Ponggol (not Punggol) Nasi Lemak

Waiting is believing.

I am simply amazed by the idea that people actually spend their precious weekend's evening queuing for a plate of nasi lemak, and I am one!

Important notice stated:
Any nasi lemak food outlets that bears the name "Punggol" has no relation whatsoever with "Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre"

The sambal lady's fingers were delicious

Just for non-Singaporean readers' information:
Otah looks like this in Singapore, or orange in color to be exact. Unlike the white types that people usually call "Otak-Otak" in Indonesia and Malaysia too i reckon

If I do the math,
the journey to Upper Serangoon Road takes 20 minutes by car
waiting and queueing take at least 10 minutes
eating usually takes only 5 minutes! (i know u can do faster than that)

Food is great but you'll have to wait.....

Bak Kut Teh - Chinese Pork Ribs Soup

Crowded, as always

A Queuing place?? Seems more organized now

Bak Kut Teh

You Tiao, dipped in the soup before eating it

Our normal menu for two:

• Pork ribs bak kut teh
• Mixed kidney and liver
• Green vegetables
• You Tiao
• Rice
  

Bak Kut Teh spices, requested by my friend's sis who lives in US

Popularly served in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, China and Taiwan which name literally translated to "meat bone tea". I am sure each of us has our own personal favorite Bak Kut Teh stall. It can't be argued whether the peppery (mostly in Singapore) or the herbal variant type (Malaysia) is more delicious because it's really a personal preference. I personally prefer the peppery type. The more peppery, the more delicious it is.

It's pretty ritual for me to spend my Saturday or Sunday morning at "Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House" at Rangoon Road. Nothing fancy inside, the eating house instead looks pretty old but big enough to accommodate more than 100-250 people (my rough estimation). Don't be surprised that the staffs there are not famous for their friendliness but I heard from a friend that most of them are loyal staffs who have been working for tens over years, and I can see they're all obviously busy..

Visitors vary from old to young generations, Singaporeans to foreigners and even tourists from Korea, Japanese, Taiwanese and Caucasians.

Tips: Don't go for the peppery Bak Kut Teh if you have cough/sore throat, it will get worse.

D talkin' bread

Phoenix

Fire Floss, my favorite

Hen & Cheese

Japanese Cheese Cake

If you stay in Singapore, you probably have long been taking this for granted because you can get it almost anytime anywhere! but when you have to move far far away from Singapore, you'll definitely miss it.

What I missed the most when I stayed in Europe was the softness of the bread. Just felt like chewing something really soft and tasty at the same time, especially after a long tiring day and after eating some really hard bread or baguettes for months (which I quite liked too actually, so don't get me wrong).

Check out more at www.breadtalk.com

Olionized !!

My piece - Seafood Aglio Olio Pasta

Garlic is definitely a must!

• Spaghetti Pasta
• Garlic (chopped and a lot)
• Olive oil
• Seafood (clam meat/prawns/squids/mussels)
• Salt
• Chilli padi
• Capsicum
• Italian herbs
  
• Sugar (if desired and in small amount)

Just toss them!

Fyi, I've got praises for this dish! =)

Dian Xiao Er

Soup of the day: Lotus soup with Pork Ribs

Roasted duck with ten wonder herb

Fried Kailan

Mongolian Spare Ribs

One of my friends claimed this was one of the best Chinese restaurants around in Singapore. I think the restaurant has done some magic on him. No, not that I think the food isn't good at all but i guess he's over expressing it. =) I would say, a worth trying one and every single dish is pretty much up to a certain standard. I love the herbal roasted duck of course!

Check out their website here at www.dianxiaoer.net

Enjoy the street snack of Taiwan

Handmade Oyster Mee Sua

XXL Crispy Chicken

I am actually not the type who snacks but when I first tried the crispy chicken of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snack at their Far East Plaza outlet years ago, I was totally into it. This is probably not the healthiest snack but I would miss it once in a while (even though I quite get sick of it now honestly). I love oyster, i eat it cooked or raw so, definitely the oyster meesua is a must-try too!

