One of those things that I've been curious about. Stainless steel soap. Yeah I know... like WTFOMGBBQ right?
Well believe the hype. It does removes odour from garlic and onions lah. Wash under running water and rub your smelly fingers on it. Not exactly 100% removal but I suspect the residual odour are from under the fingernails.
....sooner than expected.... YAY! But for now, Foodgawker is doing a damn good job filling up the void for food porn.
check this out yourself here. AND.... they have this new site for alcoholics like me... Liqurious.com NICE!
so just for you alcoholics...
An copper coloured English ale with little aroma on the nose and minimal head retention from the bottle. Tastewise is quite low on late hopping but is substantially bitter at the end for a pale ale. Strong taste of roasted malt as well. Mouthfeel its pretty thin and dry with moderate carbonation. Not really that bad but not my kind of beer.
Just had Tonkotsu ramen at Ichibantei, Robertson Quay for lunch. Yummy AND salty. I like the fact that its not packed like Santouka and its tonkotsu is not diluted like many others. Good enough for a few more visits. nom nom nom nom nom...
On the other hand last week's visit to Baikohken, Boat Quay/Circular Rd area was just OKAYYYY.... large portions, nice ice water infused with roasted tea/barley(?) but the soup could've been more robust. Or... I should've taken the miso version rather than the shio. Will try the miso when I ever get around that area again.
No pictures of the ramen eaten, as I don't really have a habit of taking shots of food porn outside of home. Hmm.... maybe I should utilise the Fujifilm F30 more often.
And... More homemade ramen at home, shot with the Fujifilm F30. Enough of ramen already... :P
Homemade ramen noodles. nom nom nom nom nom....
Ichibantei
#01-04, 60 Robertson Quay, The Quayside
Singapore 238252
67333923
Monday to Friday: 11.30am to 2.30pm & 6.00pm to 11.00pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11.30am to 10.30pm
Baikohken
7 North Canal Road
Singapore 48820
65343808
11.00am to 3.00pm & 5.00pm to 10.00pm Daily
Or otherwise known as Heong Peang and closely related to Pong Piah. Mum used to buy this all the time when we were young. Its flaky on the outside, hollow on the inside and coated internally with maltose and sometimes with caramelised shallots plus other stuff that I can't really tell.
Got this pack cos the vegetarian stall below my block was selling them, give support lah. It doesn't taste fresh and the maltose inside was not fragrant with caramelised shallots due to buddhist beliefs that it belongs to the category of Five Pungent Spices.
Quote unquote from this webbie
Other foods that may fall into the "forbidden" category include "the Five Pungent Spices." This refers to onions, scallions, chives, garlic, etc. Traditionally, Buddhists have believed that a person who eats these foods will suffer the following ill effects:Further reading on this here and "The Five Pungent Spices" are namely
- His blood and flesh will be rejected by the gods, and the heavens will distance themselves far from him.
- His breath is always foul; therefore, all gods and saints will reject him.
- If eaten cooked, these foods will arouse lust and cause explosive temper.
- If eaten raw, they will increase one's anger and cause bad body odor that will not please the gods but will stimulate interested "hungry ghosts" who will hover around and kiss one's lips. Being near ghosts is believed to hinder one's enlightenment.
Had a bunch of leek in the fridge for the longest time, so went into recipezaar.com and found this recipe for Potato-Leek-Mushroom Soup.
I use whatever that was easily available.
Ingredients
Fresh corn, carrots and spring onions in the fridge. Frozen yakibuta and one hidden container of tonkotsu from the last batch. Freshly made ramen.
I lub lamen to deth and I ken leee tolibu dibu dauchoo...
