Amoy's Avocado Juice, Singapore - $2 Happiness

Avocado Juice, $2

Ice-Q's avocado juice at Amoy is pretty much my newest addiction. Smooth, creamy and just thick enough that it's fully satisfying without you having to worry about ordering it without ice. At $2 a pop, I have to say, happiness (in the CBD) has never been so close in reach.

P.S. Not too sure about avocado juice? Try it with chocolate first ($2.50) - that's a sure crowd pleaser!


Ice-Q
#02-216, 7 Maxwell Road,
Amoy Street Food Centre,
Singapore

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Ang Moh Wanton Noodles, Joo Chiat, Singapore - My Professor's Fave

Hong Mao Mian Jia

I was having lunch with my professor at the cafeteria a few months back. He asked, "Where do you stay?" Having satisfied himself that I was a fellow dweller in the East, he continued, "There is a very good wanton noodle stall in the east. Best fried wantons in Singapore. But don't go during the weekend because you'll have to wait for at least an hour. And you'll see all the regulars equipped with their books, newspapers and ipads." There was a pause. I played the role of an inquisitive student and egged him on. He went on, "The lady boss knows me because I go there so often. Last Chinese New Year, we made a bulk order of their wantons and fried them at home for reunion dinner. They were so well received, they never made it to the dinner table." My interest was piqued. I began cajoling him to give the name of this legendary noodle stall away. He deliberated slowly, "I don't like telling people the name of the stall because I don't want it to get any more popular than it already is." But his face softened. "Ang Moh wanton noodles," he finally revealed, "Try their fried wantons."

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Start Your Sunday Morning Right - Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok

Teh C

What a name! Word had it that the noodle stall was previous located at Jalan Tua Kong before shifting to their current location at Simpang Bedok. But I digress. My idea of a perfect Sunday morning is quite simple really, just a good cup of tea served in a ceramic cup and a lip-smacking bowl of Mee Pok (dry noodles). I love my Sunday brunches, but you know and I know that we can't get mee pok like this anywhere else. Here's my confession: I only get coffee/tea when they're served in ceramic cups - the thickness and smoothness feels great against the lips and somehow it does taste better. Am I alone on this one?

Mee Pok, $3.50

The Mee Pok, as usual, was truly fantastic. The ingredients were as fresh as can be, but the magic really laid in the noodles, sauce, and healthy dose of lard. Excuse the oxymoron. The sauce was truly a mastery mix of spicy and savoury. Even the soup was a notch tastier than your average fish ball noodle soup. This bowl of Mee Pok is all I need to start my day right. I'm lucky because my dad has been bringing me here since I was little. Granted, it was a good twenty minute wait, but M and I hit up the place at lunch hour (our idea of Asian Brunch), so we weren't expecting anything less. Well worth it, I'd say. Grab the daily newspaper, get some coffee or tea, and just take things slow. It's a Sunday breakfast, after all.


P.S. Are you heading to Hong Kong anytime soon? I'm working on a guide and will be posting it in the next few days!


Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok
306 Bedok Road
Bedok Shopping Complex
Singapore 469469
Opens daily: 7.30am - 5pm
Tel: +65 6241 0201

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Playing with Fire

Have you seen this video entry for Cine65 last year? Skip to 1:14 if you don't care for watching the entire video. The whole sequence of chefs, woks and fire is jaw-dropping and incredibly sexy. The editing is superb. Fully captured the music and rhythm in cooking.

Cooking is an art, guys. Happy Sunday!

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Snapshot: Red Tea Jelly with Longan at Changi Village

Red Tea Jelly with Longan, $2

If there's one thing that I subconsciously love about this island city, it is our wide selection of affordable desserts. I swoon over macarons and crème brûlée, but our most humble offerings are plenty heartwarming. I'm probably biased since I grew up with them, but a hot bowl of pulut hitam or almond paste really is all I need sometimes. In an odd way, I feel blessed that our desserts generally go for no more than three dollars, especially since desserts in Hong Kong are frequently priced above char chan teng mains!

