BBQ Party!!

This annual party with the Kee family was what we have been looking forward to each year! This time round, they rented 2 double storey chalets from the Pasir Ris Coastal Sand Resort.

Having had many experiences on organising BBQ party, they eliminate food items that weren't too popular and focused on the nice ones :)

Yeah! Seafood is the nicest!

Crayfishes.

My own cooking Chicken Wings; not cooked though :)

Juicy Squids! My delicious new found Love!

Our Favourite - CRABS!

It was an enjoyable night... a truly enjoyable night; the Moon, the Sea breezes, the hullabaloo from all the neighboring celebrations... all in a lively, relax, easy mood.

Thank you for having us over, Kee :)) And for being such a generous host; fully absorbed the whole night, barbecuing rounds and rounds of Seafood for us!

Spicy Pork with Egg?

Something simple to go with plain Porridge for lunch before our heavy BBQ Party tonight :)

STEPS:
1. Beat up 5 Eggs with 1 can of Spiced Pork Cubes (142 g). Pepper a little if you like. I do.
2. Heat up 1 Tbsp of Oil; add the Egg mixture to the hot Wok.

3. Stir it around and left it frying till it achieves a nice golden finish. Done :)

Tastes equally great with Rice or Porridge.

Chocolat N Spice

A yummylicious treat from Brother! Well, these are for Mum, mostly :)

Assorted Muffins ($1 - $1.40)

Double Chocolate, Cheese, Coffee Walnut, Orange-Peel Raisins, Carrot Walnut - MUFFINS! Chocolat N' Spice serves the most luscious muffins; our favourite Muffin's baker :)

They do many more French Pastries, Brownies and Cakes on advance order too, see listing here. 

New Year Cookies

My colleague brought me these today :) It was homemade and tasted ever so light and fresh. I like it but refrain from getting an order.

Both the Pineapple Tarts and Cornflakes Cookies are New Year Cookies that we love and hate; all buttery and seductive... Have you had your 1st taste of New Year tidbits?

These are my first. Mmmm... marking a step closer to the Chinese Lunar New Year!

Tokyo BBQ

BBQ Stingray, 方鱼 ($10)

This is a meal i've promised Mom of, a meal of fat succulent BBQ Squids at Tokyo BBQ, West Coast. We had the $10 Stingray as the stall had ran out of their $8 portion. But this is good; the addition of just 2 bucks gave us a meatier share.

Hotplate Sambal Squid ($8)

Oh, the blistering sight that we much awaited! We can't wait to pop this soft chewy Squid into our watering-mouth.

We had order the stall "Bitter Gourd Fish Head Soup" too, but the bony and fishy tasting soup was a letdown. Advice you try its few neighboring Fish Soup stalls for a heartier meal.

顺利 Oyster Omelet

蚝煎, Oyster Omelet ($5)

As a prelude to our Dinner tonight, we had an order of Oyster Omelet from Stall No. 28 in Ayer Rajah Food Centre, Blk 503.

Plump Oysters over crisp oily and starchy Flour Egg mix - Mom's craving, having watched a TV program on the origins of Teochew Oyster Omelette, few nights back.

Ric says the chef here had done a good job.
Well, i had prefer our Homecook version. Love the fat Oyster though ;)

Cheesy Tomato Pasta

A totally unplanned for lunch cooking; after my cooking up breakfast this morning. Have i got hook on cooking? Guess not.

Just wanted to test my cooking instinct after reading up some recipes; and to clear up little bits and pieces of leftover ingredients that are laying around the house.

And, thank God, this actually tastes good :) i'm improving!

STEPS:
1. Chop up finely Garlic and Onion (i left only 1 :) and fry them in a heated pan with Olive Oil and tbsp of Butter.
2. Add bottled Tomato Ketchup Sauce (as much as you desire) followed by 2 slices of Sandwich Cheese.
3. Add 1 ladle of Pasta Cooking Water to dilute the sauce, Pepper it generously; bringing it to a boil.
4. Fire off. Adds the cooked Spaghetti noodles, coating it with the thick rich sauce. Mix well and serve.

I serve over some shredded Lettuce (the only Veg we have in the fridge) and water-boil Tatsumoto Pork Sausages (thank God we had these :).

Sweet Spicy Minced Pork!

Another MUST learn dish for me; also our very much loved childhood dish. I always thought i would cook this for my kids :)

STEPS:
1. Hand pound these ingredients in Mortar and Pestle: 5 cloves of Garlic, inch thick of Ginger, 1 Chili (Add more Chili depending on the level of spiciness you desire).
2. Add Oil to a hot Wok and fry the above mixture till it exude fragrance (As the mixture is moist, expect oil to sizzle much).
3. Add the 0.5kg of Minced Meat, breaking it up, Salt it.
4. Add 6 tbsp of bottled Tomato Ketchup Sauce (or as much as you love ;) and 1 tbsp of bottled Garlic Chili Sauce.
5. Done. Simple. Delicious.

Serve over a bowl of warm Rice, and i guarantee your children could easily polish off 2 bowlfuls!

The fastest way to fatten ups any malnourished kids who loathe eating proper meals.

中华美食

77 Boat Quay is a China eatery specializing in 新疆, Xinjiang cuisine.

Our sketchy impression of Xinjiang cuisine lies just on their expertise in preparing Mutton and the uses of Spices. They do have more for the adventurous diner.

韭菜盒子, Pancake with Chives ($6)

This is one of my favourite Chives dishes.

And we still missing the Pancake we had in a local food stall serving 西安, Xi An domestic cooking. The stall in Capitol Building had since closed and moved. I'm so missing their cooking...

