u m a m i

Anchovied Eggs

As requested, here is the recipe for the Oeufs Aux Anchois (anchovied eggs). Adapted from the cookbook La Bonne Cuisine Francaise by Marie-Claude Bisson, translated into English by husband. The engineer in him was less inclined to fiddle with the quantities and the paprika was his own twist.

6 eggs
12 fillets anchovies (from the can or jar)
60g g butter
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Bunch Italian Parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Sweet Paprika
3 soup spoons creme fraiche (available from Carrefour)

1. Hard boil the eggs. Peel. Half them longitudinally.
2. Take the yolks and mash them with the anchovies, butter, lemon juice, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.
3. Fill the egg with the yolk mixture. An icing bag comes in handy, we don't have one, so we improvised one using a plastic bag with a snipped-off corner.
4. Coat the yolk mixture with creme fraiche.
5. Place under a hot grill until golden brown. Serve.

Gyokuru

Please enjoy our second chapter of the Cha photo-series, which features the mighty fine Gyokuru tea of Japan. Click on the album on the right or here.

My friends say of Gyokuru, " You may like it, You may hate it, but You will Never Forget it."

Tepak Sireh Restoran

I had the most delicious Sayur Lodeh for lunch last Sunday. The vegetables were sweet and crunchy and the gravy was rich and fragrant with a faint yet pleasing nuttiness, perhaps from the use of kerisik (toasted coconut flakes). Husband said the taste reminded him of the famous Rendezvous version. Such a contrast from the usual watery, insipid versions found all over the island. For once, I agree with the publicity brochure which promises that, at the Restoran Tepak Sireh " ....you can savour authentic Malay cuisine carefully prepared by skilled master chefs...." Other than the sayur lodeh, the usual Nasi Padang dishes in the buffet spread, like Mutton Rendang, Ayam Masak Merah, Gulai Sotong and even Dhal, were faultlessly presented. The spicing,seasoning and cooking were just right, with the mutton rendang being particularly tender and full-flavoured. According to the waitress, the most popular dish is the Crab Curry, and we believed her, as every other table had plates piled high with crab shells, though did not try it myself because I did not feel like getting my fingers dirty. The Soto Ayam was unfortunately too watery and the dessert selection was only limited to a Green Bean Soup and two forgettable types of kuehs. The main courses more than satisfied so we overlooked these inconsistencies. Soothing Pandan Tea is also offered as a post-prandial drink, a welcome change from the more common mystery-coffee/tea offered at other buffet restaurants.

The pricing? Very reasonable at $11.90 for weekday lunches, $14.90 for weekday dinners and weekend lunches and $16.90 for Sunday dinners; all prices are inclusive of GST, cess charges and service.

This restaurant also sets itself apart from the usual Nasi Padang places by being located in a historical building. A long time ago, i.e. before Raffles came along, Singapore was occupied by Malay rulers called Sultans, and the royal family lived in what is now known as Kampung Glam. The Gedung Kuning was the residence of the Bendahara (Prime Minister) and it is in this distinctive yellow building that the restaurant is located. The building has been beautifully restored and preserved, right down to its colourful mosaic flooring and embossed window panes. The Istana (palace) where the Sultans lived, is undergoing restoration and will be reopened later in the year as a musuem but the grounds of the palace has been prettied up so diners from Tepak Sireh can stroll around after their meal.

After lunch we had a pleasant walk around the area. The main entrance of the restaurant is located along Jalan Kandahar. At the House of Lemang opposite the restaurant, we happened across some ladies making, not lemang, but epok-epok (curry puffs). The epok-epok were rather big and generously stuffed with either sardines or curried potatoes, and only costs $0.70 each. Around the corner is the Kampung Glam Mosque. For shopping, Bussorah Street's antique and collectibles shops as well as many fabric shops that line Arab Street provides endless hours of retail therapy to while away the afternoon.

