Stir-Fried Pork With Basil Leave

Stir-fried Pork with Basil Leave (Pad Gra Prao) is one of the most common street/household food in Thailand. It’s usually served as a quick one-dish meal eaten with white rice and usually topped with an extra fried egg. And since I have some Thai Sweet Basil left over from preparing the Thai Green Curry (recipe HERE), I decided use them for this stir-fried pork with basil leave to go with the curry.

Thai Express @ North Point

Thai Express is a chain of restaurants serving Thai cuisine in Singapore and its' first restaurant was opened in Holland Village, Singapore in May 2002. Now they have outlets spreading out in different parts of Singapore as well as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and etc. And sometime back during one of the lunchtime, we decided to try out their "Sa-nook" which is also known as "fun" set that comes in either Tom Yum Soup, Thai Green Curry or Pineapple Fried Rice together with 1 side dish and a dessert.

Out of the 3 choices, we settle for their "Sa-nook Seafood Pineapple Fried Rice" set that comes with a plate of seafood pineapple fried rice, deep-fried tofu square as appetiser and steamed tapioca with coconut cream as dessert. Overall for the price that we are paying this is still a very economic lunch set that is among the patrons. Worth trying one of these set for lunch if you are craving for some Thai food.
Price: S$8.90 per set (including 1 main, 1 appetiser and 1 dessert)

Other than the Sa-nook set, we also ordered a bowl of their "must try" Thai Laksa with Crayfish in Jade-green Gravy. Personally we find there isn't much ingredients in the bowl except for 1 Crayfish that is spilt into half length wise and a few pieces of Thai eggplant and pineapple. Nothing too fancy about this Laksa dish perhaps should go for the Seafood Laksa or Thai Green Curry instead.
Price: S$13.90 per plate

Here I was attracted to their irresistibly Thai Chendol with slices of Jackfruit, colourful strains of chendol and red rubies in a sea of rich coconut milk served together with generous drizzle of Thai palm sugar. The aroma of the jackfruit and palm sugar gives extra flavour to this drink and I love the fresh and crunchy red rubies that makes you keep popping some into your mouth.
Price: S$5.90 per cup

There are about 20 outlets spreading all around Singapore and you can find the locations and contacts HERE. I am sure with an outlet that is near to your area, trying one of their dishes is just a matter of time. So do share with us what is your opinion about their food and if you like their dishes, do recommend us your choices too.

Thai Express
930 Yishun Avenue 2
#02-55/56/57
Northpoint Shopping Centre
Singapore 769098
Telephone: (65)6555 9112
Website: http://www.thaiexpress.com.sg/

Operating Hour:
Daily: 11.30am to 10.30pm; (Last Order at 10pm)

Purple Sweet Potato Chiffon Cake

It's tea time again! These few days I saw quite a number of blogger friends posting similar chiffon cake recipes range from Purple Sweet Potato, Green Tea with Azuki Bean, Spinach Chiffon, Pistachio & Raspberry and etc. And since I have some purple sweet potato paste leftover in the fridge after making our favourite Mantou(馒头), I decided to use the it to make a chiffon cake.

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