Red Tea Jelly with Longan is relatively new to me, actually. Before I met M, I've never heard of it. But it's one dessert that is close to his heart, so it's been on the table every time we visit Changi Village ever since I knew him. To me, it's like a new age version of ice kachang, which is really a good thing since I don't dig all the ingredients in the original, but I'll be hard pressed to find faults with longans, condensed milk, red tea jelly, crushed ice and drizzles of syrup. Nothing mind-blowing, but so satisfying! Especially on a hot day like the ones we've had intermittently this past week. I'm totally craving for it right now.


Mei Lin Yin Pin
#01-40 Blk 2 Changi Village Road,
Changi Village Hawker Centre, Singapore

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Changi Village Nasi Lemak, Singapore - Would You Queue?

Nasi Lemak with Chicken Wing, Otah and Egg, $4.50

With the Chinese New Year holidays officially over, let me come clean - I'm finally feeling the effects of delicacies overload. Forget abalone, scallops and sea cucumbers, I just want all my favourite hawker stalls to be up and running again! Don't you? Not so long ago, I had an intense craving for Nasi Lemak and practically convinced M that we need it for lunch the very next day.

You see, I've been to Changi Village for Nasi Lemak a couple of times with different groups of people, and those memories have sat well with me. Going back for Nasi Lemak felt like the most natural thing to do. Then we saw the insanely long queue. I seem to have the ability to only remember the best things about places. I guess we could have gone to Mizzy's, the stall beside International, which hardly ever witnesses a queue, but we went ahead anyway. After a pretty grueling wait, we finally sat down with two plates of Nasi Lemak. It was certainly delicious - the egg was deep fried just the way I like it, with golden brown egg white crisps at the side, the rice was decent, the chilli was a satisfying mix of sweet and savoury and the otah was downright tasty. But the chicken wing, while tasty, had a batter that was a tad hard and didn't feel all that freshly fried. A pity because chicken wings are all I care about in a Nasi Lemak, apart from the rice, of course. Would I queue again? Probably not. My memories of Changi Village Nasi Lemak are no longer so fond. I would rather head to Chong Pang and Punggol Nasi Lemak for my fix! They have much better wings. Are you a fan of Changi V Nasi Lemak? Would you join the queue?


International Food Stall Nasi Lemak
Blk 2 Changi Village Road
#01-57 Singapore 500002
Opening Hours:
0930 - 0100 (Sunday - Friday),
0930 - 1900 (Saturday)

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Food Diary #1

One Beef Sukiyaki, Sushi Tei, $15 | Two Rainbow Roll, Sushi Tei, $12 | Three Waffle with Ice-Cream (Pistachio and Bailey's & Bourbon), Udders, $10 | Four Oyster Omelette

I don't always bring my DSLR with me, so I figured a photo diary would be a good way to capture some of my eats throughout the week. And a good way to spark more of your cravings! I've never actually dared to eat Sukiyaki in Singapore the real Japanese way - dipping the cooked ingredients into beaten raw egg. I had all sorts of fears, and I was positive Singapore was nowhere near Japan in terms of ensuring the freshness of raw eggs. Regardless, I finally tried it this time! It tasted less foreign than I thought - mostly as though I was dipping beef into the runny yolk of a sunshine egg, except of course, there were still traces of the viscous white that did nothing much for me. The verdict? Tasted good, much better than I thought it would, but I still wish it was just yolk! Also, I loved how the Rainbow Roll was sliced in such a way that you had two (albeit rather unequal) sashimi topping every piece of sushi. It's perfect for sharing!

P.S. Do you eat Sukiyaki this way?

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Snapshot: Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Fish

Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Pomfret, $25

Mmmm. There's no other pomfret like this - insanely deep fried and coated in a dry, fragrant paste of sambal belacan. I like to scoop up extra belacan to go with every bite of pomfret. Surprisingly, the snow-white flesh remains moist. I have to say, the wicked combination of the addictively crispy pomfret topped with heaps of sambal belacan gives me a kick every single time.


Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Fish
72 Horne Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6299 3024

387 Guillemard Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6741 7218

223 Rangoon Road, #01-01/02 Rangoon View, Singapore
Tel: +65 6292 7375

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Snapshot: Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow

Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow, $3

Just a lip-smacking photo of Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow at the classic Old Airport Road Food Centre. I've never actually been a huge fan of char kway teow so I was a little surprised at myself when this was the first dish I craved for when I came back from Europe. Somehow, I couldn't resist the tantalizing picture of char kway teow in my head - a sweet and savoury mix of smooth kway teow noodles, the addictive acquired taste of barely cooked cockles, crunchy bean sprouts and lots of sliced lap cheong (chinese sausage). I was definitely pleased that the decidedly long queue rewarded me with a plate of char kway teow noodles that fitted the image in my mind to a T.

Do you have a favourite stall for Char Kway Teow in Singapore?

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My Favourite Black Pepper Crab, Eng Seng Restaurant, Singapore

Sotong Youtiao (Chinese Cruller with Squid Stuffing)

After an almost month-long disappearing act, you may not believe me, but I miss blogging. I've been travelling, and travelling, and travelling. When I'm not travelling, I'm attending classes. And when I'm not attending classes, I'm catching up on sleep. Gee. Some highlights: a beautiful slice of Black Forest cake I had in the Black Forest, getting lost in the ever-picturesque Venice, strolling up and down cliffs amidst crashing waves in Cinque Terre, going up to the spectacular Jungfraujoch - the highest railway station in Europe, taking in the sights and sounds in Zurich - Switzerland's hippest city, checking out the latest street fashion in Milan, and a road trip down the Romantische Strasse in Bavaria, Germany. Before I start on all these though, here's my last Singapore post for the next few months. I had to have my last meal here right before flying off to Germany. Their Black Pepper crab is a stunner, but most of the other dishes they offer are very competently executed too. Their Sotong Youtiao is a hot favourite - wonderfully crisp and generously stuffed with Sotong filling, it's really hard not to like this one.

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Piao Ji Fish Porridge, Amoy Food Centre, Singapore

Sliced Fish (Pomfret) Soup with Prawns, $10

This is my favourite fish soup in the whole of Singapore. I know it has been two weeks since I came to Germany and I haven't started sharing anything about it, but I promise I'll do it all today! Back to fish soup. Apparently the cheapest bowl of fish soup costs $5 here, and the one I had was basically double the price, but it had the goods - exceedingly fresh pomfret and huge, fresh and crunchy prawns. The soup is addictive - clear, sweet (from the fish and prawns) and really tasty. It's absolutely perfect with a steaming bowl of rice, and you can even get a snack of oyster pancakes after. The price does seem a little bit steep, but they do use quality ingredients and each bowl is cooked individually, so it's actually pretty worth it. Try it and let me know what you think!


Piao Ji Fish Porridge
#02-100 Amoy St Food Centre
Opening Hours: 10.30am to 3pm
Closed on Thurs

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The Almost Extinct Oyster Pancake

Fuzhou Oyster Pancakes

If you're a fan of oysters, you have to be a fan of Fuzhou oyster pancakes. To me, this is as natural and certain as the law of gravity (or any other law you can think of). So, imagine my surprise when I found out that this incredibly savoury snack just isn't as popular as I thought it should be. You will never have a problem finding a Chicken Rice or Hokkien Mee stall in Hawker Centres or Food Courts, but a Fuzhou Oyster Pancake stall? You can probably count the number of stalls in the whole of Singapore with your fingers. As a kid, my dad would return from work on some days with small brown paper bags of Fuzhou oyster pancakes that would fill the house with a wonderful aroma of fried batter, oysters and pork. Imagine that! I would be extremely thrilled every single time, and finish my dinner as quickly as I can just to crunch into my favourite snack. My dad always buys at least three pancakes, so I would secretly hope that my mum wouldn't feel like eating hers, because then I'll get to have two instead of just one.

Even when I grew older, and started missing dinners and going home at late or unearthly hours because of school, I would return home on some days to see a small brown paper bag on my desk, and feel an incredible warmth in my heart because to me, that oyster pancake has almost become a symbol of my dad's love. I simply don't know how anyone can resist the combination of oysters and marinated minced pork enveloped in a crispy batter. How can you say no to such a beautiful combination of flavours? But if I'm having an oyster pancake, it has to be Fuzhou Style oyster pancake - there must be pork. Any other version just falls short. Granted, this snack is probably not the best thing for your health, but it's so worth the occasional calorie splurge.

To the best of my knowledge, the stalls at Amoy Food Centre (pictured) and Maxwell Food Centre churns out the best oyster pancakes. Those are the ones my dad brings home for me. I also get really excited whenever I chance upon an old couple selling Fuzhou oyster pancakes in the really huge pasar malam held in Bedok Central from time to time. It's a tiny stall that only sells oyster pancakes (and recently fried drumsticks too I believe). Sometimes, I wonder just how much longer I'll get to eat their oyster pancakes... Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the Fuzhou oyster pancake trade might just disappear one day? I really am.


Amoy Road Food Centre
Hong's Oyster Pancake Shoppe, #02-102,
7 Maxwell Road, S069111

Maxwell Road Food Centre
Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake, Stall #22
10am to 6pm daily

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Snapshot: My Favourite Deep-Fried Chicken Wings!

Fantastic Singapore-Western-Style Deep Fried Chicken Wings

This may look ordinary but seriously, this is hands down my favourite Singapore-Western-Style Deep Fried Chicken Wings! By Singapore-Western-Style I mean that common Hawker Centre Western Stall batter for fried chicken. It's so common but so great and also slightly nostalgic. And I guess it's not that common anymore since I've tried ordering fried chicken from a few other Hawker Centre Western Stalls to much disappointment. This, however, never disappoints. It's crispy, juicy and ridiculously tasty. I mean, they fry it to order and not in batches. This alone would have pushed it a few notches up chicken wing ranks. If I haven't been so unhealthy in everything I've been eating (sigh, gotta do something about this), I would have made this my regular unhealthy snack and would expect to be pretty pleased with life.

It's actually kinda funny how I came to know about this stall. I used to give tuition to a kid in the next block and grabbed this pretty often as a late-night snack. At that time, I thought this was pretty great Singapore-Western-Style Deep Fried Chicken Wings. It was only after some time (a few years, actually) that I realized not everybody is capable of making chicken wings like these. It didn't take much to convince M to bring me here, and we had a great night chomping down the chicken wings. 

This hidden gem of a stall is located in Blk 406 Tampines Street 41 (rejoice!), and goes by the name of A1 Family Ayam Goreng.

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Chong Pang Nasi Lemak, Sembawang, Singapore

Nasi Lemak with Chicken Wings, Otah, Curry Vegetables and a Beautifully Fried Egg

School has been holding me hostage, but I escaped to say this: You need to try this Nasi Lemak if you haven't already! Perhaps a trip specially down north to get a beautiful plate of nasi lemak might seem slightly unwarranted, but if you're hungry at 3am and suddenly crave nasi lemak, this is the place to go. They open from 5pm to 7am everyday, and is pretty much a perfect supper destination.

I was thinking really hard about whether I should share this post, cause the colours in the pictures turned out a little muted, but I decided that I had to rave about this (I'll probably update the post with nicer pictures when I next head back!). Imagine being spoilt for choice with platters and platters of goodies that you just want to all pile on top of the fragrant nasi lemak rice. Crispy and juicy chicken wings and drumsticks, addictive otahs, curry vegetables, fried taiwan sausages, fried eggs, fried fish...

The chicken wings were great stuff - very well seasoned and tasty. I just wish it came freshly fried and piping hot, which is probably a matter of luck since they fry everything in batches. The otah was really tasty and great with the rice. Everything was pretty decent actually, I really liked the curry vegetables too. The egg was nicely fried but I just wish the yolk was runny - could this be a matter of luck too?

I only just found out that nasi lemak rice is made by steaming rice that has been soaked in coconut milk. I love coconut milk, and this probably explains why I love nasi lemak so much - it's an amazing combination. Not the best thing for your health, of course, but occasional indulgences shouldn't be that bad, right?


Chong Pang Nasi Lemak
Sembawang Park,
447 Sembawang Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6756 0048

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Makansutra Gluttons Bay, Esplanade, Singapore

Oyster Omelette (Orh Luak), Soon Lee Stall, $5

It feels kinda silly for a Singaporean to be having supper at Gluttons Bay by choice and not convenience (there are just so many other better options around!). But I remembered having a surprisingly good oyster omelette here once, a very long time ago, and I missed it, so M brought me here. The one that I missed was unbelievably crispy with huge and fresh oysters to boot. This wasn't it though. Do you think memory sometimes paints a nicer picture of what really happened? This was pretty mediocre actually. I need an oyster omelette fix.. Any favourite places to share?

Sambal Clams (lala), Boon Tat Seafood Stall, $8

The clams were pretty good though! The sambal sauce was more like a chilli egg sauce (that tasted almost exactly like chilli crab gravy) but it was somehow pretty addictive and went very well with the clams!

White Carrot Cake, Huat Huat Stall, $4

This was pretty interesting. The carrot cake looked like an egg crepe of sorts - the egg is basically cracked over the carrot cake and folded in, so you get a lot of egg, and the bottom browns nicely to give some crisp. I've never had carrot cake like this before actually, the traditionalist in me still prefers the way it's done normally, but I must say that this is pretty creative! And it tasted pretty good too!

Makansutra Gluttons Bay

#01-15, The Esplanade

8 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039802
Mon – Thurs : 5pm – 2am
Fri & Sat : 5pm – 3am
Sun : 4pm – 1am

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Good Eats at Tiong Bahru Food Centre, Singapore

A few weeks back, M brought me to Tiong Bahru Food Centre, one of his favourite haunts for local eats! This food centre houses a truly impressive number of "branded" hawker stalls. We tried a couple of stalls and these were our favourites: 

1. Jian Bo Shui Kueh #02-05

Shui Kueh (Chwee Kueh)

Fantastic, fantastic! The Chai Poh (preserved radish) was extremely tasty and fragrant - the perfect accompaniment to the smooth and soft chwee kueh (steamed paste of rice flour and water). Very addictive!

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My Favourite Yong Tau Foo, People's Park Complex Food Centre, Singapore

Yong Tau Foo, S$3

I grew up eating this delicious bowl of Yong Tau Foo. Usually, I find it hard to get excited over a bowl of Yong Tau Foo, a dish that (in my humble opinion) belongs to the healthier (and therefore often "bland-er") category. But not here. Even though the line of people waiting can be very intimidating, it's well worth it! At this stall, the offering is a standard bowl of Yong Tau Foo containing assorted freshly made stuffed beancurds and fishballs in a really tasty broth. You don't get to choose noodles to go with it, so what my family often does is order a bowl each, along with other hawker favourites like oyster omelette or carrot cake from other stalls. I love everything about this Yong Tau Foo - everything is made fresh (no mass manufacturing involved), and it's served to you piping hot! If you make me choose my favourite Yong Tau Foo item here, it has to be the fried beancurd with fish paste!

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