Rich and Good Cake Shop @ Kandahar Street

Following the food journey of another fellow foodie, I realized where is the location of Rich and Good Cake. Kandahar Street, a few streets parallel to Arab Street where rich and good swiss roll can be found.

Only S$6.50 per swiss roll 

Bought 2 rolls, one kaya and one durian

A look a the Kaya and Durian Swiss Rolls

Certainly goes well with green tea!

24 Kandahar Street

Singapore

Tel : +65 6294 3324

African Taste

When I was a teenager, fusion food - preferably stacked fusion food - was all the rage.  I had a signature dish, a shiitake mushroom and miso risotto I had gotten out of a Marie Claire cookbook (before Donna Hay who used to write those struck out on her own).  I was so proud of it but now I think so many friends must have choked down what in hindsight was a pretty disgusting combination.  I had a great idea to cook a lasagne of Asian vegetables - bok choy and enoki mushrooms layered with napoli sauce and cheese.  Thank God that never saw the light of day!  So suffice to say I approach "fusion food" with some caution.

It is perhaps reflective of the amazing place Footscray is, that when I first saw African Taste open I thought, "Cool, another Ethiopian restaurant!" and thought no more about it.  There is much more here than meets the eye, though.  Rather than just straight Ethiopian or Eritrean, this bright and cheery restaurant has a number of "fusion" dishes on its menu, with flavours gleaned from the chef's native East Africa as well as Sudan and North Africa.

Genfo African Fufu, $10.95

Fufu is apparently a kind of porridge or paste common across Africa and made from various flours, usually served in one large ball (perhaps like this Sudanese omnemia).  Instead of one large ball, though, these fufu gnocchi are small, made with toasted barley flour and served in a thick, rich, creamy sauce with a nice chilli kick and plenty of spice, particularly paprika.  They are so amazingly good!  They are just as light as traditional gnocchi but the barley flour gives a nuttiness to them and a slight graininess, which is more apparent as they cool down.  This sounds unappealing but trust me, you have to try this.  For a little extra you can add lamb, chicken or spinach & ricotta but I think they are fabulous as they are.  This is chef Ben's own special creation and it is a winner!

African Fasting Food, $14.95

Two days per week, Orthodox Christian Ethiopians "fast" or consume only 100% vegan food.  This was a sample platter of fasting food which included a simple, crunchy, tasty stir-fry of beans, onions and carrot, very spicy and therefore most excellent misir wat or red lentil dal, mild yellow split pea dal, tikil gomen or cabbage and carrot (I prefer more crunchy and less soft but it was still great) and what I know as dubba or slow-cooked pumpkin and eggplant cooked with berbere, traditional Ethiopian spice.  Everything was delicious and light on oil, which I prefer.  The Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in Footscray vary vastly in the amount of oil used in the vegetarian dishes in particular and I much prefer the drier style as here.

Tibes, $12

This dish of tibes or small, tender lamb pieces in a rich berbere and tomato sauce was excellent.  The lamb had great flavour, was perfectly cooked and so flavoursome.  I also love the tibs that African Town in Nicholson Street make, which is cooked in butter but without a red sauce and with lots of chunky green chilli.

Injera

Plenty of spongy injera was on hand to soak up all the delicious flavours.  The menu has plenty of other gems I am keen to try like the "cramped cauliflower", coated in a yellow seasoning and fried, and the "African enchilada" (available in both chicken and vegetarian).

The couple who own and run African Taste, Ben and Sunny, are delightful - friendly, genuine and passionate.  The restaurant is tiny and the kitchen is just beyond a simple partition, but it was packed on a Monday night.  There are plans afoot to extend out the back and take on more staff.  Thank you Eileen and Phil for your original guest post that set the tastebuds a-watering, and to Deb who was happy to revisit and give me a tour of the menu!  I am keen to try their breakfast menu, particularly the "gourmet vegetarian pizza" at $7.  Pizza for breakfast - a much-loved Australian tradition on an African fusion menu.  How cool is that?!


African Taste
124 Victoria Street, Seddon (map)
Phone: 9687 0560Hours: Wed - Mon 10am-9pm (til 10pm Fri & Sat) - closed Tues
NB $1.50 per meal surcharge after 7pm

Wheelchair Accessibility
Step to enter.

Coconut Shrimp with Fiery Mango Sauce

Back when I was getting to know my husband, the ever important question came up, "do you like shrimp?" His answer, which remains his answer still is "not unless it's been breaded and deep fat fried!" Not being one to fry things often, I resigned myself to a happy but shrimp-less life with my husband, crossing my fingers that his non-shrimp loving genes wouldn't be passed on to my kids. It was.

