Doesn’t TaZte Like Chicken

Location: My tiny kitchen

One of the common Chinese comfort food that I grew up eating is steamed egg with minced meat. The Japanese has a similar dish called chawanmushi. When cooked perfectly, the steam egg has a smooth and silky texture like that of a creme caramel.

This recipe serves 3 people. You will need a stainless steel rack for steaming. I used 3 short glasses to make individual servings. If you don’t have short glasses, you can use a deep dish.

Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs (I used omega-3 eggs)
- 1/2 of minced pork or chicken
- 3/4 cup of chicken broth
- soy sauce
- 2 green onion, finely sliced

1. Marinate the minced meat with:
- 1 tsp of salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp of onion powder
- 2 tbsp of Japanese cooking wine

2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg with the chicken broth.

3. Fill a stock pot with 2 inches of water. Place the steam rack in the centre of the pot. Let the water bring to a boil.

4. Divide the meat into 3 portions and place the meat into the bottom of each glass.

5. Pour the egg mixture through a sieve and into the glasses. Passing the egg through a sieve helps the eggs to have a smooth and silky texture once they are cooked.

6. Using a chopstick or a fork, gently stir the egg mixture to let all bubbles come up to the surface.

7. Cover each glass with a plastic wrap. Using a fork, punch a few holes on the wrap.

8. Place the glasses on the steam rack. Cover and steam for 14 minutes. If you are using a deep dish, steam for 11 or 12 minutes. I usually check the eggs a minute or two before the time is up. The eggs are ready when the edge is set while the centre is still soft and jiggly.

9. Remove the plastic wrap. In a small pot, heat 3 tbsp of oil. Pour the oil over the egg. Drizzle with soy sauce and sprinkle a few green onion slices on top.

Location: My tiny kitchen

This marble cake is baked with Annie’s marble cake recipe. This is my second attempt baking a marble cake. Failing miserably at my first attempt, Annie’s recipe convinced me to try again. I’m glad I did. By following Annie’s detailed and helpful instructions, the cake turned out tasting wonderful. This recipe is now in my guaranteed cake recipe list. My marble didn’t turn out looking as nice as Annie but hey, as long as it tastes great, I’m not complaining!

Location: Octupus Garden, Vancouver   

Author: My Husband

In all the years we have been eating Japanese food, we have never tried omakase. We’ve always preferred certain Japanese dishes over others, and weren’t convinced that a chef could read our minds well enough after a 3-min Q&A session to serve us what we liked. Some might argue that is a positive, that by leaving the choice of our dinner ingredients to the chef, we would be served dishes that could expand our culinary horizons and push our Japanese-food boundaries. That is a good argument, but when dollars that could be spent on food that we LIKE are being put up for a chef’s guess of our likes/dislikes, well, we’d have to be convinced that the chef was damned near psychic.

A few years ago, while talking about Japanese food with a friend from Japan, we asked her if there was a restaurant she particularly liked. She thought for a little bit, and said “Octopus Garden”. Thinking she misunderstood my question, I repeated it, this time with more emphasis on “Japanese”. “Octupus Garden” was the unblinking reply. That was the very first time we’d heard of this little restaurant in Kitsilano. Minako told us that even her visitors from Japan enjoyed the food at the restaurant, and she suggested that we have dinner there. So one fine day, back in 2003, we went to this funky and colourful little Japanese restaurant in Kitsilano where the food (and nautical décor) made a huge impression on us. Prices weren’t cheap, but we got what we paid for. For two or three years after that, we paid OG the occasional visit when we wanted good Japanese good. But after we moved to Richmond in 2006, we stopped visiting.

Two weeks ago, our foodie friend J took two out-of-town visitors to OG for omakase. She had a phenomenal experience there and painted such a beautiful picture of the food that…we had to drag her back there to experience it ourselves. On the strength of J’s recommendation and our faith in her tastebuds, we rounded up our new-found eating buddies B and W, and along with J and another friend D, headed off to OG for our very own omakase meal…

The exterior of the restaurant hasn’t changed much from 2006, but I think the interior has been reconfigured to include a “private” booth. And as was the case back in 2006, all the chefs and waitresses were Japanese. Interestingly, the chef did not conduct much of a Q&A with us; J told him we wanted the lobster omakase and after making sure we weren’t allergic to any foods, he set off to create our meal.

Here’s what we had:

I think these were kumamotos. These were not as fresh and clean tasting as they could be. Everybody commented on the too-strong smell of shellfish, so it wasn’t just one or two of the oysters that were over the freshness curve.

