My last trip, just a few weeks ago, was no exception. With the recommendations of a local and hearsay from others, here are my two must-visits for the foodie at heart:

Restaurant Wong Poh
36 & 38 Jln BM 1/2
Bukit Mayang Mas
47301 Petaling Jaya

I had no idea where I was headed on my first trip to this place. Nicholas’ God Sister drove us far away from the tourist area in KL and to this wonderland for crabs. It seems that only locals visit this place and, it’s so popular that it’s always packed!
 

Restaurant Wong Poh reminds me of my dad’s restaurant – no frills, no service to shout about, just really good food.

 
Dish #1 – Butter Crab

Perfectly succulent crab with a creamy and buttery sauce that’s enlivened by the delightful fragrance of curry leaves…. It’s quite similar to the Seafood Paradise version except that it’s steeped in cream. The sauce is best eaten with deep fried mantous (buns).
 

Dish #2 – Salted Egg Yolk Crab

The Salted Egg Yolk Crab in Singapore simply doesn’t come close to the Malaysian version. At Restaurant Wong Poh, the chef doesn’t stinge on salted egg yolk, so you’ll get a lovely contrast between the succulent sweet crab and savoury egg yolk.

Oversea Restaurant

84-88, Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur

website

I don’t like pork but I seriously love this char siew with all my heart. Nothing comes close to the glistening char siew at Oversea Restaurant in KL.

Once you get past its beautifully charred and caramelised crust, you’ll sink your teeth into juicy, fatty meat that melts in your mouth. It is nothing short of sublime.

My ex-colleague, Aaron, told me about this elusive char siew. He reached the restaurant too late and didn’t manage to try it. So, please, go early (by noon) for lunch.

 
Best of all, it’s not too far from town. Oversea Restaurant is located round the corner from Sungei Wang Plaza.

My precious....

After harping on the zester to death, my boyfriend and my sister decided to buy this new toy for me (they didn’t communicate beforehand so I have two! *gasp*)! I just tried the zester this evening and am now unabashedly head over heels in love with this new toy.

What’s so good about it?

• Zests a whole lemon in under a minute (unless you’re zesting really leisurely)
• Produces fine zest
  

  A tablespoon of fine zest and a very naked lemon

• Doesn’t cut so deep that you grate into the white pith, the white part of the lemon peel that is bitter – a.k.a. your cakes are safe!
• It comes in several tantalizing colours. My favourites are orange and lime green.
• Best of all – it’s easy to clean! The zest rinses right off and doesn’t get stuck in the grooves. A standing ovation, please!

A thing of beauty

For all these reasons, if you love baking with lemon zest, you’ve got to have it! The price tag may shock you a little but trust me, it’s worth every penny.

Where to get this glorious tool:

Both my zesters were bought at Tools of the Trade along Dunearn Road for S$37.

I haven’t tried other zesters. If you have, let me know if you’ve also found a good one!

Disclaimer: This review is proudly sponsored by my sister and my boyfriend.

Not one to be deterred though, I asked my mum to come to my rescue when dishing up Ginger Pork, for a friend’s baby shower potluck. It was that morning that I found myself gushing with a new found respect for my mum. She whipped out the knife and started to julienne the ginger at lightning speed. My brain couldn’t help but chime, “Yan can cook & so can Mum!”

It’s hard to find great Chinese recipes online so let me share one with you. This has been a favourite among my ex-colleagues, even my American and Korean ones!

Disclaimer: Like many seasoned cooks, my mum whips up dishes by estimating the amount of each ingredient needed (or as Singaporeans affectionately term it, “Agaration”) I too, had to resort to agaration to put this recipe together.

