May agreed to go with me to see “2012”, the doomsday movie. Surprisingly, this did not need a big effort at persuasion. So at lunch time, I went down to the Eng Wah cinemas on the 3rd floor of Suntec City Tower 3, my workplace, to book the tickets. While down there, I did a little a exploration and came across this Vietnamese restaurant – Pho Hoa Noodle Soup. It seems to be a chain with outlets in the USA, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada, China and Indonesia, so declares a decorative wall in the restaurant. I vaguely remember this chain. I think they had an outlet in Siglap, in the eastern part of Singapore, before the ascendant of Thai food and the decline of Vietnamese food in Singapore. Now, I have not had pho (pronounced ‘fur’) for a long time, not since returning in March from visiting Ann and Joan in Perth. I do really like this Vietnamese beef soup noodle. Without hesitation, I ordered a regular bowl with a mixture of flank beef and steak beef, after the waitress explained that the flank has some fat on it and I heard the fat calling me. The pho was really ‘cheng’ (‘clear’ in Chinese). There was no oil floating on the soup, like those I ate in California; neither were there beef flotsam. Nice and pleasant looking. It was served with the usual mint, bean sprout and lime that come with pho. On the whole the pho was good. The flank beef was not powdery and the steak beef was chewy but not tough. I made a mistake though, should have asked for the steak beef to be on the side. Then I would have had it pinkish, more to my taste. The soup clearly had a good stock, with a beefy aftertaste that went down well with the light sourness of the lime. Yum. The pho I had in Perth was better. Was it worth the $12.36 I paid for it after adding a service charge of 10% and7% GST? Nay. A bowl of equally good local beef kuay teow soup in a food court would have cost me only $5 at the most. For those who want their bowl of pho, you can find it at Pho Hoa Noodle Soup (Suntec), 3 Temasek Boulevard #03-027, actually Tower 3 on the 3rd Floor, above Carrefour.
Monday, November 23, 2009
PHO
May agreed to go with me to see “2012”, the doomsday movie. Surprisingly, this did not need a big effort at persuasion. So at lunch time, I went down to the Eng Wah cinemas on the 3rd floor of Suntec City Tower 3, my workplace, to book the tickets. While down there, I did a little a exploration and came across this Vietnamese restaurant – Pho Hoa Noodle Soup. It seems to be a chain with outlets in the USA, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada, China and Indonesia, so declares a decorative wall in the restaurant. I vaguely remember this chain. I think they had an outlet in Siglap, in the eastern part of Singapore, before the ascendant of Thai food and the decline of Vietnamese food in Singapore. Now, I have not had pho (pronounced ‘fur’) for a long time, not since returning in March from visiting Ann and Joan in Perth. I do really like this Vietnamese beef soup noodle. Without hesitation, I ordered a regular bowl with a mixture of flank beef and steak beef, after the waitress explained that the flank has some fat on it and I heard the fat calling me. The pho was really ‘cheng’ (‘clear’ in Chinese). There was no oil floating on the soup, like those I ate in California; neither were there beef flotsam. Nice and pleasant looking. It was served with the usual mint, bean sprout and lime that come with pho. On the whole the pho was good. The flank beef was not powdery and the steak beef was chewy but not tough. I made a mistake though, should have asked for the steak beef to be on the side. Then I would have had it pinkish, more to my taste. The soup clearly had a good stock, with a beefy aftertaste that went down well with the light sourness of the lime. Yum. The pho I had in Perth was better. Was it worth the $12.36 I paid for it after adding a service charge of 10% and7% GST? Nay. A bowl of equally good local beef kuay teow soup in a food court would have cost me only $5 at the most. For those who want their bowl of pho, you can find it at Pho Hoa Noodle Soup (Suntec), 3 Temasek Boulevard #03-027, actually Tower 3 on the 3rd Floor, above Carrefour.
Monday, November 16, 2009
FUNGHI POT PIE A LA KOONIE
Yesterday's dinner nearly didn't happen. One weekend morning last week, May and I just happened to be watching Rachael Ray on TV. She was in Chicago visiting the local favourite eating joints and resaurants. We were intrigued by a dish she tasted. It looked like a mushroom pot pie with spaghetti sauce. So I decide to to make a couple after we got all what we saw were the ingredients.
Come Sunday, yesterday. All the ingredients were ready. May lightly stir fried about 120 grams of minced beef with chopped garlic and onions in a sauce pan. Poured in half a bottle of a 737 gram bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce ( given by May's friend Mary).
Placed two slices of real, not the processed kind, cheddar cheese at the bottom of each pie-pot.
Halved the button mushrooms, about 5 to 8 medium sized ones for each pot, and dropped them into the pots.
