Sin Ming Roti Prata: This is Artisanal Prata!

Prata Kosong 80 cents ea

I have been lamenting the fact that the last prata stall which I blogged about closed down barely a week after I blogged about it. Till this day, I still don't know what happened and I wonder sometimes if it had anything to do with the photo of the prata man which I posted on the blog.  It seemed that there is just too much of a coincidence that the stall should close so soon after I posted the article.  I guess there are some things in life that we shall never know.

Founder Bak Kut Teh: From Pig Farmer to Bak Kut Teh

Prime Rib Bak Kut Teh $8 per bowl

Balestier must be the epicentre of Bak Kut Teh in Singapore.  There are altogether 9 places selling Bak Kut Teh along this road, but the one that probably has the most photos of celebrities pasted on the wall is Founder's Bak Kut Teh.

It's been a while since my last Bak Kut Teh post.  Since then, many things have happened including the Malaysian Tourism Minister trying to claim Bak Kut Teh as a Malaysian dish. Well, in my previous posts, I traced the origins of the Singapore version of Bak Kut Teh to the coolies working at Clarke Quay needing an energy boost in the mornings in order to carry out the back breaking (literally) work of carrying sacks of rice of the bumboats to the warehouses that line Clarke Quay.  The Teochews came up with the peppery version while the Hokkiens had their herbal version.  It is quite evident that the Teochews have beaten the Hokkiens at Bak Kut Teh since there many more stalls selling the Teochew version than the Hokkien version.  Small consolation given the fact that the Hokkiens won the battle of the banks when UOB swallowed up OUB.  However, it is evident from the comments on our facebook fanpage that there are still quite a lot of people who enjoy the Hokkien version so I shall be on the lookout for a good Herbal Bak Kut Teh to blog.  

Eat with your Family Day: Make a date with your family on 27 May 2010

Tomorrow is Eat with your Family Day!

I grew up in a home where my mom was a homemaker, so everyday was Eat with the Family Day.  Nowadays everyone is busier so a lot of families don't actually have the time to eat together which is why every year, one day is set aside to remember the importance of having a meal together.  But eating with the family shouldn't just occur once a year!  It should be a regular time where the family comes together to share in a meal and bond.

Chin Huat Live Seafood: Special Forummer's Dinner

Garlic Prawns with Vermicilli $36/kg

When I started writing the blog four years ago, it was a one man show for a couple of months before readers started to write to me about wanting to join me during the blogging sessions.  Soon, I had a couple of kakis who would accompany me during the week when I went around blogging the famous hawkers stalls around Singapore.  This community of close knit kakis has grown through the years and these are the people who drive the blog by their recommendations and their support for all the projects that I get into, like the makan sessions and fund raising events.

If you want to know who these people are, all you need to do is to join the ieatishootipost forum.  Here is where the kakis share notes on what to eat as well as to lament the poor performance of Liverpool this season.  If you love food, support Liverpool, like photography and are Teochew, you would fit right in.  You don't have to be all four, just any one will do.

J.H.K Restaurant: Hong Kong Cuisine at Heartland Prices

Yee Mee $6

A lot of people tell me that Pasir Ris is a foodie's desert and there are not many great eateries around.  It seems to me that most of the newer estates like Pasir Ris, Punggol and Sengkang all suffer from the same problem.  Older estates like Commonwealth, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio abound with great hawker finds compared to the newer estates.  Do you think this is a reflection of the difference between the old generation of hawkers verses the new ones?  Or is it because HDB designed the new towns where all the amenities are centralized rather than spread out under the block of flats such that there are not enough privately owned hawker stalls?  What do you think?

Teck Hin Fried Hor Fun: Hor Fun with Prawn, Beef and sliced Fish

Beef Prawn and Fish Hor Fun $5

Fried Hor Fun is one of those dishes that you tell whether it is good or not by smelling it.  Amazingly, there are not many foods like that in our hawker centres. Let's see, Mee Pok, Chicken Rice, Char Siew Rice, Fish Soup, Poh Piah, Rojak even Hokkien Mee.  You don't really smell these as much as a good Wok Hei from a well fried Hor Fun.  There is something magical about the combination of Kway Teow (Rice Noodles), oil and soy sauce fried in a smoking wok which you don't get with frying noodles.

Balestier Road Hoover Rojak: Finally manage to eat this famous Rojak

Rojak with Century Egg $3 + $1 extra for the egg

If you ever have to describe the ingredients that go into rojak to a westerner, I am sure none of them would want to eat it.  I mean seriously, does fruit salad dressed with a sauce made from fermented prawns sound delectable? Not only that, you get to eat it with a black coloured duck egg that smells of urine (ammonia).  To use Singaporeans, that is yummmmeeeee, to them it is the stuff they use for Fear Factor.

