Airline Fruit Platter Meals 航空水果餐

Do you ever peep at the "neighbor's" or "neighbor's neighbor" meal in an airplane? I do, sometimes. There was once when I saw a "special" meal being served and thought "that looks good". Surprising huh, coming from an airline meal. I did not know what meal it was - either a fruits, or raw meal platter? Have you requested for any "special" airline meals? 


You can do so in advance if the airline offers such a service. No longer is such a service reserved for passengers or travelers with special dietary needs e.g. vegetarian, or for religious reasons.  If you cannot stand soggy vegetables, over-cooked rice, over-salty fish/chicken dishes in most standard airline meals, how about going light and refreshed with a hydrating fruit platter? As far as I know from my recent trip, Singapore Airlines and EVA Airways offer this fruit platter option.

You can eat relatively well - no more non-appetizing airline meals. There are also options like raw food meals that I have also considered trying but I really do not want to run the risk of bacteria contamination especially in raw vegetables, so meantime I am satisfied with Fruit Platter meals.

What is your most memorable experience when it comes to airline food? Or share your worst nightmare?

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Singapore Chicken Rice, Hainanese Beef Noodles Lee Fun Nam Kee & Hai Nan Xing Zhou

As I read about and heard of many popular food places closing down in Singapore, I am glad to have recently visited two food stalls/eateries, both almost half-a-century-old in history, that are still around in Singapore. I hope they stay open for as long as they can, so that generations (and generations) get to savor delicious and traditional street-food. Both food stalls traced their history to Hainanese cuisine/food - one being Hainanese Chicken Rice and the other being Hainanese Beef Noodles.

"White" boiled chicken @LeeFunNamKee

Like many famous chicken rice eateries e.g. Tian Tian Chicken Rice, Boon Tong Kee and Five-Star Chicken Rice; Lee Fun Nam Kee Chicken Rice (李范南记鸡饭餐室) also has had its humble beginnings from the hawker stall, but is now its own specialty eatery, located at Toa Payoh.

Famous soy-sauce chicken @LeeFunNamKee

Personally I am neither a chicken-rice fanatic, nor a professional food reviewer to share with you the best chicken rice in Singapore (which reminded me - I have not cooked chicken rice at home for the longest time!).


Lee Fun Nam Kee is a case of not expecting too much but being pleasantly surprised - the chicken rice is actually quite delicious.

For a party of five, we ordered the famous soya-sauce chicken in additional to the Hainanese "white" boiled chicken. Both dishes were well-prepared - tender, succulent chicken, down to the chicken breast.


Lee Fun Nam Kee Chicken Rice (李范南记鸡饭餐室)
Blk 94, Toa Payoh Lorong 4, Singapore 310094



To me, the rice is also part of the highlight in chicken rice, and the rice was perfectly cooked and most importantly, not overly greasy which is what I prefer.

Not-overly-greasy rice

Everything was wiped out at the end of the meal. That shows how good the chicken rice is.

Wiped out!

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Breakfast Street-Food, Singapore 新加坡早餐美食

There is no lack of choices when it comes to breakfast in Singapore and especially in this culturally diverse country, it is "no lack of choices" times three, four, five or more!

Personally, I classify some of Singapore's street-food as breakfast (or my breakfast cravings?) but they certainly are not the healthiest or most nutritious type of breakfast to start off your day, so indulge your Lontong, Roti Prata, Prawn Noodles, Radish Cake in moderation.

The eastern part of Singapore - e.g. Katong, Marine Parade, Joo Chiat, East Coast Road, offers a wide variety of popular Singapore street-food. Those living in the eastern part of Singapore are indeed spoilt for choices. If you are visiting Singapore, make sure you set aside at least half a day in the east region for food, before heading to central-downtown for fun and play.

Lontong

Lontong,  Marine Terrace

Roti Prata

Prata Talk, East Coast Road

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Fried Radish "Carrot" Cake 炒菜头（萝卜）糕

Addictive, the sweet sauce...

Fried Radish ("Carrot") Cake @Bee Bee Carrot Cake, Marine Terrace

Addictive. It must be.

