BRINGING SINGAPORE TASTE INTO YOUR PLATE AT THE NOVENA MALL

Novena Church Altar

Guys, bear with me. I am about to end my blogs about my Singapore food and dine journey with one or two more blogs. I am really so glad and excited about the  food from other places and make my own version which in turn I would like to share with you. I had the chance to roam around the area about 5 or 6 station away from the place where I stayed. This place is where the Novena Church is located so I get to memorize the bus number going here and vice versa. I went here couple of times to hear the Sunday Mass and the Wednesday Novena Mass.  The church was built beautifully and you feel the solemnity of the place. Here is the facade of the Church:

Novena Church

And just beside the church, a few minutes walk is the Novena Mall. It has a variety of restaurants that offers different cuisine and of course the local Singapore cuisine. This is another Japanese restaurant that caught my attention, TONKATSU KAZAN RAMEN (Kazan- meaning volcano in Japanese) and I would say the ramen are fantastic. Well, fantastic enough for me that I was able to discover how it is cooked and made especially the soya bean paste that they add to your ramen on top. They call it Kazan Ramen because they serve the ramen in stone bowl and they will cover the bowl with  a cone like thing for one minute to let the steam come out. I actually don't have any clue why do they need to cover it with the cone at all. The ramen is perfect for me. I chose the miso based soup and it tasted so perfect for me. They have something on top of the ramen which they call soya bean paste. It tasted real good and I tried making my own version of it. Watch out soon for the recipe. 

KAZAN MISO RAMEN

And I had so much fun and delectable experience with this Japanese Restaurant. By the way, Gyoza tasted equally great. I really had so much of this.

Overall dining experience? from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest rating? For me it's 4 1/2!

BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE...CONTINUATION..AT SHO TEPPAN JAPANESE CUISINE

My next food journey is quite funny somehow because it's the taste of Japan in Singapore. So its like taking two cultures in one. Clean environment of Singapore and a sumptuous taste of Japan. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the meal as well and I cant wait to make my own version of this and share the recipe with you. The one I tasted here is what they call Black Angus Beef, by the way the name of the restaurant is  SHO TEPPAN  which is located at Orchard Turn #b3-19 Singapore. The soup is so flavorful and the rest of the ingredients are equally tender and delicious. I really had a full tummy and was really so satisfied with this one dish meal, all in one dish. And the unique part of this is that it's a DIY restaurant or "Do it yourself" restaurant which means, you will order the main ingredients which is, choice of different prime cuts of beef,pork and seafood plus the soup base and there, serve yourself, cook it the way you wanted and put on some condiments of your choice and enjoy!

TINAPA AND AVOCADO RICE, AVOCADO SUMMER SALAD AND AVOCADO CREAM DREAM

Its AVOCADO season and if you may want to know, avocado is one among the many fruits that I really love. Just a few days ago, the 3 pieces of avocado fruit that my mom brought has ripen. And instantly I made 3 luscious recipes from it. My first recipe is Tinapa and Avocado rice, Avocado Summer Salad and the dessert, Avocado Cream Dream.  Check this out and you may want to take advantage of the avocado season too!

Avocado

INGREDIENTS FOR TINAPA AND AVOCADO RICE

1/2 Cup avocado (diced it up)

1/2 Cup Tinapa flakes (Fry the Tinapa first before flaking)

2 tbs minced garlic

1 medium sized onions (sliced)

3 tbs butter

Shitake Mushrooms

For garnishings:

Hard boiled eggs

Tomatoes

Green Onions

Red Onion

1 tsp or less of Garam Massala spice (optional)

*I actually put some curry leaves because I have some in my pantry but it's OK if you don't have it.

PROCEDURE:

1. Saute garlic, onions and Tinapa flakes in butter.
2. Then add the leftover rice or steamed rice.
3. Once the rice is cooked enough, add in the shitake mushrooms and avocado.
4. Serve while hot.

INGREDIENTS FOR AVOCADO SUMMER SALAD

1/2 cup avocado

1 medium size apple sliced into cubes

1/2 cup cucumber

1/2 cup tomatoes

1/4 cup white onions

Boiled egg/set aside some for garnishing

Lemon Zest

Lemon juice/extract

1 tbsTahini Paste (you can use sesame oil if you dont have Tahini)

Salt and pepper to taste

EVOO- extra Virgin Olive Oil

PROCEDURE:

1. Combine avocado, apple,cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lemon zest and boiled egg (set aside some for garnishing)in a salad bowl.
2. season with salt and pepper to taste

Salad dressing:

1. Combine the Tahini paste, Lemon extract/juice and EVOO and season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour onto the salad upon serving.

