Yakiniku Ten: Wagyu Beef on Rice, Very Nice!

Oumi Tokujo (premium) Kalbi $39.80 for 100g

Don't you find it amazing that Japanese Cattle can walk around with so much fat in their muscles and yet the cow doesn't die of a heart attack?  That incredible marbling is the result of years of genetic selection and careful choice of feeds. 

Up till only a few years ago, Wagyu beef was still very much the stuff of legend.  Tales of how the cattle are fed beer and get massages to produce that beautiful marbling were propagated in the West by videos such as the one below, giving Wagyu beef that Eastern mystique.  But just how much of it contributes to that intense marbling?


Classic Wagyu Beef Video

Very little.

If you think beer gives the Cattle great marbling, think again.  How many guys do you know who have beer bellies?  That's the result of an accumulation of visceral fat, ie fat in the abdominal cavity. That is the kind of fat found in-between the intestines, liver, stomach etc, which results in a rounded tummy that rests precariously atop of the belt.  But that is not the kind of fat we want in Wagyu.  That intense marbling is the result of intramuscular fat which is the fat found in between muscle fibres. 

Now, Cardio vascular disease is directly related to visceral fat and not intramuscular fat, so that is why the cow does not die of a heart attack.  Actually I only assume they don't (I can't find any stats on it), but the point I am trying to make is that it is not the drinking of beer that creates that Shimofuri (snow flake) marbling in Wagyu.  You can feed an Angus steer all the beer you want and it still wouldn't develop the marbling of a Wagyu.

So do they actually feed beer to the cattle?  It turns out that it does happen in some Waygu ranches, but only during the summer months as a way of stimulating their appetite. Sake massages are done to keep the animal relaxed as too much stress will result in poor quality meat.  Some ranches do play music while others rear their cattle in pairs.  All of these are strategies to keep the cattle relaxed to improve the quality of the meat.  But that intense marbling... it's all down to the genes.

Australian Kalbi vs Japanese Oumi Kalbi

When you eat at a Yakiniku restaurant or Shabu Shabu restaurant for that matter, most of the work of delivering a great meal experience has already been done by the farmers beforehand.  So if the restaurant carries beef from a good source, then most of the battle is won since all you need to do is simply grill the beef and eat it with a bit of salt. 

If you are looking for Japanese Wagyu at a good price, Yakiniku Ten is one place which you can consider.  As with many restaurants that are located in golf clubs, the main mission of the restaurant is to provide great food for their members at reasonable prices.  What a lot of people may not realize is that a lot of these restaurants are also opened to the public and it is often at these places that you can find great value deals.

The selection at Yakiniku Ten is quite wide and you can order both Australian as well as the Japanese Wagyu here.  For example, you can get 200g of Australian Premium Wagyu Kalbi for $39.80 or 100g Japanese Premium Wagyu Kalbi for the same price.  So the Japanese beef is twice the price, but there is a discernible difference in the quality.  Whether that difference is worth twice the price is, of course, subjective.  It would have been perfect if they served a good Japanese rice with the beef and used real Japanese charcoal in the grill instead of an electrical BBQ, but all these extras would push up prices.   4/5


Enmaru Roll $21.80

The other item that is well worth ordering is their house specialty, the Enmaru Roll.  This is basically a sushi roll that is filled with cucumber and pickles and topped with a variety of ingredients like tuna, salmon, ebi, unagi, tamago etc. For around $22, you get 12 pieces of sushi which is rather good value and everyone on the table can take a pick of what they like.  4/5

Conclusion

Japanese Wagyu is not cheap, so I am always on the lookout for places where you can get it at a good price.  The place might not have all the bells and whistles of a fine Japanese restaurant, but it's a great place for family and friends to gather around for Yakiniku. 

