Monday, April 25, 2011

Island Cremery @ King Albert Park

This post is for my cousin! She turned 15 today and here's a little cake I bought for her.


I was cracking my head what to buy for her. It's a last minute thingy, it was only at mid-day that I remembered it's her birthday. I texted her what she want for her present, and she said anything. Since I can't think of what to buy, I thought I will get her a cake first then think of a present later.

Where can I get a decent cake? It's like a challenge trying to get cakes, there are so many birthdays and we always want something different. If you want something really special, you got to pre-order it a few days in advance.

Island Cremery Frozen Desserts - ReversO

On the way back, I thought I would try out Island Creamery at King Albert Park. I remember that place sells cake.


I thought of a detour to Holland Village on the way back to visit Swensen's, but the detour will take a long time. Traffic conditions in that area is usually quite bad.

Island Cremery Frozen Desserts - ReversO

I am glad I went to Island Cremery. Look at the cake!
It's so pretty, just nice for a 15 year old girl. I am so glad she liked it.

When I got to her house, she had friend's over. Her mum asked if she wanted to cut the cake with her friends. She said let's wait for daddy to be back then cut the cake.  She's such a daddy's girl.

Island Cremery Frozen Desserts - ReversO

Our wish for her is to grow up a sensible and responsible girl.


Island Cremery Frozen Desserts - ReversO

If you are wondering what's the name of the cake and what's the price, it's called ReversO and it's $28.
It taste rather good too. There's a layer of chocolate below, then it's chocolate ice cream with oreos. It's topped with cream and lady fingers all around it.

Who can resist this ice cream cake?

Note: Unlike the usual ice cream cake we get from Swensen's which provides dry ice, they don't here. So grab the cake and rush home! We were told it will last 45 mins. Well, I got home in 15 mins and it was still frozen ;-)

Island Cremery
1 King Albert Park
Singapore 598292

Tel: 6467 1571



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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Singapore Takeout - Win 10 food vouchers for a Asian Heritage dish by Chef Janice Wong

Shipping containers. I am sure everyone in Singapore knows about it! Singapore has one of the world's largest and biggest ports and millions of shopping containers passes through the ports.

In Singapore, the Port of Singapore operations are handled by two operators: PSA International and Jurong Port. Do you know in 2010, PSA International's Singapore operations handled 27.68 million TEUs of containers. That's a lot of containers ain't it?

Singapore Tourism Board, IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore is taking just one of the containers, transform it into a mobile pop-up kitchen! It will be called the Singapore Takeout. It will also gather the help of 10 of Singapore's world-class chefs to travel with (not in) the container to 9 cities in the world over the next 12 months.

What are they doing it for? To share Singapore food with people around the world! Singapore's cuisine, culinary talent and products will be make know to the world.

Singapore Takeout

The Singapore Takeout would probably be the most colourful container you will see!
Such a brilliant idea, don't you think?

From the pictures on the containers, you can decipher  where it will travel to!  Starting from London in June 2011, it will then visit Paris, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Delhi, Dubai and Sydney.

Chef Janice Wong (of 2am Dessertbar fame) will kick-start the gastronomic journey tour in London.

Singapore Takeout

The Singapore Takeout will be officially launched in Singapore on Thursday, 28 April 2011.

On Friday, 29th April 2011, from 7pm – 10pm, it will be open to the public.
The venue will be at Clifford Square, 80 Collyer Quay, Singapore 049326.

Admission is free, but food and drink items can be purchased at nominal prices.


Contest!

Would you be interested to win one of the 10 complimentary SPICE food vouchers for a specially crafted Asian Heritage dish by Chef Janice Wong, redeemable at the public launch on 29th April?

Just answer this simple question to win:
Name the 3 mixes in the Singapore Flyer Signature Cocktail.

The first 10 readers that email me (keropokman@gmail.com) with the correct answer wins. You should also include your full name, NRIC and contact details with the email.

Contests shall close on the midnight of 27 April 2011 (Wednesday).
Note: The contest is now closed. There has been more than 10 people who have emailed the correct answers.



_______________________________

Details of the traveling container:
_______________________________

Dates the Singapore Takeout will visit the following cities:
  • London: 9 - 11 Jun 2011
  • Paris: 30 Jun - 2 Jul 2011
  • Moscow: 15 - 17 Jul 2011
  • New York: 16 - 18 Sep 2011
  • Hong Kong: 10 - 12 Nov 2011
  • Shanghai: 1 - 3 Dec 2011
  • Delhi: 13 - 15 Jan 2012
  • Dubai: 18 - 20 Feb 2012
  • Sydney: 30 Mar - 1 Apr 2012

Note: To follow / keep up to date / register for the Takeout when the Singapore Takeout will visit your city, go to http://www.facebook.com/SingaporeEats



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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Earth Day Menu at Novus (at National Museum of Singapore)

How many of you know about Earth Day? You might say hey, didn't we had something like that a few weeks ago? Where we turned off all the lights and stuff? Well that was Earth Hour.

Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. It started long ago on April 22 1970 in the US. In 2009, the United Nations adopted April 22 every year as International Mother Earth Day. They have a theme every year too. This year’s Earth Day theme, A Billion Acts of Green, recognises the power of millions of individual actions, both small and large, in making a difference towards sustainable living.

Novus celebrates Earth Day with “The Elements of Life”, a special 4- course menu crafted by Executive Chef Stephan Zoisl. Inspired by the four natural elements of Mother Nature – Earth, Water, Air and Fire, diners can expect a feast that triggers the senses as each course unfolds.

For this menu, Executive Chef Stephan Zoisl has taken care to incorporate organic ingredients and supplies from sustainable sources. Chef Stephan says, “This menu will showcase the beauty of nature on a plate. We want to trigger the appreciation of Mother Earth through the diner’s senses - taste, sight, smell and touch.”

Sounds good? Well, I had that meal recently at Novus and here's my experience of it.


Sicilian Olives, Butter and Olive Oil.

Butter, Oil and Olives

Momo and I with Aromacookery and Maemeemoomoo together with the HungryCow tasted the Earth Day meal.

Notice those olives? Don't be deceived by it's greenish looks. They taste really really nice! I read somewhere else that they have lesser calories than the black olives too. When we tasted it, it gives a nice corn like flavour to it. Very unique!


Bread Basket

Delicious Loaves

The bread's all baked in the restaurant itself and the soft rolls are probably the one I enjoyed most! They were just so soft and I just had to grab another one when I finished the first one. There were mini baguettes and rye bread too.

I had my soft rolls with the butter that had some herbs and nuts on it. Very nice!


“The Elements of Life” - Earth 

“The Elements of Life” - Earth

When this was served, it was totally unexpected! All of us were so intrigued by it! We did not expect anything like this!

We were all jokingly asking:
- Do we have to harvest our own veggies?
- Is that real soil?
- Is that grass from the grass patch outside the National Musuem?

“The Elements of Life” - Earth

Name of dish: TRUFFLE UNDERGROUND & MORNING DEW

“The Elements of Life” - Earth

The bottom most of what I call the 'petri dish' was jellied mushroom consomme. 
The white layer is Jerusalem artichoke puree.

“The Elements of Life” - Earth

The 'soil' was dough infused with molasses, black sesame and black winter truffle. Can you imagine the taste? I am sure you have touched soil before.

The texture was almost like soil! I really enjoyed eating it, tasting it slowly to try and guess what it was. It was familiar tasting, but I just could not get it all.


The small piece of vegetables and mushrooms on it, made it look so interesting! You just got to try it!


“The Elements of Life” - Sea

“The Elements of Life” - Water

So 'atas' eh? Food being served in a big shiny cover!
It was to keep the dish nice and warm.

“The Elements of Life” - Water

Name of dish: CANADIAN SCALLOPS & SEA ELEMENTS

The dish stayed warm because the sea shells on the bigger bowl that the smaller bowl rested was filled with warm water.  I can't remember if they used purified sea water with the sea shells, but you can smell the 'sea'!

“The Elements of Life” - Water

The main ingredients: Canadian scallops, borage leaves, salted fingers, seaweed, oyster leaves, caviar d’ Aquitaine.

The scallops were so succulent. We were told the dish was not cooked with salt added as the salted fingers (that has the texture of bean sprouts but is naturally salty) and seaweed and caviar already gives it a salty taste. Interesting eh?



“The Elements of Life” - Water

You got to try this leaf! It's called Oyster leaf and when you bite it, you will think you have just eaten fresh oyster! How amazing can it get? You can do an online search about it.
(This leaf shown has been partially 'cooked' brown by the hot liquid.)

p/s Ferran Adria before closing El Bulli for renovation, had a dish that uses Oyster Leaf too! So you think it's worth a try here in Singapore? I am wondering where I can buy this leaf!


“The Elements of Life” - Air

“The Elements of Life” - Air

Name of dish: SNOW COD & ZUCCHINI FLOWER


You should try Chef Stephan's 'airy' creation!
It's shellfish foam, potato & saffron espuma, stuffed zucchini flower with Snow Cod.

Inside the stuffed zucchini flower was zucchini sauteed with tomato. Oh, I love that taste! It goes so well with the cod.

“The Elements of Life” - Air

I quote them: "The shellfish foam and potato & saffron espuma represent air by providing this dish with a flavourful dimension of airy textures."

Beautiful eh? The japanese cucumber creates such a beautiful 'scale' for the cod fish. Look at the details too! Oh yes, the foam will disappear, so have the foam quick!


