Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Food Trail 2012 - Singapore Night Safari

For the last part of our "Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Food Trail 2012", we get to go for a kitchen tour on behind-scenes of the Ulu Ulu Restaurant with Chef Low as well a special dinner spread prepared by him and his team.

For your information, Chef Low is the man behind Wildlife Reserves Singapore’s unique dining as well as the culinary maestro behind award-winning dining experiences that include Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife at Singapore Zoo, Lunch with Parrots at Jurong Bird Park and Gourmet Safari Express at Night Safari.

After an interesting Lunch with Parrot and some exciting and birds shows, we were back at the Singapore Night Safari for our evening programme.   

Awaiting for us is Chef Kelvin Low who is professionally trained at Le Cordon Bleu and he has whipped up exquisite fare for local and international dignitaries, celebrities and royalty. These include Singapore's former president S.R. Nathan, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, former foreign minister George Yeo, magician David Copperfield and even the Prince of Wales.

Some of the Open Kitchen Concept stalls in Ulu Ulu Restaurant

Chef Low showing us around the behind-scenes Kitchen Tour @ Ulu Ulu Restaurant

Different Food Stations in the Ulu Ulu Restaurant Kitchen.

Chef Low explaining to us about their new Pastry Kitchen where pastry chefs made their cakes and desserts.

For hygiene purpose they have a separated room for handing raw meat.

Some of the prepared the dishes that are ready to be served

Upon entering the dining area, most of us was shock and excited to see the beautiful arrangement and set up for that night's theme. Really appropriated their thoughts and warm hospitality. 

Our Menu For The Night

Surprised to see this olden days serving mug when our beverages arrived.

For starter we had Ulu Ulu Chicken Satay which was so delicious that everyone gave their positive feedback on both the satay and their peanut sauce. Most of us even finished the whole cup of peanuts sauce and asking for more top up. 

Next we had BBQ Chicken Wing which are quite similar to those sold at the BBQ stalls in hawker center. The wings are well glazed and tasty which makes it goes well with the spicy in-house made chilli sauce.

Trio Meat Platter Chicken Rice served with 3 different kinds of Chicken such as Roasted, Soy Sauce and Steamed. Personally I felt the texture and taste of the chicken could have being better.

Other than the impressive Ulu Ulu Chicken Satay that we loved, this is another recommending dish to try if you are craving for some Indian cuisine. The Naan bread is good, not very oil bu yet crispy and tasty when dip with the mint sauce. Even though the fish fillet might look dry but actually it was juicy and full of flavour from the spices used.

Although I am not a crab lover (because I find it trouble and messy to eat the crab meat from the shell) but I love to sink those deep-fried mantou (bun) into the gravy. Overall the Ulu Ulu Chili Crab was a bit salty to my liking but with the accompanied fried bun this dish is still score above average.

To end the dinner, we each had a glass of Sea Coconut with Glass Jelly which was prefer for that warm evening.

After our hearty dinner we decided to go for a short walk at the newly launched Wallaby Trail but unfortunately it started to rain heavily before we reached the destination. Despite being stranded we still having fun running in the raining and I am sure this WRS Food Trail programmes would marked a wonderful memories in our life.

Zespri Kiwifruit Chiffon Cake plus Zespri Goodie Bags Giveaway

Finally today is the last day of the "Zespri® 14 days Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge (#14daysofZespri)" and I am sure some of you would be delighted that I won't be flooding your timeline with more "kiwifruit" related posts or photos :p

During these 14 days I have tried many different ways in utilizing this amazing fruits such as making compote, smoothie, milkshake, meat tenderizer and I even bake a chiffon cake using the fresh kiwifruit itself rather than kiwi jam which mentioned in most Kiwifruit Chiffon Cake recipes.

Kiwifruit Compote

If you still remember, last month I have shared a post on Blueberry Vs Raspberry Compote (recipes here) where you could used it as topping for yoghurt, pancake, crepe, cheesecake and etc. Here since I have some extra kiwifruit from my #14daysofZespri goodie bag, I decided to make some Kiwifruit Compote to go with toast or crackers for a healthier snack.

KIWIFRUIT COMPOTE

For your information, I used this Kiwifruit Compote for my "Kiwifruit Yoghurt Parfait" which featured in the other post HERE.

