Tag Archives: food

Yong Tau Foo to double in price?

March 29, 2008 – 3:57 pm

Remember the sad lonely day when I had lunch alone? That day, a few friends nudged me on MSN just to scold me for posting a photo of my food! My  mouth-watering Yong Tau Foo made them hungry even though they’ve already eaten their lunch.

Today I received an email from Mimi,

most of the seafood price (dry or wet) will increase after April 1st!
heard that ‘yong tau fu’ will be affected the most as the sorimi (fish meat used to make fish balls) will increase up to 200%
so… eat ytf for these 2 days as much as u can.

Is this an April Fool’s joke?! Yong Tau Foo is very important to us, we can not allow this to happen! My dear readers, let me know if you know this news to be true.

By Precious | Posted in street food | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

The Most Important Person You’ll Meet at Tunxi Ancient Street

March 25, 2008 – 2:08 pm

Before we ate the hairy tofu with chinese mini escargot, we’d already filled our stomachs a few times as we we were walking down Tunxi Ancient Street.

At the crossroad in the middle of the street, we saw this guy with a very simple stall. He seems to have become a roundabout for the crossroad for electric motorbikes were whizzing past and around him all the time.

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Even though his stall is so simple that he could just carry the entire restaurant home when he’s done for the day, there was a queue for his food. I suppose the location helps, but then again, other shops in the area were completely devoid of customers.

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Most of his customers are families who live in Tunxi itself, while most of the families who live in Tunxi run shops that caters to foreign tourists.

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Even though he makes his food by hand, it is very hygienic for he refuses to touch anything that could contaminate. His customers place their payment into a neatly arranged money box and remove the change on their own.
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He used to serve his wonton in cheap plastic bowls, but a VIP who visited suggested that he uses better quality bowls.

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This sparked in him a lot of marketing ideas. He printed his own bowls that brands himself as the famous Tunxi wonton stall and his own plastic spoons that he gives away as souvenirs. That way, customers could bring home the spoon and tell their friends.

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The men were so impressed by this marketing genius, they insisted on taking a photo with him.

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I too was gobsmacked when I discovered, the wonton seller at Tunxi is a blogger too!

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He’s upgrading his stall to a solid restaurant with walls. If you’d like to know where he’s moving to, click to visit his blog.

Since we had planned to climb Mount Huangshan the next day, we headed back for the Huangshan hostel early to rest.

By Precious | Posted in business, huang shan | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Snacking at Tunxi Ancient Street (Lao Jie) in Huangshan Town

March 24, 2008 – 4:59 pm

While we were at the stalls selling antique curios, we were distracted by the fragrant smell of pungent tofu. Hypnotized, we followed the smell until we came to this,

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Genuine pungent tofu!

Simon got really excited as this is his favorite dish in the whole of China. We ordered one bowl. I took a bite.
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It was all right. A bit moldy. I still prefer pungent cheeses.

The female shopowner told us we were eating the wrong item. Huangshan town is not famous for pungent tofu but for hairy tofu. She showed us what it looks like.

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Tofu with a thick layer of mold fur growing all over it. Nice! We accepted her challenge. She cooked it for us. I took a bite.

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It’s very creamy, almost like melted cheese. I prefer this to pungent tofu. The friendly female shopkeeper also asked if we wanted fried snails which I prefer to call mini Escargot.

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My female friend told me I should get Nic to eat mini escargot more often. I have no idea why she suggested that. Sucking one out of its shell requires so much breath and patience.

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The shopkeeper was making vegetarian dumplings for her son who does not like to eat meat. We decided we wanted a plate of it too.

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I absolutely love these dumplings even though the skin’s not as thin as the one we had in Wuzhen. I think it’s because I feel healthier. Noticing our enthusiasm, the shopkeeper offered to cook us bamboo shoots.

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Shock! Just look at the size of one bamboo shoot here. So different from the ones we have back home. We didn’t order as we were already full from eating wonton at a road side stall earlier. Oh, did I forget to tell you about the wonton seller?

