[Monthly Gathering] CNY Steamboat Feast

Last Saturday we settled our usual monthly food gathering at Susan's house where we have a Steamboat feast since it still falls between the 15th days of Chinese Lunar New Year. Each and everyone of us was very excited and we all go with an empty stomach in order to enjoy all those delicious food that Susan had prepared for us.

[Chef At Work] Susan is very thoughtful that she purposely bought some fresh crabs for her husband to cook his signature "Chili Crabs" because she knows that most of us in the group loves crab.This dish is indeed very delicious and it makes us ladies all envy Susan who has a good husband that can cooks so well for the family.

Other than Chili Crab, Susan also asks her domestic helper to fry some "Bee Hoon" and cook Rice just in case we have "huge" appetite.

[Chicken Curry] This is what I hint Susan to prepare as we all love this delicious curry chicken since the last time we had it during our Christmas Potluck Party(read more HERE) over at my place.

[YuSheng(鱼生)] This is a must have appetiser before any Chinese New Year meal as it represent "good luck" for the new year where everyone toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks together by saying various "auspicious wishes". Here we have a medium yusheng from Sakae Sushi..........

[Steamboat Ingredients] Look at all these fresh seafood, marinated meat, fish and all sort of fishcakes, Abalone, Scallop, vegetables and etc.......

Everyone enjoys the companies of chatting, cooking and BBQ of those steamboat ingredients. Susan also specially prepares a pot of herbal chicken soup to act as the soup broth for our steamboat.

[Dessert 1] Susan's mum prepares her special Bobo Cha Cha which we all loves it. And this is my very 1st time seeing Pumpkin and Tapioca as one of the ingredients compare to the usual "Sweet Potato and Yam".

[Dessert 2] One of our friends, Rae also bought some homemade ice-cream which is specially made by her Aunt. As you can see from the photo the creamy texture of the “Durian” flavour ice-cream which is fragrant and full of durian bits is definitely something that you won’t want to miss out.

[Dessert 2] From top:- Durian, Milo and Rum and Raisin. If you would like to find out more about these homemade ice-cream, you can refer to their website HERE (http://www.jessdesserts.sg)

[Dessert 3] Extra Filling Extra Tall, Durian Cream Puffs from Durian King which Susan bought from North Point, basement. Everyone was shock to see those puffs with so much durian fillings in it.

[Dessert 4] Last dessert is what the kids are eagerly waiting for..... Yes!!!! It is "Chocolate Fondue" where Susan used 55% Valrhona Dark Chocolate to accompany the nature sweetness of the fruits.

[Celebration] On that day we also celebrates Susan's daughters birthday which is just a day before Valentine's Day. Since Chinese New Year, Birthday and Valentine's Day are all in connection, I decide to settle for these two lovely heart shaped cakes from "Four Leaves" for a little extra surprise for the girls..

Here we are, a lovely group photo that captures the wonderful moments where everyone puts on a "HAPPY SMILE". Happy New Year!!!!!!! Thanks everyone (Maureen, Rae、Kai、Derrick、Yan Cai、Lobsterpaints、Alvin、and Amanda) who attends and makes this gathering happen and also Susan and her family for their warm hospitality.

Look forward for our next foodies outing soon........ :)

CNY Dinner At 3rd Uncle House

Chinese Lunar New Year is coming to an end follow by the celebration of "Yuan Xiao Jie(元宵节)" or "Chap Goh Mei(十五暝)" on tomorrow which is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year festivities. And often during this long festive season most of us will indulge ourselves with all those feast and goodies from house to house visits, company or gathering functions.

As my mum comes from a big family with 7 siblings, every year during Chinese New Year(CNY) there are always a lot of family gathering from 1st uncle house all the way to the 7th uncle. And each of the household will prepare their very own signature dishes to cater for almost 30 people during different days of the house visit. Although now our beloved 3rd uncle is no long around, Aunt Lai Choo(3rd uncle's wife) still practice the custom of inviting everyone to her house during CNY where she will prepared a lot of delicious home cooked food for us.

This big plate of Hotdog, Sotong Ball and Nuggets are specially prepared for the kids and most importantly these are not deep-fried as they are grilled using the oven toaster. (healthy)

For starter, we have this "Marinated Jellyfish(海蜇) with Century Eggs" where aunty Lai Choo prepares and marinated the jellyfish using her very own recipe. Upon serving everyone agrees that this is a very appetising dish and it is gone in less than 20 minutes even before the rest arrives.

It has being a long long time since I last had this "Fish Maw Soup(鱼鳔汤)". I remember my late dad used to cook this similar soup with ingredients such as Chinese cabbage, minced meatballs, and fish maw. But still the most unforgettable taste of this soup is from my great-grandmother where she cooks really yummy fish maw soups that makes you go for even 3rd bowl in a row.

Mixed Vegetables Curry with Longtong Rice.

"Teochew Style Steamed Chicken with Garlic Cloves and Ginger" is something different from the usual Hainanese Style where they cooked the chicken in boiling water then dipped it in ice water to produce a jelly-like skin finishing. Although steamed chicken won't be as tender as Hainanese style but it definitely taste much fragrant and sweeter as steaming method often locks the flavour of the ingredients.

I love this simple and yet delicious "Stir-fry Prawn and Squid with Tomato Sauce". Aunty Lai Choo is still very thoughtful that she actually removed off all the prawn shells leaving just the tail portion.

