An Economist Baker

Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant: A Taste of Home

2008-12-10T00:07:00.020+08:00

Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant (家味中餐馆)
Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel
Location: 50 East Coast Road, Roxy Square
Singapore 428769 (opp. Parkway Parade Shopping Centre)
Tel: 6340 5678

He received an invite from the nice people at Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel to do some food-tasting at their Cantonese restaurant, Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant (家味中餐馆) and I was asked to go along. Jia Wei has come up with two different Christmas menus: Christmas Glow Menu ($78++ Per Pax) and Festive Cheers Menu ($98++ Per Pax), both reinforcing their main theme which is "Oriental Christmas". We were being served both menus, but before that, we had a platter of their traditional Hong Kong Dim Sum which I had pretty much enjoyed:

I like the crunchy prawns in the Siew Mai and upon my first bite into it, I could feel the juices in my mouth. The Fried Prawn Dumpling has a nice layer of crispy skin, with a generous portion of fresh prawns within and I secretly wished I could have more of that.

The Crystal Prawn Dumpling above has a layer of skin which is made from glutinous rice, infused with spinach to give it the beautiful green you see. I did not particularly fancy the stickiness of the skin, as some of it stuck to my teeth. But nonetheless, the dumpling was really juicy and I could taste the freshness of the prawns used.

The last dim sum I tried off the platter was the Fried Prawn Dumpling with Mango. I liked the comination of prawn and mango, but my only complain was that the mango used was on the sour side and I could not really taste the prawns as I was engulfed with the whole sourish taste. I'm sure it would have been really tasty if the mango was sweet.

After we finished our platter, we were served the first dish of the Christmas menu: Festive Turkey, Ham and Fresh Fruits Salad (included in both menus).

The entire dish is slightly drizzled with a light wasabi-based sauce but I felt that it wasn't the best complement. The whole serving lacked the "Oomph" and the meat was not as moist as I had expected it to be. But I appreciated the fruits salad that came along because it added some sweet juices to the otherwise seemingly-dry dish.

Here comes the highlight of the Festive Cheers Menu: Jia Wei Superior Shark's Fin Soup in Hot Stone Pot.

It was my first time seeing a generous portion of high-grade shark's fin served in a hot stone pot. The purpose of the pot is to ensure that the dish is to be kept bubbling hot throughout the whole consumption period. This is distinctively more outstanding than the one served in the Christmas Glow Menu (note the obvious price difference):

Although the Superior Shark's Fin Soup with Conpoy wasn't as boiling hot when eaten, the broth was still delicious. It came along with a cute money-bag lookalike dumpling, topped with crab roe. I like the crunchiness of the dumpling and this is due to the water chestnuts (among other vegetarian fillings) which gave it a good texture.

And here's another favourite of the day, the Grilled Special Rack of Lamb with Chinese Wine (Festive Cheers Menu). It did not have the usual uncomfortable lambish smell as it was really well-marinated. The chef has used Chinese Wine as well as some Japanese Sake which made the meat exceptionally tasty and juicy. There were layers of visible fats within that piece of lamb but it did not stop either of us from wanting another bite more. Oh yes, it was that delicious.

I enjoyed the Pan-Fried Fillet of Pork Spare-Rib with Special Sauce (Christmas Glow Menu) very much equally due to the slightly tangy seasoning and the right texture of the meat. It was chewy to the bite, and yet it was not difficult to pull the meat apart.

The Braised Bai Ling Mushroom with Broccoli from the Festive Cheers Menu added a subtle touch to the entire menu and it was a nice detour away from the previous dishes which encompassed stronger tastes.

The Braised Dry Scallop with Sea Cucumber and Bamboo Piths (Christmas Glow Menu) was a slight disappointment though. The accompanying sauce was a little too conventional but the vegetables were crisp and fresh.

I particularly liked their Homemade Noodles with Prawn and Conpoy which is available in both menus. A portion came with two huge pieces of succulent prawns as well as some vegetables. For a moment, I thought I was eating baby lobsters. The noodles were exceptionally smooth and flavorful.

To put a perfect ending to the Christmas Glow Menu, we had the Chilled Mango Pudding:

I think it looks like a really beautiful piece of art which I don't wish to tear apart. But at the same time, I was eager to have a go at it, curious of how tasty this thing can be. It wasn't the usual kind of pudding, it had a mango flavor which was more suggestive rather than distinctive.

I preferred the Chilled Lemon Jelly (Festive Cheers Menu) which came with an incredibly refreshing lemon sorbet with lemon jelly and aloe vera bits:

We tried their Char Siew Soh and Har Gow as well:

I really liked the sweetness and moistness of the char siew within. It made me want to have another piece, and another piece.

The prawns were really fresh (as usual) but I wish the skin was slightly thinner.

We also had the XO Fried Carrot Cake, only that it was a mixture of carrot cake and yam cake because the carrot cake was almost sold out. I felt that this was rather bland and it simply did not make me want to have a few more pieces of it.

We had a go at their signature BBQ Platter which consisted of char siew and soya chicken. I enjoyed this, especially the sweet, moist and fatty char siew. The chicken was really soft and tender to the bite, I like.

We also had a sampling portion of their famous Beijing Peking Duck. There was a thin layer of fat below the crispy skin which made it exceptionally luscious, and the meat was drizzled with a slightly-sweet and scrumptious sauce. I felt that the whole combination was just oh-so-divine.

The setting of the restaurant was really very cozy, so much so that I felt like I was within the comfort of my own home. It made me want to visit the place again, and next time round I will bring along my family for sure.

Cheers to Keane and Shu Ling for being the wonderful hosts and for making all this possible. And not forgetting him, for providing good companionship.

