Taiwan is famous for its cafes and bakeries. I wanted to have a piece of good cake, so under the recommendation of a guide book which I bought 2 years ago, I visited “Piece of Cake” bakery.

It was actually quite an experience. The cafes and bakeries change very fast. If you are good, you will stay. But if you are really lousy, the business will not last more than 3 months. When I tried to look for “Piece of Cake” bakery, I wasn’t sure if it is still operating. And being a tourist, it was definitely not easy to find the place. I took nearly 30 minutes to find it.

The owner of “Piece of Cake’, Nick, used to be a holding a high rank engineer job in a big company. But he suddenly realizes he is no longer enjoying life and merely running after time everyday. One autumn, while he was eating a cake in Kyoto, he felt it was the most delicious cake he ever tasted. So he decided to gave it all up and spent 2 years in Kyoto learning baking and perfecting the skills.

The essence of a good piece of cake is the good quality ingredients being used. The cake here uses local country eggs (which are smaller) and healthier butter. He insists on using his hands to work on the dough, instead of relying machines, which really brings “life” to the cake. Every time, Nick can only bake 2 rolls within 2 hours, hence the quantity is limited here.

“Piece of Cake” sells only 7 cake flavours. Because they make and sell within a day, if you visit the shop later, most of the flavours are probably sold out. On the day I went, there was only left with 4 flavours.

Now, I can fully understand why people feel touched when they eat a good piece of cake. I ordered their signature Fruit Roll (水果原味捲, NT$80) which comes with very fresh cream, strawberries and kiwi. This is the softest roll that I have ever tasted and every mouthful just touched my heart. The cake literally has that “melt in your mouth” feel. It is no wonder the Taiwanese said they have the best cake rolls in Taipei. And I think Nick has fully portrayed the notion of enjoying life with a piece of good cake.

Other flavours available include Plain Chocolate Roll, Cheese Roll, Plain Yoghurt Roll, Tiramisu Roll etc. The cake rolls are baked daily and, if you take one home, it is suggested that they be consumed within two days. Flower teas, coffees and other light meals are also available. You can also order a tea set which includes a cake and a cup of drink at NT$180.

Finding this quaint little cake shop is definitely an adventure. It is only 2 minutes walk from Zhong Shan Station Exit 1, but because it is deep in the alleys, it is definitely not easy to find. Even though it is so ulu, its business is still so good and this shows something. I got lost along the way, met a friendly high school teacher and a retired old man who guided me, and the helpful cake shop owner who is on the phone to give me directions. I guess this is the charm of travelling alone – exploring the beauty of the city with my footsteps.

Directions: From ZhongShan MRT Station’s Exit 1, walk to the alley behind Milk King Store (台北牛乳大王). Turn left, then right, and the bright-red shop facade should appear. You can find the directions from the shop’s website too.

Piece of Cake
Address: 台北市南京西路64巷9弄19號1樓 (19, Alley 9, Lane 64, NanJing West Road)
Tel: (02) 2559-7981
Opening hours: 10am – 6pm
Website: http://www.piece-cake.idv.tw/cake.htm

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) is a dish originated from China, consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork stir-fried with salty fermented soybean paste (zha jiang, 炸酱). The sauce is similar to a bolognese sauce – except that this does not have tomatoes in them.

In Taiwan, majority of zha jiang mian appears in street side stalls and cheap eateries. But there is this particular restaurant, Shuang Ren Hsu Noodles & Bar (双人徐概念店), who aims to be a little different – providing LV style Zha Jiang Mian.

双人徐 was founded in 2009 by the Hsu brothers, Chris and Walter. The recipe originated from their Grandma which has a Shandong homemade taste. The recipe was passes to the Dad and he will cook it for the family. The brothers hate it because their Dad will cook a big pot of it and they have to eat it for a week. One day, one of the brothers decided to share it with his friends and surprisingly, everyone gave very positive feedback.

It was a big push for them. After testing and finalizing the recipe for 6 months, they launched their online website selling vacuum packed Zha Jiang Mian. After building a steady customer base for 4 years, they opened this flagship restaurant last February.

Walking into Shuang Ren Hsu Noodles & Bar, the high-ceiling space and minimalist design make me relate to a Western cuisine restaurant concept. Never will I expect it to sell Zha Jiang Mian! As you can see, all cooking process are done in a open kitchen concept which gives diners a dazzling visual feast in addition to the enjoyment of taste.

We had the SRH Individual Set Meal (NT$680) which begins with 3 appetizers. This is not salted vegetables. This is Pickled Green Mango! It is a private dish of Hsu’s dad. The mango slices are marinated with sugar, garlic and vinegar for a long time. Unlike the Thai version of mango salad which is spicy, this pickled green mango has a hint of sour and sweet taste, which is very refreshing!

Mushroom Salad has oyster mushrooms and lean meat slices, drizzled with sesame.

Their Braised Beancurd & Peanuts is rather unique. Using organic tofu, they used dry marination method to marinate the beancurd. That is, to cook the braise sauce (lor) till it is very thick and concentrated, put the beancurd in and manually shakes it until the flavour is well absorbed into the beancurd. That will usually take about an hour.

Here comes the female main lead: Minced Pork and Tomato Sauce Noodles! It sure looks like something which can be done at home, isn’t it? But in fact, much consideration has been put in to make this dish.

Firstly, they specially use thinner noodles so that the bolognese sauce can be better mixed with the noodles. Secondly, their homemade tomato paste uses 2 kinds of tomatoes. The bigger tomatoes (牛番茄) is blended into a thick tomato sauce while a small version of tomatoes (黑柿番茄) is cut into cubes and mixed with the sauce. Recommended to pair with a glass of Torres Vina Esmeralda 2010 white wine.

I appreciate their effort to go into the details of the tomato sauce and it is definitely rich with an added bite from the lean minced pork. Recommended to pair with a glass of Torres Vina Esmeralda 2010 white wine.

Intermission time offers a cup of roselle flower tea to clear taste buds, before the main lead of the show arrives! Jeng Jeng Jeng Jeng: ZHA JIANG MIAN!

Everyone has their own special way of preparing it. The key to the flavor of this dish is the meat sauce that tops the noodles. At SRH, they has specially ordered minced meat with 90% lean from Costco. Thicker noodles are used instead of the thinner ones.

To fully enjoy the noodles, it has to be mixed immediately when it reaches your table. If you wait till the noodles turn cold, they are all going to lump together. It was thick, slightly sweet and strongly flavoured, lightened up by the cucumbers. Don’t forget to take a sip of Dona Paula Los Cardos Malbec 2011 Red Wine for a more holistic dining experience!

A surprise dish to the set menu is this Garlic Pork. They use 松阪豬 (Matsuzaka Pork) instead of the normal pork belly, so it has a better crunch! Simple seasoning yet it completely brings out the flavour of each ingredient.

And after that, a bowl of chicken soup and fruits are served to end the meal.

In SRH, they created two kinds of chilli sauce. One is their signature Chilli Oil (招牌辣油) which used 5 different types of chilli to create and Garlic Chilli Sauce (蒜香辣醬) which has garlic and bean paste.

When the signature chilli oil is added to their Dumplings (ala carte order, not in the set), it is heavenly. In fact, I feel this is the best dish for the day. They ensure that the prawns in each dumpling is 6g, nothing less than that.

They have a selection of wine for you to pair with your dishes. The bistro also offers the noodles in vacuum packages where you can buy and enjoy it at home!

The idea of having street food in a high class setting is definitely not an idea welcome by some of us. Just like when our local chicken rice or laksa is sold in high class restaurants, there are two extreme reactions to it. Some enjoy the change while others don’t.

But for the couple bloggers Maggie and Rudy (right), they certainly enjoyed it, hence they recommended it. Read about their reviews here. And the man with the thumbs up sign is Chris, owner of Shuang Ren Hsu. It was definitely a pleasure to meet them.

SRH also offers alfresco dining and it is specially popular during dinners. So reservations are recommended.

Here is their feature on 中天新聞 last March!

Shuang Ren Hsu Noodles & Bar (双人徐概念店)
Address: 台北市內湖區民權東路六段186-1號 (Directions: Alight at 文德站 and take a 5 mins cab)
Tel: 02-2794-8566
Opening hours: 11am – 2pm; 6pm to 12am
Website: http://www.shuangrenhsu.com/

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* Food for Fun (食在有趣) gourmet tour is proudly organized by iSee Taiwan Foundation. Only airfare, hotel accommodation and selected meals are sponsored.

In Taiwan, hotpot is very popular especially during cold winter. You can find them in also every shopping malls or even some eateries within night markets. However, in a small lane outside Shilin MRT station, there is this new hotpot place which is gaining in popularity — Quan Hotpot (寬巷子).

People who visited Taiwan always tells me that the good food are hidden within the alleys. I don’t deny because I really found very nice food in the small alleys (Read: Piece of Cake for their soft cake rolls, Peng Ji for their crispy smelly tofu). So I was really happy to find another hidden gem.

Have you wonder why those ulu ulu shops sell the best food? I don’t know if this theory is correct but in my opinion, these shops have very cheap rents so they can afford to spend more on their ingredients. But of course, you must cook your food well!

