Famous for its wonton noodle, Tsim Chai Kee Noodle was one place I was dying to try and, somehow, craving for days before my short weekend trip to Hong Kong. The moment my mum and I touched down and checked in to our hotel, she pulled me straight to Tsim Chai Kee Noodle. No time was wasted. We were hungry and on a mission for good wonton noodles.

Months before, my sister had brought her to this noodle shop and since then, my mum had been raving about it almost on daily basis. From the entrance of the restaurant, one could see part of the kitchen and hot noodles were being scooped into bowls accompanied by fat wontons or thick slices of beef or both. When we arrived at Tsim Chai Kee Noodle at around 1pm, it was packed. Although thankfully, no queue. However, we were sent right to the back of the restaurant and had to share a table with 3 other locals. The table we sat at was next to boxes of wonton skin and noodles. You get it, we were just stuffed, or to be put it cruelly dumped to the back. However it wasn’t that bad and the three locals sitting at our table were hilarious. But more on that later.

The menu, I saw to my delight was small and only a couple of dishes listed. Although I could not read traditional chinese, I could still identify several words and immediately knew what I wanted. A bowl of noodles with a trio of meat (HK$28). Wonton, beef slices and their homemade fishball. When my bowl of noodles arrived…

Excuse the blurry picture, I was shaking with excitement. I could not even see the noodles below and was for a moment lost as to where to begin. In the bowl, there were two wontons, around 3 slices of beef and one big greyish fishball with specks of green onions. This place is smart, using a relatively small bowl, they crowded everything into it and made it seem so full. Having said that, for the price, it was pretty substantial.

The noodles were divine. This is probably one big reason to visit. It was thick, full of texture and cooked to perfection. Neither soft nor hard demonstrating undercooked-ness. The trio of meat were pretty surreal. Fat wontons with at least three prawns in each. Beef slices were tender, chewy and moist. I almost screamed with joy whilst eating it. The fishball was quite unlike nothing. Again chewy and when you bite into it, it bounces off into your mouth and dances around. The soup was brothy, so full of flavour and salty. It is hard to find a place that does each and every component of a dish right at that price but Tsim Chai Kee achieved it.

Now back to the other patrons. The three locals at our table were hilarious. They were young, two girls and one boy. Throughout the meal the girl sitting in the middle exercised two variations to her voice chords. One a tender, flirtatious little girl’s voice whenever she talked to the boy, who was more interested in his phone, and to the other girl, a deeper more serious voice. My mum and I were silent throughout the meal, not only because we were thirlled for our noodles, but also to interrupt the girl would be rude. We definitely had a good laugh over it after lunch.

I will be back at Tsim Chai Kee and thoughts of their noodles make me hungry now. Thank goodness Hong Kong is only three hours flight away from Singapore.

Tsim Chai Kee 沾仔记

98, Wellington St. Central, Hong Kong.

中環威靈頓街98號地下

Last Saturday I made a trip to Derwish on 60 Bussorah Street with two friends. I was excited! In the latest issue of Her World magazine, there was an article on interesting shops and restaurants in Kampong Glam. One of the restaurants featured was Derwish. As I was still desperately seeking a good Turkish/ Middle Eastern restaurant in Singapore, the restaurant caught my attention and left me craving for grilled meat and hummus. I immediately grabbed my phone and messaged my two friends! Within a couple of days, I was sitting in the pretty restaurant. Derwish is located in front of the magnificent Sultan Mosque and directly opposite Deli Moroccan (one of my favourite budget eatery in Singapore.)

Upon arrival at Derwish, I was surprised to find the inside of the restaurant empty with only a couple of people sitting outside. I was a little worried by the few patrons but being extremely hungry and with two friends due to arrive, I told the waiter I wanted to sit inside. The weather was too hot for me to sit outside and pretend to enjoy the heat. The waiter then told his colleague to switch on the air conditioning inside. *Sigh* I had to wait for the air conditioning to cool down the room. However when I walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a beautiful sight. The restaurant was not big but seemed spacious by the gold gilded panel bordering the wall. On the tables were white plates with a blue logo of the restaurant on the top of the plate. There also lay the most attractive coasters I have ever come seen.

I begin to feel excited and more comfortable. The waiters were quick to hand me the menu but I was desperate for cold water and only after I asked 5 minutes later did they then bring me a glass. It didn’t take me long to decide what to order. My friend, D, and I decided to share an appetizer and mixed kebab platter. At the start of the meal, my friend ordered a hot Turkish Apple Tea. Because outside wasn’t hot enough?! Never mind, the tea was served in a beautiful tea cup.

The appetizer platter came with a mixture of dips and different types of salads served with a HUGE warm Lavash Bread. Needless to say I dived into the food. The salads included a potato salad with mayonnaise, chopped up cucumber with tomatoes in light vinegar, an extremely delicious eggplant stewed in tomato sauce and others. My memory fails me at this point. I thought the bread went very well with the dips and not so much with the salad although they were refreshing. However the salads did later come in handy with the mixed kebab platter.

