u m a m i

Tea Pairing Dinner

Some pictures from a recent tea-pairing dinner with our friends. The theme was loosely based on the coming Lunar New Year. Organised in collaboration with Carrie from Tea Bone Zen Mind. She provided all the recipes for the dishes.

Welcome Drink: Tea Ice with Honey.

Make some very strong Tie Guan Yien (Iron Goddess of Mercy), freeze it well, and shave the ice before serving. Drizzle with good quality honey to sweeten. A cooling drink to have ready for people when they come in from a long and hot day at the office.

Canapes:

1. Cucumber with miso paste ( combination of 4 types) and cherry tomatoes. Pop cucumber into mouth, followed by tomato. The miso paste has such an intense play of sweet, savoury, salty and oomph it needs to be cut down a little with the tartness of the tomatoes.

2. Century Egg with pickled young ginger. Quarter the eggs by cutting with a knife, using your palms as the cutting surface, wetting knife in between cuts to help with the stickiness. For the young ginger, buy a jar of the cheapest version in NTUC, squeeze out all the pickling liquid and slice finely. Marinate with 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 tbsp sake and 1tsp sugar. To eat, scoop a piece of egg with a spoon and place some ginger on top, and eat the whole lot in one bite.

Now the taste buds were sufficiently primed for dinner.

Cold dish: Seafood with special sauce

Husband went to the market early to buy a whole bunch of prawns and squid. The prawns had their whiskers trimmed and steamed on a banana leaf before chilling. The squid had all the skin and internal bits removed and then stuffed with some loose tea leaves before steaming and chilling.

Carrie made a killer sauce to go with the seafood, it had garlic, scallions, chilli and a mystery brown sauce that contains, among other ingredients, chicken and fish stock.

The squid tentacles and gelatinous bits were not wasted either, she mixed it with some chopped up surimi and dressed it with a sauce made of just Sinsin chilli sauce and sushi vinegar (picture shown is the undressed squid parts)

Yes, that was some of the prawns in a cake mix bowl, our makankakis sure love prawns. Husband bought 6 kg, and though everyone valiantly ate as many as they could, we still had plenty of leftovers.

 

Hot dishes:

1. Stewed dish of taukwa, radish, shitake and muk-yee (wood's ear fungus) in a braising sauce perfumed with Jasmine tea leaves.

2. Chicken noodle soup. The broth was cooked from a whole chicken and some Four Seasons tea leaves steeped in the soup for about 10 minutes. The chicken skin was not used in the soup, instead, the visible fats were trimmed off and the skin was then fried till crispy; the crumbled crisped skin were then sprinkled over the noodles for a 'wow' fragrance. To go with the soup, someone had also contributed yummy chicken wings from Bali Nasi Lemak.

3. Kong Bar Pau. Made by Carrie's friend. A classic dish of belly pork cooked in soya sauce and aromaric spices. It was surprisingly light in oil yet rich-tasting. Accompanied by home-pickled crunchy-sweet-tart mustard greens which complemented the sandwich perfectly.

Dessert was simple yet elegant. Vanilla ice cream sprinkled with matcha  (Japanese green tea) powder. Peach slices for garnish and contrasting texture.

After dinner, we settled around the table to appreciate tea. But first, a round of cold premium sake to clear the palate and relax the mind.

She brewed some Jasmine Tea. This was not like the heong-pin served mindlessly in dim-sum restaurants. Only the first flush unbroken leaves were used. The tea was light but surprisingly rich and complex tasting with an uplifting floral fragrance.

Next, she brewed some Four Season Tea. This is a species of tea that was genetically modified by Carrie's tea professor. It's name was so-called due to its availability the whole year round, the genetic modification also makes it less susceptible to disease. The taste was of course, also of the most desired qualities. Richer and a little 'heavier' than the Jasmine, this is a tea that would go well with savoury snacks. Like the dried scallops and squid crisps, toasted right on top of the tea-stove.

