Sour veggie, Roasted Pork belly with mustard green

A Homage to my Gong Gong

 Growing up, I never knew my Gong gong (grandfather), he was always busy working so there was hardly any interaction time. In my vivid memories, it would just be a fleeting moment of interactions but I hear that he was a very kind hearted and hardworking man who had many children to feed and would spare no opportunity to earn money. Mom also mentioned about his culinary skills. Though, I've never tried his cooking, I came to know of a dish that he would cook for my mom and family and it pique my curiosity. It seems that the older I get the more I want to recreate those memories through food in homage to my heritage. 

Sour veggie, Roasted Pork belly with mustard green 

This dish seems to be a teochew dish and it comprises of pork belly, tomato and preserved mustard. It's a pretty tasty dish that a teochew Ah gong cooked for his family and it's a dish that goes well with porridge. Drawing inspiration and after researching, compounded with my love for Mustard green or jiè cài (芥菜) in Mandarin. (Mustard green is bitter to many but it adds a complex flavour.) and many tries later, I've have a finish product that I'm pretty satisfied with.

Sour veggie, Roasted Pork belly with mustard green

Feel free to make adjustments as your taste my differ to mine. The essence of this dish is pork belly infused with sour veggie that gives the umami.

Ingredients:

• One bunch of mustard green - bite size
• 3 large tomatoes - wedges
• 300gs of roast pork - sliced
• one clove minced garlic
• 200g Preserved sour veggies - sliced
• 3 tablespoon Oil
• 1L Water
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Procedure:

• Cut the mustard green into bite size pieces, tomato into wedges, and roast pork into slices. Slice sour veggies if not done so. Garlic will need to be minced.
• Blanch mustard green in hot water and oil to wilt it. Remove from water after blanching for 3 minutes or so. 
• In a separate wok, heat 2 tablespoon of oil, add sliced sour veggies and fry until the leaves look dry and you can smell the aroma. Add minced garlic to brown, then sliced roast pork. Fry until there's some charring in the roast pork then add tomatoes to stir fry until tomatoes are cooked. Add mustard green as the final ingredient and drizzle one table spoon of fish sauce for added umami and toss to coat evenly.

Alternatives:

If roast pork is not available, sliced pork belly works too. 

Ingredient source:

• CHB Premium Sour Pickled Vegetable Sliced - Redmart
• Megachef Fish sauce - Redmart
• Mustard green, Large-Petiole Mustard - Senja NTUC

Nutritional value for ADHD:

Mustard Green contains

• Vitamin A: 9% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): 6% of the DV
• Vitamin C: 44% of the DV
• Vitamin E: 8% of the DV
• Vitamin K: 120% of the DV
• Copper: 10% of the DV

Pork belly contain Vitamin B in it's various forms which is essential to children with ADHD

あぶり 石田 aburi Ishida on Sukhumvit 51

We stayed at the service apartment above, Voque Hotel and Service apartments, for the duration of the stay, hungry hubby keeps talking about getting a reservation at this izakaya that's on the ground floor. We finally made our reservation on the last night and were super glad that we did so. 

Aburi Ishida is highly recommended by many and one of their speciality is sashimi chicken and liver, both of which we were too chicken to try. Haha, such irony.

Dinner starts with a serving of Goma Salad, Salad Goma Dressing, 220 baht.

Followed by 10 sticks omakase 525 baht, which includes: 

Chicken skin, heart, liver, sashimi (cooked), chicken ball, Pork Okra, pork baby corn, pork asparagus, quail egg, pork burdock

Irodoriyasai no Suzuke, pickled veggies, (170 Baht) helps cleanse the palate from the grease from the meats and it's pretty rare that pickled veggies included lotus roots or celery.

Another item we tried was the fried tofu (150 baht). The tofu is different from the normal agedashi tofu served in Japanese restaurants and had a wonder bounce to it at first bite. Be careful not to get your mouth burnt as it's served almost straight from the fryer.

