Hey, What's Cookin'

Hi all, after the Great Singapore Sale in June, we will be celebrating diversity and gastronomic taste at Singapore's Annual Food Festival 2017 happening from 14 - 30 July. Presently Heritage Town Festival, a prelude to this Food Festival is held in the precinct of Katong and Joo Chiat. SgEatsWithUs and other community partners like Singapore Kindness Movement, People's Association & NTUC-U heart are collaborating with Kim Choo Kueh Chang to organise this cooking demonstration at 106 Artiste Residency, in Joo Chiat Road. This was the address of the old kampong house of the late Ng Eng Teng, (a well known sculptor) where it once stood. It was torn down and rebuilt.

I was unaware about this event until my friend, Maya Tekwani told me about her forthcoming cooking demonstration. The event opened to the public, is fully booked so I asked Maya whether they would allow me to join the activity on Saturday morning. 

Together with her cousin, Seema Melwani, each will be dishing out their specialty Shepherd's Pie and Biscuit Pudding. Both are SgHomeChefs and another commercial chef, Eric Low from Lush Epicurean are invited to share their recipes with the participants. Here is Maya busy mashing Russet potatoes for her pie and Seema Melwani, her pudding almost done and ready to be chilled.

You may asked what is this SgEatWithUs. Well, it started in 2015 when we were celebrating our country's 50th birthday. It is a ground up movement set up with the help from SG50 Celebration fund by three friends to bring communities together through home cooked food done by home chefs. It had organised a few Pop-Up Food Carnivals that year and Maya participated at the ones held at Singapore Arts Museum.

That Jubilee weekend, SgEatWithUs food carnival was held at Waterfront Promenade. The event introduced a whole new lot of foods which we don't usually find at hawker stalls and restaurants. Local caterers were called in to help home chefs mass produce food for the public. This food movement is great for those who loves to cook and eat. I was there to participate in the biggest popiah party with Maya by rolling out spring rolls with her ingredients. There were many tables with different popiah fillings by different chefs. Since it was grand event, there were photographers and camera crew. Locals from different parts of society were there to take part in this popiah eating party. Quite an awesome and fulfilling experience it was.

Oh, it must be a dream come true for Maya and we are happy for her, to see . . .

Maya's pop-up stall. Selling dhokla. It is a soft and spongy Gujerati vegetarian
appetizer served with green chutney. If you google Maya Tekwani's dhokla,
you'll be able see her recipe.

Yums  : P

Wow  : D

My dear friend is very passionate about food. She cooks, bakes and dishes out delicious food. She makes curries, cakes, mitha lola . . She is so capable, seems like she can cook anything and enjoys every minute of it. I am glad to have a friend like her because of her enthusiasm, I am encourage to cook.

Bye for now. Hope to be back soon. If you want to try Maya's food,

you can check out her Facebook page, Maya's Kitchen Escapade.
We'll be back !

What A Dish !

Yesterday was one of those days, that made me remember and reminisce about the past when I ordered this dish which my mom used to make, at this restaurant in this new mall at Tanjong Katong. The moment I tasted it, my heart was once again filled with gladness. That was one of the best home cook comfort meals she ever prepared for us when she stayed with us. Then I was filled with wistfulness that I didn't attempt to cook this at all and my children missed out on their grandma's cooking. My son took an instant liking to the dish when he tried it. This is not an item that usually appear on a restaurant menu. Since we were there at this Malaysian restaurant owned by this lady from Penang, I had the opportunity to eat this again after a lapse of twelve years. She also shared with me on how to cook it and said it was pretty easy to make. The dish is none other than Chai Buey (Hokkien) or Suen Lat Gai Choy (Cantonese). Translated will be Spicy, Sour Mustard Greens.

酸 辢 芥 菜

 

This dish broth is stewed from leftovers of lavish meals during festivities like Chinese New Year and sometimes from a relative's wedding banquet. Those days aunties were not shy about asking for them after the dinner came to an end. The odds and ends like roast pork, chicken or duck will be thrown into the pot to simmer for hours before adding other ingredients consisting of salted vegetable, tamarind peel, dried chilies, ginger to enhance the flavor. Final main ingredient will be the mustard green so the vegetables will not be overcooked. This vegetable has broad stems with succulent leaves and has a bitter taste. My mom would add extra seasoned chicken wings into the pot just for the kids.