This particularly explains Quan Hotpot (寬巷子), where the owners are very passionate about. Quan is an intimate place, where you can enjoy hotpot in a comfortable setting and avoiding the crowded and stuffy atmosphere common to many hotpot restaurants.

Quan has a spectacularly colourful set of hotpot soup bases. Four soup bases lead the charge: Sichuan-style spicy soup, Light spicy soup, Silkic tonkatsu and Fresh tomato soup.

Not many restaurants can do sichuan well. Many of them just added alot of different chilli and spices into the soup to make it super spicy and calls it “sichuan”. But this isn’t the correct taste at all. If you were to drink a good pot of sichuan soup, you should only feel the numbing coming only after 3 seconds. And it should slowly subside, not giving your mouth a permanent anesthetic jab.

And I think Quan Hotpot has done it well. I was initially afraid that I might taste something very spicy and numbing throughout my whole dinner, but it was surprisingly not. The soup has a range of intense flavours without blasting our taste buds into strong pepper-hot numbness. If you realize, they have actually put the Sichuan peppercorns and chili in the middle of the pot and let the flavours of these spices merge with the soup, so you won’t jump if you were to eat any of the spices.

We also ordered the Silkic fowl Tonkotsu soup which has is thick and fragrant. The soups are not too salty and you can just drink it like that, without having to pair with rice.

The owners of Quan Hotpot takes pride in designing their hotpot. They have visited China, collected close to 4000 pots for research purposes, before drafting their hot pot design and giving it to the carpenters to do it. Hence, you will never find similar designs in any other hotpot places. From the design of the pot, to how it retains heat, the type of fire used, the depth of the pot etc… everything was thought through very carefully.

Quan Hotpot takes pride in making their serving ingredients look pretty and presentable. When they have decided to set up a hotpot restaurant, they wanted to be different and not serve those typical ingredients which you will see in other hotpot restaurants. So the owners begin to brainstorm for the possible ingredients to pair with the hotpot, then think of ways of pairing them together in a creative manner. So in the end, they decided to combine floriculture into their hotpot, they sent their chef to learn flower arrangement from a French teacher, and came up with ingredients with exquisite design.

One such example is this Comprehensive Organic Vegetables (花园锦族，NT$350). They are just vegetables, typical vegetables which you will see in other hotpot restaurants. But when they arranged it into a flower arrangement and we just went “WOW!” when the whole pot appears in our table.

The chef who made this told us, a seasoned chef can only plate less than 10 plates in 2 hours! Each design takes into many consideration, such as the colour, five elements, usage of ingredients etc, the presentation definitely outclasses those of other hotpot restaurants.

Seafood Shabu Shabu (海鲜盛合，NT$580) is well-represented too, with fresh squids, fish, prawns, and salmon. Indeed, the fish plate looked so good on arriving at our table that it was difficult to stop ourselves treating it as sashimi.

The menu’s focus is clearly on quality, and this means that customers looking for an encyclopaedic list of meats and vegetables to drop into their hotpot will be disappointed. One example is this rose design Matsusaka Pork （松板猪，NT$580) where each “rose” petal has been carefully sliced to achieve this effect.

It is suggested to dip the pork into the bowl of egg yolk, before putting it into the hotpot as the egg yolk gives a smooth and nice coating to the meat. Other interesting selections include shoulder of beef, and prime lamb.

By the way, they don’t serve any sauces to pair with the hotpot ingredients because the owners believe that they want to retain the most original flavour of the ingredients.

There are also a number of house specialities that set Quan apart from the crowd, and include menu items such as Sesame Spinach Wrap (菠菠糖，NT$280). Inspired by the sweet delicacy bing bing tang, they created a savoury version which is suitable for hot pot.

Using fresh beancurd skin and white sesame to make the layers, each roll is finally wrapped with spinach and it just tastes unique when the three ingredients are combined together. Also, each table will be given a 4 minutes timer because these ingredients are best cooked and removed within 4 minutes.

Deep fried minced shrimp and eggplant (杏香野菊，NT$320) looks like a lovely flower, isn’t it? At the bottom, you have minced shrimp wrapped with eggplant. On top, you will find the flower stigma made of purple corn and petals made of almond.

To give a sunshine and happy dining experience, Sliced cheese grilled octopus (向阳捧花，NT$320) were made to look like sunflower. They are actually cooked and can be eaten just like this without putting it into soup. But of course, it tastes better when it is placed in soups, and it won’t go out of shape!

No no, this is not the nougat you buy from Australia lah… These Nougat of octopus (墨条牛轧糖，NT$260) are made of octopus (花枝) and chicken cartilage, coloured by squid ink. I am very sure you can’t find such creative ingredient in any other hotpot.

The owners feel very strongly about wanton and he feels that by having too many fold on a wanton or xiao long bao is just a marketing gimmick because if you have too many crisps, the heat transmitted throughout won’t be balanced and the folded areas may be thicker and harder than the rest. So he made his Wanton of shrimp (鲜虾抄手，NT$180）in a very simple way, that is just to roll it. Their skin and ingredients are all handmade and I like this!

Taiwanese love to cook intestines in hotpot and this is rather unique because we never do that in Singapore. In fact, I don’t think there are alot of hotpot restaurants in Singapore that serve braised intestines to go with hotpot.

Anyway, putting the Braised Large Intestine (大肠头，NT$298) into the hotpot is a interesting experience. It is said that the way you cut the intestines will affect the texture of it. In this case, this braised intestine is very chewy!

Quan Hotpot also caters to traditionalists, who have the option of ordering items like Liver (招牌猪肝，NT$230). They will first cook their liver in the kitchen, hence we only have to put it in the soup for about 10 secs and it will be ready!

Old Fritters（老油条，NT$60）are also added into hotpot. Old fritters simply means these dough fritters have been fried 4-5 times, and it is harder and more crispy. After frying, the chef will put into the oven to grill a while. If you eat hotpot, it is recommended that you get the old fritters so that when you put them into the soup, it won’t turn soggy immediately and you can still soak the fritters in a lovely pot of soup!

In my opinion, these hotpot dishes are very unique and cannot be tasted anywhere else. I believe Quan Hotpot is going to be a rising star in Taipei’s restaurant scene because of its ability to come up with creative variations to traditional hotpot foods. They take an effort to plate their dishes, and everything looks so fresh and beautifully present. Having hotpot especially in a cold weather is very comforting, and I think it is one of Taipei’s well-kept secret.

Pricing: NT$110 per pax for 1 soup, NT$150 for double soups. Each table needs a minimum spending of NT$1000.

Here’s a video interview with the owner on how his hotpot is made.

Quan Hotpot (寬巷子)
Address: 台北市中山北路五段505巷22號（No.22, Lane 505, Section 5, Zhongshan North Road, Shilin District, Taipei）
Tel: +886 2 2883 1599
Opening hours: 11am – 10pm
Directions: Alight at Shilin Station Exit 2, turn left and walk for 1 minute.

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* Food for Fun (食在有趣) gourmet tour is proudly organized by iSee Taiwan Foundation. Only airfare, hotel accommodation and selected meals are sponsored.

After visiting Taichung, I was deeply inspired by the people there because they take a very passionate role in life and pouring their souls into something that inspires them. Take for example 珈琲院 (COFFEE AREA), the coffee house which I visited, they don’t do this for the money. They don’t work long hours and they closed their cafes every Mondays and Tuesdays to take a break and enjoy life (In Singapore, who closes their restaurants for 2 days?!).

In essence, they are just doing what they love and they can spend hours telling you so much about coffee. I think that truly passionate people understood the world much better and of course live a better life.

Along the street of 存中街, is this whole row of old American military quarters cottage. The government has retained the cottages and many interesting establishments has moved in, converted the interior while retaining its old charm of the architecture. 珈琲院 is one of them.

珈琲院 conducts DIY roasting classes for interested parties. Owner of the this cafe, Mr Tang, is also a very experienced and humorous barista. Roasting is fun and as easy as you want to make it, especially when you are only it for own consumption. I am totally clueless to the art of coffee making and I must put a disclaimer here that I am definitely not an expert. But I would just like to share with you what I have learnt from the session.

The basic process is simple: take green (unroasted) coffee and turn it brown. Why we do it ourselves? So that we can better manage the time and how roasted we want the coffee beans to be. There are many ways to roast coffee, you can do it with whatever appliances you have at home that are suitable for roasting, or buy a small roaster to do it.

Roasting time varies depending on the method. For this case, it takes us about 15 mins to roast 150g of coffee beans. If you are very into coffee, you can select your own favourite coffee bean based on the differences in flavour.

Understanding the different stages of the roast will help you control the flavor of your cup and appreciate how different roasts result in different cup flavors.

Yellowing: For the first few minutes the bean remains greenish, then turn lighter yellowish and emit a grassy smell. A few minutes later, the beans start to steam as their internal water content dissipates. For illustration purposes, we used a wooden spoon to take our a sample of the coffee beans to look at the colour changes every 3 minutes.

