TOFU

Tofu that we ate in the early days were bought fresh from market and they had an unpleasant smell. Tofu was very cheap and regarded as economy food.   My late mum used to buy bean-curd without the sugar syrup and mixed with hot oil & fried onions, soya sauce to serve with rice.   At that time bean-curd only cost 10 cents for a taffin-container.  After my marriage we used to eat a lot of tofu and soy-bean food as my late mother-in-law sold tofu products at the fresh market.  This explains my DH liking for soy food.

Nowadays I buy tofu from supermarket which comes in plastic container, especially from Japan which is smooth and without the unpleasant smell.

2 pkts of tofu, minced pork, 1 tablespoon brown bean paste, 2 eggs (beaten), garlic and chilly paste -

Cut tofu into medium cubes
Heat oil and fry bean & chilly pastes and garlic till fragrant
Add in minced pork and fry till cooked
Add in tofu and bit of water
Pour in beaten egg and do not stir till egg is cooked
Add in 1 teaspoon cornstarch with water and mix well
Stir in cornstarch into tofu mixture till thickens

PREPARATIONS

Time flies - at a winkle, Christmas is here.   It seems like yesterday that I had just finished baking fruit cakes.

As there is only 4 weeks away from Christmas, went to Phoon Huat to buy the necessary ingredients for baking.  My fruit cakes are well received as they are full of alcohol aroma and lots of dried fruits. Soak fruits in alcohol for 2 weeks before baking.

PORK WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS

Jaw exercising dish with all crunchy vegetables to chew - fried bamboo shoots with celery, szechuan vegetables, tomatoes, spring onions and pork.

Fresh bamboo shoots are sold in supermarkets which come readily peeled and packed in plastic bag. Unlike older days where whole fresh shoots with skin were sold and had to put up with itch when preparing as the bamboo shoot skins were covered with fine spike hair.

MALACCA PINEAPPLE TARTS

These pineapples look delicious.  Thanks to Linda who use to bring back these delicious treats for us whenever she returns home to Malacca.

The pastry is biscuit base and generously top with pineapples cooked in gula melaka, which gives these tarts the heavenly aroma and unique taste.  The tart size is enormous to fill one's tummy.

DIM-SUM LUNCH

My DH likes to go for tim-sum, especially when our uncle from Hong Kong visited us.  He would without fail accompany uncle for tim-sum everyday as it is a practice in Hong Kong that going for tim-sum 2 times a day is a norm, early morning around 4.30 am and lunchtime at 11.30am.  It is very normal for them to order 1-2 plates of tim-sum and a pot of Chinese tea, with newspaper in hand, to stay in the restaurant or tea-house at least 2-3 hours leisurely reading the papers.

Our usual place for tim-sum is Crystal Jade Palace in Takashimaya but after moving to East Coast we tried The Paramount Restaurant in Katong on Sunday.  The business was not as good as in Crystal Jade and walk-in securing a seat is not a problem.

Siew mai is my children's favourite.

The sharkfin soup dumpling was good and full of fillings of scallop, mushroom, sharkfins, bamboo shoot and pork.  The soup was sweet and flavorful.  One bowl is enough for 2 persons.

The prawn dumplings looked good also.

Fried fritter rolls filled with prawns were crispy and not oily.

They claimed this dumplings to be their significant dish but no different from normal chives dumplings.

This was disappointing with thick rough skin.  Skin should be thin and smooth.

The skin of the cheong fun is too thick for the fritter

Spareribs were tasty with not much fat.

Char siew pau was big with soft fuffy skin.  Fillings were moderate.

Egg tarts were flaky with creamy custard.

Overall service was slow and missed out two bowls of century egg porridge which we ordered at the start.  Waited for nearly 20 mins just to pay the bill.

The Paramount Restaurant
Paramount Hotel & Shopping Centre
30 East Coast Road #01-01/02
Tel : 64403233

SHARKFIN SQUASH SOUP

This soup is good for quenching thirst during hot weather.  It is also reputed to  alleviate heatiness. With the addition of other herbs the soup is effective in removing dampness and eases physical exhaustion.

1/2 sharkfin melon
white fungus
sha shen
yu zhu
2 tablespoons barley
8 dried longans
wolberry seeds
lean pork

Soak white fungus and rinse
Rinse all ingredients and cut squash into big pieces
Scald and rinse pork
Bring water to boil and add all ingredients except wolberry seeds
Boil for 10 mins and lower heat and cook for 3 hours
Add wolberry seeds and season

Can anyone please tell me what is zip code? I am applying for PayPal account.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

A belated birthday post.

A chocolate hazelnut birthday cake for my youngest daughter's birthday.  The cake was ordered from Goodwood Park Hotel.  The chocolate mousse was awfully good with crunchy hazelnuts base.

STIR-FRY CABBAGE

Cabbage fry with dried shrimps and tomatoes tastes delicious.  The dried shrimps bring out the aromatic flavour and the tomatoes give a sourish-sweet taste.  Addition of spring onions to the cabbage entails crunchiness of the dish.

AMERICAN GINSENG TEA

I feed ginseng tea to my children during exam time as I am particularly concern about their health.  I wanted to make sure that they are not stressed out and tired.  They are make to drink the tonic tea before bedtime or on an empty stomach before breakfast.

American ginseng, wolberry seeds and licorice root
Put all into boiling water and simmer for 30 mins over low heat
Add in salt, stir well and turn off heat

American ginseng is bittersweet and cold in nature.  It tonifies the qi and expels the heat.   It is suitable for those who are under stress and tire.

EARLY BIRTHDAY

We celebrated youngest daughter's birthday a day earlier as my eldest girl is going to perform for a play in the university on Saturday evening.  Birthday girl wanted to have Japanese food so we went to our usual place, Ichiban Boshi in Great World City.  We are entitled to free side orders with our spin voucher from last visit.  We were lucky to have another $40 voucher spin at this meal for next visit.

We shared  3 set-meals and side orders.

Set with side orders