Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice Restaurant

Let me just cut to the chase for this blog entry.

Go try the boneless Teochew duck rice at Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice Restaurant located at 38, South Buona Vista Road.

You won't regret it!

Tortoise/Turtle Hunt @ Chinese Garden

On Deepavali, instead of touring the nicely decorated festive lightings at Little India at night, I decided to pay my first visit to the Chinese Garden.

It was drizzling lightly when I got there and it was pretty much what I had in my mind - the impressive pagoda, the calm lake, the pavilions, the nicely trimmed bonsai, statues of ancient heros and everything oriental.


What I did not expect to find was The Live Turtle & Tortoise Museum. For a mere $5, I entered the world of more than 200 turtles and tortoises from no less than 60 species.

Shokutsu 10 Osaka @ Jurong Point

There's a newly opened secluded section in Jurong Point call Shokutsu 10. From the name alone, you might have already guessed that it's dedicated to anything Japanese. But what specifically?

Yep, it's food alright! :)

It's easy to miss this section of the crowded shopping complex with it's numerous shops and roll-cart stalls lining the shopper's walkway if not for the huge crab display.


It's only a small corner really and there's only about 6 Japanese restaurants at the moment. But what fascinated me and had me happily clicking away at my camera were the large and colourful food displays outside the restaurants. And it seems like there are already plans to further expand this section of the shopping complex to accomodate more restaurants or shops!



Being the greedy Singaporean, my family chose the largest restaurant - Kuishin Bo. It's a buffet restaurant with nice, spacious seatings but a long queue.

The buffet spread has not so much variety and the food tasted okay. More interesting for me would be the dessert section where I find the tiny cakes and doughnuts adorable and simply irresistible!



As baby Alicia would have put it :"Mum Mum Mum Mum Mum...."

Celebrating Deepavali @ Bollywood Veggie

Bollywood Veggie is a farm cum restaurant located in the Kranji countryside. I'm guessing the name was founded based on the cuisines served in it's restaurant which are mainly curry based vegetable dishes.

The place has became more well known to both locals as well as foreigners compared to a year back - perhaps due to the hype created by the government when they announced their plans to transform the Kranji countryside into an agriculture cum entertainment centre (whatever that means...???)



The restaurant have a fixed menu as well as seasonal dishes based on the farm's harvest. The food might not be that fantastic but they are truly unique (check out the dishes I had) and definitely healthy (harvest from it's very own organic farm!).

Aloe Vera Brew - with home grown Aloe Vera

Banana Curry

Rojak Chicken Curry

Grilled Brinjal

Excuse Me, My Name is Billy...Mehhh....

I'm a mutton lover. So it was inevitable when I was hit by a slight pang of guilty conscienceness upon seeing the adorable goats at the Hay Dairies Goat Farm.

At a mere $2 for a pack of dry hay, I got to experience goats nibbling at my fingers. And the lingering odour on my palm after the feeding reminded me of the time when I single-handedly devoured a huge bowl of Kambing soup...literally...
(Kambing soup translates to mutton soup, which is one of Malaysian Indian and Indonesian cuisine's best-known dishes.)

Goat milk tastes pretty much like cow milk to me. There's only two flavours for sale at the Goat Farm - original and chocolate - both of which are non-sweet. So this is indeed good news for the health conscious individuals.



And it's not only goats and milk at the farm. Check out the huge jackfruit I found sitting on a wheelburrow...


Before the farms in Singapore are eradicated to make way for more shopping centres or country-themed condominiums, you might want to consider bringing your child here.

Cupcakes Baking Class by ThaiExpress

It was kind of interesting to know that ThaiExpress organises non-Thai food related classes for it's Orange Card members.

For a hands-on baking class costing only $30, I had to have a go!

The class was held at the Civil Service College. Recalling the time when I joined a similarly not-so-expensive baking class taught by a renowed chef in Singapore, I was shocked to be confronted by the dirty utensils, choked sink and messy kitchen. So this time round, I did not held high hopes but was instead delightfully surprised to find the kitchen and utensils to be relatively clean.

