Perth here we come!

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We're off to Perth! Well, not quite yet - we'll be flying tomorrow on Malaysia Airlines MH125 - 9.40am flight. Do check out our page on IMasTravel on Yahoo! - it's a bit sparse now, but we'll be updating it daily over the next couple of days!

As a good night & sleep tight gift, I leave you with a screenshot of our luggage!


(seems like enough for a whole month of supplies, eh?)

Soup Exploration ::: Pork Ribs Soup with Carrot & Old Cucumber

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Just notice that We have not post any soup recipe yet yet… ^^



Step 1 - to clear some fats and blood off the Pork Ribs
Ingredients::
2 Big Bowls of Filtered Water
4 Strips of Pork Ribs

Take the Filtered Water to a boil. Put the Pork Ribs in and blench for 5mins medium-high fire. Take them out and pour away the water. You may see the water has oil floating on top and there is some sandy hard blood floating around.

Step 2 – Boiling the soup!
Ingredients::
2 Big Bowls of Filtered Water
The “slightly cooked” Pork Ribs
2 hands full of Carrot
2 hands full of Old Cucumber
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
4 Dash of White Pepper

Put the Filtered Water over the fire to boil. Put in the Pork Ribs and Carrot to boil for 30mins on medium-high fire. Then add in the Old Cucumber then continue to boil for another 60mins at medium fire. Add in Salt & White Pepper to taste.

If you would want the Pork Ribs and Carrots to be softer, add another 15-30mins of boiling time. Before you put in the Old Cucumbers .
Serves 2 only… so remember to multiply if you’re cooking for more… ^^

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Appetizer Exploration ::: Deep-Fried Dumplings / 水餃 / Shuigao

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Another great Appetizer or snack whenever wherever.. ^^



For the filling you can choose to use either fillings in our previous recipe posts.

Chicken Filled Dumplings
Pork Filled Dumplings

Remember that for deep fried you would love to actually put lesser fillings then the Soup Dumplings.
1.5 teaspoons for Soup Dumplings : 3/4 teaspoon for Deep Fried.

Heat Cooking Oil till ready: it bubbles when you place the chopstick in...
Place in the dumplings and turn it when the side down is golden. Both sides golden, you may take out and place it on the kitchen towel to drain the leftover oil. Let it rest for 5mins. And serve with Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce!

Let my introduce you to my favorite Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce... Head out to find it... it's can be a dip for all types of deep fried dishes. Here is how the bottle looks like.



Enjoy!

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Noodles Exploration ::: Similar to Cafe Style Ham & Egg Instant Noodle Set!! *Slurps*

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This is something dear and his sisters love to order whenever they go to HK Cafe, Old Town White Coffee, etc etc... when ever there is instant noodles on the menu...

Here I did this for our dinner one day & we love it! :)

1 pack of Maggie Brand Chicken Flavor
1 bowl of Water
2 Slice of Ham
1 Fried Egg
Baby Bak Choy
Pan Fried White Sesame
Chopped Spring Onion

How I cooked this! Probably you have your own style it will all turn out the same.

Multi-tasking me... I boiled Water, Fry Ham, Wash Baby Bak Choy & Spring Onion then chop Spring Onion. After Ham is cooked Fry Egg, when water boil put the Chicken Seasoning in then put Baby Bak Choy to blench! Take out and put in bowl. Place the noodles in to cook~

When Noodles are cook scoop them up in the bowl, arrange your eggs, Baby Bak Choy, Ham nicely on top. Pour soup over sprinkle some White Sesame and Spring Onion.

DONE~!!! Serve when HOT...

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Click here for our blog page Breakfast, Desserts, & Snacks Ideas for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Ribs & Burgers at Billy Bombers - American-Diner style restaurant/cafe.

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Billy Bombers! (With random Singaporean girl in the background :P) The darling and I wanted to go somewhere else nearby for eats, but we sort of forgot that in Singapore, during dinnertime, even marginally crappy places have queues. So we shouldn't have been surprised that the joint we wanted to eat at had a "45minute to 1hour wait time." Ah well! Billy Bombers looked like a pretty interesting alternative, so in we went!


The interior design and theme of the restaurant tries to take inspiration from the typical American Diner - what with their red seats and all. Nice, bright, colorful and loud :) I go for the set dinner, which comes with a soup, lemonade (pictured below) and a set of Smoky Baby Back (pork) ribs for SGD25.90. The darling - being a huge Big Bang Theory fan - spots a Green Grasshopper (SGD5.50) on the mocktails section on the menu and orders! ... only to be disappointed that it doesn't turn out anything like what we were expecting.


