic and saute for about 3 - 5 minutes till the leek is tender.
3. Add mushrooms to the leek mixture and continue to stir and cook for about 5 - 8 minutes till they are soften.
4. Next add in chicken stock and water to the mushroom mixture and simmer for another 15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and set aside to cool before processing the soup till well combined.
6. Return the soup mixture back into the saucepan, add in 50ml of cream and stir without boiling over low heat until warmed through.
7. Ladle soup into serving bowls, swirl with some extra cream and season with pepper.
8. Serve with some homemade garlic bread.


Garlic Bread is a very tasty sides for soups or pasta dishes especially for those garlic lovers. For me I would always look forward to it to go with my favourite cream of mushroom soup. There are a lot of methods and ways for making garlic bread and below is one of my simplest way of spreading butter garlic mixture on the bread and toast it till golden brown.

Homemade garlic bread is one of the quick and easy snacks to prepare at home without much hassle. All you required is minimum amount of ingredients such as baguette, butter, garlic and some herbs.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Small Baguette, cut into thick slices
50g Butter, soften
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
Dried Parsley/Italian Herbs, optional

Methods:
1. Mix the minced garlic together with soft butter and some dried herbs till well combined.
2. Cut the baguette into thick slices(about 5 equal slices), put them into the oven toaster(this is what i use, photo) and toast about 1 minute on each side.
3. Remove and let it cool off a bit before spreading it with a layer of garlic butter.
4. Return the bread back to the toaster and toast for another 3 - 5 minutes till it turns golden brown and crispy.
5. Serve it with your desire soup or even as a breakfast treat with coffee/tea.


Note:
~ The reason why I pre-toast the bread is to prevent the surface from being soggy after toasting it with the garlic butter spread. But if you are in a hurry you can omit this extra step.
~ You can prepared them ahead, stored in the freezer and toast it as when you like for breakfast treat or tea snacks too.

It is always a good way to take comfort with some piping hot homecook soup during year-end cold and rainy weather. And I am sure anyone or even your guests would be delighted for being served with a bowl of this homemade cream of mushroom soup together with a few slices of garlic bread to accompany it.