Argentinian Beef Brunch at Bochinche (Martin Road)

Brunch is big in Singapore. At a wild guess there's probably hundreds of cafes all over the island serving up coffee, sausages, eggs, waffles and all the other 'usual suspects.' A lot of these cafes can tend to be a bit generic in the grub they serve up, though, which is why we're always excited to try something different - like the Argentinian-inspired fare served up at Bochinche!


The premises on Martin Road are huge (for Singaporean standards) with the larger indoor floor complemented by a small al fresco (cool, breezy) area. Bochinche also has a grilled Argentinian beef-focused Dinner menu. As we mentioned, we're here for the Brunch, though - starting with a Flat White and a Cappuccino ($6 each). The coffee is really similar to the java from the downstairs sister outlet Common Man Coffee Roasters - we wouldn't be surprised if it was the same beans, or even the same barista.


For mains we try the Chimichurri Burger v2.0 (Provologne cheese, bacon, tomoto, onions and egg, $29). Your mileage may vary, of course, but for me a burger needs to be eatable with two hands. The burger here is certainly not eatable with hands and so I end up using a fork and knife. Not cool.

Nevertheless, taste-wise the burger was uber delicious! Chopped up bone marrow is added into the mince, which gives the patty a wonderful depth of flavour that really is two thumbs up. Texturally it was disappointing, though. By the time I was halfway through the burger the juices had soaked the bottom patty into a papier-mâché-like paste, and the minced meat kept spilling out everywhere.


The 'mixed bag' theme continues to the Poached Eggs with braised ossobuco on toast ($25). We thought the eggs were gorgeous - perfectly poached with a lovely runny yolk, and the toast was sturdy and substantial enough to handle the juices. However the beef on it's own was rather lacking in the taste department, being very unevenly seasoned. Ossobuco is slow-cooked braised beef/veal shanks, by the way.


Since the mains come without any accompaniments, we order a side of Chips Provenzal (thick-cut chips with garlic and parsley, $10) - these had very nice flavour, with most of the chips having a good crisp on the crust. Would order again.


If you had been keeping track, you might have an inkling of what the final bill amount would be - $89.45 (after taxes and service charge) in total. For us this is very pricey, especially for a Brunch meal with really not that much food.

To conclude, the food and coffee here was pretty decent but very expensive, so we really don't see ourselves coming back - we'd much rather just save the elevator trip and eat at the cafe downstairs.

Bochinche is open from 11am-11pm on Tuesdays to Sundays (Brunch on weekends only). Reservations accepted but probably not required. Non-halal.

Hakka Mei Cai Kou Rou 梅菜扣肉 (Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables) Recipe

Here's a very presentable, stunning dish that you can make to impress your loved ones who are fans of Pork or Salted Vegetables!

My first attempt I tried simmering the pork but it ended up drying out. Deary is impressed with this second attempt, though - he said it tasted perfect! There are so many versions all with or without different ingredients out there; The below is what I've come out with after studying a few recipes and adjusting based on my experience. Do give it a try, and hope you like it too!


Recipe for 4-5 portions
Pork Marinate Ingredients
600g to 650g sliced Pork Belly
3 tablespoons of Dark Soya Sauce
5 tablespoons of Light Soya Sauce
2 tablespoons of Sugar
1 tablespoon of Shao Xing Wine (Cooking Wine)
1 teaspoon of Five Spice Powder

1. Rinse and dry the Pork Belly and slice into 1cm thick slices.
2. Mix and combine the marinade.
3. Arrange the meat in a ziplock bag pour in the marinade.
4. Put it in the fridge to marinate overnight or at least for 30mins over the counter.