Enter the Soup of the Day (cream of vegetables)! You'd think that after all Billy Bombers being a Diner, and this being the soup of the day, means that it can't be anything great. And you'd be absolutely right.


The ribs were actually pretty good! They come with a baked potato with sour cream (mediocre) and a mango salad (nice and refreshing). The ribs themselves were tender and came off the bone easily, with a nice BBQ sauce with a hint of smokiness - nice stuff! Unfortunately the portion was also remarkably small. 4 ribs are not enough to qualify for a full meal.


The darling feeds her inner carnivore with a burger, done medium. We don't remember the full name but it was something-something Whisky Burger (lol, best food bloggers ever), and it cost SGD17.90. The portion is big and nice and filling, but sadly we can't say that we're particularly impressed. For some reason the patty just tasted ... bland.


So in conclusion, an American Diner-style restaurant at Cathay Orchard, with decent prices. Shame that the food, at least from the two dishes we tried, were either delicious but too small, or generously portioned but mediocre.

Breakfast Exploration ::: Big Breakfast Idea ONE ^_^

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Ah Ha~~~ thinking what to have for breakfast?

Here is 1 idea~



Things above:::
2 sliced of Honey Glazed Ham
1 Toasted Bread
Bake Beans with **extra Tomato Sauce added while cooking**
1 tea-cup of 'Emmi' Peach Yogurt
1 mug of hot Milo

sign... this was enough for me! but not to dear...

more breakfast ideas coming up soon!

Click here for our blog page Breakfast, Desserts, & Snacks Ideas for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

The Singapore Food Festival 2011 - Local Delights and More!

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It's time for the Singapore Food Festival 2011! This annual fest is, according to the website, the nation's biggest culinary event of the year. There are a variety of activities throughout the week but the main draw is probably the Food Festival village at Boat Quay / Clarke Quay.


So anyways, the Village is set up quite like a pasar malam, and features a pretty large number of stalls with collections of mostly local fare.


Unfortunately we don't have bottomless stomachs, so we're only able to sample a few dishes - firstly, the kong bak pau - a chinese mantau-style bun with a slab of fatty kou yuk. Pretty good!


Satay! Only ordinary.


We're also intrigued by a small stall serving chicken skewers with an Indian twist.



There's also a Singaporean Chili crab stall, but we don't really think that the surroundings are particularly suitable for digging into crab, so we try the you tiao instead - it's you tiao stuffed with fish cake and deep fried.


In keeping with the whole pasar malam vibe, there are stalls selling food-related ingredients like this one selling indian curries and spices.


Overall, pretty close to a pasar malam experience - you get to sample lots of different types of food - and since each portion is individually not very substantial, the prices add on pretty quickly too.

The Singapore Food Festival 2011 runs until 24th July, so you've got another week to head on over to the Boat Quay / Clarke Quay area to get your 'eat' on!

IMASTravel - Heading to Perth in less than two weeks!

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Our Perth trip for IMASTravel and Yahoo! Malaysia is happening in a week and a half! Yay! In preparations, we've written a short piece on how easy we Malaysians have with regards to freedom of travel around the globe, and how quick and simple it is to apply for an Australian Tourist Visa.

Click here to go to the article on the IMASTravel site!

Sauce Exploration ::: Ginger Vinegar Sauce

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This is definitely for non-Spicy & Vinegar fans out there.
Don’t worry it’s just measure and mix for this simple sauce.



Ingredients:::
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of vinegar
½ teaspoon of sesame oil
Thinly sliced Ginger

Believe me! All into a small bowl or a small container and just stir them up & you’re done...

As promise IT’s SUPER SIMPLE..........! It’s so simple that I suggest making it when you need it.

Match with these recipes:
1. Pork Filled Dumplings / 水餃 / Shuigao
2. Chicken Filled Dumplings / 水餃 / Shuigao
3. More suggestions to come!

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Appetizer Exploration ::: Chicken Filled Dumplings / 水餃 / Shuigao

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Been exploring a lot on Porkie dishes... So, today i'm heading back to no pork business this round... Since I've made the Porkie Filled Dumplings version a while back...

Have you eaten Chicken Filled Dumplings? Make some yourself, can be kept in freezer to consume later!


