No Signboard – Esplanade, Singapore

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Singapore, Travel

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I had the craziest craving recently. (Hub thinks I have cravings almost every other day. So, he reckons I shouldn’t call it cravings but just greedy. Hahaha…) Anyway, I was really hankering for Chili Crab from Singapore!

After hearing about my cravings, Hub’s friend (Ed) invited and treated us to a crab feast. Yay, Thank you so much Ed!!!

He made reservation with the No Signboard Restaurant in Esplanade. This restaurant started off as a small hawker place with no name. Today, the restaurant has several branches and they are known as No SignBoard Restaurant… (You can read more about their history from their website). Luckily Ed made reservation for the 3 of us. The place was packed like mad. The manager had to keep turning guest away. But then again, it was Friday night and the view at Esplanade is amazing.

We were told that their signature crab dish is actually the white pepper crab. Oh no…decision decisions… I really want the Chili crab too. The waiter kindly told me that I can order ONE crab for each dish. CooL! I know most restaurants need you to order at least 2-3 crabs per dish. So, we ended up with both.

We had the fresh oyster, which was HUGE. It’s almost the size of my palm. The texture is very firm (reminds me of pacific oyster I had when in Tasmania, Australia). The different was this has less briny taste. I think I still prefer the ones I had in Tasmania. But, this comes really close. The white pepper crab is lovely. I love the ‘kick’ from the pepper combine with the sweetness of the crab. Their crabs are really fresh too. Yummz…

The Chili crab is slightly different from the ones I had previously. This was slightly less sweet and has a bit more curry powder taste. It’s quite a nice balance as the sauce is not too over powering that it hides the crab’s freshness. It is so good with the fried mantao (Chinese bread).

We also ordered the deep fried butter prawn. The prawn felt a little overcooked to me. But, the deep fried butter taste was really good. In fact, I got abit addicted to the bits of crispy fried batter more than the prawn. ;p

It was a great night feasting on those yummy crabs and catching up with Ed. Hub and I had a great time. Thanks again Ed. J

My rainy day memories…

05 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Everything else...

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brr…(so cold and wet lately)

It’s the monsoon season…

It has been raining almost the WHOLE week everyday. When it rains in Malaysia… it pours like cats and dogs. It’s crazy with lighting and thunder. Just now the thunder was so powerful, I could almost felt the tremor inside my office building. yikes ! And it actually trigger our circuit breaker.

ALL the work which I was working on got cut off… and I didn’t save ! sob sob sob… sigh…

Staring out my window, watching the water trickle down brings back so much fond memories about rain.

When I was younger, I was fascinated by the rain. It was like the whole world stop moving to allow the rain to come and sooth all pain away. The pitter patter sound made on the roof is so hypnotic. I can spend hours just pressing my face on the window looking out at the puddles the rain made.

I remember once my brothers, cousins and I ran home from school during a heavy downpour. We had so much fun running in the rain and jumping on puddles (trying to get each other wet – it doesn’t really make sense now since we were all soaking wet anyway). When we reach home, we got the scolding of our life for trying to walk in the rain instead of waiting at school until it stopped. I remember mom marched us all to take a hot shower immediately, follow by a kneeling on the floor for a good 2 hours (with our hand pulling our own ears – suppose to mean that we are sorry for our action and we will listen next time).

Another time, I smuggled to a ‘special-guest invited’ school event, which my cousin was suppose to receive a special award. As her parents were caught overseas, she had to go alone. I (the ever kind and important cousin), agreed to accompany her. But, we were both minor (I think we were 10 years old then), I had to smuggle and hide somewhere in the school compound waiting for her (I was very timid then – and do anything she ask me to do – that big bully. ;p ). Anyway, it started raining and I had no where to hide and stay sheltered. In the end, I squeeze myself underneath a big table at the side of the building (which my cousin was in). I was cold and wet by the time she finish with her event to collect me. bleh… Yes – I still use this to blackmail her now whenever i need favors from her. MUAHAHAHAA… but, i love her very much. 🙂

This is one of my favourite memory. It was my university days. I was on the tram going to Uni when it started raining quite heavily (for Melbourne standard). I had no umbrealla with me, but, have to jump out that stop. Right after I jump out, I quickly ran to the nearest side walk shelter I can find. While I was trying to wipe myself clean, an umbrella stopped right in front of me. I look up and see this really cute guy (with glasses – I’m a sucker for man in glasses). He smile and ask If he can walk me to my lecture hall !!! I was stunned. (No – I am not hot looking or pretty. At most, some of my really close friends say i’m abit cute. lol…) He gallantly gave me more portion of the umbrella and we started chatting. When we almost reach my lecture hall, he told me he’s in his second year and I stupidly told him I’m older than him as I was in my 4th year. He was shocked. He told me that he thought I was in my first / second year. oh well, after that, he dropped me off and wave bye… LOL… it was still a damn romantic experience for me.

Lazy Monday Dinner – Japanese Curry Rice

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food, Kitchen wares, Shopping

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This has got to be one of hub and my favourite lazy meal. It’s so tasty and easy to prepare. At one time, we have this almost every fortnight at home.

Not to mention, I just got something special back from Paris which I couldn’t resist using… My brand new cocotte – the 20cm black Staub. Yes !!! I am crazy enough to lug it back all the way from France. How can I resist?! It’s so cute and i love the color. And the price !!! (It’s only about EUR 72 after VAT – about RM 290). Hence, I’m going to use this little baby to make my Japanese curry.

For me, the most important thing for a good Japanese curry is the stock you make from vegetables. This gives it an extra sweetness (without adding sugar). I prefer to use Russet potatoes when making Japanese curry rice. The reason is because I love the soft grainy texture it adds to the sauce when some bits of the potato disintegrate.

Simple ingredients – Carrot, Onion, Potatoes and meat of your choice (I prefer to use pork)

Sauté the pork in the pot until semi cook. Let the meat rest before slicing it.

After that, sauté the diced potatoes, carrots and onion till brown. Add hot water to fully cover the ingredients. Allow it to simmer until all the vege is soft. With the Staub, I only need to let it sit for 10 mins on low fire and everything gets really nice and soft.

After that, place the meat into the pot and allow it to simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Usually, I add the curry roux block piece by piece. That way, I can gauge if the thickness is to my liking or not. Once all the roux melts, the consistency of the broth will be stew-like.

Serve it with rice. (I prefer to use the Japanese short grain). ** Remember to cook the rice first. ;p

Yummy comfort food in less than 20 minutes.