炒面片, Xinjiang Fried Noodle with Mutton ($6)

This is similar to our Zi Char Hor Fan, but the Kway here gave more bites; the green Veg giving the crisp crunch. The sauce was a tad salty but flavorful.

The serving's big. Served hot, it cheers any ravenous tummy.

羊肉串, Mutton Skewers ($1 per stick)

I love Spices and they are generous on it. Parts of the Mutton prove to be of a tougher bite but forgivable.

Don't mind a second visit here for other atypical tries.

African Violet :)

Saintpaulia or more commonly known as African Violet is indeed from Africa! I've always wanted an African Violet plant for its little, delicate looking flowers. It was more for me than a Gloxinia actually.

Am very happy to receive this plant as a gift from my warm colleague today; after my failing to cultivate them from leaves cuttings - the rodents in my office ruined them.

I pray it bloom soon, then we shall see the color of the flowers; like a present waiting to be unwrap :)

"The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou are my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou'd be you"

~ Gammer Gurton's Garland

How to... Soak up Sea Cucumber.

Right, this is what you see after 5 days!
A Dried Sea Cucumber that had grown from a lean 7"inch to a now fat 11"inch!

                                                                Zhu Po Shen (猪婆参) - Sow Sea Cucumber, $$$

Sea Cucumber is often dried for preservation purposes and has to be rehydrated with boiling and soaking in water for several days for the Sea Cucumber to absorb the liquid back.

Rehydrating the Sea Cucumber can be tedious steps for some. I thus wish to share with you how my Mom prepares the Sea Cucumber, the easiest yet effective steps:

1. Wash pot for soaking the Sea Cucumber clean of any grease residue.
2. Rinse Sea Cucumber of its dust and soil.
3. Fill pot with water that covers the Sea Cucumber sufficiently (taking into consideration excess water needed for hydration). Soak for 1 day.

4. Day 2. Drain water away without touching the Sea Cucumber. Top up with fresh water and put to boil (true boil - 100 degree Celsius). Remove from heat and let it sit for the day.

5. Repeat Steps 4 for the next 3 days until it becomes soft to touch. Throughout the process, avoid use of greasy utensils, which includes our touching it with our hands. And make sure water always covers the Sea Cucumbers.


6. Day 5. Clean the Sea Cucumber of its layer of the softened intestine with your gentle fingers (as shown above) or scrubbing away with a small knife. Scrub its outer skin layer of any mud deposit too.

Tu Shen (秃参) - 'Bald' Sea Cucumber, $$

7. Now it is ready for use as an ingredient in a Soup or Stew. If you're saving the Sea Cucumber for another day's cooking, you may pack it in serving portion and store it in the icebox unit until then.


NOTE: Size of the Sea Cucumber determines the no. of days you need to soak it, smaller Sea Cucumber, such as the Bald sea cucumber softens earlier and over soaking makes it squashy! So exercise your discretion.

When buying dried Sea Cucumber, the seller could advise which are the ones that rehydrate better and yields a meatier portion. But those are often pricier, such as the Sow sea cucumber.

I Learned Fried Bee Hoon!

This used to be our common childhood meal when resources were limited - Pig's Trotters Bee Hoon. A can of stewed pig's trotters easily serve our family of 5; this was not a memory of misery but bliss :)

STEPS:
1. Soak the 400g of Vermicelli (20 mins) and Dried Shrimp (10 mins) in water separately.
2. Stir fried minced Garlic and Dried Shrimps (draining it from water) in hot Oil (4 Tbsp) till fragrances exude. In the process, adds dash of Light Soya Sauce.
3. Adds in 1 can Stewed Pig's Trotters (397g), followed by 1.5 can of Water.
4. Adds seasoning of Oyster sauce, Dark Soya Sauce, Salt and Pepper, as desired.
5. Cover Wok, till it boils then add the Vermicelli. Mixing well.
6. Cover Wok, lets it simmer and stir the Vermicelli from time to time (turn Fire low).
7. Adds in Green Vegetables below the fried Vermicelli, cover Wok.
8. Stir, adds on Chinese Yellow Noodle atop, cover Wok.
9. Stir well while preventing Vermicelli from getting charred.

Done. Get serve; for some greasing of your lips with the gooey sauce from the Pig's Trotters :) I think i've mastered the art of frying Bee Hoon somewhat, Ha.

Still, the strategic skill of stir-frying and turning the Vermicelli about without getting it burnt takes more practice to perfect.

$7 Lunch @ Inle Myanmar

Had the simple $7+ set lunch at Inle Myanmar Restaurant today; we had an enjoyable meal here previously.

The restaurant was comfortably decorated, each table having its own fresh flowers and they serve Lemon plain water. A very welcoming gesture.

Tea Leaves Fried with Fried Chicken.

Tea Leaves rice sounds healthy don't you think so? It tastes good too but was served lukewarm.

Glass Noodle with Seafood.

This is just out from the wok! Still smoky when served. Tasted great.

Moh Let Sung, Hpa Luda.

And everything washes down with their cool dessert.

Moh Let Sung was just like our local Chendol with aromatic Brown Sugar. We seem to enjoy it more than Hpa Luda's Rose Syrup flavor :)

Doraemon Guitar!?

Going towards our lunch area, we passed by the basement of Excelsior Hotel/ Peninsula Plaza and spotted 2 Doraemon Guitars on the window display!

It was cute and i wondered how it looks on one, holding and playing it. How does it sound?

No price tag was available, but searches on the internet give a whopping S$877 value!