Char Kway Teow

When sweet is combined with salty-savory in a single dish such as Fried Radish ("Carrot") Cake, Char Kway Teow - I simply cannot resist, so much so that I had to have it twice in my recent Singapore trip.

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"Claypot" Chicken Rice

This is home-cooked "claypot" chicken rice cooked by my parents' helper back in Singapore. The main ingredients are chicken (marinated), Chinese waxed sausage, and shitake mushrooms. I believe this "claypot" rice was cooked in a rice cooker.

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Foodbuzz 24 x 24: Wrap-n-Roll Summer Popiah Party

My family's semi-homemade DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Popiah is a welcoming hit among all of us. Every time I am back in Singapore, I try to get my Popiah fix either from hawker stalls or at my parents'. Other than getting to enjoy homemade Popiah this time, I also made the effort to "document" the Popiah-making process. I can't say it is a difficult process but tedious? YES.

The red hue you see is the chili sauce that is smeared on the inside of the skin, then rolled up with vegetables fillings.

Popiah is the pronunciation in Hokkien-Fujian dialect. We also call it 薄饼 (Bao Bing), literally meaning "thin-biscuit" in Mandarin. You can broadly classify it as Spring Roll if you want to. But personally, my idea of Spring Roll is typically fried. So I would rather call it Popiah or maybe Fresh Spring Roll (non-fried)? "Thin-biscuit"? Popiah is definitely not biscuit but being thin as paper? Almost. The wrapper skin is typically a soft, thin paper-like crepe or pancake made from wheat flour (different wrapper from the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls); then wraps and encloses an inside of vegetable fillings and spicy-sweet sauce.

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Glutinous Rice Dumplings - Hokkien,Nyonya, 粽子

I have been eating (Eating?!! Self-delusion!!! "Feasting" to be exact) Rice Dumplings (Zongzi, 粽子) for the past three days. I was in Singapore during the last two weeks of May - catching the early wave of rice dumplings before the actual Duanwu Festival (端午节, 6 June 2011) which usually see rice dumplings as the celebratory centrestage festival food. Clear-minded, rice dumplings should be one of the last few foods to eat during my stay. Why?

Left: Hokkien Bak Chang; right: Nyonya Chinese Dumpling

(1) The lingering heatwave in Singapore and "heaty" glutinous rice used for rice dumplings = more "heat" in the body. Not good.
(2) Too much glutinous rice tend to cause stomach bloatedness. Not good.
(3) I'm not a big fan of rice dumplings and I don't miss it. (In California, rice dumplings are also usually available in the Asian grocery stores - 99Ranch, with flavors such as red bean filling - sweet version; and salted eggs with meat - savory version during the same festival)

However, it is uncommon to find the Nanyang (Singapore/Malaysian) variety, flavors and classics such as the Hokkien Bak Chang and Nyonya Chinese Dumpling.

So I have given in.

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Earth Day: Let's change the way we EAT

I'm concurrently running a similar campaign/ promotion at my other blog - 地球日：以“吃”拯救地球".

Having personally create healthy dishes at home, I know that "Healthy" food is definitely not bland and tasteless eating. Healthy eating can be so delicious; well...if fresh, and natural flavors are what you are looking for.

The use of aromatics and spices as natural flavorings, not overly depend on store-bought seasonings; the variety of vegetables and fruits that adds "colors" (natural antioxidants); sustainable protein options, seeking plant foods (e.g. plant-based proteins) that are healthier not just for our bodies but also for the planet etc.

Purple Sage - Conscious Dining, to be launched on Earth Day 22 April 2011, will pioneer a new green initiative in the catering industry and this is definitely worthwhile to look forward to.

I was absolutely excited when I saw their Conscious Dining Buffet Menu. Finally, a menu so well-balanced in its dedication to vegetables and plant-based proteins, where vegetables and plants take center-stage.

Purple Sage has taken that step - now it is YOU who will empower yourself, your family, and friends to choose healthier food alternative (conscious about what you eat) and the ability to exercise social responsibility through deciding how food is consumed (conscious about how you eat).

Regardless the cliché – what we eat, is really what we are.