Special Japanese Wagyu Set for ieatishootipost readers

Oumi Premium Kalbi (60g)
Oumi Kalbi (60g)
Satsuma Sirloin (50g)
Served with Rice, Miso Soup and Pickles
$59.80++
Just ask for the "Ieatishootipost Set" when make your reservations.  Offer valid till 29 Feb 2012

Yakiniku Ten
Laguna National Golf and Country Club
(Turn right at the main entrance)
12pm to 2.30pm
6pm to 9.30pm
Closed Mon
62481722

This was an invited review

Featured on Cover of Buzz Magazine

 

My food photography feature on BUZZ magazine, Issue 22

Nasi Padang River Valley: Less spicy, more sweet, Yummy all round!

If you love Nasi Padang, I am sure you would have at least heard of Nasi Padang River Valley.  This place is probably one of the most well known places for Nasi Padang in Singapore and it is quite a known fact that one of their regular customers is the Sultan of Brunei who would tarpau food from there whenever he is in Singapore.

The restaurant started off as a little stall in River Valley at the corner of Mohd Sultan Road in 1957 and were infamous for its snaking long queues.  That was one of the reasons they moved to their present location in 1998.  The 2nd generation owner, Zul, tells me that he still pretty much does most of the cooking which is based on his mother's recipes from the Bukit Tinggi region of West Sumatra.

But do they serve authentic Nasi Padang?

By his own admission, no!  Zul tells me that although most of the recipes have their roots in Bukit Tinggi, they have all been modified to suit the local tastebuds and in particular, the local Chinese palate.  So that means the food is generally milder and sweeter instead of salty and spicy as it is back home.  Bukit Tinggi is one of the cities within the province of West Sumatra which is situated in the highland region.  As such, seafood is difficult to obtain, unlike Pariaman which is a coastal city.  So although they have a few fish dishes, don't expect to find fantastic Ikan bakar here!


Beef Rendang $5

The one thing dish that is common amongst the Minangkabau people (inhabitants of West Sumatra) is Beef Rendang.  Even then, it is said that with 2000 provinces in Indonesia, there is probably 2000 different recipes for Beef Rendang.  The Beef Rendang here would probably be version 2001.  As I said earlier, the taste has been tweaked to suit the local Chinese palate, which explains why I like it so much.  The meat is tender and the aroma of the spices are distinct without too much heat to induce sweat!  4.5/5

Opor Ayam

When I assess Nasi Padang, I usually ask the following questions:

1.  Do you grind your own curry powder?
2.  Do you squeeze your own coconut milk?
3.  Are you still using mortar and pestle?

Most of the good places say yes to No. 1 and I have never come across anyone who are still using mortar and pestle to pound their rempah.  So question No. 2 is a very important in separating the good from the great.  In the case of Nasi Padang River Valley, I am glad to report that Zul still squeezes coconut milk by hand daily!  He proudly walked me into his kitchen to show me the tubs of coconut milk in the fridge which he squeezed in the morning.  On top of that, Zul tells me that they only use fresh meats, never frozen which is why he is not apologetic about his prices being a little on the higher side.

Opor Ayam is one of those special dishes which I can distinctly remember my first time eating it.  I was pretty young then and didn't eat spicy food.  So whenever curries were served at home, mom used to have to wash the curry chicken wing with water before I would eat it.  So when Mom brought me to Rendesvous Nasi Padang one day, she ordered Opor Ayam for me and assured me that it wasn't spicy.  I tell you, I still remember that taste up till today and so far, I haven't found any place that sells Opor Ayam with that exact same taste!

