The Wanton Mee in Singapore is very good these days. After all, one has won a Michelin star. Many stalls sell noodles which lean more towards Hong Kong style, springy, thin and al dente. In the earlier days, you have to go to Cantonese chains like Crystal Jade or Imperial Treasure to enjoy them. These days, they are getting very common in HDB...
I always think that a blog is a better medium for a cook to share his story. A cookbook is too final. Not only is the recipe already cast in ink. Somehow, it communicates the idea that this is the only way to cook this dish, that this recipe is "best" for this particular dish. A blog allows a cook to just tell...
It has been a while since I posted something. My wok has been hung dry for a while now as the busyness of work and life takes over I came across this article where Damien D’Silva (executive chief at Folklore) lamented on the lost art of local home-cooking. If you have been following my blog and cookbook, you will know that I share the same...
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” - Luciano Pavarotti Life in Singapore is busy. I don't need to tell you that. Nearly 6 million people living, travelling, studying and working in a small area of 719.1 km². When I was in Toronto for...
By now, some of you may know what "ABC" soup is. I am not sure how that name came about but in my household, it simply meant pork ribs soup with potatoes, white onions and tomatoes. Add some salt or soy sauce and that's about it. The meat combines with the veg to produce natural umami flavours (and so, I read somewhere) and...
Who cares what you wear? I find wet markets fascinating. Don't you? I used to follow my Mother regularly as a young boy. There I learn that a good cook needs to know how to market his or her produce. That was of course before the advent of convenient supermarkets. Even with the likes of NTUC and Cold Storage today, our wet markets...
When my wife turned 50 recently, I offered to cook her something. This was her only request: chap chye. It turned out fabulously well. I will share with you what went into it. First off, the cabbage I like to use is the white long cabbage from either Malaysia or China. It is sometimes called Napa Cabbage or Wong Bok. It is very...
Ikan Sumbat using Selar Fish - This recipe was shared at the O.P.E.N. kitchens event. Click here for some videos of the event where you can see the fish stuffing and frying in action. If there is one dish which reminds me about my late mum, it has to be this and this was why this recipe was chosen. It is also the "makan dengan tangan" thing....
While I like many pork rib recipes - and there are quite a few on this blog - this buah keluak recipe heads the pack in Usain Bolt's style. I have not gotten round to preparing a buah keluak recipe from scratch, working with the fresh seeds and de-poisoning it through an elaborate process. I am aware that there is a satisfying...
Have you noticed that when you plan on doing a Chinese dessert drink, you inevitably end up at a Chinese Medicine hall or store? That's right. Traditionally, Chinese have a medicinal perspective of food. From dang gui herbs, ginseng to rhino horns, everything is suppose to bring some benefits to your body, though the latter can get you into legal troubles. Some food...
I have yet to out up a crab recipe on this blog. I love crabs. It is at the top of my list and in my bachelor days, often I will while the night away with some good friends chatting over a few plates of it. Crab recipes were one of the first I tried to learn from my Mum. I started with...
This cookbook has been a few years in the planning but many decades in the making. It is an attempt to pass on my mother’s recipes to future generations of cooks. My mother, or Auntie Ruby as she was affectionately known by many, was a cook by profession and passion. It was her stepmother - of the kebaya generation - who first taught...
Yumms.... I use to think that the electric cooker messes up the nasi for Nasi Lemak. I have most of the time gravitated to steaming the rice as one way to ensure that the rice is separated and fluffy. I have done up many posts about it here. Indeed the steaming method is a good one, albeit more troublesome and not always practical...
I have been asked if Beef rendang can be made using the Sous Vide method and the answer is absolutely yes. For braising recipes with long cooking hours, I often use the SVmethod. I find it convenient to cook the meat beforehand as it frees up stove space and time for me to cook other dishes. Beef rendang is one good recipe for...
Tok, tok, tok, tok...! I wish I can put to words the sound I can still remember from the Mee Yoke seller when he motorcycled by our home at Lian Seng Garden. With the wooden block casteneting away, he had a certain impish way of saying "Mee Yoke! Mee Yoke!" Perhaps to avoid straining his vocal chords. Or maybe, in a high-pitched...