The Christmas Glow Menu and Festive Cheers Menu will be available from 1 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 and all diners will get to enjoy 30% off prices of these two set menus when they dine in from Monday to Thursday (except 24, 25 and 31 December 2008 and 1 January 2009). Furthermore, you will also get a 10% off Yuletide Specialties takeaway items at The Lobby Cafe if you present your Jia Wei bill.

For this festive season, Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel has also come up with promotions at their Feast@East Buffet Restaurant, offering diners a 30% off for lunch and 40% off for dinner from Monday to Wednesday (except 24 and 31 December 2008).

Remember to call and make your reservations people!

New York New York!

2008-06-11T13:06:00.005+08:00

New York New York!

Location: E!hub Downtown East, 1 Pasir Ris Close, #01-03 Singapore 519599
Tel: 6583 2856
Opening Hours: 11.30am - 10.30pm

I hadn't met up with Wenjing for the longest time though we have been chatting on MSN every single day while we're both at our respective work zones. I enjoyed seeing her physically that day. Sounds a little funny, but yeah.

We went to have dinner at New York New York! at E!hub, the new entertainment hub located at Downtown East. It was my first time there and I was very excited as there are alot of different food outlets, some I have never seen before. We made reservation in advance to dine at New York New York! and I'm glad we did because the crowd started coming in after 7pm, forming a long queue outside the restaurant.

The setup and atmosphere of the restaurant are entirely similar to the one at City Link and Ang Mo Kio Hub. I visited the outlet at City Link sometime ago and it was filled to the brim with young teenagers in big groups. For the outlet at Downtown East, I found it to be more family-oriented.

Anyway, here's a look at what we had that night:

Wenjing's Hawaiian Chicken Chop:

We both felt that it came in a portion that was slightly too small. Looking at the proportion of the pineapple ring sitting on top of the meat to that flap of meat itself, you can imagine the actual size of the chicken chop. I tried abit of the meat and I wasn't blown away. It was well-marinated but it wasn't as tender or juicy as I had hoped it would be.

Here's my Mo' Mushroom Sandwich:

I could choose between White, Whole Wheat or Focaccia Bread. I had mine in Whole Wheat and it came in four thick and big slices. The bread slices were all toasted to a nice and crisp texture which I had really enjoyed chewing into.

I'm a sucker for all kinds of mushrooms and I was excited when I could smell the strong mushroom fragrance. There was quite a generous portion of luscious mushroom slices smacked below the warmed cheese. And I could savour the succulent mushrooms in every bite I took. It was indeed a light and yummy treat, although the portion was quite big and I had to skip one of the slices.

And we can't go without a dessert of course. So we had a Waffle with Chocolate Ice Cream, drenched with chocolate sauce and served with maple syrup:

I know the photos of the waffle make it look like it's really tasty. But, I'm sad to say that it was the worst waffle with ice cream I had. The waffle was a tad too tough and the interior was really dry and hard. We had to drench the waffle with a tremendous amount of maple syrup in the hope that it might become slightly moistened so that it'd be easier for us to swallow. The chocolate ice cream was really bad too. I thought the ice cream could make up for the sucky-tasting waffle but boy, I was so wrong. The ice cream had a really tough texture and it certainly did not taste chocolatey enough. I'm never going to give this another chance again. My favourite waffle is still from Cafe Cartel.

That day was really cold and my digital camera's lens had a layer of condensation initially and I thought my camera was going cranky after I saw this blurry shot:

In the cab heading to the train station:

After reaching Pasir Ris MRT station, we were still insistent on taking more photos before leaving for home. So we happily placed our stuffs on some tables and started snapping away. And 5 minutes later, the station had made an announcement of their last train leaving. So we ended up taking a cab back home instead. We would have made it for the last train if we hadn't took more photos. It's so typical of us to do such silly things. But it was fun. Hehe.

P.S. Wenjing: I can't wait for our next meet-up already. :)

I Love You Mummy.

2008-05-12T00:38:00.006+08:00

Thank you for keeping sane when I go insane.

Thank you for understanding when I misunderstand.

Thank you for tolerating when I get intolerable.

Thank you for keeping that smile when I frown.

Thank you for being there for me even when I'm not there.

Thank you for trusting me when nobody else does.

Thank you for being so patient when I get impatient.

Thank you for being so kind when I'm mean.

Thank you for your tender loving care Mummy.

Words can't express how much I love and appreciate you and I want to be a better daughter, for you.

* * *

My sister and I bought a Chocolate Banana Cake from Ah Teng's Bakery @ Raffles Hotel for my mummy.

Here's what the cake looks like:

I thought the chocolate squares around the cake look pretty cute too.

Mummy cutting the cake:

A cross-section of the cake:

There's banana custard cream and banana slices smacked between the two layers of sponge cake, and the cake's topped with dark chocolate. I thought this tasted better after taking it out of the chiller and leaving it in the open for about 10 minutes or so as it was quite dense right out of the fridge and I could not taste the different textures of the various layers.

After sometime, the cake turned much softer and I could taste very distinctively the softness of the sponge, the creamy banana custard, the slightly mushy banana slices and the delish dark chocolate. When it all went into my mouth at the same time, I let out an "Oomph" instantly. It tasted really divine. The whole combination was just so perfecto. I couldn't stop at one slice and I went on to help myself to another. And another. So I had a total of three slices. No wonder I'm feeling fattt.

Anyway, I think my mummy was really happy with the dinner, the presents, the cake and us today.