By Precious | Posted in huang shan, street food | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Why I Love My Brunch

March 17, 2008 – 10:51 am

Most people who prefer eating at home choose to do so because it is healthier. For me, I have two additional reasons. The food I get at home is a lot more delicious and a lot more beautifully presented. For instance, check out this Nasi Goreng Kampung I’m having right now.


Loaded with green veggies and tomatoes, it makes me feel confident of my physical health.

Fried with lots eggs and chili padi, it is exactly the taste I prefer.

But most of all, I love its bright colors which makes me a joyful bruncher. :)

I don’t need to travel far and wide to get the best meals in the world. I don’t need to stay in hotels and accommodation that serve lavish meals.
I don’t need the best hotels in Berlin, or cheapest hotels in Prague, or Barcelona Spain hotels, or Hotels in Amsterdam. I get my favorite food, the moment I wake up, right here at home.

By Precious | Posted in home-cooked meals | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Today’s Scrumptious Brekkie

February 2, 2008 – 5:45 pm

Thank you God for making chickens and thank you for making them lay eggs. Thank you God for making wheat and thank you for making them sprout grains. Thank you God for the flour mill and the pots and pans. Thank you God for the baker, the farmer and the cook!

By Precious | Posted in cafes | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

Freshest Sushi Sashimi at Sakuraya, Parkway Parade

January 18, 2008 – 6:28 pm

Throughout my one month in Singapore, I mostly ate wholesome home cooked food. But just once, the home made goodness felt a little too familiar. I could even correctly guess what soup’s for dinner.

Thinking out loud, I said how nice if Sakuraya, the japanese grocer in Parkway Parade, is nearby. Then I could just walk there, and buy back some of Nic’s favorite salmon sashimi for a meal.

To my surprise, my ever busy hero asked me to hop into the car. We got there, he picked the biggest and freshest chunk of salmon he could find and got the chef* to slice it up. The chef told us it just arrived that same morning from Japan.

We both got busy mixing our wasabi with the kikkoman soya sauce. The food is gooood.

*chef: If a person’s job is to slice fish day and night, is he still a chef? Or is he a human fish slicer?

By Precious | Posted in fine dining | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Melaka’s Famous Fried Oyster Omelette

December 15, 2007 – 7:52 am

If you have ever visited Melaka, you will have seen this guy, perhaps even eaten the food off his wok.

Rumor has it that his wealth is stored as gold bars in a secret bank vault so no one really knows the full extent of his prosperity.

I don’t know if that is true. All I know is, his family’s recipe have famed the entire state of Melaka for Or Jian (Fried Oyster Omelette).

There is no sit-down dinner here. His food is sold in mini wrapped parcels.
After you’ve bought one, you’ll want to grab the pack and heave to the nearest Kopitiam (coffee shop) as quickly as possible. Here you can order a drink as an excuse to use the table. Then, you’ll want to open the package with your clumsy fingers.

As the golden treasure is exposed, a small cloud of smoke rises into the air, filling you with its salty pungence.

Take a bite. It is crispy and lumpy and melting and altogether too delicious.

By Precious | Posted in melaka, street food | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Breakfast At The Riverside Kopi Tiam. Mmmm-Mmm!

December 5, 2007 – 8:02 am

This Kopi Tiam next to the old cinema is one of my favorite places to enjoy a good scrumptious breakfast in Melaka.

 

When I get a chance to come here, I always order my favorite - Kaya Toast and Soft-Boiled Eggs.

 

I love food that is served near a good view. The reason I love watching Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer and Mark Gardner & Ben O’Donoghue’s Surfing The Menu is partly because of the cooking, mostly because of the views!

Since I can’t be sampling wine and cheeses in a vineyard along Margaret River in Perth, Australia, this Kopitiam in Melaka the next best place.

It is breezy enough here for me to have wind-swept hair. :smile:

 

My coffee!! Kopi Oh, Tze Puei!

 

 

The eggs are bowl-slurping-ly yummy! The Kaya Toast is better than Yakun’s but could be better. I suggest you keep your eyes on the view while crunching to distract yourself from its mediocrity.

You know what I realized? This is one of the few eateries that haven’t put up a huge projector screen or plasma TV mounted high up on TV bracket to screen football or cantonese soap operas. No wonder it is so tranquil here.

