Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sunday Brunch – Hoe Nam Prawn Noodles and Lao Zhong Zhong Ngoh Hiang

Sunday brunch last week was the celebrated prawn noodles at Hoe Nam. One wonders what drives Hoe Nam to operate their long hours. Dedication to customers? Profit? Insomnia? Either way, the customers still throng in so I suppose it works for everyone.

In what is almost a ritual when eating at Hoe Nam, I went across the street to get some Ngoh Hiang from Lao Zhong Zhong – there will be plenty of time to make the purchase and finish it before the noodles arrive. To quote a HGWer, Lao Zhong Zhong is an institution for Ngoh Hiang. Rightly so, I felt. Arriving in the late morning, we perhaps even had the luxury of fresh oil in the wok and every item turned out light, crisp and not greasy at all. The prawn cracker is my perennial favourite – airy and crunchy. What could be a better starter before a prawn noodle? I also love a prawn cracker when having Hokkien Mee but that’s another story. Special mention also goes out to the Tau Kwa which tasted richly and properly of beans. Their chilli sauce was spot on too.


Now the prawn noodles. Where do I start? The stock, silly! I thought that day’s soup was perfect. It’s not the strongest tasting prawn stock but it contained purely the sweet essence of prawns without its negative elements (i.e. bitter and muddy notes). The silky mouthfeel and big umami was definitely a result of the rapid boiling of gelatinous pork bones – giving the prawns a solid canvas on which to express themselves. A dash of chilli powder and some fresh chilli takes it lofty heights. My friends thought it was too subtle - different strokes. Noodles were excellent too. I always have Kuay Teow Mee as I find the yellow noodles itself to be too cloying. The prawns were a little better than average but still nothing to shout home about but I quite liked the tender pork ribs. Of course, no prawn noodle could go wrong with a sprinkling of fried onions and little flavour bombs of crispy lard on top.


The Sunday Brunch club:

Alexis


Weixun


Victor



And Your's Truly

Imperial Treasure 'Super' Peking Duck

Meh. It was underwhelming. Sure, the skin was shatteringly crispy and everyone promised it to be and delivers a rush of duck oil as fat melts in your mouth. The problem is the taste. I found it offensively gamey and livery, almost muttony, and I am one who loves my foie gras. It is definitely an issue with the quality of the duck rather than the technique. In fact, I thought that the cooking merited an almost perfect score. Perhaps I scored a dud with that particular duck.


We also had some dim sum. I won’t belabour with the details of it but I thought it was quite competitive in terms of pricing and quality. It’s definitely a notch above Crystal Jade but, of course, pales in comparison to specialists like Lei Garden (used to be).

I would return to give the duck another chance, if not, it’s still a decent place to drop by for dim sum. Apologies for the lack of pictures – did not have my camera with me.

Monday, November 15, 2010

A Modest Grill

My modest attempt at some yakitori after inspiration from Kushigin.

Chicken wings turned out to be more satay-style bbq than yakitori. No idea why.


The yaki onigiri turned out quite well - sticky but not mushy rice.


Last up was a flash-grilled prawn in miso soup.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Kushigin 串銀炭火燒

Cuppage Plaza and the adjoining Orchard Plaza are veritable treasure troves of Japanese entertainment. The congregation of Japanese KTVs naturally drew the opening of several authentic restaurants to serve the homesick expats. I have only been and returned several times to Kushigin (串銀炭火燒) and am seldom disappointed with the food. The atmosphere is wonderful too, just last evening we were the only 4 of about 6 locals in a restaurant packed full of Japanese working men (exclusively men, somehow) looking to wind down... on a Monday night.

Surprisingly, the tebasaki (chicken wings) were the first to arrive. They usually take quite long but I guess these were already started before I placed my order. So what’s so special about them? These dainty little fellows are obviously not from the usual breed of chicken. They are devoid of the excess fat under the skin which lends to a satisfying crunch as you bite in and a burst of hot chicken juices and fat embedded between the skin and meat.


Not pictured were the grilled chicken skin and the liver. The liver can be a hit or miss affair. Today, I thought it spent a few seconds too many over the coals. However, when the chef gets the window just right, meltingly tender chicken liver is just as decadent as foie gras. Unfortunately, they ran out of bonjiri (chicken arse) this time. I highly recommend that you abandon your inhibitions and give that arse a chance.

The grilled negi (leek) and negi (eggplant) are also my perennial favourites but they fell somewhat short of their mark today. The leek was a little stringy and the pieces of eggplant were too small for sufficient impact. Still, they remained sweet and juicy. I quite like the balance of flavours by the sharp salty soy and stinging grated ginger.


Asparagus Maki is somewhat of a misnomer, I feel. In this case, the asparagus clearly plays a supporting role behind the smoky and crispy pork belly. Full marks for the meat, but the young asparagus lacked definition.


I forgot to picture the Mini Tomato Maki, scoffing down the little balls of fire as soon as they were set down on the table. Here’s my recommended eating method: pop in mouth and bite softly until the tomato juice just trickles out. Slowly savour until you can stand the heat then chew. Unlike the asparagus, the tomato is unmistakably the star here.

The Shishamo was Ivan’s order but I was surprised by how well it turned out. The last few times I have ordered any fish (an Ayu and a Saba comes to mind), they have been way overcooked for my taste. The Shishamo stood well under the grill and the eggs were quite creamy.



Last up was the slightly unusual but delicious Grilled Fried Tofu. The crunchy smoky crust gives way to smooth tofu. Again the combination of grated ginger and soy works well.


The order in which in your dishes emerge can be hilariously random sometimes but in all, a great start to the week after a weekend struggling with quantum mechanics assignments.

Caution, Sharp Objects!


Gyuto (牛刀) translates to “Cow Sword” in Japanese. It just refers to a western style chef’s knives and since the Caucasians eat alot of beef... you get it. It’s the most versatile weapon in my arsenal of a dozen knives and my current workhorse is the Ichimionji(brand) TKC(line/steel) 240 mm(blade length) Gyuto(shape). I got in from the actual Ichimonji store on Doguya-Suji in Osaka but it only bloomed into its maximum potential when I got home with it. At first it tended to wedge in hard vegetables but after thinning and convexing the edge, it cuts gorgeously. Here’s it freshly sharpened and snapping a free hanging hair into two.


To learn more about kitchen knives, visit Knifeforums.com but be warned - its a terribly addictive habit and you need to have deep pockets.