buffetlicious

[buffetlicious]

Brother’s company sent him on a training trip to Taiwan. Before coming home, he went to Chia Te Bakery (佳德糕饼) to buy us this popular Pineapple Pastry (凤梨酥). It is individually packed in a box of 6s and make great souvenir. The square shaped pastry is firm and filled with tangy sweet pineapple jam. Comparing this to our Chinese New Year pineapple tarts (凤梨挞), our pastry is more buttery, soft and the filling moister. Frankly speaking, I think our version tasted much better but then, we only get to eat it once a year as practically no one make this pastry outside of the holiday period.

[buffetlicious]

Mum only prepares this one pot Pork Ribs Noodles Soup (排骨汤面) when it is just the two of us eating. She also adds some Yong Tau Foo (酿豆腐) such as fish balls, bitter gourd stuffed with fish paste and various types of bean curd skin products. The soup is flavoured with sweet corns and dried scallops. Every ingredient is added to the soup except for the mee pok (面薄) or flat yellow noodles and the leafy cabbage. When you are ready to eat, the soup is heated up, cabbage thrown in and then the soup is ladled with the ingredients into a bowl with the noodles.

[buffetlicious]

Later in the evening, I went back to the same Korean/Japanese fusion stall to buy their bento for dinner. The pan-fried blue mackerel in mum’s Saba Fish Bento is considerably bigger than those from other competitors and just as cheap if not cheaper than them. I had the Teriyaki Chicken & Saba Fish Bento which gives me the best from both worlds.

[buffetlicious]

Went over to the coffee shop opposite my place to buy my own lunch as mum went to the hairdresser to get her hair done. Packed home this Teriyaki Chicken & Pork Bento for myself. Always enjoyed the meal from this Korean/Japanese fusion stall as they used good quality rice, and their bento are priced reasonably.

[buffetlicious]

Whichever you called it, Bubur Cha Cha or Bo Bo Cha Cha (摩摩喳喳), this popular dessert is made using pearled sago, sweet potatoes, yams, coconut milk, pandan leaves, sugar and salt. Coconut milk is poured over shaved ice for the cold dessert or boiled with the other ingredients in the case of hot version.

Pulut Hitam (黑糯米糖水) or Black Glutinous Rice Sweet Soup is an Indonesian sweet dessert made from black glutinous rice porridge with coconut milk and palm sugar or cane sugar. The black glutinous rice is boiled until soft, and sugar and coconut milk are added.

[buffetlicious]

Feng Food (台湾味 “丰”) is mum go-to haunt when she wants home style cooked food. I enjoy watching travel shows that also included local cuisine like Taiwan with their night markets and street food. I aways see people eating braised pork rice so here it is, Hakka-Style Braised Meat Rice (客家卤肉饭). This S$9.50 bowl is topped with diced fatty and lean braised pork, a whole braised egg, pickled cucumber slices and sauerkraut. The rice is flavoured with the braising sauce and each scoop leave your lips with sticky collagen. Paired my dinner with a glass of cold Brown Sugar Caramel Milk Tea (焦糖奶茶) that is much cheaper (S$3.40) than those selling at bubble tea stalls.

The problem with mum is that she is not keen to try out new dishes. Here, she is sticking to the usual S$12.80 bowl of Guan Miao Mian with Specially Marinated Pork Chop (猪排关庙面). A juicy and succulent piece of pork chop sits atop handmade wavy noodles with a firm and slightly chewy texture. She also loves the pickled crisp cucumber slices at the corner of the bowl.

[buffetlicious]

Recommended by her colleague, sis bought limited edition Magnolia Banana Low Fat Flavoured Milk (946ml) from NTUC. Combines the tasty goodness of low fat milk with the fun flavour of Banana! Free Minions Tote Bag with the purchase of 2 x 946ml cartons of the milk. There are six designs to choose from while stocks last.

Selected images from Magnolia and Giant Singapore.

[buffetlicious]

This half a Roasted Duck (烧鸭) is from Choo Chiang Roasted Meat Noodle House (珠江烧腊面家) in Chong Pang. My family love buying from this stall as their ducks are well marinated including the cavity of the duck. They themselves do the roasting on premise rather than buy from wholesaler. The feeling of tearing into the crispy skin as you take a bite is just so satisfying. I love to apply some of that sambal chilli paste you see with the savoury rice to give the duck extra kick of spiciness.

[buffetlicious]

Mum seems to be losing interest in the crispy fried fish from Astons Specialities so we now only go there occasionally. Choose this Seafood Marinara (S$11.90) which comes with a soup for mum. The spaghetti is loaded with tomato sauce, prawns, mussels and squid rings.