 

To end of our wonderful date night, the yaki onigiri chazuke (180 baht) is a must order to finish off the meal. The soup is a very potent and flavourful chicken soup. The perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Location:

99, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Website:

Aburi Ishida

Affordability:

600 to 1000 per pax

Language:

English, finger pointing

Sambal Petai Udang Anchovies

Sambal petai udang ikan bilis (anchovies)

An acquired taste, Petai, an underrated dish that many don't like because it's pungent and bitter taste. However, the benefits of petai outweigh its notoriety. If done well, petai is hardly bitter  and infact quite addictive. 

After much research and pouring through many recipes on the internet. I've learnt how to make a good Sambal Petai Udang with Anchovies. Sounds complicated? Well, it's not when there's shortcuts like ready made chili paste to shorten the time. Plus, if I'm not good at making the chili paste, I might as well leave that to the experts. 

The key to delicious petai is to keep stir frying petai until the petai is soft. This will remove the astringent taste that most hate. Also, the chili paste will camoflage the petai very well.

Ingredient:

• 1 pack of fresh Petai
• 300g baby shrimp or big shelled prawns
• Half a large yellow onion - sliced
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 teaspoon of fish sauce

Procedure:

• In a heated pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add dry petai to fry. 
• Keep stirring the petai for about 10 minutes or until the petai is soft. This reduces the bitterness.
• Push the petai to the side, add onions to fry until wilt and the mince garlic and continue frying. 
• Add prawns or shrimp and stir in all the ingredients in the pan.
• When shrimp is near cooked, add in the Sambal ikan bilis (anchovies) from recipe below and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce for added umami. 
• Toss until all ingredients are coated with Sambal and turn off the flame. 

 Sambal belachan ikan bilis (anchovies)

Ingredients:

• 300g Anchovies
• 1 tablespoon heap of Sambal belacan
• Enough oil to deep fry Anchovies
• Half teaspoon salt

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a sauce pan, enough to deep fry anchovies. Add dry anchovies into the hot water. 
• Note: any trace of water in anchovies will cause oil to splatter and cause injury. 
• Fry the anchovies until golden brown, remove from saucepan and allow it to drip dry on a wiremesh. 
• Remove oil in the sauce pan until there's 2 tablespoon left, you will want to use this oil as it's already fragrant from frying anchovies. 
• Heat up the saucepan with oil in it, when the oil is heating up, add 1 tablespoon heap of Sambal belacan into the pan to fry until fragrant,
• Add in the anchovies and give it a good toss and turn off the flame. While it's still hot, add a pinch of salt and toss it again. Feel free to add sugar if you like it a little sweet. 

Ingredient source:

• Petai - any supermarket 
• Sambal belachan - Shan's addiction this is extra spicy
• Megachef Fish sauce - Redmart

Alternatives:

Normal Sambal belachan can be used or nasi lemak chili.

Nutritional value:

Petai is high in fibre, and contains considerable amounts of vitamin C and E, as well as the vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3.

Ikan Bilis is high in calcium

Keef the Beef - A large corporate lunch crowd

My office hosted a luncheon for more than 20 people with a limited budget just this week for colleagues. Hosting a lunch event this size with other than Chinese food is already a challenge in its own right. Firstly, looking for a space that can cater to the crowd during lunch in the One-north area and secondly, the limited budget. These 2 criteria severely shorten our list to just one. 

We contacted Keef the Beef as they had just recently moved to Rochester Park and their new place has a bigger capacity to accomodate all of us comfortably in the main hall. Their executive set lunch is priced at $38++ which fits our requirements perfectly. They do have large rooms that could have accommodated us perfectly but would require a minimum spend of SGD2000, which unfortunately, we were ghastly below the required minimum spend, we had to make do with the main hall.

Keef the Beef is nestled in the lush environment of Rochester Park, it's a beautiful restaurant with decor that is befitting of an intimate wedding. For a myriad of reasons, going for their executive set menu was the best choice for our large group. Although their restaurant manager recommended their ala carte menu for better options. 