  

How this dish came about, sounded like a folklore as it happened in the Imperial Courts of China which my mom told me. One day the Emperor was about his palace grounds. There was this aroma coming from the kitchen which kept him wondering what the cooks were up to. Out of curiosity, he headed for the kitchen and wanted to know what this dish was. How was it that it has never been serve to him before. He then ordered the cooks to serve him the new dish when ready. The cooks were reluctant at first but when pressed for an answer about ingredients of the dish, they sheepishly admitted to the Emperor that it was cook with the leftovers from the banquets and feasts for the royalty, generals and ministers held at the palace. Imagine there would be abalone, scallops, mushrooms added in the concoction of this rich appetizing soup with a tangy and savoury taste. Such forbidden foods sneaking into the pot by the cooks were liken to hidden treasures of the Forbidden City. Even the Emperor would vouch that it was worthy of an imperial culinary delight.

Before I sign off, I remembered my primary school teacher was pointing out a mistake a girl made in her composition. The girl described her mother as a good cooker, L0L. I must visualize this dish on my dining table. Hopefully when I see this vegetable in the market, I will not think twice about getting it. Happy Holidays to You ! ! !

Cheers

* The dish above no longer on their menu.
   updated on 15/6/2016.

Lavender Food Square, Gonna Miss You

Hi everybody, it's about time I should be putting up another post. Been under the weather and busy. I knew about the closing of Lavender Food Square but didn't know it was extended till the end of the month. I haven't been going there for the last three months to eat my fill of wanton noodles. Thought I'll go down to take a last look of the place before it demolish to make way for a new building. My family came here quite often to enjoy a satisfying dinner of noodles and dumplings.

Most of the stalls have already moved out to new locations. Glad to see my two favourite stalls are here on the last day. Die hard foodies of the wanton noodles are queuing to get a last plate of the delectable traditional wanton noodles.

The food and place hold special memories for me. Having dinner here with my late mother. Feeding my children when they were young. The stallholders of this famous wanton noodles although old and look the just the same twenty years ago. They still have the stamina to man the stall dishing out many plates of noodles. I don't think they need the money looking at the brisk business they are doing. Besides they are charging quite high for their plate of noodles; labour and ingredients don't come cheap anymore. It's hard for them to hire help. They will be taking a break before reopening at somewhere further down the road in another six months time.

This is the other stall I like to eat from. I love this because of the simple yet tasty soup that go with the noodles.

 Farewell Lavender Food Square. Thank you for the good food.

Old Charm Katong To Hip Watering Holes

  

Katong is enjoying a revival with new eateries sprouting along East Coast Road. With many food outlets open, we are spoilt for choice as there is a wide selection of different cuisine to choose from. The old hawker food such as rojak, tau kwa pau have already left the food scene. Haze has started to creep in and also with the dry weather, explains why the photos are fuzzy.

Ali BaBa

Coffee shop by day, Watering hole by night.

Dessert shop - AWFULLY Chocolate

Famous Katong Laksa

In the 1970s, this corner coffee shop used to be a stationary shop. During December, I would go there my cousin to shop for Christmas cards.

Joo Chiat Police Station

In the near future, a hotel and a shopping centre has been slated for this place. This building that was built in 1928 will be conserved by the developers. Driving along this road will be a headache because the two lane won't be able to handle the heavy traffic. It would really be nice to have flea market there and shop for artisan goods and wares. Further down the road, is this new building.

MODA

Many expats have moved in to East. Many old apartments have made way for new condos. Once it was Rose Garden, now is by The Shore.

The Shore Residence

Mexican Restaurant

Fish & Chips, Vietnamese Sandwiches, Burgers, Steaks, etc

German Restaurant - BROTZEIT

Thai Barbecue Restaurant - MOOKATA

Indian Restaurant - Zaffron Kitchen

English Cafe - RABBIT CARROT GUN

This corner cafe replace the laksa and rojak stalls which were around last year. A mama shop was further down this five foot way. Don't you just wish, I should have taken a shot of it when it was around ? ? ?  Vanishing trade, vanishing scene.

Pretty Five Foot Way

  

So, are there any more local food around to retain the Peranakan vibe that Katong is famous for? Yup, there is still delicious chicken rice and true blue Peranakan food for you to tuck into. Bak Kwa (barbecue sliced pork) and Kueh Kueh (Peranakan snacks), too.

Assortments of dumplings & kuehs - KIM CHOO

Takeaway - CHAKEYS

Rumah Bebe

You simply have to step into this shop to get a feel of what a Peranakan Shophouse is all about. The interior ooze of old world charm with its impressive gilded screen. It's entry flanked with traditional pintu pagar.

Beaded Slippers - Kasot Manek

Ladies can buy a Sarong Kebaya and be transform into a Nyonya from these two shops along this stretch of shophouse.

MAKAN means EAT In Malay

This shot taken off the glass panel at Santa Grand Hotel. The batik motifs, the peranakan floor tiles and the row of old residential houses in the background, most of which have converted for commercial use, reflects the essence of Katong's Peranakan Heritage. Do come down to rediscover the new alongside with the old. Plenty to makan that's for sure. Bye for now.

