Fast Food, Crispy Salmon

26 January 2011

Chef Gordon Ramsay comes out the Fast Food concept that allows busy office men and women to cook simple, easy, healthy and absolutely delicious meals at home using a few available and fresh ingredients. Today I  recreated his Crispy Salmon and adding my mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and my homemade vinaigrette to add excitement to the dish.

My homemake vinaigrette was made of lemon juice, oliver oil, sesame oil, sea salt and black pepper and they were whisked together. My homemake vinaigrette is prefect for my crispy salmon.

The salmon has the natural sweetness from its fats. The sea salt from the salmon and my vinaigrette harmonizes my mushroom, cherry tomatoes and salmon. The skin of the salmon is crispy and the meat is tender. My crispy salmon is absolutely delicious!

Coffee with a Touch of Soul

Espressoul, Singapore, 22 January 2011

It is always fun to go to Olympus Hands-On Session & Model Shooting for newly launched Products. That day I was going to have some fun with Olympus XZ-1, the flagship model of Olympus compact camera. I took some images in Raw file using my Olympus E3 and XZ-1. XZ-1 is slim and it has bigger aperture. The main advantage of this camera in my opinion is it has the Dramatic Art Filter which was useful to take landscape with HDR effects. Absolutely amazing camera. I tempted to get one. But I still want my EP-1 and E3. So please stop "poisoning". 

The Olympus model was so beautiful. The picture on the left was taken using E3.

The picture on the right was taken using Olympus XZ-1. Which camera is better? In my opinion, the fine young and smart gentleman behind and the young, good looking lady in front of the two cameras are the best.

After the event, I decided to pay a visit to the Singapore famous Bistro, Danny Pang. I met him at Coffee Appreciation Session in Asian Food Channel Studio. I wrote a post about my coffee session at http://hikaru-allez-cuisine.blogspot.com/2010/04/asian-food-channel-studio.html. He is a genius in brewing coffee. So I decided to go to his cafe for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.

Danny was not in his cafe that day. Still I needed a cup of coffee and a slice of cake to enjoy the relaxing Saturday. His apprentice was in the cafe making a cup of Piccolo for me. Piccolo is a type of espresso. It was tasty and good enough to refresh myself to continue my relaxing weekend. The ambience was quiet and good. Love songs was played in the cafe. Absolutely relaxing. I guessed it is my new hideout for my relaxing weekends now.

The address is

Espressoul

25 North Bridge Road, #01-01,

EFG Bank Building
Singapore 179104
Tel: 6337 7803

Number 1 Asia Finest Restaurant

Singapore, 17 January 2011

This was a day I needed to go to the Best Asia Finest Restaurant, Iggy’s, to do justice on several events. They were my belated birthday, my new career after Chinese New Year, the completion of my master course and getting my Chinese New Year bonus. Iggy’s is located at the third floor of Hilton Hotel at Orchard Road.

The decoration in Iggy’s was contemporary.  Black was the main colour, which represented high class. There was a counter where the diners could see inside the kitchen where the chefs are working. It is almost like eating on a chef table. The dining experience in Iggy’s is absolutely amazing.

The first dish was the complimentary appetizer. It consisted of monkfish, caviar and other fresh ingredients. The ingredients were compliment to each other. It was absolutely delicious. The sourdough bread was also served with salted butter.

The second dish was Duck with Yukon Gold Potato, Mache, and Alba Black Truffle. The presentation looked fantastic and luxurious with potato, mache and truffle. The truffle worked well with potato to bring out the earthly flavour and nutty texture of the truffle. The duck skins were very crispy. The duck comfits are a bit salty without any side dish. However they went well with potato, mache or truffle and make this dish absolutely delicious in my humble opinion.

The third dish was Gnocchi with Truffle Salsa and Egg. This dish was absolutely luxurious. Truffle was quite compatible with Egg, and they were one of the great pairings of French gastronomy. Gnocchi is an Italian small dumpling and is made of potato usually. The dish was very savory because pancetta was also added to this dish.

The fourth dish was Wagyu Striploin with Carrot, Leek and Rosemary. The Striploin was moist, well seasoned and dense with flavours. It could be aged for several weeks. This dish was absolutely delicious.

The fifth dish was the dessert, Chocolate with Cinnamon, Mandarin and Vanilla. The dessert was absolutely delicious and it was the best way to end the prefect and luxurious meal.