For more information about Purple Sage, visit their website.  To find out more about the menu and/or to order, also visit Purple Sage or alternatively call 6396 6990.
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Campaigns and Promotions:

(1) From 22 April 2011 to 6 May 2011:  “Like” Purple Sage on Facebook, and Purple Sage will donate $1 to Singapore Environment Council (to campaign for greater environmental awareness) for every 1 more like to their Facebook Fan Page.  Join them now to receive first-hand information and promotions

(2) $100off Menu Price voucher (*valid for 1 year from date of issue*, ** for use with Minimum Spending of $600 on Standard Food Menu only**)

(i) To receive this $100off Menu Price voucher for use on your next catering event, email: marketing@purplesage.com.sg with your particulars and QUOTE An Escape to Food by tigerfish -OR-  吃出健康 by tigerfish

(ii) To find out more about the menu and/or to order, visit Purple Sage or call 6396 6990.
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Let's change the way we EAT, and let's start with Purple Sage.


Tag: purple sage

An Escape to Food on Facebook

Savory Glutinous Rice Cake - Png Kueh, 桃粿

How about a savory Peach Rice Cake in summer? Peach is to summer. A case of trying too hard, ha! ^o^. These Peach Rice Cakes are Teochew (Chiu Chau) Rice Cakes (桃粿 Tao Guo in Mandarin or Png Kueh in Hokkien(Fujian) dialect) are pre-fried glutinous rice stuffed in rice-flour dough pastry and then steamed prior to consumption.

The Inside...

The rice is typically fried with shallots and dried prawns (hei bi) before being wrapped around by the pastry dough that is often smooth and slightly sticky. The filling is stuffed generously into the pastry as if it's bursting out of the pastry skin when you take your first bite! Today, this rice filling is revved up by pork cubes, peanuts, Chinese celery and white pepper. Finally, the entity is called a CAKE! A peachy-looking cake.

Two to three of them is breakfast...or can be lunch

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Char Kway Teow in Opeh (Betel Nut) Leaf

Char Kway Teow is a very popular hawker/street food in Singapore. To find Char Kway Teow wrapped in Opeh (Areca) Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a takeaway or to-go is rather rare these days.

Similar to Otak-Otak wrapped in Banana Leaves or Coconut Rice cooked with Pandan Leaves, using Opeh Leaf (Betel Nut Leaf) as a food wrap must be doing good to Char Kway Teow in terms of retaining aroma, warmth, or moisture. Maybe eco-friendly too? I don't know. I wonder if we are hurting the Betel Nut Tree population.

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Savory breads, buns and bakes

Uniquely shaped store-bought bakery bread never fail to entice me. Especially when it is savory fillings such as chicken curry, black pepper chicken, ham and cheese, I am not fickle-minded when tasked during selection time. I usually buy them at the first minute! Just like what I did when I saw this spicy savory "ice-cream cone" bread.


Imagine a ordinary bread bun with spicy dried shrimps fillings (locals call it "Hei Bi Hiam"), sprinkles of baked cheese on the bread surface, wrapped at the end with seaweed (nori) sheet.

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Pickled Green Chili Condiment with (Any) Dry Noodles

There is a major difference when a Singaporean and a Hong Konger eats her noodles: Wonton Noodles, Fried Rice Noodles with Gravy (Hor Fun, 河粉), or Fried Rice Noodles in Egg Gravy (Wat Dan Hor).

Condiments.

Choice of sambal chili/garlic-chili/red chili in soy sauce/pickled green chili.

I am for Pickled Green Chili with Shredded Chicken Noodles,


with Fried Vermicelli,


with Wonton Noodles


Apparently, this is something unique to South Asia. I enjoy it because the sour, spice and that hint of sweetness are well-balanced and somehow, magically, the greasy feeling is gone. I even like pickled green chili with fried rice!

How to make Pickled Green Chili: Fresh green chilli, seeded and sliced; some white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar; sugar, salt, water. Mix, then store in air-tight or vacuum-sealed container and refrigerate.

Which condiment do you like, with the noodles above ?

