Singapore Day One: Maxwell Hawker Centre

Hello! WX, JL and I have all returned from our respective holiday destinations in Asia with copious amounts of photos - mostly of our edible conquests. Bare with us as we're all returning to the reality of work and tertiary education so it may take us a while to get you guys (or your stomachs) up to date on our travels. I'll kickstart with my first stay in the hot and humid Singapore...

Before I left, I'd been watching a few episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and this particular hawker store in Maxwell Hawker Centre was meant to have the best Hainanese Chicken Rice. Sure enough, when we arrived, we saw that Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice was the shop with the longest queue in the centre leading all the way around the corner! I've been told that this is just a general rule of thumb at hawker centres - to take your stomach where the queue is the longest! It took us a while, but we finally managed to get to the front of the queue and make our order of a plate of the classic Hainanese Chicken Rice (and spot Mr Bourdain's mark)!

His short message was indeed quite an accurate description of what lay before my eyes. The rice was beautifully flavoured - so much so that I felt like I could really eat a couple of bowls by itself! The question is...why mistreat yourself and take away the other aspect of the dish? Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Hainanese Chicken but this was fresh, tender and nestled neatly on top of the rice - how could I resist? Eating a mouthful of rice and a bite of chicken - savouring every single bit of it was fair compensation for the extreme humidity that left me sweating at our table.

Drawn to Maxwell Hawker Centre in search of Bourdain's recommendation, I really didn't look into other places around the area but I did want to try something that SK had suggested I try: carrot cake. With no particular shop in mind, I stopped at the nearest one which specialised in carrot cake called Auntie.

Carrot cake comes in two varieties - black and white - and is made up largely of Chinese radish which is literally translated as 'carrot'. This dish probably isn't for the health conscious and not a meal to be eaten regularly either. Watching 'Auntie' cook right in front of me with a huge porcelain bowl of oil which she proceeded to drench her mixture inmade me reconsider my previous plan of placing a double order to share with my friends.

Personally, the black carrot cake was my favourite of the two. It was full of flavour (perhaps a little bit too much) having been stir fried not only in oil, but also quite a generous dash of dark soy sauce.

The white carrot cake on the other hand, was a bit too bland and oozing with oil. I could taste the prominent flavour of the vegetable oil.

Balancing out the two two extremes, I found myself eating the white carrot cake and using the black carrot cake as a chaser with a bit of Hainanese Chicken Rice!

With meals ranging from $1 to $4 there was no excuse for us not to get drinks and what better choice but Soybean Milk and Coconut Juice! Icy cold and just as cheap as everything else - the perfect way to quench your first in the Singaporean heat!

On a totally irrelevant note, walking away from Maxwell Hawker Centre, I noticed a street called Sago Street! I was extremely disappointed to find that there was absolutely no trace of the delicious sago to be found on the street and was told that the reason for the naming stemmed from the historical existence of sago factories! Shame!

Maxwell Hawker Centre
Cnr South Bridge Road and Maxwell Road

Review: Wagaya, Haymarket

'Tis been a long hiatus.

Sorry all, I've only just re-settled into the whole Uni+work thing so the blog has been neglected for a couple of weeks. Either way, as AY is still stuck trying to get his life in order, I'm going to resume the usual blog routine - first stop, WAGAYA!

"Oooooh, touch screen!"

A trip to Wagaya almost always involves the token "ooh"s and "ahh"s at the touch screen menu selection. This trip was by no means an exception.

Soft Shell Crab Salad - $10.40

WW was eager and jumped right into ordering before we had settled into our booth. First course - Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab Salad. While being a tad on the difficult side in terms of sharing (let's not even talk about the price), we happily divided the crab with our chopsticks and nommed away at the salad. The crab was fried in a light batter, and the crunch was evident as we sank our first bite into it with all the fresh vegetables.

Scallop Sashimi - $7.30

As Tetsuya would put it, always start with the cold and raw before moving onto the cooked. So next up was a selection of sashimi. Scallops for TZ and I, while a deluxe assorted sashimi was selected for everyone to feast on.

Assorted Sashimi (Large) - $42.50

I found the scallops on the night to not be as fresh as I would've liked them to be. There was no doubt a slight fishy smell and lack of sweetness to them that made me a little reluctant to go for seconds. Other selections, on the other hand, had little to be complained about, and the only piece that was left behind in the end was a sad little piece of raw prawn that nobody dared to try.

Eel Tempura - $10.40

Not long before the sashimi arrived, my absolute LOVE (and possibly the dish that brings me back to Wagaya time and time again), arrived at the table. Eel Tempura. You seriously don't need a very vivid and wild imagination when it comes to imagining the taste sensation when you bite into a piece of this stuff. It's light and crunchy on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth on in the inside. All the while you have the creamy tang of Japanese mayo in the backdrop as you happily nom away.