If you like meat, this is for you. The platter came with two pieces of shish kebabs, two sticks of chicken kebab, a grilled chicken wing, a lamb chop and two sticks of grilled beef cubes. All the chicken were glazed in a thick sauce that went well with the rice and prevented the dish from being too dry. I ate the sauce with the rice like gravy. With so much meat and only a few cauliflower and broccoli florets, which I guessed were thrown in due to the guilty conscious of the chef, the salads from the appetizer helped cut away the intensity meatiness of the dish. The rice was also delicious! It was light and there was something mixed into it. Not sure what though. They reminded me of Chinese dried scallops. Haha! But anyhow I was lapping it up. It was so light and I didn’t feel as if I was eating much of it, dangerous for my low-carb diet. What I loved most of the dish was how moist the meat were. Usually that is my beef with middle eastern restaurants. Meat being too dry but this was different, the chicken were not stringy and none of the meat were overcooked(!)

When we finished with the platter, I was thirsty! Sooo incredibly tasty. Too much MSG??? Anyhow I saw earlier on the menu, they served Turkish tea in teapots. I rejoiced when my friends were keen to share a pot. Although there was many options available, which is rare in Turkish restaurants here, I stuck to good old Apple Tea.

The teapot was served on this hot plate. And when some tea spilled on it, it sizzled like meat being placed on a hot BBQ plate. The tea was sweet! So sweet and rich with the taste of apple. The sweetness was great because we didn’t need to order desserts plus the pot was huge. For $8.50, we managed to fill three small glasses several times. A great deal!

In all, including my friend’s single Hummus order, the bill came to $74.50. No GST was charged. Not too expensive and I will definitely be back!

Recently I had a really good brunch. Food for Thought serves up delicious and scrumptious all-day breakfast and after 12pm, lunch. There are pasta and risotto, all of which I have yet to try. The breakfast options are so yummy, I never bother looking past the second page. Breakfast options can be found here. I always have the Full Works. It is heart stopping, literally, with its buttery toasted brioche, deep fried chicken sausage, cute round harsh browns and others which I promise will leave any cardiologist wince in pain. Food for Thought also supports several causes. Sorry, the food is soo good, I never bother going to find out what they are and as along as the food remains good, I will be back often.

I am not a fan of bacon so I asked if they could change my bacon to chicken sausage and the waiter said ok. Hence why the picture above looks as if there was some sausage overload. If that mega plate above is too much for you, Food for Thought is extremely flexible. You can pick and choose whichever suits you or your diet that day. The place was also very airy and the interior was decorated artistically. On the ceilings were at least a hundred glass bottles and four inverted (fake) orchid plants. For dessert we had a mixed berries pancakes. The pancakes made me smile. I was so happy. Sweet, fluffy, thick and hot pancakes with generous amounts of syrup.

When I’m tired of the brunch and pancakes I shall move onto the pasta and risotto.

Here it is again. Another Red Velvet. However, this time I tweaked the recipe to suit what was left in my fridge and Billy’s Bakery one-bowl-method which I am so into right now. The colour of the cake was divine. Perfect. Vibrant and bright red. Texture wise, felt exactly like velvet. See for yourself.

I topped the cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting. Leftover from my last baking adventure. The frosting is a little too rich for the cupcake so the next time I am going to use the traditional cream cheese frosting.

Recipe after the jump.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (using one-bowl method)

(12 perfect cupcakes)

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
• 1 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons red food colouring
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together cake flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. Slowly add the oil.
3. Add egg and beat until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
4. Reduce speed to low. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
5. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

When the cake was done, mine came out looking like this.

Sure, they look ugly but slap on some frosting and no one would even know.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes (SCC) are everywhere and I decided to read up a bit and try it out. I was most inspired by Cupcake Royale in Settle, USA, and absolutely love their piping-bag-free frosting technique. For this cupcake, I used a combination of two recipes. Magnolia Bakery’s Chocolate cupcakes and a Salted Caramel Frosting recipe from Chow.com because it was the easiest and did not require eggs (I am all for low cost baking.) However, I did tweak the ingredients a bit as several were too expensive for me. Namely Buttermilk and Heavy Cream. Heavy Cream was way too costly for me and for the amounts I was using, it did not justify the price tag. Buttermilk is just a waste for money considering you can use milk and simply add lemon juice or white vinegar.

Also although I did use all the ingredients and amount set by Magnolia, I decided to try something new and used Billy Bakery’s one-bowl method. Watch the video on Martha Stewart and you will know what I mean. It is very different from Magnolia’s technique of first creaming the butter and sugar. What I like most about the Billy technique is that it minimized a lot of washing up for me to do. Texture wise the Billy method was not as moist but no fear, the cake was still moist and tasty. The cake was similarly delicious. I loved how velvety and soft it was. And I will definitely use this method for my future cupcakes. Furthermore, I left in some burnt caramel for some bite to the frosting. A delightful treat.