The Mushroom Soup is mum’s but she doesn’t like this creamy soup so I am tasked to finish it. I took the All Day Special (S$17.90) as the dish let you picked from one of the seven available chicken chop/cutlet. I chose the fiery chicken to go with scrambled egg, Vienna sausages, garden veggies and potato wedges.

[buffetlicious]

An early dinner of packed Economy Rice (菜饭). Mum had the reddish sweet & sour pork, a wedge of omelette and eggplant stew with rice. My pack contained two of the same dishes as mum’s except for the pork. In its place is a steak of Assam Pedas Batang or Spanish mackerel stewed in spicy and tangy curry.

[buffetlicious]

We seldom had gathering in which all family members are together at one place except on special occasions like Chinese New Year etc… Today, we were at the temple to offer prayer to my ancestors and after that, proceeded to Fu Lee Seafood (富俐海鲜) Canberra branch for lunch. Even my colleagues whom I recommended the place said the foods are nice and priced affordably. We started off with a small plate (S$9.50) of Flash Fried French Bean (干煸四季豆). The green beans still had that crunchy bite with a light spiciness from the dried chilli and the fried garlic added a nice mellow, garlicy flavour and crispy texture.

This was followed up with Hong Kong Style Pork Ribs (港式排骨). We ordered a small portion (S$14.50) but there were still plenty of pieces sitting in the aluminium foil bowl in the shape of a bird. Love the sticky and sweet glazed ribs but the meat could be a little more tender in my opinion.

Sis wanted the Seafood Yam Basket (佛钵飘香) filled with prawn, fish, squid, cashew nuts and vegetables. This Singapore creation is essentially a deep-fried yam ring or taro basket made with mashed yam and filled with separately stir-fried ingredients. Underneath the yam basket are crispy deep-fried rice vermicelli.

The last dish to appear is also everyone’s favourite Crispy Mango Chicken (芒果脆鸡). Chicken thigh meat is dipped with a coating of batter that has soda water added to give it that airy and crispy shell. A drizzle of sweet and lightly spicy mango chilli sauce is squeezed onto the plate before plating the fried chicken cutlet over it. Julienned pickled mango is then added on top as garnish.

[buffetlicious]

Got to know about the Sin Weng Fai Peanut Candy (新荣辉咸香花生糖) when colleague bought some back from her hometown of Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Unlike the traditional hard style peanut brittle, this one is crispy and crunchy with just the right balance of sweetness and saltiness. The reason is because the manufacturer uses minimum caramel to bind the peanuts together and a little sprinkle of salt is added to give it that slight salty aftertaste. Later we found out this traditional snack is also available locally in Singapore at one of the bakeries near where I am working.

I attached a cooking video of how to make this Peanut Candy using only two ingredients - Peanuts and Sugar. You can use less sugar if you prefer it to be less sweet or use salted peanuts if you want it savoury. Do note, this is not my video.

Selected image courtesy of Sin Weng Fai.

[buffetlicious]

Tonight’s home-cooked dinner is this Spicy Asparagus & Tiger Prawns with minced pork and tomato wedges. Using the same home blended chilli paste, the next dish is boneless Spicy Red Snapper with tomato for added acidity. I must admit, spicy dishes go well with steamed rice and the spiciness boost up the appetite.

[buffetlicious]

Picked up a box of Salmon Platter (S$13.50) from Sushi GoGo (争鲜gogo) on the way home for my dinner. The bento comes with five pieces each of Ikura Gunkan, Aburi Salmon Belly and Salmon Sushi. The first two items are my favourites. Love the popping marinated salmon roe and the oily flavour of the torched salmon belly with sushi sauce brushed over.

[buffetlicious]

This box of succulent Char Siu (叉烧) or Cantonese-style barbecued pork mum bought it during her morning trip to the market. Of course, we couldn’t help but took a few pieces to eat. That smoky aroma and charred flavour of the sweetish barbecued pork is just so incredible satisfying. In the evening, mum just steamed some rice and sliced a Japanese cucumber to go with the reheated char siu. Also added some pickled daikon that sis bought from the Korean minimart.

[buffetlicious]

There is this porridge restaurant that opened in Chong Pang a few years ago. Been wanting to bring mum there but she simply has no interest in going. This Pork Congee (瘦肉粥) is bought by sis for me with a Youtiao (油条). This savoury rice porridge is made by boiling rice in a large amount of water/stock until the rice breakdown into a gluey/starchy texture. Mine had minced meat balls, pork slices and loads of fragrant fried shallots. Some people like to dip the dough fritter into the congee before eating but I perfectly a-ok munching on it as it is.

[buffetlicious]

This is the “default” Economy Rice (菜饭) that mum will buy for me if she cannot find “suitable” dishes. Starting with curry chicken & potato, steamed egg and stewed preserved Chinese mustard with pork belly over white rice.