A Lesson on Food Photography

After 2 weeks of attending an Executive Management Programme at NUS, the course ended on a high note with a buffet dinner at the Hyatt. The highlight of the nite is the free flow of wine and beer.

What captured my attention though was the dessert spread. With an extreme weakness for cakes - especially the condensed hard versions (mousse-types are out!) - I was delighted to see two gleaming plates of brownies and strawberry cheesecakes beckoning to me.



While the rest of my 50 over course mates and professors queued for the entrees, I made a definite beeline for the dessert corner.



Yummy and delicious! The brownies are nutty with just the right amount. The strawberries were large, sweet and the cheese were not overpowering. Together with red wine and coffee, I savoured two large pieces each!



What topped the nite though came unexpectedly. While I was trying to take the shots on the dessert spread, I was approached by the professional photographer hired by NUS. He kindly gave me advice on the best angles for the shots and also the lighting level to be used. You see the results of his advice on this page.



Do give me a holler on what you think of the final shots!

Good Old-fashioned Comfort Food

Have any of you renewed your passports recently? What was your experience at the Immigration Department? From 1 to 10, I reckoned many would have given it a 1!

Fortunately, to the rescue came the excellent mee pok noodles at Crawford Lane. My daughter Sam is definitely one of its fervent fans and I am in definite agreement with her.



Last Monday, it provided a soothing balm to the ruffled feathers of my me and my hubby. From the lack of notification to collect the passport to the under-catered carpark lots, from the long queues at the application counter to the longer queues at the collection point, I really wonder how the Immigration people are turning a blind eye to the daily boiling pot within their very premises. But that is another story!

Coming back to the mee pok, the family-run unit moved from Marina Square quite a few years back due to the Marina upgrading. With the move, the amount of noodles have increased with no damage to the purse-strings. The quality of the noodle also did not suffer. I love vinegar and I could really taste its flavour amidst the noodles. The pig's liver, pork slices and minced port are generous to a small eater like me.

Good old fashioned comfort food!

Waraku@Starhub

As my hubby needed to go to M1 to change his phone, we decided to have an early Saturday dinner to avoid the crowds along Orchard Road. Having heard so much about Waraku from colleagues and seen the many new branches in Central and Marina Square, we headed to the one at Starhub Centre. We were early and so had the privilege to choose a more obscure corner.

The menu items were extensive. Even the drinks and desserts have their own menu cards! We decided to go a la carte so that we could try the many dishes. From the waitress' recommendations, we finally made our choices.

First was the Sanma Sashimi. “Sanma” or Mackerel Pike is a fish with red meat rich with proteins. It is mainly caught off the north eastern shores of Japan as the fish swim down from Hokkaido. The flesh is fatty and sweet and the sashimi is served with grated fresh ginger and purple leeks. The taste was divine and delightful to the palate. Definitely a dish not to be missed!



Next, was the miso ramen with minced pork. It was served with freshly grated garlic. The soup was sweet but on the oily side. The ramen was cooked with the right consistency and the pork slices were generously large. Our verdict was a dish that is value for money.



The third dish was also recommended by the helpful waitress. It is some kind of cheese, potato and diced salmon mixture that was baked on an iron plate. Worth a try but not something to shout about!



The scallop skewers that followed were grilled to perfection. I enjoyed chewing on the succulent pieces that were soaked in its own savoury-sweet juices.



The perennial favourite of ours: chawan mushi was a tad disappointing. Although the pix showed pieces of eel, fish cakes, ginko nuts, etc, the real dish was a micro version of the pix. In fact, I couldnt even locate the eel and did not waste time to reveal my disappointment to the waitress, Serene. The porcelain bowl was however a feast to the eyes!

Overall, our Waraku experience is only average. There are definitely better Japanese restaurants elsewhere in Singapore!

Alfresco Dining@Mango Lingo

My broker raved about the fresh mango pieces. Another gym goer is particularly partial about the coconut combination. The children are keen on its ice concoctions. What am I talking about?

Why? It is the Mango Lingo and its array of ice-cold fruits and ice-cream offerings, of course!

Never one to turn a blind eye to desserts, my palate was tickled when my broker and gym friend spoke in no uncertain terms about their experience at Mango Lingo. After a particualr strenuous yoga workout, they have stumbled upon the brightly-lit unit on level 2 of Square 2 recently and lived to tell their tale. Amidst their enjoyment of the fruity sensations, they were joined by artistes from MediaCorp! Certainly, what better testimony for Mango Lingo than these self-professed authority on anything food!

That particularly day, my hubby and I shared the Lovers' Paradise: a mountain of diced strawberries, gooseberries or kiwi fruits and mango topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Very high antioxidants to scare away the harmful free radicles in your body. This means you get to eat delectable desserts and yet protect your health!



Another plus for the place at Square 2 is the open-air cul-de-sac that adjoins the unit. With a water wall providing a soothing and zen-like background, surrounding greenery and the wooden planks making up the flooring, this is one place to head for for a stress-relieving experience.

Rice Balls with Fillings

The shop is styled like the EC House chain of hair salons - with clear 3-step instructions.