In case you were expecting me to tell you that I found that taste here, I am afraid you are in for an anticlimax.  The gravy is very good here, but still lacked that special something which I remembered from a long time ago!  4.25/5


Egg Omelette

The Egg Omelette is not a Padang dish.  It was something Zul's father had come up with a long time ago.  Essentially it is a frittata or a thick omelet with onion and parsley.  But unlike omelets in the west where they take pains to ensure the omelette doesn't turn brown on the surface, the omelet here is cooked quickly over a hot fire so that the egg turns into that familiar chewy stringy brown texture.  If you showed it to a French Chef, he might just go "pppffff!", but hey, I actually enjoy it this way as I do the deep fried egg coating on a bergedil!  4.5/5


Sambal Sotong

I like the Sambal Sotong here as it is more sweet than fiery and the sotong is cooked to perfection with a nice tender bite.  Just a little dissappointed that it didn't have that creamy roe inside but otherwise the sambal is sweet complement to the other more savoury curries.  4.25/5


Hjh Nurma Lutan, 84, Matriach at Nasi Padang River Valley

Conclusion

I guess Nasi Padang purists might complain that the food is too sweet and not spicy enough, but I am always very happy whenever I eat there.  The quality of the food is very good and the family still prepares so meticulously that they still squeeze their coconut milk!  The main complaint I always hear is about the prices being on the high side, but judging from the crowds, I don't think that stopped them from coming back again and again!

Note:
They will be opened on the first two days of Chinese New Year!  (23-24 Jan)

Nasi Padang River Valley
54 Zion Road
Singapore 247779
67343383
10am to 8.30pm
Closed Mon and PH

New Lucky Claypot Rice: The thing about Claypots.....

Claypots.  They are just not meant for hawkers to use.  Have you ever notice what the hawkers do with their claypots?  They always reinforce it with some kind of metal wire.  Why?  Because most of them are cracked.  Most of the hawkers who sell Claypot rice tell me that they usually discard their Claypots after only a few uses.  It's almost like a disposable cooking utensil!  So here is the conundrum.  Why did the Chinese invent such a useless cooking utensil which cracks so easily?


Metal reinforcements for Claypots

In order to increase the useful lifespan of their claypots, most Hawkers devise their own ways to reinforce their claypots.  Now here's another thought.  Why don't the claypot manufacturer's simply just make claypots with the metal reinforcement already attached?  Seems like the logical thing to do right?

Well, the short answer to this long question is that our Hawkers simply don't use the claypots according to the manufacturer's instructions.  (Not that there are instructions anyway).

The reason for the existence of the unglazed claypot is that it cooks food differently from a normal steel pot.  You are supposed to soak it first so that water is absorbed into the porous clay.  Then when you heat it GENTLY, the water in the clay turns to steam and steams the food in the claypot.  It is meant to be used with gentle heat and with an adequate soaking in water before the next use!

Here herein lies the problem.  Which hawker has the time to soak the claypot and cook the rice under gentle heat?  Most people already complain about the minimum 20 minute wait to eat Claypot rice.  So the solution is to turn up the heat and reinforce the pots with metal!



In case you don't know it yet, the famous New Lucky Claypot Rice which used to be a Clementi "must eat" has relocated to Holland Drive not long ago.  Now they occupy two whole stalls in the food centre.  I have wanted to blog New Lucky since they were still at Clementi, but when I eventually got round to it, they have already moved to Holland Drive!



Like most good Claypot Rice places, the rice is cooked in the claypot itself.  That, for me,  is the minimum criteria for me to even order it.  Some places cheat by assembling cooked rice plus ingredients in the claypot and just char the rice slightly inside of the claypot.  Forget it.  Might as well just order a plate of fried rice.

The other key ingredients are the marinade in the chicken, quality of the lup cheong (Chinese sausages), good salted fish flavour and most importantly, a great dark soy sauce.  Of these, I would say that New Lucky scored highest on the quality of the lup cheong which had that wonderful floral fragrance which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The chicken was cooked just right such that it was tender and juicy, but the marinade could have been a little more fragrant.  I think they cut down on the amount of salted fish because people nowadays don't want to eat too much of it.  I would ask for more salted fish next time though.  I was told that the dark soy sauce was a special blend from a few selected manufacturers which they have been using for many years.  It was good but I can't help but wish I had brought along my own bottle of one and a half year, naturally fermented Dark Soy Sauce from Kwong Woh Hing.  4/5

Conclusion

Good claypot rice with excellent lup cheong but I have this niggling feeling that it must have been better in the past.  Any long time fans of this place who can attest to this?