So you can imagine my joy in finding this recipe from Cooking Light (for those of you new to my blog, I'm in love with Cooking Light. If Cooking Light was a religion, I'd be their first follower.) Big fat shrimp, coated in a crunchy, sweet layer of coconut and panko, and skillet fried to a browned crispy perfection. They're accompanied by a sweet and HOT mango sauce. I think I used jalapenos instead of habaneros, I haven't quite reached that level of bravery when it comes to hot foods.

During these cold, post-holiday days of winter, give this tropical dish a try, it might give you that bit of hope that you need to get you through it!

Coconut Shrimp with Fiery Mango Sauce
Cooking Light January 2010

Ingredients

Sauce:
1 teaspoon canola oil
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (12-ounce) can mango nectar
1/4 Scotch bonnet pepper, unseeded
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Shrimp:
28 jumbo shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 teaspoons canola oil, divided
Cooking spray

Directions

1. To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, ginger, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add nectar and pepper; bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or until reduced to 3/4 cup. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Place mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Stir in juice and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cool.

2. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact; discard shells.

3. Place coconut in a food processor; pulse 6 times or until finely chopped. Add panko; pulse to combine. Place coconut mixture in a shallow dish. Place cornstarch in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Sprinkle shrimp evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Working with 1 shrimp at a time, dredge shrimp in cornstarch, shaking off excess. Dip in egg whites; dredge in coconut mixture.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 7 shrimp to pan; coat tops of shrimp with cooking spray. Cook shrimp 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat procedure 3 times with remaining oil and shrimp.

Serves 4

Pomegranate Avocado Salad with Miso Dressing Recipe

Happy New Year! It's hard after the holidays not to want to take a break from all the indulgence and make sweeping resolutions. My diet resolutions this year are simply to eat more soups and salads. Sure, I'd love to eat healthy, exercise more and lose weight but I'm trying to be realistic.

When it comes to soup, there is no problem. I probably eat soup for dinner once a week. While I grew up eating salad every night, it's just not all that popular around my dinner table. I have a couple of ideas to shake things up. I am going to try to develop more interesting salad combinations and recipes. I am going to get creative with salad dressings and I am also going to try eating more salad for lunch.

This is a salad I served on New Year's Eve. It is very festive looking, don't you think? The salad is light and healthy, but has a good variety of flavors and textures. The Napa cabbage adds color and crunch, the pomegranate adds color but also sweetness, which is balanced by the saltiness of the miso dressing. The dressing uses white or shiro miso, which is less salty than other darker miso. I've added a few teaspoons of tahini which I always seem to have on hand for making hummus. I don't use it for anything else! Perhaps finding more uses for pantry staples should be another resolution...

Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Miso DressingServes 4-6

Ingredients

8 leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
8 cups mesclun or spring greens
1/2 cup pomegranate "seeds"
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing
3 Tablespoons rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and taste for seasoning.

Toss the cabbage and greens and dressing to lightly coat. Garnish each serving with pomegranate and avocado. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

More pomegranate salad recipes:

Fruity Pomegranate Salad with Savory Soy Vinaigrette from White on Rice Couple

Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Apples and Walnuts from Pinch My Salt

Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad from Simply Recipes

Nigella's Pomegranate, Onion and Coriander(cilantro) salad from Real Epicure

Creamy Hot Chocolate

I honestly don't know if anything is more rewarding then a cup of hot cocoa after a cold day outside. I remember deliberately playing in the snow as a kid, my cheeks and nose getting cold and rosy, knowing that it was all going to be topped off with a steamy, rich cup of hot chocolate.


I still love hot chocolate, but what I don't like is that powdery stuff trying to front as hot chocolate. Let's face it, you could shovel heaps of that sweetened dirt into your cup, it just doesn't cut it. I need the real thing.

My husband is actually the one that found this recipe. This is the real stuff folks, thick, creamy, chocolatey goodness that will make you feel like a kid again. You'll jump in a big pile of snow just to get a cup!


Creamy Hot Chocolate
Found on Allrecipes

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup boiling water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup half-and-half cream

Directions

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Grandma's Vietnamese chicken curry

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year break!  Mine was almost too good.  Suffice to say I do not want to see another bottle of sparkling wine for a long time.  Time for some home cooking!  This is a wonderful, easy but authentic recipe from my friends M & S's mum.  It's a traditional Southern Vietnamese ca ri ga or chicken curry and is really unusual and delicious.  Best of all, it is very kid-friendly!

