From the forever long queue Bak Chor Mee 🍜 (肉脞面) stall in Chong Pang. Mum requested the seller to add extra portion of braised pig trotters to the bowl of Minced Meat Noodles, dry style. That little piece of crispy dried flounder or sole fish 🐟 on the left gave this dish the unami flavour.
buffetlicious
A plate of crispy Fried Chicken 🐓 comprising of drumsticks 🍗 and thighs. Mum likes to buy the whole chicken legs and then chopped them into two pieces each. She lightly seasoned the meat then dusted them with flour to deep-fry. The Maillard reaction enhanced the flavours and causes the outer layers to brown and crisp up.
Mum just loves frying the fish even though we have asked her to change her cooking style for a healthier one, but she doesn’t listen. 😔 Beside the Fried Salmon Steaks, there is still a piece of the Golden Snapper (Lutjanus johnii) left. I got the snapper 🐟 as I don’t really enjoy eating fried salmon.
Back to eating mum’s home-cooked dinner. Same Spicy Red Snapper since she bought a few of the fish 🐟 steaks. I am not complaining since I like the fish cooked with our home blended chilli paste. The vegetable 🥬 dish is Stir-Fried Cabbage with Scallops, minced pork and some sort of fried bean curd skin product. As for the steamed rice, a mixture of purple and white grains.
I have seen Just Nanyang (小南洋) at our local supermarkets promoting their food products. But I never really paid attention to them until sis bought one of their ready-to-eat Yam Cake 🥔 (芋头糕). It cost S$4.50 for an 850g rectangle block of kueh (粿). Although it is called a cake, it is actually a kueh or kuih, which are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia.
The recommended cooking instruction is to either steam or pan-fry it but trust me, go with the frying. Sis sliced the block of Yam Cake (芋头糕) into smaller thinner pieces and then pan-fried them till they are caramelized and crispy on the surface. The crispy crust gave way to warm pillowy softness within as the teeth sunk into the cubes of taro 🥔 and slices of earthy mushroom. You also get distinct hits of umami and saltiness from the dried shrimps 🦐 buried inside.
Brunch from Chong Pang is Pork & Shrimp Dumpling Noodle (水饺面) from Choo Chiang Roasted Meat Noodle House (珠江烧腊面家). Mum always requests the seller to add extra two pieces of the dumpling 🥟 (水饺). The savoury brown sauce and sambal chilli paste get mixed with the thin yellow noodles 🍜 or mee kia (幼面) and pieces of fried pork lard lend a crispy burst of flavours when you bite into one.
Next day, I bought myself packed Economy Rice (菜饭) because mum already had something else to eat. From the left, stewed potato 🥔 slices, cabbage 🥬 stir-fry and some chopped up slices of crispy chicken 🐓 cutlet over a bed of white rice. Just a simple and fulfilling dinner to quell the hunger.
After the previous few successful attempts at making breads, sis decided to try her hand at making pizza 🍕 or more specifically, Pizza Bread (比萨面包). After rolling and stretching out the dough, she spread tomato 🍅 sauce meant for spaghetti on it, scatter leftover ham 🍖 and topped with plenty of shredded mozzarella cheese. 🧀
When the cheese started to brown, she took out the pizza 🍕 and sprinkle pork floss on it then return to oven to continue baking for a few more minutes. Soft chewy bread with tangy tomato 🍅 sauce, meaty ham 🍖, savoury, crispy pork floss and stretchy cheese 🧀; what’s not to like of the Pizza Bread (比萨面包)? The three of us finished it all in no time.
Tonight’s dinner is mum’s home-cooked meals, starting off with this plate of Pea Shoots & Scallops Stir-Fry 🌿 with minced pork and tomato wedges 🍅 in oyster sauce. The next dish is her signature Spicy Red Snapper 🐟 with chunky boneless pieces of fish meat and tomato. On the last plate, bouncy Fried Fishcakes 🐟 sliced up to go with the steamed purple and white mixed rice.
My takeaway Economy Rice (菜饭) I bought on the way home from work as mum did not want dinner. I selected nuggets of fried fish 🐟, a piece of stewed, fried bean curd skin and a medley of vegetables and meat stir-fry. The dish has carrot 🥕, shimeji mushrooms 🍄🟫, snow peas 🫛, young corns 🌽 and boneless chunks of chicken 🐓 meat to go with the steamed white rice.
In the afternoon, sis is busy in the kitchen making cake and soon, I can smell the aroma ♨️ of it baking in the oven. And now the wait for the cake to cool before removing from the baking tin. The Blueberry Cake 🫐🎂 (蓝莓蛋糕) looks so much better compared to the last one as sis used more blueberries 🫐 and dusted them in flour, so the fruits don’t all sink to the bottom. The buttery cake 🍰 is punctured by the sweet and acidity of the berries, just in time for an afternoon snack.
Had to run an errand at Sembawang Shopping Centre with mum tagging along. Due to El Nino’s wrath, the weather is dry and hot plus the rampage burning at a nearby country is starting to affect the air quality in Singapore. While waiting for the free shuttle bus 🚌 to take us home, I grabbed a couple of the Kyoho Grape (巨峰 グレープ) Ice Cream Cones 🍇🍦 from McDonald’s Singapore.
The new Kyoho Grape Cone (S$1.50) is also available in Kyoho Grape Twist (S$1.50) swirled with vanilla and ChocoCone encased in a delicate chocolate shell. The soft serve 🍦 is sweet, creamy and bursting with the flavour of juicy Kyoho grapes 🍇. A refreshing treat for such hot weather!
Topmost image courtesy of McDonald’s Singapore.