First Crack: The cracking is an audible cue, and, along with sight and smell, tells you what stage the roast is at. First Crack is distinguished by a loud cracking or popping sound, that is similar to the popping of popcorn. After the first crack, the roast can be considered complete any time according to your taste.

Second Crack: At this point a “second crack” can be heard, often more volatile than the first. Beans should be removed at this stage, if not it may be burnt soon.

This is the whole process of how coffee beans are roasted. Don’t be afraid of crackling coffee beans, enjoy the process, enjoy the fragrance of the beans, especially toward the end of the roast!

The coffee beans are then cooled before we grind it!

After the roasting, we can grind the beans. Sorry it is placed in a awkard position, but the owner said this is the most comfortable and easiest way to ground the beans using this machine. -_-

So we used one of the easiest way to make coffee! First we warm the filter paper using hot water, then we add in the coffee powder, and pour hot water into it.

See! Within minutes, your coffee is ready. I am not here to promote any products, because I feel you get a greater sense of achievement brewing your own coffee. You can roast the coffee beans the night before, grind it and brew it on the day you want it! I think it is an interesting skill to pick up!

After which, Mr Tang demonstrated to use the turkish way of coffee brewing. Do you know, the remains left after drinking Turkish coffee can be used for fortune-telling! So while they brew the coffee, you start to think of the questions you have in your mind. Then drink the cofee, turn it over into the saucer to cool, and then the patterns of the coffee grounds can be used for a method of fortune telling.

And turkish like to add some baking soda into their coffee to remove its acidity.

Thank you Mr Tang for sharing with us! Thank you iSee Taiwan Foundation for arranging!

I have to make a confession here. Before this trip, I knew nothing about Taichung. Absolutely nothing. I probably know abit about Hualien & He Huan Shan, know abit about Jiu Fen and know abit about Taipei. But what is in Taichung? I have absolutely no idea. What to eat there? How would I know? It is only when the native Taiwanese introduced me to this lovely place, I was very attracted by it.

Maybe because of its culture, maybe because it has many interesting cafes, or maybe it is because of their attitude in life. It is unfortunate that not everyone understands the difference between living life and not. Circumstances make me forget about it too. It was somehow a life-changing experience for me after the visit to 珈琲院.

It is only when I slow down, take a step back, then I realised life can be much better when you enjoy the things you do. I don’t believe in new year resolutions because one year has 365 days, it is too long and people like me tend to procrastinate and think that I always have tomorrow to fulfill it. But my ” tomorrow” never appears. But I definitely do believe in daily mini resolutions, because it can bring us closer to our highest, happiest selves.

So after my experience in Taichung, I told myself that my daily resolution is to love more, enjoy more and forgive more. Love the people who love me, enjoy life instead of procrastinating, and forgive the people who give us challenges. Not easy, but at least when I think about my experiences in Taiwan, I remind myself that.

Do you have any daily resolutions? If you can, take some time to slow down, have some “ME” time, draft out a mini resolution and do things that make you happy. Oh ya! I have set a goal after this trip. I hope I can re-visit Taichung again, get a barista certification, conquer all the interesting cafes there, and WRITE A BOOK about it. When will it happen? I hope soon!

珈琲院 (COFFEE AREA)
Address: 台中市存中街165號
Tel: (04)2376-1273
Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday 12pm to 6pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 11pm

If you are visiting Taichung and would like to have a DIY coffee roasting session, you can drop an email to: contact@iseetaiwan.org

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EXTRA!

If you are interested in coffee, do visit another coffee house in Taiwan called ORSIR COFFEE (歐舍咖啡). ORSIR COFFEE is founded in 1994 by Joe Hsu, a specialty coffee pioneer in Taiwan. Orsir offers specific traceability and good quality coffee around the world.

Orsir is the first company in Taiwan who customized roasted coffee and also has the first international jury from Taiwan! Here, she also roast her own coffee and creates her own coffee flavour! Like for chinese new year season, she created a new flavour of coffee with has a slight refreshing mint flavour.

Another very interesting series is the SPA COFFEE! You know when you go to spa, they always let you drink some spa tea which is said to make you relax. But if you prefer to drink coffee, you can get these SPA COFFEE which is said to achieve the same effect too.

While the baristas are brewing their coffee, please do not talk to them.

There is also a coffee house on the 2nd storey for you to enjoy your coffee.

Here is the owner cum talented barista Joe!

歐舍咖啡 (ORSIR COFFEE)
Address: 403 台中市西區五權路14號
Tel: 04-22212828 / 04-22200901
Opening hours: Mon to Fri 10.30am to 10pm, Sunday 10.30am to 6pm

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So if you would like to try Orshir’s SPA COFFEE, here is your chance! I decided to giveaway the spa coffee packets to SIX LUCKY READERS!

There are total 6 different kinds of blend: Harmony Blend, Calm Blend, Pleasure Blend, Strength Blend, Grand Tour Blend and Soaring Blend. Sorry you can’t pick the blend but I will give a mixture of 2 blends each! There are quite unique and I don’t think you can find any of such in Singapore!

Here’s the question: What is your favourite coffee drink?

To win, leave a comment with the correct answer! Closing Date: 27 January 2013 (Sunday), 23:59.

Hi guys, it has been a very busy week for me. After coming back from Taiwan, I have been swamped with lots of work and I can finally take a breather now. I will take a break from sharing my Taiwan posts because they take a lot a lot of time, and I will continue with it next week.

So Derrick has been raving about Tori King to me for many weeks, so last Saturday we decided to pop by and give it a try. Ramen Keisuke Tori King is the 3rd ramen restaurant opened by the winner of the Tokyo Ramen Championships 2011, Keisuke Takada. I have tried Keisuke in Parco Marina Bay, Keisuke Tonkotsu King in Orchid Hotel and I can’t wait to try this! Wonder if they are going to come out a Keisuke Beef King concept next!

The ramen scene in Singapore is getting very saturated and I guess you have to be different in order to stand out. Unlike the Keisuke Tonkotsu King in Orchid Hotel, this latest ramen outlet focuses on chicken based ramen.

If you recall, there used to be another ramen restaurant that does chicken based ramen called Marukin Ramen in Scotts Square but unfortunately, the shop has closed. I thought locals do not prefer chicken base ramen but from the queues outside Keisuke Tori King, it doesn’t seem to be the case.

The decor here is very retro, with comics and old posters pasted on the wall, giving it a very ‘60s Japan feel.

Keisuke Tori King serves free flow of complimentary eggs and seasoned beansprouts.

Before your ramen arrives, be sure to grind the seasame first. Pour it into the ramen which it arrives on your table because the sesame will bring out a different flavour of the soup.

Like Tonkotsu King, they have a standard menu (ramen with a chicken drumstick) but you get to choose the soup base – chicken broth, black spicy (black pepper) or green spicy (wasabi).

Original flavour of Tori King Ramen Special (All Toppings, $15.90) comes with a big piece of grilled chicken thigh, seaweed, chasyu and a flavoured egg. It was said that the delicious chicken broth is simmered with chicken bones, chicken feet and vegetables for over 8 hours, hence it is very rich but not overly heavy or salty. Frankly, I quite enjoy my soup. And there is a note at the shop front saying that there are lots of collagen in the soup! So as you have expected, I finished my whole bowl of soup! They hit the right button, the word “collagen” is a magic word for all women!

Black Spicy Tori King Ramen Special (All Toppings, $15.90) has everything of Tori King Ramen Special except that it has black pepper added to the soup and chicken.

I guess the star of the outlet is definitely the grilled chicken thigh. It is very tender with a shiny brown skin which no one can resist. I prefer the original version of it, without any wasabi or black pepper. The egg is good too, soft and runny with a hint of soy sauce.

If you love wasabi, try the Green Spicy Tori King Ramen Special (All Toppings, $16.90) where the soup is flooded with the green wasabi. And the chicken is also smeared with creamy wasabi sauce.

Service is very fast, and you get a side plate for putting your chicken thigh.

Ramen Keisuke Tori King
Address: 100 Tras Street, #03-15 100 AM
Tel: 6604 6861
Opening hours: 11:30am – 10:00pm

If you are always looking for brunch places, you can now visit Da Paolo BistroBar on Sunday. From 11am to 3pm, indulge in their new sumptuous brunch selection prepared by Executive Chef Andrea Scarpa.

Unfortunately, we didn’t catch the handsome chef when we were there for brunch last Sunday. But the lush and idyllic surroundings of Rochester Park made up for it.

Da Paolo BistroBar exudes a charming and relaxing vibe that makes the restaurant a perfect place for brunch or just drinks at the plush open bar. You can opt to dine indoors or at the breezy al fresco area.

Our brunch started with a plate of Persimmon Salad ($24) with mixed greens, blanched baby leeks, manchego cheese, persimmon, pine nuts and san daniele parma ham.

BistroBar presents an irresistible offering of both classic and contemporary dishes so there is something to please each and every one.

Under the Simply Breakfast group, you have seven brunch options, including the likes of Bistro Breakfast ($32) with organic eggs, bacon, pork sausage, guacamole, mixed mushroom, crispy potato, white beans and tomato.

Egg lovers can opt for the expertly-executed classics such as Eggs Benedict ($27) or Meat Lover’s Omelette ($24). Quintessential brunch items such as pancakes and French toasts are also available.