I think Plasma TV wall mounts are good for the bedroom or the entertainment room. Just not for dining when conversations should take lead. Get what I mean?

By Precious | Posted in melaka, street food | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Dinner at Dian Xiao Er, Vivocity

November 5, 2007 – 6:10 am

On Friday night, we had a nice dinner at Dian Xiao Er restaurant in Vivocity. Dian Xiao ErThe first to arrive was Nic’s elder sister and her husband. While waiting for the rest of us, they walked to and fro Vivocity to see if there are better options available but after scrutinizing a few menus, Dian Xiao Er still won out even though they were the only one who refused to book a table for us.

Instead, Dian Xiao Er uses a different system called the Priority Queue. After you have called to book, you will be given a priority to be seated at the next available table when you and all of your guests have arrived. This means you won’t get to be seated until all of your guests have arrived, but you won’t have to join the back of the queue either. This maximizes their efficiency while being fair to the customers.

Since we couldn’t be seated until all of us had arrived, we hung around for a while at the entrance. I then noticed a rather clever promotion to maximize their turnover. You’ll get 12% discount if you are the among the first ten patrons to arrive for dinner at between 5:30pm to 6:30pm!

Yuan Bao Promotion - Dian Xiao Er RestaurantDon’t think of trying to cheat by sending one guest to get there earlier though. Again, this is only valid when all of your guests have also arrived so that they can serve the food immediately.

Nic’s sister ordered the set menu for six pax so we didn’t have to crack our brains to figure out what to eat. When all of us finally got here half an hour later, a waitress in a very cute traditional Chinese Xiao Er costume guided us to our seats. I was amazed by how authentic the restaurant’s decor is to its theme. It really felt like we were in a traditional inn situated inside an ancient chinese village in the mountains, just like those you would have seen in old kung fu movies. I half-expected the patrons to be dressed in traditional cheong sams and sam fus. :)

Interior of Dian Xiao ErThe moment our butts touched the chairs, another waitress in the adorable Xiao Er outfit appeared with six bowls of soup while the waitress who had guided us in took down our orders for drinks.

Nic helped to vinegar and pepper my soup. Before I’d had five slurps, the rest of the dishes arrived. Our small table was happily crowded all the way to its very end with dishes and more dishes! Nic’s dad looked dazed for a while to see so much food arriving all at once. I was so surprised at the speed of the service since the whole restaurant was very busy. After we’d had the chance to blink our eyes, we dug in indulgently!

The food was hot and aromatic. It succeeded in refreshing our senses after a long day. Our favorites from the menu were definitely the herbal roast duck and the baked fresh prawn (JiangNan style). Not that we could find any fault with the rest of the dishes.

Dian Xiao Er - Herbal Roast Duck

Baked Fresh Prawn From Dian Xiao Er

According to an interview with Samuel Yik who is the owner of Dian Xiao Er, the duck is roasted in a special oven from Germany which helps to keep the meat plump and juicy even though the skin gets dried and crisped. The herbal flavor reminded me of a really good roast duck we’ve had in Johor Bahru. I didn’t think I’d be able to get the same thing in Singapore city. :)

Dian Xiao Er - Oven From GermanySince they served us so speedily, I wondered if they would hint we should leave quickly after finishing the meal so that they could use the table for another group of hungry patrons. Thankfully, they didn’t make this faux pas.

The Xiao Ers who served us were very pleasant. Their smiles were warm, they looked really fresh and energetic. As a result, the whole family stayed on for quite some time to catch up with each other.

One other thing that surprised me was how well Dian Xiao Er had planned the set menu. When we finished the dessert which was a platter of sliced fresh fruits, we discovered we had neither had too much nor too little. It was just enough to feel satisfied, comfortable and contented.

Dian Xiao Er is located at #02-137/8 VivoCity, Singapore. Tel: (65) 6376 9786 Email: enquiry@dianxiaoer.net
Opening hours are Mon - Fri, 11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 9:30pm / Weekend and Public Holiday, 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:30pm - 9:30pm, (last order 9.30 pm)

Disclosure: These photos were not taken by me but are from the Dian Xiao Er restaurant website.

By Precious | Posted in fine dining | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (4)