Food for Thought

Hi there, how have you been ?  I have been away quite awhile hoping to post my drawing but it is still not completely done yet. Nonchalance sets in and I seem like I'm less driven to get it done fast. What if your livelihood depended on it, then it will be a different matter altogether. Then again I don't want to rush it but I did picked up some new things along the way to add to the picture. So be patient . . that's what I tell myself and don't beat yourself up for nothing. Did you read about my son's post on his trip to Germany ? I was happy for him to be bless with such an opportunity to go there to experience the European culture and beautiful streetscape.

When he was there, I was wondering whether there are any reasonably priced food easily available at the malls or roadside and he said there is no such thing as food courts. While he was there, he did go for their renowned Pork Knuckle though.

 

Over here food is easily available at Hawker Centers, Food Courts 24/7. So you don't have to worry when you go hungry. With a car, you can go anywhere and anytime to satisfy your craving for certain food. We don't have to tip or pay extra surcharge at these places but most of all we must be willing to stand in queue to order and self serve especially if a food stall is popular. Waiting time could be up to half an hour or more when there are lots of customers standing in line.

I have fond memories of Scotts Picnic, the first food court set up in the now defunct Scotts Shopping Centre in 1985. Hawker food reasonably affordable eaten in aircon comfort. It soon caught on with other shopping centres across Singpore spawning more food courts at the convenience of the shoppers. They came up with a theme decor to set themselves apart from other food courts giving the diners better dining experience.

Quite recently I went back to City Square Mall to suss out their newly renovated food court. With Chinatown Smith Street under a timely makeover, coming here make one feel the al fresco dining in a food street of yesteryear with the shophouse facade fronting each stall.

Old Jars Of  Dried Herbs & Spices

This Pernanakan Shophouse theme reminded me of the old roadside stalls along Bugis Street, Hylam Street and Chinatown thirty years back or so. Nostalgia fills the air, of course minus the discomfort of eating at dirty makeshift roadside stalls in the 1970s or 80s I guess. Another similar experience was at Resorts World Sentosa - Malaysian Food Street which opened last year. We, Singaporeans love to eat and there is a wide array of different cuisine to choose from, It can be difficult to determine which is best suited to be our national dish. Bye for now. Eat what you like but eat moderately. That's a good advice for those who could not resist everything they see.

Changi Village

Away from the maddening crowd to somewhere idyllic, a suburban village in the north east of Singapore for lunch. It was lovely weekend as the weather is fine. We have been thinking about coming here ever since this hawker centre reopened in March this year after months of renovation. I also wanted to come back here to take a photo of this single storey British military building at Turnhouse Road where we had chilli crabs with mantou a month ago. 

  

Why this restaurant deserved to be mention because Ponggol Choon Seng is now here. The last time we ate at this restaurant was many years ago, like 30 years back when it was at the Ponggol End Jetty where the bus terminus was. Choon Seng was at this coffee shop by the sea. At night, diners would go there for chilli crabs, crispy prawn cake, mee goreng (fried noodle). Satay was available from other hawkers grilling the skewered meat on sticks by the side of the road. Amid the sea breeze, we did't mind the smoke from the satay or the smell of fumes coming from the bus exhaust every time the bus had to make a three point turn to head back to town, we were busy enjoying the delicious seafood.

  

Back to the present and to Changi Village. This hawker centre is famous for its Nasi Lemak stalls and people would queue at the popular stall for it. Long queues would be seen at Mizzy's corner and International Muslim Food Nasi Lemak when I was there. Instead of trying this coconut flavoured rice dish, I opted for something appetizing like the Penang Laksa as I haven't had this dish for a very long time. It is not so popular with our locals here so finding a stall that sell this is rare.

This was one of my mom's favourite food. She used to cook it then but I didn't like the taste of sourish and spiciness since I was young. We refer to it as Penang Laksa because it comes from the Malaysian island of Penang. Tamarind (which is assam in Malay) is used generously in the stock made with mackerel (ikan kembung) and other ingredients. Fish is poached and then flaked. Garnish the above bowl of laksa noodles with vegatables such as pineapple, mint leaves, shredded cucumber, onions and top it all with a dollop of heh ko (prawn paste), to be stir into the soup. The food didn't disappoint, I enjoyed every bit of the tanginess and the aromatic flavour. The sugar cane juice was perfect finish to a refreshing meal.

Desserts were these two bowls of seasame paste, tau suan and banana fritter. Gosh, I ended up posting about my food experience. As I savoured this bowl of Penang Laksa, I can't help but reminisce about the past. I will have new memories of this day, having lunch here with my family watching the planes flying in to land at nearby Changi Airport. Good food spent with good company will leave a lasting impression in our hearts. Bye for now. Have a good weekend.