I'm happy when she's happy. :)

The Best Friend's 21st at Hog's Breath Cafe

2008-05-11T16:22:00.009+08:00

Hog's Breath Cafe
Location: Chijmes, 30 Victoria Street, Block A, #01-26/27, Singapore 187996
Cost: $15 - $40 per person

Tel: 6338 1387

Headed to Hog's Breath Cafe at Chijmes to celebrate the Best Friend's 21st birthday. It was a really pleasant gathering with the girls, and we spent the whole night eating and chatting away.

Here's what we had that night:

The Birthday Girl's Atlantic Salmon, marinated with a lime hollandaise sauce:

Sf's Jamaican Chicken, chicken breasts marinated in Caribbean seasoning, grilled and served over seasoned rice and finally topped with a warm creamy mango sauce. She had a (huge) baked potato for her side:

Here's ph's Chicken Dijonnaise, marinated grilled chicken breasts topped with avocado and smothered with creamy Dijon mustard sauce:

And this is bimbo's Boss Hog Double Burger, consisting of (thick) double beef , double cheese, tomato, onion, beetroot, BBQ sauce and seared with Hog's Breath Blacken seasoning:

Here comes my Hawaiian Hickory Chicken Burger!

Look at how big the two chicken breasts are:

The chicken breasts are basted with hickory smoked sauce, cheese, beetroot, tomato, pineapple and onion rings. I quite liked the sauce as it wasn't the normal BBQ sauce and there was a really tangy taste to it. I kind of expected the chicken breasts to be pretty hard to chew on, but the texture was just right.

One side of the burger was served with the pineapple and onion rings, with tomato and beetroot while the other side of the burger was slammed with the two huge chicken breasts and cheese. And the Hog Tail fries I had for my side were not too bad as well. The entire dish doesn't exactly scream fantastic but it's value for money I guess, considering the really huge portion. I couldn't finish one entire chicken breast and still had some curly fries left over.

I know I shouldn't be wasting food during such bad times when there's a constant rise in food prices but the portion was really way too big. The other girls couldn't finish their foods too!

I know we are such ironic people, said we were too full from the main dishes but we still went ahead and ordered one of their desserts, the Mississippi Mud Cake. We just couldn't resist the chocolatey goodness:

The super dark mud cake was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, with chocolate sauce drizzled all over. The cake was slightly warmed and it tasted superb with the ice cream. It was a dense and dark chocolate cake, definitely THE cake for all chocolate lovers. It ain't too sweet (which we liked) and the whole combination of the cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce was to die for.

This was the pretty birthday cake we got for the Best Friend:

And here's the happy Birthday Girl:

After all the eating, we went out and walked around, snapping shots here and there:

Lastly, here's all five of us:

To the Best Friend: I hope you had enjoyed yourself and like what we've got for you. Cheers to our 13 years long of friendship! :)

大食家海鲜 Big Eater Seafood Restaurant: To Go or Not to Go?

2008-05-06T17:49:00.017+08:00

I know I've not updated for so long but I just said Bye-Bye to a killer semester and I finally had my last paper this afternoon. That's another story but I don't wish to think about it anymore.

* * *

大食家海鲜 Big Eater Seafood Restaurant
34 Jalan Pari Burong
Picardy Gardens
Tel: 6245 7268

Anyway, the Family went to 大食家海鲜 Big Eater Seafood Restaurant which to my surprise, is located near my alma mater, Anglican High School. We decided to dine there after my sister's recommendation. I was glad my mom made a reservaton for 7pm because when we reached, the place was already fully-packed. At least we did not have to stand around, scouting for seats helplessly.

Some of their signature dishes imprinted on this huge signboard:

There was hardly any walking space:

As it was a Sunday, there were really huge crowds. I had to go up to the counter to retrieve the menu on my own despite having called out for it. It only came a good 10 minutes after and we've already placed our orders by then.

The quite pretty menu with a kampong feel:

The different kinds of crabs they serve:

Some other dishes:

Now, here comes the exasperated part(s) of my dining experience at Big Eater:

1. We went there for their crabs but we were told by the boss that they had ran out of it and he said he'd help us "check it out" and let us know again if there are any available. But oh well, he never came back to inform us and we noticed that there was this particular table that came very much later than us but they managed to order the crabs.

2. We were served the legendary Hokkien Mee only after about 20 minutes of waiting and we cleared the plate in about 10 minutes.

3. And our next dish, Stir-Fried Kailan with Oyster Sauce came only after another 25 minutes.

4. We also ordered the Crispy Rolls, which was served after a good half an hour after the Kailan and by that time, we had (obviously) already finished our rice, solely be eating it with the Kailan. I don't know if this sounds pathetic or what.

5. We had placed an order for the Pork Ribs but that never came until we went to the boss, asking him why we had to wait so long for every dish to be served to our table. He showed us the piece of paper in which he had taken our orders with and we were shocked to see that he did not take down our order for the Pork Ribs. That particular order was emphasized several times by my mom and I had no idea how he even missed that out. I don't know if it was because he wasn't really focused while taking our orders as many more people were pouring in at that time. He was not apologetic for that and simply rushed off by saying that it will be served very quickly. But again, we had to wait for another 20 minutes.

6. The Family was seriously annoyed and unhappy why our dishes were all served so randomly and in intervals of about 20-30 minutes.

It was a really bad dining experience, despite the dishes being delicious. I like the way the dishes were being prepared but I can't stand having dinner like that, eating bits and pieces here and there. It spoilt our dining moods and now, we might not even want to go back again for fear of having dinner in such a disrupted manner.

Besides these complaints, I was quite pleased with the dishes we had.

This was our first dish - Hokkien Mee:

Looks like a plate of brown worms, doesn't it?

