Dim Sum Lunch @ Canton Paradise

Steamed Prawn Dumpling "Ha Kao" ($5.80++)

Brought Mom and Dad to dim sum at Canton Paradise and we draw mixed reviews - Mum and myself are of lighter taste buds, so it's obvious that we didn't quite enjoy ourselves. But Dad is a smoker who enjoys strong tasting food; even he finds their seasoning very much over-whelming, but nice he said - then he finished all his water which he usually loathes.

Unanimously, we suffered from the briny congee (reaping 5 large fresh scallops though), the overly deep fried dough fritters and squashy Ee-fu noodles, albeit the nice wok-hei.

It was comforting though, to see Dad so eagerly picked up the steamed chicken feet, and finishing the entire plate.

Steamed Chicken Claw with Black Bean ($4.30++)

Baked BBQ Pork Pastry ($4.80++)

Fresh Scallop Congee ($10.20++)

Steamed Cheong-fun with Dough Fritters ($4.30++)

Stewed Ee-Fu Noodles with Dried Shrimp Roe ($12.80++)

First Love Patisserie - Hokkaido Thousand Layer Cake

Belgian Chocolate Mille Crepe ($6.50)

Mille Crepes Cake? Is a classic French cake consisting of 20 layers of paper thin crepes, each separated by a brush of French pastry cream. "Mille" means "a thousand".

First Love Patisserie which we are having is actually a Jakarta label, hand-making this cake with Japanese recipe, but only with 15 layers of crepes (their webpage photos show at least 20 layers). Still, it isn't too bad. The light tasting dessert came across as rather plain, then it slowly grows on you and became quite unforgettable. We vote for the original mille crepe flavor.

Signature Original Flavour (imported French Vanilla); Belgian Chocolate; Matcha Green Tea ($6.50 each)

Siam Kitchen

Green Papaya Salad with Coconut Meat, Som Tum Ma Prow On ($8.50++)

Briny fish sauce, crunchy prawns and peanuts on the green papaya salad; crushed peanuts, fragrant dried chili with zesty lemon on the sizzling plate of stir-fried glass noodle; meaty fish cakes accompanied by load of fresh greens; we left Siam Kitchen satisfied, relishing the taste of rich coconut milk we last had on the sticky rice dessert.

Simple lunch with little hint of surprises. It was good - with Ric.

Phad Thai with Seafood, Woon Sen Phad Thai Talay ($10.90++)

Golden Fried Fish Cakes, Tod Man Pia ($8.20++)

Mango Sticky Rice, Khao Neaw Ma Muang ($7.50++)

Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Noodle, “炒黑面”

Nothing beats mum's simple fried noodles! The final step of the cooking is already looking delicious; i can't wait! But I had to - let the cooked noodles sit for another 5-10 mins in the off-heated wok, and the overall finish will improve tremendously before serving!

Yummy! Am as happy as a lark!


INGREDIENTS:
2 tbs       Cooking oil
3 cloves  Garlic (minced)
0.5kg      Yellow noodles
1kg         Thick bee hoon (Thick rice vermicelli)
0.5kg      Bean sprouts
1 cup      Water

SEASONINGS:
4 tbs Dark soy sauce
2 tbs Oyster sauce
4 tbs Sweet flour sauce (Mum insists on the Buddha Brand which is less salty)
Dashes of Pepper

STEPS:
1. Heat up a wok on medium heat with oil. Add in garlic and fry them till slightly browned.

2. Then heap up the wok with bean sprouts, followed by thick bee hoon and yellow noodles.

3. Add Seasonings onto the heap of noodles. Then watered-down everything.

4. Using a pair of long chopsticks, stir and toss the noodles to combine well. Cover the wok periodically. Repeat. This process will take 10-15 mins; maintain low heat. Turn up to medium heat for a final finish.

5. Off fire. Rest the noodles for 10 mins before serving!

Nyonya Stir-fry Green Chili，娘惹炒青椒

There's a story behind this Nyonya home-cooked dish which we love to go with plain rice - Mum's proud sister-in-law who marries into a Peranakan family used to visit her maternal family and cook for them. 

Attracted by delicious aroma from the kitchen, and their loud boosting, mum often peeps in and try to steal a taste of their leftovers; learning the recipe by herself!

INGREDIENTS:

500g         Green Chili (scissored, wash and rinse of the seeds)

15 cloves  Shallot (sliced)

1 tbs         Salted Soya Beans

2 tbs         Dried Shrimps (soak to soften in water)

4 tbs         Cooking Oil

STEPS:

1. Heat oil, and stir-fried shallots till it browned with fragrant. Set aside by top of the wok.

2. Add in dried shrimps, frying till the aroma rises. Then add in salted soy beans, frying and crushing it a little using the spatula.

3. Fry briefly for 5 mins, then add the fried shallots that was previously set aside, followed by the green chili. Mix well for another 5 mins. Serve.

Take care not to over-cook the green chili, as a crunchy texture is definitely tastier than squashy ones.

Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon 1995

Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% vol. ($84)

With proper storage, this blend is recommended to cellar for up to 15 years. Still we have our doubts as this is actually a forgotten bottle in the basement...

It tastes great! Made from Cape Mentelle's oldest vines planted in 1970s at Margaret River, Western Australia, the wine is of great depth and complexity.

Not forgetting, during the period of bottle maturation this fine wine has thrown a natural tartrate deposit, thus we decant prior to serving.

Cheers.

上海拉面, Shang Hai La Mian Xiao Long Bao

La Mian with Fried Bean Sauce, 炸酱面 ($3.50)

Szechuan Spicy Wanton, 红油抄手 ($4, 10pcs)

Came to the Alexandra Village Food Centre one Saturday, and it was almost impossible to order from this China noodles and dumplings stall - the ordering queue was so long and crowded...! So it brought us back again, on a weekday.

We ordered our all-time favorites and they were pretty satisfying; especially the hand-pulled La Mian. Now we've got another stall-to-go, up our sleeves.