AVOCADO SUMMER SALAD

INGREDIENTS FOR AVOCADO CREAM DREAM

3 cups avocado

1 small can evaporated milk

1 cup cream

PROCEDURE:

1. Just combine all three ingredients and put in the fridge to chill. Serve chilled or with cracked ice.

AVOCADO CREAM DREAM

AVOCADO FEAST

Enjoy cooking!!

BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE PART 5 TOA PAYOH CENTRAL

Even if my stay in Singapore is quiet a short period only, I had so much fun with the food. I may not have tasted everything but I guess I have tasted enough to satisfy and learned so much from it. I actually made several versions of it and I believe I am perfectly doing a great job (tell me if I'm bragging too much already hahaha). I may never had the chance to explore more especially dishes that are originally from Malaysia, but I can always research since the information is just a google and wikipedia away. In the place where I stayed, the only place I get myself familiar with were, Toa Payoh Lorong and Toa Payoh Central. Toa Payoh Central is where the MRT station and bus station is located. This is where I use to go alone as it is the farthest place I can ever go by myself (afraid of getting lost). It is where I ask my friends to meet me because it it the only place I knew during my stay there. Let me share one food that captured my attention. It's the "BEANSTALK"..it is more like a taho (Soya/pudding) with some beans on it, red beans, some glutinous balls and a lot more. It is so flavorful and it is so comforting. 

BEANS TALK

BEANS TALK

ENJOYING MUCH!

HAWKER PLACE

I got myself some of the other food that I find different and unique. I tasted every food that I see and try to contain all of it as much as I could. I found this noodle stall and tried to taste their noodles. What can I say? It's so delicious! It has an authentic taste that you wanted to eat every time. It is Char Shui and Crispy Wanton Noodles. Flavorful and so indulging!

Char Shui and Crispy Wanton Noodles

I got another one but I forgot how they call it, it tasted more like a fish ball with a size of the tennis ball and has a spicy dipping sauce. The combination of this and the noodles is perfect. 

It was a delicious experience and will look forward to having some more of Singapore's authentic food in the future when given a chance. 

STEAMED CREAM DORY WITH TOASTED GARLIC AND GREEN ONIONS

This recipe is a quick fix and equally delicious and comforting. No hassle, all fresh ingredients, healthy and in expensive, those are our objective when it comes to good cooking. Today's featured recipe is so simple and can be done in less than 30 minutes. Check out the ingredients and enjoy cooking!

STEAMED CREAM DORY WITH TOASTED GARLIC AND GREEN ONIONS

INGREDIENTS:

1 Kilo of Cream Dory

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbs sesame oil

3 tbs Mirin

Toasted Garlic

Green Onions

Aluminum Foil

PROCEDURE:

1. Mince garlic and put it over in a pan with oil until brown and crispy. Set aside.
2. Season the cream dory with salt, pepper, sesame oil and Mirin. Wrap it in aluminum foil and steam it over like 5-7 minutes. This fish is so easy to cook so you may need to adjust the cooking time, make sure to check it so it wont drain much of the liquid.
3. Once cooked, open the aluminum foil and sprinkle it over with toasted garlic and green onions.
4. Serve over with garlic rice or steamed rice.

Enjoy!!

PORK AND MUSHROOM FRIED NOODLES

We are really a big fan of noodle. My family never end our week without having some nice and steamy noodles in the table. It is always a comfort food for us and it doesn't matter whether the season is so hot or so cold. And that is why I always want to store some of the best deals I found in Binondo China Town, it is the dried version of the noodles that they perfectly prepared. It last for about a year, only if it is stored properly. It doesn't have to be in the fridge, but at least store it in a room temperature and put it in a dry container with lid. You can store it up to a year and the taste doesn't seem to change at all. I always recommend you to use the noodles in LING NAM as I cannot commit other brands. One closest to it that I can vouch for is the Saporro Noodles. But if you want the perfect one that almost resembles to the texture and consistency of the one cooked in Northpark Restaurant (their fried noodles/specialty of the house) it is still best to have the one from Ling Nam. I made this noodle recipe as simple as possible and I would like to encourage you to explore and put some of the ingredients that you prefer. Today a different version of noodle recipe will be presented to you as I fried it over instead of putting a soup on it. I used the fresh noodles from Lingnam which is perfect for frying the noodles.There is no rule here, put as much ingredients as you want. It is your choice. Go out and explore which one suits your taste. Now check out my ingredients here.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kilo Pork tenderloin cut into strips

