How do we eat well in Singapore?

Does eating well in Singapore mean (a) queuing for 2 hours at a stuffy hawker centre? (b) paying through your nose at the top tables like Iggy's or St Pierre? (c) hunting and searching the entire island for that newly opened joint that has not been reported or blogged about (so that its neither expensive (yet) or crowded (yet)?)

The search continues...

Classic margarita pizza

There's this quaint, almost heartlander-style Italian restaurant holed up along Upper Thomson Road that serves excellent thin crust pizzas and other Italian favourites. Not all are hits - the vongole was a real disappointment - it was soupy, salty and the dried herb taste was overpowering, so was the panna cotta which was more like caramel custard. But the Classic Margarita was yummy - the tomato sauce was rich and tasty, the cheese golden (and not overladen) and the crust was chewy in the centre and crispy on the outside. However, we tried some of the other pizza toppings but didn't fancy them too much. The special when we visted was bbq porkribs. It was really good as well. Nicely charred at the edges and the sweet and spicy sauce was fingerlicking yummy. I liked the roasted potatoes that came with the main courses. Tender and perfectly done.

Cheaper than most other pizza joints like Spizza's and whatever pizzaria joint you can find in HV area. Romano's a nice weekday dinner place for northlanders like us craving for something other than teochew porridge and chicken rice.

my favourite tim sum

One of the places that we frequent (at least once a month) is Crystal Jade Kitchen. Ask any Singaporean, and they can point out which is their usual outlet or which are their favourite items to order. For D and I, it's the har kow, without a doubt. The har kow (prawn dumplings) are always freshly made and steaming hot, with succulent, almost to a point of crunchiness, chopped up prawns all wrapped up in a bite size morsel. The thin layer of translucent skin completes the package. The taste is light and with a touch of soy sauce, it's tim sum heaven for me. Maybe I should head down to J8 for lunch. All this describing is making me crave for tim sum.

What is your favourite tim sum item?

pho bo for breakfast lunch dinner

What do vietnamese eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Yup, the quintessential pho bo - beef noodles. Piping hot beef broth with rare beef slices on thin rice noodles. You can choose from a whole selection of beef everything - from tendons to meatballs and suspicious looking morsels. There's also chicken... but you must be a fool if you choose the chicken option. If you do, you belong to the group who goes to a steak house and ask for fish and chips. Or chicken rice without the chicken? Huh... The side plate of herbs, bean sprouts, sliced white onions and red chillies, lime wedges make this dish refreshingly light but hearty at the same time. No wonder its one of vietnam's top export. D and I wolved down quite a few bowls while we were there - for brekkie, lunch and dinner of course. burp.

PS. Hanoi's version is definitely not as tasty and hearty. My vote goes to the Saigon's version.

our own espresso machine

Finally an espresso machine of our own. Though it wasn't the exact colour or specifications we wanted, we were still thrilled to get it. Does ESE taste as good as ground? Does orange go with pink? Does 1 portion of ground cost as much as an ESE pod? Does too much caffeine make me hyperventilate? Yes to all these questions. Yes, ESE does taste fantastic, if not better for amateur home espresso baristas like us. Yes, I'm sure I'll get use to the orange next to my pink mosaic walls. The red one which we exchanged wasn't the same shade as the telephone or the kitchenaid sitting on the counter anyway. (why change? they gave us a used one!) Yes, the ESE pod doesn't cost that much to my surprise. Several cents per cup of espresso if we buy a whole carton from the distributor. And yes, caffeine does make me hyperventilate which I unfortunately found out when I was at my evening class trying to keep awake and boy was I awake, and very much out of breath as well. Welcome dear orange francisfracis to our home.