Mussels on a bed of greens. The mussels were fleshy and sweet, and these were fresh. The slightly bitter greens (with a vinaigrette dressing) were a good counterpoint for them.

Sashimi platter. Every guest had individually portioned servings of sashimi – salmon, snapper, and tuna – on a scallop shell. The salmon and snapper were very good, though sliced in an unorthodox fashion. My tuna, which was quite rich tasting, was a little too mushy for my taste. The lobster sashimi was very very good; it had a toothsome, almost crunchy, texture and a clean, sweet taste.

We were presented with some freshly grated wasabi for the sashimi. We tried to grate the root for more, but were not very successful at doing so.

Deep fried enoki mushrooms, deep fried cheeks of black cod, and squid ink pasta. The squid ink pasta was rich and the enoki crunchy. The cod cheeks were a little tough, maybe a smaller fish or a different style of preparation (e.g. robata), would have resulted in a finished product that was more tender?

Lobster soup. The leftover lobster meat was cooked in a garlicky miso-based broth that showed off multiple layers of flavours: umami, savory, sweet. It was very tasty!

Next came a beautifully presented platter of sushi. There were rolls made with lobster and spicy tuna. There were nigiri sushi made with black cod belly (though there was really more skin than belly) and a combination of salmon/ikura. While these were all good, I wouldn’t say they were particularly memorable. And yes, that was the lobster head being used as a lamp.

Then came some deep fried pieces of fish dressed in orange sauce (and chunks of orange). This may sound irreverent, but this dish tasted a bit like the sweet and sour fish you can get at Chinese restaurants. It certainly wasn’t bad, but again, not very memorable.

White sesame ice cream with a matcha-infused Madeleine. Very strong notes of sesame came through in the ice cream, and all of us enjoyed it tremendously. My wife, who loves black sesame ice cream, asked for and received a sample of the same. She said it was great.

So, what did I think of the omakase meal? Well, the chef served us dishes that we liked, so in that sense, he read us rather well. On the other hand, Christina and I (and our dining buddies in fact) are a lot more adventurous when it comes to Japanese food, and as such, the meal did not come close to expanding our horizons or pushing our boundaries. J also mentioned that the meal she had prior to this was better – certain ingredients were fresher, and the sashimi more varied. While the quality and preparation were good foodwise, I think the chefs at OG are capable of better. I remember the food being better back when Christina and I patronized the place, but there’s always the possibility that my memory may be playing tricks on me.

Ultimately, the company we had that evening made the meal really enjoyable, and thus, it was a fantastic dinner in my books. B, W, J, and D, thanks for a great evening! Christina and I look forward to doing it again soon!

Locations:
1. Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant, Singapore
2. Asiana Airlines Lounge, Incheon Airport, Korea

Author: My Husband

Finally, we have arrived at the last post on my Singapore-India trip. It took a while, but I’m glad to have gotten out the series of posts that I’d planned. I hope it was easy reading, and maybe even a little illuminating, for some of our readers out there.

Right, back on topic then… For anyone wanting a full culinary experience in Singapore, the (in)famous Chilli Crab is not to be missed. I don’t know much about the origins of this dish, and there are as many stories about it as there are people to tell it, but what I do know is that Chilli Crabs have gotten as close to being Singapore’s “national” dish as any.

Naturally, being a “national” dish, there are a multitude of establishments that serve it. From the humble neighbourhood hawker centers to Singapore’s most swanky restaurants, each cooks up their own variant of Chilli Crabs. Despite this, I always head (or am taken) to one of the three seafood chains for my fill of this dish: Jumbo, Long Beach, or Palm Beach.

This trip found me and my relatives at the new-ish Palm Beach branch at One Fullerton. One Fullerton provides a very pretty setting for restaurant, especially during dusk.

Restaurants along the One Fullerton river walk.

The hotels at Marina Bay. You can see the multicoloured F1 grandstands on the right.

The décor of the restaurant is sleek and modern, and aside from the bank of seafood tanks lining the back wall, I wouldn’t have guessed this was a Chilli Crabs place.

Here’s what we had:

Palm beach chilli crab. A meaty Sri Lankan crab cooked in a tomato/chilli sauce. The meat of the Sri Lankan crab is firmer and less flaky than that of a Dungeness, and has a hint of sweetness to it. The crab meat is a vehicle for getting the sauce into one’s stomach. I like a thicker sauce, so Long Beach’s Chilli Crabs are a bit more to my liking, but Palm Beach’s was pretty decent too. That said, I’d still vote for Long Beach as my preferred place for this dish.

