Santouka

Although I am a proclaimed Ramen lover, I always thought the best Ramen is only found in Japan. That was after my business trip to Japan few years back. Back then, I had Ramen almost everyday, every meal for 10 days. I've gotta admit. I was a bit too conservative, always sticked to the same food I liked and not adventurous/ bothered enough to look for the hidden gems in Singapore.

Well, I've met a few true Ramen lovers recently. They've opened my eyes and let me explore into the world of Ramen. Most of the Ramen lovers would tell you restaurants like Ippudo, Santouka & Marutama offer good Ramen. True enough, when I checked them out, these are reputable Ramen shops in Singapore. I've only tried Marutama but I have not tried the other 2.

My first at Santouka was at the Cuppage Terrace. I checked some forums and got to know their Shoyu and Miso Ramen with pork cheek is recommended. Hence, without any hesitation, I ordered Miso Ramen with pork cheek and added a Hanjuku Egg :)

It was served this way:

The pork cheek was soft and tender, the soup was thick and rich in flavour and the noodle was springy. Love it, love it, love it! The picture speaks for its yummi-ness. I gulped down the whole bowl and almost finished the soup too with joy and 100% satisfaction!

Ash's Rating: 9 out of 10

Location: 21 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace, Singapore

Tel: +65 6235 1059
Mon–Fri: 12 pm–3 pm, 5.30 pm–12 am
Sat: 12pm–12 am
Sun & PH: 12 pm–9.30pm

Kki Again

A farewell lunch for a colleague brought us a sweet ending at Kki. After a very disappointing lunch at Lerk Thai (Tanjong Pagar Mrt), we wanted a good dessert to compensate the bad service and food. I suggested Kki and managed to persuade them. We walked all the way to this little delightful cafe from Tanjong Pagar MRT.

May be it's weekday or it's still lunch time (about 1 pm). The seats were of abundance and it's not as busy compared to weekends. 

We ordered 3 cakes: Mont Blanc, Kinabaru and Antoinette to share between the 5 of us. Finally, Mont Blanc is available! Yippee! For Ash's Rating and location, please refer to my previous entry, Kki

Here are the pics I've taken. All of them taste as lovely as they look:

Mont Blanc

- French Chestnut Paste with Fresh Cream.
- This is always sold out.
- Only managed to try this after the 3rd visit to Kki.
- Very chestnut-ty in flavour, me and my colleague like it very much

Attoinette























- White Chocolate mousse with Mango.
- Simple with a note of fruity mango flavor.
- Light, yet sophisticated in taste

Kinabaru

- Coconut mousse with Passionfruit.

- Special and delightful

- Will perk you up on a gloomy day :)

I love this place. Overall, my colleagues especially the girls like the uniqueness of the cakes and the ambience at Kki. For the guys, they complained about the price. Sorry, guys...beauty and quality do come with a price :)

Easy & Yummy Oatmeal

Once in a while, I would have oatmeal as a quickmeal for either breakfast or late dinner. I used to only add 3-4 table spoonfuls of oatmeal into hot water and soaked for about 5-10 min. It is low in fat and very health beneficial. In most occasions, I just want an easy and quick meal, though I need to admit the taste is bland.

Note: Oatmeal has been known to lower blood cholestrol due to its soluble fibre content and reduce heart diseases. Not sure how true this is because I still have high cholestrol eventhough i take 1 spoonful of oatmeal almost everyday.

Recently, I discovered oatmeal can be versatile and delicious. It is bland and boring by its own but when you add combination of nuts, dried fruits, cereal mix, herbs & etc, it can turn into some stomach warming and one of its kind meal. It just takes one to be adventurous to appreciate and enjoy it.

I started experimenting oatmeal cereals with toppings. The following are some combinations of the ingredients with the oatmeal which I find nice and worth keeping.

Ingredients:
yields a cup (200-250 ml)

200 - 250 ml Hot Water
3 - 4 tbs Instant Oatmeal (Quarker)
any of the toppings stated below

Toppings:

A)
1 tbs Goji Berries (must be from Eu Yan Sang)
2 tbs Meat Floss (can be of any brand, be it crispy or not)

B)

1-2 tbs Dried Cranberries & Nuts

C)

1 pkt Nesvita (3 in 1 cereal)

D)

1 pkt Herbalife Chicken Soup (powder)

2 - 3 tbs frozen corn (blanched)

bread crumbs (optional)

spring onion (optional)

E)

any 3 in 1 cereal mix

1 tbs Goji Berries (Eu Yan Sang)

The above ingredients are easy to get and the meal is very easy to prepare. Try it and who knows, you might start loving oatmeal as much as I do. :)

Kong Kee Seafood Restaurant

I first saw Kong Kee KL Fried Hokkien Mee advertisment on a cab 3 months back. It attracted my attention because it used to be one of my favourite food in Malaysia. This is a kind of forgotten goody food. Firstly, it's very fattening and not healthy. Being the health concious me, fried food is mostly avoided unless it is something that will give me YUMS factor. Secondly, I have tried a few stalls of fried fat noodles in Singapore (all claimed to be KL version), none was able to satisfy me.