PS. my gal friends who were over last Friday joked that it was very much like the Sims. I have upped the friendship quotient with this latest gadget. Hooray on the high readings on the friendship bar. Now, all I need is a pool table or maybe a jacuzzi or a swimming pool. Sure Wee. I'll work on it.

take a break

One of recent favourite pantry staples. Marks & Spencer's raspberry viennese fingers. Very fattening but oh so yummy! It's got this chewy & jammy centre of raspberry jam, surrounded by cream filling, sandwiched between 2 buttery, crumbly viennese fingers. Absolutely wonderful with a glass of cold milk or piping hot sugarless black coffee. Sit back, take a bite and a sip and enjoy the rest of the day.

green tea panna cotta with white chocolate-vanilla sauce and red bean compote

After our trip to Saigon and trying that unforgettable and heavenly espresso version at Opera, Hyatt, I just had to try it again.

Back home in Singapore, I had one really horrible one at Friends (or something) at Serangoon Gardens. Gross. They called it homemade blueberry panna cotta. They weren't lying when they said it was home-made, and made terribly at that. It wasn't jellified or custard-like at all, it was more of a brownish sauce and a complete mess. It was just sweet with no body, no blueberry taste, pure sugar. I returned it with no apologies. I told the waitress really nicely, 'Well, this obviously is not a panna cotta, so why do you call it one?' She replied,'it's homemade' I was appalled. So with a smile, I answered, 'A home-made cake must still look and taste like a cake, isnt't it?' She decided to take it back and not charge for it. But still... she insisted that there was nothing wrong with it though. I still get a squimish reaction now when I think of it.

Green tea panna cotta with white chocolate-vanilla sauce and red bean compote

So here's my take on an Italian favourite. Green tea is not typical Italian ingredient but it's popular as a dessert and beverage ingredient here in Singapore. Green tea tiramisu, green tea cheesecake, etc. Panna Cotta is not a common dessert choice, but it is somewhat like the tau huay (soy bean curd with sugar syrup) we have for brekkie, though the Italian version is very much richer, creamier and a lot more fattening! The smooth, velvety and very heavenly texture helps to lessen the guilt for sure.

for the panna cotta
200 ml full cream milk
250 ml pouring cream
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 gelatine leaves
1 vanilla pod
1 tbsp green tea leaves (Japanese)
1/2 tbsp 'bakeable' green tea powder

for the white chocolate sauce
a handful of white chocolate chips/buttons
3 tbsp of pouring cream
vanilla pod from the panna cotta

for the red bean compote
1 cup of dried red beans
3/4 cup of sugar (taste as you go along)
a lot of water (only when its mushy, you stop adding water to the pot)

I used whole green tea leaves for the aroma as well as 'bakeable' green tea powder for the colour. I bolied the cream and milk till almost boiling point, infusing the green tea leaves and powder and split vanilla pod in the warm liquid. The sugar was added and stirred in till dissolved. I soaked the gelatine leaves in cold water for several minutes before squeezing out the liquid. I added the gelatine to the warm cream mixture and stirred till everything dissolved. Allow the liquid to cool before scooping into glasses. Leave them in the fridge till wobbly and set.

As for the chocolate sauce, add all the ingredients and stir at low heat still smooth. Do make sure you don't burn the chocolate, as it burns easily. Of course you can do the water bath method, but for so little sauce, I took the lazy way out and was extremely watchful.

Boil the red beans till mushy and mush them slightly with a fork. Refrigerate till ready to use.

To assemble, pour a thin layer of white chocolate sauce on the panna cotta, spoon a quenelle of red bean compote gently on top. A suggestion is to serve the panna cotta with hot chinese tea, especially if you use Asian flavours. I served mine with Oolong. I think Jasmine is another good choice. (but not green tea though, it will neutralise the taste) Here's a tip: Serve small portions! My guests were overwhelmed with gigantic portions. Go easy on the chocolate saue too. This is a rich dessert so a little goes a long way. If you are sick of the usual chocolate desserts, panna cotta is an excellent alternative for our Asian tastebuds. Do experiment with local flavours. If you do try different flavours, do share with me your inspired combinations.