Our executive menu includes a choice of Mushroom soup or salad

Mains is either New Zealand ribeye pho or Barramundi Fish with Olive Capers and Anchovy Sauce.

Dessert of the day was brownie with a serving of ice cream with coffee/tea or soft drinks

The paymaster was absolutely thrilled that the food was good and well within our budget. The only hiccup was the slow service, which seems to me that their staff is not well trained and the slow service caused quite abit of frustration for us. Hopefully, they can improve their service soon.

Location:

Keef the Beef Bungalow
2A Rochester Park
Rochester Commons
Singapore 139252

+65 8499 4745

Parking
For those driving, park at Rochester Commons/
Citadines Connect Rochester Singapore.
From carpark, take lift to level 1. Once you exit the lift lobby,
turn left and walk up a gentle slope to our bungalow.

Price:

$38++ per person

Paradise Teochew at Takashimaya Ngee Ann City

July is a busy month for birthday celebrations. When there's many in a friend group born in July, we will celebrate every July baby's birthday in one occassion. Given that we were a large crowd, we headed to Paradise Teochew. If you love Teochew food and want to dine at a place that impresses your guest, this is a good choice.

We were undecided on what to eat and their manager recommended a few dishes and her choices impressed us. It was a well matched selection.

Wok fried Hor Fun with Kai Lan and preserved Turnip

Paradise Teochew Stir-fried Assorted Vegetable 

Stir-fried Japanese A4 Wagyu Beef Cube with Sliced Garlic - $138

The wagyu beef cube is a highly recommended.

Crisp-fried Soon Hock with Supreme Soya sauce

Prawns Teochew Style Stir-fried with Szechuan Peppercorn

Sliced Crisp-fried Chicken served with Sliced Foie Gras and Assort Fresh fruit - $96

Teochew Style Braised Trio Combination Platter - $40

Stewed Chicken Claw in Abalone Sauce - $14.80

Handmade Prawn Ball - $17.80 (4pc)

Location:
391A Orchard Rd, #03 - 10, Singapore 238873

Website:

https://www.paradisegp.com/paradise-teochew/

Japanese inspired side dish - Pickled Daikon with carrot and Pickled Garlic Cucumber in Ponzu

We live in on a tropical island and sometimes the heat just makes it hard to stomach a meal. So I love to make Japanese type of pickled vegetables to go with my meals as something sour invigorates the tastebuds and gives me better appetite.

From a TCM perspective, Daikon, helps to relieve food stagnation which is also indigestion. It's a versatile vegetable that can be transform into many yummy dishes, like radish cake or radish carrot soup. If you suffer from a sluggish system, this dish helps to remove toxins in your body.

I love pickled Daikon with Carrots and another favourite is pickled cucumber in Ponzu. These are very easy make ahead sides that you can keep for a few days and are very handy to add variety to any meal.

Daikon with Carrot

Pickled daikon and carrot with Yuzu Honey citron

Ingredients:

• Japanese or Korean daikon or radish (use a quarter if it's a long one, short ones, half) - sliced
• one carrot - sliced
• half teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
• 1 teaspoon of korean Yuzu honey citron
• 4 tablespoon of Japanese rice vinegar

Procedure:

• in a clean and sterilized container, you can boil it in hot water to sterilize it, throw in the Daikon, juliened carrot and Celtic Sea Salt. 
• Close the lid and shake the container hard to let the salt toss in the mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes. 
• Open the lid and carefully drain the liquid from the container, I use the cover to make the opening smaller so the contents doesn't drop out. 
• When fully drained, add vinegar and honey yuzu citron to the contents, close the lid and shake the container again to allow it to coat the vegetables. Keep refrigerated until serving time. 

Pickled cucumber with garlic and Ponzu

Cucumber is not only refreshing for a hot summers day, it's also a powerful food that helps to nourish the digestive system and cool it. 