Alternatively, I was recommended to try the Baked Gorgonzola Eggs ($26) which features a spinach and soft centre egg-filled bowl; made with overlapping slices of picnic ham and a hint of truffle, best eaten piping hot with freshly- toasted bread fingers for dipping! Doesn’t this looks like a pretty rose? I think they have taken much effort to plate this dish.

For something heavier, go for Breakfast Steak ($34). I like this very much. Served on the table is a succulent piece of Ribeye steak lathered with black pepper hollandaise sauce and served with poached organic eggs, mushrooms, rocket, sliced tomato and rosemary ciabatta. Very juicy beef patty!

If brunch is not your favourite, you can also have a main course while your partner eats the brunch. Popular dish include Crab Tagliatelle ($28). The home made egg pasta comes with crabmeat, tomatoes, cream. The pasta absorbed all the cooking juices of the ingredients, resulting in a very tasty yet not at all heavy dish.

Other recommended ones include Wagyu Beef Burger ($31) and Pear & Parma Ham Light Pizza ($28).

With any order of a Simply Breakfast dish or main, you can enjoy two hours of free flow champagne (Louis Roederer Premiere Brut Reims) for $70 or prosecco (Tenuta Setten DOC Treviso) for $40 and a complimentary coffee, tea or soft drink.

If you want to pair your brunch with some cocktails, BistroBar also showcases an interesting range of specialty cocktails concocted by the bar’s experienced mixologist.

The chill out factor on Sundays is taken a notch higher with three new permanent resident DJs, Stephen Day, Aveneesh and Debbie Chia who will spin both groovy down tempo music and funky beats during brunch as well as on selected weekday evenings.

Overall, I find some of the brunch items rather unique, such as the Baked Gorgonzola Eggs. But for the typical brunch sets like Bistro Breakfast, the price is abit too steep. Service on that day was very slow. The restaurant was not full, but it took them about 40 minutes to serve the mains after we had our salad.

Da Paolo BistroBar
Address: 3 Rochester Park
Tel: +65 6774 5537

Sawadee Ka! If you want to eat more authentic Thai food in Singapore, Golden Mile Complex is definitely the place to go. It is a shame that I have never blogged about any restaurants there, especially when I love Thai food so much. So one night, we visited Na Na Original Thai.

Someone asked me if this Thai food eatery is same as the one in Far East. Out of curiosity, I asked one of the waitress who wasn’t very conversant in English and her reply was “ONLY ONE.”

One good thing about having Thai food is, they are not super expensive. And so a affordable price, you can get quite decent and filling dishes. Our dinner started with a plate of Thai Mango Salad ($5) as appetizer. It had the right amount of spice, a nice kick of sourness from the mango and lime juice, a good burst of flavor from the onions and shrimps.

The most impressive dish I have ordered for dinner that night is the Tom Yam Seafood Soup ($10). Simply because it comes in such a ancient claypot design! The Thais would have probably used this kind of ceramic (I assume) pot to cook their food during the olden days but now, I guess this only serves as a plating purpose lah.

But a good point of placing your soup in this pot is, it can be kept warm because of the stove at the bottom. There is a distinct lemongrass taste and its spiciness is acceptable. They are quite generous with the amount of ingredients in a pot of soup like this. My only complain is, I don’t really like the artificial crab stick in my tom yam soup.

While talking to some Thai eateries owners from the past, they were saying that they have to fine tune the taste to suit local palette. One example is the Pad Thai. In Thailand, their Pad Thai is sweet instead of the wok hei savoury but when they cook the original pad thai in Singapore, it didn’t turn out well and some diners would complain that it doesn’t taste good. Hence a lot of Thai eateries here decided to fry Singaporean version of Pad Thai.

But if you are those which prefers the sweet version, you can probably try the Pad Thai with fresh prawns ($5) here. The flavours have kinda really penetrated through the noodles. However, this isn’t my favourite because the noodles all lump together on the day we went.

Ready for some kick? Have a plate of Basil Chicken ($10) and you will soon have steaming head and sexy sausage lips!

I have yet to find a Thai eatery here that sells excellent Grilled Pork ($10). There are many restaurants who recommended it because pork collar is one of the favorite cuts among the Thai. But when I tried it, all of them are either very tough or oily and simply … not nice! I had it once when I was in Thailand, it was quite memorable, with the right amount of lean and fat, shiny on the outside, tender on the inside.
The pork collar here, I feel, is not tender enough and it is still okay when dipped with the special chilli sauce.

Thai Iced Milk Tea ($1.50) is a must drink for me whenever I go any thai place.

Our dinner ended slightly pass 10pm and I was surprised that the eatery is getting crowded. It was then the waitress told me they are opened 24 hours and it gets full house every night after 10pm. I am quite surprised as I never knew Golden Mile became such a hip place after 10pm! In fact, if you are looking for a supper place, you can probably take a walk around the complex because majority of the eateries here open 24 hours! Food wise, you can’t go wrong with Thai food in Golden Mile where many Thais gather to eat and be merry.

My next Thai makan place in Golden Mile Complex: the mookata just beside Na Na Thai!

Na Na Original Thai Food
Address: 5001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Complex #01-51/52
Tel: 6297 8498 (reservations reccommended)

Prawn Mee lovers sure have tried Albert Street Prawn Noodle at Lavender Food Square.

This is one popular stall at the hawker centre especially for supper. There is another stall with the same name at Old Airport Road Food Centre and it was said that they are relatives.

If you like fried shallots, you will love the dry version where the noodles are flooded with fried shallots. I ordered the Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle Dry ($5).

I prefer this version as the soup will not turn bland when noodles are added in. But the chilli sauce is too spicy for me. But the soup is great and the pork ribs are tender.

The Prawn Noodle Soup ($5) was served in a claypot with 2 big prawns sliced into half. It is served with a spoonful of curry powder for additional flavoring but I think the soup itself is already good enough.

Very sweet soup base and the prawns were fresh and and succulent, very easy to remove from shells. Besides the normal dry and soup prawn noodles, the stall also sells pigtails!

I am satisfied with Albert Street Prawn Noodle for its soup. Prawns are big and juicy, pork ribs are tender.

Albert Street Prawn Noodle
Address: 380 Jalan Besar, Lavendar Food Square #01-10
Opening Hours: 10am – 3am, Closed on alt Thursday

Many say, Monday is a hard way to spend one-seventh of your life. You won’t feel it when you are young. Whenever I talk to the Kindergarten kids, they are so happy that Monday is here because they can finally meet their friends. But as they grew old, they start dreading Monday because of spellings, tests and exams. And when they come out to work, like us, they start dreading every Monday and feel that weekends are simply too short. Ok maybe not all Mondays, but generally when Monday arrives, I always feel “why are weekends so short!”.

When I do my blog post for every Monday, I always make sure it is something happy or light, so as to make our Mondays not-so-blue. So today, I am sharing with you, my first bento for 2013 – The Sunbathing brothers! I hope you can use your imagination on this! Haha!

Actually, I am down with a bad flu and terrible headache for the past 2 days. I guess the body is asking me to take a break already. Last Thursday, I went to Hungrygowhere office to join them in a bak kwa tasting. We tried 35 different bak kwas in Singapore! Man, I didn’t know there is so many bak kwa stalls in Singapore!

Yesterday, I went Jurong Point to join them for the search of Best Pineapple Tarts in Singapore! The public contributed more than 100 different types of pineapple tarts, with many homemade ones! Of course I didn’t finish the 100 over pineapple tarts, I only took those which looks worth the calories kind. I will blog about these two events soon. Meanwhile, I guess my body is asking me to take a break from these CNY snacks for a few days.

Oh and also, I am grateful to be given the opportunity to host one of ERA division’s High Achiever D&D event last week! There are about 300 people in the D&D and I was really nervous! I have done a few wedding MCs before but this is the first time I am talking to a hall of 300 people! Anyway, glad that it went well and it was a good experience!

So while I take a rest today, here is a bento of four sunbathing brothers, inspired by what I have seen online. I play cheat abit by buying the original beancurd sushi from NTUC instead of cooking my own rice. Then I bought the different sushi toppings such as seaweed, roe etc and decorated the quail eggs. Once the eyes and mouth are added, it instantly bring life to the bento, isn’t it?

Frankly, this is my first time using quail eggs to make bento because they are so small and it is so hard to peel. But I admit that it is an important ingredients to make bento because the usual egg are too big sometimes, especially when my Grandpa loves to buy the large eggs.

Hope you like my first bento for the year! Leaving you a quote to cure your Monday Blues: Monday is just a reminder that the weekend has passed and there are only a few more days before another weekend gets here. HAPPY MONDAY! All of you please drink more water if you have start eating bak kwa and pineapple tarts!

Carpenter & Cook is a vintage home store and artisan bakery café, located in Upper Bukit Timah, Singapore. They have a range of carefully curated vintage furniture, home decor (which is a good inspiration for my future home), as well as fresh home-made baked goods and confectionery. I have read so much about the place and I have finally checked out the place!

*Note: All photos in this blog post has been edited with a yellow tint.