Tong Fong Fatt: Chicken Rice for the New Generation

 Half Chicken $9

One of the big differences between the Chicken Rice of old and the modern day Chicken Rice is the sauce that they douse over the chicken.  Some places like Yet Con still persists in traditional Hainanese Style Chicken Rice where the chicken is served without a sauce.  This is the way my mother-in-law still serves her Chicken Rice.  Our modern day chicken rice comes with a soy based sauce partly because our chicken nowadays don't taste as "chickeny" as the free range chickens of the past.  So the sauce is necessary to give it a bit more flavour.  Some say that this is the Cantonese style of chicken rice, but in Singapore, this style is now widely accepted and my kids prefer it this way.

Best Ramen in Singapore Contender #10: Noodle House Ken: Midnight Ramen!

Hiyashi Chuka Cold Ramen $14

I finally come to the end of my Ramen Rampage!  These ten Ramen posts represent what I think are the top ten Ramen places to eat in Singapore based on our ieat community recommendations.  Of course, there will be new Ramen-yas opening up in the future and I will certainly keep an eye out for them after a brief respite.    We will run a poll next to find out which of them is the favourite amongst our readers.

For the final Ramen-ya to be featured in this series, I have selected Noodle House Ken.  I think Noodle House Ken deserves the final spot because it is one of the very few places that you can eat Ramen past midnight!  That and also because the Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Noodles) is rather shiok!

Canon-Ieatishootipost Photography Workshop: And the winners are.......

Photos by Canon professional, Jino Lee.  You can view his excellent photos at www.jinolee.com.sg

The Canon-ieat food photography workshop attracted 50 participants which is the largest turnout to date.  I think it reflects the increasing popularity of taking pictures of food before we eat to upload onto the internet. Everyone loves to make their friends drool!

Whampoa Soya Bean and Grass Jelly: Traditional Bean Curd that is Smooth as Silk

Traditional Tau Huay 60 cents

When I was a kid, our version of the Boogeyman was this mysterious character called the "Ti Gu".  I never knew who or what the "Ti Gu" was.  All I know was that the Ti Gu's job was to catch people and you don't want to be caught by the Ti Gu.

I later found out the the dreaded Ti Gu was none other than the Public Health Inspector, whose job was to clean the streets of hawkers.  In the good old days, our hawkers ply the streets just like how they still do in some of our neighbouring countries.  These hawkers would "hawk" their food from pushcarts along the main roads which meant that the our streets were often full of the rubbish the next morning.  In 1969, in an effort to create a clean and green Singapore, the NEA was tasked to rid the streets of hawkers.  Thus was born the Ti Gu, Public Health Inspectors, who like the Tax Collectors in Biblical Times or the Cisco Parking Inspectors of today, are often treated as the traitors of society.

Guan Kee Char Kway Teow: Longest Char Kway Teow queue I have seen

Char Kway Teow $2.50

There still exist a generation of Singaporeans who continue to exemplify the spirit of our founding fathers of hard work and dedication to even the most menial of tasks.  Just take the Char Kway Teow Uncle at Guan Kee for example.  I was at Ghim Moh Food Centre for a good two hours that day and during that time, there was a perpetual queue of at least 15 people waiting in line for their plate of Char Kway Teow.  This uncle is totally focused on frying the Kway Teow.  His forehand and backhand strokes for which he has perfected over the last 41 years have become so ingrained that I believe each new plate of Char Kway Teow gets exactly the same number of swirls as the one before.

The Garden: Do you think about what you eat?

Organic Potato and Paneer Burger $24

Many people assume that just because I write a lot about hawker food that I am advocating unhealthy eating. Actually I write about hawker food because I love to explore Singapore culture and write about the lives of our heritage hawkers who have played a pivotal role in the lives of every Singapore.  Plus it just feels right when you are eating Hawker food.  Hawker food is not unhealthy if we eat it in moderation.  I certainly don't eat it everyday.  Yes Pork Lard is not the healthiest of stuff, but you know, between Pork Lard and TBHQ (the chemical preservative that is added to French Fries to make it last forever), I would rather eat Pork Lard, just a little, and not too often.

Best Ramen in Singapore Contender #9: Baikohken: Best value for Charshu lovers

Shoyu Ramen $13.80

There are two more contenders left to my Ramen Rampage and it is getting a little tricky deciding who to include in the top ten.  Over the last few weeks, I have eaten more Ramen than I have Maggie Mee in my lifetime and I am glad I am almost at the end of my journey. After this, it's back to some serious Hawker Hunting again as I need to blog a few more stalls to include in my upcoming book.

This Ramen Rampage has helped illuminate the cultural differences between the Japanese and us Singaporeans.  Allow me to elaborate with an illustration.

