u m a m i

The Shopping Bag edition

                        

Let's see, what have we been up to?

1. Made falafels. The NYT's Mark Bittman (The Minimalist) showed how to in a video. We followed the method but winged the quantities of ingredients. Ours turned out green, fresh-tasting and moist, the green was from loads of parsley. They were also too garlicky, next time we'll halve the quantities. I like my falafel in sandwiches, and assembling it was equally easy- add salad, tahini, yoghurt and melty roasted aubergines.

2. Got bored with eating strawberries. Now it's plums and apples. Still waiting for rhubarb. And I am in a major pamplemousse phase, right now there's three varieties in the fruit basket. We are eating ever so healthily these days. Hardly any pastries, cakes, pates and only a bit of cheese. The fruits and vegetable baskets in the pantry is piled high with beautiful produce which gets depleted quickly, it all tastes delicious see, even the boring old cucumbers and beans. This is the benefit of living in a country that grows its own food.

3. Erm, the other day we made honey and yoghurt muffins but did not have any baking soda. So I doubled the quantity of baking powder and folded in some whipped egg whites in the vain hope of giving the cakes some 'lift'. The muffins emerged scone-like with weird bubbles. But strangely enough, the kid and dogs loved them.

blah blah blah, so boring. Let's talk about something else. Such as.....shopping baskets and bags!

In France, and most of Europe I would imagine, when you buy things at the bakeries, markets, etc, they don't always give you a bag or plastic carrier. Breads are wrapped in paper, fruits in dinky paper pockets, and well, if you are not prepared, it can get very unwieldy. People bring their own baskets or 'chariots' -tall,  waterproof-cloth covered trolleys with wheels- to do their shopping.

                      

This is our chariot. It is actually a made-in-Japan dog stroller, complete with breathable panels and many flaps and buttons to suit the weather. It is expensive but worth it, and it isn't available here. The dogs take turns to sit inside but most of the time we use it when we go to the market. It has 4 wheels and can take up to 12kg comfortably, is not too wide as to be inconvenient for other shoppers, and quite smart looking, as the admiring glances and comments from the locals can verify. Very useful for the heavy stuff like meats and potatoes. And even more useful when it rains, the shopping stay drier than us humans.

                        

On our coat rack there is also a selection of marketing bags. The green one was bought at BHV for about 4 euros, the Pocky bag was from Sungei Wang in KL and the pink striped bag was a mistake 'fashion' buy from 5 years ago. These are good for carrying breads and delicate vegetables.

                        

And because I always end up buying something after school or between other errands, I keep a foldaway bag inside my handbag. This is a nifty example from BHV, about 4 5 euros (the price went up since I last visited, blimey!). It comes with a little bag with snap buttons as well as a clip to attach to say, an appendage or ring clasp from the main handbag. My fourth sister bought a yellow one when she was here, her friend liked it so much she gave it away. I have to go get her a replacement unit soon.

                      

The bag inside, unfurled. It is big enough for baguettes and supplies for a quick dinner. There are similar examples of this bag sold in household stores like neighbourhood 'drogeries' and Muji.

The Singapour Tart, in Paris

                        

Sui Mai alerted me to this lovely boulangerie in Belleville so off we went. Boulangerie au140 sells award-winning baguettes as well as lots of other yummy breads. But the sweetest part: these "Singapour" tarts. Is the topping meant to represent a bunch of grapes, pineapple or durian?

No, we didn't have a taste, our tummies were full of baguettes. Maybe next time.....

Soldes

That's French for the sales. And the sales are very good here, fourth sister who came last weekend declared that it is better here than London. She got herself new shoes and a new handbag from Galeries. I bought a pair of leather gloves from Tara Jarmon and a belt from Galeries.

Last night it was really cold, so cold I could not sleep. It did not help that I was wearing a cotton nightgown- a thick version that I bought from Greenwich, London years and years ago and which I never wear in Singapore because my usual sleep attire is a tank top or something with straps because I can tolerate cold very well. Anyway, over here it is winter so it is really cold, plus our bedroom is not heated (technically it is the spare room, but we prefer it over the master bedroom because it has a neater layout and a working bathroom), both factors made sleeping in the room not much different from sleeping outside. Which drove me to seek more functional sleepware. So I set off for Samaritaine this morning, and boy was it more freezing in the streets? I don't know how low the temperature was, but right now it is about minus 1 deg C, so it must have been about 5 in the daytime. Everybody in the streets were bundled up and wearing a 'fxxx, it's so cold' look on their face. I didn't mind that much, it was a chance for me to wear the pleated fabric cap I bought in Seoul last year, and I had on warm gloves and scarves. But it was still cold, I walked nearly 4 hours outside today and did not break into any sweat or discard any layers that is how effing cold it was.