Tepak Sireh Restoran
73 Sultan Gate
Singapore 198497
Tel: 6396 4373

Pot Luck

Saturday is the best day of the weekend isn't it? The one day when we can rest, relax and meet with friends and family for a nice dinner. If the dinner is organised as a Pot Luck among friends, we don't have to work too hard in the kitchen, thus keeping to the stress-free (relatively speaking) spirit of the weekend. And if said friends are the same ones whom you meet every month for good food and conversation, you have practically guaranteed yourself a really enjoyable evening of food, wine and conversation. Which was what happened at our home last night.

There were 18 of us, and we had a sumptuous feast. The menu was eclectic and of course, very mouthwatering. We started with Korean pancakes, Oeufs Aux Anchois, Prawns vol-au-vents and Goat Cheese Tart.

I made only one dish, the Prawns vol-au-vents; cooked prawns were tossed with finely chopped cucumbers, ginger flowers, lime leaves and mayonaisse and scooped into pastry cases. The cases were pre-made by my Third Sister.

The Oeufs Aux Anchois (anchovied eggs) by umami husband spent a little too much time under the grill but the taste was not hampered; tasted intriguingly salty, sour and savoury at the same time.

Goat Cheese Tart by jeremyk. Tart cheese. Cheesy Tart. Better stop here.

Then we worked on the main dishes of Special Chicken Curry and Beef Rawon, Golf-Moon salad, Pasta Bolognaise, Drunken Vegetables, Boeuf Bourguignon, Szechuan chicken and Stir Fried Beehoon.

My friends really are wonderful cooks. Chye Sim was sloshed with brandy to make Drunken Vegetables; hmm, is this a food or a drink? The innocuous-sounding Beehoon was fried with a 'secret ingredient' of canned stewed pork to give it that extra oomph. My husband did well too. He made the Oeufs Aux Anchois (anchovied eggs) and Boeuf Bourguignon from a French cookbook La Bonne Cuisine Francaise by Marie-Claude Bisson. Typical of the cooking style 30 years ago, these recipes called for copious quantities of unfashionable ingredients like butter and cream as well as an entire bottle of red wine for the beef; the French were on to a good thing because the dishes turned out really well.

The Beef Rawon had a thick and rich gravy of buah keluak, this dish is not easily found in restaurants, my friend's wife soaked the buah keluak for two days before extracting the 'meat' from the nut.

No, there is no spelling mistake, Golf-Moon salad is really a cucumber salad. Cucumbers are called timun in Malay, but our Chairman spells it as tee-moon . Cool cucumbers dressed in a hot hot hot sambal dressing, fire and ice play off each other in this powerful salad.

Szechuan chicken. Cold chicken in a nutty, numbingly spicy sauce with silky bean thread noodles and lots of coriander. Actually I love the noodles in this dish for its smooth and slippery texture.

For desserts there was Lime Cheesecake, Pound Cake and home made Yoghurt. Talented baker jeremyk, who also made the Goat Cheese Tart, came up with this new flavour of cheesecake; I am a fan of Jeremy's cheesecakes, they melt ever so luxuriously in the mouth and are never dense or cloying . The pound cake baked by another accomplished friend was moist and crumbly as can be; the cake was so large there was plenty of leftovers which I got to keep, so now there is a good stash in the freezer to satisfy husband's cake-tooth.

We drank well too. I mixed chin chow (grass jelly) with finely chopped Chinese pears in a pandan-flavoured syrup, which made a refreshing drink to go with the food. Very laku (popular) my husband told me. There was also loads of lovely wines and a bottle of port; hmm, also a bottle of plum wine which we did not get round to drinking, we'll have to make plans for that another day. Husband also brewed some mind-blowing Gyokuru tea, and I promise to post some pictures of that later.

Thai Fair

The Thai Fair is here again! From 16-19th July, the Thai Embassy opens its doors to the public to showcase Thai food, culture and lifestyle.

