Jiu Jiang Shao La 九江烧腊 ..................... for those who likes the more charred char siew

I've been here again at the Ghim Moh Food Centre for lunch and everytime there is a constant line of people queuing at a Roast Pork and Char Siew rice stall, Jiu Jiang Shao La 九江烧腊. I like my char siew more charred and the roast pork to have a crispy skin. Jiu Jiang has done the char siew the way I like it, the roast pork's skin is not as crispy as I desired but is good enough. The meat of char siew and roast pork are chosen such that they have about good proportion of fats versus lean meat ratio. The right proportion of fats make this dish tastier. I only said tastier......... I'm not an advocate of healthy eating. The gravy makes this lunch time food a draw for the line of people.

Cost : S$3

Address : Blk 20, Ghim Moh Road Food Centre, #01-45

Country : Singapore

I'm Still Here!!

Hello my food-lovin' friends! I miss ya'll and I'm sorry that I haven't been around to say hi, but I've also LOVED my time with my family. We're in Idaho now, and the weather has been gorgeous. We've been enjoying all sorts of delicious food, especially Mexican food, which is scarce in Philly! I miss food blogging, but I do admit, sitting down to eat without having to take pictures of every plate is nice. I will definitely be back, but I am enjoying the break!

In the meantime, here are some food, and non-food related recommendations for you.

Have you ever tried these tortillas?

I generally prefer corn tortillas over flour, but sometimes they're a bit dry and crumbly for me. La Tortilla Factory makes corn tortillas that are so good, I would practically eat legos off of them. They are very soft, slightly sweet and delightfully chewy. They will not split or crumble at all and will be the shining star of any Mexican dish you'll make. So far I've made enchiladas, taco, quesadillas and fajitas with them and I can't get enough!

And second, I thought I'd share a website that has brought hours of late night giggling. Have you checked out The Oatmeal? It's basically made up of a bunch of silly cartoons, all with different scenarios, but it is HILARIOUS! A few of my favorites are How to Suck at Facebook, Minor Differences, and Ten Reasons to Stop Talking on the Phone. There is a bit of language in them, but they've had me laughing until my tummy ached! My favorite time to read them is late at night, I tend to laugh at everything when I'm sleep deprived.

Anywho, I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I'm going to do my best to check in on your blogs, but if I can't, I will definitely be back sometime in August. I hope you are all having wonderful summers with lots of sun, good company, and of course, great FOOD!

Shelf Gleaning - Thai sausage from Nathan's Thai Grocery

I really dislike terms like "Asian grocer" and "Indian shop," although I do use them.  My family think I am oversensitive, but I don't like referring to the supermarket as the supermarket, the fish shop as the fish shop, while the place we buy our fish sauce and noodles from, and the other place we buy our lentils and spices from have ethnic tags, like they are somehow separate to us.  I also grate at lazy, catch-all terms like "Asian" and "Indian," but the fact is, I can't detect the difference between a Chinese grocer and a Vietnamese one like I can an Eastern European-run deli and an Italian-run deli.  *Sigh*...  As my husband often says to me, I'm probably overthinking it.

Nathan Thai Video & Grocery has made it easy for me - it's very clear that it's a specialty Thai grocer.  All your favourite spice pastes are there, plus interesting pickled ingredients like tiny pea eggplants.

It's a fun shop to poke around in, and reminds me of expat Aussie shops overseas, with lots of beauty products and junk food from the homeland.  There are interesting teas:

The freezer is full of interesting goodies, like Thai sausages.  They don't always have the brand below in stock, but do often have a homemade one in a ziplock bag, which is more of a sour style.  On Saturdays, they may have the sour sausages on the counter, ready for you to take home and leave to mature on the bench.  My sister has tried these and said they were just great, very garlicky, and that they could have easily stood in for continental sausages.

This Thai sausage is just delicious, "Thai-hot" and so flavoursome with big bursts of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf.  It's nice to have as an accompaniment to other Thai dishes with plenty of white rice, as it's very rich.

Quiz for the day: What is this?  Look closely - it's a sort of rope encased in a hard, fragrant coating, somewhat like clay or very stale biscuit perhaps.  Is it A. a chew toy for the police dog on the tea canister; B. part of some sort of brutal colonic cleansing regime; or C. something else?  Leave a guess in the comments section!