Flour for coating the pork

1 cup slice button mushrooms

2 tbs dark soy sauce

water and cornstarch mixture 

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs sesame oil

1/2 kilo noodles from Lingnam

Vegetable for frying the noodles

PROCEDURE:

1. Slice the pork thinly and season with salt and pepper. Coat with flour until crispy and golden brown. Once all the pork has been fried, set it aside.
2. Fry the noodles in a very hot oil and allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes only. You can say that it's cooked once the color of the noodles turns brown. Don't overcook it. Once cooked, put it in the colander and strain the remaining oil.
3. On a frying pan, put the water and cornstarch mixture, season with soy sauce, sesame oil and some more pepper to taste. Bring to a boil or until the sauce is thick. 
4. Put the mushrooms and the pork strips and turn off the fire immediately. 
5. Layer the noodles in a serving plate and pour in the sauce mixture.
6. You can either top it with some green onions or any other veggies of your choice.

Enjoy cooking!!

BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE PART 4

It was just a short stay in Singapore but I really made sure to taste their well loved, popular and famous dish over there. And I was so lucky enough to have families and friends who took me out on the food streets in Chinatown to try out some of the best dishes in town. It was such a delicious experience as I was able to taste one of their authentic shabu shabu. I cant get enough of all the ingredients that I saw, I really wanted to put everything in my plate and wish I had more space in my tummy to taste everything on it. Look at me on this picture, I want all those stuff in my plate and so confused which one to put in my plate first...On the upper level are the vegetables, there's spinach, napa cabbage, bokchoy or taiwan petchay, green onion and some romaine lettuce. Below were the sea shells and sea foods like mussels, clams and prawns.Beside it were meat, thinly sliced pork, beef and mutton. There were several kinds of mushrooms which I love the most, there's oyster mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, button mushrooms and some other kinds. There's tofu and black seaweeds as well. In short there's a huge line of ingredients ready to be tossed in the flavorful soup of your choice. You can choose among some of the soup base like the Chicken soup base and Tom Yum soup base. Aside from a delicious and yummy experience, it was also a perspiring one. I was perspiring all over after consuming my bowl not to mention the condiments and other spicy dipping sauces that I put on my bowl. The taste is simply marvelous. It was double the fun, you get to choose the ingredients that you want to eat and at the same time able to cook your own food and eat right straight. I had fun and full tummy and I perfectly enjoyed the experience. I had shabu shabu here in Manila but theirs is simply incomparable. I love soup and noodles and this one was really oh so fantastic!Two thumbs up!!

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BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE PART III

                                  

CHILI CRAB IN SALTED EGGS AND KAFFIR LIME LEAF CREAMY SAUCE

To continue with my food journey and new discovery of mouth watering dishes and truly very Asian style of cooking, I will share to you my version of CHILI CRAB IN SALTED EGGS AND KAFFIR LIME LEAF CREAMY SAUCE. I made my own version of this dish and did some substitution of the ingredients not available in our local market and even in any Asian store here that you can find. Now check out the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Kilo Crab medium to large size
5 salted eggs (remove the eggwhite)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup minced garlic
5-10 pieces of Kaffir Lime Leaf (instead of curry leaf)
Sliced ginger
1 whole medium sized onions
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili powder
Chili flakes
Green and red chilis
1 cup evaporated milk
Cellery and green onions for garnishing

PROCEDURE:

1. Clean the crabs and cut it into two as shown in the image. Add the flour to coat it. Toss several times to fully coat the rest of the other crabs.

      2. Then fry it over until it changes its color. when it turns red, it is already cooked. Once all the crabs has been fried, set it aside.

      3. In a pan, put butter until it melts but don't burn it, immediately put the Kaffir lime leaf over the butter followed by ginger, garlic and onions. 

      4. Add the salted egg (do not include the egg white), season with salt and pepper, then add the chili powder and chili flakes. Less is more. Adjust the heat level that will only suit your taste. Do not put chili if you are serving this with a kid.

      5. Pour in the milk and stir until it is well blended and cooked.  Top it with celery and green onions. Enjoy cooking!

BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE: HAWKER CENTRE IN TOA PAYOH LORONG 8 - PART II

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

To continue my food adventure in Hawker Centre, I will present to you my version of Hainanese Chicken Rice. I may not be able to get the exact taste but capturing the beauty and flavors of this dish is really an adventure of a lifetime. It is about time to open up our horizon and broaden up our knowledge when it comes to experimenting food from other culture. From my studies, most of all our dishes has a pattern. It came from one basic concept and the only difference is the preparation, availability of ingredients and preference. Like for example, Singapore's Bah Kuh Teh is our Pork Nilaga's humble counterpart, Satay for our pork and chicken barbeque and there's a whole lot more. Even during the medieval times, we already shared our culture when it comes to food especially those of our neighboring region. Hainanese Chicken is no difference as this dish is an original Chinese descent. Singapore has pave the way and becomes it's landmark dish and being enjoyed by almost all tourists and visitors all over the world. Let me bring into your plate another dish called Hainanese Chicken rice so check out the ingredients.

