nothing in particular

The conversation after dinner yesterday, on bus 61..went like this

ME: Beng u should bu gan(补肝) le..drink so much everytime.

BENG: How to bu gun??

ME: Ask u mama la..how i know..mama shld know la.

BENG: Huh..like tt very paiseh leh how to ask my mama..why mama shld know

ME: Bu gan leh..nt hard what.

BENG: Huh..dun tell me i go tell my mum that I BEH KAN????

ME: Huh..what beh kan..

ME: Bu gan leh..liver

BENG: I thought u say BU GUN *makes a gun shape with his hands*

ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly died laughing -.-'

Waited for a year plus and finally..Advance Bread Making lessons are available again!
For the first lesson today (7th Sep) we are making:
1.) Conchas Bread
2.) English Muffins
3.) Panini

We started making the sponge for the conchas bread first cos it needed 2hour to ferment. It was alittle strange because Judy(instructor) purposely left us to recall the details from the bread foundation course. Without clear step by step instructions, funny things started happening to some groups >_>''

A group behind us started making the main dough (u are supposed to add the sponge dough, after its fermented, into the main dough) while the sponge was still fermenting. Judy noticed something weird and shouted across the room,"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!??" The group then went all pale and Judy continued,"U are going to have problems later.." ._.




Finally had some time to take pictures. The colored dough is for decorating the conchas bread, 3 colors in all. And the white dough rising in the background is the panini dough. The panini dough was done so that we can focus on making the conchas bread itself while the panini dough is going through fermentation.




Finally the brown colored dough - Conchas bread dough is separated into equal pieces and rounded..dough's resting in the pic above.



After the 2 breads, we started making English muffins. At first, we thought English muffins were muffin cakes but its actually the kind of bread that McDonald's use for sausage McMuffin <- its this muffin we are doing today o.O The above pic shows the equipment used to cut the muffins.
The muffins were dusted with semolina flour.



Muffins resting..so much muffins, 500grams of flour to be shared between 2 persons is so much -_-



Top left: The final dough after combining the main dough and sponge. Rest of pics: The bread is filled with chocolate cream and we started creating designs for the breads. Top right clockwise: K designed this "IIDX" bread; designed from cutting tools; Crookie on the bread!



Overall designs.



While proofing the other breads, we started pan frying the muffins. This is a tough job..too big a flame, the insides are uncooked when the outside is burnt.



I was getting real impatient..from frying so many muffins ZZZzz~





The panini bread which is used mostly as sandwiches in cafes, tastes best when toasted before serving. The panini is baked on the oven floor unlike the rest.



The paninis are out of the oven! Puffy soft looking pillows..



Judy commented that they looked good and air was retained inside, thus it rised nicely.



Bottom of the panini looking nicely browned.

In the next lesson, we are learning some new techniques in bread making..looking forward to it!

Recently I just had not-so-nice encounters with 2 Japanese restaurants.

1.) Azabu Sabo @ The Central
Ordered this Unagi with Rice which costs about $13 or smth. To my horror, they used chinese rice(long grain) in place of the sticky chewy short grain rice used in Japanese cuisine. I am so sad, I think I will only be back for desserts in the future.

2.) Japanese Curry @ Liang Court Basement
Beef curry with rice which was $10++ came with a mixture of grains(50% chinese rice + 50% japanese rice). Apparently it does not taste/feel like short grain rice =(
Wasted my money.

I must have had bad luck or something..having lousy Japanese food twice in a row within 5 days.
Had a team gathering and lunch was at Kuishinbo @ Jurong Point. My oh my..they really wasted hell lot of ingredients there by overcooking everything.

Just to quote some examples which I have personally tried:
1.) Hot plate beef burger



It was overcooked..until my chopsticks could not poke through it >_>'' And the bean sprouts remain raw even though this was "hot" plate. Haha?


2.) Salmon on hot plate



Poor fish died an unjust death. It was again overcooked and flaky zzz~ waste of food!
And hmm.. the bean sprouts were raw as well, weird heh?

3.) Kaminabe / Paper hotpot



Beef inside was overcooked with no flavours of the soup within them -> beef cooked separately?

Heng I didn't have to pay for this lousy buffet, which added up to about $32 per person for lunch! Else I would have hit the roof -.-

K wanted to visit the IT Show at Suntec City to get HDD and such, so we settled for lunch at Shokudo in City Link. Since the previous japanese restaurant closed down, a new japanese restaurant - Shokudo opened in its place.

Looking through the menu, I decided to try their soup pasta and well, tomato does sound appetising..so I ordered beef pasta in tomato soup for $16.80++ and K ordered a pizza, $11.80++ and a green tea ice dessert with mochi and red bean.





The order arrived and the pizza looks ok but such a small sized and thin crust pizza for $11.80 ?? *Sigh* but at least its edible.

We discovered Hansang Korean Family Restaurant (located at Novena Sq 2, #03-33) by chance, cos we were supposed to bring crookie to the vet but she didnt appear ._.
So we took some bus, got to novena and ventured upon this restaurant that serves authentic korean food. Since then, I have visited Hansang for about 4times =D

My experience with their food has been good so far, however service seems to be pretty poor during peak hrs as they are under staffed. Another thing is that, the serving crew does not keep track of what has been served, so we tried to get their attention to find out what has been served..what has not.

Korean rice wine @ $7, about 7%. K described the wine as being sweet and smooth with a tinge of rice fragrance. *Shake well before drinking*




Our first meal @ Hansang. We ordered 2 person set that came with 10 side dishes, spicy stewed mackerel, kimchi stew, hot stone pot rice, beef bulgogi, dessert and hot barley tea. The barley tea actually tastes alittle like coffee and we both felt it tasted better when served chilled.