The tea would give its drinker a pleasant buzz. To come down from the intensity, it is a good idea to eat something sweet with the tea, like sweet mandarins or the fat red dates we nibbled on.

It was an extremely enjoyable and educational experience. Carrie is a generous teacher and she shared many lessons on tea growing, tea selection, packaging and tea cultures, interspersed with amusing anecdotes and observations. Even the act of peeling a mandarin can be done in a refined way, if one knows how.

1. Start from the bottom of the fruit and peel so that the peel comes off in a whole piece.

2. Break the orange in parts, offering halves or quarters to others if sharing, not individual segments.

3. Spit your seed back into the peel. When done, fold up the peel and it is ready for disposal.

Did you also know that mandarin oranges comes with fax numbers? There are others that bear website addressed too.

This was not from the tea-party. Two nights later, I came back very hungry from my yoga class. Looking into the fridge I saw many prawns, so I peeled and cubed some and tossed them with a dressing of fridge condiments like hae-bi hiam ( spicy shrimp sauce), sushi vinegar, sesame dressing and a touch of orange juice. Very good snack that was.

Say hello to Maggie

Hello everybody, please say hello to Maggie who has recently joined the umami household. 

Where did we eat 18 Jan 2005

For the new year I decided to start an eating-out journal. Because I eat out very often. I will keep this journal to see how much my dining preference changes over the year. Unlike five years ago, when I was trying out new restaurants all the time, now I seem to have settled into a pattern of serial dining- frequenting a place until we tire of it, interspersed with an occasional burst of impulse dining at new places.

In the past 18 days of January, I have eaten at, in no particular order of merit:

(Numbers in bracket indicates number of times patronised in the reporting period)

Cedele (3, not including trips to tar-pow cookies and bread). Love their soups and cakes. Current favourite cake: Apricot Almond Slice.

Silk Road, Amara Hotel (2): We liked it when it was first opened about three years ago, then we had a few bad visits and stopped going. One day in November I suddenly had a craving for ma-la foods so I took a colleague there, and just like that, this restaurant has become one of our old favourites again. Husband and I are addicted to their Dan Dan Mian. The noodles are just the right texture but it is the meat sauce that is to die for- they don't bother to tone the spicing down at all, just perfect for husband who has a high tolerance for spicy food; me, I take frequent breaks to wait for the ma-la effects to subside. We have to have a fix at least every two weeks. The rest of their dishes are mostly good, especially a chicken stirfried with fiery cherry-like peppers, Shanxi meat skewers and sesame chicken. They do not compromise in the freshness of the ingredient or the techniques. What makes it extra good for us is their restrained use of oil, which means we can indulge without too much guilt. Their dumplings are not so great though. Still, husband likes this place so much he is planning to have his department's CNY dinner at the restaurant.

Moomba, Boat Quay (1): Quietly but successfully serving Modern Australian cuisine since the late 90's at least. We only got round to trying it out last year, and have been back once more. The menu is very limited, they stick to what they do best. Prices are slightly high but they deliver on quality. Grills and salads. Mostly grills. Love their Kurabota pork chops and squid cakes.

Crystal Jade (3): Their food may not be the very best, but I can count on freshness and consistency. This month, I have eaten a solo lunch of century egg porridge, spring rolls and ice milk tea at the Bugis outlet. Also dim-sum lunch with colleague at GWC outlet. And korean food at their restaurant at Ngee Ann City.

Ichiban (2): Chain Japanese. Ubiquitous and convenient, high turnover of customer ensures freshness. They are trying to become more upmarket, discarding the Fiesta name. The sushi rolls at $1.90 is very good value, the spider roll especially is oishii. I would not eat any of their raw fish dishes so that leaves out the other sushis and sashimis, but good selections from their cooked dishes repertoire includes the braised salmon (GWC), grilled ribs Korean style (at Wisma Atria outlet) and grilled soba.

Cafe Iguana, Riverside Point (1): Good for a relaxing Saturday dinner. Happy hour margaritas keep us happy, as does the fat juicy mussels in wine sauce.