The service was great, and the Maître D and the waiters were very helpful and attentive throughout the lunch service. I had a great dining experience in Iggy’s. Later on I dropped my camera cover on the floor and I did not notice I dropped it even I left Iggy’s. The waiter picked it up for me and called me through my mobile phone to ask me to return and pick my camera cover just before I left Hilton Hotel. I guess this is what makes them the Asia Finest Restaurant by taking over the first position from Joel Rubuchon’s L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

I will definitely return to Iggy’s.

This is what I think in front of the kitchen: The chefs were working with heart and passion, using the best ingredients to satisfy their customers. There were times they made mistake and reprimanded by the head chef. But they never gave up; they bounced back and finished their services.

Relationship applies the same principle; you give all the best to the one you like. It may not work out but at least you try and no regret to make a move.

Iggy's Restaurant

The Hilton, Level 3

581 Orchard Road

Singapore 238883

Tel:+65 67322234

www.iggys.com.sg

Saying from Chef Gordon Ramsay

"Keep it simple, but good. Forget about pompous sauces, and over-the-top creations. I like good food that is simply cooked, without pretension, but with a lot of heart and flavour."

Source from: More and Beyond, A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel

Bak Kut Teh, Jinn Liong's style

All of the girls I like say something in common. That is "JL, you are a good man. You are highly educated and you good in photography and know how to cook. You can find a girl better and pretty than me. We shall be friends".  I am asking myself "Am I really that good? If I am really that good, how come they say this to me?" That is so illogical. And relationship is illogical. A certain scottish gourmet told me if a mathematician can come out love in a equation, he is the richest man in the world. Don't you all agree with him?

What I really hate is some girls do not make an effort to try. Their excuses are also the same, that is " I do not have feeling with you." Honestly I feel the same way to them. But I am willing to make an effort to search the "feel" with them. I think I have more good qualities than what they think, I just need the time and chance to prove to them I am the One. In fact no feeling is better than bad feeling. Don't you agree with me?

My colleagues are telling me that I talked more to a married woman than a single lady. They think I am not the One for those single ladies because the good qualities what I had are more for ladies who really want to settle down. They also think that divorcees could make a better choice for me because since they failed in their marriage, they knew what they want from their marriage and I have better chances with them of my good qualities. I am not the "bad" boy whom the single ladies love. I think I must agree with my colleagues. 

I think I am a filial son to my parents, a good uncle to my lovable niece, a good younger brother of my sister and brother-in-law and a extremely good elder brothers of my younger sister and brother. My education level is now Master, I think I have a good career in my new company. I know photography and cooks. I take good care of the girls I love, especially to my former girlfriend. 

She is an author, a teacher and a undergraduate. During my times with her we went through thick and thin. I know she wanted to teach tuition, but whenever it rained, she was drenched before getting a bus or cab. I worked very hard to buy a car for her to go to the tuition center to teach. I arranged gathering with my friends and colleagues so that she knew who I contacted to, and at the same time expand her social circles. I brought her lunch and dinner after my lesson so that she would not skip meals. She encouraged me not to give up when I could not get a job after I graduated in NTU. She bought me lunch and dinner because she knew that I could not afford to pay the meals at the moments. She was absolutely such a lovely girl. Till now I always remember the bad time we gone through because those time was the sweetest of all.

I am not prefect too. I am a perfectionist and I am hot temper. She knew it and she did not complain. I really grateful to her. Things turned 180 degree change when I was in US for project for 7 months. Distance maybe be one of the reason we broke. I could be fault too. I never paid attention to her she really wanted. She just wanted me to beside her, yet I could not do so. What I gave to her were not what she really wanted. I think I really failed as her boyfriend. Jay Zhou's "我不配“ could describe my feeling to her now.

I must admit that I am not a good boyfriend in the past , now and probably in the future. I think I do have the qualities to become a good husband and a good father. But I know if there is a girl  who I really interested in, I will make her happy when we are together. She is lovely, pretty, adorable, kind and filial to her parents. When she was feeling upset about her work, I will send her flowers. I will push myself to work harder so that we could meet the project milestone and she could answer to the customers. I tried not to chat with her in the office because I did not want others to think that she was using me. That was why I choose to tell her I was interested in her after I tendered my resignation letter. Too bad she had either someone she really like or she did not have feeling with me. Honestly I was disappointed in her answer.  Did she really appreciate what I do to her? I am quite sad but I have to move on.

