Chik's Crib: January 2016

29 January 2016

Muah Chee Recipe

Recipe January 29, 2016 0

I'm surprised how well this recipe turned out. I had a recent spate of bad luck with recipes taken from casual baking blogs: two recipes which I googled for and baked on a whim (green tea tuiles and milo lava cakes) were downright unappetizing, despite the bloggers' convictions on how delicious their adaptations are.

Cocoa Colony (The Star Vista)

Singapore January 26, 2016 0

Sigh. So much promise, but so disappointing.

I wasn't full from my lunch at Rollie Olie, and I was (as per normal) craving chocolate. We were wandering around the un-airconditioned section of Star Vista and because it was a hot day, I thought it'll be nice to get something cold. Cocoa Colony's Iced Cocoa Shakerato ($7), which sits at number 2 on their Favourites menu, seems like a good idea as we walked past, so I stopped and ordered it.

Huh. It sounds really fancy, but it's just a chocolate drink with a large quantity of ice? It has a gritty mouthfeel too, like the copious amount of cocoa powder hasn't been fully dissolved. Drink fast, before the ice melts and dilutes the drink further.

I like Cocoa Colony's decor, with the chocolate fountain obstructively located over at their counter where their wagons stand displaying their wares. If only they spend as much effort on their food.

It's easy to criticise and tear something down. Criticism without suggestions is useless as hell; any half-wit on the internet can do that. With that said, here's what some of your competitors have been doing. Go ahead and try their ideas.

Koko Black's Iced Chocolate, the finest iced chocolate I had.

1) Make sure the cocoa powder dissolves fully. Or, if the low temperature re-precipitates the cocoa powder, use chocolate bars instead of cocoa powder. Try using the hot chocolate recipe from Wittamer, one of Brussels' finest chocolate shops.

2) Take a leaf out of Koko Black's book: Skip the ice cubes, and add two scoops of ice cream, one vanilla, and one chocolate. The beverage gets creamier and creamier as the ice creams melt. If Koko Black can sell their Iced Chocolate with two scoops of ice cream for $8.90 with local minimum wage laws stipulating $20++ per hour for employees, you have no excuse. Charging $7 for cocoa powder plus milk plus ice cubes is excessive.

3) Top your beverage with chocolate shavings, à la Koko Black. To hide the ice cubes if nothing else. Or some whipped cream from a can. Anything. The version I bought looked really drab. You're a homegrown brand (I think), and I really really hope you do well.

24 January 2016

Rollie Olie (The Star Vista)

Review January 24, 2016 0

I had my first taste of American style sushi rolls in you-guess-it! America, Unlike traditional Japanese sushi that pay homage the freshness of their ingredients by keeping their sushi simple, the American way highlights their sushi with chunks of cream cheese, avocado, mango slices, melted cheese and anything else you could think of. Everything under the sun is fair game.

My favourite dish from Sushi Tei is their Dragon Roll, which comes with sliced mango, prawn tempura and ... . (So I guess you guys know which camp I fall into.) But Sushi Tei ain't got nothing on these guys. This may be some of the most impressive sushi I have ever eaten in Singapore.

Sunday Folks (Holland Village)

Review January 21, 2016 0

Gula Melaka ice cream served atop a charcoal waffle biscuit base

When J texted me about Sunday Folks, sister chain of Creamier, I was still on the fence about it. Then she sent me pictures of her waffles, and I had no further qualms.

Miss XS was angling for their pistachio ice cream, but pistachio was sold out when we arrived mid-afternoon. Based on Hungrygowhere's top recommendations, Miss XS and I shared Waffles with Seasalt Gula Melaka Ice Cream ($11.80). Gula Melaka, or palm sugar, is processed from the flowers of certain palm trees (such as from coconut trees, or date palm trees).

The waffle was fresh and fluffy and the edges remained crispy even as the ice cream melted and pooled over. How does it manage to do that? The sheet of crunchy charcoal waffle just below the ice cream was also a nice touch.

creaminess of the coconut base is apparent the minute it crossed my lips, but we couldn't taste any salt. Shame. Large flakes of seasalt perched on the swirl of ice cream would have been picturesque, and would have nicely balanced the cloying sweetness of the ice cream. It's sweet, not in-your-face-until-your-tooth-aches, but a more subtle sweetness that creeps up and accumulates in your mouth, until you start craving for a glass of water for the rest of the day. With the syrup drizzled around the perimeter of the waffles, the sweetness is overkill. We downed cups of water from their water dispenser with an adorable gold tap, but it was too little too late. But the consistency of the soft-serve was perfect, I just didn't care for the gula melaka flavour.