Aioli  at Boon Tat St(1): Picked at random from a list of new eateries in the asiaone food website. Provencal cooking. I remembered lugging jars of tapenades home from Avignon and letting it all go to waste, but at Aioli, we were mopping it up, as well as anchovy pastes and a spread made with cod. I didn't quite like the aioli, thought it was a bit musty. The pistou was hearty and delicious. Stews like coq au vin and beef daube tasted very similar, maybe they've been left in the pot a little longer than they should. Dessert of flambeed bananas lacked the flambeed taste but the generous caramel sauce compensated enough.

Royal China at Raffles Hotel (1): Default place for dim sum. I really have to move beyond the crispy aromatic duck so I can sample other dishes from their menu, though I have also observed that every other table seemed to order that very dish too.

My new bad habit is popping into Thos downstairs for their house chocolates, strange for non-chocophile me, but I am developing a weird(and costly) liking to their unusual fruit and herb flavours. Speaking of chocolates, I like the rose flavour ones at Chocz too.

Japanese Curry counter at Taka basement, name escapes me now  (1): Anyway, it was very Blah. Better curry can be had at the neighbouring tonkatsu counter. 

Tsui Hang Village, Jurong Pier (1): Working lunch at an unlikely venue. Restaurant with a view. Of ships and oil containers. Unlike other proliferating HK chains, this is only tTsui Hang's second outlet besides their main branch at Asia Hotel. Food is reliably good, especially a wu-kok stuffed with a whole prawn.

Kafei Dian, Beach Rd / Purvis St junction (1): New-ish coffee shop in an area full of Hainanese-style eateries. Was recommended to try their wantan mee which was not bad. The hor-fun in seafood gravy also not bad, but clincher was their fresh bread, made right in the shop. I could not believe I was seeing this in Singapore. The smell hit us first, sweet and mellow. Then we saw them take out the cute little loaves, which they sliced in half and toasted slowly into a golden shade before sandwiching it with cold slices of butter and some kaya. Ya Kun and Killiney better watch out.

Kopitiam (1): Food court at SGH, because my office is in SGH campus. The fish soup and yong tau-foo stalls are the better options. What I really look forward to is the Sng Buay Lime Juice sold at the drinks counter. Staff gets 15% discount at the SGH outlet, and 10% at Tiong Bahru.

Loy Kee (2): Because it was the nearest coffeeshop near the other coffeeshop where I go for my regular poh-piah fix. After the poh piah, we walk over to Loy Kee for chicken and taugeh. No rice. Past two weeks we saw Mediacorp TV crew and two HK actors filming and eating in the shop.

No pictures, because the NY Times thinks it is crass to take pictures of food at restaurants. No lah, because I don't always carry a camera with me all the time.

Loak Tok Panjang

This one is from the archives. I've been busy and only just found time to blog about the Loak Tok Panjang organised by my makan friends in December.

Loak Tok Panjang is the Peranakan term for a Long Table Feast. The Peranakans, they sure know how to cook and eat. In the old days, for special occasions, they would lay out a long spread of home-cooked favourite dishes on a long table. Some dishes are complicated and time-consuming, requiring the effort of many helpers in the kitchen. It is not something you can go to a restaurant to try out. I was of the belief that the practice of tok panjang has long been lost in our age of instant gratification, after all, who has time to pound and grind all those rempahs? Fortunately, I was proven wrong.

In December, lmdt, a person whom most of us knew as a regular participant at Makansutra forum but have not met in person, volunteered to cook a Loak Tok Panjang for our group of 20 makankakis. lmdt is an authority on Peranakan tradition, just check out his new-born blog stangee. And the man himself is an excellent cook; the amazing dinner he masterminded has to be one of the best and memorable meals I've eaten in my life.

Something light to start off with. Egg salad on the left. Dressing was wonderfully piquant, and no, it wasn't thousand island. On the right, Pong Tauhu (Pork & Prawn Meatball in Shredded Bamboo Shoots Soup), all rich and homely goodness.