We went early, and found that most of the food stalls were not yet ready. I remembered that the Pad Thai was good last year, so I staked out a choice spot to catch the cooks in action. An unassuming, polite and soft-spoken man was standing beside me, and we started talking to each other. Turned out he is the Thai Ambassador! Well, my jaws did drop a little. After all, I was wearing yoga pants and T-shirt and had just finished an energetic walk at the nearby Botanical Gardens; hardly a dignified outfit or frame of mind to meet a VIP! It was alright, the Ambassador continued to talk while I gathered my poise. I learnt that the elegantly dressed lady manning the Pad Thai stall is his wife and her assistant, a young girl wearing a traditional Thai jacket over blue jeans, is his daughter. The Pad Thai would be cooked by the Military Attache and the embassy Cook together. The Ambassador added that the fair was being held to raise funds to support a charity for Thai workers in Singapore. All the stalls in the middle of the cooked food area are run by the Embassy staff, while stalls ringing the perimeter are run by local Thai restaurants.

The Pad Thai cooks were finally ready. First, minced garlic were sauteed in hot oil and then the dried rice noodles were added to the wok. Meat stock and seasonings were added to soften the noodles. Then the noodles were set aside and the wok cleaned.

The eggs went in first, then the prawns, all doused in more of that dark brown sauce. When the prawns turned pink, the tofu cubes were added and the cooked noodles returned to the wok. Finally the chives and beansprouts got tossed in and the Pad Thai ($2.50) were ready to be sold to the drooling customers. umami was first in line. How did it taste? Very nice thank you, with very generous amount of prawns, I counted nearly 15 in my portion. The beansprouts were too raw for me though, so we picked those out.

We sampled other goodies from the embassy kitchen, like the fried chicken wings, fried fish cakes and fried banana fritters. All fried to golden perfection. The fish cakes were springy, spicy and had a nice crunch from the chopped green beans in its batter. The chicken wings were crispy and juicy, it is no wonder that the queue is always longest for this stall. The banana fritters were coated in a sweet sesame-crusted batter and were the perfect combination of crunch and melting softness that husband bought another packet for himself.

The fair has other attractions besides food. At the other end of the garden, an Isan band was playing. Thai massage was being promoted at a really cheap $20 per half-hour. I got my sore shoulder worked on while my mind half-dozed to the somewhat soothing tunes in the background. In my line of sight was a woman cutting up pineapples non-stop. I saw her at it before my turn with the massuese, and she was still doing the same task after I finished my session. The first thing I did after I got off the massage platform was to buy some pineapples, so I did finish with a foodnote.

Selayang Wholesale Market.

I have finally uploaded the last batch of pictures from my recent KL trip. Loads of fresh vegetables at the wholesale market.

Reader's Funky Appliance Fiesta (rFAFi)

A few days ago I posted pictures of a very cool 70's blender, which evoked nostalgia and a wee bit of covetousness among some readers. Anthony of spiceblog suggested having a Readers Funky Appliance page and I thought it is a brilliant idea to celebrate our much loved kitchen appliances.

I'll run it like IMBB. Why don't you, dear readers, post pictures of your choice appliance on your site, and like IMBB, I will compile all the submissions and post the links on my blog. We will call this project Reader's Funky Appliances Fiesta though I suspect its abbreviated form, rFAFi, is easier on the tongue. Let's also be a little regimented and fix some easy-to-follow rules. Do inform me if we need to modify anything.

1. We'll celebrate rFAFi on Sunday 1 August 2004. Post on your blog on that day and send me the link by e-mail or on this comment page. The post must have the words rFAFi in the title or the subject body. Submissions can also be sent to me before the date but I will post the entire compilation on my blog on 3 August 2004 8 pm Singapore time. For readers who do not have a blog or website, I am also very happy to host your submissions on my blog.

2. The appliance must be owned or used by the person posting about it.

3. For simplicity sake, we will allow any kitchen equipment, device or gadget, as long as it is used to prepare food. Does not need to be old, retro, vintage, antique or prehistoric, but it should have some distinguishing design features that makes it well, funky. Funky in this context means "unusual", which can be subjective in itself, but we'll see where this leads to.

4. If this project takes off, I might organise similar kitchen-geekie events in future, but it will probably happen on an ad-hoc basis.