I've read many rave reviews on this dish and truly, it did not disappoint me. My dad was in love with the super-crispy pork lard in which they had used in the noodles. This Hokkien Mee is different from the others I've tried in Hokkien restaurants as they use the thick and round Hokkien noodles instead of the usual flat ones. The noodles have a really good texture and bite to it. The sauce comes in a large amount and it is really fragant and tasty.

Here's the very plain-looking Kailan with Oyster Sauce that were stir-fried to just the right texture:

The vegetables were fresh, non-groggy and there is this nice crunch to it.

Here's the Crispy Rolls we all loved:

It's one of their signature dishes and although it looks like a simple dish, just prawns and some fish paste (I think) wrapped with beancurd sheets, these were deep-fried to the exact crispness. The prawns within are really crunchy and it's delicious to dab the rolls in the mayonnaise provided.

And here's another favourite, the soft and succulent Pork Ribs (called 排骨王 or something if I remember correctly):

I liked how I could bite into it easily and I did not have to use all my might to tear the meat apart as the ribs are really soft, yet maintaining a chewiness to it. The sauce coating them was also very delicious, something very distinct and special. It isn't the usual kind of sticky or sweet sauce, but instead, there is only a slight tinge of sweetness to it, hence it did not make us feel sick after eating a few pieces.

After having such positive comments on all of their dishes, I'm now thinking of visiting them again to see if things would be better during off-peak periods. My dad swore off from going to Big Eater as he deems dining there as a "complete waste of time", although the food is good. My mum said she would only return if we specifically request for our dishes not to be served in such a random manner. For my sister, she is already planning which day we should return so as to avoid the horrendous crowds. Oh well, I would most probably head back there again since it's located so near, and I'd definitely make my reservation muuuch earlier.

Strawberries from Kansai, Japan

2008-04-17T21:35:00.009+08:00

Note: In case any of you can't view this post properly, just right-click on your mouse, go to "Encoding", click on "Unicode" and it'll be fine. :)

Well, I absolutely love strawberries and I must have them after dinner every night without fail. I like how they leave a tinge of freshness and sweetness in my mouth. Therefore, there's always this constant supply of USA strawberries in the fridge.

I was hence so pleased to wake up this morning to see this huge carton of strawberries that flew in from Kansai, Japan sitting on the dining table:

Although I'm taking Japanese 5/Business Japanese next semester, I had no idea what "さちのか" means. Therefore, I tried Googling it with "JA徳島市" and I was so happy it led me to the website of the company/farm that grows these strawberries.

After reading through the website, I finally got a clear idea about these strawberries. They originated from 徳島県 (Tokushima Prefecture), a prefecture of Japan located on 四国 (Shikoku Island).

品種は「さちのか」を中心に栽培されています。("さちのか" is actually a particular brand/kind/type of strawberries and they emphasize on the cultivation of this kind of strawberries in Tokushima Prefecture.)

From the website, I also learnt that these strawberries are grown with some kind of new agricultural technology and each and every single strawberry must be manually checked carefully (as they place alot of importance on quality control) before they are all packaged and put into the carton to get ready for shipping.

It was a fairly big carton and within it, there are four separate packets of strawberries. My mom told me that this whole carton was brought back from Japan by my sister's pilot boyfriend and a box like that costs SGD35. I don't know if that's considered pricey: SGD8.75 for each packet. I've seen those (expensive) Korean strawberries (I heard they are supposed to be quite sweet too!) being sold in Singapore's NTUC but never have I tried them because I was always satisfied with those Naturipe Farms or Driscoll's ones my mom always gets. These two are my favourite brands for strawberries as they are always sweet and juicy.

Well, back to these strawberries that are flown in from Japan. Here's how a packet looks like:

I didn't think there are that many strawberries in each packet so I guess it is quite expensive. And look at how red they are:

I washed up in the shortest time (ever) so that I could quickly finish my breakfast and start feasting on the strawberries. And true enough, these lengendary strawberries (they're famed throughout the whole of Japan) live up to it's name. They are really sweet and the kind of sweetness I tasted was different from the sweetness of those USA strawberries that I normally consume. These are more sugary kind of sweet and they are also slightly mushy, unlike those from USA that taste firmer. I had three at one go and I was totally blown away.

甘くておいしい！！ (Sweet and delicious!!)

I saw these Japanese words from the website and I found that they are the perfect description for these strawberries.

Now, I'm wishing that I would be able to have a constant supply of these さちのか strawberries. If only Singapore imports them too!

My First Milk Loaf

2008-04-09T11:16:00.005+08:00

I finally tried baking my own loaf of bread and it turned out much better than I had expected it to be. I used a recipe from Happy Home Baking (Thank you!) and many people have gotten fantastic results before. Therefore, I've been dying to try it out since a long time ago. I used a pullman tin (bread tin) I bought from Thailand last December and I love the squareness of my loaf. The squareness makes it look so much like professional commercial bread. Here's how it looks like:

I was supposed to roll the dough into a swiss-roll style but I'm still not so experienced in handling bread dough so this was the best I could come up with:

Nevertheless, the bread turned out really wonderful:

Look at the soft and fluffy texture:

It has been three days since I baked this loaf of bread and the texture still remains as soft. I spread it with strawberry jam and have it as breakfast. A real simple but yummy treat to perk me up in the morning. I can't wait to bake another loaf for the week!

Putu Bambu = Putu Piring?