“The Elements of Life” - Fire

“The Elements of Life” - Fire

Name of dish: BURNING SORBET

Wood chips, Staub mini cast iron cookware on tiles, doesn't it looks cool?

“The Elements of Life” - Fire

It's made from Elderflower sorbet, Grand Marnier, fresh seasonal fruits and Champagne jelly.

How to execute this dish?
Step 1: You pour the shot of Grand Marnier in.....


“The Elements of Life” - Fire

Step 2: You light the match!

“The Elements of Life” - Fire

Step 3: Enjoy the flames!

There you go....
A very visually appealing flaming sorbet showing off the element of fire in this dessert. After the alcohol burns off, enjoy the delicious dessert!


Are you tempted?

“The Elements of Life” is a 4-course menu priced at $128++ per person. The menu is available for dinner only from 15 - 23 April 2011.  Hurry if you want to try it! I am sure you will be equally surprised and intrigue as Momo and I was!

For reservations, call 6336 8770



After note:
If you like cheeses, you can order a cheese platter too!

Cheese Platter

I am not a fan of cheese, so you can imagine me with twisted funny face when I tried it!
I can't remember the names of all the cheese, but I think there was 2 of them which I thought was nice.


Novus
National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road, #01-02,
 Singapore 178897

Tel: Restaurant- 6336 8770
Tel: Bar, Courtyard, Café- 6337 1397

Website: http://www.novus.sg/



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Monday, April 18, 2011

Gourmet Food Trail with Ah Lun - Part II - Lao Beijing

Here is Part II of the Gourmet Food Trail with Ah Lun.

The bus brought us rather quickly to Tiong Bahru Plaza. We went to the Lao Beijing branch located at Tiong Bahru Plaza.


Part II - Lao Beijing

The menu at Lao Beijing. What a feast!

The first thing we saw when we sat down was the menu!

There were so many dishes! We just had a 6 course lunch and here's another 7 courses on the menu.
That's not counting another surprise dish that might also be served here!


Chef Ma Wei welcoming us.

Here's Chef Ma Wei Qi from Lao Beijing. He's renowned for his execution of Northern Chinese dishes! Some of you who have "certain credit cards" might have attended his master class too :-)


Foodies at Lao Beijing, Tiong Bahru

Here's the crowd again. We were all seated according to the table number on the sticker tag that we had to wear. Some people had to shift around because of the table number on the tags. It's a good place to meet other people interested in food! The people on my table changed. That means I got to make new friends again!

Double boiled Chicken Soup

Double boiled Chicken Soup

The soup was very flavourful and tasty. I found it a bit too generous with salt. :-)

Double boiled Chicken Soup

They say chicken soup soothes the soul. It might be true after all. After having it, I felt better after the rush from one place to another. Just that I still find it a bit salty.  :-)


Steamed Fish Head with Pickled Chilli

Steamed Fish Head with Pickled Chilli

This dish might look really really spicy, but looks can be deceiving. As it's pickled chilli, it's not that spicy. It was a really fragrant dish. The pickled chilli mixture plus other fragrant oil (probably onion and bit of sesame) that they pour over it makes it smells really good. Fresh fish was coated with the pickled chilli paste and steamed. It sounds so simple right?

I am a fish eater, so I was happily eating it. After everyone took a small piece of it, I realised most people on the table did not take the second serving. Oh... they don't like fish with bones! I like picking fish from the bones, so I ate more of it.


Beijing-style Fried Shredded Pork and Leek with Chef's special sauce

Beijing-style Fried Shredded Pork and Leek with Chef's special sauce

This we were told is a very Beijing dish. They use tofu skin to wrap the stir fried shredded pork and leek. It's different from the usual wraps made from flour or wheat. It has a very nice mouth-feel to it.

Beijing-style Fried Shredded Pork and Leek with Chef's special sauce

I like this dish because of the sauce that was used to cook the pork strips. It was so tender that I initially thought it tasted like beef. Probably also because of the colour :-)

Beijing-style Fried Shredded Pork and Leek with Chef's special sauce

Our table got a bit lazy so someone asked the service staff if they could wrap for us. They did and below is what they did! It was quite a pleasure eating this, especially when we did not have to do anything but move our jaws.

Games time!

Marble Picking with Chopsticks Competition

Another round of competition! We were such a naughty crowd. The whole time at Lao Beijing, Xiao Peng was teasing the boy in the middle. Those who went knows the reason, but it's for people there only. Not nice to disclose it here :-)

I wonder if it's because he is wearing a shirt that's the same colour as Wanbao's logo?


Country-style Braised Dried Beancurd in Claypot

Country-style Braised Dried Beancurd in Claypot

A very country dish. Dried beancurd that's I think has been pan fried and then braised with lots of leek and chilli. It's for tofu lovers. It's been some time since I had dried beancurd. We have been eating soft tofu too much! Eating this version of tofu is a nice change.