Nathan Thai Video & Grocery
9 Paisley St, Footscray (map)
Phone: 9687 8588

Off the Grid

Last Friday night I was glad to join the street food revolution, at Off the Grid. Off the Grid takes place Friday nights from 5 pm until 9 pm in the Fort Mason Center parking lot, right near the entrance by the little guardhouse. It's a great mix of carts, people, food and drink. Families, couples and groups can be found mingling, eating, chatting and discovering deliciously affordable bites of food.


There was plenty of room to walk around, chairs and a few tables and there was even some live music. There was no overcrowding, significant waits or lines (Chairman Bao had a line but it moved quickly). The most difficult decision may be what to try because with about 10 vendors, there is no way to try it all. They ranged from traditional taco trucks like El Tonayense to the new fangled Creme Brulee cart.


I started with potato beef curry puffs from Malaysian Lacy Crepes. They were freshly fried to a crisp on the outside with a tender and mid curry on the inside. Like most things, the portion was good for sharing. I want to try their chai banana fritters next.


I was very impressed with Chairman Bao. I tried both a duck confit and mango bun and the pork belly bun, steamed, $2.75 each. Both were juicy and fresh but I think the crunchy daikon pickle in the pork version made it my favorite. They also have a baked version. Next time!


Lee had a cup of chai, which came in various flavors such as rose and vanilla almond. It seemed a bit pricey to me at $4 a cup. Most of the dishes were in the $2 to $6 range. He also approved of the lemon mochi and succulent adobo chicken.


The spiciest bites came from Curry Up Now. The Indian street food truck. The Kathi roll made from roti stuffed with pickled onion, chutney and chicken was hot stuff! In the future I'd love to see Chinese dumplings or some kind of noodle dish along the lines of the Noodle Fest in Chinatown. But the variety thus far is terrific and I will be back!

More on Off the Grid:

A Little Yum post

SF Weekly slide show

Yelp reviews

Truffs ... truffles in its sincerest form

HY has been raving to me about the truffles from Truffs ever since she had tasted it when this chocolate atelier was first opened. I was promised a box. That box of truffles just never came. Today, I decided to buy her the truffles instead.

Truff's handmade truffles are created using traditional French techniques and with finest ingredients from France for that delectable taste to enchant the senses. The truffles here was none of the fanciful truffles for visual appeal. It's the purest simplest form created just for sole purpose of satisfy the human taste buds.

As I stepped into the atelier on the second floor of the conservation shop house, I was warmly hosted with try-outs of the truffles. After the tasting, I think I'll frequent Truffs for a while.

There were 3 types of truffles to choose. All looked similar but different amount and types of cocoas are used. A box of 9 pieces cost S$24 and 18 pieces cost S$45.

What's available .........

55% Equateur Dark Chocolate

This is made with cocoa from the equatorial regions. I was told this is sweeter than the other two.

66% Antilles Dark Chocolate

The cocoa came from the Caribbean islands that tasted slightly fruity and definitely nutty.

70% Honduras Dark Chocolate

This is the one for the bitter chocolate lover. These cocoas came from the Criollo and Trinitario trees from Honduras. It's my favorite among the 3 types.

I bought the 66% and the 70%

Even after putting the truffles in the fridge for 1 day, the ganache inside the crust is still soft and moist

179A Telok Ayer Street

Singapore

Tel : 65 9088 2736

Truffs Website

Nyonya Food at Nancy's Kitchen ...... Melaka, Malaysia

Our Melaka road trip's foodie highlight must have been inside Nancy's Kitchen. If I ask everyone that has been in this trip, I bet everyone would have agreed and some may even suggest another day trip just to feast on Nancy's Nyonya food. We spotted Nancy's kitchen along Jalan Hang Lekir, a branch street along Jonker Street. That afternoon, the restaurant was filled and we only managed to queue for the popiah. We tried to make a reservation but was told that they don't take reservations. Fortunately, our conceige back at the hotel knew Nancy and managed to help us reserve a table in the restaurant.

We were seated on the second floor where we even spotted President Nathan in a photo on the wall. Service was quite good on the second floor, contrary to complains of service lapse in some reviews of Nancy's Kitchen. Many of us still missed Nancy's food and already started talking about making another trip up to Melaka.

We had almost 15 dishes and all within RM200 for 9 of us.

Cincalok Ulam - Fermented Shrimp Salad

A typical nyonya salad. The taste was too raw for me. It's an acquired taste.