My favourite dish was the Hati Babi Bungkus (pork liver balls) served with pickled cabbage. The Ngoh Hiang (prawn and pork rolls) was outstanding too.

Some side dishes. Sambal belacan, trubok busok (Ratatouille in Tamarind Gravy), achar awak and chilli cuka. I probably got some of the names wrong, but no matter, they got all my taste buds jumping and somersaulting with their tastes and textures. Just the thing to perk up the palate in between the rich courses that went with rice.

Like Masak Assam (Fish in tamarind sauce). On the right, a dish I've never encountered before- To Heh (fried beancurd in red sauce). Also Ayam Sioh (Fried Chicken in a Thick Tamarind Sauce) which didn't photograph well but tasted wonderful anyway. Sambal Belimbing (right) cooked with the belimbing fruit from the tree of another friend. Sour-sweet fruit cooked till tender in a spicy-sweet gravy to make an appetising tongue-tingling dish, sedap!

We were pretty full by the end of the meal, but managed to eat some Masak Pengat, a sweet soup of yam and banana in gula melaka and santan. In keeping with my personal motto to never say No to any food cooked with Gula Melaka.

Not for eating, this potpourri, composed from shredded herbs and scattered petals is beautiful to look at and wonderfully fragrant, was also created by lmdt. He is indeed a man of many talents. And very generous too to share his cooking with a bunch of virtual strangers. Hmm, I wonder when the next Tok Panjang will be...

Coming up roses

2004 was for me, the year of the yuzu. The gnarly, ugly citrus fruit with the most amazing scent. Yuzu miso paste from that wholesale Japanese supermarket at Ginza Plaza. Yuzu wagashi at Minamoto Kitchen. Yuzu with big fat salmon roe in autumn at Kaisan whenever the budget permitted. Yuzu sorbet, the homemade version from Akane, not the over-sweet copies found elsewhere.

This year, roses has entered my consciousness. It started last year with Carrie's signature babao cha (Eight Treasure Tea), which has rose petals so tender it dissolves like candyfloss on the tongue. Before that I have only come across roses in Turkish Delight and rose syrups. Last Christmas, my singular indulgence was a tiny jar of rose jelly given by Carrie, made in limited quantities by her herbalist friend. The jelly was more like a runny  combination of honey and tender rose petals. Carrie suggested stirring it into tea; the tea is the perfect vehicle to bring out the flower's exotic, restorative scent and delicate taste. Yesterday I drizzled the last of the jelly over birds' nest soup, pure indulgence. Though probably not as indulgent as the extravagant macaron Isaphan created by the Parisian pastry artist Pierre Herme. Two weeks ago, the NYTimes featured Pichet Ong, a Singaporean pastry chef in New York and his rose-inspired chocolate desserts. Now, if only I can find a decent rose-flavoured Turkish Delight in Singapore.....

Suzhou

Husband's friend E was aghast to learn that we planned to spend a whole week in Shanghai. He urged us to at least a more scenic area, such as Suzhou. An additional convenience was that E lived in Suzhou with his family, so they could show us around. Good idea, said husband, and E, being a highly efficient engineer sort like my husband, went on to arrange our hotel booking and purchase of train tickets.

Suzhou is now a highly commercialised and industrialised city but this change has come about only in the last twenty years. In the past it enjoyed a more leisurely pace of life, and was a haven for artists and scholars who found inspiration in its famous lakes, gardens and its reputedly beautiful women.

We took the 8:37 train. Comfortable and efficient. Chinese passengers sit wherever they like, the seat numbers indicated on the tickets serves only as a guideline. Most people bring along their own tea in a thermos and refill it with the complimentary boiled water offered by the hostess.

