Daniel Boulud

OK I finally had a chance to dine in a restaurant helmed by a Michelin star chef. Singapore happen to have not one but four of such restaurants. Wolfgang Puck, Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon.

DB is easily the most affordable of the lot. At Wolfgang Puck, each dish starts at SGD100... Gulp. Dinner for two would mean almost SGD1,000. That's a bit insane don't you think? Now I understand why food afficiandos save up to eat at ridiculously priced but world's best restaurants. I can understand the orgasmic experience of dining in one of these but eh, I believe there is great food out there without paying through your nose.

We had two starters, two mains and cocktails. Bill came up to SGD230. That's not too bad. The oysters were a tad too small. Well its Singapore, not Florida! But it was fresh and pairs perfectly with two types of dipping sauces.

The platter of terrine, cured meat and toasted bread was really good. Terrine is very fresh and flavorful. The cured meats were excellent. And the breads? I must admit I love the sourdough...!

Next was the venison ragout with shell pasta and slow oven baked ocean trout. The ragout was a knockout - rich and robust with hints of red wine and herbs. The trout was soft and tender, atop a mix of pea mint and horseradish sauce.

The restaurant has three sittings and even at the second sitting, it was very busy. But it died down at around 8 pm and became enjoyable after that. Most diners order the signature DB burger, which we probably should. But why waste a nice dinner over a burger? And it was a birthday dinner.

I hope V enjoyed it. He is so fussy about food and critical of restaurants in Singapore. I have to agree with him. The best we have been is in HK. Impeccable service. And I mean absolutely flawless. Here they try but you know its never going to be amazing.

Bon appetit!

Crabs

I have not eaten crabs or have a decadent seafood meal for quite a while. Fate has it that I will get a chance to savour this delicacy, which I am not particularly crazy about. I am ambivalent about seafood, especially crabs, prawns, abalone, etc because I have a mild allergy to crustaceans. The allergy rears its ugly head as I get older. Maybe my body is getting cranky? So seafood does not feature much in my diet, except fish, although I seriously love prawn noodles and I know I can make a mean one. We eat lots of omega rich fish at home - salmon, sea bass, cod, mackerel...They are pricier than the usual fishes in the market but its very nutritious and delicious. You do not need alot of fancy work to prepare such fishes. A simple grill or pan fry with a squeeze of lemon juice will work.

So off we went to Mellben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 which I heard was famous for its crab bee hoon. Well, my knowledge of good eating places for crabs is limited to the one down the street I live - Eng Seng at Joo Chiat Place, and the ubiqutious No Signboard, Jumbo, Long Beach... Ang Mo Kio is really the boonies for me so I was looking forward to be surprised.

And I was more than surprised. To be honest, it was the best crab meal I have ever had. The crab stock that comes with the bee hoon is milky, robust and so flavourful! Its simply heaven! They serve the bee hoon in a bowl on the side, as well as an extra bowl of crab stock. This is in addition to the main course which is of course a mid size crab in a claypot filled to the brim with the same stuff. I am a Cantonese so when it comes to good soup, I can recognise one right away. And this is AWESOME! I was happily slurping and enjoying each mouthful. But the best has yet to come...

The butter crab is so divine.....silky smooth, creamy buttery sauce much like liquid gold! Its probably similar to a French butter sauce. Everyone at the table was lapping up every single drop with chunks of man tou. If they could lick off the plate, they would!

And the last dish was the perfect finish to a fine meal. Crabs crusted with salted egg yolk. It takes great skill to fry crabs with salted egg yolk as it can burn easily since there is no liquid to create a barrier. But the chef demonstrated such delicate skill - the crab was well coated and the crust was delicious, with a hint of honey to help caramelise and bind the salted egg yolk.

My head and palate were bursting with symphonies throughout the entire meal. Folks, its definitely worth a try. There are 7 of us, - three crab dishes plus four other main dishes comes up to SGD239. Good value for money!

Cast iron casserole

I finally bought my cast iron casserole from Le Creuset. Costs $289 for a 27 cm oval casserole instead of the original $590, because of a 50% discount from Takashimaya. Picked up a stoneware baking dish as well, in the signature orange red that you can spot from miles away in the kitchen of any serious chefs. Anna Olson has at least 8 types sitting in her kitchen in all sorts of colours. Envious!

I was actually toying between a black cast iron casserole, instead of the enameled version. It looks so rustic, the way it should be when soldiers, farmers, wandering gypsies, priests traversed across Europe in the 1500s armed with nothing much except their cast iron pot that pretty much cooks everything,  in every way. Fried, stewed, boiled, braised etc. Completely black and with much larger iron pores that will turn into a coat of sheen with heavy usage and over time. The biggest downside is that it will rust easily. So a lot of care is needed. Well, for a busy person like me, that didn't sound right... So I ended up with the nice and pretty enameled version.