But  back to my story- Samaritaine is closed! Has been closed since last summer due to security reasons. Luckily I had a backup plan. Just a short walk away is the Paris equivalent of Picaddily Circus i.e. Les Halles, and the underground shopping centre there houses a Muji outlet which was having sales of up to 70%. I got a bunchload of long sleeved tops, most of them in wool, some with angora and merino too. Good for me, also for husband, I got him a new sweater. Together with the hot water bottle, we should be fine tonight. If it is still intolerable, we'll have no choice but to get an electric heater. Good thing the sales end on February 17th.

                

Still, what has all this got to do with food right? Well, in my last post, I mentioned scoring some nice bargains in Staub cookware. Here it is. The oval cocotte, about 29 cm wide, or just a little wider than an oven toaster, was selling at BHV for EUD102 (normal price EUD 140. The grill pan cost me about EUD 42. BHV prices are generally better than Galeries and Printemps, but I didn't have time to check at Bon Marche. Staub is not really considered that big-deal here, in the stores it is displayed side by side with Le Creuset and the lid drip feature gives it just that extra edge over its competitor. At husband's favourite restaurant, the casual and dependable mussels frites Leon de Bruxelles, most of their mussel dishes come in a Staub cocotte. It keeps the mussels hot till the last mollusc. I used my new pot to make a lip-smacking sausage casserole, rich with fresh chicken stock and sweet winter vegetables.

                

Update: The grill pan works marvelously too. This is a piece of salmon which we grilled last night for dinner. It was nicely crusted (though we mishandled the skin which still turned out crispy) and moist inside. The fennel was roasted in the oven, but next time we will try cooking it on the grill/

The Best Place to Buy Fresh Vegetables in Singapore

is not Chia's Vegetable Supply.

We were talking about this at lunch and I felt I should pass this tip on. Seems to me like the Chias have been doing so well they've colonised almost the entire vegetables section of Tekka Market. Even though they never say so, I know, because I recognise their foreign worker assistants in these other stalls. Nothing wrong with any of this, I love the bossa nova music and their warm friendly service as much as the next shopper and they deserve their hard-won success but still, this doesn't leave me much choice in terms of prices or variety. Thus was my plaintive complaints to my good friend tiantianchi, who promptly suggested I should check out the competition in Sheng Siong Supermarket across the road. I am familiar with Sheng Siong because I like that their product range is wide and some items may be even cheaper than FairPrice, the so-called champion of the common people, but I was not aware that they have improved their fresh produce offerings. Curiosity piqued, it so happened last weekend that my pantry ran out of supplies which gave me a good reason to go and have a look.

The Sheng Siong supermarket in Tekka Mall actually occupies two different parts of the shopping complex. Dry goods are on the second storey above the food court, but for fresh vegetables, meat and fish one just needs to cross Serangoon Road to reach the front entrance and take the escalators down. This is important because the two areas are quite far apart and if you went the wrong way you would get quite frustrated like I did and have to call up your friend to scold check directions again.

Once you find the place, grab a trolley and walk all the way in. The vegetables occupy almost a third of the basement. A respectably diverse selection is laid out neatly, but not very prettily, for shoppers' perusal. Purple sweet potatoes from Indonesia, crunchy sweet yau mak choy from Malaysia, fat spears of asparagus, tender bunches of deep green spinach for baby's meals, deep troughs of pickles as well as the usual suspects like chye sim, brocolli etc. Prices are gratifyingly reasonable, even the 'exotic' stuff. V, our domestic, was suitably impressed and she should know, having previously commented that vegetables at my nearest local Whampoa wet market is too pricey and old, and given her familiarity with the stalls in Tekka. Here the floor was dry, and there was airconditioning. It was like shopping at a smaller, more comfortable version of a wholesale vegetable market.

The only glitch was that we parked in Tekka Market carpark,which meant we couldn't carry a lot or, as is our usual practice if we shop in the wet market, leave it in the care of the fruiterer who usually lets us do so as long as I buy some of her (also slightly overpriced) fruits. And as I still had to get my fruits, mutton, eggs and seafood from Tekka Market, we restricted ourselves to getting only lighter vegetables, leaving the root vegetable business to the wet market.

Therefore if you are ever in the neighbourhood, do pop by into Sheng Siong and be surprised.

Was at the shops yesterday. Two note-worthy events are happening in Orchard Rd this weekend.

1. The Kyushu Food Fair at Isetan Scotts supermarket. Ends tomorrow. The sales staff were very generous in handing out the samples.