I am very attracted by the decor of this cafe and I guess this is the biggest reason why you should visit this cafe. Because vintage themed cafe is not very common in Singapore. Once I stepped in, it felt like I was living in the 1960s, to days of yore, long gone by…

Carpenter and Cook serves English tea-time favourites. You can have your sweet or savoury selection such as quiches, brioche buns, tartines, cakes, muffins, scones, tarts etc. These pastries and desserts are prepared fresh daily. There’s even a selection of home-made jams!

Because I love scones, so whenever I have afternoon tea, I will always think of scones. I like my scones buttery and crumbly just like how I like my pineapple tarts to be. And I think the Plain Scone ($4) here meets my mark. It is buttery, it is flaky, and it is fragrant! Pairing it with a pot of English Breakfast ($4.50), this is my perfect afternoon tea combination.

Lemon Cream Tart ($6.20) is too sour for me but thankfully, the sourness was perfectly complemented by the crumbly and buttery shell. I thought I would have trouble finishing, but apparently, I ate it all up. It just has that refreshing aftertaste that is so seductive. However, it was said that the cafe double bakes its tarts so that it will not crumble when fillings are added. Hence, the shell is abit harder.

Joey loves the Valrhona Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Tart ($6.20) which has a balance of sweetness and bitterness. Very smooth chocolate ganache on top of a layer of sea salt caramel!

Our high tea ended with a cup of Cappuccino ($4.80) while listening to some soft vintage music. Very laid back atmosphere and I don’t mind spending a quiet afternoon here. Ok lah, not that quiet anymore because it has been highly raved online and the cafe is full house almost every hour. But the decor is so nice until I don’t mind having a scone while looking through all the vintage plates and cups.

The cafe only take reservations for groups of 6 and above during weekdays and they currently operate a walk-ins only policy during the weekends.

Carpenter and Cook
Address:19 Lorong Kilat #01-06
Tel: 64633648
Operating Hours: Tue – Fri 12pm to 10pm; Sat 10am to 10pm; Sun 10am to 7pm

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I look forward to Chinese New Year because of all the food! Besides my favourite pineapple tarts, there are also yu sheng, peng cai, nian gao etc. This year, many hotels have come up with interesting CNY cuisines, let’s take a look!

YU SHENG
Yusheng is a must have dish during Chinese New Year because “fish (鱼)” sounds like “abundance (余)”, hence Yúshēng (鱼生) is widely represented as Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Its ingredients and tossing actions when eating Yusheng bring prosperity and longevity to diners in whole year. Here are some of the interesting yu sheng for this year:

• Fruity Yu Sheng (Parkroyal on Beach Road)
To usher in the Year of the Snake, we will be tossing to Chef Jackson’s new creation of the Fruity Yu Sheng into its Prosperity Buffet Feast. The Yu Sheng consists of fresh tropical fruits like Mandarin Oranges, Peaches, Rose Apples, Rock Melon, Dried Persimmons, Green Mango and Papaya. This new creation symbolises an abundance of wealth and a well-rounded life enhanced with Chef’s Special Fruit Flavoured Sauce. Besides the yu sheng, you can also find many CNY dishes in the prosperity buffet such as Eight Teasure Boneless Duck, Braised Long Cabbage with Dried Scallops, Poached “Live” Prawns with Chinese Wine and even Mini Peng Chai!

Price: Lunch $45 (Adult), $27 (Child); Dinner $58 (Adult), $35 (Child). CNY Eve Lunch $45 (Adult), $27 (Child); Dinner $78 (Adult), $47 (Child), CNY 1st & 2nd Day Lunch $62 (Adult), $37 (Child); Dinner $62 (Adult), $37 (Child)

• Unagi Yu Sheng (Marina Mandarin, picture above)
Drawing on the similarity of snake and eel and to celebrate the year of the Snake, Peach Blossoms’ Chinese Executive Chef Chan Shun Wong created the unique Unagi (eel) Yu Sheng to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Chef Chan marinates the eel with a mixture of honey, diced garlic and superior light soya sauce for 15 minutes to enhance flavour of the fish, followed by roasting in 8 minutes. Paired with shredded vegetables and Chef Chan’s signature Hong Kong-style sesame dressing, the complementary sweet and sour tastes in this dish blend perfectly well.

Price: $68+ (4 to 6 persons), $118+ (10 persons)

•  Hamachi Yu Sheng “Soon Tak” Style (Carlton Hotel)
A Wah Lok signature and different from the usual Yu Sheng, it consists mainly of thick, fresh slices of Hamachi, shredded cucumber, shredded ginger and ground peanuts. The exclusivity of the dish lies in its sauce – light in flavour with only a tinge of lemon and soy sauce. It lends a savoury and refreshing taste while you bite into the succulent slices of Hamachi.

Price: $88

• Eight Treasures Yu Sheng (Amara Singapore)
‘Lo-hei’ to good health, wealth and prosperity with Eight Treasures Yu Sheng, comprising of eight premium ingredients, green ebiko, red ebiko, amaebi, tako, black caviar, jellyfish, salmon fish and abalone, drizzled with Chef’s specially crafted Sichuan sauce, which enhances the flavour.

Price: $88 (standard), $128 (large)

• Flambé Salmon ‘Lo Hei’ (Feng Shui Inn)
Flambé Salmon ‘Lo Hei’ is a medley of refreshing flavours and colours combined with thinly sliced fresh salmon infused with Chinese wine, presented with a colourful orangey burst of flames. The texture is enhanced with crispy fish skin made from top grade Catfish from Hong Kong. To mix things up, strawberry jam is used instead of the usual plum sauce. Expect to find ‘bak kwa’ (beef jerky) in this indulgent toss-up too, for that extra smoky, meaty kick.

Price: $88+ for 3-6 pax, $128+ for 7-10 pax

PEN CAI
Pen Cai’s ingredients are rich in symbolism. Black Moss, (“Fatt Choy” in Cantonese) sounds like “striking it rich”. Dried Oyster, (“Ho Xi” in Cantonese) which sounds like “fortunate incidents”, represents good luck. Abalone, (“Bao Yu” in Cantonese) means “assurance of surplus”. Pork Knuckle, (“Zhu Shou” in Mandarin), represents wealth or good opportunity. Fish, (“Yu” in Mandarin and Cantonese), symbolises “accumulation of wealth”. As a festive dish, the name “Pen Cai” is symbolic of good fortune.

• Longevity Poon Choy (Carlton Hotel, picture above)
Indulge in our traditional Longevity Poon Choy, an elaborated three-layered dish with a gastronomic assortment of premium ingredients such as Whole Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Scallops and Dried Oysters. The long hours, efforts and skills put into cooking the Poon Choy is reflected in its rich flavours and exquisite taste.

Price: $388 (6 pax); $628 (10 pax)

• Scarlet Fortune Pen Cai (Si Chuan Dou Hua)
Enjoy a wholesome version of traditional pen cai at Si Chuan Dou Hua. The Scarlet Fortune Pen Cai is enriched with a nourishing shark cartilage soup base and infused with enriching capsicum sauce rich in antioxidants.

Price: $438 (small); $588 (large)

• Traditional Pen Cai (The Ritz-Carlton)
Traditional pen cai has 12 ingredients include fish maw, sea cucumber, Chinese mushroom, conpoy, black moss, seasonal vegetables, abalone, sea perch, roast pork and duck, goose web and scallops.

Price: $360 (serves four, 3 days advanced notice needed)

EIGHT TREASURE DUCK
Eight Treasure duck is a festive dish consisting of 8 special ingredients, to symbolise good fortune and abundance.

• Stewed “Eight Treasures” Duck with Sea Cucumber (Li Bai, Sheraton Towers, picture above)
Pamper your loved ones with an indulgent spread of lavish reunion dinner in the comfort of your home with these award-winning culinary delights from the kitchen of Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant. The stewed Eight Treasures duck with sea cucumber is meticulously simmered to succulent perfection, this gastronomic dish is a trove of the eight treasures, which includes lotus seed, chinese mushroom, sea cucumber, salted egg, barley, chicken, pork and chestnut.

Price: $168

• Eight Treasure Royal Duck (Xin Cuisine, Holiday Inn Atrium)
Well marinated, this treasured duck with paired with premium ingredients such as fish maw, scallops, abalones etc, featuring intense fragrance as well as tender and fresh meat.

Price: $198

• Prosperity ‘Fa Cai’ 8 Treasures Duck (Min Jiang and Min Jiang at One-North)
Introduced in 2009 by Min Jiang at One-North, this gastronomic dish is back again by popular demand. This 2-kg boneless duck is stuffed with ‘eight treasures’ of fresh mushrooms, sea cucumber, dried scallops, lotus seeds, fox nuts, black moss, chestnuts and water chestnuts, and braised to succulent perfection.

Price: $178 for 8 to 10 persons

NIAN GAO 
Nian Gao is made from glutinous rice and very popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because it symbolises raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升). This sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake, so that he can’t badmouth the human’s family to the God of all Gods.