E and his wife G met us at the train station. We checked into the Sheraton Suzhou hotel before we began our tour. The hotel has a classical Chinese design, with sloped winged roofs and traditional Chinese gardens for which Suzhou is famous for. It is located next to Panmen Gate which is a local tourist attraction. Panmen Gate houses the remnants of ancient city wall and it was quite amusing to look at the fortress walls, bridges and moats and an old pagoda. It has been beautified with newer additions of more landscaped gardens, pavilions and temples to make it seem like a big park and thus befitting the patronage of the hordes of tourists to the city.

Next, we headed to Hanshan Temple. During the Tang Dynasty, a poet, Zhang Ji, wrote that in the still and quiet night, he, sitting in his boat by the river bridge, could hear the chime of the temple bell. (See first picture above for the Chinese version). People visiting the temple because they have read the poem like to check out both the temple and the bridge. Ten years ago when E and G visited, the bridge was next to the temple. On our visit, we nearly could not find the bridge; the tourist board had 'diverted' it by making visitors walk a circuitous route to find this 'new' attraction.  They also added an unnecessary sculpture of the poet in case people did not already know about the poem.  At least we found the bridge, otherwise G would have a sleepless night.

A quick break for a simple and hearty lunch at a roadside restaurant. Steamed river prawns. A soup of local vegetables. Pork belly stir-fried with chives. Steamed local fish. The restaurant keeps the fish alive in tanks in the front of the restaurant.

After lunch, we visited The Tiger Hill. Another famous tourist attraction because Mr Su Dongpo, a writer of the Song Dynasty, had said, "It would be a pity to go to Suzhou and not visit Tiger Hill."  The pagoda at the top is very old and it is tilted to one side. The hill is quite picturesque but everything seemed crowded and one can't quite escape totally from the noise and dust outside. Husband remarked at one point that Suzhou is so dusty that even the green leaves are covered in a perpetual shimmer of white powder.

After spending nearly two hours at Tiger Hill I thought we were done with sightseeing. But G pointed out that there are so many gardens and scenic spots in and around Suzhou that one would need more than a few days to see it all. Some, like the Humble Administrator's Garden that she took us to, are designated as UNESCO heritage sites.

G was right. The Humble Administrator's Garden is really very beautiful. Everywhere we turned we saw a different perspective. The pavilions and houses blend into the surroundings and are designed to catch the fragrances of the spring flowers, for instance, or have picture windows to frame a particularly enchanting composition of pinetrees. The pagoda seen in the top left picture is from another tourist attraction, but it seemed to belong to the park, an example of "borrowing the scenery" as the guide explained.

We had a night cruise planned, so we ate dinner early. In one of the city's lau fan dians, this one proudly displayed a picture of its famous guests, including Bill Clinton. The food was typically Suzhou style, i.e. very sweet. Every dish turned out sweet. And oily, of course. The braised pork leg was good, it looked ugly but was very good. Funny how every braised pork leg dish we tried in China turned out really well.

The night cruise was a big yawn that lasted 40 minutes. Nothing much to see except empty buildings and maybe a beer garden or two. Suzhou may aspire to, but is not quite Shanghai yet.

Day 2

When in Suzhou, of course one must visit the Suzhou Industrial Park, or SIP as the Singaporeans in the city call it. E and G, together with their children and domestic helper, live in this modern apartment in the park.  E had hired a driver for the day, so we could drive around the city and later back to Shanghai. We had a good look at SIP. Modern. Vast. And very dusty.

Our destination: Zhou Zhuang, a village built around waterways. Most of the real villagers have left, leaving only some very old people behind. This village, we found out later, is one of the most commercialised in the country, every building has been turned into a tourist money-extractor. The tour guides come from outside the village, one of them offered her services for RMB20. She was adequate as a guide but more intent on getting us to patronise a restaurant or buy something from the shops. But not every shop though. She was practically pouting when we decided to have tea at the Shan Mao Tea House.