• Sweet potatoes: The produce section showcases the different varieties available, but for immediate gratification, try the various stalls selling them in caramelised form, rolled into elegant crepes or turned into pretty cakes.
• Fried seafood: shrimp, squid and soft-shelled crabs.
• Unagi. Regular or spicy. Cooked or vacuum packed.
• Honey. Clover, Renge etc. In the cute dispenser jugs.
• Mentaiko (spicy cod roe). On its own, and combined with either herring roe, squid or tiny white fish. I bought four tubs home, they freeze well.
• Miso paste. Mindboggling variety.
• Ramen. Freshly made Japanese style char-siu.

2. Takashimaya Cookware Fair, at Event Hall, Basement 1, Ngee Ann City SC. Henckel, WMF, Tiger, Staub, Le Creuset, Riedel et al. Generous discounts of up to 50%. Don't wait till Christmas.

Shh. If you have the Taka store card, you can go buy yourself that much-coveted Zojirushi rice cooker at bargain prices next weekend. That's what the saleslady told us, in lowered, conspiratorial ah-soh*-to-ah-soh voice.

(Ah-soh: stereotype of middle-aged aunties with no fashion sense, who compare prices like crazy because they are usually housewifes who control the family budget carefully. Not to be confused with tai-tais, mostly middle-aged aunties with loud fashion sense, who spend money like crazy in case their rich husbands divorce them in which case they can use their wild spending to validate their claims for huge alimony settlements)

Tray?

I want a breakfast tray so that I can surf in bed without roasting my internal organs, not to mention how useful it would be for actual breakfast but we won't go there because I am paranoid of anything spilling into my Simmons mattress. Anyway if I can't find one I would settle for one of those multi-purpose three-legged tables that modern Korean drama families use.

Ikea doesn't do breakfast trays anymore, neither does Barang Barang. Is it such an exotic piece of furniture? Nobody has time for breakfast?

Today I asked the man at one of the furniture shops in Paragon "Do you have any breakfast trays?".

His reply: "We don't sell trays."

Chia's Vegetable Supply

Last Sunday, I was at KK Market (aka Tekka) and happened across a greengrocers called Chia's Vegetables Supply. In addition to the usual kailan and chye sim, they stock exotic vegetables that are more likely to be found at gourmet supermarkets like brussels sprouts, matsusake mushrooms, baby spinach, as well as herbs like rosemary and thyme. Prices are cheaper than what supermarkets would charge. Mr Chia rings up purchases with possibly the only cash register in the entire market. There is music too, chosen by the son Victor Chia and I have to say, bossa nova was the last thing I expected to hear at a wet market in Singapore. That is, if one can hear the music at all, because the Chias have many customers, and it can get noisy. Go early if possible.

Chia's Vegetable Supply
Blk 665, Buffalo Road
KK Market
#01-201
Singapore 210665
Tel: 62944901
Mobile: 9731 9743 (Victor Chia)

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.

Mustafa's Centre

In case you didn't already know, The Great Singapore Sale started last Friday. This Sale lasts two whole months, enough time to spend your shillings and cents. I did my bit in this national duty too, last night, we went to the 24-hour Mustafa's Centre. This place stocks almost everything one can think of, and more too. Last week they started selling Hyundai cars. Not only is the range of goods far and wide, the prices are kept low too, I bought a knife that was $2 cheaper than what they charge at Taka.

I keep the supermarket till the very end, because this is my favourite section, the produce there never fail to excite me. There is a space between the new and old wing where they display Mangoes, when Mangoes are in season. When there are no mangoes, this space is quite forlorn. To be more precise, when Pakistani or Indian mangoes are in season. There is always the sweet-but-dull Thai mangoes and big-sweet-and-also-dull Australian mangoes available almost all year round, but Pakistan mangoes, those we just have to wait and see what comes in. Last night was a good night because the Mangoes were in. I was almost clapping my hands in glee because I was so happy to see Alphonso mangoes. I ate one over the kitchen sink as soon as I got home. Alphonsos are sweet,juicy yet tart, with hardly any fibrous membranes and smells like a mango should, definitely a most delicious Mango. I also bought some Badami mangoes, from Pakistan, but these were not yet ripe, so I don't know if it is any good, but the feel of it in my hands tell me I am in for a treat.

Here is an alternative to popcorns and hotdogs. Bollywood snacks. I did not get any, but I did snap up some Hindi VCDs. Not knowing any Hindi, I selected the movies based on the actors / actresses, and the VCD cover: Pinjar, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Munna Bhai MBBS and mr and mers Iyers.

And here is the irresistible Amul moppet. A refreshing change from happy cows and twee milkmaids.

Victoria Street Wholesale Centre

Good dishes start with good ingredients, and for dried goods and basics like onions and garlic, I like to get mine from the wholesale centre.