• Glutinous Rice Cake with Green Tea, Red Bean & Raisin (Crystal Jade, picture above)
Made of glutinous rice flour, the new, contemporary, flavours add to the variety of deserts for diners to savour. There are also Glutinous Rice Cake with Osmanthus & Ginger ($20.80) and Marble Glutinous Rice Cake with Strawberry Jam ($22.80).

Price: $20.80

• Bubble-gum flavoured Nian Gao (Marina Mandarin)
Small like a mini donut, this Bubble-gum flavoured Nian Gao from Peach Blossoms tastes exactly like bubble gum, very chewy and fruity.

Price: ($30.80/ 12pcs)

• Prosperity Gold Bar Pure Mao Shan Wang Durian Layered Nian Gao (Peony Jade)
Peony Jade’s thick layers of nian gao is made of 100$ pure mao shan wang sandwiched between sheets of nian gao.

Price: $68.88

• Homemade Yam and Traditional Nian Gao (Szechuan Court)
Szechuan Court’s homemade yam nian gao by chef Mandy Yeo is made from glutinous rice flour and yam, then sprinkled with grated coconut for a chewy and gooey treat.

Price: $2++ per piece

It is no surprise that most people have a weakness for the pineapple tarts. Loved as a Luner New Year delicacy, their buttery crusts are filled with pineapple jam and are now increasingly enjoyed all year round. Pineapple has an enticing golden colo

It is thought that their success in this part of the world is owed to early Straits Chinese immigrants, who settled in the Malay Archipelago hundred of years ago. Known as Peranakans, they were influenced by Portuguese settlers in Malaysia, who were well-known for their pastries and tarts.

To celebrate Lunar New Year, Jurong Point held a search for Singapore’s most popular pineapple tart last Sunday!

Everyone and anyone can bring their favourite tarts (minimum 80 pieces) personally to JP on that day and they will receive a free goodie bag worth $88! What’s more, participants stand a chance to win up to $12,000 of prizes!

At the event, there are more than 100 different kinds of pineapple tarts! GOSH, being a pineapple tart fan, I seriously went crazy over it! They are either homemade or store-bought pineapple tarts and shoppers just have to spend $10 in a single receipt last Sunday and get 5 voting slips to enter into the tasting arena to sample the tarts.

So while everyone was searching for the best pineapple tarts, there was a Pineapple Tarts Baking Workshop and book-signing session by Rita Zahara and Chef Philip Chia. Unfortunately I can’t be here on time for this. But after the pineapple baking workshop, there are some fun activities such as getting the audience to mould a pretty pineapple tart!

Last activity was Pineapple Tart Eating Competition where 5 members of the public were asked to the stage to finish a plate of pineapple tarts within a certain time frame.

Where can we find the yummiest pineapple tart in Singapore?

1st Place: Kele Cakes & Cookies, 93 votes
2nd Place: Ang Kian Huat (homemade), 89 votes
3rd Place: Mary Lin (homemade), 83 votes
4th Place: Agin Anastacia Anni (homemade), 74 votes
5th Place: Ho Leng Leng (homemade by mother), 73 votes

Congratulations Kele Cakes & Cookies for crowning the best pineapple tart by Jurong Point! It is unfortunate that the other pineapple tarts are homemade, so can’t buy them! Thank you Jurong Point for the invite!

I will never get tired of bak kut teh. After my last bak kut teh post complaining about how the boyfriend no longer eat bak kut teh with me after he has won my heart, many friends offered to eat bak kut teh with me!

The Keropok family suggested a few places where we can have bak kut teh together; Karen cooked bak kut teh and invited us for dinner; sweet Michelle satisfied my craving by agreeing to have bak kut teh for lunch! *touched*

Just a few days before my lunch with Michelle, I was watching a food show on TV, showing a 13-year-old boy in Malaysia who cooks dry bak kut teh very well, it made me crave for Klang bak kut teh so here we are, at Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh in Singapore!

So what’s the difference between the teochew version and klang version? The teochew version is clear soup and peppery taste, while the klang version is thick, cloudy and has a herbal taste. Can’t really say which one is better because it all depends on your preference.

Nevertheless, Leong Kee is one of the very few bak kut teh place which serve klang style bak kut teh. I used to eat it frequently 5 year back when my workplace is just nearby. My impression then wasn’t very good because the soup is very oily. Then I went back a few times last year when my friends and I were looking for a place for late dinner.

But this time, the soup seems to be better! Not as oily as the previous rounds. Yes it has the herbal aroma and there was a generous portion of pork ribs in the claypot, and the meat was tender and so soft you can pry it off the bones just by using your chopsticks. But the broth suffered from a lack of oomph, although appearing dark and promising, I felt it was thin and light.

You can choose whether to have purely bak kut teh with pork ribs ($6) or bak kut teh with pork ribs and intestines ($6).

It was the Stewed Pork Leg ($6) that won me over. Cooked in the aromatic broth, they were very tender with a good proportion of fats and lean. And you can see that each piece has a very thick layer of fats which is super shiny and tasty.

To pair with my bak kut teh and pork trotters, we also ordered salted vegetables ($0.60). If you like some garlic, chilli padi and dark sweet sauce to go with the dishes, they are available in all tables.

Conclusion? There are of course much better klang bak kut teh in Malaysia but I feel this is actually one of the better ones in Singapore, affordable and filling lunch. I tried Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh in NEX but the price was way too expensive.

What about you? Do you have any favourite Klang bak kut teh stalls in Singapore?

Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh
Address: 321 Beach Road
Opening hours: 11am to 9pm, closed on Wed

We use paper everyday. And in our impression, paper can only be used for drawing and writing. But the owner of Carton King (紙箱王) does not think it this way. He uses paper in the same way as plastic or wood is used to create dimensional packaging and in Taiwan, he created Carton King (紙箱王) – a a unique eatery where everything from the furnishings, to the decorations and even the plates are made from corrugated cardboard.

For this Food for Fun Taiwan trip, I visited Carton King Creativity Park in Taichung. The restaurant is a unique establishment, in both aesthetic and design. The interior looks like a blow up version from fairytales. Enter to this lovely garden where many of the park’s attractions are both water and flame retardant and can be toted to safety in case of typhoons.

Almost everything in Carton King is made by corrugated paper, such as ceiling, tables, chairs, lanterns, plates, pen…etc. As we entered the restaurant, I was amazed that everything inside this place is made from cardboard and paper, except for the food and waiters.

It sounded totally crazy to sit on cardboard chairs and I don’t really dare to put my full weight on the chair. But all my worries are redundant because when they first created this cardboard chair, they bring out their chef, who weighs more than 100kg, to sit on the carton chair. Then one of the waiters sits on his lap. So there are no questions about how strong they are.

So we each picked a set lunch and had to eat our food out of cardboard bowls at a cardboard table. Here’s a plate of Boston Herb-roasted Spring Chicken (NT$360) which is their signature.

Very tender Stewed Pork Ribs with Champagne Honey Sauce (NT$330).

Crispy Deep fried Pork Fillet with Apple Honey Curry (NT300).

Confit Lamb Chop with refreshing Orange Honey Sauce (NT$320).

Pan Fried Chicken Leg in Provence Sauce (NT$320).

Each set comes with a cup of olive rice, soup, vegetables and dessert. Before you eat, remember to have the small cup of fruit vinegar to open the palette.

We sip drinks from cups made from the recycled material, at a table made from similar material. Don’t worry, recycled material doesn’t mean they reuse the cups hor! And in fact, after you finished your drink, you can bring the cup home and turn it into a saving box.

Happy US together with the iSee Taiwan Foundation team.

In souvenir store, it offers not only your usual paper products, but also paper hats and bags made from leather-like paper.

And can you spot the landmark structures of the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai?

Yes, the carton horse can move one!

And there is a Honey Museum for you to buy some honey products. If you are free, you can stand at the learning zone and try to spot the Queen Bee.

The food is pretty average here but I guess it is the whole experience that makes it memorable. What’s great about this place is the recycling potential. In case anything breaks or becomes damaged, it’s simply recycled.

That is actually the point of the whole Carton King Creativity Park, to show the real power of paper and cardboard, and convince people it can be used for a lot more than generic packaging.

Here is a video of Carton King Creativity Park! There are of course many other branches, so you can go to the one nearest to you!

Carton King Creativity Park (紙箱王創意主題園區)
Address: 台中市北屯區東山路二段2巷2號
Tel: 04－22398868
Website: www.cartonking.com.tw

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

* Food for Fun (食在有趣) gourmet tour is proudly organized by iSee Taiwan Foundation. Only airfare, hotel accommodation and selected meals are sponsored.

Steamboat is a popular option for reunion dinners. This Chinese New Year, get creative and spice up your meal with a new soup base: Dancing Chef’s tom yam paste. Spicy and tantalising, this soup is bound to whet your appetite! Because Chinese New Year is coming, so I thought of cooking a bowl of fish maw tom yam soup. It is pretty convenient because you just have to pour the paste and add in your favourite ingredient.

