FoodieChat

Part 2 of my trip away - Singapore, care of a $1 flight from Penang on Jetstar (which changed the carrier to Valuair ).

My friend recommended the new food court, called Food Republic in Wisma Atria for a well priced fresh cooked meal, and another friend recommended I tried the “Fried Carrot Cake”. It’s basically a chopped up turnip cake stir fried in sambal chilli, and fashioned into a tasty omelette.  Just S$3 a serve, I seriously loved it. The chilli was just a hint of what was to come!

When one thinks of Singapore, the one thing that comes to everyone’s mind is Singapore Chilli Crab.  What is acknowledged as the best place to get it not just by visitors and expats, but locals as well is Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.  It’s a chain, and we went to the one at Clarke Quay, which is Singapore’s take on Southbank or King Street Wharf or Darling Harbour.  The crab is sooooo meaty, with huge claws.  The sauce is sticky, sweet, tangy, tomato-ey, with a hint of chilli, with egg through it.  Order a mantou bun to dunk into the sauce!

Another unique dish in Singapore is cereal prawns. You can have them shelled or deshelled. Basically they are coated in a sweet, crispy crumb not really like KFC, but not really like tempura either. I must admit, I was so-so on these because the sweetness was a bit over powering. 

One of my favourite dishes is taro scallops, and Jumbo does a great version - fashioning them into mini abalone shapes!

Wandering around Clarke Quay and over our way to Robertson Quay, my friend took me to an amazing patisserie, Canelle. Also a chain, these unique creations that are so haute cuisine just look way too good to eat.  Having shared 1kg of crab between two and all those prawns and scallops, sadly our stomachs were groaning with the digestion task, and hence, we stood and looked and finally settled on one to share.

This amazing chocolate dome has such perfectly smooth glacage, topped with the tempured chocolate dome on top was in fact a dark chocolate mousse cake with a hint of sour cherry in the moist centre.  It was an architectural feat that the smooth creamy mousse could hold its structure so well.  It definitely deserves to be admired before it’s devoured. S$7 each which isn’t bad for what must be so much work.

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I just got back from two gluttonous weeks in Penang, KL and Singapore, thanks to the very cheap airfares floating around.  In Penang, everyone goes to Gurney Drive, the biggest and best hawker food centre there. 

It’s right across from the water behind their newest shopping centre, Gurney Plaza, and is two loonngg rows of stalls selling specialties such as popiah, assam laksa,

meat and fish ball skewers,

satays,

and of course the famous char kway teow.  You can easily get dinner for under 10 ringgitt which is approx A$3, and the best thing is that the servings aren’t huge, so you can buy and try lots of things!  It’s eating under the stars - and everyone in Penang goes - locals and otherwise.

We also enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Parkroyal in Penang.  Two egg stations, fresh char kway teow, Asian breakfast items (curries, nasi lemak, congee), as well as an amazing bakery station with cakes, croissants, pancakes and every other naughty thing your mum doesn’t let you eat for breaky  

And for the diet conscious who pigged out at Gurney Drive the night before, the best tropical fruit spread with jackfruit, dragonfruit, starfruit, longans, paw paw and bananas making regular appearances. 

As Malaysia is a Muslim country, you’ll have to make do with chicken sausages and beef bacon instead of pork bacon which I found very interesting!

At the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, the most exclusive resort on the island, the Spice Cafe offers the usual Shangri-La amazing buffet spread.  Go on Monday night if you can as it’s BOGOF (buy one get one free) night!  At 102 ringitt for two, it means yo udefinitely don’t need to stuff yourself silly.  The usual seafood specialities of prawns, oysters, sashimi were complemented by yabbies as well. The hot food had an indian bar with fresh tandoori, a laksa bar,

 Asian - with jumbo huge cooked prawns.  But all of these pale in comparison to the dessert buffet. I think a picture speaks a thousand words….

where do you start!

You start with dessert that’s what! hehehe. 

There’s also DIY ice kacang - something I found I wasn’t too keen on.

Something interesting is the black chicken soup… only for the brave!

The Rasa Sayang also does high tea.  it’s not a very good ambience as there were hardly any others there, and it appears to be served in their lobby lounge which is deserted. Only 30 ringitt for high tea!

Dragon Well Green Tea is one of the most well known and reputable brands in China.  Originating from Hangzhou, a city which is known for its beautiful West Lake, the tea is highly prized for its pure flavour, and health benefits.  Green tea has been shown to be high in antioxidants, which are said to reduce the risk of cancer.  It also is an excellent palate cleanser after a meal and also for me a detoxer.  It’s also said to aid in weight loss through speeding up your metabolism!  Well, medical research aside… the tea is grown in vast fields lining both sides of the road.  The beautiful, neatly groomed bushes grow to waist height and are in perfectly manicured rows.  Apparently, traffic is forbidden in the evenings, in order to reduce pollution in the tea.  Each leaf is handpicked by workers - and only the young buds. Painstaking work, which is why it is fairly expensive.  Next, it is dried again by hand, in a metal basin, and also sorted according to its quality. First grade costs 240 Yuan for 125g (ie A$40), second grade costs 120 Yuan (ie $20), and third grade costs 160 Yuan (ie $16.67) per 125g.  We were given the best grade to try at the shop, but only dared to buy the lower quality one, lest it get confiscated at customs!

The tradition is that if you are poured a full cup, it means “drink it and leave, you are not welcome”, but being poured half a cup means that you are welcome to stay as long as you like. You thank the pourer of the tea by tapping your index and third finger on the table 3 times near the cup, to say “Thank you very much”.  And the chinese say to come and “eat tea”, because the leaves are also edible.

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One night on our holiday we were booked in to see the Peking Opera in Beijing.  As we sat down, we were delighted with the most death defying tea pouring ceremony, where a man dressed in traditional silk outfit came with a copper teapot with a 1 metre long, skinny spout!  He did a few twists and turns which involved swinging the teapot, twirling it like a baton and resting the spout over his shoulder from various angles, with the pot an arm’s length away!  (more…)