Deep fried man tou. We got these to soak up the remainder of the chilli sauce.

Deep fried whole baby squids dressed in a sweet and spicy sauce. The squids are super crispy. Tastewise, there is an initial sweetness that complements the crispness really well, followed by a long and nicely spicy finish.

Fresh prawns in Dang Gui (當歸) broth. The prawns, scooped up from a live tank right before preparation, were toothsome and had a natural sweetness to them. The broth was a good mix of umami, sweetness, and woody-ness (thanks to the Dang Gui).

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Location: My tiny kitchen

Among one of the many ways that I have discovered to spoil myself, I consider the following one of the most effortless and convenient ways. After all, it would be rather counter-intuitive if spoiling yourself involves putting yourself through a lot of trouble, right?

After waking up from a good night of sleep on a Sunday morning, and by that I mean not getting out of bed until the clock strikes noon, I helped myself to one, two, or as many as my heart desires, pieces of rich and fudgy brownies. The brownies were baked the day before and they tasted perfect the day after. The brownies had a dense texture and the nearly melted chocolate chunks here and there keep them tasting moist.

After devouring the brownies, I wanted something salty to “wash off” the sweet taste in my mouth. I scanned across the kitchen counter and spotted a bag of kettle chips. So this was my balanced breakfast, ops I mean, lunch: brownies and chips.

I found the recipe to the brownies from Amy’s food blog, Sing for your Supper. Amy called these brownies “guaranteed brownies” and I couldn’t agree with her more. I made only half as many brownies as listed in her recipe. I have also reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe too since after all, I always tell people that I am not into sweets

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (regular cocoa is fine too)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 tablespoon chocolate extract
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup of dark or milk chocolate chips, preferably in large chunks

Steps:

1. Using a microwave, melt the butter. Put the melted butter and sugar into a quart pan. Using very low heat, slowly let the butter and sugar bring to almost a boil. You will see small bubbles form at the edge of the pan. When this happens, the mixture is ready.

2. In another large bowl, mix the eggs, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder until combined. Slowly, put the butter mixture into the cocoa powder mixture by tempering. This is necessary because there are eggs in the cocoa powder and tempering prevents the eggs from being cooked and turn into scrambled eggs.

To temper: put 2 tablespoons of butter mixture into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Repeat until all the butter mixture has been mixed in. The cocoa powder mixture starts as very thick and thins out once mixed with the butter and sugar.

3. Heat oven to 350 F. Let the batter cool to room temperature while waiting for the oven to heat up.

4. When the oven is ready, gently mix in the flour and chocolate chips until just combined.

5. Line a 8” X 8” brownie pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 22 minutes or until the edge is fully set while the centre is slightly under-baked.

6. Let the brownies cooled to room temperature and then cut into squares.

Location: Shang Palace, Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore

Author: My Husband

So… most of us have had dim sum in Vancouver, and we all seem to end up ordering the old standbys: prawn dumpling (蝦餃), meat dumpling (燒賣), steamed cakes (馬拉糕), glutinous rice rolls (糯米雞), spring rolls (春捲) and maybe even some chicken talons (鳳爪).

But what is dim sum in Asia like? Is it the same old same old, or have restaurants there moved the game on? I took the opportunity to find out when I was in Singapore several weeks ago. I had my heart set on going to Lei Garden, but alas, the improbable happened – they were closed (gasp!) for renovations! So, I looked to my foodie aunt for guidance and she took me to yum cha at the Shang Palace instead.

The entrance to the restaurant.

In most Asian Shangri-la properties, there is a Shang Palace restaurant serving fine Cantonese cuisine. Interestingly, the Vancouver Shangri-la doesn’t have a Shang Palace. I’ve also mentioned that the Shangri-la in Vancouver is way too small, and the reason I said that was because “real” Shangri-las look like this:

The Singapore Shangri-la lobby is probably big enough to swallow the first 5 floors of the Vancouver Shangri-la.

Every public space is built on a grand scale.

Anyway, I digress. Here’s a sampling of what dim sum at the Shang looks like:

Deep fried Taro croquettes. These had a nice balance between the taro shell and the meat filling. Neither one overpowered the other.

An upper-class version of fried Radish “cake”? Truth be told, I prefer the regular version.

Roast suckling pig. The crackling was super crispy, and the meat juicy and tender. A stupendously good dish.

Kurobuta Pork neck charsiu - this had a superb mouthfeel and tenderness, and my aunt commented it did not have the gaminess of Canadian pork.

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