Tag: green chili, pickles

Home recipes for balanced nutritious meals - what I eat, my dad eats

While my parents' helper was away for 2 weeks in the month of January and I happened to be in town for a visit, I decided to take over and cook lunch for my father (yes, my father has the luxury of lunch-ing at home as a semi-retiree). No special staging - I cook what I always would at home (sometimes, rice or porridge with side dishes; and sometimes one-dish meals of rice, noodles and pasta). With the red cargo and brown rice grains that I interchangeably cooked as congee (porridge) and rice, there are a couple of side dishes I also prepared.

Side dishes for Congee (Rice Porridge); clockwise from top-left: Chayote Salad, Steamed Brussel Sprouts seasoned with salt, black pepper and cumin, Stir-fry Cabbage and Carrot and Wok-Fry Shrimps with ginger and green onions.


Side sides with Rice; clockwise from top-left: Aloo (potatoes) Gobi (cauliflower), Roasted Honey-Spice Chicken Wings, Bok Choy.


Do you think it is a balanced and nutritious meal ?



Tag: rice, vegetables,roasted chicken

Pineapple cookies, tarts and rolls

28 Feb marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. There are many cookies, tarts and rolls that are left which are mostly "gifts" from my parents (they received these gifts from friends and pass them on to me) - and...so... I decided it was still tartelicious!


Pineapple tarts and rolls must be one of the most popular and widely variate "cookies" during Chinese New Year. It comes in opened rolls like this and this; opened tarts like this and closed tarts like this. I am amazed!

I prefer the open tart because visually, it seems to have more filling than pastry crust and I love more filling, filling, filling! Is that just a visual illusion or you bakers out there can tell me, if the ratio of pineaple filling to the pastry crust is really different in the bake process for a open vs closed tart/roll?

What's your favorite? Opened, closed, tart, roll? ^0^

Tag: pineapple, pineapple tarts, pineapple rolls

Kueh Lapis - Chinese New Year sweet cake

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Welcome to the Year of the Tiger :)

Associating food with tradition and festivity signifies how essential food is to people, society, culture and to the extent of basic survival. This time of the year, I can see bloggers busily baking Chinese New Year goodies and happily cooking up Chinese New Year dishes. Most of you know that I don't do the former but the latter, yes...sure.


The Kueh Lapis (Cake Layers) is not my favorite sweet treat during Chinese New Year. I prefer melt-in-the-mouth SWEET cookies and definitely, can't escape savory Bak Kwa. As festive dishes and goodies of Chinese New Year, they are all supposed to symbolize something, right? What is the Chinese New Year symbolism of Kueh Lapis then? The only aspect I know of Kueh Lapis ...is how difficult it is to bake.

These thin mulitple layers (building the layers up) of the cake are known to symbolize longevity.

As a variant, there is also prune Kueh Lapis but what is the significance of prune in this cake? Maybe it means SWEETNESS...and relates to a sweet happy long life? You tell me.


Enjoy all the goodies, my friends. Share the food and love.

Read about other symbolism of Chinese New Year food:
Abalone
Scallops
Corn and Sweet Peas - 金玉满堂

Tag: cake, Chinese New Year

"Lucky" food - bread, bun, wonton, dumpling - the shape of ingot

It seems that each day of the 15-day of Chinese New Year celebrations, is supposed to symbolize something. And now I know that the 2nd day is dedicated to eating ingot-shaped wontons. Ingots - money used in ancient China must be such a lucky object that some of our food take after them in shape. Here, an ingot-shaped bun...

stuffed with char siew filling; and

my ingot-shaped wontons with a video on how to wrap them.


Let's hope by eating some of these "lucky" food, we all turn lucky this year. ^0^

Tag: wonton, chinese new year

What's most expensive in your grocery bill

While many Chinese families in Asian societies around the world are busy spending money on market-ing and supermarket-ing in preparation for reunion dinners and get-together meals, I must be a damper to be complaining about my grocery bill. HA! Sorry. Taking a break from Chinese New Year postings....

Looking at my grocery bill (below) in Singapore - a pack of good quality breakfast muesli (SGD11.50 - USD8.00) and milk (SGD15.60 - USD11.00 for half gallon) are more expensive than a piece of salmon steak? Something is going on right here. Wrong. Weird.

