No dumplings, porridge lor

I was supposed to eat bak zhang last Saturday.

Supposed.

I set my alarm clock zun zun at 8am on a Saturday just to rush down to buy Ho Kee bak zhang. On a Saturday okay! But when I reached Amoy Street FC, I saw all the shops closed and all their wares messily stacked outside so I asked, "Uncle ah, jing tian mei you mai ah? (Today never sell is it?)". Then he told me, " Mei you ah! Jing tian spring cleaning!".

Spring cleaning?! I mean, which food centre does spring cleaning!!! Ahhh!!! Wasted my Saturday.

Okay lar, not quite. Because I took a chill pill, calm down, walked to Maxwell FC to have breakfast with a vengence! Ah ha!

I bought 2 muah chee, 2 kueh kosui, 1 min jiang kueh, 1 bowl of prawn dumplings, 1 bowl of braised beef noodles, 1 bowl of peanut soup w/ rice balls, 1 bowl of red bean brown rice soup, 1 bowl of tau suan, 1 bowl of century egg porridge and 1 plate of yu sheng (raw fish). Wah, breathless

Before you think that I'm a glutton, let me mention that most of the food were ta bao for my gf also (but I think I ate most of them).



Okay anyways, I've heard about Hoe Kee's century egg porridge and it's finally time to give it a try. Uhm, the porridge is tasty! Check. The porridge is sticky and pasty. Check! The porridge has loads of century eggs and pork. Check! And plus, the porridge is served in a large bowl for just $3 (or $3.50 if you add an egg). Oh yeah, they have condiments like fried onions, spring onions and chillis on the side so yeah, feel free to go crazy with them!



Generosity seems to be their speciality because check out this yu sheng. Oh mama, I've never seen so much fish in such a small plate of yu sheng before. And it's only going for $3. Seriously, the yu sheng is not bad. It's quite tasty and the amount of raw fish is just, Phoo!



Address:
Maxwell Food Centre
Hoe Kee or He Ji

Our favourite

Okay I absolutely have to rave about this chicken rice. It is, in my teeny weeny opinion, the best chicken rice EVER! Of course I haven't tried Tian Tian yet but that's not the point.



The point is, this has been our favourite chicken rice stall ever since we found it 2 years ago. Why? Because it's awesome! That's why!

Firstly, the chicken is superbly tender. Even the chicken breast meat is unbelievably soft and it's not those flattened-by-the-cleaver kind. Needless to say, thigh meat is ... Omph!



Secondly, rice is well seperated, flavourful, not too oily. Goody.

And most most most most most importantly, their sauce. Ohhhhh my gawd this is just awesome. The sauce is not the usual soya sauce and sesame oil combination. This sauce is in fact, a little reddish in colour. Why?! I have not idea but it's super good! Let's just say it's not overly salty and it's like the main focus of the dish. It's like, adding a turbo to the dish!

Oh yeah and the chilli sauce. Well, fair enough and pretty average. But what I like is they do have ginger sauce which compliments the chilli very well.

So yeah, this is by far our favourite chicken rice stall (except for Tian Tian which we haven't tried because of the idiotically ridiculously long queue everytime we are there!) and I do hope you try it.



Besides, it's beside my favourite min jiang kueh stall!

Address:
Kovan Food Centre
Kou Wei Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice
#01-19
Opp Heartland Mall and beside Hougang Pancakes

Nam Sing Hokkien Mee

Similar to the likes of char kway tiao and fried carrot cakes, hokkien mee is another calorie laden food which I usually do not order. Due to the fact that it's very oily and also, I'm allergic to seafood.

But even so, I can't help but finish a whole plate of hokkien mee by myself because it was just so, uberliciously tasty. The taste, the texture... Omph!



Nam Sing Hokkien Mee. And that's one of Makan Sutra's Hawker Legends for you there uh-huh uh-huh. Apperently this uncle has been frying hokkien mee for a few decades now and attributes the good taste of his mee to superior seafood broth. And apperently, he's right!

Chow chow! Adds noodles. Wham! Closes the lid, does it a few more times. Adds in seafood, egg and garlic. Swirls the noodle around and splashes his superior broth in with a flick of his ladle and then turn up the heat and Chap chap chap! Stir frying the noodles in a final chopping motion which looked like karate to me. Oh yeah, I was there to watch the shifu in action.

Well, of course that's not all but I wouldn't be so mean to reveal all his secrets right?
But then again we can always negeociate on a price

Nah, you sly brat...

(Okay lar, actually I don't really know the actual ingredients and sequence also haha!)



Woo! The noodles are well seperated and the wetness is just nice although I would prefer a little more gravy. Oh, the gravy is also not the slimy kind but more to the watery side, but not of the soupy kind. Ahh you'll know what I mean. The taste, however, is spot on! Ummm, the seafood taste is strong and seafood is fresh.

