Gin's Kitchen - Stir-fried Pippies in Sambal Tumis

Day 209

Pippies are the bigger brother of "la-la" and the younger brother of mussels. I have not seen Pippies before coming here and the first time we had it was at Red Hot Wok with Sabrina and Shyan. Pipi in XO sauce, yummy. Bought some of them from QV market today and promptly went Asian Grocery to buy a pack of Sambal Tumis. Hot and spicy Pippies!

Mr Tan thought the Pipi were dead since they were left on the ice, together with the frozen seafood. I remembered Mama Goh saying that "la-la" must be alive and dead ones must be thrown away so, I went to search for recipes and saw that it is the same for Pippies! Must be alive, not dead.

Ingredients
- 500 g of Pippies
- 1 pack of Sambal Tumis
- 1 garlic (minced)
- Sliced of ginger
- Slices of red chilli
- 100ml of water 

Directions
1. Soak Pippies in salt water for at least an hour to get rid of the sand particles
2. Heat oil in wok
3. Saute garlic, ginger and red chilli into wok
4. Add Pippies and cook them till they are opened (they will open their shells to reveal their true self once they are cooked!)
5. Stir in Sambal Tumis and 100ml of water with Pipi
6. Cover wok for 2 minutes
7. Dish out once all Pippies are cooked

 

 

2 Thumbs Up for the Sambal Tumis sauce! Really HOT!
I think I cooked the Pippies for too long and the meat was too dry and although the Sambal Tumis was very flavourful, the Pippies still taste somewhat "fishy". Perhaps I need to add in more garlic and ginger to get rid of that taste or perhaps I need to soak them longer in the salt water. I think the best ways is to just go to a restaurant and let the experts do what they do best. Chef - cook the Pippies, Me - eat the Pippies! :))

Eat Out - Flora Indian Restaurant & Cafe

Day 209

Went QV market today to get pomfret for steaming next week and they were really small but it should be enough for Mr Tan. On the spur of the moment, we decided to get some pipis too. Will talk more about them in the next post. After marketing, we went to Flora Indian Restaurant for a late lunch. Mr Tan wasn't hungry so we ordered a Large Combo 2 ($11.90) and a mango lassi ($3) to share.

Though Flora is a place for cheap Indian food, the place is clean and spacious. No oily utensils, no oily tables, no oily floor. And there were many Indians diners, a positive sign that the good is good. The lady who took my order was friendly and nice. For some reasons, I was smiling happily as I walked back to our table.

Large Combo 2 consists of 2 pieces of roti or naan, 2 curries, 1 veg curry and 1 daal. I requested for 1 roti, 1 naan, chicken curry, lamb curry, potota and chickpea curry and daal. There was an option for spicy or medium chicken and lamb curry and I opted for everything to be spicy!

 

 

+ The naan was made to order so it was hot and fresh!
+ The chicken was really tender and moist
+ Mr Tan said the lamb curry was yum
- I thought the chicken curry was too salty
- The curries weren't spicy, a little disappointed about that
- The portion for the curries were too little, it was only enough for half the naan

This is the first Indian restaurant that we've been to so I'm not sure how it compares to others but overall, I had a pleasant dining experience at Flora. :) Will be trying out other Indian restaurants soon!

Eat Out - Shanghai Noodle House

Day 208

After the last failed attempt to have dumplings at Shanghai Village Dumpling, I have been craving for dumplings, in particular, 红油炒手. The first time I had it was at Dumplings Plus and I have been hooked on it ever since. I wanted to try out all the dumpling houses in the city to find the best dumplings but I'm not sure if I will ever step into Shanghai Village to try theirs, I hate bad service! Tonight's choice? Shanghai Noodle House. Oily tables, oily chairs, self-served tea and utensils. I wouldn't mind all these if the food is good. We ordered 担担面 ($7)，红油水饺 ($7.50), 酸辣汤 ($5) and 油炸云吞 ($7.50).

First to arrive was 红油水饺. It looked kinda weird as the soup wasn't red and there was this peanut sauce on top of the soup. There were also slices of egg and seaweed. Despite all these, the dumplings were pretty decent. The skin was smooth and not too thick and the filling was well-seasoned. I would prefer it to be spicier though, that's the whole point of ordering 红油水饺!

Next up was 担担面 and I was disappointed. I was hoping to have some QQ, chewy noodles but the noodles were overcooked and they were soggy. The sauce was alright but I would prefer to have more meat in it. Mr Tan ate 1 spoonful of it and I probably only ate one-eighth of it. Sigh.

Then came the so-called 油炸云吞. It was more like pan-fried. We were hoping for the deep-fried wanton, deep-fried, oily wantons! Not these pan-fried dumplings. Out of the 15 pieces, Mr Tan only ate 5. If it was the deep-fried ones that we were expecting, I'm sure Mr Tan won't have any problems finishing them. I didn't try any of it as I was already stuffed with the chilli dumplings.