I seriously think the business idea is brilliant. A product of two young singaporeans who paid a five-figure to a Taiwanese chef to learn how to make the snacks in the entire 2 months. Today, the franchise has expanded to neighboring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. My friend's brother tried to bring the franchise to my hometown in Medan, (Indonesia) and it probably will be opened soon if everything works. I hope so! this probably can bring new excitement to the town!

SAL50F18
[courtesy of cnet reviews]

I've just sinned. I saw my cousin's husband using a 50mm lens less than a week ago, was extremely curious about it, went to a store with the intention just to check it out, but no question, ended up buying it.

Good thing is, I have a new friend hunting food with me now and this lens is supposedly good for portraits and food photography.

Chap Jae [Stir Fried Korean Glass Noodle]

Introduced to the dish by a Korean friend of mine whose mom was some award winning chef in Korea, and who has made cooking as a hobby. She shared this recipe to me during our trip to Florence, Italy while chit chatting in the train. Well, yea, such a procrastinator I am! only tried it out a few days ago at a dinner potluck, which means almost two years later! Here's the recipe with a little bit of improvisation.

What I needed:

• Korean Glass Noodle (the difference is, it's thicker and gives more springy feel)
• Korean bean paste (i used Korean red hot pepper paste)
• Chopped garlic, small/red onion
  
• Red capsicum (improvised) - julienned
  
• Chilli padi (improvised) - cut small
  
• Vegetables: Big onion, Carrot - julienned, Bok Choy or any green veg suitable for noodle
  
• Mushrooms, thin-sliced
  
• Minced meat (i used beef)
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Sesame seeds (i didn't use)
• Soy sauce
• Salt, sugar
  

How to cook:

• Boil water and cook the glass noodle for 2-3 minutes
  
• Heat up olive oil, stir in the garlic and small onion until fragrant
• Add the minced meat and cook til brown color. Stir in the mushrooms. Add bean/hot paste.
  
• Next, add in all vegetables i.e. capsicum, bok choy, carrot, big onion. Add soya sauce while stirring. Add sugar. Add salt if desired.
• Stir in the glass noodle, mix well. Add a little water and olive oil if it's too dry.
• Add sesame oil, stir well.
• Add sesame seeds and the cut chilli padi if desired.

Where to buy ingredients:

• Korean Glass noodle & Red pepper paste: Seoul Mart, Parkway Parade
• Other ingredients: NTUC FairPrice / Cold Storage

I received quite positive feedback on this dish recently. So, I hope you'll like it too.

Ananas Cafe Chicken Rice

I wonder, what is better than lazing on a comfortable sofa, with the tv on, accompanied by a pack of delicious Singapore Hainanese chicken rice, after a long-day at work?

Was looking for food at Tiong Bahru Plaza after work and saw the newly opened Ananas Cafe. The posters and food display looked pretty tempting. I was just curious how would a $2 chicken rice be like? I mean, isn't that extremely cheap? and it surprisingly turned out to be better than expected. [Eggs, vegetables and chicken organs added at additional prices]

Check it out, I am sure you'll be curious too.

Fyi, Ananas Cafe also serves Halal food such as Nasi Lemak, Fried Bee Hoon, etc.

Hua Li Xuan Restaurant [Iluma @ Bugis]

I've yet to try their other menus because I went there just for "fun" yesterday night, was a light supper to be exact. Attracted by the friendly staff and the mini-burger display which was pretty cute, we decided to give it a try. The price of the burgers is considered very cheap. Here's the deal, buy one normal-size burger at about $4.00 or choose 3 different types of mini burgers at about $4.80. You may like to upsize it to a set meal with choices of drinks and side dishes.