The Verdict
Love the waffle, Neither of us enjoyed the Gula Melaka Ice Cream, but Miss XS is a fan of their Roasted Pistachio ice cream. From the way she described the pistachio vs gula melaka, I will be back to try the Pistachio.

17 January 2016

Awfully Chocolate

Singapore January 17, 2016 0

Walking along East Coast Road after lunch at Boon Tong Kee, we chanced upon Awfully Chocolate, which makes one of the most impressive chocolate ice cream I ever had. They come in the most adorable boxes that are shaped like Chinese takeout boxes, and it's joyous to walk around while scraping every last bit of ice cream out of the box.

So what else would I order, if not their chocolate ice cream? We individually ordered the Single Scoop, which came in beautiful, rustic serving cups.

We didn't look at the menu before ordering, so it was kind of a shock to see the bill. We paid about $6 for one scoop of ice cream. In hindsight, it'll probably be cheaper if we a) ordered a double scoop instead of two single-scoop, b) have the ice cream to go, so we wouldn't pay the 17% service charge and GST.

Was the ice cream worth it? I did get palpitations when my friend told me we could each get a pint of Häagen-Dazs for $3 more. It was lovely to sit in the cafe for a bit, and we did get a cup of water along with our orders, which I definitely needed to counteract the richness of the ice cream... Hmm.

The Verdict:Awfully Chocolate serves some of the richest chocolate ice-cream I had. Thank goodness for the water. I don't think I could make it through a scoop without having a sip of water now and then. Shame it's so expensive.

13 January 2016

Boon Tong Kee 文东记 (East Coast Road)

Singaporean food January 13, 2016 0

Recently, I made plans to meet a friend for lunch at the famous hawker centre on Old Airport Road, but after traveling cross-country to the East, it seems that fate - and Murphy's Law - has other plans... Damnit!

The sinking feeling when you reach the carpark of a famous hawker centre during lunch hours and it's suspiciously empty...

Because he has lived in the area for little over a year now, he recommended several other food places - all of which have stellar reputations - and so off we go.

We (Okay, I) decided on Boon Tong Kee for lunch when we walked past the chicken rice ~~stall~~ store. And a store it is. It has evolved from a hawker stall into a restaurant that takes reservation and serves peanuts and wet paper wipes. It's an impressive departure from its humble origins.

We ordered Half Chicken, alongside with two bowls of rice. The rice is slick with chicken oil, fragrant and sinful. But that's what we're here for. But the chicken is ... wait for it ... cold. Cold like it's been taken straight out of the fridge and immediately served. Or, more likely, like the air-conditioner has been blowing directly at the chicken since morning. The chicken sauce is fragrant, and the chicken is tender. But I must be missing something, because I don't get why they would serve cold chicken.

We also had a plate of Kang Kong. I'm really bad with spicy food, but I thought the cook could have used a bit more chili.

The Verdict
Rice was fragrant. But why is the chicken cold?

08 January 2016

Nunsongyee 눈송이 Korean Dessert Cafe

Review January 08, 2016 0

When I came back to Singapore a couple of months ago, I was informed that bingsu is the new hip food craze that every man and his brother is going nuts over. Bingsu has its origins in Korea: like shaved ice, but made from frozen milk. Unlike the Taiwanese predecessors, bingsu is shaved so finely, they have a powder-like consistency.

Everybody has their favourite brand, but I was assured that Nunsongyee 눈송이 Korean Dessert Cafe is the most popular one. The one at Bugis is insanely popular, my sister warned. They're open 24 hours, but when she walked into the store at 11.30pm, the staff was so swarmed that she was kept waiting until 1am.

With her warnings in mind, Miss XS and I went to the branch at Tanjong Katong instead, which is super ulu. We were rewarded with an almost-empty cafe and quick attentive service. Score.

Injeolmi Bingsu ($14.90) is the original flavour. I took a bite, expecting - something... Hmm tastes like powder. The shaved ice was so cold, I couldn't taste anything. Miss XS made the exact same comments, and said to give the bingsu a few moments to melt a little, and to root around the sides for the semi-melted parts first. Strange that it may sound, the semi-melted bits taste way better, because the milk taste came across stronger. I like chancing upon the chewy bits of traditional rice cakes embedded all over the dessert. They're the best thing in the bowl. I started digging exclusively for them.

The bingsu comes with a small cup of sweetened milk (is this condensed milk made runny?), which you are supposed to mix in with the shaved ice. The sweetness of the milk turned the tasteless powdery bowl into a magical concoction. On a return trip to the Bugis branch, we went at 12pm when there was only one other customer aside from us, and they gave us the entire squeeze-bottle of sweetened milk. Score!