Finally, 酸辣汤. This is probably the best dish of the night. I always love 酸辣汤, it never fails to perk me up and although it wasn't spicy, it was definitely sour, but not overpowering. It was the only dish that we finished.

Though many have given positive reviews about Shanghai Noodle House, I won't be coming back as I don't feel satisfied after the meal. I still have 3 more dumpling places to check out but to date, Dumplings Plus and Hutong are still the best and of course, more expensive.

Eat Out - Blok M (Revisit)

Day 207

After last Sunday's visit to Garamerica, I'm craving for Indonesian grilled food! I wanted to try Blok M's Ayam Bakar and Ikan Bakar. Met up with Jasmine, Emily and Mr Tan at Blok M for dinner after they had their Friday drinks. I made up my mind within 5 minutes, record time!

I decided to order Ikan Bakar instead of grilled catfish as there are too many bones in the catfish. I was really disappointed today. Not sure what fish it was and it didn't seem like it was grilled, it was more like it was fried. The fish was kinda hard and there wasn't enough sauce on it. I will be sticking to grilled catfish in future.

Both Jasmine and I ordered Ayam Bakar and Jasmine commented that it is better than the one she had at Kedai Satay. You get a grilled Maryland at Garamerica and at Blok M, you get 3 pieces of chicken which is actually a Maryland, just that it has been chopped into 3 pieces. Again, there isn't much sauce on the chicken which I would prefer. The chicken wasn't as delicious as the one I had at Garamerica, there was too much fats and the skin wasn't crispy-yummy. 

Though I was really full, I wasn't satisfied. Perhaps it's all about the sauce. I will ask for more sauce the next time I visit Blok M.

Eat Out - Garamerica (Indonesian)

Day 203

Went Garamerica last night for dinner. It was a cold and windy night but we ventured out in our shorts and T-shirts. 勇者 indeed. It is a 10 minutes walk from our place and the cold wind made the walk seemed longer than usual. A few tables were occupied but we only saw 1 waiter, yes, only 1 for 5 tables of diners. Of course, there's no service to speak of. Glasses and cutlery are already placed on the table and once seated, you get a jar of water.

I had the Ayam Bakar, grilled Maryland and Mr Tan had the Ayam Goreng, deep fried Maryland and we also ordered Ikan Bakar, grilled snapper to share. Took about 15 mintues for the food to arrive and the Ayam Bakar was delicious. The sauce was tasty and the chicken was tender and juicy. The sambal chilli was hot, really hot. I finished the whole Maryland by myself, which is not often but I just couldn't resist.

Didn't try the Ayam Goreng but Mr Tan said it was crispy and went very well with the sambal chilli. It certainly looks good but I still prefer mine. :)

The Ikan Bakar was twice as expensive as the grilled fish at Blok M, I guess it's because they used snapper but it doesn't really bother me, I'm not a big fan of fish. So long as it's grilled fish, I will eat it so I would rather have the cheaper one at Blok M. The sauce for the snapper was good. Spicy, sweet and went so well with the snapper. We finished the entire snapper and was so full. The walk home in the cold wind really helped to speed up the digestion process. I will visit Garamerica again if I'm lazy to go to Blok M, otherwise, Blok M is still my preferred choice for grilled fish. Will have to try Blok M's Ayam Bakar to decide who's the winner for this.

Eat Out - Pacific Seafood BBQ House

Day 203

Initial dinner plan was at Shanghai Dumpling House but the place was crowded and the rude waitress totally pissed me off. Requested for a change of table politely as the assigned table was in a dimly lit corner and there wasn't even enough space for us to walk to the table, but the damn rude waitress rolled her eyes. That's it, I walked out of the stupid place and vowed never to return.

Headed over to Pacific Seafood BBQ House instead. A place where we always visit when there's a craving for roasted duck. A lunchtime fave for Mr Tan and the rest too. Their usual order? 烧鸭面. Mr Tan ordered it while I ordered Bacon and Chicken Baked Rice. The noodles and duck were good, I saw at least 5 others ordering it but the baked rice was a disappointment. The bacon tasted kinda weird, I think the one at Dessert House is much better. Talking about Dessert House, it has been a while since we visited it. Perhaps it's time for a revisit. :)

 

 

Moonlight Cinema

Day 203

Movie: Tangled
Venue: Royal Botanical Gardens
Date: 18 February 2011, Friday
Time: 830pm

It was fun watching movie in the open except for the part that it started to rain afterwards! It started raining around 6 and though it stopped, the sky always looked threatening. We got beanbags to lie on and MacDonalds to eat. Best thing was, Jiaqi has a car and no need to take public transport! I miss my car.