New Lucky Claypot Rice
Blk 44 Holland Drive
#02-19, S270044
11am to 1.30pm, 5pm to 10.30pm
Closed Wed
67787808, 93697922

The Cliff Restaurant: Anniversary Dinner

Amuse Bouche: Truffle Goat Cheese Creme with Cassis Mustard Keropok

I have never heard anyone who is reminiscing about the past complain that it took so long to get to the present. Everyone will remark about how time flies.  I guess that when you get older, time seems to fly faster since every event in your life really feels as if it happened only yesterday.  Of course, memories fade, but the thing is that your brain doesn't seem to be able to perceive the passage of time for each memory. We can only perceive the present, so an event that happened a year ago and twenty years ago are both perceived in the "present tense" and you only place the events on a timeline at your conscious level.  I guess that is why older folks perceive time flying faster then when they were younger.

It seemed like only yesterday when we were dating.  Suddenly, NS, uni, work and kids went by like a bullet train.  Before I knew it, my son is taller than my wife and we have been married for so many years!  What is more scary is that 10 or 20 years from now, I would probably look back and say that the 2nd half went by even faster than the first!

Every January I get stressed out looking for a place to bring my wife for our Anniversary Dinner.  It has become some sort of tradition that I keep the destination secret up until we actually reached the doorstep of the restaurant.  This year, the plan was to bring her "overseas" to The Cliff restaurant at The Sentosa.  I had heard much about the place being one of the very few places in Singapore where you can really feel that you don't have people above, below and all around you. Apart from that, Chef Yew Eng Tong is one of those local chefs who represents Singapore in International Culinary competitions, so the food must be at the forefront of culinary evolution.


Pink Shrimp:  Tartare, shrimp cracker, jelly, salsa verde, shrimp roe

For dinner, we ordered the 6 course degustation menu which is actually 7 courses when you add in the Amuse Bouche.  In case you haven't come across an Amuse Bouche before, it's sort of like an opening dish in which the chef gives you a peep into what the rest of the courses are going to be like.  You don't get to choose, so it's always a bit of a surprise which is great because otherwise, I would end up ordering the same familiar stuff.  So nowadays, I prefer to let the chef take me on a culinary voyage or as the French like to call it, voyage culinaire.

Judging from the Amuse Bouche, the kind of expedition that we were going to embark on was going to be about ingredients altered beyond recognition, artfully plated with scatterings of food items which require an internet search to identify. Of the three items on the slate, the one that hit all the right buttons for me was the Tuna espuma.  This is a creamy mayonnaise that has been infused with an intense umami made from, surprise, surprise, canned Tuna!  Yep, what I was eating was none other than a liquefied Tuna and mayo sandwich in a small jar with a crispy tomato crusted foccacia  on top.  Amused, very amused!  4.5/5

Actually, before I go on to comment about the rest of the courses, I would just like to say that the Cliff is an excellent place for a date.  We were sitting in a balcony amongst tree tops overlooking an otherwise magnificent sunset if had been a clear day. So even before we started dinner, I was already ahead on points in Rockett Girl's books.  We were especially blessed that it rained that afternoon, so there was a cool breeze caressing the trees making a soothing melody with the crickets during the course of our dinner.  The cushioned benches that we sat on were extremely comfy and I had a whole bench to stretch out, relax and get ready for an evening of gastronomic surprises! 

Chef had recently just came back from a stint at the three Michelin Star Victor's Gourmet restaurant in Germany which uses a lot of Japanese ingredients in their cuisine.  So it was no surprise that our first dish was amaebi (spot shrimps), served with a finely diced avocado salad and sprinkled with tiny cubes of jelly made from the prawn shells.  It was served with Shrimp roe and crackers to add texture.  The taste was good overall but I felt that I would have liked the dish to be served colder so that the avacado was a little lighter on the palate.  4/5


Tasmanian Salmon: Slow cooked, tartare, collagen jelly, Nutty leek, Pernod foam

There was a time when I wouldn't even touch Sashimi, but once I got over the mental hurdle, there was no turning back.  There are some fish which I don't mind taking either raw or cooked but when it comes to Salmon, I really don't like it fishy and flaky.  A slice of cold salmon belly sashimi is textural heaven for me.  So what can I say about Salmon cooked at 42 degrees?