The first 3 side dishes that were served. Consists of ikan bilis, mashed sweet potato and beans.





Close up on the dishes in the 2 person set. From top left, clockwise: hot stone pot rice with sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin and red date inside; beef bulgogi; kimchi stew; spicy stewed mackerel.



The korean way to eat the hot stone pot rice is to mash all the sweet potato and carrot, mix well before eating. This pot of rice is fantastic, chewy and slightly sweet..you can eat it on its own.






A plate of fresh leafy lettuce came together with the spicy stewed mackerel and some red sauce that tasted bean like. The manager told us to try eating the mackerel with the bean sauce, wrapped in a lettuce and it tasted quite refreshing. Spicy stewed mackerel is a MUST TRY in Hansang! Beware of bones though cos there's really alot -_-'

We were so full that we rarely touched the kimchi stew




The red bean mochi were served as dessert. Interestingly, one mochi was soft and another was harder and chewy. This created some surprise *hiaks* and the red bean was just nice..not too sweet *yummy*




On our 2nd visit to Hansang, we ordered a hot pot set which was meant for 1 person normally.
This set came with 10 side dishes as well.



The waiter came with a electric stove and our hot pot was placed on it o.O For once, there's no butane gas cyclinders.





Our hot pot came with noodles, mushrooms, veggies, beef..costs $30.
The soup was fantastic, ingredients were fresh and the noodles were bouncy. Something was quite funny about the noodles though, it never got soggy!

I would say Hansang is better than Auntie Kim in terms of prices. But for ginseng chicken *everyone likes it differently*, I prefer Auntie Kim's heavy flavoured version.
Hansang Korean Restaurant is bound to change your view about SG korean food *think food court variety* if you have only tried korean food from food courts. And by the way, U.d.d.e.r.s ice cream parlour is just nearby. Take a short walk there and enjoy an ice cream after the satisfying meal ^^

The Scarlet Hotel is located along Ann Siang Road, its a boutique hotel opposite the once-bustling ChinaTown area. Today, we are visiting The Scarlet cos I have been so curious about this boutique hotel ^^' and Desire is one of the top restaurants in SG.




Taken from opposite road: The Scarlet, very beautiful architecture.



Some seats outside their first level restaurant - Desire.



Desire has got purple, red and some other colors of lights that rotate about every 5-10mins.
The deco is bold and contrasting in colors.



The waitress served us some bread and butter while waiting. The bread was not bad and that's all I remember.



Asparagus with egg and truffles $34 . K wanted to try this appetiser cos it has been featured before and besides, this dish has got truffle oil and truffle shavings.



You are supposed to mix the poached egg with the rest of the items in the plate to get the best flavour. However, despite paying $34 for this dish..there were no traces of truffle flavour which K said was supposed to be like garlic o.O?



K had some white wine to complement his meal, he doesn't like red wine.




While waiting for the main course to arrive, I started posing with his glass.



"Cheers!" and then, I noticed something is not quite right in this pic ~_~



So hence, the retake. Cheers pple!



My main course, Kurobuta Pork $40 (Chef's Recommendation). To be truthful, the crispy skin reminds me of Crystal Jade's roasted pork. No doubt this dish was tender and flavourful, it did not impress me.




K's Guinea Fowl $42. K failed to recall the taste of this dish LOL~? The brown sauce was chocolate.

Total damage was over $100, I would recommend that you visit St. Julien or even Pasta Brava for a better experience. Seriously, we didn't know what is the main focus/style of dishes that Desire aims to serve. Fusion? Western? Oh my...

I have personally been to Nirai Kanai for a few times be it Tanglin Shopping Centre or their recent newly opened branch at Liang Court. This time we are here at Liang Court to try out their new dinner sets which I say..is a pretty good deal =)






Nirai Kanai @ Liang Court has a totally different feel from the other branch at Tanglin Shopping Centre. My dad once commented "Its just built out of wooden planks picked from junk yards!"
The above is the front door of Nirai Kanai @ Liang Court.




The interior~ Each table is separated by the wooden planks which makes each table more private although you may still hear what other tables are chatting about.





K at the table, this is a 2 person table / cubicle.




For first timers, I would recommend that you try this set which has almost everything that screams OKINAWAN FOOD and this goes for $20+++ only. *Drinks not included*





The champuru, bittergourd with egg and slices of meat comes in a generous portion and 3 slices of fatty tuna sashimi *slurp* Sorry for the blur pics, cos I was shaking from hunger. Another must try food from Okinawa is pork belly, soft tender meat and fats that melt in your mouth~




Another okinawan special, the peanut beancurd. This is heavy flavoured stuff, which is unique to okinawa. A full size item would have cost $8, in this set they actually give you half size ~!





My set which consists of a bonito flavoured fried rice, a full size pork belly noodle soup with pork ribs and peanut beancurd.




The pork belly noodles were great and its also one of the must tries here. After finishing the pork belly noodles, I actually had no more room for the rice -_-'' So the next morning, K had fried rice for his breakfast. Hee~




Bonito flavoured fried rice, which was good even for next day's consumption according to K.



Both the sets came with desserts and mine was okinawan donut. Crispy fragrant sweet stuff like our fried butterfly dough.



And K's dessert was 1 scoop purple sweet potato ice cream, which was fantastic and most of all not too sweet. =)

I am really glad that Nirai Kanai has adapted their menu to include sets throughout the day and also different discount offers (like thursday was 50% off sashimi) for the week. If you have not tried Okinawan food, drop by Nirai Kanai for a refreshing experience not found in SG Japanese food scene.