Mei Cai 梅菜 base Ingredients
300g Sweet Mei Cai 梅菜 (Sweet Preserved Green Mustard)
150g Salted Mei Cai 梅菜 (Drained weight, packed weight 200g)
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
8 cloves of diced Garlic

1. Rinse the Mei Cai under running water for about 10 minutes.
2. Soak the Mei Cai for at least 6 hours, rinsing and changing water every 2 hours.
3. Diced the Salted Mei Cai. Slice the Sweet Mei Cai into 1.5cm strips. Squeeze them dry.
4. Heat up a wok, add oil and diced Garlic and pan fry the mei cai over low heat until it is dry and slightly brown and releases its' fragrance/aroma.

Assembling / Plating / Presentation next:

1. When the Mei Cai is cooked, place it in a deep steaming plate or bowl, evenly flattening it.
2. Arrange the marinated sliced Pork Belly on top of the Mei Cai (as shown).
3. Pour all the marinade over the Pork Belly.
4. Put it in a steamer and steam for 2 hours or until meat is tender.
5. Remove from heat and serve hot.

It's delicious!


Enjoy~

Notes:
- The preparation of the Mei Cai is critical from soaking to changing water to rinsing. This is to get rid of the saltiness of the Mei Cai and the sands/dirt it might carry. Taste a small portion to make sure it is not salty.
- Sweet & Salted Mei Cai can be adjusted to your liking.
- If you're adding Yam in between the Pork, ensure it is thinly sliced so it would not overpower this dish.
- If you're changing this recipe to simmer (over rice or in slow cooker), add 1 Litre of chicken or pork broth and let it simmer over low heat for 2 hours.

Varieties that we have created:
1. Hakka Mei Cai Kou Rou with Yam 梅菜芋头扣肉 (Preserved Vegetables with Pork Belly & Yam)
This version is very popular. Just add 5mm thin slices of yam in between the pork, however double the base marinade. We'll make this one day when we have guests that will help us eat as we're not big fans of yam.

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

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide Malaysia!

Kuching, the capital city of the state of Sarawak in Malaysia isn't perhaps on the top of the list on most peoples' tourist destination lists. There are some attractions, though, so you might perhaps be here to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village. Or maybe you're just in town for some other reason - maybe your cousin is getting married, for instance, which happens to be the reason the both of us were here for the weekend!


As we mentioned in a previous post, we stayed at The Ranee Boutique Suites on the Kuching Waterfront. So naturally we walked around the area trying as much food as our stomachs could handle. We ended up only trying three main areas (in the map above), which we'll cover below. So let's get started!

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1. Carpenter Street Food Court (Lao Ya Keng - 老爺間)

Really easy to find - just walk down Carpenter Street until you see a food court opposite a Chinese Temple.


Fish Ball Glass Noodles. Decent springy fishballs, although the portion is a little small. We also thought that the soup was a little too lightly flavoured for our tastes. 2 stars.

Kolok Mee. Outside of Sarawak, you might see these noodles spelt (and pronounced) as "Kolo Mee." But in our observations over three days in the city, it really does seem to be more accurately "Kolok Mee." This bowl was pretty delicious, actually, and fairly generous on the portions. Check out the fats on that slice of pork belly! 4 stars.

Sarawak Laksa. The other famous noodle is Sarawak Laksa. The bowl here is quite nice, with generous portions of chopped chicken (rather than shredded chicken meat). 3½ stars.

Pork Satay. This food court is quite known for its' pork satay but we found it mediocre at best. The meat used is almost all lean so there is none of the fatty, porky, charred goodness. Note also that the satay auntie only starts selling at around 1pm. 2½ stars.

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2. Electra Food Court (also Old Market Kuching).

If you're having trouble finding the exact location, 'Jalan Power' or 'Electra House' in your GPS should bring you close enough (The food court is directly opposite Electra House on Jalan Power).


Ais Kacang. Par for the course. Not particularly worth coming here for, but you wouldn't be disappointed if ordering as a thirst quencher on a hot day. 3 stars.

Ah Mui Beef Noodles (Mee Sapi), stall 32 - Our favorite bowl of noodles for the day by far. Delicious, al dente Kolok Mee with beef brisket, meat and tripe. 4½ stars.