Filled the pots with the spaghetti sauce. Covered the pots with the puff pastry.
Resourceful May to the rescue again. Use the turbo broiler, said she.
Turned over the pot and dropped the pie onto the dinner plate. Ready to be eaten with fresh cucumber. Let me say that getting the koonie pie onto the plate was quite a feat. The pot was smooth and oily and hot, and had no handle. Difficult to hold. Nearly made a mess of it.
I must say, for a concoction without a recipe, it was good. The funghi was succulent and earthy, the sauce was piquant and tangy (Prego is good) and you could still feel the crispiness of the crust despite the sauce. Yum, yum. Now to see to the oven.
I needed two porcelain bowls. The pot pie we saw was baked in a bowl, not dish, one bowl for each diner. Alas, there was none in the house. Go and buy some. Easier said than done. No bowl that can be use for baking. Not even at Phoon Huat, the baking haven. Almost gave up. But then my resourceful wife found some at N2 Shopping Street ( that's Tampines Neighbourhood 2 Shopping Street; what's else?) right in front of our noses. But Phoon Huat did have prepared puff pastry sheets. Bought a pack.
Come Sunday, yesterday. All the ingredients were ready. May lightly stir fried about 120 grams of minced beef with chopped garlic and onions in a sauce pan. Poured in half a bottle of a 737 gram bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce ( given by May's friend Mary).
Placed two slices of real, not the processed kind, cheddar cheese at the bottom of each pie-pot.
Halved the button mushrooms, about 5 to 8 medium sized ones for each pot, and dropped them into the pots.
Filled the pots with the spaghetti sauce. Covered the pots with the puff pastry.
Began pre-heating the oven to 220°C. Temperature determined by looking at the baking instructions for the puff pastry sheets. No recipe; everything ‘agak agak’ (guessing, educatedly, be assured).
Poof ... all the lights went out. Tried to reset the earth-leakage circuit break. No joy. Switched off the mains to the oven and tried again. Lights on again. Switched on the oven, lights off. Conclusion – oven faulty. So now what to do with the unbaked funghi pot-pie a la Koonie?
Resourceful May to the rescue again. Use the turbo broiler, said she. Voila, ready, top brown and crispy.
Turned over the pot and dropped the pie onto the dinner plate. Ready to be eaten with fresh cucumber. Let me say that getting the koonie pie onto the plate was quite a feat. The pot was smooth and oily and hot, and had no handle. Difficult to hold. Nearly made a mess of it.
I must say, for a concoction without a recipe, it was good. The funghi was succulent and earthy, the sauce was piquant and tangy (Prego is good) and you could still feel the crispiness of the crust despite the sauce. Yum, yum. Now to see to the oven.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
CHENDOL
This afternoon I had a delicious bowl of chendol. After sending her mother home from church and lunch, May wanted to go to Katong Shopping Centre. She had to exchange her new bra for a larger one. Her favourite bra shop is in this shopping centre. She shooed me away from the shop and told me to go and have some dessert.
One of my favourite dessert place is this one, B1-66,
in the basement of the shopping centre. Well, I don't know what's the name of the shop as it is in Mandarin. I have been to this shop many times since it opened several years ago. Mostly, I had eaten dessert pastes like 'chee mau woo' (black sesame seed paste, one of my favourite) and almond paste. Never the chendol. For no apparent reason, I ordered the chendol. Boy, was I glad. This chendol is the real McCoy. The chendol is the original light green type, made from 
sweet potato flour, not those plastiky, deep green you get now-a-days. It is so soft that when you use your tongue to press it against your palette it squishes out and leaves a pleasant mushy sweet taste. Then you feel the sweet, with a tinge of sourness, gula melaka (coconut sugar) gliding down the back your tongue. The soft but firm red beans were a pleasant complement. Yum, yum. Still, can't beat the one in Malacca.
One of my favourite dessert place is this one, B1-66,
in the basement of the shopping centre. Well, I don't know what's the name of the shop as it is in Mandarin. I have been to this shop many times since it opened several years ago. Mostly, I had eaten dessert pastes like 'chee mau woo' (black sesame seed paste, one of my favourite) and almond paste. Never the chendol. For no apparent reason, I ordered the chendol. Boy, was I glad. This chendol is the real McCoy. The chendol is the original light green type, made from 
sweet potato flour, not those plastiky, deep green you get now-a-days. It is so soft that when you use your tongue to press it against your palette it squishes out and leaves a pleasant mushy sweet taste. Then you feel the sweet, with a tinge of sourness, gula melaka (coconut sugar) gliding down the back your tongue. The soft but firm red beans were a pleasant complement. Yum, yum. Still, can't beat the one in Malacca.
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