MB's Cookin'!!!

Tori Soboro Gohan
(Seasoned Ground Chicken over Rice)

Of course this can't compare to the kick-ass version served at Tori Shin, but I decided to make it for myself anyway. Easy enough! :) I served it with Stir-fried Baby Kai Lan and Willow Mushrooms. *rubbing a full tummy*



Ingredients:

* 1/2 lb. ground chicken
* (3 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sugar, 3 Tbsp mirin, 1 tsp ginger juice)
* 4 eggs
* (1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 Tbsp mirin, 1/2 tsp salt)
* 4 cups steamed Japanese rice

Preparation:
Put ground chicken, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and ginger juice in a small pan. Simmer the meat on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with chopsticks until moisture is almost gone. Beat eggs in a medium pan and add sugar, mirin, and salt. Put on medium-low heat and scramble eggs finely with chopsticks until cooked. Serve steamed rice into four deep bowls. Arrange chicken soboro and egg in two different sections on top of the rice. Garnish with Seaweed/Nori Furikake if desired.

*Makes 4 servings

Jones The Grocer

More midweek lunch goodness! :)


My buddy Mong brought me to Jones The Grocer at Dempsey Hill for lunch.


It's an Australian gourmet food store, but in my eyes: Dean & Deluca. :P I'm telling ya, you can take me outta New Yawk, but you can't take New Yawk outta mel!!


Mmmmmm~ two different salts. :D :D :D What a turn-on!


Lunch specials menu.


Can't remember which flavoured tea I ordered, but I thought the presentation of everything served in an oversized square plate was nice.


Grainfed Roast Beef w/ Jones Dijonaise, Roasted Pumpkin, Jones Balsamic Onion on Turkish Bread. This was really GOOD!!!


The atmosphere inside Jones is casual and comfortable. Soaring high ceilings, brightly-lit interior with a cookie/pastry bar in the middle of the room. Industrial, heavy-duty type of furnishing. The gourmet food items are the superstars here.


Beautifully-packaged gourmet food items. Foodies' grocery heaven! :)


I thought the food was a tad overpriced but then again, the flavours were good and portions were generous enough. Quite an indulgence, I'll say, but worth it. Besides, Mong (and her entire household) had just completed a home-quarantine mandate caused by a H1N1 affliction, so I was mighty glad that we indulged ourselves there over lunch.

By the way, all month (and possibly longer) I have been eating out every single day and it's beginning to show around my hips. -____-" Hence, in an effort to save money as well as trim down the waistline, I think I'm ready to start cooking at home again... after like, months of hiatus. I don't remember cooking anything memorable all year and it's already July now. :x D'oh!

Midweek lunch @ Spruce.

I've been wanting to check out SPRUCE for a while now, especially upon reading my homegurl PF's journal entries of her multiple patronage there. I was delighted (but not surprised) when she suggested we go there for our girly lunch date yesterday. Finally I got a chance to try it and I must say, I was definitely not disappointed.


A blackboard listing menu specials welcomes you upon entry.


Al fresco seating area features classic Eames chairs. Love! Love! Love!


Lunch menu. Mmmmm, which to order? What to get?


PF went for the Tagliatelle w/ Kurobuta Bolognese, Chili and Fresh Basil.


I decided to have Braised Duck Pappardelle with Rosemary.


Getting ready to dive into my pasta. *S-s-s-s-starving*


Baby K who had just woken up from her nap, in time for a photo!


PF left to use the bathroom real quick, and this was the beginning of Baby K starting to have a panic attack. She looked at me, then around herself, back at me, around herself again, then realized her mommy wasn't in sight, then her lower lips started curling, and then.... BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLED. -_-"


Baby was humored once again in Mommy's presence.


I'm starting to get the hang of doing this midweek "taitai-esque" lunch thingie. Hee hee!

As for Spruce itself: creative menu, reasonable prices, great flavours, good portions, cozy ambiance. In Yelp fashion.... I'm giving it a 5-star (outta 5) rating! :) I definitely see myself going there again.

328 Katong Laksa

I went out to the Katong area last week to have "laksa". Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from Peranakan culture also known as Baba and Nyonya, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa .



Celebrities who have visited 328 Katong Laksa.



Look who I found on the wall, ehehehehe. Tony Leung! :9~



Ekin Cheng ate at 328 Katong Laksa too.



A glass of Lime Juice to cool down with. Naturally, it was a hot and humid day (like, everyday).



The laksa prep stall.



A fragrant steaming bowl of Katong Laksa, ladies and gentlemen!