Ingredients

2 chicken thighs/1 chicken breast
1 Tb Madras curry powder
1 Tb oil, eg rice bran
1 large can coconut milk (try Ayam or Mae Ploy brands)
1 piece lemongrass
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic
1 onion, cut into large chunks
500 mL chicken stock
1 Tb white sugar
1 Tb or so fish sauce
1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks

Remove visible fat from chicken.  Rub with the curry powder and set aside for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the chicken over medium heat until sealed.  Add a dash of coconut milk (about 1/4 cup) and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Chop up chicken and return to the pan.  Next, separate the white bulbous part of the lemongrass from the top stalkier bit.  Cut into 2-inch lengths and give them a bash.  Add to the chicken along with the garlic, bay leaf and onion.  Cook for about 3 minutes then add 1 cup of chicken stock, 1 Tb of sugar and about 1 Tb of fish sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add chopped carrot, potato and sweet potato and the other cup of chicken stock.  Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.  The smell will be absolutely divine!

Add the remainder of the can of coconut milk and heat gently.  Now is the time to taste to see if it needs more fish sauce.  Remove lemongrass before serving.

This delicious curry can be served with rice or noodles but also traditional and best in M & S's (and my) opinion is a crusty bread roll from your local banh mi bakery.  It is so good.  The curry powder is quite sweet itself with very warm spices like cinnamon and just a hint of chilli.  The sauce is rich, abundant and almost like a curry laksa soup.  The root vegetables - seemingly so unusual for a Vietnamese recipe - soak up all the rich sauce and just melt in your mouth.  So supremely comforting.  Try with a glass of sparkling.  Oh my god, did I just say that?

I want to give a little shout-out to my friend Bryan's wonderful blog, let's get fat together.  Bryan is a great writer, takes vivid, wonderful pics and I love his gentle and reflective style.  He is currently getting pui (fat) in Singapore, rediscovering his roots and chronicling his family's Makansutra in the hawker bars and kopitiams of the island city.  Do check it out and Bryan, keep up the awesome work!

Back to Katsukura for Yonezawa Sangen Fillet Cutlet - Kyoto, Japan

The sesame seeds that we grind for the dip sauce. 

Even though this was a repeat trip to Kyoto for me (for HY, her third), we just have to visit Katsukura again as we find their tonkatsu hard to resist. This time round we have their top grade premium tonkatsu, the 160g Yonezawa Sangen Fillet Cutlet.

Yonezawa Sangen Fillet Cutlet 160g

The Yonezawa Sangen Fillet Cutlet taste more tender than the normal fillet cutlet in the menu. The following photos comparing the Yonezawa Sangen and the normal fillet cutlet was reason why I had paid premium.

The meat fibres in the Yonezawa Sangen Fillet Cutlet looked juicier
probably from interlaced fats in this cut of pork. 

The meat fibres in the normal fillet cutlet was closely packed and tasted drier.

Here's a good read about Butagumi, a really porky place. I will have to visit Butagumi the next time I'm visiting Tokyo.

Here's a link to my previous Katsukura post in January 2009.

16 Ishibashi-cho, Sanjo-dori Kawaramachi nishi-iru, 

Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City

Kyoto, Japan

Opening hours :

Weekdays and Sundays 11:00am~9:30pm (Last order at 9:00pm)

Saturday 11:00am~10:00pm (Last order at 9:30pm)

Website : http://www.fukunaga-tf.com/katsukura/main.html

Gogyo Kyoto 京都五行 .... one of the best ramen in Kyoto - Kyoto, Japan

As I searched on the internet, trawling for good food in Kyoto, Gogyo appeared in the list with Ippudo. Ippudo's ramen is already available in Singapore. So the choice was easy. Gogyo for ramen in Kyoto! Armed with a tourist map and a Gogyo address we arrived at a traditional Kyoto Machiya house with Gogyo's sign hanging at the entrance.

Kyoto Gogyo, within a Kyoto Machiya House

Gogyo's House Ramen, The Kogashi (Burnt Soy) Ramen

Hunger pangs had long struck us while we were walking in the chilly autumn weather while searching for Gogyo. The hot enticing fragrance of burnt soy was welcoming indeed. The black soup base looked like squid ink sauce. You know the taste of the charred parts of the meats. This soup base had that kind of feel while as a whole savory.

HY had the lighter Shio (Salt) Ramen and ask for a choice of a thinner ramen.

