Dim Sum Lunch at Ah Yat Forum!

We went for a dim sum lunch at Ah Yat Forum last week because it was a special occasion. ;)

We just ordered a few dim sum as we were rushing to leave for Singapore Art Museum afterwards. These are just some of the dim sum we ate.

Egg Tarts



We had a Danish guest with us, so we dared him to eat Braised Duck's Tongue. He enjoyed it! :D



Sorry for the blur photo! This is the Char Siew Pastry.


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Roasted Meats at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant

Some other goodies we treated ourselves at the New Year feast:

Roasted Pork (烧肉)

My personal sinful indulgence: A crisp layer of crackling skin, followed by a melt-in-the-mouth experience of aromatic lipids, finished off by the tender meat. All compacted in a small but sophisticated package of flavours and textures. They provide mustard, but I like to eat it as it is.



Roasted Goose

Another stellar dish at Imperial Treasure, this one is me and Mum's favourite. The meat is not the slightest bit dry, and the skin crisp and bursting with flavour. Truly the epitome of all Chinese roasts! :D

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Chinese New Year: Yu Sheng

We had a rather delicious Yu Sheng (Lo Hei) during the Chinese New Year festivities at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. (During "Ren Ri" or the birthdate of all men in Lunar calendar) To tell the truth, I've never liked Yu Sheng as 1) I still couldn't get used to raw fish except Aji; 2) Full of veggies! But strangely this one actually got us finishing the entire plate!

The syrup was not too cloyingly sweet, and I liked the fact that they added crunchy shredded yam. Oh oh and there were (a few strands of) jellyfish!



Mixing the ingredients together and drawing it high for good luck!

Click here for more information about Yu Sheng and Lo Hei!

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Lunch at Wahiro

Year 2009 has started, so it also means that school will be starting very, very soon. As a start-of-school-year treat, my parents brought me to Wahiro at Goldhill Plaza (Katong is pretty far, and Dad might find it a little squeezy) for their kushiyaki. (grilled skewered items)

They have pretty good set lunches, so Mum got this Wahiro Set that comes with a little of everything.



I had the Tempura Set(shown above), while Dad had the Yanagawa-nabe set. Of course I also ordered ala-carte kushiyaki!



From left: Chicken Skin (Kawa), Beef Tongue (Gyu Tan), Chicken (Tori)
I really enjoyed the beef tongue, because it's been a really long time since I last had such a thick meaty cut of it. Some parts were too well done, but the rest with pink centres were really delicious! Kawa was chewy and crisp at the edges.

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009! (and school!)

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New Year: Mum's Stir-fried Glass Vermicelli

Every Chinese New Year, Mum will cook this staple dish without fail. These "glass vermicelli", or also known as mung-bean vermicelli or "Tang Hoon" is extremely delicious because it is cooked in a concentrated stock. Stir-fried with Jew's Ear and various veggies, I can wolf several servings of this down at dinner time! :p

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New Year: "Hae Zhor" Prawn Rolls

These are a family specialty: "Hae Zhor", or Hokkien Prawn Rolls.

My grand-aunt does it the traditional way: wrapping prawn meat, water chestnut and minced pork in membrane derived from pigs' organs. It may sound gruesome, but some sausages also utilise the same natural membrane as a casing. First, it has to be steamed to ensure the ingredients are cooked. It is then coated in batter and deep fried to a crispy golden brown!


Hae Zhor in batter ready for deep-frying!

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Mum's Traditional Foo Chow Nian Gao

This is Mum's Traditional Foo Chow "Nian Gao", a kind of New Year pudding made from tapioca flour, sweet potato flour, red sugar and shredded yam. It is wrapped in beancurd sheet and garnished with red dates. She made 3 cakes to share and give to family and frieds! :)

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Mum's Steamed Crab with Glutinous Rice

While everyone had loads of delicious Butterball Turkey, (this year's turkey was really tender!--from Cold Storage) Blackforest Ham, 240 days aged Roast Beef, Leg of Lamb, (generously sponsored by our loving Uncle :P) Mixed Salads, Jamie's Corn Soup, Jamie's Mashed Potato etc etc.. (and not to forget Jamie's really awesome Tiramisu!!) Mum made Steamed Crab with Glutinous Rice specially for Grandma this Christmas!

The crab was specially selected by the fishmonger, who claimed that the crab was 'neither male nor female', but the roe is the best.. and true enough! The meat was succulent and the roe, aplenty and deliciously sinful!

Merry Christmas, everyone! :D

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Uncle's Birthday: Satsuma Shochu Dining and Bar

August is a festive month of Birthdays! Singapore, Mum and Uncle! We had a birthday at Satsuma Shochu Dining and Bar at Gallery Hotel. Sorry for the lack of photos; the lighting was very dim and it was hard to take decent shots.


This is the Tuna Salad, the tuna is lightly seared on the outside, so it's still raw inside. As much as I love Japanese foods, I'm still not used to raw fish and sashimi. :X But this was quite nice and the dressing was very appetising.

Their Sumiyaki items are also quite good; I simply love charcoal-grilled food! This one is Shittake Mushroom Stuffed with Chicken. We also tried Ox Tongue, Chicken Yakitori, Oyster Rolls, Foie Gras, Silver Cod and Enoki Mushroom wrapped with Bacon.



Other dishes include Hiyashi Momotaro, Sashimi Moraiwase, Cheese Mentaiko Tofu, Mentai (Spicy Cod Roe) Spaghetti, Dried Fugu (Puffer Fish) and Shishamo Ten. The Mentai Spaghetti was, albeit on the salty side, unique and delicious. The Cheese Mentaiko Tofu was an interesting combination which blew me away with its incredible smoothness! The Shishamo Ten was very crispy and full of eggs, too bad they had only 1 serving left so I could only have 1 fish. :( This was my first time eating Fugu! Not bad; tasted chewy and savoury like Bak Kwa! :P



And of course, for dessert, we had Birthday Cake! Cousin Jamie made Carrot Cake that night, while we also had this Tiramisu Cake from Sweet Secrets the day before! (:

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Mum's Birthday: Shabu-shabu and Cheescake!

Wednesday was Mum's Birthday, so we celebrated by having a delicious Shabu-shabu (シャブシャブ) dinner at home. Just dip the thinly sliced beef in the hotpot for a few seconds' and it's ready to eat! The soup base is made from Konbu 昆布 , White Radish and Assorted Mushrooms. Besides beef and pork slices, we also had some Beancurd, Glass Noodles, Veggies, Kelp, Assorted Balls including Hakka Beef Balls.

And for desert, we had Japanese Cheesecake from Uncle Miki @ Liang Court! Yummy! (:



Happy Birthday, Mummy! :D

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