Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Chikuwa Tei

10 days gone without blogging. It doesn’t look very long but it sure feels like it. While I am still sitting on a pile of work, I think I deserve a break after battling through Edbert’s quantum mechanics homework.

Fans of the old Wasabi Tei in Far East Plaza ought to know that Chef Peter Teo has moved to a swanky location in Mohamed Sultan. This new place, Chikuwa Tei (nothing to do with chikus, mind you), couldn’t be more different from the old restaurant. For the uninitiated, Wasabi Tei is (the restaurant still exists but with a different owner) this dumpy little store which sits barely 20 in a U-shaped counter. The chef ran the kitchen singlehandedly with his wife doing the cleaning. This system obviously produces a lot frayed nerves and rarely a meal goes by without Chef Peter making a sharp rebuke to his wife or an indecisive customer. Once, he even had a policy to take order from each person only once! Things have improved in the new place obviously.

Chikuwa Tei still excels in all things raw. We had the Sashimi Platter which had generous slices of salmon, salmon belly, yellowtail, tuna, swordfish, sakura shrimp and a scallop. All were great, especially the swordfish which was firm, springy and bursting with intramuscular fats. On the day we went, the restaurant happened to receive a shipment of deep sea scallops and botan ebi. How could we miss that? The freshly shucked scallops were on a totally different plane in sweetness and texture from the regular ones. To describe it, the fibres of the flesh are still well defined and when you bite into it, it breaks apart almost like the scallop has been blanched ever so rapidly. By the way, did you know that even most sashimi-grade scallops were blast frozen? I cannot vouch for the botan ebi though. It tasted fine but the slimy texture is not to my liking.



The grilled fish (eel, cod and salmon) are all still as good as they used to be. They are boldy grilled to the point where the skin almost burns while not overcooking the flesh. The sweet and intense teriyaki goes well with rice. The thinly sliced raw cabbage salad may be overlooked by some, but to me it remains an enigma how he gets rid of the bitterness and ‘greeness’ of vegetable.

Unfortunately, that’s about as far as the strength of Chikuwa Tei goes. I thought the cod nabe was ho-hum. Worse still was the assorted tempura which came soggy and oily. Obviously, the quality control in the back kitchen still has some way to go.


If I were to return to Chikuwa Teo, I will stick with either of these strategies: stick with sashimi and rice or order one of the grilled fish sets.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Yan Kee Bak Chor Mee

This unassuming store within BK Eating House at Boat Quay is one of my favourite supper spots. Usually we think of Bak Chor Mee with Mee Pok but this place is unique as they do a Mee Sua version as well and that’s what I always order. Mee Sua is a rice noodle that is easy to overcook into a lumpy mess but this place manages to time to cooking so precisely the noodles retains a slight bite while turning just tender enough to absorb the sauce. I find the lighter Mee Sua a welcome deviation from the eggy Mee Pok. The highlight of the sauce is the strong vinegary hit from Chinese black vinegar mixed with a savoury chilli paste and wonderfully aromatic pork lard. The addition of crunchy deep fried ikan bilis (tiny anchovies) is another genius touch.

The Black Sheep Cafe

The Black Sheep Café is a little gem that used to be tucked away in an idyllic corner of Seletar which was great since it was a 2 minutes drive from my place. My brother used to be a regular and I tagged along occasionally but when they moved to Mayo Street, our visits came to a halt. Fast forward a couple of years and I thought it would be nice to drop by.

Chef Ratha still operates a one man show in the kitchen, but this time with a lot more space than his old restaurant. The menu is still pretty much unchanged, sporting well-loved classics like the baked brie and duck confit.

We started by sharing a Baked Brie crusted with pistachio and citrus fruit compote. As usual, the cheese failed to hold its structural integrity (as far as I remember, there was only once when I had this dish at the old place did the cheese maintained its shape). That’s not important, however. The sweet-sour compote offsets the creamy melting cheese to make a very nice appetiser.


Evelyn had the Duck Confit with Apple Rosti. Duck confit can get cloyingly oily and taste preserved but one can tell that this version was made only recently and skilfully fried to rid it of excess oil. The tangy mango relish pairs well with the duck leg and especially well with the crisp skin. I always liked the Apple Rosti but this time I found it slightly limp – perhaps too little oil in the pan.


My snapper came quite awhile later. The thick piece was seared and then finished in the oven in a text-book demonstration of how it’s supposed to be done. The flesh retained its firm texture, juicy interior and most importantly, tasted properly of sea fish.


Desserts were Ratha’s ever present Flourless Chocolate Tart and a Kahlua Soufflé. Both were excellent but a special mention goes out to the soufflé as the most spectacular one I have ever seen.



The Black Sheep Café is highly recommended if you can spare a couple of hours for a meal. Costs about S$50 a person for 3 courses + wine.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Crab Ravioli

This crab ravioli is an idea that’s been floating around in my head for awhile. While I am one who never minds getting my hands and fingers dirty tunnelling for every morsel of crab, there are times you wish somebody has done all the work first. Unfortunately, that somebody still turns out to be me which leads to this ravioli being hands down the most time consuming dish I ever attempted.


I’d never have started on this dish if I didn’t score these amazing crabs at the market. These are some of the best I’ve had in ages – the meat was dense and sweet. All too often, crabs sold nowadays have spent so much time in tanks without room to move that their meat turns watery and cottony. Anyway, steam the crab until done and then pick out the meat. Unshell the claw meat in one glorious chunk. That will be the piece de resistance in the centre of each ravioli. Bind the loose crab meat with minced prawns, scallops and mascarpone then moisten with milk. Figure one medium-large crab to make 6 large ravioli.



For the sauce, toss cherry tomatoes and garlic in salt, pepper and olive oil then roast in a low oven for 1.5 hours. Make a stock from the crab legs. Puree the tomato, garlic and stock and strain very thoroughly.


Making pasta is tricky. None of the recipes I followed were ever exactly right. I guess that our humidity causes the flour to have greater moisture content. Yet, you don’t need to be a chemist to make pasta dough. The dough communicates with you. If it’s crumbly, the dough is too dry and you need to add something wet and if it’s sticky, dust with flour to dry it up. Personally, I use the following ratio: 20g semolina flour, 80g organic unbleached flour, 1 large egg yolk, 2/3 of the large egg white, 1 tsp olive oil, a pinch of saffron steeped in a little warm water and a pinch of salt. This yields enough dough to make 6 large ravioli or 2 small portions of long pasta.


Here, I rolled out the dough with poppy seeds folded in. Cut out 8-10 cm diameter rounds, using a bowl as a guide.


Be sure to fill each ravioli generously. Somehow the stuffing shrinks while cooking.


Cook in rapidly boiling salted water for 4 minutes, drain and serve on a pool of the roasted tomato puree. It’s really nice with a few pieces of crispy chorizo.



Pork Belly Rice

Here's something I done quite long ago but never posted. It’s a sort of Chinese-Japanese fusion. The pork belly pieces marinated generously in dark soy were browned on a low fire together with garlic, ginger and galangal for a long time to develop the caramelized flavours. At this point, you can just add water and then stew for a classic down-to-earth soy-stewed meat. However, I deglazed with mirin for sweetness and then added a light dashi stock for the Japanese twist. Towards the end, sweated onions were thrown in and cooked for a few minutes. Thinly sliced negi and ginger helps counter the richness.