Chicken steamed over with lemon grass

INGREDIENTS:

1 Whole Chicken

1 bunch of Lemongrass

5-8 Panda leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Sesame Oil

Fish Sauce

For garnishing:

Cilantro or celery

Tomatoes

Boiled eggs

For Rice:

Chicken Stock

Salt and pepper

Green Onions for garnishing

For condiments and dipping sauce

Oyster sauce

Dark thick shoyu

Fried garlic

Red Chilies

Pickled Jalapeno

PROCEDURE:

1. In a large cooking pan, pour about 2 liters of water, season with salt and pepper add the lemon grass and pandan leaves and then the chicken.
2. Bring to a boil until the chicken is cooked and tender about 20-30 minutes.
3. Once its cooked, put the chicken on a  colander and set aside.
4. On another pan, put some rice and wash it thoroughly. Using the chicken stock, measure and adjust the stock as you normally do when steaming rice. Add in the lemon grass and pandan leaves onto the rice for cooking.
5. If you are using a rice cooker, it normally comes with another layer of pan for steaming, you can use this to put the chicken on top while the rice below is cooking. This will allow more flavors of chicken to infuse and the rice will absorb every bit of flavors of chicken pandan and lemon grass.
6. Once the rice is cooked. You can start serving it and garnish the chicken as shown in my images.

Enjoy cooking!!!

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Hainanese Chicken Rice



Rice and the remaining soup stock can be serve as well, it so flavorful



JJ giving a thumbs up for the lunch served

BRINGING SINGAPORE INTO YOUR PLATE: HAWKER CENTRE IN TOA PAYOH LORONG 8

If I have the luxury to travel around the world, one thing I will do back home is bring in the taste and the flavors of the different countries that I will be travelling to. And it may happen soon or may not at all, nobody else knows, but let me pledge to you and promise you that if it is going to happen, I will share to you my experience and food adventure out there. So far, the farthest place that I have been into is Singapore. It happened last year and I stayed for a short period of time. I had with me some of the best dish and well loved food out there. I have shared to you one already, which is the Cereal Prawns. I will post some of my version of recipes in my journey in bringing Singapore Hawker into your plate. 

@Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Hawker Centre

When I travel locally and even abroad, the very first thing that I look for is the marketplace, the food centres, and their local groceries stores. I am so engross and delighted to see different kinds of vegetables that they have, the spices that they use and the way they cook it. Image above only shows how fascinated I am with those bunch of green leaves.

looking around for some good stuff

I always look and search for something unique, unique smell, unique taste and even unique appearance. The more it looks unusual to me, the more I get so fascinated about it. When I scored a unique piece of spices or vegetables I even ask the "Aunties" or the sales ladies what dishes is being paired to those vegetable, what dish is best served with the spices I get interested to and a never ending interview with them. Good thing they were so approachable and kind. 

still looking around

Hainanese Chicken

I have been hearing a lot about this dish and never tried cooking until I tasted it there. Wow! Truly this dish is one of the many pride of Singapore dishes. The chicken is so tender and flavorful, pairing it up with the rice cooked in chicken stock is equally magnificent and so delicious. Adding up some spicy condiments on the side to tickle your taste buds even more, Man' what will you get??Perspiring all over and enjoying it much like it's going to be your last supper. I will share my version of Hainanese Chicken on my next blog so stay connected!

LAKSA

Another sure fire heat (hit) literally in a bowlful of ingredients and flavor. This dish called Laksa is creamy, spicy and flavorful. I was really perspiring all over even before I finished the whole bowl. I brought home the flavor of this Laksa and made my own version. It'll be shared to you also on my next blog.

enticingly pickled chilies that you could pair to almost any dish

Chicken satay and peanut sauce

dumplings which is extra big in size and my large size freshly squeezed sugar cane

enjoying other dishes like this noodle which I already forgot the name

Concluding this whole experience in Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Hawker Centre, it was an experience of a lifetime and dish recipes which I brought back home to share with you and bring into your plate, the taste of Singapore. 

there I was looking so big and full with all the foods I consumed while refreshing my self up with my sugar cane juice!!