I decided to stop cooking for the time being till I really can move on. Cooks need heart and passion to cook a absolutely delicious meal. Now I am exhausted and I have to use my remaining heart, passion and creativity to cook this dish. I must prove to them that it is their loss for not appreciating a good man like me. Yes, this is Bak Kut Teh which I had recreated a moment ago. I apply western cooking techniques to retain the meat juice in the ribs and chinese cooking techniques for the tasty soup. This creates a big Wow factor in this dish. This East-West fusion is awesome. I enjoy eating the tender meat and the soup together. The meat juice is well-retained in the meat. The parsley and the soup created a contrast yet a balance in flavours between them. The carrots have the earthly flavour that is complement to the mushrooms, pork ribs and the soup as well. The dish is absolutely delicious, the best I created so far. The colour of the dish is beautiful and amazing as well. This dish is almost prefect, just that the meat of the ribs are not fall-off-the-bones tender. I could simmer the ribs a hour longer to create this kind of tenderness, but the meat juice will lost in the soup. I guess I have to experiment with the timing to create the effect I wants, only after I am able to move on. Nevertheless, the pork ribs are well seasoned and they are absolutely delicious.

The next post will be on Asia Finest Restaurant, Iggy's, in Singapore, where I celebrated my completion of my Master course and a new start in my new company.

Dinner Service on 18 January 2011

I invited my cousins to try out some of the new dishes I created. One is Straw Mushrooms with Chives and Red Wine Reduction. The other one is the Wok Charred Garlic Butter Prawns. Both dishes are absolutely delicious yet not prefect.

Straw Mushrooms with Chives and Red Wine Reduction is a dish that has strong flavour with chives and garlics. Both of them are complement to each other and produce a flavour that bring contrast to the flavour of the fresh straw mushrooms. The red wine is added to the dish and is reduced to give a sweet and rich taste to balance the strong flavours from the garlic and chives. My cousins and sister love the dish very much. I guess I should have add in carrot in to the dish as well. Both carrot and straw mushroom have earthly flavour and complement to each other. Furthermore carrot add colours and excitement to the dish. This dish is absolutely delicious.

Wok Charred Garlic Butter Prawns is a modification of Garlic Prawns from Chef Gordon Ramsay. The butter and garlic work together and add flavours and fragrance to the fresh sea prawns. I added too much dried chilies and this transforms this dish from western to Sichuan cuisine. Lemon juice is added to the dish to reduce the spiciness of the dried chilies and added in sour flavour which is complement to seafood. The prawns are absolutely spicy yet absolutely delicious.

Dinner for 12 January 2011

I step into my kitchen once again to cook a healthy dinner for myself. I am sick recently and I need something healthy and simple to cook. The easiest dish I know to cook is fried rice. I added mixed vegetables and crab sticks for my fried rice. All grains of the rice are coated by the egg yolk and they are simple absolutely amazing and beautiful. I present my fried rice as a japanese version by added one of the soul ingredients of Japanese cuisine, the bonito shavings. With a bit of freshly grounded black pepper and bonito shaving on the fried rice, it is absolutely delicious.

I also cook the original watercress soup. This recipe is from Chef Ramasy.  The bacon intensifies the flavour of the soup and the soup is absolutely delicious, as compare to my modified watercress soup using Dashi earlier on. I am in heaven now, I simply love the soup very much.

Eat-venture in Liuhe Night Market, Taiwan

Kaohsiung, 13 November 2010

Liuhe night market is one of the biggest night market in Taiwan. It is located in Kaohsiung City. The night market is located at Liuhe Road which is used by the locals to travel for their daytime activities. In the evening, this road will be transformed to a food night market for the locals and the tourists for their dinner and supper. There is quite a variety of food there.

This papaya milk shake stall is the most popular. Celebrities around Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong come to this stall for famous papaya milk shake and left their signatures on the signboard. One notable celebrity is the Taiwan President Mr Ma likes the papaya milk shake. The papaya milk was thick, cold, refreshing and absolutely delicious.

President Mr. Ma also likes the pepper meat biscuit from one of the stalls and he left his signature on the signboard. As the name describes, it is a kind of biscuit with meat fillings. The meat fillings are seasoned with salt and pepper. The biscuits are roasted in a special oven and till they are golden brown. The biscuits are tasty and the meat is moist. It is very delicious.

The oyster bun is a local food of Kaohsiung. The bun is filled with plenty of oysters, one egg and spring onions. The bun was deep fried in the hot oil wok. The oyster bun is removed from the wok once it turns golden brown. It must be consumed hot so that it is absolutely tasty.

Oyster omelette is a dish originated from Fujian province in China. It is very popular in the South East Asia Chinese communities. The Taiwanese version is thicker than Singapore and Malaysia versions because a lot of starch is added to the omelette. Pork lard is added distinct flavour to oyster omelette and make it absolutely delicious. I still prefer the Malaysia and Singapore version because less starch is used and the omelette is not "sticky".