While waiting for the bingsu to melt, we had the Honey Butter Signature Toast ($12.90). It was a little disappointing to see it was made from two slices of ordinary bread, but we bit into the toast to reveal the unique, slightly sticky honey butter spread within. It was pretty decent.

The Verdict
Are the desserts spectacular? Miss XS seems to think so. I think the price tags are more spectacular. Like those movies that is enjoyable as I watch, but leaves me feeling empty and underwhelmed at the end of the movie.

06 January 2016

West Coz Cafe (West Coast Plaza)

Singaporean food January 06, 2016 0

The name 'cafe' is a little misleading: West Coz Cafe sells zichar-style food like curry fish head, oyster omelette, sambal kangkong and ma bo beancurd. But zichar by any name tastes just as sweet, and this store has a huge number of loyal customers. We walked in for lunch on Christmas day, and the joint was packed. But the kitchen and wait staf are so efficient, once you get a table, get ready to feast within 10 minutes of ordering. All of our food came in 10 minutes, and the waitress dropped by to apologize that because they are in the midst of making fresh prawn paste chicken, our order may be delayed. (But it was promptly served within the next 5 minutes.)

Curry Fish Head is their most celebrated dish. It's unapologetically rich, thick and yummy. I was thisclose to dapao-ing the curry home. (The kicker is of course, boxing up this dish costs $2.) The fish in the dish still had a lot of scales, and it's no pleasure to bite down hard on one. It's a common problem here, but other than that, no complaints.

The Prawn Paste Chicken here is the best I've had in my life, bar none. Crispy fragrant exterior with piping hot, juicy meat within.

The tomato and cucumber just get in the way of the deliciousness. If we order deep fried chicken, I don't think health is our top priority.

The Claypot Chicken sounds like stewed chicken, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the juicy chicken thigh meat was fried to a crunch. Be sure to scoop the sauce at the bottom and drizzle it over the chicken.

Oats Prawns is a dish I'm psyched about, especially since I requested for the shells to be removed. The deep fried oats are definitely crisp enough, but they lack fragrance. Sounds silly to say for a savoury dish, but I think the oats need more sugar.

Because my sister is wary of spicy food, we had the non-offensive Hong Kong Gai Lan instead of Sambal Kangkong. It was a decent dish, but nothing note-worthy. Get the Garlic Potato Leaves instead.

The Hotplate Beancurd wasn't very spectacular either. I had a couple of spoonfuls, then pushed it away to make space for the Prawn Paste Chicken in front of me.

We paid the set menu 2 (for 4-6 pax) for $82.80, which includes all of the above, and comes with 6 drinks. Rice is not inclusive. Luckily, I had a $50 voucher from West Coast Plaza when the churros photo I submitted won their #wcpsnaps competition. Shameless brag. I told my sister that since she paid for the churros, I'd use the voucher to buy an extra big christmas present for her kids. But we ended up using the voucher here, though she didn't seem to mind... Priorities. We have them. Best Christmas lunch ever.

We had an additional Salted Vegetable Soup ($10), which was so over-poweringly salty, I could feel my tastebuds shriveling from dehydration. And all I had was a spoonful. It was so salty, we couldn't even eat the meat and vegetables from the soup. Sorry. There's no way someone could finish a bowl without developing acute kidney injury.

Update! The Dry Beef Kway Tiao has no wok hei, but was well-balanced and fragrant.

Miss XS recommended the Salted Egg Squid, but we found it a bit too oily and the squid was too tough from being over-cooked.

Must-Try
Curry Fish Head
Prawn Paste Chicken
Claypot Chicken

01 January 2016

Devil's Food Cake Recipe

Recipe January 01, 2016 1

Whew. Another year has come and go. Is it 2016 already! It barely seems like a month ago when I wrote about my trip to Taiwan. And the year before that, when I wrote about going to Melbourne's Les Misérables.

When people ask me how old I am, I instinctively blurt out 19! before reality strikes me: 19 is almost half a decade past. Time is a funny thing, when the hours are so long but the months and years seem to fly.

I have no qualms about being 20-plus. The last few years have been some of my most fun-filled, adventurous - and delicious - years. Even the rosy lenses of nostalgia can't convince me that my teenage years spent in Singapore's education system were much fun, and my years of accumulated wisdom hint that many things are better left buried in the past.

I used to feel that time affects everyone else but not me. Sometimes, I still do. But for better or for worse, I am - or will be in a matter of minutes - 24. There's school to start. Hospitals to get to. Old friends to catch up with and new people to get along with. Old subjects to re-read and new notes to learn.

There's shit to be done.