Uni Chawanmushi - $9.90

TZ requested a serve of Chawanmushi (Egg flan), and I jumped onto this opportunity to request that it be a sea urchin roe (uni) chawanmushi so that I may have a try of the pieces of sea urchin on top.

Being my first time, I was a little hesitant at first and closed my eyes and hoped for the best as I took my first bite. Luckily it wasn't as fishy as I thought it would be - someone once told me that it resembled lobster brain. TZ claimed that the chawanmushi tasted "like the sea - I feel as if I've just been dunked by a wave." The egg was lightly salty and a little fishy from the sea urchin, but beautifully delicated and creamy.

Rainbow Roll - $10.30

We also had a serve of the Rainbow Roll. The dish very much lived up to its name and was briliantly coloured by slices of avocado, salmon and kingfish. It was difficult to decide which piece to take, but regardless, the sushi was fresh and full of flavour.

Dragon Rolls - $10.50

I must say, Wagaya does a pretty good job on its Dragon Rolls as well. The cream cheese in the centre was an absolute heaven to delve into - soft and creamy and very light in flavour. It provided the perfect contrast to the sweet and saltiness of the eel. Decadence at its best.

Agedashi Soft Shell Crab - $7.90

Not having been satisfied with just a small piece of soft shell crab, we delved into a second serve- this time in the form of Agedashi Soft Shell Crab. Personally I preferred this one over the salad as the agedashi had a good bonito flavour to extend the flavours of the crab. The pillows of tofu which the crab rested on were meltingly soft and totally more-ish.

Wafu Pizza - $8.30

Lastly, just as I had been introduced to the Wafu pizza on my first visit to Wagaya, I passed my knowledge onto the group of friends I was with. The Wafu pizza is a cheesy delight for anyone who likes their chicken and seafood. Sadly, more often than not, there's just not enough to go around and what you end up with is a chopstick fight if you're as immature as I am.

So there you have it folks! Team Nom is back in action after a wonderful holiday!
(P.S. I still don't have my photos from Vietnam, but I'll try getting them soon)

Wagaya
Level 1, 78-86 Harbour Street
Haymarket NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9212 6068

Grow Your Own!

Hello all!

I am finally back in action after a glorious trip around Vietnam and Hong Kong - photos will follow as soon as I get my hands on them. (Long story short, my camera died on me early on in the trip so we had to take all food photos on a friend's camera).

While we wait for those posts, I would like to turn everyone's attention to my backyard. What once used to be a lovely flowering garden was re-designed during our renovation into an all-you-can-eat buffet of fruits and vegetables.

Longan

A lot of these plants require patience and TLC all year around. We've refused to use any pesticides on our plants to keep them organic, but it wasn't long before we realised just how much work goes into making sure the babies don't get eaten by insects and animals - after all, birds and insects love fruits too.

The longan tree pictured above has taken the longest to grow. It was given to us at a very heavy discount from the nursery due to its poor form (no joke, it actually looked like a dead plant when we first saw it). Mum claimed that she would be able to nurse it back to good health after some time - turns out she was right. It's taken a few years nevertheless, but it felt so good once we saw the fruits starting to grow on the top of the little tree.

Star fruits

Fruit trees often make a great present too. This star fruit tree was a gift to me from my parents years ago and has since bore several ginormous and delicious babies.

Wintermelons

This plant started sprouting out of nowhere one day and I had no choice but to ask my mother what on earth it was. The conversation went something like this:

"Mum, what melons are we sprouting here?"
"What melon do you want it to be?"
"Wintermelon"
"Okay well it will sprout wintermelons"
"..."

I took these photos about 2 months ago. Turns out my mother was right, yet again. We've now got giant wintermelons for soup, stir-fried wintermelon and wintermelon tea for dinner. Darn that woman.

Mangoes

For some reason everyone in this neighbourhood seems to be popping mangoes out of nowhere. My neighbour has mangoes, my neighbours' neighbour has mangoes, and I have mangoes dropping on my head everytime I walk to the station (no not really, but there's a couple of giant mango trees on the way). Either way I'm not complaining, because come summer time, we grow enough giant mangoes in our very own backyard to make us all happy...unless I decide to make mango desserts, which, is another story altogether.

Fuyu Fruits (Persimmons)

I luuuuuurve fuyu fruits. Although I generally prefer squishy version of persimmons (astringent), throughout high school fuyu fruit became my apple substitute when it came to my almost non-existent lunch box. Let me take this opportunity to explain that I dislike eating apples, especially big ones. Braces may have had something to do with it, I'm not entirely sure. I love apple juice, apple pies and even apple baby food, but I just hate sinking my teeth into the darn fruit.