Ok I always manage to learn something with every culinary adventure. I didn't know the black phenolic knob at the top of the lid has a temperature limit of 190 degrees celsius. I was wondering why and was getting fairly alarmed, since I only discovered this when I reach home! In my mind, I often imagined a cast iron casserole allows one to cook in the oven for a long period in high temperature. Long period = 8 hrs. Ah yes and no! Yes it allows you to stew or braise for that long, but the magic of a cast iron casserole is that it retains heat and evenly, without raising the temperature of your cooking. It is not designed to cook long over high heat. Rather, its over low and medium heat. I further validated by double checking Julia Child's recipe for beouf bouguignon - 375 degrees farenheit indeed. Phew!

The next step is to read that recipe in detail and assemble my ingredients for a first culinary foray into classic French cooking! I did ask myself, why am I starting with something far more advance. Eh....I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I can do this even though I am still an amateur? Or maybe we are all serious meat lovers?

Haha.

Getting It Right The First Time!

We are having some friends over for dinner (well, its a common social activity for people who love to cook!) and its always easy to serve up a Western menu. I decided to replicate my French Onion soup and Chicken Roasted with Rosemary, Garlic and Butter, and test a new recipe. Instead of a salad, I am going to make a vegetable couscous. I have distinctive memories of couscous - a whole grain salad often filled with many ingredients. So I search the internet for a suitable couscous recipe (there are loads of them!) and found a great one by Rachael Ray. Ok, there are very simple couscous recipes where only 3 ingredients are used and I could have easily chosen that. But I wanted a more robust and tasty couscous.

The rest of the menu consists of a Roasted Beef with Tuscan Herb Rub on a bed of vegetables, and Prawn Tagliatelle. I had only two hours to shop for for food and another 3 hours to prepare. So we ran around, from Tekka Market, to Jones the Grocer and Tanglin Marketplace. Folks, if you want to roast a good cut of meat without paying through your nose, go to Joe's Butchery at Tekka Market. A 1.5kg sirloin cut costs only $45. It will double if you go to Swiss or Huber's. 1 kg of mid size prawns costs $10. What!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, a good French Onion soup is determined by the stock. And Jones have premium stock that does the job beautifully. And I learnt something at Tanglin Market - 8 white onions costs $22 and 3 vine tomatoes costs $8. Gah!

The roast beef recipe was from Jamie Oliver. In the original recipe, the beef just need a salt and pepper rub. I varied with a Tuscan Herb Rub that I picked up from the butchery. Tuscan would probably meant basil, oregano, parsley sort of thing. Anyway, it sits on a bed of carrots, celery, onions and fresh thyme. I love the smell of thyme.... Its a match made in heaven with any meat.

The roast beef was the first to go into the oven, taking about 80 mins. It turned out slightly medium. As for the chicken, ahem, my youngest daughter Rachel did everything. She cleaned, pat dry and marinated the chicken and it turned out to be the best dish of the night. I am so proud of her!

The couscous turned out perfect, except its a wee bit dry. I think I added a bit too much couscous. But the combination of onions, zucchini, pumpkin, tomato, cilantro, parsley and lemon juice cooked in organic chicken broth with a hint of cumin and coriander powder was so delicious! Again, I got it about 98% right the first time so I must be a good cook???? Need validation here!

The only disaster was my tagliatelle was a bit overcooked but overall, each dish was a success. One critique was that the pasta does not sit well with the rest of the dishes although each were very good on its own. Point taken. In future, I have to pay more attention to the overall fit of each dish. A judge from Iron Chef America once said, it should be a journey that brings you to different experiences of the same place. Maybe a pesto pasta would have worked better with the chicken and beef? Or a tajine of sorts eaten with flat bread? Then the soup should have been Morroccan! Wah...

Everyone was stuffed and we had decadent cheesecakes from the cheesecake cafe at Siglap for dessert. I enjoyed myself and must say, I would not have been able to prepare dinner on time without the help of my two sous chefs who did the chopping, washing, frying, stirring.

Thank you Rebekah and Rachel!

Nothing like home cooked food

We like to entertain our guests with simple home cooked food. All our friends work long hours during the week, are usually single ladies/guys who have no time to whip up a proper dinner, or are based here because of work and their families are in Malaysia. So they always look forward to having dinner at our home because that is precisely what I will serve up.

Tonight's menu features the following dishes:

Pork rib soup with daikon, cuttlefish and chinese ham
Gourd fried with eggs and prawns
Kang kong with garlic and chilli
Leeks with pork
Roast duck with salted vegetables
Pan fried mackerel with teriyaki sauce
Stewed fatty pork with black soya sauce

Is it too much for 4 adults and 2 kids? I am known to over order, over feed people. I might drop one dish...

I hope they like what I am preparing. Nicole will eat anything. She shares the same passion about food and enjoy the same type of food. In fact, I am now hooked on the programme Junior Masterchef Australia because of her! Trust me. When you see 8 - 12 year olds preparing gourmet dishes with depth and technicality way beyond their years, it validates the old adage from the movie Ratatouille - ANYONE CAN COOK!