Recipe after the jump as well as my thoughts and feelings.

Magnolia Bakery’s Chocolate Cupcakes

with Billy’s Bakery one-bowl method.

(24 cupcakes)

• CUPCAKES:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see Note)

• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp white vinegar/ lemon juice. When added together, leave for it to curdle.)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note: To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for approximately 5–10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm 5–10 minutes.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour. Then add cooled melted chocolate.
2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

(enough to frost more than 24 cupcakes)

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (learn how to substitute using milk from here.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used Fleur de Sel)
• 1 cup powdered sugar

1. Briefly stir together granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture turns dark amber in color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Set aside until cool to the touch, about 25 minutes.
3. Combine butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add powdered sugar, and mix until completely incorporated.
4. Turn mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add caramel. Beat frosting on medium-high speed until airy and thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until stiff, about 45 minutes, before using.

*Phew!* What a night. I made Momofuku’s Pan-Roasted Dry Aged Steak accompanied with Mac & Cheese for dinner. I am officially exhausted. Momofuku’s Dry Aged Steak was such a delight. A lot of effort but worth it. Before this, I believed in the simple salt and pepper seasoning, pan roasting and serve it straight with some Edmond Fallot French Dijon Mustard.

This recipe is a little different. At the end, the steak needs to be ‘bathed’ in butter, garlic, thyme and shallots. The sweetness of the shallot and garlic (one of my favourite) gave the steak a lot more depth and flavour. The recipe is simple. Although I greatly encourage decreasing the time in the oven if you have an extremely good quality pan (like mine.) I shortened my oven time to 5 minutes and it was still a bit too well done.  Recipe after the jump.

Ingredients

2 to 2.5 pound bone-in rib-eye steak, very preferably dry-aged

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tbsp unsalted butter

Few sprigs of thyme

3 garlic cloves (halved or quartered)

1 medium or 2 small shallots

Maldon salt (I used sea salt))

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Prep the garlic and shallots.

2. Heat a medium to large (10-12 inch) cast-iron pan over high heat. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan (like me), another oven-safe pan should work. While the pan is heating, season both sides of the steak liberally with Kosher salt. Then season with pepper.

3. When the pan is ready (really, really smoking hot), place one side of the steak down and do NOT touch it. The steak should sizzle aggressively. After 2 minutes, flip the steak onto its other side. The seared side should be on the golden side of browned. Sear the other side for another 2 minutes. Then, stand the steak up on its fatty edge (opposite the bone) and sear that for 30 seconds. Afterwards, turn it back down on the first side that was seared. (Be prepared, your kitchen will get very very smoky.)

4. Place the steak in the oven and leave it alone for 8 minutes. Decrease this timing if your steak is smaller. Mine was around half a pound and 3 minutes is enough.

5. Remove the steak from the pan, then place it back on the stove over low heat. Add the butter, thyme, garlic and shallots to the pan. As soon as the butter melts, start basting! Use one hand to tilt the pan at a 45 degree angle so that the butter pools at the bottom. Then with the other hand, scoop the liquid butter up with a large spoon and bathe the steak. Baste constantly for 2 minutes. Move it to a plate, cover with foil and let it rest preferably for about 10 minutes. Make sure to leave the remaining fat/butter in the pan and reheat it once the steak is ready to eat.

6. David Chang said to slice the steak. Cut the steak off of the bones and slice against the grain (perpendicular to the bone) into half-inch thick sticks. Sprinkle on some Maldon slt and drizzle the remaining fat/butter over the pieces. I did not bother with this. I put the steaks on a nice plate, poured my butter mixture onto it and served. Truly amazing. My parents were well impressed!

Today, I decided to be closer to be babies and moved all my books from the hall into my room. I moved the unnecessary dictionaries out (who needs them when you have dictionary.com?) I reckon they look pretty handsome together. Also, I just bought a book online. Now I just have to wait 30 days whilst Amazon ships it from good ole America to me.

I have a wide range. Two from Jamie O. I brought them back from England. His recipes are simple and fun but taste wise, pretty weak. Not as flavourful as I hoped. However, his are great to learn basic cooking. Marie Claire Kitchen, a 5.1 pound giant I brought back from England. I tried several recipes. Hummus and Roast Chicken, which both turned out heavenly. Meat by Adrian Richardson is so educational. I bought it for work (I work in a supermarket) and it was filled with the most amazing meat recipes. As well as brilliant basic cooking instructions. It definitely led to me understand and appreciate meat more in depth. However there were several I am unable to cook due to the unavailability of rabbit in the shops here. There are also great side dishes recipes in there. Feast by Nigella, Dolce Vita by David Rocco and Cooking with Curtis given to me by my sis (she works for a travel & leisure network.)

Serves 12

Preparation