(Makes: 1/3 Cup       | Preparation: 2 minutes      | Cooking: 3 - 5 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 2 Ripe Zesperi® Green Kiwifruit
• 2 Tablespoons of Caster Sugar
• Zest Of 1 Lemon
• 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Method:-

1. Peel the outer skin of the kiwifruits and cut it into 1.5 cm cubes.

2. Put all the ingredients into a heavy duty saucepan, simmer over medium low heat until the sugar melt and kiwifruit soften. (Do not overcook the berries else the compote will end up to be with too much juice)

3. Remove from heat and serve warm with pancakes or crepes. Or alternatively you can stored cool compote in sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

Indeed this can also be a very addictive quick snacks due to it's sweet and sour refreshing taste plus a hint of citric aroma from the lemon rind. To bring the taste, you can also pair it with some smoke or cheddar cheese.

This is our all time favourite cheese cubes and best is they comes in different flavour each box!

For more interesting recipes using Kiwifruit, you can visit Zespri website @ http://www.zespri.com.sg/

Lemongrass And Zespri Kiwifruit Konnyaku Jelly

When you do a goggle search on "lemongrass jelly recipe" you will see a long list of choice to pick and experience on. Through the list, my favourite pick comes from Shirley's site at @Køkken (recipe), she shares a very easy recipe using "gelatine powder" instead of the Konnyaku Premix that I used which is not common in some countries. So for those who cannot get hold of the premix like what I used, perhaps you would like to try using Shirley's recipe if you are interested to make some.

LEMONGRASS AND KIWIFRUIT JELLY

I am sure you remember this cute Pooh shaped Lemongrass Jelly which I have shared from my previous post on Kiwi-licious Feast. I purposely made some using my boy's favourite "Winne The Pooh" shaped mould in order to make the jelly appealing to him in sight in order for him to try. So for mum who finds it difficult to get your picky eater into trying new food, perhaps make something with interesting characters they like will help. (for more kids meal ideas, read HERE)

Here I have simplify the steps and ingredients by using Konnyaku Premix Jelly Powder to make this refreshing jelly and you can add in some fruits such as kiwifruits, aloe vera, mini grapes and etc to enhance the flavour.

(Serves: 4-6 |   Preparation: 20 minutes   |  Chilling: 1 hour)

Ingredients:
1 Each of Zespri® Gold and Green Kiwifruits, cut into small cubes
6 - 8 Stalks of Lemongrass, halved and bruised
2 Knots of Pandan Leaves
1.5 Litres Water
1 Packet of Konnyaku Premix Jelly Powder

Method:-

1. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil, add in lemongrass and pandan leaves, simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes on low heat. 

2.When done, switch off the heat, measure 1250ml of the lemongrass water (you can leave a few stalks of the lemongrass in it) and set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Next stir in Konnyaku premix jelly powder into the cool lemongrass water, bring it to boil again on medium heat.

4. Remove from heat, stir till bubbles dissipate.

5. Half filled the jelly mould, topped with some chopped kiwifruits and filled it to the rim of the mould.

6. Cool to room temperature and keep refrigerate.

Personally I love the taste and fragrant of this lemongrass jelly because of it's light and refreshing taste. And for more creative way of making your jelly, you can add in canned fruits such as longan, fruit cocktails and served with ice cubes, or just served it as in it with more fresh cut fruits or etc. I am sure this will make a great party dessert too!

KIWIFRUIT CHIFFON CAKE

(Upcoming Post)

Time flies, tomorrow is the last day of the "Zespri® 14 days Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge (#14daysofZespri)" and to mark off the finale of this challenge I would be sharing my last experiment using Zespri® Kiwifruit to bake a "Kiwifruit Chiffon Cake". For a challenge I have used fresh Kiwifruit Puree instead of the usual kiwifruit jam recipe shown online. So if you are interested, stay tune for the recipe tomorrow!

My Daily Zespri Kiwifruit & Banana Milkshake

For a healthier beverage to start off your daily breakfast, perhaps you might want to blend a glass of "Zespri Kiwifruit And Banana Milkshake" using either Low-fat Milk or Soymilk. It is so easy to make this at home with just a couple of minutes to blend the milkshake plus washing the blender. So why not let's start today making a healthy beverage with lots of Vitamin C and Fibre for our daily diet.

ZESPRI KIWIFRUIT AND BANANA MILKSHAKE

So far till date, during these 12th day of the Zespri® Challenge, kiwifruits gave me these benefits:-

~ Fibre: Helps to improved my indigestion problems, smooth bowel system and as well it also improve overall weight control as I love to snack in between the day.