Caviar with the "......" :)
I was walking around IKEA's food section and saw this curious looking bottle called ABBA Black Lumpfish Caviar Roe and "took a chance on it". "Mamma mia" it was like "knowing me, knowing you" that "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" like it quite a bit and this is getting way too corny.... "Does your mother know?" :P
Ok, I'm not even a fan of caviar... its just salty little black fishy globules. Somehow caviar just reminds of South Park's salty chocolate balls. hur hur hur
Now the most intriguing thing about this is Lumpfish, click this. Fricken ugly innit? I don't know if that was a good example of how a lumpfish looks like as there are many types around but this happen to be the ugliest. This is another page showing the roe in its raw and processed form aka dyed black with cuttlefish ink to make it look like the sturgeon roe.
Had some leftover focaccia bread in the fridge. Sliced them to around 1 inch thick, spreaded some butter, top with 1/3 slice of cheddar cheese, some dried thyme and oregano with some freshly ground black pepper. Toast it in the oven for a bit and top with some sundried cherry tomatoes and a few spoonful of the lumpfish roe. Not too bad I must say so myself. 
Got this French Trois Monts ale brewed by Brasserie De Saint-Sylvestre way back from my favourite beer stall at Bukit Timah Market and it was standing in the fridge for the longest time waiting for an occasion to pop the cork. Yeah... this beer is corked like Chimay Grande Reserve. Unfortunately this occasion never came, no BBQ sessions and no more mahjong sessions by the better half and the poly alumni.
The beer style belongs to the French Bière de Garde which is also known as farmhouse ales.
Its bottle conditioned and had quite a bit of yeast at the bottom. My bottle was way past its expiry, so the taste could be way off from the original. Blond in colour, highly carbonated with 8% ABV. I recognised some vanilla and coriander but somehow did not like the cloying sweetness. I do find expired ales sometimes to have this yucky sweetness to it. Oh well... I know I got pretty shitfaced after finishing this rocket fuel. :P
The informal Batu Pahat makankakis in Singapore met up at Old Mother Hen aka Lau Kway Bu in Hokkien, last Saturday for some nom nom nom nom nom..... I've been there with some friends before and quite like the food there. Especially loved the fish head, pork fallopian tubes and Shi Quan chicken soup.
First dish... KL style hokkien noodles. Love this love this love this. I can eat this everyday and die a happy man. We agreed that it tasted better than the one we had at Big Eater during the last outing.
Next, pork fallopian tubes! I personally have no problems devouring "spareparts" other than kidneys. Kidneys if not prepared properly would have that ammonia aka URINE stench but then again, improperly washed stomach, intestines, rectum(yes we eat pork rectum too) and many other spareparts would have yucky stench as well.... hmmm... I just can't stand that urine taste in my mouth. Ok I digress...
I love this dish too. As far as I know, I've not eaten this anywhere else and I'm glad that they serve this here. "Crunchy" and firm without any offensive odour. The savoury sauce is sweet and spicy and blends really well with the fallopian tubes.
Homemade tofu... which self respecting chinese style restaurant would not have this on their menu? Their version is competent there's nothing to dislike about this dish.
Next is the source of fibre for every meal. The vegetables! I like their imaginative way of serving the boring kai lan with this but majority of us didn't like it. The kai lan was a bit old and chewy.
The star of the meal was this. Half a very fresh red grouper head with a very tasty and spicy sauce. Guarantee to whet up the appetite. Enjoyed picking on the skin and bones.
This is their version of claypot chicken rice. Not too bad I'd say and competently executed but I know I've tasted better elsewhere. One thing thats different is there were no salted fish added and replaced by a salted egg yolk. I'd prefer it with the salted fish though. Edit: Seems like I didn't scoop any of the salted fish at all!
I've always love herbal soups and especially Shi Quan(Mandarin)/Sip Chuan(Hokkien). Mum used to cook this for the whole family. We had some pantang(taboo) that after drinking the soup, we should not drink cold drinks and not drink tea, reason being we'll have permature greying hair. I dunno man, there are some things that we just follow without questioning.
This soup belongs to the "heaty" group. According to teh interwebs it is said to consist of the following