First of all, I am not a big fan of Sou Vide cooking.  Some things like beef steaks should never be cooked Sous Vide in my opinion.  But Salmon at 42 degrees?  You can't really call it cooked because the proteins haven't really denatured such that they become opaque.  On the other hand, it it doesn't have the fresh, springy texture of raw salmon either.  Instead, it has a texture more akin to cold smoked salmon.  Chef explains that he cooks it at 42 degrees in order to be able to make the flesh moldable and hold its unique shape.  This is one dish that I personally feel has sacrificed taste for style.  It was rather heavy as a whole and it would have been nice to have more leafy greens to balance the heavy texture of the salmon.  3.5/5

Oyster Emulsion: Fresh Oyster, sago, dukkah spice

Some people swear by raw oysters and would never eat a cooked one.  I can understand why.  When eaten raw, oysters have a wonderful, creamy mouth feel and intense savoriness because of the amount of amino acids contained in the mollusk.  When it is cooked, the flesh becomes rather dry and pastey and you don't get the intense umami as the amino acids get trapped in the coagulated protein.  But what you do get in cooked oysters is an intense aroma.  Think of the difference in the smell of oyster omelet and a fresh oyster and you will know what I mean.

The Oyster soup manages to combine the best of both worlds by heightening the aroma of the oyster whiles still maximizing umami.  Chef does this by first making a stock out of mirepoix and oyster shells and then blending fresh oyster into the heated stock.  The heat of the soup stock releases the aroma of the oyster while the blending of the oyster releases the amino acids.  The other component of the dish is the lightly sauteed oyster and chopped beansprouts which give the dish its texture and sweetness.  Another layer of texture was added with sago that was cooked in the oyster stock. I would very much like to have 2nds please.  4.5/5

Iberico Pork: Strip Loin, rib roll, apple-sauerkraut puree, Potato Dumpling, cabbage roll

I am so glad that the AVA has allowed Iberico pork to be imported.  These acorn eating Spanish pigs are just about what you would imagine an ideal pig should taste like.  The striploin was perfectly cooked with a very thin, salty crust enveloping the meat which is tender, juicy and amazingly tasty.  It is a piece of pork heaven which I would recommend to any pork lovers.  The pork comes in slabs with the bone in, so after carving out the loin, the meat that that is still attached to the bones is slow cooked and then rolled in beancurd skin and fried.  A sort of French Ngor Hiang of sorts.  By itself it is very good but I personally felt that the Asian flavours did not quite pair with the Pork Loin itself.  Chef likes to serve pork with a more acidic and tart sauce, but being Teochew, my palate is more skewed towards the sweet, so the sauce did not quite work for me.  But the Iberico Pork itself was something really look forward to eating again soon!  4/5

Scallop:  Apple, textures of pumpkin, burned butter

Rockett girl loves scallops and so she was very happy with her Scallop dish which consisted of Hokkaido Scallops served with pumpkin that has been morphed into different textural forms.  She gave it a 4.5/5.  I would have liked my Scallops a little undercooked in the middle so that there is a contrast of textures between the crust on the outside and the sweetness of the raw in the middle.