The participants were organised in groups of 4 per table and the chef, Amy Lee, taught us how to bake the Butter Chiffon Cake and Chocolate Devil Cupcakes.

Butter Chiffon Cake


Ingredients (cake):

20g cake magarine/unsalted butter

20g shortening

18g sugar

40g egg yolks (~ 3 eggs)

67g cold water

89g cake flour

3g baking powder

89g egg whites (~ 3 eggs)

89g sugar

1g cream of tartar

Ingredients (royal icing topping):

60g icing sugar - sieve

6g egg whites

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Method (Cake):

(1) Mix magarine, shortening, 18g sugar and yolks in a bowl with a wooden spoon by hand. Continue till sugar grains have dissolved.

(2) Sieve cake flour and baking powder

(3) Add a portion of the flour into mixture from step 1

(4) Add a little water. Alternate between flour and water till all are well combined.

(5) Put 89g egg whites and cream of tartar in the mixer

(6) Put in 1/3 of the 89g sugar. Start the mixer at medium speed. Pour in the sugar gradually and whisk the meringue to a soft peak.

(7) Fold the meringue from step 6 gently into the mixture from step 4

(8) Deposit into the muffin trays. Put in about 1 heaped tablespoon of batter to about 75% full. bake at 180-200°C.

(9) Cool the cupcakes before frosting

Method (Royal Icing Topping):

(1) Put the 6g egg whites and lemon juice in a bowl. Add the sieved icing sugar gradually.

(2) When all icing sugar has dissolved, adjust the consistency. Check the texture, it should take 6 seconds to blank out. If still fluid, add more sieved icing sugar.

(3) Spread onto the top of 4 cupcakes with the back of our spoon. Do not go onto the edges. Dry the icing in the oven at 200°C for 1 minute.

Chocolate Devil Cupcake

Ingredients (cupcake):

150g cake flour

75g shortening

15g butter/magarine

1.5g baking powder (1/3 tbs)

3g soda

30g dutch processed cocoa powder

3g salt

227g sugar

174g milk

98g eggs (~ 2 eggs)

6g vanilla extract

Ingredients (ganache):

225g 55% cocoa couverture

100g milk

50g glucose

Method (Cupcake):

(1) Sieve cake flour with the leavening agents (baking powder and soda)

(2) Mix the first 7 ingredients till pasty and fluffy with a paddle attachment for about 4 minutes

(3) Add the sugar and mix till well blended for about 1 minute

(4) Add 1/2 of the 174g milk and mix for about 3-5 minutes

(5) Combine eggs with remaining milk and add to the above in 3 portions

(6) Lastly, add the vanilla extract.

(7) Bake at 180°C for about 10-15 minutes

(8) Lower the temperature down to 170°C and continue till cooked

(9) Cool completely and gress with ganache

Method (Ganache):

(1) Boil 100g milk with the glucose

(2) Pour over the couvertures that have been finely chopped. Stir till dissolved.



My creation - a hybrid of both cakes :)

Introducing.......

As with the norm, people usually like to associate a new year with new events. Like buying new furnitures, painting the house, coming up with new resolutions, having a new job....the list is endless.

However, my belief is that if there's something good coming up, why not just let it happen?

So the story goes that it suddenly struck me one fine day as I was browsing a friend's Facebook profile when the idea hit me to invite her to be an author in this blog.

Two person, in different parts of the world with different thoughts and writing style, sharing the same love affair for food.

This might just work! :)


Duckburg

If you can't cook, sew food! - Part 1

Intrigued by those tiny food keychains or handphone straps or on-the-fridge magnets?

You can easily make one yourself at a low price of $3 - $4!

Hari Raya Puasa 2008

This year, in a way, I celebrated Hari Raya Puasa too! It's the first year I sat down for Hari Raya Puasa breakfast with my parents.

Perhaps this has got something to do with age. As one matures, priorities in life changes. When it seem so trivial to be spending time with family and loved ones, it's now slowly gaining importance in my life.

The food fare is simple, but the time spent is significant. :)