Kolok Mee and Sarawak Laksa, stall 39. This particular stall serves up a lot of different kinds of noodles, and the lack of specialization shows - neither of the bowls we tried were particularly good. 2½ stars.

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3. Bing! Coffee

The Kuching equivalent of Starbucks or Coffee Bean. We tried the Hills Shopping Mall outlet.


Latte, Mocha and Caramel hot drinks are decent at best. We're not big fans of chain-store coffee, we find that the outlets typically overcompensate for poor coffee by overloading on sugar and other flavors. 2½ stars.

Chocolate Truffle Cake and Brownie. The truffle cake was pretty nice, actually. The brownie was disappointing though; came totally drenched in a chocolate gravy that made it taste like a chocolate fudge cake rather than a brownie. 3½ stars (chocolate truffle cake), 2½ stars (chocolate fudge cake Chocolate Brownie).

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So that concludes our one single day of eating ourselves around the Kuching Waterfront! If you're in the area, hopefully this gives you an idea of what's good, and what's not worth wasting your calorie quota on! Let us know in the comments if you agree (or disagree) with our ratings of each item, or if you've got any other recommendations!

Compilation of Baked Cheesecake from Salted Caramel Cheesecake onwards

There are few versions of Base Crust that you can mix and match for your Cheesecake.

Base Crust Ingredients:
120g Plain Oreo (with icing inside) or Graham Cracker or Digestive Biscuits
40g Melted Butter.

Step By Step
1. Line the baking pan with baking paper.
2. Dry Blend the biscuits to fine powder, it's ok to leave the icing in between.
3. Melt Butter in a sauce pan and melt it over low heat, stirring it constantly.
4. Evenly mix the ground biscuits and Melted Butter.
5. Press it tightly into the baking pan.

There is another interesting crust base to share..
Marie Biscuit Base Crust Ingredients:
250g Marie Biscuits
100g Melted Butter
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
6 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
4 tablespoons Golden Syrup

Step By Step
1. Line the baking pan with baking paper.
2. Dry Blend the Marie Biscuits to fine powder.
3. Put Butter, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Golden Syrup in a sauce pan and melt it over low heat, stirring it constantly.
4. Evenly mix the ground Marie Biscuits and Liquid Mixture.
5. Press it tightly into the baking pan.


Moving on to the Cheesecake batter.

Cheesecake Ingredients:
500g Cream Cheese
250g Sugar
4 Eggs
2 teaspoons of Vanilla Paste

Step By Step
1. Pre-heat over at 170°C
2. Beat Cream Cheese until creamy approx 2-3 mins.
3. Add in Sugar and continue beating for approx 1 min.
4. Add Eggs and Vanilla Paste and continue beating until well combine. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowls to ensure there are no lumps of cream cheese.
5. Split or spoon the Cheesecake batter evenly.
6. Bake for 1 hour or until center are almost set.
7. Cool in pan on wire rack.
8. Pour your choice of topping over, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. for 4 hours or overnight.
9. Before serving garnish with fruits or drizzle melted chocolate to make your cheesecake pretty.

Full recipe:
Round Pan 8". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
x2 Loaf Pan 3" x 6". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
x2 Round Pan 1.5" x 5". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
Muffin Pan 12 holes x 1.5". Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Some Extra Tips Below:
- Our sugar reduction advice for different cheesecake is advice in the below list of creation, it's basically the best part of homebake. Reason why we reduce sugar depending on topping used is to ensure the overall sweetness of the Baked Cheesecake is as per the sweetness level we can accept. Everyone should explore their own.
- Important that all ingredients are at room temperature to avoid lumps in your cheesecake.

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Below is my creations hopefully it'll inspire you. You may split the base recipe in 2 parts and top it off with different toppings for more varieties. Hope you all will love this recipe.

Salted Caramel Baked Cheesecake with Oreo Crust
5 tablespoon of Homemade Salted Caramel Recipe click here
80g Melted Chocolate to drizzle
Note: We reduced the Sugar of the Cheesecake to 90g, as caramel is the topping which is sweet enough.



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