Creamy Chicken Soup

Black Pepper Beef Burger with Onion Rings

Initially I thought the burgers were just there to attract people. But turned out, they are actually considered the restaurant's specialty as they use mantou or Chinese bun instead of the normal bread. You can choose to have your burgers with fried or steamed mantou indeed! We ordered the Beef Black Pepper Burger with fried mantou (a little bit oily in my opinion, but its semi-crispiness was great), upsized it with Onion Rings and Root Beer. The creamy soup-of -the-day was normal but the garlic breads (more like garlic biscuits) tasted really good.

Mango dessert with sago and pomelo

Towards the end of our meal, a lady came over to ask us if everything was okay, if the food was good enough and introduced us their popular mango dessert. In my opinion, it wasn't really fantastic because I like the Hong Kong type mango dessert, which I usually ate at Liang Seah Street (I've yet to blog about this dessert house). This one tasted more like milky mango syrup with some mango cubes, sago and pomelo added. Tasted like the usual mango pudding before being solidified, if you get what i mean.

Overall, it's pretty okay, I will go back for second try.

Lunch: Rice with roasted duck & barbecued pork

I have a very special love affair with roasted duck. I love the roasted duck at Crystal Jade Kitchen, at Dian Xiao Er, at Tiong Bahru, at Bugis, you name it. One of my lunch destinations with colleagues is Toh Guan Foodcourt. We just need to board the free shuttle bus from IBP (Int'l Business Park) and will be there in about 5 minutes time. The foodcourt can be quite crowded during lunch time and its opening hours should be the same with other HDB's foodcourts.

They serve roasted duck, bbq pork and Char Siew (another style of bbq pork) with either rice or noodles. Our favorite has always been rice with roasted duck plus barbecued pork. It comes with some pickles and what I love is its thick sweet sauce coating the rice and meat , which can be really juicy and tender at good times (yea, it's not always consistent). It's totally worth it for just a $4 meal.

If you're in the mood for exploring good yet affordable hawker food, pop by at Block 282A Toh Guan Road foodcourt.

Char Kwetiau (Fried Rice Noodle), Penang Place

I've been craving for Penang food for the longest time. Since 2005. No joke. My favorite Penang dish has always been Char Kwetiau, which always came with big juicy shrimps. I even made a colleague from Penang promised to bring me one or two when she visited her hometown a few months ago, I seriously didn't mind if it would be less delicious or if I would have to heat it up myself again. But too bad, I had to be in Surabaya for work at that time.

So, today during lunch hour, we decided to go to Penang Place at the International Business Park (IBP) to temporarily fulfill my never-ending cravings for a plate of Penang Char Kwetiau. I seriously think my cravings for Penang food shall only be completely fulfilled someday if I make a trip there. I miss eating Char Kwetiau, Laksa or Lok Lok from the road-side stalls. They serve the best street cuisine!

Pop by Penang Place restaurant at IBP if you have the same cravings! They serve both Penang buffet and ala-carte menu.

Fun N' Easy: Home-Made Sushi

Soya Sauce & Wasabi from Asian mart in Odense Denmark

Home-made Sushi. They actually tasted pretty decent =P

The sushi here was made for a bunch of friends during my stay in Denmark. We were having potluck dinner and everyone supposedly brought a dish representing our culture. Since I was the only Asian there, they requested me to make them Sushi as they're very curious about this famous food. Don't be confused if the toppings are a little bit twisted because it's not easy to find all the things I wanted to use in Odense (a small city in Denmark).

What I needed:

• Makisu or Bamboo mat to roll sushi in
• Sushi rice (Sticky rice)
  
• Sushi vinegar (which contains sugar and salt)
  
• Toppings (I prepared crab meat, omelet, cucumber, mayo & thousand island)
• Nori or Seaweed Sheet
  
• Soya sauce and wasabi
• Sharp knife
  

How I made them:

• Wash a few times and cook the sushi rice
• Cool the cooked rice
• Mix the cooked rice with sushi vinegar. Taste it.
  