Lastly despite of those delicious homecooked dishes above, there are also some Agar Agar and Cheng Teng that are available for after meal desserts. So from what I always think, home cooked food is always the best food that unite everyone in the family together and nothing weighs as valuable as all family members  get together and enjoy the heart warming atmosphere of "family time".

[Featured @] Foodbuzz ~ Today's Top 9

Hi friends and readers from Foodbuzz, thanks for your all your "BUZZ" that makes "[Valentine's Dessert] Melt Your Heart ~ Strawberries Yoghurt Cubes" and "Orange Cinnamon Sorbet" being featured on Foodbuzz Top 9 on 12 February 2011 and 26 February 2011 respectively! And out of the 4,163 posts from the Foodbuzz Community, this Strawberries Yoghurt Cubes has make it way up to Top #3 as choosen by the Foodbuzz editors and users.

You can also take a look at the rest of the 8 entries from this link HERE. Once again thanks for all the supports as it's all your BUZZ that makes this happen.

"Orange Cinnamon Sorbet" being featured on Foodbuzz Top 9 on 26 February 2011.

[Valentine's Day Special] Fish & Co. XoXo Platter For 2

Countdown to another 2 more days before Valentine's Day on Monday, 14 February 2011. Have you decide on what to eat and where to make your reservation on this Special Day? If budget is your concern, why not consider this Fish and Co. XoXo platter for 2.

What's more, for this Valentin's Day Special set it comes with 2 exotic drinks, 2 seafood chowders, a platter for 2, and a hot fudge chocolate cake for sharing that cost LESS than S$50.00 after all the GST and service charges. And this special bargain is available at all Fish and Co. outlets starting from 11 February till 14 February 2011.

Note:-

1st 100 couples whom order the xoxo set meal on Valentine’s Day will also get to receive a “Spin the Bottle” raunchy fun game and a limited edition Fish and Co. pouch for FREE. *While stocks last.

For a start let indulge ourself with a glass of  "Tropical Punch" which is flavour with exotic passion fruit fragrant and sweet sensation taste. You can also adjust the sweetness of this drink by slowly stirring to mix the syrup at the bottom  together with the sparkling water to suit your taste.

As usual for starter, their signature hot and steamy "Seafood Chowders" is served less than 5 minutes after our order. But today the soup seems a bit diluted and I cannot seems to find my favourite "chowders".

For Kid's meal, my boy order his favourite "Fish Tale" that comes with a choice of soft drink and you can choose either to have rice or chips as side too. For S$6.00, this can be a huge portion for younger or small appetite kids.

Most of their serving staffs are very cheerful and friendly towards each and every customers. Some of the staffs even try to keep an eyes on the food serve after each interval in order to make sure there is enough space to cater the food and it is not sitting on the table for too long before it gets cold.

A minute or two after they clear my empty soup bowl, our XoXo platter arrives with generous array of seafood such as two big pieces of Crispy Salmon, 6 Grilled Peri Peri Prawn, Fried Calamari, Blue Mussels served on bed of paella rice and fresh yummy coleslaw.
Price: S$39.95 (includes 2 drinks, 2 soups, 1 platter set and 1 dessert)

The peri peri sauce for the "Char-grilled Prawns" seems a bit different from the one I had at their flagship outlet at Glass House(read more HERE). This one seems to be a bit salty but overall it still taste fine with that hint of char-grilled aroma from the fresh prawns.

  As you have notice Salmon is always one of our favourite seafood dish at home and this "Crispy Salmon" taste great with it's spicy mango vinaigrette dressing which makes it look and taste sort of like those deep-fried fish which served with Thai sweet sauce.

Although from the initial look you might have the impression that the fish could be tough and dry due to deep-frying process but when you take a bite you will be delighted with it's soft and juicy texture.

Thanks God their "Fried Calamari" serves in this set is not those chewy rubber band texture which sometime might happen in certain outlets. The one we had this afternoon was great with extra points given to its' crispy and fragrant batter.

Out of all the items on the platter, these "Blue Mussels in Tomato and Pesto Sauce" are the least favour towards our liking. We find the sauce taste rather cold and sourish and the mussels was a bit over cooked which makes it tough to bite.

Here is part of my share which is taken from the XoXo Platter Set. Eating in small portions like this makes me less guilty on feasting such a huge portion of seafood platter.

After waited about 10 minutes I decided to check with the serving staff for the whereabouts of our excited dessert. And to our surprised he has actually forgotten about it.........

For your information every set of the Valentine's Day XoXo Platter comes with a plate of "Sexy Fudgy Chocolate Cake" as dessert for sharing.

As you can see from the above photo on our desier for it which makes this our most favourite dessert to order whenever we visit Fish and Co. The warm, moist and rich chocolate cake blends well with the cold and creamy vanilla ice cream which makes this a heavenly match dessert for any age.

Lastly I would like to thanks Hazel from Thox Pte Ltd and Fish and Co for their dinning vouchers on this Valentine's Special XoXo Platter. I wish each and everyone of you "Happy Valentine's Day", may you and your loves one have a wonderful and memorable time on this special day.

FISH N CO.
53 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3
AMK Hub, #02-03
Singapore 569933
Telephone: 6555 6298 
Fax: 6555 6098
Website: http://www.fish-co.com/

Operating Hours:
11.30am - 10:00pm Daily