Weng Kiang Kee Porridge: Hotel Chef Porridge
A hot bowl of Hainanese style pork porridge is the quintessential comfort food for a lot of Singaporeans but for some reason, it isn't as hot (pun definitely intended) as some of the other hawker dishes like prawn mee or char siu/sio bak. As a result, the number of stalls where you can get a really good bowl of traditional Hainanese style porridge can be numbered by a toddler.
Luka Italian: Pizza Perfection
If you have been following my blog for a while, you’d probably know that pizzas are one of those things that have a very special place in heart (or belly in this case). I love many different kinds of food, but when it comes to pizza, I not only enjoy eating it, I have actually […]
PUTIEN: Live Eel Season!
One thing that sets PUTIEN apart from a lot of other Chinese restaurants is the meticulous sourcing of produce and ingredients direct from the Putian region in China. Regular patrons of the restaurant would wait in anticipation of seasonal ingredients such as DUOTOU clams and Oysters which are specially sourced from the region. The uniqueness, […]
Good Food in Bangkok: 2019 Trip
We made a short family trip to Bangkok this year and being a family trip, the kids get to choose some of the things they want to eat. So, this is just a short list of the eateries that I picked. We lived in Bangkok for 2 years almost 20 years ago and the one […]
Old Amoy Chendol: Truly Artisanal Chendol
If I asked you what is the quintessential Singaporean dessert, would you have picked chendol? Probably not. In fact, when I did a poll in 2008 to pick Singapore’s favourite dessert, bean curd come up tops, followed by cheng tng and orh nee. Ice kachang, which used to be the posterboy for Singaporean desserts only […]
The Ultimate Singapore Durian Guide
The durian scene is very different from when I was a kid. Durians used to be just durians. We never used to have special names attached to them. Then around the late 2000's, D24 appeared on the scene which started the age of the durian cultivars. The D24 Sultan dominated the scene for a few years before the throne was usurped by the Musang King who currently reigns supreme!
Tree Coconut: Next Gen Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak is not complicated. At its most basic, all you need is a fragrant rice, an addictive sambal tumis, crunchy ikan bilis and peanuts and a perfectly fried egg with crisp edges and flowing egg yolk. The Malaysians will insist that it has to be hard boiled to be authentic, but for me, a perfectly fried egg beats a hard boiled egg any day. The other stuff, like fried Ikan Kuning, chicken wings, luncheon meat etc are bonus extras. Again, some might insist that the fried fish or fried chicken wing is essential or that luncheon meat should not even be mentioned. That's fine! You are free to choose whatever you like so long as you feel shiok after eating your nasi lemak.
Eat 3 Cuts: Cantonese Roast featuring Pipa Duck!
There are three types of roast duck in Chinese cuisine. The most famous is Peking duck where the emphasis is on the crispy skin that is eaten with pancakes, spring onions and cucumber. The most common is roast duck which is the one we find at most Cantonese roast stalls. Here the emphasis is on […]
Yun Nans: As good as chicken soup gets
Yun Nans might have a fancy set up to show you how they steam the chicken in special Jianshui pots for 4 hours but if the chicken is just an ordinary broiler that you can find at the supermarket, then it is simply a waste of steam. Thankfully, the owners of the first franchise restaurant outside of China has really put in the effort to procure good quality chicken, so the end product really is a pot of the proverbial "chicken soup" for the soul.
Joo Chiat 60th Anniversary Carnival: Siglap Food Trail
Joo Chiat Constituency turns 60 this year and will be celebrating it’s birthday with a Carnival with rides, live entertainment, games and, of course, good food which I have helped to curate from around the Joo Chiat area! We did a food trail to visit some of the eateries in Siglap who will be participating […]
Singapore Next Generation Durian Culture: 99 Old Trees, Durian Story, Spike Empire, Bao Jiak
We are in the middle of a durian revolution spearheaded by next generation durianpreneurs that are redefining the durian culture in Singapore! When I started writing about durians in 2012, most durian sellers were known by "Ah" something. So, we met durian uncles like Ah Loon, Ah Seng and Ah Kok. In the last few years however, we are seeing a new wave of durianpreneurs who go by modern English names!
ChaoShan Food Trail: Chaozhou and Shantou
Our trip to Chaoshan was inspired by the Netflix series, "Flavourful Origins". Although, I have always toyed with the idea of visiting my ancestral homeland for a while now, I needed that extra push to make it a reality. Well, the splendid documentary on Chaoshan food was that proverbial straw that broke the camel's back! So, we headed off to the land of the Teochews to look for olives, aged chai poh, beef hotpot, beef balls, marinated crab etc etc.
58 Minced Meat Noodles: Bak Chor Mee Soup!
The stall was started by Mr Sim’s grandfather who sold bak chor mee from a push cart along the streets of Chai Chee years ago when it was still a real kampung. Mr Sim himself has already been helming the stall for 32 years!