Shan Mao means three hair, and was the name of a famous Taiwanese travel writer. The tea house has a poignant history, husband relates it so:

On April 3, 1989, a Spring drizzling day, Taiwanese travel writer Shan Mao paid a brief and quiet visit to Zhou Zhuang, China’s first water village open to visitors. She was so touched by what she saw, the unspoilt simplicity and purity of Zhou Zhuang, that she could only described her visit as "unforgettable".

A local small time writer Zhang Zhi Han read about her visit in the local newspaper and retraced her visit path in Zhou Zhuang. He wrote a short article entitled " Shan Mao in Zhou Zhuang". The article was published in Hongkong’s China Travel magazine.

Later Summer that year, another Taiwanese Chen Tat Zhen visited ZhouZhuan and made aquaintance with Zhang Zhi Han, who showed him his article in China Travel magazine. Chen happened to be Shan Mao’s neighbour and knew her. He encouraged Zhang to write to Shan Mao and gave him the contact address. He did and reproduced the article and sent to Shan Mao. That was May 15, 1990.

A month later, Shan Mao replied and they started corresponding with each other. She accepted Zhang’s invitation to visit Zhou Zhuang and stay at his place. They exchanged 4 letters altogether between May and June that year. Shan Mao indicated that she would visit in Oct. When Zhang wrote the 5^th letter in Aug 90 to enquire the date Shan Mao planned to visit Zhou Zhuang, he received no reply. In Winter, he read about Shan Mao’ death in the newspaper, apparently from committing suicide. He was stunned.

Three years later, on Jan 4 1994, Zhang set up Shan Mao Tea House in ZhouZhuan to commemorate his short aquaintance with Shan Mao through correspondence. They have never met each other!

10 years have passed. Many visitors have visited Shan Mao Tea House and for those who have read Shan Mao’s writing started spreading the existence of the Tea House.

Mr Zhang is a dignified and soft spoken gentleman, very different from the rest of the hard-bitten and pushy touts in the village. He was quietly pleased that husband had read about his tea house and bothered to find our way there. We were pleased to be sitting upstairs where it was quiet and sunny and we could pretend to be in a mo-hak (kung fu) movie. Shan Mao Tea House serves Ah Puao Cha, which consists of 7 snacks i.e. dried bean curd, pickled ginger, red dates, roasted green peas, peanuts, kidney nuts and Pi Luo Choon green tea. Our tour guide was petulant that we did not visit a tea house of her choice, warning us that we were probably charged too much for our Ah Puao Cha, but husband and E told her, " it isn't about the money,the kan-chue (feel) is not the same", which perplexed her even further.

There are many temples, arching bridges, temples and old buildings worth exploring. The better ones charge additional entrance fee; the merchant's house that featured seven courtyards was worth visiting, if only for the quaint peephole on the upper level that allowed the daughters of the house to view propective suitors visiting below. And after visiting, take a boat ride to the front gate. The boat  paddler would happily sing some traditional songs for a few yuans.

This lady was continually basting some braised pork knuckles. A local delicacy. We didn't buy any because the sample I was given tasted far too sweet and artificial. Stick to the brown sauce version cooked in restaurants.

Before we headed back to Shanghai, we stopped by at the Shanghai Grand View Garden. A bombastic name for a film set for the television adaptation of the famous book Dream of the Red Mansion (or Story of the Stone). The television programme was made nearly twenty years ago, and I have only seen two or three chapters of it to convince me that its poor cinematography and stilted acting did not do the book any justice. But the gardens, named after those in the book, remain of interest to "Red" scholars and casual fans like myself. So there we were, banana me who have read the English translation, chattering to the guide enthusiastically in broken Mandarin  about the characters and scenes in the book, while husband and E who are both Chinese-educated yet never read the book, look on with bemusement. The garden looked bleak, it was winter after all, and the guide said that in summers it could look very pretty with the peonies, crysanthemums and all the Red Mansion flowers a-blooming.

And that was our whirlwind two day tour of Suzhou. The lakes and gardens are still as beautiful, but most of the charm has worn off,  leaving just the hollow shell behind to struggle with environmental pollution and progress.