~ Vitamin C: Since I don't like to eat orange and Kiwifruit has 2 times the Vitamin C of an orange, my body can easily meet the daily Vitamin C from that kiwifruits that I ate daily.

(Make: 250ml    | Preparation: 3 minutes )

Ingredients:
2 Frozen Zespri® Green Kiwifruits, cut into quarters
1 Ripe Banana, cut into chunks
1/4 Cup of Low-Fat Milk/ Soymilk
1 Teaspoon Honey, optional

Method:-

1. In a blender, combined fresh milk/soymilk, kiwifruits and banana together and blend till smooth.

2. Pour serving glass and enjoy as one of your daily breakfast drinks.

Moreover you can eat these delicious Kiwifruit in many different ways from eating it on itself, incorporate it into dishes or bakes, beverage and etc (recipes HERE). More information and recipes using Kiwifruit can be found at Zespri's website @ http://www.zespri.com.sg/

Lastly, I hope these kiwifruit posts and recipes that I have shared so far are useful  to "add in" more Vitamin and nutrition value for your family daily diet.

{Zespri Kiwifruits Feast} Apple, Kiwifruit Mint Smoothie, Baked Drumlets With Kiwifruit, Spicy Penne with Salmon and Kiwifruit plus Lemongrass Jelly with Kiwifruits

I am sure those of you who has being following my threads on the various social media platforms (such as facebook, twitter and instagram) would have been seeing me updating a lot of "kiwifruits" related posts for the past one week. (so sorry if I have "spam" some of your timelines :p ) As you have read from my previous post(s), this year I am taking up the "Zespri® 14 days Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge (#14daysofZespri)" to test out how creative I can work with these "fuzzy brown fruits" to incorporate them into our daily diet.

So over the past weekend, I have come out with a 4 Course Kiwi-licious Menu starting with:- Apple, Kiwifruit And Mint Smoothie, Baked Drumlets With Kiwifruit And Mint, Spicy Penne With Salmon And Kiwifruit follow by a refreshing Lemongrass Kiwifruits Konnyaku Jelly for dessert. In this post, I would be sharing the first 3 recipes whereas for the Lemongrass Jelly it would be featured in another post.

Zespri Kiwifruit Yoghurt Parfait

Today is 7th day of my "Zespri® 14 days Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge (#14daysofZespri)" and it feels really wonderful and amazing on how these "brown fuzzy fruits" could actually benefit our health and improve our daily intake of Vitamin C and etc.

And as you probably will know Yoghurt is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium and etc so by making a dessert using yoghurt and kiwifruit is definitely a awesome choice as it has all the goodness in a cup. So rather than using "cream cheese" plus yoghurt to make the parfait, I have omitted the cream cheese and used only yoghurt and kiwifruit for a lighter and healthier dessert.

KIWIFRUIT YOGHURT PARFAIT

This quick and simple recipe can also be prepared a few hours ahead and served after meal. And you don't have any "kiwifruit jam" (recipe HERE) you can replaced it with some honey or store bought blueberry jam which taste equally good too.

(Makes : 3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | )

Ingredients:
6 Pieces Digestive Biscuits
1 Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit
250ml Vanilla/Plain Yoghurt
Some Kiwifruit Jam/Compote

Method:-

1. Place the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag and crashed it coarsely with a rolling pin or glass bottle.

2. Peeled the skin of the kiwifruit and sliced it to  about 0.5cm thick (6 - 8 slices).  

3.To assemble the yoghurt parfait, place some crushed digestive biscuits on the bottom of the serving cups.

4. Spoon in 1 tablespoon of yoghurt, top with a slice of kiwiwfruit, another spoonful of youghurt follow by a teaspoon of kiwifruit jam on it.

5. Lastly top with some youghurt and another slices of kiwifruit on top as garnish and serve.

After sharing this quick and healthy dessert over the Social media platform such as Instargam and Facebook, it did received quiet a number of "Likes" and "Comments" too.

Other than using Kiwifruits to make the "Yoghurt Parfait" shown above, you can also cut it into cubes and mix with some canned fruits such as Longan, Lychee or Fruit cocktails and served it as a refreshing after meal dessert. My this version was inspired by Keropokman's "Longan Dessert", I added some mixture of cubed Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit which gives it twist to contrast the sweet and sour flavour kiwifruits and Longan in syrup (Instagram photo HERE).

For more interesting recipes using Kiwifruit, you can visit their website @ http://www.zespri.com.sg/