Taste Paradise @ Ion Orchard

I don’t really enjoy writing negative reports, so I am going to be brief.

Carrot Cake in XO sauce – Okay. Savoury but I prefer it when the shredded radish shows up ocassionally in the carrot cake.

Peking Duck – Drowned in sweet sauce. Perhaps we should have wrapped the crêpes by ourselves.

Shark’s Fin in Stone Pot – Flavourful chicken stock ruined by heavy-handedness with cornstarch. Generous with the fins, at least.

Bamboo Clams – Scrawny.

Eggplant in Claypot – Over salted.

Braised Beehoon – Okay.

Service – Disordered and rushed.

Conclusion – For $65 a person, avoid!

"Sunday" Brunch - Lam's Abalone Noodles

Met with the Sunday Brunch Club again but this time on Christmas morning. We were wondering around pointlessly in the Balestier area when I recalled driving pass Lam’s Abalone Noodles (阿南鲍鱼面) all the time and being intrigued by their prominent soup urn or vat, if you find the former expression inappropriate.


First up was a neatly presented plate of perfectly golden roast pork belly. I thought the skin was a wee bit soggy but still a competent offering overall.


Fishcake was, well, fishcake.


And then the true star of the day was this little crock of abalone soup made from double boiling chicken, pork, abalone, dried scallops and fish maw and then topping off with a few ladles white Chinese stock (白汤) when ready to serve. The secret of the urn was finally revealed when the soup was brought to us. It is charcoal fired from the bottom and within the urn there are shelves where individual soup crocks, filled with the ingredients and a little water, are stacked.


Anyone who says abalone is tasteless will be silenced by the umami that dominate the broth. The milky stock, already very tasty on its own, was able to stand its own ground against the abalone, resulting in a harmonious overlap. The scant abalone cubes in the soup were quite good, tasting almost sweet.



Their noodles was no slouch too, especially their zingy chilli sauce and a liberal sprinkling of lard. The whole piece of dried fish was a unique touch.


Ah Lam certainly warrants repeated visits.

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.

Shanghai Hairy Crab

It’s the Shanghai Hairy Crab (大閘蟹) season! Every year my Mom’s friend will gift us a few from a reputable dealer in Shanghai. That’s imperative, for a bad example will have you wondering what’s with all the fuss about this little creature. I eat mine the patient way, getting every bit of meat out and then mix the whole glorious mess in the semi-liquid roe. The taste? Simply incredible – imagine a uni and salted egg yolk custard.

Bee Hoon stewed in 奶汤

I must admit I completely lifted this dish from Fook Weng restaurant which is helmed by Chef Kang, formerly of the Canton Wok fame. The new place serves up some sublime cuisine too, but sadly on both the occasions I went business was really slow. Their struggle was clearly reflected in how this Bee Hoon soup evolved between the both times I had it. The original version combined poached prawns and scallops with thin sliced asparagus for crunch but when I next had it, they lowered the price and substituted the scallops with an unidentifiable tasteless fish and the asparagus were replaced with broccoli stems. Still, I wish them the very best and hope to return soon.

Start out with a Nai Tang (奶汤) and add some fish racks. I won’t go into detail about the recipe but the whole idea is that under vigorous boiling, the proteins and fat from the meat incorporate into the liquid to make a whitish and slightly creamy stock. Poach the prawns and scallops and set aside. If you are using unshelled prawns then use the peelings to make a flavour boosting prawn stock. For the greens, I used Kailan bone as it was available but it’s flexible. Blanch the Bee Hoon until half cooked and then drain well. This step is important! If you don’t drain the blanching liquid will dilute your lovingly prepared soup. When ready to eat just complete the cooking of the noodles in the stock. Top with shredded and fried dried scallops and with dried flatfish flakes.

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.

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.

Yau Zham Grouper

I got inspired to attempt this restaurant classic while watching the TV. Usually, you need a truckload of oil to deep fry fish as crisp as they do professionally but I found that if you dry your fish very thoroughly, you can get away with shallow frying in about a centimetre of oil. After butterflying it I let it dry in front of the fan for an hour until the skin feels dry and leathery. If you look carefully I actually broke the fish and then hid the damage under the spring onions =P. I like this recipe even better with a generous fillet of cod. Just remember to score the skin well.