Anyway, we went to Kong Kee Seafood restaurant yesterday. Don't ask me why it took so long but boy, I am glad we went there. Though the Fried Hokkien Mee was still not as good as the ones in KL, at least the taste was quite close. We prefer the fried pork lard to be crunchier and the noodle more springy. The texture of the noodle was a bit too soggy for my taste. For 5.00 bucks a plate, I think it is worth the price.

Apparently, for Kong Kee, aside from their famous KL Fried Hokkien Mee, they are also famous for their garoupa dishes. You can hardly miss ordering one of these since they posted and boasted about the garoupa dishes all over the wall in the restaurant. They have lots of varieties of dishes for Garoupa from steaming, stir frying to frying for almost every part of the fish: fish head, bones, fish belly, fish meat, the whole fish & etc. We just ordered the one they promote on the wall, "Black Bean Paste Garoupa Fish Head with Bittergourd".

The distinctive and special taste of this dish blew us away and earned a "WOW". The Garoupa fish head was fried until crunchy in bite size and later stir fried with their special black bean sauce and bittergourd. Although we have to pay a hefty 28.00 bucks for a small serving, we loved it so much and think it is quite worth paying. We are definitely going to have it again in the future :) and try out their other dishes.

Ash's Rating: 

6 out of 10 for Fried Hokkien Noodle

8.5 out of 10 for Black Bean Paste Garoupa Fish Head with Bittergourd.

Location: 611 Geylang Road (Lorong 31), 389550 Singapore

Tel: +65 6443 8221
Daily: 11:00 - 2:00 am

Kki

I've heard about Kki a while ago. It is a small pattiserie located along Ann Siang Hill which offers delicate fine Japanese pastries. The first time we went there, the crowd was full but I did not get a chance to taste their cakes as they were all sold out. It was just 3 plus pm on a Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday, we tried our luck again and went there after our lunch. I got to know they are famous for their signature cake, the "Mont Blanc". This time round, it was as crowded as we last visited. Although the cakes were not sold out, Mont Blanc was no where to be seen. A disappointed me was told the cake was in fact sold out and we were recommended to call and reserve.

Nevertheless, the news did not dampen my mood. The adventurous us decided to try their Tiramisu to go with Cappucino and Latte.

Tiramisu

The cake was light, fluffy, and sweet with a hint of coffee in the middle, just like how most of the Japanese pastries would look and taste like.

As for the cappuccino, it was served in a clear glass instead of the usual porcelain cup. Their cappuccino is made using Nespresso coffee. I found it more milk-based with a subtle hint of coffee.

Cappuccino

With delectable cakes & light coffee coupled with cozy ambience, lovely services and a good company, Kki is now one of my best choices for tea breaks. I wish they have more space and tables for the crowd.

My verdict? I would definitely visit Kki again during weekends and when my cravings for sweet, light pastries set in!

Ash's Rating: 8/ 10

Location: 7 Ann Siang Hill, S069791
Tel: +65 6225 6650
Tue - Sat: 12:00 - 7:00 pm
Sun: 1:00 - 7:00 pm
Mon: Closed

Drunken Prawn Soup

While I was shopping for groceries at NTUC Finest, I came across some very big, fresh prawns. Prawn is not one of my favourites but I could not resist the temptations. I had no idea how I would cook them but I bought them anyway. Be it steam, stir fry, boil, fry...I am sure there would a way to deal with them later :)

This is the first time I cook prawns. Ok, I know little of how to cook them. One thing I do know is the cooking time is short, roughly 5 minutes. Good thing is, there is always internet to help me out! :)

I searched and found one interesting recipe, "Drunken Prawns Soup". Decided to give it a try. Well, never try never know...I am always adventurous when it comes to discovering something new. The following website is referenced but I did some tweaking to my taste.

Kuali.com

Ingredients:
(yields soup for 2 persons)

A)
6-7 big Prawns (trimmed with skin intact)

B)
2 tbsp Ginger (shredded)
1 Dried Scallop
3 slices Dang Gui ( 当归)
2 sticks Dang Shen (党参)
5-6 slices Pak Kei
2 tbsp Wolfberries
600ml water

C)
1 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp light soy sauce
½ tbsp oyster sauce
Salt to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp pepper
3/4 tbsp water

D)
1/3 cup Rice Wine
Salt to taste

E)
Noodle (cooked and put aside) - Optional

Method

1) Boil ingredients B) for about an hour.

2) Add in seasoning C) & A) and cook for about 3-5 minutes.

3) Add in D) and boil for another 30 sec.

4) Scoop the soup and pour over Noodle.

