Whampoa Keng: New Flagship Restaurant
Our makan new year got off to a great start with lunch at Whampoa Keng's new flagship restaurant at Killiney road. I wrote about them in 2011 at their place in Balestier. Since then, I have been a regular there and at their other branch at Rangoon road.
Fatty Thai: A Tale of Three Young Hawkers
The hawker mindset is slowly but surely changing, and we have the internet to thank! Gone were the days when people had look for a master to teach them how to cook certain dishes. Millennial hawkers now learn to make charsiu via the internet! This was the case for our three hawker heroes today who based their charsiu on my charsiu recipe which I spent 9 years perfecting!
Koothurar Restaurant: AKA Beach Road Briyani
This famously popular briyani stall is one of the most reclusive as well. Most people refer to it as the briyani in the coffeeshop next to Golden Mile Food Centre. The stall doesn't have a signboard and most people don't even know that it is called "Koothurar" restaurant. If there is any stall in Singapore that doesn't need extra publicity, then this is it.
Soya Sauce Chicken Recipe: Cantonese Chefs’ recipe
Soy sauce chicken was somewhat on the B list of famous hawker dishes until it shot to fame when Chef Chan won a Michelin Star for Hong Kong Soya Sauce chicken in 2016. Since then, I had wanted to write a recipe for soya sauce chicken. Unlike Hokkien mee or char kway teow which requires a big wok and a hot stove, a dish like soya sauce chicken can be easily done at home!
Nekkid: Mr Eccentric does meats
My friend, Ken Loon is an obsessive compulsive foodie. I first got to know him in 2013 because we both were crazy about prawns at the time. I was on a mission to catalog all the prawns available locally and was doing crazy things like taking close up shots of their private parts. I guess you can say that I was a purveyor of prawnography at the time! The reason? Sometimes you can only accurately identify a particular prawn species by their reproductive organs!
Kam’s Roast: Hong Kong Style Roast
The restaurant is named after Mr. Kam Shui Fai who founded the world famous Yung Kee Roast Goose in 1942. The venerable restaurant hit the headlines in recent years when a family feud drove it to the brink of closure. It was during this time that third generation Mr Hardy Kam opened Kam's Roast Goose which earned a Michelin Star within a few months of its opening.
Shima: New Kaiseki Chef Hoshiba Fumihiko
Japanese food used to be so exclusive. This was certainly the case when Shima opened its doors in 1980. At that time, it was the only Japanese restaurant in town, which is quite hard to believe, seeing today's vibrant Japanese food scene. But there was a time when the average Singaporean would balk at eating a slice of raw fish, not to mention paying a premium for food that doesn't even require any cooking! Those were the days when "chashoba" (green tea soba) could be mistaken for "cha siu bak" (roast pork)!
Thong Sum Desserts: Something old, something new
There is certainly some positive trends in our hawker scene. We are seeing many new hawkers bringing back traditional foods but infusing them with new ideas! This stall in Golden Mile Food Centre has only been opened for a few months, but I think they are on the track. They have brought back the traditional […]
The Chinese Kitchen: Creative Chinese cooking
The man behind the wok is Chef Austen Ong who started his cooking career as a 13 year old apprentice of the legendary Chef Tham Mui Kai (One of the Four Heavenly Kings). Since then, he has worked in Chinese kitchens around the world, spending almost two decades with the Hyatt group. In 2005 and 2007, he led the Singapore team to victory in the world culinary contest held in Taipei which eventually earned him the title of "god of the kitchen". 厨神
Spago by Wolfgang Puck: 60 day whiskey dry aged wagyu steak!
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to steak, I can actually plot the steak “milestones” of my life. I had my first truly memorable steak was when I was 18 at the now defunct Cairnhill Steakhouse. I can still remember the aroma of sizzling beef wafting out of the restaurant when the […]
Wei Ji Braised Duck: Keeping a family legacy alive
There are many heartwarming stories rising from our hawker heartland. Selling food and providing transport is a lifeline for many in most societies. Visit any metropolis and you will find new immigrants either selling food or driving taxis in order to provide for their families when they are unable find work in their own trade or profession. This was certainly the case for Singapore in the early days when many of our forefathers became hawkers or rickshaw pullers in order to eke out a living.
Dynasty Ipoh Seafood: Fried Porridge Chef finally opens his own place!
It’s been a rocky road for Chef John, our fried porridge maestro. Barely a few months after he opened Royal J’s premium, it was shut down due to some disagreements with his business partner. I have been following John on his stall hopping trip since Dec 2015 when he first left Ipoh to set up shop at Macpherson, then he moved to bigger premises in Lavender before moving to the last location at Bishan. Now he has finally ventured out on his own, so hopefully he will stay put at his present location for some time.