But I digress. This was the first batch of fuyu fruits from our plant, and unfortunately they ripened while I was still in Vietnam so I missed out on the tasting. I believe there are still a few left on the tree though. Seconds anyone?


Orange

The orange tree is a sad little figure in my garden due to its poor positioning. Note to all, when plant fruit trees, the least you can do is to find them a spot that is suitable for plantation, and not just stuff them anywhere you see fit. My orange tree simply doesn't get enough sunlight to grow sufficiently and I doubt even has enough space to grow. Either way we still give it plenty of TLC in hope that one day it will fruit beautifully.

Herb Garden

Always out of herbs when you need them the most? Do you have a typically Asian fridge where herbs are practically non-existent? Why don't you grow you own and have all the freshest and organic herbs right in your garden ready for picking anytime, 24/7.

This was part of my 21st birthday present from JL. He probably got sick of me complaining about how I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO have fresh parsley for my pasta.

Luffa

And lastly (for now), the Luffa, which is possibly one of the slightly more unique species popping out in our garden. In the Western world, the luffa is more commonly seen in its dried form, or to be more specifically, as a loofah (you know, the stuff you exfoliate your skin with?). However, when chopped up and cooked with soup or stir-fried, they are mildly sweet and juicy and super healthy. They're considered to have a "cooling" effect in the Chinese medicinal world and perfect for hot summers. Oh and another plus is that they're very easy to grow in our climate, and in a short span of a few weeks, we've had about 20 gourds growing out, which meant that there was plenty to go around.

So if you have a bit of space in your backyard, why not grow your own food? Trade seeds and saplings with friends, or in our case, we give away luffas and wintermelons since they're not as abundant in the markets. They don't have to be a lot of work and you can easily start off with a few easy-to-grow vegetables and fruits if you feel like you lack a green thumb, and trial and error doesn't hurt either. It's a learning curve after all.

P.S. Please let me know if you grown taro that has a large, flat, water-unretaining leaf. Either that or you know that the stem from your taro is edible. Oh and that you're happy to share seedlings with. Thanks!

Review: Mamak, Sydney

I've been to Mamak several times already but every time I turn up with a different group of people. On this particular occasion, it was with a close group of collegues from my previous work place and we had agreed to meet there at 6:30pm. The wait was brief which was greatly appreciated by my growling stomach.

We were quick to decide on our choices, picking at least on dish from each section. We started off with drinks for myself and SL who asked for Teh Ais without the Ais because she didn't like it diluting her drink. My personal preference though, is actually for the ice to melt before I drink it because I find the milk tea a tad too sweet.

Teh Ais $3.50

Not long after the drinks came, the food came too - much to our stomachs' delight! Service has always been swift at Mamak and this time was clearly no exception. First up was the Sambal Udang which is a midly spicy tiger prawn dish. The prawns were cooked just right - we loved it! So much so in fact, that even after we had finished devouring the prawns, SD wasn't about to let the sauce go to waste - letting it soak into her mound of rice.  

Sambal Udang $18

Our two orders of Roti Bawang and Murtbak Chicken arrived soon after. On previous occasions, I've always ordered the plain and classic rotis, having fallen in love with the fluffy crisy texture without the interruption of any fillings. This time however, I found that I've been missing out - that the addition of red onion is just...amazing. The sweetness of the onion doesn't detract from the roti at all, but adds to the beautiful flavour with a dash of you choice of curry dips or the sambal sauce. Sambal was once again, my favourite!

Roti Bawang $6

When it came down to the Murtabak, I was a bit confused. To me, it looked pretty much the same s any other roti but I'm told that traditionally, it is made with minced mutton. Our particular dish, which came with a choice of lamb or chicken, was filled with an array of ingredients mildly spicy chicken, cabbage, onion and egg. I'm big on all things egg - so what better way to enjoy it but with a combination of roti and an egg omelette inside?

Murtabak Chicken $10.50

I was a bit disappointed by our Nasi Lemak with a side of Fish Curry. Amongst the four of us, only three of us got a small tasting and I totally missed out! That small hitch aside, I am still a dedicated fan of this dish! I love the array of flavours that you can just add to the rice yourself - not too much effort but it's like customising your own dish! Next time I'll make sure that I take a piece of the side curry before I try anything else!

Nasi Lemak with Fish Curry $10.50

Finally, we were graced with the presence of our tender lamb curry. It gave our meal the full variety of meats and the way it was slow-cooked, left the lamb so tender and flavoursome. I normally avoid lemongrass at all cost, so the curry itself didn't hit the right spot for me, but the fact that we ordered more rice lies testament to its taste.