The Cliff Lemon Tart: Textures of lemon, gin & tonic jelly, Tonka bean ice cream, yuzu sorbet

Now, if you take a lemon tart, put a small bomb inside it and blow it up, you would get the Cliff Lemon Tart (after tidying it up a little of course).  This kind of modern plating style is called "landscaping" where all the components of the lemon tart are separated and artistically arranged on a platter.  I like to think of it as "A walk through the Forest" because basically you don't know where to start, so you forage across the plate picking up small items here and there and put it in your mouth.  You try combining a bit of lemon custard with ice cream, then pick up a tiny bit of meringue.   Oh what's this tiny leaf doing here?  In a plate of carrot cake they would have been left behind as a casualty of war, but here you jolly well eat it cos there is only four pieces on the plate so they must be significant.  Then I come to the final piece, a cylindrical piece of transparent gin and tonic jelly the size of an eraser on the back of a pencil.  I pop it into my mouth.  Yep, gin flavored jelly. Interesting, but when I look at abstract art, I also go away wondering "Why ah?".   I am not trying to be disparaging.  The dish was very beautiful, very well constructed and you get to taste the lemon flavour in various forms and experiment with different combinations by mixing and matching flavours for yourself.  Just like abstract art, I think I just haven't learnt to fully appreciate it yet. 4/5

Textures of Peach:  Crisp, soft, light, frozen, liquid

If you go into a Japanese restaurant, you might get served with a slice of melon which costs as much as the Textures of Peach.  Damn smart people, the Japanese.  It takes an inordinate amount of work to render a peach into the myriad colours and textures in our second dessert.  Like the Lemon Tart before, desserts like these are a game of hide and seek where the chef carefully disguises the peach in different forms and you work your way through the plate to find them.  Again, very imaginative, very creative and fun to eat, but tastewise, I find myself asking if it is really tastier than eating a sweet and juicy freshly plucked peach from the tree?  4/5

Conclusion

The Cliff is a great place to get away to with your significant other for a romantic evening. They have positioned it as a casual dining place which serves fine dining food and I was told by the manager that the average cost per head is around $110. Service is friendly but isn't quite as polished as the food. Our bread was cold, the olive oil was not topped up automatically and the staff's knowledge of the menu was lacking. However, I was told that they have all just recently come on board, so it should improve with time. I do have a lot of confidence in Chef Yew's skills.  Although some of the dishes did not quite suit my tastebuds, I will not hesitate to dine there again to try some of his other dishes.

Postscript

The Sentosa also operates Spa Botanica, a beautiful outdoor spa set within the rainforest of Sentosa.  We both had the couples spa treatment package before heading over to The Cliff for dinner.  We have been to the Spa Botanica before and really love the place.  It has got individual outdoor "Huts" set in lush greenery and it's a great getaway if you have only a few hours to spare.  If you are planning for something this Valentine's day, do check out their Spa and dinner packages here.  (Please note that their dinner packages are at the Garden Restaurant, not The Cliff.  You can contact them directly if you wish to arrange dinner at the The Cliff after your spa treatment) 


The Cliff
2 Bukit Manis Road,
Sentosa, 099891
6371 1425
www.thecliff.sg

This post was sponsored by The Sentosa

Rumah Makan Minang: Of Padang and Minangkabau Cuisine

We all enjoy Nasi Padang, but how much do we actually know about it?  I would be the first to admit that I am guilty of calling any stall that sells rice with Malay style curry dishes Nasi Padang without much thought.  But that is not entirely inaccurate as many of the dishes that are characteristic of Padang cuisine has become very much a part of Singapore food culture.

The other problem I have with Nasi Padang is that out of the 50 or so dishes that are served, I always end up trying the same handful of dishes.  I guess I am the type that prefers to play safe and order something I know I like rather than taking the risk with something new. That's exactly what I did on my first visit to Rumah Makan Minang.

Hougang 6 mile Famous Muah Chee: Black Muah Chee to usher in Chinese New Year!

Black Muah Chee

Ever seen black Muah Chee before?  Well, I don't blame you if you haven't cos this is one of the fast disappearing foods in Singapore made by the last artisanal Muah Chee man in town!

The Muah Chee man told me that the Black Muah Chee is only served during the Chinese New Year period because it is used as a dish to entice the god of fortune ( 财神) to come to your house.

"Why black?" I asked the Muah Chee man.

"No idea!" says he.