GHIM MOH

Went to Ghim Moh market for breakfast as DH has to attend a course at Matrix Biopolis.  Although finding a parking space there is a problem it is the nearest market place for food, but managed to secure a place without fuss.

There was a long queue at the steamed yam cake and chee cheong fun stall (Stall #01-19) as their steamed yam cake is popular, having being featured on Media Corp food program.  Glutinous rice is also one of their specialty.  A plate of steamed yam cake and chee chong fun combination costs only $2.20, drown in delicious sweet sauce and chillies and top with spring onions, fried onions and sesame seeds.

A plate of $3 fried chay tau kwey in dark sauce was ordered from the next stall.  Although there was no queue the waiting time was long as most customers usually ordered and pick-up later.  The fried chay tau kwey was fragrantly fried with sweet and chilly sauce, full of "wok hei".

Lastly we tau-pow a box of deep-fried tau-kau stuffed with fish paste from the stall behind the yam cake stall.  A box of five pieces with a small tub of chilly sauce costs $3.

CHRYSANTHEMUM & WOLFBERRY TEA

From the months of May to August is hot-dry season thus one tends to get sick easily.  When the weather changes, people easily contract common colds and coughs.  Drinking more soup and herbal tea can help boost immunity and strengthen the body.  During these months I will boil plenty of clear soup and herbal tea for my family.

Herbal tea assembles herbs and natural ingredients for maintaining health or for curing of ailments. The process of making tea with herbs is simple and long-time consumption can strengthen the body.

Wolfberry fruit with chrysanthemum tea is cooling.  It soothes the heart, brightens vision, diminishes liver-heat, detoxifies and lower blood pressure.  It is best consumed when the body feels "heaty".

Chrysanthemum is aromatic and clear heat as well as detoxify.  There are 2 types of chrysanthemum. Yellow chrysanthemum and white chrysanthemum.  Yellow chrysanthemum is more suitable for flu caused by heatiness.  White chrysanthemum is generally used for clearing heat, brightening vision and nourishing the lungs.

Wolfberry fruit is for nourishing blood and vitality, and defying aging.  It also dilates blood vessels, lowers blood cholesterol and sugar and strengthens immunity.  It is good for treating failing vision, fatigue, weak limbs and diabetes.

Rinse white chrysanthemum and wolfberries.  Boil water over high heat and add in ingredients and rock sugar.  You can add a handful of ginseng threads if you like the taste of ginseng (lower quality of ginseng which is shredded to slivers).  Boil tea for 1/2 an hour.  Remove from heat.  Steep for 20 mins, covered.  Serve.

"MAGIC" COOKER

The "magic" cooker (thermos) is a cooking utensil which consists of 2 containers, one inner pot (for direct heating) and a vacuum cooker (for heat-preserved cooking). The cooker works the same as vacuum flask. The vacuum layer confines the heat absorbed by the food to the container. After a short boiling period, the food can automatically continue cooking itself using the heat preserved inside.

Due to shorter heating time used, less consumption of fuel during cooking, especially these days where gas and electricity cost is forbiddingly high. Since the food keeps cooking itself automatically using the heat accumulated inside, no need to pay constant attention over the food as in traditional cooking methods.

I have been using this pot nowadays to cook my soup and it helps me save on the cost of gas.

PIZZA & PASTA

A pizza and pasta joint in a HDB heartland - IL Piccolo Gourmet Pizza & Pasta operates from a coffee shop in Bedok which we chanced upon accidentally while sourcing for a place to dine. (The other branch we had known of is located at Alexandra Village). "Botak Jones" is amongst one of the stalls in the coffee shop which explains the bustle of the place.

From the pizza store we ordered 2 pizza and a savoury crepe.

The vegetarian tze char store is popular for its vegetarian hor fun.

DH ordered a plate and the amount is substantial with generous serving of ingredients. The hor fun smelled good and was full of "wok hei" - a very tasty dish.

The pizza and pasta came served in white plastic plates, accompanied with bottles of cheese and chilly flakes. Each of us were provided with small serving plates together with spoons, forks and knives.

The crepe was creamy and cheesy. The skin was thin and full of fillings, chicken and spinach, and melt in the mouth.

The size of the pizza was enough to feed more than 5 persons. The skin was paper thin and crispy.

The Hawaii pizza was choked full of pineapples and ham.

The Napolitan anchovy pizza was too salty for our taste. The fillings consist of anchovies, mushroom and olives.

The price is reasonable and the quality of the food is comparable to those of restaurants.

IL Piccolo Gourmet Pizza & Pasta
Bedok North #01-114
Blk 412
Tel : 96569909

SNOW FUNGUS SWEET SOUP

Snow fungus is known to be good for the complexion and a great collagen supplement.  It is a beauty tonic that moisturizes and gives a healthy glow to the skin.  As one ages, the skin collagen tends to loose its elasticity, therefore collagen replenishment is very important for delaying the wrinkling of skin.  This dessert is a cheaper alternative to bird nest.

To serve six in the family :

1 ball of snow fungus (do not buy the off-white type as it believes they are blenched)
3 blocks medium size rock sugar,
6 water chestnuts and 2 beaten eggs. You can add quail eggs also.