Ayam Buah Keras - Chicken Candlenut

Nancy's signature dish that was pass down from generations. The chicken was cooked with candlenut and lemon grass that creates an appetizing flavor.

Sambal Prawn with Bitter Bean

Fried Egg Cincalok

Omelette fried with fermented shrimp

Laksa Nyonya - Nyonya Laksa

Thick and rich coconut base sauce that was very fragrant. HY who normally don't eat Laksa thought that it taste good.

Banana flower with Shrimp

This is the first time I ate the banana flower cooked in nyonya style. Interestingly refreshing taste.

Nangka Lemak - Jack Fruit with Coconut Milk

Cooked in various spices served with coconut and unripe jack fruit

Sambal Belacan

A tasty spicy chilli base dip sauce that is used with nyonya dishes.

Ngoh Hiang - Pork Fried with bean curd skin

Pork wrapped with bean curd skin, deep fried to have the crispy on the outside and sweet juicy pork on the inside.

Babi Pongteh

Stewed pork in slated yellow bean cooked with preserved soya bean and dark sweet soya sauce. This dish was half finished when I started to take a photo of it.

Popiah - Spring Roll

Steamed spring roll served with turnips, cucumber, fresh beans coriander leaf, eggs, garlic and manu other vegetables. A must try at Nancy's.

Pai Tee - Top Hat

Hat shaped cone filled with vegetables

Cendol Birthday Cake

It was HY's birthday, Ade and Jane actually got the kitchen to prepare a special Cendol treat. Ade bougt the candle stand that plays the Happy Birthday Song. HY looked quite touched by their gesture.

Cendol campur campur, all mixed up

Jalan Hang Lekir

Off Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock

Melaka, Malaysia

Tel : 06 2836099

Nancy's Kitchen Location

Jade's Dim Sum Buffet, chi-chi dining that didn't burn a hole in the pocket.

After this Sunday's lunch, celebrating my father-in-law's birthday and belated father's day all at one go, I thought Jade's Dim Sum buffet worth recommending.

At S$33+++ per pax, Jade provides six pages of dim sum and some a la carte food to choose. On top of that the chi-chi dining inside The Fullerton Hotel, a fragment of Singapore's colonial past.

The standard "Har Gao", Steamed Crystal Shrimp Dumpling

and the not so standard Steamed Abalone Siew Mai.

The soft but not gooey Pan Fried Radish Cake

Roasted Pork Belly with Five Spices and Sea Salt

The serving wasn't enough for us pork lovers. We had to order 3 servings.

Braised Shark's Fin with Crabmeat, Truffle, Egg White in Chicken Broth.

This soup was quite enjoyable especially with the flavors of truffle.

Deep Fried Taro Paste wrapped with Truffle and Mushroom

This deep fried taro was very smooth. I had at least two of these.

See that smooth taro in there?

Deep Fried Prawns coated with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Just not as much punch as the ones from Peach Garden and The Majestic.

Deep Fried Golden Cheese Dumpling

If there's a word called "twangy". I think it's the best word to describe this dumpling. When you bite and pull at the dough, it can go 'TWANNNNGGG'. Very chewy, elastic and yummy.

Crispy Beancurd with Chilli Fragrant Salt

Not too bad but the chilli fragrant salt wasn't mixed uniformly.

Steamed Pork Rib with Black Bean Sauce

I had to order a second helping. This pork rib was the most tender one I have eaten.

Poached Shrimp Wanton with Chilli Vinegar Dressing

The wanton was poached perfectly and the dressing complimented well with the wanton.

Oven Baked Egg Tarts

Doesn't look delicious but it definitely was.

Bite pass the crust, the egg custard became runny.

Stewed Beef Brisket with Bean Sauce

The beef brisket was too good, my FIL finished almost all the brisket. It's one of his favorite dish. Very tender.

Crispy Chicken with Dried Chilli and Spiced Fragrant Salt

This dish tasted good initially but after chewing, the chicken seems to be under-marinated.

Crispy Honey Vinaigrette Sliced Sea Bass

Tasted like the sweetened fried satay fish titbit that you buy in a packet.

Steamed Custard Bun

The custard bun that wasn't flowing like we expected.

Peanut Paste with Mochi Ball wrapped with black sesame

Quite like the peanut paste. Not too sweet. I think the peanut paste was smoothen with some milk.

1 Fullerton Square

The Fullerton Hotel Singapore

Tel : +65 6733 8388

Singapore

Jade Website