Chik's Crib

30 January 2015

Tai-I-Want! Trip: Day 1

Travel January 30, 2015 2

I've always wanted to go to Taiwan, but I just never really got around to it until now. This always surprises people, because I am just so ling long ching chong. I have an irritating habit of replying in Chinese even though a conversation begins in English. After a few sentences, they invariably switch to Chinese too. Ha!

My trip to Taiwan started off early at 7am, when I reached Changi Airport. There was a couple of hours to kill before our flight took off, so my friends and I sat around the food court.

Tai Wah Pork Noodles, which serves the best ba chor mee I ever had.

I rubbed my eyes to check it's really the Tai Wah I know and love. But as much as I wanted to buy a bowl, it seems like a shame to fill up my stomach right before flying to Taiwan, so I took a rain-check. [Update! My sister tried it and said the noodles here were a far cry from the original.]

When we got onto the plane, I didn't pay much attention to the safety because I thought I have heard 'em all. Which was kind of a mistake. The flight had a lot of turbulence, which was bad news for J, who was slightly afraid of heights. Midway, I was trying to remember: was it a parachute or a life-vest under the seat? It's a valid question. Stop judging me. J was a little too preoccupied to reply. I tried to distract her by sharing my phobia about luggage falling onto my head, which strangely didn't calm her down.

She told me that if there was a fire, she'll feed me to the flame. I countered that my jacket is flame-retardant. Like the owner, but for flames.

In hindsight, I'm sure there are better retorts I could have used. But it seemed to prove my point. I'll call it a draw.

Alice Medrich Cocoa Tuiles

Recipe January 27, 2015 0

Another recipe I wanted to try ever since I had my first tuile at Chez Dre, I finally got around to doing it. I took a bite of the finished product from this Alice Medrich recipe and I had no regrets about making it.

Okay, I did have one. I halved the recipe because I wasn't sure how it would turn out, and now I'm wishing I made the full recipe instead. This cookie is delicious, with a deep, intense chocolate flavour. (Like all of her chocolate recipes.) When completely cooled, it shatters into shards when you bite into it.

It was really easy to make: I was done mixing all the ingredients in 10 minutes. This is the first cookie recipe that I made that I've been really impressed by.

Llao llao

Review January 26, 2015 0

Could it be? I don't usually fangirl over ice cream places. The frozen yogurt chains in Singapore all sound the same to me, such is my indifference. But I'm really excited about llao llao (pronounced yao-yao), a frozen yogurt store that hails from Spain. Maybe it's the hype getting to me, but it is indeed, one of the most impressive frozen yogurt I have ever had. When I walked out of NUH clutching a cup of frozen yogurt with its tell-tale green, oversized spoon (they have a few branches, mostly around the west and central Singapore), a girl grabbed her friend's arm and exclaimed excitedly "llao llao!" And that's when I knew llao llao has arrived.

It also happened to be my 3rd trip in four days. But hey, who's counting?

Imperial Treasure

Singapore January 23, 2015 0

There are quite a few dim sum places dotting the food landscape of Melbourne, including a rather good one a few minutes drive away from where I stay. But they pale in comparison to the ones in Singapore, and every time I return, I book an emergency session with my family for dim sum, pronto.

Imperial Treasure at Jem Shopping mall.

One of my favourite haunts is Imperial Treasure, which serves some of the finest dim sum in Singapore. Miss XS tells me the branch at Ion Orchard is the best, but generally, all branches have a consistently high standard.

The porridge at Imperial Treasure is so smooth and the rice is so fine, it's almost like they blend 'em. As a matter of fact, I'm going to stick the porridge that I make in the future into a blender, to see whether it really improves the porridge's texture. The plain porridge, which goes for $1.80, is a steal.

Parrozzo (Almond Cake) Recipe

Recipe January 22, 2015 0

Parrozzo is an traditional Italian cake in Abruzzo, a region on the East coast of Italy. It's made with ground almond and semolina flour, which gives it a rustic texture. It's traditionally made in a dome-shape and glazed with chocolate and is served during the Christmas season. It's a long way off to Christmas, but I will not be deterred...

I halved the recipe and couldn't find a suitable bowl to bake it in, so I wounded up using a heart-shaped pan. I was still planning to glaze the cake in chocolate, but my chocolate seized. It could be due to a number of reasons: I was using a skillet instead of a saucepan for the water-bath; I was using milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate; I used a wooden spatula, which is frowned upon because they may contain residual water or oil between the wood fibres. I didn't feel like making another batch of chocolate, so I just left it at that, and did a simple dusting with confectionery sugar. Don't be like me.

But on the bright side, I ate up the seized chocolate, and the grainy texture was strongly reminiscent of Cadbury's Bubbly range. Methinks I found their secret recipe. Could it really be easy?

Parrazzo

Serves 6

Original recipe from Dolci: Italy's Sweets by Francine Segan.

(I halved the recipe below when I made mine, and baked it on a heart-shaped pan instead. The baking time was reduced from 50 minutes to 20 minutes.)

Ingredients:
140g blanched almond (finely grounded), or almond flour
100g semolina flour
Pinch of salt
55g butter, softened
150g sugar
4 eggs, separated
Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
Flour, for dusting the cake pan
70g Dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 155 degree Celcius. Butter and flour an ovenproof dome-shaped bowl, about 720ml in volume and 6 inches in diameter.

If using whole/sliced almonds, grind the almonds to a fine powder in a food processor. Add a couple of tablespoon of semolina flour when grinding the almond to soak up almond oil released during grinding.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Using a spatula, stir in the semolina and almond flours, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter and salt until well-combined. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites to very stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter and pour the mixture into prepared bowl for baking. Bake for about 50 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, or in a microwave. Spread the chocolate over the cooled cake and let the chocolate set before serving.