Soak snow fungus until expanded. Trim the stems, rinse and drain.  Tear fungus into little florets

Peel water chestnuts and grate finally. Boil snow fungus, rock sugar and water chestnuts for 1-1.5 hours over medium-low heat. Before serving, beat in the beaten eggs.  Do not stir.  Cover the pot and rest for 15 mins till eggs are cooked.

Water chestnut has the effect of resolving heatiness, engendering fluids, whetting appetites and aiding food digestion.

Serve hot or chilled.

This refreshing soup is usually served as a dessert during hot, dry spells.  It strengthens the lungs, and with the addition of rock sugar, this soup is also good for moisturising the lungs.

DRIED WHITE CABBAGE SOUP

The dried Chinese white cabbage soup is one of the traditional soup I drank since young. My mum told me that this soup is good for dispelling heat, quenches thirst and alleviates water retention. It is recommended for hot dry spells.

The ingredients of the soup consist of dried seafood :

Chinese white cabbage, duck gizzards, whelks (Believe to be very good for reinforcing yin essence and for allievating latent heat), oysters, scallops, octopus, red (do away the stones) and sweet dates and medlar seeds (kei chee).

Soak dried Chinese white cabbage in water for 30 mins. Rinse well to remove any grit and sand. Drain. Cut the cabbage into sections (about 2"). Soak dried gizzards and whelk in hot water for 30 mins. Discard the water and rinse the gizzards and whelk thoroughly. Rinse dried scallops and soak in water for 30 mins. Do not throw away the water but use them as part of the stock. Rinse all dried goods briefly and drain well. Bring water to boil, pour in all the ingredients. Cover the pot and bring to boil again. Lower the heat and season the soup. Simmer for 3 hours.

No meat is needed as all the dried ingredients contribute to the flavor of the soup.

A very clear and flavor soup....

BREAD PUDDING

With some remaining bread in the fridge I made pudding out of them.

Cut the bread into squares and place them in the pyrex dish. Beat 4 eggs with 4 tablespoons sugar (subject to individual) in a soup bowl. Add fresh milk to egg mixture till 3/4 full. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixture. Pour egg mixture over the bread and let them soak for 10 mins. Dot the top of the mixture with butter before putting them into the oven at 170 degree. Bake till the smell permeates the whole house. Before the pudding puffs up beat another 2 eggs with sugar and pour mixture over the pudding and bake till it puffs up and brown.

Serve the pudding, while it is still hot, with blueberry sauce. Yummy yummy!!

HIGH TEA BUFFET

We took the opportunity to shop during the big sale, with some high end brands offered at 60% off plus another 10% when purchased with certain credit cards. After shopping we adjourned for high-tea.

We made a reservation at Goodwood Park Hotel Deli for high-tea buffet. It is one of the few hotels who caters high-tea buffet during weekdays. The buffet starts from 2.30 to 5.00 pm and is held indoor and at the poolside. It is very popular amongst ladies. Reservation has to be made to secure seats.

The buffet came with a order of 2 drinks per person. We had a Darjeeling tea, vanilla Ceylon tea and a coffee latte for a start. The tea were served in beautiful porcelain tea-cups, with individual tea-pot, accompanied by a small jug of fresh milk and a canister of fine sugar.

The food offered at the buffet were delicious pastries, homemade cookies, scones and cakes. They were served in small individual portion include "crabmeat", sausage roll, pizza were tasty but salty. Halfway through the meal we had to ask for ice water.

There are many varieties of sandwiches and croissants filled with mayonnaise, cheese, ham, salami, smoke salmon, nuts, vegetables etc.

The pies and cakes were delicious. The mini eclair was filled with thick chocolate cream, which oozed out when you bite into the pastry. The lemon meringue tart tasted lemony combine with sweetness of meringue top. The fruit tarts were filled with custard and topped with fresh strawberries, cherries, pears and almond slices. The mango cakes were light and fluffy and topped with large pieces of mango.

The creme brulee was beautifully baked but too sweet for my likimg. It was coated lightly with a layer of  brown crunchy sugar. The mango pudding was appetizingly sourish.

We ended the meal with second order of drink - ice lemon tea.

DELIFRANCE

Went with eldest daughter to Tampines Mall to shop and had lunch at Delifrance. We both ordered soup, a lobster bisque soup for her and a mushroom soup for me, and shared a stewed lamb shank.

Baguettes with SCS butter were served immediately after ordering

The lobster soup, with a sliver of cream was not tasty but full of prawn aroma.

The mushroom soup was flavorsome and saturated with mushroom. The soup was not concentrated enough but could not ask for more as it was a complimentary $2 bowl.

Both soup were accompanied with a slice of tasty garlic bread.

The lamb shank was huge for 2 persons. The shank was covered in thick and tasty brown gravy served together with carrots and mashed potatoes mixed with bacon bits. The dish would be perfect if the texture of the meat was more tender. The gravy was a good compliment to the remaining bread.

PUMPKIN CARROT SOUP

This soup eliminates heat from the body and improves skin texture. No meat is needed for the soup as all the ingredients used provide natural sweetness - pumpkin, carrots, radish, anions (the most 2), sugar cane, tomatoe (use only 1 tomato so as the sourness do not overpower the sweetness of the soup) and potatoes.

Blend half of the ingredients (exclude sugar cane) if you prefer a thicker consistency. The soup needs to be simmered for at least 3 hrs to maximise sweetness and add salt one hour before serving.