Fried Rice Paradise

I always believe a good plate of fried rice should not have more than 3 key ingredients. Too many ingredients creates a plethora of tastes that causes confusion to the palate. One does not know which to focus on. Its basically the same principle as a pizza. You find many 'confused' pizzas in Singapore, especially with big fast food chains like Pizza Hut. In Italy, they make pizzas with only tomato sauce, cheese and basil. Or vary with pepperoni, salami, olives etc.

Back to fried rice. Its one of my favourite dishes because its so simple to prepare and very substantial. On lazy days and if I happen to have some leftover cooked white rice in the fridge, I can whip one up in less than 30 mins. The most important ingredient is actually overnight cooked white rice that has been chilled till each grain is bouncing on its own.

Fried rice is also versatile - you can substitute with strong, savoury ingredients according to your personal preference and the result will always be the same. Absolutely delicious!

Here is my recipe which I stumbled upon when rummaging a near empty fridge. Other combinations include lap cheong (chinese sausage) and dried shrimps, salted fish and silver fish, ikan bilis and green chillis. All are fried and rounded up with eggs, spring onions and minced garlic. Of course, if you like a spicy fried rice, what better way than to fry it with sambal belachan. I found one fantastic version from a small stall at Farmart, off Choa Chu Kang Road. Its a wholesale market tucked away in the boonies but you can find free range chickens, quail, rabbit and even crocodile meat. And fresh seafood off the tank. A live seabass costs about SGD7.00 which is a big steal!

A big bowl of overnight cooked white rice that serves 2
Minced pork meat
Pickled radish (chye poh)
Minced garlic
Eggs
Spring onions
Soya sauce and pepper to taste.

I am not stating portions because fried rice is prepared in a very personal way. You moderate the ingredients based on what you like. I love salty food so tend to add more pickled radishes. In turn, I do not add salt and let the soya sauce impart flavour.

1. Fry the minced garlic lightly, than add the pickled radish. Fry till it is slightly crispy.
2. Add the minced pork meat and fry till the meat is cooked.
3. Next, add the rice and stir throughly till all the ingredients have been evenly distributed.
4. Pour the egg quickly and fry till each rice grain is dry and coated with egg.
5. Pour some soya sauce and pepper over and continue to fry
6. Lastly, add the spring onions. Keep frying till you can see rice grains 'dancing' around.

It is best eaten with some cut red chilli padi, soya sauce and a squeeze of lime.

By the way, authentic Yang Zhou fried rice has only 3 ingredients - char siew, spring onion and eggs. If you see corn, peas and carrots etc, you are being hoodwinked by pseudo hawkers again!

Red Fermented Bean Curd

Any Cantonese will be familiar with 'nam yu'. Its basically:

Red fermented bean curd (traditional Chinese: 紅豆腐乳/南乳; pinyin: hóng dòufu rǔ/nán rǔ), incorporates red yeast rice (cultivated with Monascus purpureus) with the brining liquor for a deep-red color, thickened flavor and a distinctive flavor and aroma.

The smell is reminisence of my grandmother stewing a big pot of 'zai' (vegetarian) during Chinese New Year. Its a dish eaten only at that time, or served in Chinese temples during special occasions.  Really easy to prepare but you must get good quality nam yu. You should  get it from your regular dried goods store in the wet market, and not from the supermarket. Its usually stored in small hand sized vats and you must specifiy to the store owner you want the more expensive variety. If you are lucky, they will have it. Most people don't know this, but dried goods stuff have different grades. I always pay a bit more for quality lap cheong, dried anchovies, shrimps, mushrooms, scallops etc.

I will stew this over a claypot, but if you do not own one, a non-stick pot is better than a stainless steel one. Although this is really a personal preference.

4 cubes of nam yu mashed to a paste
A bulb of garlic, whole and peeled
A handful of lily bulbs, soaked in water and the heads trimmed
8 pieces of woods ear, soaked in water and sand washed out. Slice each into half
4 pieces of tau pok, sliced in triangles. I actually prefer the rounded ones as they soak in the gravy more
A bunch of dried mung bean, soaked in water

1. Gently fry the garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons of heated oil
2. Fry the nam yu paste till it smells fragrant, about a min or so. Be careful not to burn it
3. Drain and add the rest of the ingredients except the mung bean
4. Stir fry till the nam yu has coated most of the ingredients, add 3-4 cups of water or till it covers
5. Stew over low heat for at least 1.5 hrs till everything turns soft
6. Add the mung bean 30 mins prior to serving.
7. Add salt to taste. Nam yu is salty in itself so practise moderation

Nam yu can also be fried with kang kong, garlic and sliced red chillies, or stewed with fatty pork. Its a hearty and rich dish that will add interesting notes to your dining table, and best eaten with a bowl of steaming white rice.

I have been very sick the last 4 days and made a fatty pork nam yu for dinner last night. Absolutely delicious and it added some taste to my otherwise bland taste buds.

For tonight, its going to be a simple kampung black chicken soup with red dates, wolfberries, wai san and yook jook (wai san is Chinese yam and yook jook is Solomon's seal). Hopefully my head will clear and I am no longer part of the flu epidemic statistic!