2008-04-06T12:14:00.005+08:00

I never really liked Malay kuehs when I was younger but I'm beginning to, under my mom's influence. She especially likes those that Bengawan Solo offers. Just the other day, I was at a Pasar Malam and these wooden bamboo sticks caught me immediately. And I'm quite certain I've not seen these in any Pasar Malam before because if so, I'd then have been very kaypoh and would have wanted to find out what they were selling. After googling online, I found out that this is an Indonesian kueh, made with rice flour and has a filling of gula melaka (brown sugar). After steaming, they are then being served with grated coconut all over.

I was really dying to taste it so I ordered 3 pieces ($1.70) and was told by the Malay lady that I might have to wait a little while because there were two aunties ahead of me. I was fine with it and took out my camera and started snapping away as I was very fascinated by how the kuehs actually get cooked in those bamboo casings.

The lady reaches out for a bamboo casing and starts to fill it up with rice flour and gula melaka:

After filling up the bamboo casing, she then looks for an empty "slot" on the steamer to place the casing to start steaming it. If you guys are wondering, there are holes right under the bamboo casings whereby heat comes through and steams the kuehs, hence getting them cooked.

After about 15 minutes, my Putu Bambus were finally ready. It was quite a long wait but time passed quickly as I was busy playing with my camera. And here they are, with grated coconut strewn all over them:

Look at the interior with the slightly oozy gula melaka:

I fell in love with this Indonesian kueh after the first bite. The lady was really generous with the gula melaka and I could taste it oozing out as I bite into it. The exterior was very moist and soft and it just melts in my mouth almost instantly.

I realised that it is somehow quite similar to the common Putu Piring we see in Singapore. Putu Piring is also made of rice flour with gula melaka as its filling. The only difference might be their shapes: Putu Bambu is cylindrical while Putu Piring is flatter. Anyway, after that day I've been wanting to consume more Putu Bambus but the Pasar Malam isn't there anymore. If anyone knows where I can get more of these yummy Putu Bambus, do let me know. :)

Choux Pastries (Cream Puffs)

2008-03-23T20:50:00.014+08:00

Updated on 27th March 2009:

Jiaying, here's the recipe in which I had used from Florence but I've made some slight changes to it:

Ingredients: Makes 8 puffs

Choux Pastry:
85ml water
50g butter
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
50g bread flour
20g cake flour
2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Creme Patisserie:
240ml skim milk (I used half skim milk and half UHT milk as I did not have enough skim milk.)
5 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg + 2 yolks
2 tbsp cornstarch

Method:

Choux Pastry
1. Cook water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan till bubbling hot. Turn the heat to low.
2. Add in the flour mixture in one go and mix with a wooden spoon till a dough is formed.
3. Still on low heat, cook the dough for 1 - 2 minutes till a thin white film is formed at the bottom of the saucepan.
4. Transfer dough to a mixing bowl and beat till it is lukewarm.
5. Add in egg by thirds and mix till well blended and smooth.
6. Place batter into piping bag and pipe it onto a lined pan in rounds of about 5cm in diameter. Spray some water on it.
7. Bake at 200C for 25 minutes then 180C for 8 - 10 minutes or till dry and golden brown in color. Turn off the oven and let it cool in the oven for 30 minutes. (I baked at 200C for about 20 minutes after I saw the puffs turn golden brown and lowered the temperature to 180C to bake for 8 minutes before turning off the oven to let them cool in it for 30 minutes.)

Creme Patisserie
1. Mix 60ml of milk with the cornstarch till smooth.
2. Add the beaten egg and yolks into the cornstarch mixture.
3. Boil the remaining milk with sugar in a saucepan till bubbling hot. Pour 1/3 of this hot milk into the egg cornstarch mixture. Stirring all the time.
4. Now pour the egg cornstarch mixture through a strainer into the rest of the boiling milk. Stirring constantly till mixture thicken. Do not burn the custard.
5. Cling wrap custard with glad wrap with the wrap touching the surface of the custard (this is to prevent a hard film forming on surface of the custard) and chill till ready to use.

Notes: Do not open the oven door in the baking process. Open oven door to remove puffs only after the 30 minutes in-oven cooling process.

Updated on 24th March 2009:

I tried another puff just now and it was still as delicious. :) The pastry wasn't as firm to the touch as before, but rather, it was slightly soft. And it still has the same light and airy texture to it. Here's a photo I took:

* * *

I've been feeling so happy since yesterday. :)

And it is all because I've successfully made these beautiful choux pastries (cream puffs) at my virgin attempt:

I've always wanted to try making these on my own as I've loved cream puffs (of all kinds) since I was a kid. But I never had enough courage to do so after reading all the scary stories about the puffs deflating after removing them from the oven, or the insides being uncooked still even after the specified baking time, etc.

But just last week, I was at my grandma's place and my aunt bought a few packets of some not-so-tasty cream puffs for her to eat. I tried one too and my first reaction was urgh. My grandma is really liking these puffs these days, therefore, I decided to make them for her yesterday. And I'm so glad I did.

They turned out really well (I think), though I wasn't sure if I had achieved the right texture. Maybe someone can advise me a little. My puffs are firm to the touch but once bitten into it, there is no feeling of firmness at all, and instead, it's light and airy. I left just one puff out at room temperature and it is really soft to the touch today. But I kept the rest in an airtight container in the fridge and the texture of those were just like the texture I had yesterday (firm to the touch but light, airy and soft when bitten). Is this correct? Hmm.