My partner in crime for the food tour.

An interview with Xiao Peng and Aussie Pete

Together with me was Aussie Pete another blogger that attended the Food Trail. He was being interviewed by the co-host Xiao Peng. He also had to make popiah! I am so glad I did not have to do anything. ;-)



Birthday surprise!

Birthday Cake

Surprise surprise! There was participants who came because it was their birthday!

Birthday Boys!

These 3 guys celebrated their birthdays. It was the actual birthday day for the boy in the Lianhe Wanbao colour. :-)

Chinese Opera!

Chef Ma Wei presenting a Chinese Opera

Chef Ma was in a very joyous mood last Saturday!
He decided to sing some opera for us too! I hope the omy folks recorded it! If they did you can probably watch it at the omy.sg site :-)


Fried Assorted Mushrooms with Spinach

Fried Assorted Mushrooms with Spinach

This dish has been created for mushroom lovers. Oh... how I love the mushrooms!
The greens was a bit bitter, but the mushrooms was absolutely gorgeous!

How many kinds of mushrooms can you spot?


Demo time!

Chef Ma Wei demonstrating how to make popiah.

Demo time and the surprise dish!  Popiah making time! Chef Ma demonstrated how to make popiah!


DIY Popiah Session

Popiah Making Session

We got to do it ourselves too on our table. The condiments for popiah.

Popiah Making Session

The soft skin for us to roll our popiah.

Popiah Making Session

The most important ingredients for popiah, and everyone though this was really well executed here. It was the right consistency and we ate it on its own too when the skins ran out!


Ah Lun after the demonstration told us more about Singapore style popiah. He said that there are very few people in Singapore who knows how to wrap popiah properly. He has done his research and gone around all these years finding out.

I did not know the proper way to fold popiah, do you? Well, here's how to do it.

Popiah Making Session

The sweet sauce is not to be spread in the middle of the skin. (That's a sign that the person who makes that popiah don't know about popiah!) The proper traditional way is to put it on top. The purpose of the sauce other than giving the popiah a slightly sweet taste is to act as 'glue'. So you spread it on the top.

The vegetable are usually dry, and you use it as a base to fill up other things.


Popiah Making Session

You can either put the condiments first below or put the condiments on top. I chose to put it below because it is easier for me. :-)

Popiah Making Session

Next I top up with the braised radish and tofu mix. You got to give the radish and tofu mixture a slight squeeze to get rid of the excess liquid. You don't want a soggy limp popiah.

We were told the traditional way is to boil pork bones and cook the radish etc in it. Nowadays many hawkers 'cheat' by using ikan bilis stock or worst still use ikan bilis cubes! If you have eaten the real stuff, you can taste the difference.


Popiah Making Session

You then roll it up! Look, my first try and it comes out kind of nice right?

Popiah Making Session

I took a bit and see how nice it looks inside?

We were told traditionally, a spoonful or so of the excess sauce will be poured into the popiah as you eat it. It's for those who loves it wet. Ah Lun really knows a lot about food. There were lots of stories that he told us. Attend his food trails if you want to know more! :-)


I stare, you stare!

Staring Game Competition

Another game, this time a staring game. Two strangers were picked to stare at each other. The person who burst out laughing first loses. These two can really stare without laughing. The man's wife seated down was laughing non stop though!

They were so good that both were declared winners after even an extension of time! LOL.


Pan fried Shrimp, Pork, Cabbage Guotie

Pan fried Shrimp, Pork, Cabbage Guotie

The Guotie at Lao Beijing. Some say it's a must try here.
I am not a fan of guotie, so I can't really appreciate it.

Pan fried Shrimp, Pork, Cabbage Guotie

It does look very good right? Crispy on the bottom and smooth and silky on the top.


Steamed Juicy Meat Buns - Xiao Long Bao

Steamed Juicy Meat Buns - Xiao Long Bao

Fans of XLB, their version here is not bad too!


Empress Dowager's Dessert - Soybean Cake

Empress Dowager's Dessert - Soybean Cake

The name of this dessert it Empress Dowager's Dessert. How interesting eh?
It's glutinous rice cake and red bean paste layered and rolled up. The final layer is then rolled with soybean powder. It's quite unique and taste rather good too.

By the time we finish this, we were all totally stuffed! In 6 hours, we were entertained and we were eating and eating. If you would like to find out more or register for one of these sessions, click here to find out more.

It was a really enjoyable time to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. If I can find time, I would want to sign up for the later sessions, not only because of the food, but to hear stories from Ah Lun himself! There's a reason he is called 'the legend'!


Lao Beijing 老北京食堂
Tiong Bahru Plaza #02-12
302 Tiong Bahru Road
Singapore 168732

Tel : +65 6376 4466



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