First, you choose the kind of rice you want. There are five types - purple rice, brown rice, mixed grain, wheat (almost like couscous) or white. The lady behind the counter explained that purple rice is actually black glutinous rice! All the rice were kept steaming hot in wooden buckets.



Secondly, you get to pick five different fillings from a choice of 46. The range is wide - from meat to vegetables, you think it, they have it! There are helpful hints on what makes a good combination on the lighted neon signs place above the counter. We picked mixed grain rice with tuna, spicy shrimp paste, asaparagus, mushrooms and chick peas. The guy behind the counter balled everything up neatly and wrapped it in transparent plastic.

The third step is really optional - depending on whether you need a drink. We decided to try the purple glutinous rice drink.



The result was a definite thumbs up - both for the rice ball and drink. Certainly one helluva healthy snack or meal for you to consider the next time you are down at Square 2. I luv the rice grains which were hot, grainy and non-oily. The lightly sweetened glutinous drink was refreshing and filling by itself.

Will we come back to try the rest of the rice combinations? But of course!

Martha Stewart's Beef Stew

After much idleness in the kitchen for the past few weeks, owing to pain-in-the-arse projects and whatnots, living on packets of instant korean noodles to satisfy an increasingly ravenous stomach, my body finally protested and declared it was time for some healthy, brow-sweating, time-consuming home-cooked dinner.

Searching for a suitable recipe was another matter. I wanted to do something new, but not entirely new when one doesn't have a proper kitchen or equipment, like a food processor or a dutch oven. Hence, I finally settled for Martha Stewart's Beef Stew. The essential reason was the fact that I only required a large pot or a slow-cooker, and there is no doubt that a good pot of stew would definitely fill up a much carnivorous girl. As rustic as it sounds, I would think that the method of stewing meat in a water-based broth would have hailed from centuries ago, being prepared in so many ways, from an Irish stew to a Hungarian goulash.

This particular stew, showered with love and care, was a delight to make. It's operandi was hardly demanding. However, the result reaped was oh, so gratifying. The warm, slightly dense gravy was a matchmake to a spoonful of fluffy white rice. Soft tender chunks of beef chucks paired with the softest of potatoes and carrots made the palate craved for more.

Beef Stew - Martha Stewart
3 pounds of beef chuck
1/3 cup tomato paste
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt & pepper
1 pound medium onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound small white or red new potatoes, halved
1 pound carrots, cut into chunks
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves

In a large pot, combine beef, tomato paste, vinegar and flour, season with salt & pepper.
Add onions, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and 3 cups of water.
Stir, making sure all the flour on the bottom of the pot has dissolved, otherwise you'll get burnt patches of flour.
Bring to a boil. Simmer till meat is cooked for about 2 to 2 1/2hours.
Do check on the stew at least once every 15 minutes to skim off the scum formed on the surface.
Season with salt & pepper to taste if desired.

Serves 6.

Nothing Angelic

With a moniker like Archangel, one would expect superior wait staff in the restaurant. After all, in hebrew, the name means superior or chief angel. However, our experience was nothing angelic at all.



It started off rather well. My friend and I arrived about the same time and plonked onto one of the 5 tables placed in front of the cafe. Glancing at the menu and the items on the chalkboard (which also doubles as a partition separating the kitchen and the front counter), we figured that there was nothing to lose to opt for the chocolate fudge cake and apple tart. (Come to think of it, there was everything to gain - especially unwanted calories!)

However there was a snag. This 'tea-break set' of cake/pastry plus coffee/tea is only valid from 3 to 5 pm. Despite this writing on the wall, we went ahead to ask the one and only wait staff. Nothing venture, nothing gain! Her reply was music to our ears. She agreed to give us the offer though it was only lunch hour. Top marks for her flexibility.



Then it was downhill all the way - the very long wait for the cake and pastry; and the even longer wait for the coffee. With customers numbering less than 10, the wait time was definitely unforgivable. Finally, the cake/pastry came - warmed just right. By the time, we finished them, the coffee have yet to appear. Hence, though the fudge cake was certainly one of the best that I've ever tried, the lack of accompanying coffee really spoilt the experience.

Because of the long wait, we had time to look at the other offerings on the counter, and spied on the squid-ink and sesame seed bread baskets. The loaves certainly look very tempting and despite the experience, we agreed to make a return visit to try the sandwiches.

An Unexpected Summer Drink

One of my absolute favourite summer drinks is, embarrassingly, bubble tea. I know the mention of bubble tea might ignite memories of overly sweetened tea with the ever familiar black tapioca pearls which I honestly find, quite diverting to chew. Strangely, as weird as it sounds, my cravings for bubble tea appeared out of the blue when I arrived in Perth.

I often patronise Formosa Cafe in Northbridge, Perth, for my occasional fix of bubble tea. Run and owned by Taiwanese, the bubble tea here has heaps more potential than the ones back in Singapore. They do a good range of flavours, from milk teas, to sorbets and smoothies. As for the tapioca pearls? A mellow honey-like taste erupts once you sink your teeth into the glutinous black flesh.



My favourite flavour - Grapefruit Green Tea. One sip of this envelopes your senses in sweet and sour heaven. Introduced to me by a dear Taiwanese friend of mine, I've never regretted ordering this ever since.