Lai Wah Restaurant: Origins of Yu Sheng and Yam Ring

Lucky Raw Fish Yu Sheng $45

You must feel a little incredulous to see an article about Yu Sheng in May.  Well, this is no ordinary Yu Sheng, this is the original plate of Yu Sheng that was first introduced to Singapore during the Chinese New Year of 1964.  Up till then, Yu Sheng had been a dish which was eaten during Chinese New Year, but it wasn't until the late Mr Tham Yui Kai came up with the idea of premixing the sauce and introducing "Lo Hei" or tossing of the salad as a group activity that gave birth to what we know today as Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng is something which Singaporeans should be proud of as it is a piece of Singaporean culture that we are exporting to the world.    It ranks up there with the Singapore Sling and Chilli Crabs as iconic Singaporeana.  This is one dish that we must not let the Malaysian Tourism Minister lay any claim.

Best Ramen in Singapore Contender #8: Men Tei, This Ramen is Shio Shiok

Shio Ramen $14

The style of Ramen that is commonly enjoyed in the central part of Japan around Tokyo and Yokohama region is the one with a clear seafood and chicken stock.  I have been looking around for a good place in Singapore to enjoy this style of Ramen and I think I found  a really good bowl right here at Men Tei.  This looks like just another bowl of Ramen, but don't be fooled by the clear unassuming soup because this a soup as sophisticated as any French Comsomme and strikes such a perfect balance that your taste buds will sing in resonance to its tune.

Gen Shu Hong Kong Delights: Our favourite Hong Kong Masterchef's new Lunch items

Eggplant with salted fish mince meat over egg fried rice $4

Our favourite HongKong Masterchef, Gen Shu is one of those rare Chefs who is able to achieve universal appeal.  Ever since I blogged Gen Shu back in July last year, I have yet to hear of anyone complain about the food there.  Usually when I recommend any stall, I would inevitably get people who write in to offer a differing opinion, but it has never happened with Gen Shu.  The man is a culinary legend.  Not only will he be able to cook every part of the pig, he can do it in a way which everyone would like and do it consistently. 

Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh: Why is Chwee Kueh called Chwee Kueh?

The unassuming Chwee Kueh - Truly Uniquely Singapore!

I had a fascinating history lesson from the uncle who runs this Chwee Kueh stall in Ghim Moh market.  He was only 8 years old when his mother started selling Chwee Kueh from a push cart back in 1959 near Alexandra Hospital.  Now, 51 years later, he is still passionate about preserving our Chwee Kueh tradition.  There are many Chwee Kueh stalls in Singapore, but most of them sell Chwee Kueh that is made by a machine in the factory.  This uncle and his wife still wakes up early in the morning to hand pour the rice flour mixture into some 1500 aluminium molds everyday.

Best Ramen in Singapore Contender #7: Nantsuttei: Black is the word!

The latest kid on the Ramen block is Nantsuttei whose recent arrival was met with great expectation.  Nantsuttei serves Kumamoto style Ramen which is also from the Kyushu region and is closely related to Hakata style ramen.  If you find the broth of Hakata style ramen still not rich enough, then you are going to be even more disappointed with the Ramen at Nantsuttei. That because the broth here is lighter than Hakata style ramen but it is a little sweeter because of the addition of chicken bones.  The noodles here are also slightly thicker than Hakata style Ramen.  The most obvious difference in this style of Ramen is the pool of Kuro Mayu (garlic oil) that covers the whole bowl of Ramen like an oil slick.

The one day when ieatishootipost was read by the world

It was gratifying to know that for at least one day, the world was reading ieatishootipost!  But I guess what I found most satifying was to be able to call my parents and brothers in Sydney to tell them that I was featured on the Sydney Morning Herald.  I never thought the day would come!

Anyway, I share this honour with the ieat Team without whom I would not be able to write the blog and organize the activites.  I also want to acknowledge the other two bloggers, chubbyhubby and ladyironchef who were featured together with me in the article.   There are of course many other wonderful food bloggers who have not been featured in the article which really is about our Singaporean food blogger community.  Hopefully one day we can set a world record for the most number of food bloggers blogging a restaurant together!  Won't that be a hoot?

Thanks everyone for reading the blog and for all your support! 

Links to:
Sydney Morning Herald
Soshiok.com

ieat video: Next Change: Potatoes!

Filmed in HD with the Canon EOS 7D!  Makes the steak look especially juicy, don't you think?

Many thanks to Sia Huat for supporting our Videos.  I get most of my kitchen appliances at Sia Huat and the great news is that their Annual Warehouse Sale is just round the corner.  Its going to be a great opportunity for you to pick up those kitchen gear which you have been waiting to buy!