Here's a photo of my puffs naked:

Oh, and here's how the inside looks like (this was the best shot I could get):

Dressing them up with creme patisserie that was real smooth and it was not too eggy or sweet:

I just love how they looked:

My grandma really liked them and even had three in a row. I was feeling high because my grandma was actually feeling unwell these few months and she doesn't have the appetite for most foods, but I'm so glad she liked these. I'm so going to make them more often for her to eat. And my aunties gave very positive feedback too. :)

I'm going to try my hands on making Durian Puffs next Saturday and I hope those will turn out fantastic as well. *Crosses fingers.*

Sakae Sushi (Teatime Buffet)

2008-03-15T14:10:00.010+08:00

Sakae Sushi: Teatime Buffet - 3.00pm - 6.00pm
Location: Century Square
Cost: $13.90++ (For Youth: 13 - 21 years old)

Daph and I finally managed to meet up on a weekday admist our busy schedules to enjoy Sakae's Teatime Buffet. I had two slices of wholemeal bread with strawberry jam (my breakfast) and a packet of Meiji's Chocolate Hello Panda (after I had 3 classes straight without a break in between) before I rushed off to meet her for the buffet. And she have had two Char Siew Baos. This means that we would be able to clear at least 20 plates easily.

Picking up sushi from the conveyor belt:

We were so excited as we had been looking forward to it for ages. Although it wasn't my virgin visit, I got high just thinking about the amount of Fried Hotate and Fried Tofu I could consume. So here's my favourite Fried Hotate: With a breaded crispy layer, topped with some mayonnnaise:

Fried Tofu: I love how thin the skin is, and I was surprised that it was slightly crispy as well. Upon biting into it, the super-soft tofu gushes out immediately and it melts in the mouth instantly.

Our all-time favourite sushi: Chuka Hotate, and I quite appreciated the generous filling:

An assortment: Chuka Hotate, Ebi Sushi, Salmon Sushi and the not-very-tasty Daikon Chips:

And here's a close-up of the weird-tasting Daikon Chips. It was fried really oily, and I didn't like how it greased my fingers. I expected this side dish to be the crispy or crunchy type, but it was rather chewy instead.

The smooth Sakae Chawanmushi: Not the best Chawanmushi I've eaten, but it's passable though:

Fried Salmon slices: This was only okay. nothing spectacular at all and we had a hard time trying to finish this plate as there were many slices and we got a little sick of the taste:

Here's a beautiful shot of Daph with her Ebi Tempura Temaki:

And this is what I had: Mango Avocado Temaki. I didn't really like this because the avocado was too mashed up and it was dumped on top of the lettuce, and then finally topped off with one teeny-weeny-sliced mango piece. The whole combination tasted too weird and mushy for my liking:

Halfway through, but we still continued eating slowly, by ordering more side dishes.

The Okonomiyaki: The batter is made of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. To me, this tasted similar like the Tako Yaki Balls (see below). It has exactly that kind of chewy texture and I liked eating it warm.

And these are the Tako Yaki Balls with octopus, dabbed with mayonnaise:

I usually liked this Kani Tempura from Sakae Sushi, but I had no idea why this was exceptionally oily that day and the skin did not taste light enough:

Here's an assortment of the different side orders we had: Tako Yaki Balls, Kani Tempura, Fried Hotate, and also the Gyoza that I had enjoyed very much.

This Kizami Unagi sushi was our very first plate and I thought it tasted really yummy. But I was skeptical about the tough seaweed though.

Well, I had not managed to take every single shot of what we had consumed but you get the general idea! :) And at 6.00pm, we were shocked to find out that we had cleared 38 plates in total. Here's a peek:

Oh yes, I felt awfully fat and bloated after that but it was a really nice meal and it was a good time to catch up with my best friend. Therefore, we started to cam-whore to distract ourselves from feeling so stuffed up:

And we made a pact to visit Kuishin-Bo for their buffet together. I can't wait. Hehe.

下了一整天的雨

2008-03-09T20:58:00.004+08:00

This is one of my favourite Singaporean Kueh. Some call it Wa Ko Kueh (Steamed Rice Cakes), Mo Ko Kueh, or Smiling Kueh (the one I prefer). My mum always gets the Mo Ko Kueh from Bengawan Solo for me and theirs look slightly different, without the "smiley faces" you see here:

I think my mom bought this from one of the stalls in the nearby wet market and upon seeing them, I smiled widely because of the wide array of colors. My favourites are the Pink and Yellow ones, simply because they are the happy and bright-looking colors. These are simply treats that I'd never get sick of, although they taste slightly plain without the orange-colored sugar. A good Mo Ko Kueh should be soft and fluffy, and most importantly, not sticky. These that my mom had bought were really so soft that I could almost feel them melting in my mouth.

I want to smile as happily as these Smiling Kuehs.

今天下了一整天的雨，心情有点闷闷的。希望自己能像这些糕点一样笑得非常灿烂。

莉莲蛋挞饼屋 (Lillian Cake Shop in Shanghai)

2008-03-07T21:28:00.005+08:00

莉莲蛋挞饼屋 (Lillian Cake Shop)
Address: No. 1688, Sichuang N. Rd.
Average cost: RMB 12
Tel: 021-63256143

I was so elated to see a box of Portugese Egg Tarts from 莉莲蛋挞饼屋 (Lillian Cake Shop) that flew all the way back to Singapore from Shanghai, all thanks to my sister's boyfriend who's currently a pilot.

As you can from the box, it actually says that these tarts originated from Macau. So my guess was that these tarts were so delish that Lillian managed to set up several branches overseas.

And so the tarts came back in really good shape:

Well, according to the instructions printed on the box, I was supposed to heat up the tarts in the oven for two minutes before consumption:

And so, I jolly well did. The egg tart tasted reaally good even though I had not consumed it on the day it was bought. After heating it up, the pastry went back to being flaky and slightly crispy, and it was a real sensation biting into the slightly-warmed egg custard filling.