Recipe: Fish Maw Tom Yam Soup

Ingredients (serves 3-4):
1 packet Dancing Chef Tom Yam Paste
300g prawns
400g water
50g fried fish maw, soaked and cut into pieces
200g chicken fillet
6 mushrooms, cut into slices
20g crab meat
1 egg
some parsley

Seasonings:
1/2 tsp sugar
cornstarch solution: mix 2 tbsp corn flour with 2 tbsp water

Method:
1. Add Tom Yam paste and water in a pot. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add in fish maw, mushrooms, crab meat and chicken. Simmer until cooked.
3. Add in prawns and cook till it turns red.
4. Slowly pour in the cornstarch solution while stirring until you reach the consistency desired.
5. Turn off the fire, pour in the beaten egg. Garnish with parsley. Serve.

Tip:
– You can also add in kaffir lime leaves, galangal and lemongrass for added flavour.
– If you want your soup to be more sour, you can add some fresh lime juice.

Of course, you can add this tom yam paste into your CNY steamboat. And to pair with it, you can dip some Dancing Chef Suki Sauce. This delicious spicy dipping sauce is the exact replica of the ones you find in Thai steamboat restaurants. It is a tasty complement to steamboat favourites like seafood, meat and tofu. For an extra kick, toss in some roasted sesame and Chinese parsley!

PROMOTION!
Buy 3 Bottles of Dancing Chef suki Sauce at $5.95 + Free Grocery Recycle Bag
Promotion period: Jan 2013 to 14 Feb 2013

All Dancing Chef pastes and Suki Sauce are available in NTUC Fairprice.

Thanks to Dancing Chef, I am giving away THREE sets of 1 Suki Sauce, 1 Thai Tom Yam Paste from Dancing Chef.

All you have to do is, answer a simple question: Name a product from Dancing Chef.

Deadline: 4 Feb 2012 (Monday), 23:59. I have to keep this giveaway short and sweet (giveaway ending tonight!) so as to make sure the prizes are delivered to the winners before CNY. Good luck & happy new year!

Situated along Siloso Beach Walk, Coastes is the place to go for a lazy sunday brunch if you would like some sun and breeze. From families wanting weekend fun and couples seeking dreamy calm, to executives needing a post-work chill, you can enjoy soaking up in the sun, sand and sea while enjoy a nice meal.

Coastes is all about rustic charm with a casual and laid back beach vibe. I was there with the girlfriends for lunch yesterday. The furnitures are in blue and white which makes you feel like you are in Santorini enjoying a beach holiday. There’s a full spread of barbecue and Western dishes to keep you going throughout the day, and by night it turns into a fun party scene.

Bringing our favorite local dish to a greater height, this thick Chilli Crab Meat ($15) is very flavourful. Each spoonful has very generous amount of crab meat and it is sweet and not too spicy. Coastes don’t pair it with mantou though, but with crispy baguette which is equally good.

The girlfriend recommended Eggs Benedict ($16) and I gave her a “are you sure?” look. Because more and more cafes do egg benedict pretty well and in many of these places, egg benedict is always paired with hollandaise sauce so I got quite bored with it already. That’s why when Au Chocolat introduced hollandaise sauce infused with red wine and dark chocolate, I welcome the change. For Coastes, their poached eggs lies on top of toasted muffin, ham and hollandaise sauce with hint of citrus, so it was refreshing! Eggs are soft and runny!

The Omelette ($12) is made of mushrooms, ham, tomato, capsicum and cheese which is surprisingly tasty!

The highlight of the lunch was Seafood Linguine ($26) which comes with pan fried crayfish, tiger prawns and clams with white wine sauce. They are very generous with ingredients, noodles cooked al dente and packs a flavor like no others.

The place is cooling with sea breeze and we can view the sea and enjoy while having our meal. Heard their seafood stew and fish & chips are good. I will come back again to try their dinner menu. They have an extensive range of house pour spirits and beers.

Coastes
Address: 50 Siloso Beach Walk #01-05
Tel: 6274 9668
Operating Hours: Sun – Thu & Public Holidays 9am – 11pm; Fri,Sat & Eve of Public Holidays 9am – 1am
Website: http://www.coastes.com/

This is the best dish I ever cooked and I am proud of it.

I got interested in cooking in 2008 when a cooking instructor cooked this dish for a photoshoot during CNY and I got to try it. So it is the first dish I cooked in my life! It is a easy recipe and everytime I cooked it, my family loves it. There is a wafting aroma when it is braised.

The important ingredients in this dish are oysters and mushrooms which gives out the taste. And of course a little patience because it takes time to braise! To enhance the flavours of this dish, try MAGGI Concentrated Chicken Stock and Premium Oyster Sauce, which boosts the aroma and enhances this dish with the richness of double-boiled taste.

As we look forward to reunions during this Chinese New Year, why not immerse in the joy of whipping up some tasty homemade meals to delight your loved ones and savour these precious moments of happiness with your family. With this simple and easy to prepare recipe, it is the perfect dish for anyone who wants to cook for this special occasion but is pressed for time.

May this be your signature dish for the many happy reunions to come be it with family or friends!

Braised Dried Oysters with Black Moss, Fish Maw and Mushrooms (好市发菜)
Serves 6-8 pax

Ingredients
15 dried mushrooms
8 dried scallops
8 dried oysters, washed and soaked
80g fried fish maw, soaked in hot water
6 red dates, soaked
1 tbsp wolfberries, soaked
4 cloves ginger
2 cloves garlic
some black moss

Seasonings
4 tbsp cooking wine
3 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 3 tbsp water
2 tbsp MAGGI® Concentrated Chicken Stock
1 tbsp MAGGI® Premium Oyster Sauce (healthier choice, less salt)
2 tsp Sesame oil
300ml water

Method
1. Wash the soak the dried scallops in 200ml of hot water. Retain the water for later use.

2. Heat oil to fry garlic and ginger till fragrant.

3. Add mushrooms, oysters, scallops, fish maw and red dates. Stir­‐fry well.

4. Add cooking wine, MAGGI Concentrated Chicken Stock, MAGGI Premium Oyster Sauce, sesame oil and all water (300ml water & 200ml scallop water).

4. Braise the ingredients for 20 minutes at low heat, covered.

5. Open cover, add wolfberries and black moss. Thicken the gravy with the cornflour mixture. Braise for another 20 minutes. Serve

Tips:
– you can also add in abalone and sea cucumber.
– Fish maws are sold dried in two forms – deep fried or non-deep dried. Get the deep fried fish maws which are puffy and light. You can just soak it in hot water for 5 minutes and it will soften.

Promotions for MAGGI

1. Exclusive Chinese New Year Gift Pack retailing at a promotional rate of $10.80 and consists of the following products:

· MAGGI Concentrated Chicken Stock (Healthier Choice Symbol, Less Salt, No added MSG and Halal certified)
· MAGGI Premium Oyster Sauce (Healthier Choice Symbol, Less Salt, No added MSG and Halal certified)
· MAGGI Seasoning (No added MSG)
· 80g of premium Dried Mushroom (worth $6)
· Eight Treasures Pot Recipe Booklet

2. For the purchase of two bottles of MAGGI Concentrated Chicken Stock, consumers will receive a complimentary MAGGI Bottle Stand for condiments and sauces.

3. For the purchase of 1 bottle of MAGGI Seasoning, consumers will receive a MAGGI plate clip holder which will come in handy when serving hot dishes.

4. For the purchase of any one box of MAGGI Stock Cubes (Retail store price at $2.95 per box), consumer will receive another complimentary packet for free. Promotion applicable to both Chicken and Ikan Bilis flavours.

I always admire people who bake pineapple tarts well, because it takes so much patience to make the pineapple fillings from scratch, from peeling to blending. Although I really love pineapple tarts, I don’t dare to take the first step to do it for the fear of failure.

I used to prefer pineapple tarts, with the pineapple fillings on top of the tart. But now, I prefer pineapple balls and pineapple rolls. And I prefer a more buttery and flaky tart base. So Aunty showed me a recipe she saw in i-weekly and we decided to give it a go! It is still not the melt-in-the-mouth kind but the texture and taste is good! Enjoy baking!

Recipe: Pineapple Rolls

adapted from “In Love with Cookies” by Alan Ooi (Seashore Publishing)

Ingredients A (makes about 100):
250g butter
60g icing sugar

Ingredients B:
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg

Ingredients C:
250g plain flour
60g corn flour
30g milk powder

Pineapple Filling:
400g ready made pineapple paste

Method:

1. Blend Ingredients A until fluffy. Add Ingredients B and mix till well combined. Add Ingredients C last. Mix the dough.

2. Put dough into a piping bag fitted with pineapple tart nozzle. Pipe into thick line. Put in some pineapple filling. Roll it up. Repeat until ingredients used up. Arrange in a bakking tray. Egg wash.

3. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degree celsius for 20-25 minutes.

Known for serving a wide range of Thai delicacies, ThaiExpress has launched a NEW MENU at the start of a New Year with over 130 items!

As many hit the streets of Bangkok to get a taste of its best, ThaiExpress brings the tastiest of all Thailand’s street snacks voted by the Thais to their diners. Rice cracker is very popular in Thailand and I can just buy a packet to eat while shopping on the streets. Now, at the comfort of a restaurant, you can eat rice crackers comfortably while piling it with creamy minced chicken and shrimp sauce ($7.90).