Definately one of the best hokkien mee I've eaten. ;)

Good black sesame and kick ass chocolate

Oh man, damn blogspot just wouldn't turn my picture around. I'll make it upright soon (I hope) or just tilt your head to one side pleassse?

I'm certain I will never buy any commercial ice cream again. Well, not that their bad but after you've tasted home-made ice cream that is awesomely good, I'm sure you wouldn't either.

Who am I raving about?

Tom's Palette! This home-made ice cream stall located at Shaw Towers (near the food court)sell fantastic tasting ice cream. The black sesame was thick and rich and taste real and nutty (just the way I like it) and the chocolate. Oh my Gawd the chocolate. It's different. Well, it's not very rich but it's very unique like there's alot of cocoa powder in it. But it doesn't taste bitter either. It's the right level of sweetness and richness that leaves the taste lingering in your mouth. Ummm...

I'll be sure to get back again to try their blueberry cheesecake (it's good) and hazelnut (since I'm a sucka for hazelnuts).

Ang Ku Kuehs from Ang Ku Kueh

I lurrrve peanuts. Well, any nuts in that matter (now, now don't think otherwise). Raw nuts and nut butter are my favourite but roasted peanuts with pancakes are like god sent.

But there's something else that is good to eat with peanuts, and that is ang ku kueh. Somehow, ordinary ang ku kuehs simply don't go well with the filling.

What do I mean?

Well, the glutinous rice flour is too sticky and very often, too thick. And when you try it eat it, the kueh sticks to your hands! As a result, you don't get to taste the fillings very much. That's why, from now onwards, I will only eat ang ku kueh by Ang Ku Kueh.

Alright, you must be thinking "What the hell are you talking about Sam?!"

You see, the other day Qin and I were walking down upper thomson road and passed by a shop called Ang Ku Kueh. Apperently it's been rated as one of the top 10 Ang Ku Kuehs in Singapore. Duh! Of course we had to put some in our tummies!



The peanut ang ku kueh (70c) was... oh my gawd... I've never tasted so good kueh before! The kueh is thin and not sticky at all and very bitable (won't stick to your mouth like glue) and the peanut filling is... oh my gawd (again). It's super grainy and the sweetness is just right. Plus, there is this slight savoury taste that makes it very special. (And there's alot of filling if you're wondering).

They also have this chicken mushroom ang ku kueh (70c) on Sundays which is equally awesome. It's chicken, yam and mushroom which is super tasty and mostly savoury and slightly sweet. Oh man, fantastic, sedap, yummy!

Well, it's too bad we didn't get to try the kueh salat and dried shrimp rice but what we did try were the ang ku kuehs with peanuts, green bean paste, coconut and chicken and mushroom. Coconut was quite good but the peanuts and chicken and mushroom was Wooo!

Okay I shall stop repeating myself.

Address:

Guangdong Braised Beef Noodles

Once again, another gem found in Maxwell food centre. This stall, Guangdong Wanton Mee, certainly sells super duper kick ass braised beef noodles. I know the signboard displays WANTON MEE, but I heard such good reviews about the braised beef noodles that we just had to try it and erm, give up wanton mee just this once.

But of course, we had to add char siew into our braised beef noodles. Haha! Yeah I know, such retards.



The beef is soft, tender and tasty. The sauce is rich, thick and well stewed. The chilli is good. Hey! It's a good deal! The flavours really blend well together and the sauce is not so rich as to make you sick but just right. Juuuust right.

I can't explain much further because I realise my english and vocabulary are getting from bad to worse. Either that or I'm just to lazy to think of words to describe. But trust me on this one and go down and try it yourself.

Oh, and while you are there, give the wanton mee a go and tell me how it tastes like okay?



Address:

Maxwell Food Centre
Guangdong Wanton Mee
Stall 99

Soft and silky

This was what I got 2 weeks ago.

Real Japanese mochi!!!

Oh my gawd, I've been dying to eat mochi from Japan and not those from Ichiban Boshi. Courtesy of my friend Tee Guan who got them from Japan and kept some for me.

I was quite suprised by the shape of the mochi as I was expecting them to be round like those in Singapore. But rather, they were triangular.



The black ones are black sesame which I absolutely love while the other ones are banana and chocolate. Well, you can't really taste the chocolate but more of the banana which taste a little like medicine.



The skin is also super thin meaning you can taste more of the filling. Oh man, I'm drooling as I'm typing this.