Laksa is commonly served with a spoonful of sambal chilli paste and is traditionally garnished with Vietnamese coriander, or laksa leaf, which is known in Malay as daun kesum. Cockles are usually very commonly used in laksa and most vendors would add them into laksa unless customers request not to have cockles for hygiene reasons.

I *love* the cockles in laksa. The more the better! But indeed they can cause an issue when it comes to hygiene. I recall one incident when I had laksa for lunch one time at a food court somewhere, asked for extra cockles and ended up getting food poisoning so severe that I missed out on a friend's wedding banquet that same night. Incidentally, said wedding banquet was the sole reason for me visiting Singapore at the time. D'oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -_-



Laksa is often paired with Otak-otak, which is also a Peranakan food. Otak-otak is made by mixing fish paste (usually mackerel) with a mixture of spices including chillies, garlic, shallots, turmeric, lemon grass and coconut milk. The mixture is then wrapped in a banana leaf that has been softened by steaming, then grilled or steamed.



Singaporean/Malaysian Otak-otak (orange color) is different than the Indonesian version (white color). The latter does not have spices added in and the texture is denser and bouncier. I'll take photos of Indonesian Otak-otak next time when I get a chance.



:)

Central (Takashimaya)

My parents were in town for the last two days, in transit for their business trip to TPE and I was very happy to meet up with them. Mom suggested that we have lunch at Central, a HK-style 茶餐廳 'coffeeshop' injavascript:void(0)side Takashimaya. Eating with my family is one of my favourite activities because my dad is quite the foodie, plus getting together with them is a somewhat rare treat for me, so I always enjoy this tremendously.


Studying the menu.


Mom wanted to try this 肉鬆千層豆腐 (Tofu w/ Pork Floss). This was yum-o! The tofu was served cold, which really hit the spot on a humid warm afternoon.


Deep-fried Intestines. :9~


XO Sauce Rice Crepes (XO醬腸粉).


Dad's Satay Beef Noodles. He said the accompanying soup was flavourful.


Mom's Spicy Beef Fried Rice Noodles (火爆乾炒牛河).


Red Dates and Longan Iced Drink.


After lunch, we walked around in the area a bit, strolled into Cold Storage where Dad started hovering around this table with an array of fresh durians. It is the peak season for durians at the moment and these looked rather attractive to him. Various varieties, priced from $38 to $10.


He was particularly interested in these Super Mountain King durians, priced at $38 per pack (the most expensive variety). But in the end he didn't get any, not sure why. I am not really into durians; I don't mind the smell nor taste, and I find some desserts/pastries with durian flavours quite enjoyable. It's just not something that I'd automatically reach out for when I see them, unlike say, persimmons or dragonfruits (which I love eating).


Another two varieties of the durians on display. I thought their names are interesting. :P

Lunch at PS Cafe (Palais Renaissance)

I met up with Pei yesterday at the PS Cafe (Project Shop Cafe) within Palais Renaissance for a long late lunch, and boy, we were cradling the rocks in our bellies outta there by the time we were done with our meal. The thing with Pei is, we have been journal friends for several years now, we graduated from the same secondary school (different years), she used to live in NY for a bit and at one point we had the same hairstylist (Wyman @ Cutting Edge). But we've never met each other until yesterday. She is one cool gal and I'm looking forward to visiting her in Hong Kong sometime. ^^





The decor of PS Cafe is nice, it puts you inside a collonial-style greenhouse-like setting. High ceilings w/ wooden beams, old-style ceiling fans, marble tables and rattan chairs. There are displays of flowers and ferns here and there, potted inside aged mint julep cups. A very idyllic atmosphere and great food. Huge portions though, but heck~ we are "Americans" so can't quite say we're intimidated by that. ;P

Okay, on to the food pr0n...



Fries w/ Grated Parmesan and Truffle Oil. Decadent!



PS Caesar Salad w/ Poached Egg and Herb-infused Croutons. (I thought this was super duper yummy!).



Croque Monsieur, it was huuuuuuge!

Oh, I didn't get to take a photo of our drinks. We both had the Peach and Lychee Fizz, which tasted reeeeeaaaaallly good! Just the right amount of carbonation and sweetness. I loved it a lot.

As if we hadn't had enough good, Pei was egging me on to order dessert and we decided on the Giant Coffee Eclair. Frankly, the word "Giant" was a major turn-off at this point, but..... ah okay, we're on vacation, what the heck, let's go for it.

See how bloody frickin' humongous the Eclair is!?!?!

So in Yelp fashion, I am giving this place a 4 out of 5 stars. I like the atmosphere, the decor, the menu offerings, but I find the prices just a tad on the high end and it'll be a full-blown indulgence to be eating here regularly.