I was never a fan of Portugese Egg Tarts to begin with. I couldn't appreciate the custardy taste the filling had. I think it was because the eggy smell was just way too strong for my liking. My opinion towards Portugese Egg Tarts changed only when Wenjing brought me to this shop in Chinatown to try their pretty famous Portugese Egg Tarts and the shop actually specialises in traditional pastries. I fell in love with it after the first bite. After that, I could not find another Portugese Egg Tart in Singapore that had tasted as delicious as that. But now I've found one from Shanghai that tasted even better! No wonder Lillian was so confident to imprint these Chinese characters on the box:

And look! They sell other yummy-looking cakes too, besides their famous Portugese Egg Tarts.

Now, how I wish that there'd be a Lillian Cake Shop in Singapore too. :(

Sweets from Meritus Mandarin Singapore

2008-02-27T14:15:00.003+08:00

My daddy brought these back with him just two days ago when he was at the hotel for his business meeting. I was so excited to see this nicely-wrapped box sitting on the dining table when I woke up in the morning:

Look! There are two layers!

The first layer: Assorted Cookies (Well, my dad said he was feeling slightly hungry on his way back home and he couldn't resist the temptation of snacking on a few of the Macadamania Nut Cookies. Well, I tried both the Chocolate-flavored one as well as the plain one. They were not the bestest cookies but they have quite a nice crunch which I enjoyed.

Now's for the second layer! (My preferred layer. Hehe)
There are (cheap) marshmallows, (slightly more expensive) apricots which my mom liked, and two different types of (higher-end) chocolates from one of the Chocolatiers in Singapore.

I like the White Chocolate ball the most. As I bite into one, there's this sudden burst of cherry flavor gushing out. For a moment, I thought they might be champagne truffles but it didn't have the taste of alcohol but the cherry flavor was pretty strong. It added a twist to the sweet white chocolate. Yums.

Well, my day was easily brightened up by this box of sweets my dad brought back. I can get real happy from the littlest things. :)

What's CNY like without Yusheng?

2008-02-24T14:38:00.006+08:00

I know it's days after the 15th of CNY and I apologise for this late Yusheng post. When I was younger, I did not know how to appreciate Yusheng and I always picked up those "koropok" (the deep-fried flour crisps) to eat only. But as I grew older, I started to enjoy the other colorful vegetables in it like the shredded radish and carrots. When they are mixed with the different condiments: crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon, pepper and other spices, the Yusheng turns into a nice big platter almost instantly.

But why is Yusheng called "Yusheng", I asked my mom the other day and this is what she said: yu means "fish" but enunciated appropriately, it also means "abundance"; and sheng means literally "raw" but enunciated appropriately, it means "life". Thus Yusheng implies "abundance of wealth and long life". In Cantonese, it is known as lo sheng with lo also meaning "tossing up good fortune". The tossing action is called lo hei, which means to "rise" (hei), again a reference to a thriving business and thus its popularity with businessmen during the New Year.

Let the pictures do the talking:

My mom bought two sets of Yusheng from the Soup Restaurant (as the maternal side of my family is really huge so we always need to divide into two rounds to lo hei) and boy, the sauces, seasonings and condiments were really fantastic. The plum sauce wasn't too sweet nor sour, it was just nice such that it doesn't make us feel sick after eating a few mouthfuls and made us keep wanting more. We'd definitely get it from them again next year.

My childtime-favourite: "koropok".

The mess we created thereafter.

All my friends who know me well would know for sure that CNY is my (EVER) favourite festive season of the entire year and my whole extended family treats this occasion as a highly-important period as well. It's the season of generous giving, fabulous eating and of course not forgetting the small-time gambling at my Grandma's place. Really enjoyed myself this CNY and I can't wait for 2009!

Miraculously Delicious

2008-02-16T23:16:00.003+08:00

I had the popiah from Qi Ji few days back and although it wasn't the first time I'd tried it, I was still blown away by the taste of it. I didn't quite use to like popiah when I was much younger but I started really digging it since last December. I can't remember what made me fall in love with this Singaporean snack but I started taking it for breakfast every other day when I'm out with my mum in the morning.

I've tried really bland ones and some had skins that were too soggy. But this one from Qi Ji is really good, I like the texture and also, the Auntie was really generous with the sweet sauce. A popiah has to have enough of the sweet gravy to taste good otherwise it'd be pretty bland. Furthermore, the skin can't turn soggy after adding all the vegetables as it might create a rubberised texture that's really not nice to chew on. All in all, I'm really pleased with the popiah! But I'm still dying to try those from Old Long House Popiah, Glory and Kway Guan Huat. I've always heard many fascinating stories about them and one day, I must discover the magic in them myself. Nevertheless, this Qi Ji popiah is still on the top of my Popiah List.

My Perfect Pineapple Tart

2008-01-16T21:35:00.000+08:00

I've finally made the perfect Pineapple Tart! (In my own opinion that is.) It melts in the mouth once it is being popped in, there's a fragrant buttery smell and the pineapple paste ain't too sweet. Yums. Here they are:

I really love these tarts to bits. Once I've had one, I can't seem to stop myself from reaching for another! I brought down all the different types of Pineapple Tarts I made to let my Aunties sample taste them. All of them placed orders from me immediately and some even requested me to prepare more samples for them to let their friends try as well.

Oh well, I'm a happy little girl. :)

Pineapple Tarts Frenzy

2008-01-08T21:55:00.000+08:00

I'm currently in the quest for the perfect Pineapple Tart. It has to be melt-in-the-mouth, the pastry must have a fragrant buttery smell and the pineapple paste must not be overly sweet. Therefore, I spent a few consecutive days baking these three different versions:

Type 1: Tangerine Style

Type 2: Bengawan Solo Style

Type 3: Open Style

I really like these three types of tarts but I'm still trying to refine them further! I hope the pastry would be even more melt-in-the-mouth! Gotta do more baking tomorrow. Heh! And I can feel my wasitline expanding these days. I pop in several after baking every batch, and that clearly explains why I feel fat. But nothing's going to stop me from enjoying all the nice treats during CNY.