Fried Taro with Cashew Nut ($9.30) turns out to be my favourite dish for that day. I am not a huge fan for taro but their taro is very fragrant especially when it is fried and when it is stir fried with some cashew nuts, sauce and capsicum, it kind of tastes similar to our “Gong Bao Chicken” except that it is much sweeter and not spicy at all!

Voted as the “Most Popular Noodle” in Sukhothai, Stick noodle with minced chicken and prawn in chilli oil soup topped with crushed peanut ($11.30) looks deceivingly spicy but actually, it is not as spicy as it seems. Maybe a little oily for some due to its chilli oil, but the soup brings out the flavour of minced chicken and fresh prawns.

Though not the best that I have tried, Crispy Tom Yam Chicken Wing ($8.30) is pretty addictive with some tom yam powder sprinkled on the wings. But some parts may be too salty.

Deep-fried Minced crab meat and chicken cake with plum sauce ($10.40) is a love of young and old. The texture of crab meat and chicken goes well together but I think they are too generous. It will probably be better if they make their crab and chicken cake smaller.

Thai Sukiyaki Noodle Soup ($11.30) is actually a totally deceptive name since it is nothing like Japanese Sukiyaki. ThaiExpress doesn’t do hotpot here. Instead, you get a bowl of bean thread noodles mixed with sukiyaki sauce. It has a lovely heat with more subtle sour, salty, and sweet flavors. But this is good, eat already shiok ah!

If you have been Greyhound Cafe in Thailand, you may have probably tried one of their signature dishes “Complicated Noodles”. It is basically a noodle wrap using the kway chap noodles, lettuce, minced meat, green chilli sauce and parsley. I love this dish so much that I will always go back to Greyhound to eat it whenever I am in Thailand. Once, I even tried to recreate the dish and share it with all my friends (read here)!

I am so glad ThaiExpress has decided to create their own version of “complicated noodles” – Thai style DIY Minced Chicken and Dry Kway Teow Salad ($9.30). Same as what you do in Greyhound Cafe, you wrap the very fragrant minced chicken with its accompanied sauce in smooth slippery kway teow and fresh lettuce. Comparing the both, I think ThaiExpress’s minced chicken is much more flavourful than Greyhound’s. But Greyhound’s chilli sauce is more sour and spicy, hence more powerful. But I guess they also can’t put it that spicy because they have to cater to our local tastes.

Besides my favourite Lod Chong which I always eat whenever I visit ThaiExpress, they created a new star dessert – Thai Fragrant Pandan Jelly with Coconut Custard ($6.80). Its colourful combination has the simplest ingredients ever but the most amazing taste!

Thanks to ThaiExpress, I am giving away 5 sets of $20 vouchers to FIVE LUCKY READERS to enjoy the new dishes!

Step 1: LIKES Miss Tam Chiak’s Facebook
Step 2: Answer this simple question – Name a new dish in ThaiExpress.

Deadline: 13 February 2013 (Wednesday), 23:59

Happy Chinese New Year! Have you guys started eating bak kwa?

Every year, my family will usually buy the famous bak kwa brands like Fragrance or Lim Chee Guan. After joining the Hungrygowhere team for The Ultimate Bak Kwa Taste Test, I was shocked to see so many bak kwa brands in Singapore!

Man, we ate 35 different varieties of bak kwa, from the usual sliced pork, to spicy pork, chicken, beef and even vegetarian! All the packaging were removed from each kind of bak kwa, and they were cut into small pieces with a number attached to each.

At first I thought, 35 bak kwa should not be a problem lah! But I was wrong! By the 10th small piece of bak kwa, I was already feeling bak kwa overload. But thankfully, the good ones were really good. I love my bak kwa to have a balance and smokiness, with a little charred exterior and tender. Each of us were given a score sheet and we judge every piece of bak kwa based on fatty, chewy, fibrous, tender, sweet, savoury, smoky.

So presenting to you, THE ULTIMATE BAK KWA TASTE TEST!

1. Bee Kim Heng (sliced pork)
Blk 32 New Market Road, #01-1010 People’s Park Food Centre
How is it? Slightly tough but it is one of the better ones. Sweeter and quite fibrous.

2. Low Seng Kim Bak Kwa (sliced pork)
Blk 69 Geylang Bahru, #01-2865 Geylang Bahru Market and Food Centre
How is it? Caramel taste, sweet smelling but tastes bland.

3. Sang Hock Guan (minced pork)
Block 163, #01-446 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4
How is it? Gets really spicy after 4 secs.

4. DenDeng House (Ayam BBQ)
39 Geylang Serai, #00-19 Geylang Serai Malay Village
How is it? Tastes like pork, but hard and dry.

5. Fragrance (Fortune Pig)
How is it? Cutest design but too thin and dry.

6. DenDeng House (Beef Chilli)
39 Geylang Serai, #00-19 Geylang Serai Malay Village
How is it? Mild spicy, but it is a good change from usual pork bak kwa.

7. New Peng Hiang (sliced pork)
Available at all Sheng Siong outlets during the Chinese New Year period
How is it? Too thick, fats look compressed.

8. Kim Hwa Guan (traditional dried minced meat)
32 New Market Road, #01-1022 People’s Park Cooked Food Centre
How is it? Thinner than the rest, but in terms of smokiness and sweetness, it was alright. Not bad!

9. Fragrance (chicken BBQ meat)
How is it? Thin but chewy, tastes like satay.

10. Friendly Vegetarian
Block 421, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, #01-1165
How is it? Too chewy like rubber. But this is good alternative for vegetarians.

11. Xin Dong Fang (sliced pork)
#01-08 Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Link
How is it? Not very fat nor tender. Perhaps need to fine tune still.

12. Chai Ho (sliced pork)
448 Clementi Avenue 3, #01-10 Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre
How is it? Hard to bite, and tasted like bacon.

13. Lim Chee Guan (sliced pork)
203 New Bridge Road #01-203
How is it? Super smoky bak kwa, either you love it or you hate it.

14. Kim Guan Guan (minced chilli pork)
223 River Valley Rd
How is it? The spiciness slowly kicks in!

15. Kim Peng Hiang (royal chilli sliced pork)
100 Eu Tong Sen Street, #01-K4 Pearl’s Centre
How is it? Thick, chewy and weird aftertaste

16. Kim Guan Guan (sliced pork)
223 River Valley Road
How is it? Pretty red colour, slightly spicy and can be better if it is fatty enough.

17. Xin Dong Fang (chilli minced pork)
#01-08 Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Link
How is it? Spicy, thinness make it dry.

18. Fragrance (sliced tender BBQ pork)
How is it? Skin is hard and it tasted like cuttlefish for some reason.

19. Bee Cheng Hiang (chicken)
How is it? Well glazed, with lots of fats. Abit too sweet.

20. Kim Hock Seng (BBQ Pork)
32 Keong Saik Road
How is it? Looks like the meat wasn’t mixed properly.

21. Kim Peng Hiang (BBQ Chicken)
100 Eu Tong Sen Street, #01-K4 Pearl’s Centre
How is it? Too sweet, too oily.

22. Kim Guan Guan (sliced chilli pork)
223 River Valley Road
How is it? Chewy but hard to tear, like overnight food.

23. Kim Joo Guan (chilli sliced pork)
257 South Bridge Road
How is it? Tasted like mutton satay.

24. Kim Hock Guan (sliced pork)
150 South Bridge Road, #01-02 Fook Hai Building
How is it? Aiyo, thick and hard!

25. Bee Hock Guan (sliced pork)
Available at all NTUC Fairprice outlets during the CNY period
How is it? Aiyo, this one dry like grass.

26. Kim Hwa Guan (chilli minced)
32 New Market Road, #01-1022 People’s Park Cooked Food Centre
How is it? Nice charcoal taste, each piece is smoky and sweet.

27. Lim Chee Guan (BBQ beef)
How is it? So black, obvious it is beef. Prefers Dendeng’s beef.

28. Chai Ho (sliced chilli pork)
448 Clementi Avenue 3, #01-10 Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre
How is it? Slight spicy and darker, like bacon.

29. Lim Chee Guan (BBQ Chilli Pork)
How is it? Thin, dark, fatty and smoky.

30. Bee Cheng Hiang (sliced pork)
189 New Bridge Road
How is it? Though it is a little dry, it is pretty sweet and smoky.

31. Kim Hock Seng (chilli BBQ pork)
32 Keong Saik Road
How is it? Spiciest bak kwa ever, I ate this the first and it kills my taste bud.

32. Tung Lok Pork Jerky (honey glazed)
How is it? Chewy but too much oil.

33. Sang Hock Guan (minced pork)
Block 163, #01-446 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4
How is it? So so lor, got a little bit of wasabi.

34. Kim Hock Guan (spicy BBQ pork)
150 South Bridge Road, #01-02 Fook Hai Building
How is it? Sweet then spicy already. Marination can be better.

35. Bee Cheng Hiang (chilli pork)
How is it? First bite is sweet, the spiciness slowly kicks in. But it is bearable.

There you have it, 35 bak kwa flavours! I guess you will have a hard time searching for the best, so here are some of my recommendations: