Step back into the good ole days...

One fine day after lunch, Hansel and Gretel went out for a walk in the woods. Thinking that a short walk would aid in their digestion, they happily (but unfortunately) walked into the witch's woods. Of course, soon they were lost. With panic rising within them, they were overjoyed to see some signs of civilisation: a house made of bread!




This was what went through my mind as Wendy and I stared at the shop before me. I was initially attracted to the shop as I thought a fire had devastated it a few days ago. There was soot everywhere! On the walls and ceilings, even on those bricks on the shelves.... eh? What the....?



Are those bread?! Wah say! So much carbon! Definitely carcinogenic! But, like Hansel, I chose to buy one loaf to try. After all, how many of these authentic bakeries of the past still exist? Anyway, they cut off the carbonized skin of the bread when I bought them, so it was all nice and white and everything. The bread was good, I suppose. See, actually I don't like plain bread that much. But it was very fragrant and very fresh! Bagus!



Anyway, when I was paying for the bread, I jumped at the chance to ask for permission to take photos of the bakery. Luckily, the owner graciously agreed, but on the condition that we were not allowed to take photos of him. (camera shy, eh?)



Then we were off! Snapping here and there, we saw many things that we have never seen before. Like the worker getting bread out of the huge, old oven with a long, carbon covered stick. Wow! That's not something you see everyday! And the bread! All the glorious bread! Can someone pass the curry chicken? I just have to dip those bread in curry! In nice thick smooth CURRY! Chilli crabs will do too!




But there is something that photos can never represent: the aroma! Yes! The mouthwatering aroma of bread baking in the oven! The smell of years of baking everyday seem to emit from the very walls, and as I stood in the shop, I began to appreciate its truthful and wonderful appearance. Surely hunting for food has never been as zen as this experience!




If you want to go and have a look, this shop is at the row of shop houses just in front of the market at 92 Whampoa Drive. You can't miss it: it is very obvious. Have fun! The bakery awaits you!

Alert! Heaven approaching!

What's that? It's heaven! No! Its Makan Mania of the 60s!




But it's over! It was held at Bugis Junction from the 1st till 3rd of july! Got lots of old and new hybrids of old food.





Have you ever tried:


Ahhh! It was a foodtastic day!

Easter hunt.

Yes, I haven't updated my food blog in a while. No, I'm not lazy. I prefer to say that I'm uninspired by the food around me. None of the food around me seem to evoke any sense of awe anymore. So, to get that feeling again, Wendy and I decided to go to Johor Bahru to look for a pastry that kept appearing in her mind: Egg tarts!


Robot eyes?

Don't underestimate the taste of these egg tarts. Wendy actually HATES egg tarts. But this single one egg tart found in JB actually won her heart over and stayed in her mind ever since. However, we had only very limited clues of where the egg tarts were bought. Therefore, acting on little clues obtained from her father's accounts, we set out to find the Ultimate Egg Tart!

The clues which we had:
1) Bought in "XX Garden" -XX花园. From conversations with colleagues, we realised that the place may not be a garden but the name of a place, which we, on further probing, assumed to be Malaysia Garden-大马花园
2) A place where Singaporeans go to eat seafood.
3) Plastic bag and packing had no indication of the name of the shop.
4) Egg tart's crust is not brittle yet crumbles at the the instant of biting it. The egg is moist, soft, not too sweet and is creamy in consistancy. The egg has a yellow surface but its centre is pale yellow in colour. The combination of the crust and the egg can only be described as heavenly!


Divine!

In other words, it is the BEST EGG TART we've ever tasted!!!
With these information, can you find this treasure at the end of the rainbow? You should try, it's very fun!

The market's movin

Didn't post for a long time liao. But now that my exams are over, I can finally continue blogging.

I went to Corporation Drive Food Centre today for some fish soup and realised that finally the market will be relocated to its new premise nearby. They'll close officially on the 8th of May. In case you have no idea where I'm talking about, almost all the food that I've talked about in my previous posts comes from there. Haiz, all the history gone overnight just like that. Thank goodness I took some photos for rememberance.


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Anyway, not all the stalls have gone and luckily, my Lucky Fish Bee Hoon stall is still open for business. And I have to say that it still tastes quite good. I'll update the location of the stalls once they have moved into the new permises. Just wished you guys have tried the food...


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Challenge!

Hmmm, due to public discontent that Wendy and I only comment on other people's cooking and never do any of our own, we decided to create a few dishes for your critique. We chose to make a fruit cheesecake and Or Ni, which is a chinese dessert.


Swimming Fruits 

Our Fruit Cheesecake, still waiting patiently in the cake tin! Look at the colourful toppings. There are peaches, pineapples,honeydew, watermelon and some of the Mandarin Oranges left over from Chinese New Year! Let's get it out of the cake tin! Oh the suspense! Oh the calories!


Collapse! But still good... 

Oh no! Due to a miscaluculation of resultant strength of the gelatin covering, the gelatin began to collapse under its own weight! Oh the horror! Despite the mark deduction for the appearence, the taste of the cheesecake was wonderful! The sinfulness of the cheesecake was redeemed by the goodness of the fruits, making it an overall divine experience. So nice.....


Or Ni

Next dish that is coming up is the Or Ni! As with many Chinese desserts, this is a very sinful one. It is made of mashed yam simmered in coconut oil with lots of sugar. Ginko nuts were added too. There final product is a light purple creamy paste with Ginko nuts dispersed in it. Its sweet taste and smooth texture immediately tell you why it is a favorite dessert during Chinese weddings: To wish that the newlyweds have a sweet and smooth marriage. Ah, bliss...

Buay tahan!

After weeks of eating porridge and soupy stuff, Wendy and I can finally take it no more! We decided to ignore the the feeble warning alarms at the back of our minds and allow ourselves to indulge in a meal of Fried Bee Hoon. Yes, been hoon. We talked about it earlier on the previous postings. Go read if you dun know what it is!

Basiacally, the stall is still in Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre. The name of the stall is Bee Hoon Kuay Teow Mee and Rice. It is located on the second storey of the food centre. Yes, I know it isn't a stall name, it's more of a menu. But that's what's written on the signboard, so..... Anyway, what this stall sells is what is locally referred to as economic bee hoon, cos it is cheap and you can add additional stuff like chicken wings, fried eggs, Taiwanese sausages, etc. The usual favorites of Singaporeans!


Look! How can you resist?!

This stall is recommended cos the bee hoon here is not oily at all, plus the chicken wings (when freshly fried), taste heavenly! Remember to say yes when the uncle asks whether you want chilli, cos it is also worth a try! (However, nowadays, the business has become slower since their move to this new location, so the Chicken wings are not so fantastic anymore.... Sigh...)

The stall is open everyday except Sunday, and from late afternoon till late into the night (just my guess as I don't have the habit of waiting until people close shop) Do go and try!

iIlness taboos...

As the ancient Chinese saying goes: "Fortune never happens twice but misfortune never comes alone." Soon after the recovery from my illness, Wendy falls ill. She started off with a very bad sore throat which eventually led to flu-like symptoms and finally with a bad cough.

The Chinese believe that certain food tend to aggravate various disease states. For example:

If you have a cough, refrain from eating chicken and oranges, cos these will agitate your throat and make your cough worse. Staying away from bananas are important as it is believed to cause the body to produce more phlegm.

A sore throat is indicative of an excessively "heaty" body system. Therefore, to prevent the aggravation of the condition, one should avoid "heaty" food like chocolate, fried and baked food, red meats like beef and especially mutton, foods that contain chilli or are hot and finally fruits like rambutans and durians are a strict no-no. A heaty system is also said to cause acne, so for the image concious people out there, refrain from these foods! (to avoid fried food is healthier too, in the view of Western medicine)



Chinese believes in duality, like yin and yang, so if there are heaty food then there are cooling food. Food that cools the system includes vegetables and fruits like cucumbers and watermelons. Hyper cooling food exist too, and examples of these are bitter gourd, pineapples and mangosteens.


 

A body system that is extremely cooled or heated will result in diseases. Therefore, balance is the key. (this also appears in Western medicine where a balanced diet is important for the general well-being of the body) So, do not over-indulge in food from either categories! One can instead choose more neutral food like apples, pears and white meats like chicken and fish so as not to antangonize the body's balance. However, please bear in mind that diet is only part of the contributing factors to the body's balance of heatiness and coolingness. Activities like late nights or take long afternoon naps and repeated, drastic changes in the surrounding temperature can also disrupt the body's natural balance.

The Chinese also believe that disease can also arise from ingesting too much toxins. (Toxins?! From where?! I dun take arsenic!) Well, it seems that this "toxin" is not the conventional type that we know. This toxin (or "Tok" in Hokkien), is present mainly in marine animals like crabs, prawns, cuttlefish and squid. One should avoid the overconsumption of these organisms. Coincidentally, these organisms are high in cholesterol, so the Asian belief may not be wrong, as high cholesterol levels in the body does lead to diseases like heart attack.


Yes yes, it looks good...but...

Hmm... Wendy is still unwell. Maybe I shouldn't type too much. Oh well, if you feel unwell, just visit the chinese physician! (or locally referred to as "Chinese sinseh") :>

Breakfast?

My premonition of sickness proves to be accurate. I fell sick soon after my last post. But now that I'm better again, I'm ready to reveal the next food on my to eat list. This food is still found in the Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre. If you are wondering whether I'm a lazy guy who only chooses to eat at the nearest food outlet and who delusionally thinks that the food is great in order to pacify his hungry but lazy stomach, you are wrong! It's just more convenient to do food research by concentrating on a certain area.

So, if you happen to read this blog in the morning, you might want to consider trying the Niang Tou Fu aka Yong Tau Fu from the Fa Ji Niang Tou Fu. Located on the second floor of the food centre, this stall provides a large variety of food items to choose from. In case you are not familiar with Yong Tau Fu, you just choose six or more pieces of food items and give them to the stall vendor who will then ask you for the type of noodle you want. You can choose bee hoon (yes please!) or yellow noodle or kuay teow (flattened nice noodles).


So colourful! So nice!

Upon making your choice of noodles, the next choice would be whether you want your noodles and food items to be swimming in soup or not (if you want the soup and noodle to be separated just tell the person you want it dry) If you want it dry, you'll have the option of having it hot (as in chilli paste) or not. Do try the dry bee hoon version with chilli. We find it really good!

Chinese Culinary

Traditionally, the Chinese have categorised food according to their innate properties. The term "heaty" referred to food that stimulates the body system, "cooling" referred to food that soothes the body system and "neutral" referred to food which neither stimulates nor soothes the body system. Chinese culinary aims at achieving a good sense of taste as well as balancing these innate properties. Ginger is commonly used in fish bee hoon and other kinds seafood preparations to dissipate the fish odour. Ginger is considered as "heaty". In order to create a balance, some fish bee hoon will have slices of bitter gourd in the soup because bitter gourd is classified as "cooling".