Kari Kambing $15

The Ais Kachang was in short, delicious! Every other time I've visited here, I've been awed by the Roti Tisu which is served high in a crispy cone form. This time, dining with a separate group of friends, our dessert range was different. I feel like I've missed out! The Ice Kachang was incredibly tasty. My only criticism, shared by SD, was with the red beans and the syrup down the bottom. I personally felt it could have done with less of the red beans and a tone down with the sweetness of the rose-syrup. That said, that minor addition didn't stop me from wanting more!

Ais Kachang $5

Our other order of dessert, the Roti Pisang was equally scrumptious. A thin rectangular piece of roti containing freshly sliced banana and served with ice-cream - I think that even as EA kept complaining about how full she was and how difficult it was for her to stomach the final mouthful, I could tell she was in dessert heaven.

Roti Pisang $7.50

Sitting not far from us was a large group booking who we later found out were celebrating a birthday here at Mamak. By this stage, we were already up to our dessert and as they sang their 'Happy Birthday' song, it got me thinking, what would it be like to have a birthday cake made entirely from roti? It would be delicious I bet!

Now that I'm actually in Singapore, I'm finaly going to have a point of comparison of how good Mamak actually is. Personally, I think it really is one of the best places on this side of the Indian Ocean. Rest assured more post will be made about this place!

Review: Kashiwa Yakiniku, Crows Nest

Falcon Street. It's a place filled with memories of my high school years and the place to be for us to eat and chat with friends. Ryo-tei and Bravos Trattoria were our biggest haunts back in the day and I'm glad they're still doing very well. More recently, I noticed a bright orange new development when I drove past and when I read Yas' post on it, I was even more tempted to try it out. Having dined in the city so frequently, it was also just a nice change to be on this side of the bridge closer to home.

The restaurant isn't particularly well furnished but it was bustling with energy and really gave off an authentic Japanese vibe. Of course, the fact that almost all the customers were Japanese probably contributed to this. The seating was a bit cramped with the three of us squashed on one half of the table huddled around out own grill and having the occasional waft of smoke coming from our neighbours cooking. This was however, easily remedied by the adjustable fan which was positioned directly above the grill and really made a difference - we didn't come out smelling like BBQ!

We were all starving by the time we sat down and with SK not wanting to have anything to do with Ox Tongue and the like, we stuck with the traditional but delicious selections of Special Wagyu Beef Rib, Wagyu Beef Skirt, Pork Rib and Chicken Thigh Fillet to be slowly seared. On top of that we also ordered the Koebi Karaage and later, because I was still hungry - the Torikara.

Special Wagyu Beef Rib $9.80

Wagyu Beef Skirt $11.80

Delicious, tender and juicy. Although I can't say I really knew how to differentiate the two types, they were both marinated heaven in my mouth and I didn't really feel the need for any additional sauce. I think SK might've agreed with me on that one. These two were by far my favourites for the night - not just because they tasted good, but on a totally different point...it cooked fast! My stomach is quite hard to satisfy...it always requires a fast production line at yakiniku and I think this wagyu satisfied both taste and speed aspects.

Pork Rib $8.80

The pork rib wasn't quite as appetising as the beef and slightly too oily for my liking. It seemed a bit like bacon with lots of fatty rind! However, dipped in the sauce and having it served all sizzling hot was admittedly quite yummy. I may have been a bit too health conscious on that one!

Chicken Thigh Fillet $8.80

I loved the chicken thigh - when it was cooked well. It took a bit of trial and error to cook it for long enough without being worried that it would give us food poisioning but when we did manage that the fillet was nicely marinated and tender. If I hadn't already eaten so much of everything else, I would have loved to have ordered at least one more serving of this.

Koebi Karaage $5.80

When this dish arrived, DD was pretty confused. For most people, I think when you say Karaage, they will naturally assume that you mean chicken. Koebi Karaage however, was actually small shrimps deep fried. SK was a bit put off by the beady little eyes of the shrimps staring back at her and it took a bit of convincing and putting my hands over her eyes before she conquered that fear. I love anything that goes crunch in my mouth (almost anyway) so this was a nice little snack plate for me.

Torikara $7.80

DD's prays were answered when we decided to get one more dish and got the chicken variety of karaage. I can't say it was the very best I've tried - and believe me, I've tried a lot - but it was a nice way of finishing off a meal. It was just a small entree size but hit the spot for the end of what I would consider quite a filling and delicious yakiniku meal!

Kashiwa Yakiniku
7A Falcon Street
Crows Nest, NSW 2065
PH: (02) 9906 7393