You can make more than 3 types of side dish from here

Ingredients：

• 1 Cucumber - sliced (peeling is optional)
• Half teaspoon of Celtic sea salt
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of Ponzu

Procedure:

•  in a clean and sterilized container, you can boil it in hot water to sterilize it, throw in the sliced cucumber and Celtic Sea Salt. 
• Close the lid and shake the container hard to let the salt toss in the mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes. 
• Open the lid and carefully drain the liquid from the container, I use the cover to make the opening smaller so the contents doesn't drop out. 
• after draining the liquid from the cucumber, you now have Shio pickled cucumber, which can be another side dish.
• When the liquid is drained, add in minced garlic and Ponzu 
• Close the lid and shake the container again to allow the ponzu to coat the cucumber
• Refrigerate for an hour before serving so the garlic can permeate the cucumber

Variations:

With this as the based, you can also add (pick and choose)

• cooked black fungus
• chopped coriander
• chili oil
• roasted peanuts
• sesame oil
• sliced red onions

Alternatives:

• substitute Japanese rice vinegar with chinese black vinegar for a more potential hit of sourness
• Any kind of salt can be used if you can't find Celtic sea salt

Nutritional value:

Daikon: Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium and folate

Carrots: Vitamin A, Biotin, Vitamin K1, Potassium, Vitamin B6

Cucumber: Vitamin C, vitamin K, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese

Feel free to make adjustments to the recipe to suit your taste, if you would like to reference this recipe on your own site, do link this to your blog.

Chef Jocher’s private dining - sashimi from Cut butchery

Food is a passion. Driven by a love for food, Chef Jocher has been researching on food preparation techniques and attending classes to polish his cooking skills. If you have been one of the lucky ones to attend one of his sessions. We thank you for the compliments for this chef in training. 

Seeking the endless pursuit of perfecting his craft, Chef Jocher a.k.a hungry hubby who also has a group of friends who have been with him since the start of his culinary hobby helping him stay on tracking and keep on improving by trying each dish and providing much appreciated feedback. 

Tonight is the first time that he has done a 5 course Japanese dinner. 

Menu includes:

• Deep fried smelt parts
• Kombujime hamachi with tsukemono and pear salad
• Assorted sashimi
• Assorted tempura
• Teppanyaki Prawns
• Teppanyaki Beef
• Teppanyaki veggies

Ever since the closure of Isetan Westgate, there's was a lack of good sashimi. Recently, Cut butchery launched a sashimi counter and we were able to get really good sashimi from their outlet at Bukit Timah Plaza. 

Hamachi cured with Kombu

Chef Jocher has been practicing his filleting skills on smelt fish and managed to fillet this fish nicely. It took him quite a while to do so but he did it in the end. 

Smelt fish Tempura

Besides learning to sashimi fish, Chef has also honed his teppanyaki skills. Teppanyaki prawn head is his speciality. So leave the calories behind and enjoy one or two prawn heads and shoot it down with a good sake.

The meat for this meal is done on teppan medium rare, flavoured with just salt and pepper. Just so that you can enjoy the flavour of this piece of beef. 

If you do score a chance at a slot for Chef Jocher's private dining session, do leave a us a short message below and let us know how much you enjoyed it. 

Sashimi source:

Cut butchery

Bukit Timah Plaza, 1 Jalan Anak Bukit, #B2-05 Bukit Timah Plaza, Singapore 588996

Seoul Brother BBQ in Singapore

Seoul Brother BBQ is a small outfit along the Jurong Kechil stretch, they serve decent meats at affordable prices. If I'm not wrong, they own Seoul butchery too which is nearer to Cheong Chin Nam road. The menu is limited with free flow of side dishes. 

We ordered the Pork and beef set menu, at $76/450g, it includes, pork billy, black pork collar, prime short rib and either soy bean paste stew or kimchi stew, steam eggs for $9 and stir pork intestines at $32.

The staff will grill the meats for you if you aren't comfortable at doing it, like most KBBQ joints. If you want to avoid the crowd, come at lunch time or at 5pm on Sundays. It's empty at these times. Besides K GO BBQ, this is another BBQ place that we like. 

Location:
68号 suites@bukit timah, Jln Jurong Kechil, Singapore 598587 

Reservation:

https://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/seoul-brother