 

 

 

Gin's Kitchen - Prawn Cocktail

Day 202

Bought prawns for claypot tofu but forgot to buy tofu. Clever me. This is evidence that my brain cells are dying away, please let me find work soon! Been wanting to make prawn cocktail as it combines 2 of my fave, prawns and mayonnaise. I know mayonnaise makes me fat but it's just so hard to resist! Evil mayonnaise!

Ingredients
- 10 prawns (cooked, shelled and halfed)
- Lettuce (sliced thinly)
- Rockmelon (diced)

Sauce
- 8 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
- few drops of Tobasco
- 1 tablespoon of sugar water (dissolve 1 teaspoon of water with some water)
- few drops of lemon juice (many recipes call for lime juice but I don't have any lime so made do with lemon)

Directions
1. Mix mayonnaise, tomato sauce, Tobasco, sugar water and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside
2. Boil water in a pot and cook the prawns till they are pink
3. Cool them in cold water and peel off the shell
4. Sliced the prawns into half and wash away its veins
5. Place the sliced lettuce and diced rockmelon on a plate
6. Add the prawns on top and pour the sauce over the prawns

Gin's Kitchen - Sweet and Sour Fish

Day 202

I love sweet and sour sauce, used to buy the ready packs from 李锦记. Checked the ingredients used in these packs and realised that I have all of them at home, vinegar, tomato sauce and sugar. Thus, I decided to make the sauce myself and I am proud to say, I did it! I am making good progress in the kitchen, haha. :) I did away with the pineapples, red and green peppers as I don't eat them anyway, don't want to waste them. Verdict? Delicious! I like what I'm eating. :)

Ingredients
- 1 basa fish fillet (cut into smaller cubes)
- Onion
- 6 teaspoons of corn flour
- 1 egg white

Sauce
- 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 teaspoon of vinegar

Directions
1. Marinate the fish fillet with salt and pepper
2. Mix the egg white with the corn flour to make the batter
3. Add in the fish into the batter and coat evenly
4. Shallow fry the fish till golden
5. Add some oil into the wok and stir-fry the onions for a while and add in the sauce
6. Finally add in the fried fish and coat it evenly with the sauce

Gin's Kitchen - Japanese Fried Chicken

Day 202

Inspired by my twin who's in Japan!  

私はあなたがいなくて寂しい!

Ingredients
- Panko Breadcrumbs
- Chicken Thigh
- All purpose flour
- 1 egg

Marinate
- Soy sauce
- Pepper
- Sesame oil

Directions
1. Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil
2. Coat the chicken thigh with all purpose flour
3. Beat the egg and give the chicken an egg bath
4. Transfer the chicken to a plate and coat it with panko breadcrumbs
5. Heat up the oil in the wok
6. Shallow fry the chicken till it's golden and ready to eat!

Verdict: Super yummy! The breadcrumbs made the chicken very crispy but of course, very oily too. Next time, I will be cutting the thigh into smaller pieces to make extra crispy chicken nuggets! Sinful...

情人节快乐！

Day 197

 

 

 

 

Gin's Kitchen - Crispy Chicken Soft Taco

Day 195

Bought a Taco Kit and decided to try it for tonight's dinner. If it's nice, I can pack it for Mr Tan's lunch. He'll be going to his client's place for the next few weeks and that means packed lunches for him. It's kinda fun for me to pack lunches for him but he doesn't want fanciful lunch boxes as most pack sandwiches for their lunches and I think he's kinda embarrased when he whips out his. I packed Chicken Rice for him once and he said the whole room smells after lunch so it will be best to have food that doesn't have such a strong smell. If all else fails, it will be sandwiches and salads. Not his fave but he doesn't have a choice.

There are many different Taco Kits but the crispy chicken really caught my eye. Crispy chicken, yummmmmmmmm...I'm sure Mr Tan will love it! 

Ingredients
- 1 pack of Soft Taco Kit
- 5 pieces of chicken thigh fillets (sliced into thin strips)
- Mayonnaise
- Lettuce (sliced into thin strips)

Directions
1. Cut the chicken thigh fillets into thin strips and place them in a plastic bag
2. Sprinkle the crispy crumb (from the Taco Kit) into the plastic bag containing the chicken
3. Toss the bag and make sure the chicken are well coated
4. Heat oil in pan and fry the chicken pieces till they are cooked
5. Heat up the tortillas (from the Taco Kit) in the microwave on High for 1 minute
6. Place the lettuce, mayonnaise and chicken in the tortillas, fold and eat!

The chicken weren't crispy and I didn't really like the tortillas, it was kinda thick and there was strong smell of flour. Although there were 10 pieces of tortillas in the kit, we only ate 6 of them, probably because we stuffed lots of chicken into one. Haha. So, this will not be packed for Mr Tan's lunch. In the end, it was back to simple fried rice with his fave 炒三丝 for his lunch tomorrow.