Well, I hope one day I'll be able to go to Japan to eat their sashimi, ramen, red bean, black sesame, soft icecream... ... ... rambles on

Mum knows best

Ahh, this is what I've been waiting so long for. Mum's cooking, absolutely yummy! It doesn't really matter how much good food there is in Singapore, nothing compares to mum's cooking. I'm sure most people who grew up on your mum's cooking have the same sentiments.

This are some of what I ate back home in Perth. Enjoy!



Home made nonya bak zhang.



Nasi Lemak with kickass chicken wings and home made sambal chilli. The spices used in the chicken wings made them soooo yummy my sis and I practically grew up on those.



Mum's beef stew which is SUPER yummy!



Herbal chicken



And some cabbage to go with it.

Well, this will be my last post on Perth and I'll be back to regular blogging soon. I'll be back there in February though so look out for more posts!

Perth, Domino's dominate!

If you're in Perth and craving a good slice of pizza, think Domino's. I have no idea why this pizza chain isn't on our shores, it simply is fabulous!



They have quite a selection of pizza available in three different types of crusts; classic, thin and stuffed crust with cheese. Oh by the way, the cheese isn't just one the outer crust, it's layered between the entire crust. Yummy. The store is also quite cool because they have a screen displaying your name and the time left before your pizza is ready.



And they have this new Triple Ripple thing which is cheese and bbq sauce on a different layer. Simply awesome. The flavours are also good and although it has three layers, it's not even half as thick as Pizza h*t's.



This is the cheese burger flavour if I remember correctly.



And this is the supreme with a little bit of everything.



Domino's - Really good pizza. Besides, it's only AU$10 for a large one!

Perth, West Field Carousel

West Field Carousel at Albany (Error! It is actually not in Albany but along Albany Highway) is probably the largest shopping mall in Perth. It is seriously so huge, we couldn't finish shopping in a day. Unlike large shopping malls in Singapore where most shops carry an expensive brand, Carousel is lined by many much smaller shops carrying less expensive brands while still have nice stuff and therefore not needing you to bust your pockets. Besides, it's always good to bunk in on the post Christmas sales where things go really cheap.

Of course, cafes, muffin and cookie stores, and bakeries can easily be found here. And here I bring to you, their food court!



Their food court is seriously huge. Loads of stalls including international brands such as Subway, Mcdonalds, New Zealand Natural. Other stalls include mexican food, japanese food, loads of sandwich bars (really huge sandwiches), loads of pies and pastries, LOADS of chips, wood-fired pizzas and they even have chinese and thai fare. The system is different here though, you pay approximately AU$8 for the chinese and thai food and you get a plate, and then you stack it as high as you can with food. A word of caution though, the chinese and thai food here are loaded with MSG.



Then there's Muffin Break.



Then there's Donut King.



Crepe Cafe.



This is where you can get your meat in the shopping malls.



And this is where you can get your fishies.

Speaking of variety, Singapore always pride itself on it's diversity on food. eg. we have chinese, malay, indian, nonya etc. But when I take a look at Perth, there is so much more. Everywhere you go there will be chinese, korean, japanese, indian, thai, lebanese, mexican, vietnamese, middle eastern food. And I'm pretty confident to say that most restaurants are opened by people of their respective nationalities, resulting in you getting true, authentic flavours of their country. Makes me feel like a frog in the well.

Perth, is b-e-a-utiful

Just 3 hours drive away from the city is Magaret River. A beautiful place packed with restaurants, wineries, fantastic and beautiful beaches, natural caves and even a cheese facotry and a chocolate factory.



This is Magaret River Chocolate Factory which sells different kinds of chocolates. They also have many kinds of jams, like chilli jam etc, and different kind of salad dressings. And check this out, they also have chocolate flavoured lip balm, lipstick, mouthspray and much more!

Oh yeah, they also have 3 large pots of dark, milk and white chocolate pastelles free for your sampling and their hot chocolate, which is just hot milk added to their pastelles, is absolutely delicious.



The stretch of beaches along Magaret River is really wonderful. Don't be fooled by the hot weather because the water, which is in fact the Indian Ocean, is freezing cold! Loads of surfers also or if you don't prefer the water, just take a walk down the bridge to one of many gorges to feel and touch and ice cold and unbelievably clear water.

Perth, Cows and Fishes!

Just across the Saturday fruit/vegetables market is a fish market and a butcher. Not much words here just a few pics.



There's quite a wide variety of fishes here with wild salmon, rainbow trout, snapper, trevelly etc. There's really quite a lot, can't name them all!



They also have prawns, lobsters, yabbies, squid etc. Fish and seafood prices in Perth are a little on the high side though.



Just beside the fish market is a butcher where they sell meat by the pounds. Sirloin, porterhouse, rump, whatever, you name it. They even have young cows hanging by the dozens inside their freezers!