I think that is about it, see you all again on rFAFi Day.

Squid Orzo

I first came across orzo during a trip to the US last year. This rice-shaped pasta was one of the side dishes at Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. The meal at the famous restaurant was good, but it was the orzo cooked like a beefy risotto that made it so memorable for me. I was intrigued by the rice-like mouthfeel of the orzo, and the idea that it was pasta tickled me somewhat. Since then I had been meaning to cook something based on it, but orzo is not a type of pasta commonly stocked in the local supermarket. So I was delighted to find a box of the dried stuff at Tanglin Food Market a few days ago.

There is a recipe for orzo pilaf on the side of the box, and it starts with uncooked orzo, so I felt more confident that I could make a sort of risotto with it. I thought squid would be ideal with orzo because squid always seems to sweat dis-proportionate volumes of liquid during cooking which would make a perfect flavour base. The other flavours came from aromatics like onions, garlic and chilli. The result was a hit with my family. Tender squid, creamy richly sauced pasta that feels like giant grains of rice, sensational. Maybe it is what a Chinese fisherman would cook in Italy if he had to substitute orzo for rice.

Recipe (serves 4)

4 medium sized squid
About 2.5 cups orzo
1 big onion, chopped finely
6 cloves garlic, chopped finely
4-5 bird eye chilli, sliced finely
2 cups frozen peas, cooked.
Cooking broth.
Whisky or tequila.

1. First the squid must be cleaned. Using scissors, cut longitudinally across the body to expose the slimy bits inside.(One of them had a partially digested little fish in its stomach!) Then remove all the slimy bits, the cartilage and the skin, keeping only the body and tentacles. Cut the squid into 0.5 cm thick slices.

2. Saute the onions and garlic in a heavy based saucepan, over medium heat. When the mixture is soft, add the chilli and stir until the smell of chilli fills the air (if you sneeze, it is a good sign!).

3. Toss the squid in the mixture, adding a splash of whisky or tequila. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. The squid would be tender and there will be about 2 cups of rich squid-flavoured sauce in the pan. No water is added during this stage. Remove the squid using a slotted spoon, but leave the liquid in the pan.

4. Pour all the uncooked orzo into the pan, and stir over low heat. Cook like a risotto, stirring all the time, adding 1-2 ladleful of broth when it gets dry, and then stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Continue for about 20 minutes, or until the orzo cooks through. I don't like it al dente, in fact I let it absorb a little more liquid than it needs, and then more, so the result is very creamy.

5. Return the cooked squid to the pan and add some cooked peas. Stir to heat through and serve. I accompanied the dish with a simple slaw of fresh beetroot, cabbage and orange slices.

Yuk Si (Pork Floss)

I received curious questions and even an e-mail from a homesick overseas Singaporean about the Yuk Si (pork floss) that my mum gave me. Here is the recipe, as related by Mummy over the telephone. As usual for these type of instructions, quite a bit of guesstimation is involved. Mummy also warned that the yield is relatively small for the amount of pork used and the effort utilised. 3 kg of pork resulted in about 3 medium sized Horlicks jars worth of floss. On the plus side, she reassured me that the recipe is Very Simple indeed.

1. Take some pork. A cut that is fleshy with some fat, like shoulder, is ideal. Slice the meat to medium thickness.

2. Simmer the meat with a small amount of water (e.g. 3 cups to 3 kg of meat) for as long as is needed to render the pork soft. You don't want too much water, otherwise you will end up with stew. Also make allowances that the pork would also leach some liquid.

3. Use fingers to pull and tear the cooked pork. Forks and chopsticks could also be used too but fingers would be faster.

3. Season the flaked pork. Sugar, salt and Chinese rice wine. Quite generous amounts of seasoning would be needed, taste as you go along until you are happy with the flavour. Add a little bit of dark soya sauce to give a bit of colour. Oyster sauce is optional.

4. In a wok, over very low heat, dry fry the pork. No need to add oil to the wok. You must stand over the wok and fry constantly, so that the pork does not burn. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the wok constantly. This may take more than 1 hour. Fry until all the liquid has dried up and the pork looks like carpet fibre.