Shio Ramen

The gyozas here was pan fried till it was crispy on the outside but yet juicy on the inside. The dip at the side had that citrus flavor of yuzu which enhance the taste of gyoza.

Gogyo's Gyoza

京都市中京区柳馬場通 蛸薬師下ル十文字町452

Tel : 07-254-5567

Kyoto, Japan

Gogyo Website

Akari, Japanese Dining and Bar by Tomo Izakaya - Some hit some miss

For New Year's Eve, we wanted to find a place near to the Marina Bay for food and then proceed to enjoy the fireworks for the New Year Countdown. Marina Bay Link Mall seemed like a nice place that was near to the bay and had several F&B outlets to choose from. We chose to visit Akari which still had several tables waiting for us (only a party of 5 with us) even though it was a last minute reservation. The rest of the more established restaurants were "full house" with folks waiting to catch the fireworks. Akari was unfortunately a "hit and miss" experience even though it started out quite impressive. 

I ordered the New Year's Eve Special Menu which had the following dishes.

Appetizer : Lily Bulb Sushi, Maguro Avocado with Miso Sauce, Fig Tempura, Squid Pickles with Cream Cheese, Simmered Sweet Potato with Orange. This appetizer started with an impressive bash of  assorted flavors. The lily bulb sushi was sour but refreshing and appetizing. The Maguro Avocado tasted creamy and and had good texture when eaten at one go with the miso sauce. The fig tempura was quite something. It tasted like the sticky Chinese New Year cake "年糕". Squid Pickles and Cream Cheese was a first for me. Chewy squid with spicy pickles and then the rich cream cheese was great for my taste buds. How can I dislike Japanese sweet potato. I preferred it with butter though. HIT!

Starters : Tuna Belly with Miso Sauce served with Caviar. Both William and I who had the same course agreed that this was delicious. Blow torched tuna belly tasted balanced with the miso sauce that was of the right savory touch. HIT!

Grilled Dish : Grilled Marinated Yellowtail with Japanese Citrus "Yuzu" sauce with Grapefruit. This yellowtail was well grilled but I thought it had a fishy smell, but William thought it was OK. I would prefer the grilling to be done with more salt though. Wonder if I'm incline to more salty taste nowadays.

Steamed Dish : Steamed Scallop Chawanmushi. The chawanmushi base was good but the scallop was overcooked. It was a bit difficult to munch on. MISS.

Deep Fried Dish : Deep Fried Sea Eel with Japanese Fish Stock. The deep sea eel was quite delicious especially when the horse radish was added to each bite. Have to eat this dish fast before the eel turned too soggy in the stock. 

Noodle : Small "One-bite" sea urchin sushi with Soba Noodle. The sea urchin sushi was not too bad but the soba was a bit over obnoxious. There were sliced mutton inside the soba which had a very strong smell and that was too overwhelming. MISS!

Dessert : Home Made Green Tea Pudding with Red Bean. This is Just OK (no photos) and there were no other choice of desserts although there were more in the menu.

HY ordered the Sushi Kaiseki course. I didn't try her sashimi and sushi platter that came with the course. Here's some of the highlights of her course

Sashimi Platter. Didn't try this so no comments.

Sushi Platter. I had only the uni and unagi sushi and HY, the rest of it. It didn't taste as fresh as we like.

Fish Soup. This fish soup was warm, clear, light and tasty. The fish was tender. I had almost all of the fish as HY was almost done after the sashimi and sushi platter.

Lotus root ball in broth. It was a bit bland but apart from that not too bad.

Grilled Gindara. I thought this was good. Without extra flair, this was simplicity doing all the work.

This was some "interestingly" goey seaweed. I tried a few mouthful and that's it. Nobody else touch it.

Some a la carte dishes that we ordered .....


Soki Tatsuta Age - Deep Fried Simmered Tender Pork Rib Bone. The pork rib bone was greasy and I thought it'll taste better if more salt's added. The salad at the side was refreshing as the salad dressing was really great. 

This Kurobuta Misoyaki looked really good but that was too much sake added to the grill that made it too overwhelming to taste the goodness of the Kurobuta. MISS

We were at the restaurant from 9:30pm till 11:45pm and then strolled out slowly towards the Marina Bay. Although, dinner at Akari wasn't satisfying, we manage to get some standing spot just a few seconds walk to Marina Boulevard for a view of some spectacular fireworks. Happy New Year!

8A Marina Boulevard

Marina Bay Link Mall #01-02

Tel : +65 6634 0100

Singapore