CNY: Pineapple Tarts (TRIAL!)

2007-12-27T22:41:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is my all-time favourite festive season and yay, it's approaching soon! And yes, I do know that Christmas has just been over and I still have got some Christmas cookies and Gingerbread Boys and Girls sitting in my cookie jars, but I just can't resist the temptation of kickstarting off my CNY bakes.

So here they are, the must-have for every CNY: Pineapple Tarts. Strictly speaking, this batch is actually my second trial already. I did not take any photos of the first trial in which I had used another recipe because that dough had failed me miserably and the perfectionist in me just had to throw away the remaining dough. So I quickly bucked up and tried another recipe from one of my Asian Sweets baking book.

Freshly out of the oven.

This recipe required me to use "a few drops of egg yellow coloring". I halved the recipe as I wasn't sure if the texture of these tarts was what I'm looking for and I did not want to end up with one whole batch of pineapple tarts that I do not enjoy eating. And so, I only added two pretty tiny drops (as compared to the few drops the recipe had asked for) so they weren't as golden as the tarts I see in the book.

I'm still unsure of the texture of these tarts, whether they are the melt-in-the-mouth kind in which my family and I adore, or are they the crisp-on-the-outside and crumbly-once-bitten-into kind, or the crisp-on-the-outside and melt-in-the-mouth when bitten kind. I'd have to wait till tomorrow to find out! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If these tarts fail to reach up to my expectation yet again, I'm so gonna try another recipe tomorrow.

Tong Shui Cafe at Liang Seah Street

2007-12-18T00:42:00.001+08:00

Finally managed to meet up with Meifang today after we finished working. We had agreed to head to Bugis for our tea session. We ended up in Tong Shui Cafe, where there are many different sorts of Hong Kong desserts, noodles, fried rice, and even Western flavorings available. We ordered a Fried Rice and Mixed Fruits Toast. I've tried many of their thick toasts like Peanut Butter with Condensed Milk, Durian Toast, Butter and Honey Toast before and this is the first time I tasted their Mixed Fruits Toast. I'd say it's something really different! I especially love the tangy feel it brings, which it had come from the three different fruit toppings on the toast: Kiwi, Strawberry and Mango. The kiwi is sweet yet a little sour, the strawberry too and the mango chunks with puree are sweet and taste splendid to the tastebud. When these three are eaten together with the fluffy toast, it creates a pretty wonderful taste altogether.

I like the Fried Rice too, mainly because the rice didn't make my lips feel oiled as compared to some others I had tried before. The rice is really fragrant and the soup that came with the rice was very yummy though I thought it tasted a little like the soup one would get from eating Hainanese Chicken Rice. My only complaint was that the only piece of luncheon meat that came along was really pathetic. It was sliced so thinly (look at the photo below!) that I felt embarrassed for them. I understand that there is this current rage about the dangerous consumption of canned luncheon meat imported from China and this has thus made luncheon meat really expensive in the market. But being a business operator, they should not reduce the size of that piece of meat, then affecting the taste of the whole dish.

But nonetheless, it was a pretty relaxing meal (as it was a Monday and there was nobody else except for the two of us in the cafe) and I had enjoyed it very much. Here's a shot of the Fried Rice and the super-thin piece of luncheon meat:

First Christmas Bake!

2007-12-16T00:45:00.000+08:00

Finally started my Christmas baking. :)
These are Donna Hay's Star Cookies from one of her past Christmas magazine issue. I couldn't find my star-shaped cookie cutters so I made do with these other cute cutters. They do have a Christmasy-feel too don't they? Anyways, these cookies are really yummy and easy to make. My sister loves them and even asked me to bake another batch for her to treat her colleagues with. :)

Now that I have a brand new camera, I'm so much happier taking food photos!

For HDB

2007-09-03T03:59:00.000+08:00

These 60 cupcakes were packed in three's: Swirly Twirly Nutella, Peanuty Divine and Blackcurrant Burst.

Baked 450 pieces of Crunchy Cornflakes as requested but have yet to take the pictures of those cookies. Was busy storing them in those seen-during-CNY-only-red-capped-containers.

Hope they'd enjoy them as much as I had enjoyed baking them!

And The Journey Begins

2007-09-02T20:26:00.000+08:00

As Sheila Graham once said: "Food is the most primitive form of comfort." This is what I strongly believe in too. Food can definitely heal my soul, make me feel better during tough times and let me continue fighting on.

Well, I love all kinds of foods, and I also love to hunt for good eats, and I adore baking and cooking also.

Food, to me, is a necessity, it gives you energy from the start of the day and keeps you going throughout. It can give you an instant high at good times or make you all groggy at bad.

Having discovered my passion and love for food, I've thus decided to set up this food blog in which I would incorporate all my baking, cooking and eating expeditions right here at this all-in-one blog. Though I've been blogging for many years already, I was inspired by all the other food bloggers to shift away from my previous blog to this.

Why "An Economist Baker" you may think, that's because I'm currently a full-time Economics undergraduate and yet I'm an avid baker, who bakes as and when she likes. It has always been my dream to be able to integrate these two important aspects of my life together, hence the name.

This being my first post, I'd like to say Hi to everyone out there, anyone who might be reading this. Lots of exciting foodies are coming your way, so do keep a lookout! :)