5. To make the floss crispy, spread the floss on a baking sheet and grill under low heat for about 10 minutes.

Try it and let me know how it turns out. Good luck!

Kaisan

Sometimes it pays to be curious. Last weekend, I was strolling along the shops at Raffles Hotel Arcade, admiring a piece of jewelry here, an antique stool there, when I came across a new Japanese restaurant. The restaurant Kaisan was closed at that time of the afternoon but I poked my head in anyway. And was greeted warmly by the General Manager and Executive Chef Thomas Kok who was doing some paperwork. He informed me that they have been opened only since 1st July. The menu of mainly sushi and sashimi piqued my interest and since I love trying out Japanese restaurants, a dinner reservation was made for a mid week dinner.

It is easy to miss the restaurant. All the doors of the shoplots at Raffles look alike, and the signage is a discreet lighted disc above the door. The interior is rather narrow, with just enough aisle space between the sushi counter and some tables set along one main wall. The seats though, are wide and comfortably padded. The designer had cleverly used neutral cream tones all over the walls and seating so that the unconventionally red lacquered counter anchors the whole look together. The lighting was too bright for me, but this place also projects Japanese music videos on a wall, so the tone is more like sushi/sake bar than zen enclave, which makes it sort of acceptable. The restaurant was also very proud to showcase their Ice Bar, which is a strip of glass set atop a cooling system and laid to 'wrap' around the sushi prep area; this cold moat is meant to keep drinks and food cold but I was not really convinced of its usefulness, to be safe, we asked for an ice bucket to chill our sake.

Onto the food. The sushi and sashimi were superb, as one would expect from a sushi chef like Thomas who has been in the business for over 20 years. The sashimi pieces were cut to the proper thickness which brings out the inherent taste and flavours, and needless to say, all were sparklingly fresh. The white fleshed fish which I usually avoid (therefore I don't know the names) surprised me with its lack of "fishiness" while the fatty salmon and tuna bellies melted in the mouth luxuriantly. If we had to nitpik, we would say that perhaps the chef could have removed the chewy white stringy bits of the tuna belly so that the fish would "melt" better, like how Chef Nogawa at Akane does it, but this is a very minor point. I have a habit of ordering Uni (sea urchin) Sushi because it is my favourite, and it is a good measure, at least to me, of the inventory's freshness. The uni was dreamily creamy and briny as expected, with only a tiny hint of metallic taste, which is close to most of the best versions I've tried in this town. Kaisan is a worthy new entry to the small circle of really good sushi places usually run by Japanese chefs (mostly of the Nogawa alumni).

This is also one of those few places that gets the sushi rice just so, neither too dry nor wet, not too sweet or acidic. Apparently the cook who makes the rice has to titrate the ingredients and cooking times differently every time he makes it, and he is still perfecting this seemingly simple task. Hmm, someone takes his rice seriously.

The cooked foods were no second runners either. Chef Thomas defers to another chef for these items, and we loved the few dishes we tried, like Bamboo Clam Grilled with Spicy Mentaiko, Prawn and Crab Sausage and a slipperily good bowl of kway-teow like rice noodles and beef ribs.

Like most sushi chef, Thomas is happy to chat with his customers and the other 3 cooks are equally friendly. The three young waitresses were less experienced and very slow, we had to prompt them to bring menus, and the cooks had to remind them to clear plates to make way for our food, hopefully their service levels will improve with time.

Being located at a grand hotel and serving premium sushi, one would expect the bill to be frighteningly expensive. It turned out that the prices are slightly lower than most high-end Japanese restaurants, but who knows how long this happy state would remain? Besides the price factor, I would also plan to return soon because next month Thomas expects fresh salmon roe called Soshito to be available, I just can't resist eating these little orange poppers!

Kaisan Japanese Restaurant Pte Ltd
@Raffles Hotel Arcade
Unit #01-21, 328 North Bridge Road
Singapore 188719
Tel: 63394929