• Prepare toppings, slice the crab meat, omelet and cucumber, slice them thin and long.
  
• Open bamboo mat and place on the table
• Place the seaweed sheet on top of the bamboo mat
• Spread the rice thinly and evenly, leaving 2 cm top edge untouched
• Place a long thin strip of topping at about 2-3 cm from bottom rice edge
• Spread some mayo, thousand island and wasabi
• Slightly wet the 2 cm top edge, so that this edge can easily stick when rolling the sushi
  
• Roll from bottom to top.
• Warm the knife with warm water
• Cut sushi into pieces
• Dip into soya sauce before eating it (depends on preferences)
  

Don't you agree that everytime you cook, you actually cook all your stresses away?

The Mighty Marutama Ramen

I am a Ramen lover, no question. I used to visit Ajisen Ramen quite often during school times. Have you noticed that recently, there are more ramen shops around compared to, say 3-4 years ago? Life is much more fun definitely! =P

Anyway, I always recommend everyone to try Marutama Ramen. Very simple menu, so you don't sit there wasting time deciding what to eat (but you'll probably need to spend time queuing). I like the noodle texture, which is a little bit different from other ramen noodles in Singapore. What is hard to resist is the soup and the half-boiled egg (one each was never enough for my siblings and I). Adding more char siew and seaweed will be perfect.

About foodsholic

Started to blog...?

Once upon a time when I was a teenager (wait a second, i'm not old ehm -- still in my twenties-- ehm), I had so many thoughts that I told myself I should at least started jotting them down. If I start recalling, it has been 4-5 years since I started blogging in livejournal, but was never really so much into it and so I then moved to Friendster Blog (Oh, Friendster was still such a Hot Stuff at that time!). What Friendster Blog did was automatically updated my friends every time I clocked entries in and apparently, it felt much better to have my blog read than left there for my own-self. Of course! people need to be heard sometimes =P

Why foodsholic?

If there are two things I've always wanted to blog about, they will be about food and traveling. So, if I do the counting, it took me 5 years just to get started. Such a procrastinator I am! I started enjoyed blogging in 2007 during my stay in Odense, Denmark. Getting out of my routines in university life, it was totally different. I traveled very often. I started cooking there. I started taking pictures of my foods. I started writing blog entries about them. My bottom line is, readers are very interested in food. We all like to eat!

My partners in crime

If I happened to reminisce in this blog by posting old pictures. They will be courtesy of this Canon Powershot A80, which was my first-love digital camera.
My second camera was a gift which is the incredibly user-friendly Sony DSC-W120.

My newly received baby DSLR Sony A-200 will be taking over all jobs pretty soon. I've been using the 18-70 mm macro lens for sometime.

But of course, there will be times when it's almost physically impossible for me to bring big camera around, credits will go to my Blackberry Curve 8900. =P

Favourite Bites

I always have a soft spot for spicy foods. My favorite is Thai's but not to worry for non-spicy-food-lovers here , I have plenty of friends who can't eat hot stuffs, so more often than not I have to learn enjoying non spicy foods. I used to drink soups everyday when I was still staying with my mom (she made such nice soups), so I kind of miss it. Soups are real healthy! and I believe there's always a special room for desserts. I like trying new foods but too bad I did not take many pictures in the past. I promise I will do starting from today!

What is "Fun N' Easy Recipes"?

Once in a while I will post some recipes. It is therefore very important to put on some disclaimers here before I start =P. Well, I enjoy cooking so I do cook and I do receive both positive and negative reviews about my skills. The thing is, I have no formal trainings whatsoever so all recipes posted in this blog will be just out of my "fun trials". I am therefore not responsible if the dish turns out disappointing in any ways =P

Hope you enjoy reading foodsholic! Ciao Ciao...

Eat, Drink and Be Merry,

Dee