Mum’s Ginger Pork

800g                  Sliced Lean Pork

1                     Ginger, peeled and julienned

2                     Shallots, sliced

2                     Chilli padi, sliced

5                     Spring Onions, cut into 3cm pieces

2 Big Pinches     Corn Starch

1 tbsp                Corn Starch Water

1 – 2 tbsp            Sesame Oil

1 tbsp                Light Soy Sauce

1 – 2 tbsps          Dark Soy Sauce

2 cups                Water (add slowly if you’re afraid; it should cover the 3/4 of the pork)

To taste               Sugar

To taste               Salt

Instructions

1. Marinate pork with sesame oil, light soy sauce, corn starch
2. On high heat, stir fry ginger and shallots continuously until they brown
3. Add pork and stir fry continuously
4. Add water and let simmer on medium heat
5. Add dark sauce for colour, chilli, spring onions, sugar and salt
6. Add a little corn starch water to thicken sauce
7. Serve up hot, with steamed rice

Feeds 3 very hungry people or 4 normal folks

And off it went to the potluck! Check out the food I had to eat that day.

Final Product: Ginger Pork

I took nicer photos of the Ginger Pork with my DSLR. Look out for these photos soon (if I remember)!

Love,

Lisa

We stumbled upon this slice of heaven at Daimaru in Sapporo. This divine stack of light vanilla sponge, cream cheese and mascarpone cheese had a rich, creamy intense flavour that was beautifully balanced with an light airiness.

These is no cheesecake quite like this. If you ever go to Hokkaido, please please please don’t forget to eat this!

Blueberry Muffin without its Streusel Cap

The next time, I’ll use the streusel recipe with a banana muffin base. Please sign up here if you’d like to volunteer to be a guinea pig. (Disclaimer: the signing of a waiver is required.)

 
Here’s the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/To-Die-For-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Anyone who wants to buy me this can do so here. It’s now on sale and going for only about US $30.

This is literally a shot in the dark (dinner time).

Here’s the recipe:
 
13g dried chrystanthemums
4 apples
5 candied dates
4 dried figs
300g lean pork
 
 
(I’m re-arranging the steps so that they make more sense.)
1. Put 8 bowls of water to boil.
2. Rinse chrysanthemums, dates, figs and lean pork.
3. If I may add, cut lean pork into big chunks and blanch them in a separate pot to remove the stinky porky smell.
4. Rinse apples and cut them into big pieces, removing their cores.
5. Once the water is boiling like mad, put all ingredients in except the chrysanthemum.
6. Let the soup rise to a boil again before turning down to low heat and cook for another 1 and a half hours. Add chrysanthemums 10 minutes before the soup is done and season with salt.

Candied Dates & Chrysanthemums

First VIew at Ippudo

I’ve been told by a journalist friend that I should try Ippudo, a ramen restaurant that opened a few months ago at the newly revamped Mandarin Gallery. Frankly, the prospect of a comforting hot bowl of ramen and a free steam facial along with it seemed too hard to resist, so Nick and I decided to visit Ippudo for a Saturday lunch.

The counter along which I watched Japanese chefs fondle noodles

The local branch of a popular ramen chain in Japan, Ippudo offers only two soup bases – Shiromaru – a white broth that is packed with collagen from boiling pork bones for almost a day – and Akamaru – a savory red soup made with red miso and black garlic oil.

 
With collagen at stake, I chose Shiromaru ($15, without an additional egg or pork belly).

Delicate Pork Bone Broth

This delightful broth exuded a delicate sweetness from pork bones. Unfortunately, the sharp aftertaste of pickled ginger was too overwhelming on the palate, negating the beautiful broth.
 
The noodles too were not as good as I had imagined. Having chosen “medium” noodles (instead of hard or soft), I found the strings of flour a little too chewy in the beginning and a little too limp at the end for my liking. Perhaps I wasn’t slurping my noodles fast enough, unlike Nick who wolfed down his noodles in no time and opted for extra noodles (which according to him, cost $2++ for 30 cents worth of mee kia).
 
Perhaps what led to such disappointment was the anticipation of a new and great ramen haunt. There are many ramen places in Singapore but not many that live up to my food-snobbing ways.
 
With Santouka at Central still reigning on my list of ramen restaurants and the long queue at Ippudo (I reached at 11.50am on Saturday and the queue was so long, I almost stepped into Lawry’s), this ramen is not filling my bowl anytime soon.
 
 
Ippudo is located at:

Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Road, #04-02/03/04

Tel: 6235 2797 (no reservations allowed)