Fermented bean curb, also known as "stinky" tofu is a famous snack in Taiwan. it is commonly found in the night market. It has a beautiful name called "Golden Bricks". Although it has an unbearable smell, stink tofu is quite delicious.

The ice cream is thick and absolutely delicious.

The old TV game console brings back my old memories. This is my first TV game console. It is interesting to find it in Liuhe Night Market. Who will buy it if there is PSP, PS3 or Xbox 360?

Snake meat and chicken bishop are some interesting ingredients loved by my scottish gourmet friend. And they are also found in Liuhe Night Market. I guess he will love Liuhe Night Market very much.

9 January 2011 Dinner

I cooked two dishes for my dinner again. One was Braised Chicken Wings with Carrots, Mixed Vegetables, Cherry Tomatoes and Cabbages. The other one was Watercress Soup with Dashi, peas and corns. 

I created Braised Chicken Wings with Carrots, Mixed Vegetables, Cherry Tomatoes and Cabbages recipe. All the ingredients found in my kitchen were left over. So I made use of them and came out something healthy, amazing, colourful and absolutely delicious.

I remodified Chef Ramsay's Watercress Soup recipe and came out with Watercress Soup with Dashi, Peas and Corns. I made use of bonito broth and add western ingredients into the broth and made the soup a Japanese-Western cuisine. The soup was tasty but with too much flavours because of Dashi. The soup was tasted complicated. I guess simple is the best. I will recreated Chef Ramsay's Watercress soup one day.

Best Restaurant in Taipei

Din Tai Fung, 8 November 2010

Din Tai Fung, a famous Taiwanese chain restaurants in the Chinese communities. She specializes in absolutely delicious Xiao Long Bao, a kind of small, steamed, dedicated dumplings. It has a long and interesting history and the history of Din Tai Fung can be found at http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/about_a.asp. Din Tai Fung flagship restaurant at Xinyi Road in Taipei was awarded one of the top ten gourmet restaurants by The New York Times on 1993 and the Top Asian Cuisine by The Miele Guide 2010 and 2011. Since it is highly commended by the top food ctitics, I want to see whether Din Tai Fung Flagship Restaurant does justice to Xiao Long Bao. So I started my eat-venture once again to this legendary restaurant for a fine dining breakfast experience. I ordered Spicy and Sour Soup, Truffle Xiao Long Bao, Shrimp Dumplings and Meat Dumpling in Spicy Sauce.

Since it was in November, the weather in the morning was quite cool. The best way to start a cooling morning was to drink Spicy and Sour Soup. Spicy and Sour Soup is originated from Sichuan Province in China, where the local cuisine is famous for spiciness. The soup is a bit of spicy, sour, salty, fresh and fragrant.  The proportion of the pepper, salt and vinegar must be at the right proportion to prefect this absolutely delicious soup. Again, this soup was absolutely appetizing.

The Shrimp Dumplings were absolutely beautiful and amazing in colour. The shrimps were steamed perfectly. They were fresh and tender. The dumplings contained the juice of the meats, which were also in the dumplings. The shrimp dumplings were absolutely delicious.

The main highlight for the restaurant was Truffle Xiao Long Bao. A certain Michelin Three Star French chef had tasted the Xiao Long Bao at the same restaurant. He suggested to the owner that truffle should be added to his Xiao Long Bao to increase flavour, scent and excitement to his customers. The owner did headed for his advice and came out Truffle Xiao Long Bao. It was full of truffle aroma and it had a bit of pungent taste from the truffle. The juice from the meat was absolutely delicious when I ate Xiao Long Bao with ginger and vinegar. The only phrase I could describe this dish was “best thing on Earth”.

The last dish was Dumplings in Spicy Sauce. This dish was also originated from Sichuan Province in China. Dumplings in Spicy Sauce was absolutely fresh, spicy yet tasty.

After my wonderful breakfast, I met a family of three from Hong Kong. They flew to Taipei for tour and dropped by Din Tai Fung Flagship HQ for fine dining breakfast experience. If my memory serves me right, there are currently two Din Tai Fung restaurants in Hong Kong hold a single Michelin Star each. I believe Din Tai Fung flagship restaurant in Xinyi Road at Taipei will get her Michelin Star soon.

Xinyi Restaurant
No. 194, Xinyi Road Sec. 2,
Da-an District, Taipei City 10651, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
(intersection of Yunkang St.)
TEL:886-2-2321-8928

Business hours :
Mon-Fri: 10:00-21:00
Weekends & Public Holidays: 09:00-21:00

Metro Taipei：
Daan Station(Muzha line)