Teochew Muay: Air-Con Teochew Porridge Buffet with plenty of change to spare

This restaurant is closed

Minced meat with Pickled Radish - Lunch Buffet $9.90 nett

The time has come at last to tell you about Teochew Muay. This restaurant is opened by my good friend SCS Butter who is one of the few makan kakis I knew before I started blogging.  SCS Butter is a foodie (I think you can tell from his photo) and has been the source of many great recommendations on this blog.  The reason I have not told you about his restaurant earlier is because we needed some time to iron out some details of the restaurant. I have been grappling with the dilemma of wanting to help a friend but at the same time needing the food to be of a certain standard before recommending it, so I am happy now that it is ready to be blogged.

Fei Fei Wanton Mee: A tale of two Wanton Mees, Part II

Wanton Mee: $3

So here's what you missed:  There was once a grandfather who gave his Wonton Mdee stall to his two grandsons.  They both shared it by taking weekly turns to run the stall.  This went on for a while until the elder brother decided to open a 24 hour stall right next to the old stall.  Now the older brother operates the 24 hour stall, but still retains his alternate weekly routine at the old stall.  The older brother then starts making his noodles in a factory instead, while the younger one persists in making his in the same manner as his grandfather.....

And now the continuation of the story...

Quentins Eurasian Restaurant: Singapore's least understood cuisine!

Oxtail Devil's Curry $18.80

You probably know a few Eurasians right?  You know, they are the ones with surnames like Pereira, Gomes, De Silva, Olivero, Xavier etc.  You hear many of them on radio, especially if you tune into 938live.  The Eurasians control the radio waves of Singapore and many of them are also on TV.

Actually, the very first person I met was a Eurasian.  He was none other than the late Benjamin Sheares, 2nd President of Singapore.  Of course when I first met him, he was my mother's obstetrician and he wasn't the President then, but it was my first brush with someone important.

How to make a Pandan Chiffon Cake: Almost everything you need to know

The Pandan Chiffon Cake

Remember I was telling you about how I learnt the valuable lesson about persistence from watching my Mom try again and again to perfect her Pandan Chiffon Cake? Well, since I got my new KitchenAid to play with, I decided to re-enact the Pandan Chiffon experience for myself.  I thought it should be quite a simple thing to do but little did I know that it would take me quite a number of bakes before I finally felt ready to write this post.

This post is the result of months of research on the internet, reading recipe books, talking to various expert bakers and  baking a lot of cakes.  My Pandan Chiffon Cake is by no means perfect yet, but I think that I have learnt enough to pen down enough information so that whoever wants to bake a Pandan Chiffon Cake would have all the information they need to make a good Pandan Chiffon Cake.

Best Chicken Rice in Singapore: And the winner is......

It is a very close race for the top position.  Tian Tian led all of the way but Boon Tong Kee managed to close the gap to a mere 0.4 percentage points!  I guess it is unfair since Boon Tong Kee has so many branches, so there would be more people familiar with them.

So here are the top 3 chicken rice stalls in Singapore as chosen by our foodies!

1.  Tian Tian Chicken Rice
2.  Boon Tong Kee
3.  Wee Nam Kee

Once again, thanks to all 1015 readers who logged in to vote!

My next task is to blog the remaining chicken rice from the top ten list, viz Pow Sing, Hainanese Delights and Tong Fong Fatt.

If you ask me, the best Chicken Rice can only be done at home by using the very best Free Range Fat Mother Hen.  I have posted the recipe from Five Stars before, you can view it here.  The thing to remember with handling  the chicken is:

1.  The bigger the chicken the more flavourful it is so get a 1.5 to 2kg chicken to start with.  Try to get free range chicken from the specialty butchers, they taste more like real chicken especially when you want to cook chicken rice.

2. You don't need boiling water to cook chicken, cooking at 80 degrees celcius is enough to kill the germs and cook the meat.  Using a lower cooking temperature will ensure your meat remains juicy and tender

3.   The ice waterbath at the end stops the cooking process and turns all the nice chicken juices to gelatine under the skin.  So use lots of ice and soak it!


4.  If you wish, you can brine the chicken for 2 to 3 hours before by soaking the chicken in 1 cup salt to 4 litres of water.  Brining will give you a tender, juicy chicken and helps with the taste as well.

Inagiku: Chirashi sushi Experience

Chirashi Sushi $150

My wife would be pleasantly surprised, and my mom who look to heaven with thanksgiving if they found out that I actually ate a bowl of rice with raw seafood on top!  You see, I grew up with seafood-phobia and it was not until I met my wife (girlfriend then) that her family introduced me to seafood.  There was a stage in my life where I would never touch anything that swims.  But slowly that all changed.  Wives do have a way of transforming their husbands as you well know, so I became more open to seafood, though not really a big fan, preferring hoofs to fins anytime.