Good quality breakfast cereals and muesli does not necessarily mean expensive brands but something more natural: no high fructose corn syrup and in fact, no artificial syrup of any kind. A good nutritious cheaper alternative will be (cooking) oats. Organic milk, oh my god! It's more than 10 bucks for organic milk! So ex. Of course I hear one of my readers saying "Tastes in food are going to be different anywhere you go"...I know. Likewise for prices of groceries as that just depends on geographic, economics and resources.

Do you think that is expensive?

What is most expensive in your grocery bill ?

I am not a totally organic person because of the same argument that it is always more expensive than the standard fare. When barely making the ends meet, we would not care about the kind of food we eat as long as there is something to eat? I still try to go in the direction of choosing wisely, for example, organic processed food does not tempt me as much as organic fresh produce since processed food has been processed anyway.

Anyway, sensitive topic and I will steer away from it at this time. For now, I will just look forward to returning home while my visit to Singapore will end soon.

Tag: grocery, singapore

Beef Burger, Black Pepper Sauce, and Onions = Prosperity !

Scrolling to the bottom of my front page, I found that it has been "meatless" for the past five to six posts!! Certainly, I have not turned vegetarian and probably never will, as the other one with me needs meat. Here comes...a meat post. ^o^


Weirdly enough, I only have my Mcdonald's fix outside the United States - a case where the non-USA franchisees taste better. Ditto Burger King and Carls Junior. Wendy's just made a comeback to Singapore recently and I don't think I will get a chance to try it. The Singapore media glamored it (overhype, maybe?)  - I have not stepped into any Wendys in the US as far as I can remember.

And because there are really better burgers (St. Johns Bar and Grill right smacked at where I stay in Sunnyvale and In-N-Out Burgers throughout California) in the United States, I don't really crave for Mcdonalds, Burger King and Carls Junior in the States.

To call itself a Prosperity Burger can only be something happening in Asia. The Prosperity Burger is a special menu item currently in Singapore's Mcdonalds, due to the festive season ever since New Year in Jan, and awaiting Chinese New Year in Feb.

It tastes quite ok, something different for once, a change once in a while. The packaging says it all - a burger of beefy goodness and spiced up with black pepper sauce and onions.

Remember? I wrote about Mcdonalds in Taiwan offering Multigrain Burger; and KFC in Taiwan offering Portugese Egg Tarts. I remember Mcdonalds Nasi Lemak and Chicken Congee in Singapore too. You can always check out my "chomp chomp" in Taiwan and Singapore.

What is the most memorable or festive goodie offered by your local Mcdonalds, KFC, Burger King or any popular fast-food chain ?

Tag: burger, mcdonalds

Fried vermicelli street food is indulgence for me in Singapore?

Hey folks! I have been back visiting in Singapore since Christmas and will be staying for about a month before I return to California. Street and hawker food is usually what I indulge in (yes, a luxurious word for cheap and good hawker fare) when I am in Singapore because they are rare in California. Well, I am quite sure I can NEVER find food packaged THIS WAY! Just so nostalgic and so real!

In California, take-outs  are common but packed in styrofoam boxes like that, and not this...
In Taiwan, take-outs are sometimes packed in paper boxes like that, and not this...

Yes, in that brown paper lined with thin plastic film (package equally unhealthy as styrofoam box) lies really simple foodfare of fried vermicelli paired with chicken wings, "purse"egg (荷包蛋 equivalent to sunny-side up), some spicy long beans and pickled green chili! Yeah! Yes, sinful but tasty! It is not everyday foodfare so it is ok. We call that Economic Bee Hoon (经济 米粉). Weird name but that's how we call it.

Tag: vermicelli, take-out, singapore

Kitchen Tip: Muffin Pan, a great organizer!

My 12-cup muffin pan has been severely under-utilized. I only use the pan to make savories such as mini curry beef and potato pies and mini chicken pies, no more than that. I bake neither muffins nor cupcakes, and do not attempt to line the muffin pan with wonton skins to be baked in the oven to create crispy wonton cups. Then...what is my muffin pan doing right now?


It has become my color palette!
It has become a great organizer for me to put my prepared ingredients just before I do my cooking!



So, what's next?

Tag: muffin pan