Ingredients:::

300g Minced Chicken Breast
100g diced Fresh Prawns
3 hipping tablespoon of Carrot finely grated
4 finely diced Shallots
5 finely diced Fresh Water Chestnut
1 tablespoon chopped Spring Onion

Seasonings:::
2 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Fish Sauce
1 teaspoon Cornflour
Dash of White Pepper


Steps

1. Put Minced Chicken Breast, Diced Prawns, Shallots, Water Chestnut, Carrot, & Spring Onion in a big bowl, and mix till even out.



2. Add all the seasonings, then mix them properly using two teaspoons.

3. Shift all the mixed bowl of minced chicken mix, bring along a container with the base covered with kitchen towel and dusted with cornflour. Also, the Wan Tan Skin! To a comfortable place for your wrapping process to start.

For Pictures Steps of Wrapping visit here!

4. Take a piece of Wan Tan Skin, curve your hand in a "C" shape and place 1 1/4 teaspoons of minced pork mix in the center of the "C" Curve.

5. When done, use your index finger or thumb to rub some egg whites on the full edge.

6. Seal from the Center Top then one side to another. Try to avoid any air bubbles trapped inside.

7. Place it in the container prepared.

8. Remember if you wanna make more for another day, pack them up separately in the air tight bag (*Wan Tan Skin will dry up) or container and store them in the freezer. Reason is the Wan Tan Skin will actually be moist and if left in the open. Since I am preparing fresh for the steamboat dinner, I left it in the fridge.

9. Boil chicken stock soup or any types, it all works. When it's boiled place the Chicken Filled Dumplings and wait for it to float (*means it's done)!

10. Dish it out to serve HOT!

This round I cooked my soup with chicken stock, carrots, prawns, & chicken meat.


Not forgetting... I served it with this "Shredded Chicken Wan Ton Mee" coming up soon...


We both authors apologize for the long break due to our relocation & not fast enough connectivity to the internet... Been extremely busy shifting, cleaning, shopping, redecorating...

Here's a fresh new kitchen of ours!

Cutie Salt, Pepper, Soy Sauce bottles


Our starter kit... will a lot have more coming...


Sauces to match are:::
Sauce Exploration I::: Dry Shrimp Chili Oil
Sauce Exploration II::: Ginger Vinegar Sauce


Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Stuff yourselves silly from $20/pax at Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant.

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If you've ever eaten at a Japanese Buffet place (Tao, Jogoya, Tenji, etc), then Kiseki Japanese Buffet will hold no surprises. From SGD19.80++ (lunch) to SGD29.80++ (dinner), you get to eat as much sushi, sashimi and other cooked (and raw) Japanese dishes as you can stomach. The spread is almost all Japanese fare, and according to their literature, has two hundred different dishes.


Starting with the Sashimi, there's a slight disappointment in the varieties of fish available - there's tuna, salmon, and just two other fish types (that we didn't recognize). Strangely we found the salmon rather tasteless, and so we didn't bother with seconds.


The raw seafood corner is decent, with clams, scallops, prawns, lobster and crab legs laid out nicely on a bed of ice. No oysters, though.


Rosti doesn't seem like a particularly Japanese dish, but I'm not complaining. There's also some pizza, and some deep fried items like chicken wings and tofu on the table.


Crack open the lid of the steamer and help yourself to some steamed dim-sum style bites.


Strange decision by the management to make you carry your shabu shabu hot pot from the counter to your table. Carrying a heavy pot of boiling soup with kids scampering around just seems to me like an accident waiting to happen.


The tempura counter only has prawns - in two varieties: plain tempura batter and tempura batter with generous sprinklings of chili powder.


There's also a teppanyaki counter where you choose your portion of beef, chicken and scallop - hand it over to the chef and he'll cook it and send it to your table.


Finish off with some cakes, fruits and mochi for dessert.


Rating a buffet is tricky. You can't reasonably expect a (relatively) cheap buffet to have gourmet, fine-dining quality food, and the buffet price in Kiseki definitely qualifies for cheap. Nevertheless the darling and I both agreed that food ranged from average to slightly below average - nothing we had stood out as being particularly noteworthy or delicious.

So, if you're hungry as a horse and have a yearning for some Jap fare, then Kiseki could be the answer. Otherwise though it's hard to recommend as it's in a mall smack in the middle of Orchard road - there are lots of better places at similar prices just a few minutes walk away.

Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant
#B1-01, The Heeren Mall
Orchard Road