Results

Yummi-licious!!! We had great fun cooking in the kitchen. The aroma from the herbs was fragrant. The soup was flavourful and invigorating. We had a very satisfied, sumptuous meal! Burrrrpppp~

Watercress Soup

It's Sunday and drizzling outside. My fav day and weather....arrrh....so comfortable and cozy. Decided to just stay in, rest and have some home cooked meals. :)

Today, I'm going to try Watercress Soup. Not sure I've gotten bad vege or I did not put the right ingredients or simply my cooking skill sucks. This is at least my 3rd attempt over the past few years. The last time I cooked it, I totally gave up. The soup turned out bitter and I had to pour most of it away! What a waste!

I was reminded a lot of times by my mum that the watercress need to be put in boiling water and not cold water. I thought I followed her instructions well but I still failed....may be I am a bad student too...hahahah

Health Benefits
- Cooling

- Lung cleansing and suitable for smokers

Ingredients

(yields 1.8L)

1.8 ltr of Water

250g Pork Ribs

A grip of Wolfberries

4-6 Red Dates

100g Raw Peanuts

A bunch of Watercress

Method:

1) Pre-soak raw peanuts for at least 2 hours.

2) Soak Watercress in salt water for about 15 mins, remove roots and cut in half.

3) Blanch the pork ribs with boiling water for about 5 mins to reduce most of the scums.

4) Put all ingredients EXCEPT Watercress in a pot of water bring it to boil.

5) When water comes to a boil, put the Watercress in and simmer for at least 2 hours.

Results:

Nice and satisfying. I finally got it right! Thanks, Ma! Finished the whole pot of the soup in a day. :)

Claypot Chicken Rice using Rice Cooker

Claypot Chicken Rice originates from Southern China region, and later spread to countries like HongKong, Singapore and Malaysia. I call it "One Pot Wonder" as it is packed with lots of ingredients cooked in a pot. Normally, the rice is cooked first and the prepared ingredients added 10-15 minutes later.

One of my all time favourite meals, I recreated my own version of Claypot Chicken Rice using rice cooker.

Ingredients
(serves 2-3 person)

1.5 cup of Raw Rice
1/4 pc Chicken (cut into bite size)
1 pc Chinese Sausage
5 pcs Chinese Mushroom
5 cm Salted Fish (baked/ fried to crisp) + 1 teaspoon of sugar

Garnishing
Spring onion (chopped) - Optional

Chicken Marinade
3 tbs ginger (chopped)
1/4 tsp Dark Soya Sauce
1 tbs Oyster Sauce
1/4 tsp Ground White Pepper
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Corn Flour
1 tbs Shao Xing Wine
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Drizzling Sauce
1 tbs Oyster Sauce
1/2 tbs Dark Soya Sauce
1 tbs Soya Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tbs Shao Xing Wine

Method

1. Marinade the chicken in a bowl for at least 2 hours.

2. Soak the mushroom in hot water for about 30 minutes. Squeeze and drain the mushrooms. Remove the stem and dice in cube, biting size. Put aside.

3. Soak the Chinese Sausage in hot water for 5 minutes. Slice horizontally and put aside.

4. Cook the rice as per normal in a rice cooker.

5. 20 minutes prior to rice cooked, put in all the ingredients except Salty Fish.

6. Once rice is cooked, mix in the drizzling sauce and toss.

7.  Garnish with Salted Fish and Spring Onion.

Results

The aroma from the rice cooker is very fragrant and I waited with much anticipation. It turned out to be as good as it smells. Simply mouthwatering, delicious and satisfying! This is definitely a keeper!

Lotus Root with Peanut Soup

As I'm writing this in my room, I can smell the aroma of the soup from the kitchen. The soup has been simmering for the last 1.5 hours. Almost there~ :)

I know I have been MIA for a LONG~~ time. Thanks to the encouragements from my friends, I decided to write again while practicing my cooking skills. For a start, I am cooking the Lotus Root with Peanut Soup to go with Rice Cooker Chicken Rice. For a soup lover like me, I will not classify having a complete meal without a soup.

Ingredients:
(yields 1.8 litre)

1.8 litres of water
400g Lotus Root
200g Pork Ribs
100g Raw Peanuts (pre-soaked for at least 2 hours)
4-6 Red dates (pitted)
2 Dried Scallops (Optional)

Seasoning:
Salt/ Soya Sauce (as desired)

Method:

1. Peel the skin of Lotus Root and cut into 1 cm thick slices.

2. Blanch or boil the Pork Ribs in a pot of water for few minutes to remove the debris and smell.
(This is very important to yield a clear soup later)

3. Rinse the Pork Ribs and set aside.

4. Put in Dried Scallops and Peanuts into a pot of water and bring to boil.
(Important note: Peanuts must be put in the pot prior to boiling to get soft peanuts)

5. Put in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 hours.

Results:

The peanuts and the lotus roots are soft, just the way I like them. Thirst quenching and satisfying - yums! Just like how my mom cooks it.