Sweet Spring ~ 糖水春 @ AMK Hub

Does this reminds you on one of the Taiwan Tourism Board advertisement where Jolin Tsai is eating her Mango Shaved Ice - 芒果刨冰 outside a shop? Recently I have found a special dessert shop in central area that served unique “Dim Sum - 点心”, “Tong Shui - 糖水” and as well as some cold dessert like Mango Shaved Ice - 芒果刨冰. I am sure by looking at this Mango shaved Ice photo, you will be keen to know where is this restaurant located at and as well some of their signature food and desserts available.

The restaurant which is known as “Sweet Spring - 糖水春” is located at a cosy area, level 2 of AMK Hub. The design and decoration of the cafe look similar to a modern tea house whereby they have both “indoor” and “outdoor” sitting area. (don’t worry both the area are within the shop itself so it is within in-door with air-conditioning) And from what you can see bold "Red" is used as one of the main colour to contract with the white table top as well as the brown lacquered wood to add texture to the ambience.

Two weeks ago I am very honour to be invited for a food tasting session together with the two hosts, Sharon and Julynn from Sweet Spring and Fish & Co. Through the conversation, I was suprised to hear that Sweet Spring is actually owed by the same owner of “Fish & Co” which is a western restuarnt that is well-known with their Fish & Chips in Singapore.

On that day, our host’s Sharon has prepared about 10 items for the food tasting session and here are the items:- 4 Dim Sum dishes, 1 finger food, 3 hot plus 1 cold dessert, lastly follow by beverage. Now let us sit back (prepared some tissue :p) and let the photos be the evidences of this food review……

First on the list is this “Durian Pastry - 榴莲酥” which is one of their signatures Dim Sum that is in demand on their ordering list. The outer layer of the crust is flaky and crisp while the filling in it is made from pure D24 Durian pulps which gives this pastry a wonderful fragrance and taste. If you are a Durian lover, you will sure love this sweet treat.
[ Durian Pastry - 榴莲酥 : S$4.20]

Next, “Pan-fried Radish Cake - 香煎箩卜糕” which is a new dish on their menu list. According to Sharon this is a “Teochew” style Radish Cake where the chef will pan-fried the cake till the outer layer became slightly golden in colour. Overall, we quite like the soft texture of this radish cake and it goes pretty well with their self-made chilli sauce too.
[Pan-fried Radish Cake - 香煎箩卜糕 : S$4.20]

This is their self-made chilli sauce that is used to serve together with their savory dim sum, as they know most of the Singaporean love to have some spicy dipping sauce to go with their food. To me, this chilli sauce look similar to those “chicken rice’s chilli” but when you taste it the taste is rather different. For those who can take spicy sauce, this will definitely goes well with any of their savory dim sum.

“Steamed Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf - 荷叶饭” is one of the items that attracts me from their menu, especially that day is a few days before the Dumpling Festival. The steamed glutinous rice is nicely wrapped with lotus leaf and served warm in the traditional dim sum bamboo steamer, which actually add extra fragrance and appealing points to this dish.

The moment when you open up the lotus leaf from the parcel, you will smell a great scent of the steamed rice with some light lotus leaf fragrance. Each parcel consists chunk of meat, mushroom and a salted egg yoke. It all depends on how you prefer your steamed glutinous rice to be, for me this might be too over-cooked as I find the rice rather too sticky. But this can be a light flavour for those who do not like the traditional dumpling taste whereby five-spice powder, dried shrimp or etc are used.
[Steamed Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf - 荷叶饭 : S$4.50]

"Steamed Spicy Wantons - 京都云吞" is a like steamed meat dumping with some spicy chili sauce. Personally I don't really like wanton to be served in this way so I can't actually comments much on this dish but Joyce seems to love it with it's spicy sauce.
[Steamed Spicy Wantons - 京都云吞 : S$3.90]

Here comes our favourite "Crispy Chicken Bites - 盐酥鸡" that is perfectly deep-fried till crispy out the outer skin and yet still retain the juicy flavour of the meat. According to the hosts, the chef used chicken thigh meat instead of breast meat for these "bites" in order to achieve tender and juicy texture. Overall these "bites" are full of flavour either eating it plain or with dipping sauce and most importantly these "bites" are not salty compare with those sold in some other snack stalls.
[Crispy Chicken Bites - 盐酥鸡 : S$3.90]

After the savory dim sum shown above, we have some sweet treats here which one of these might interest you. First on the list is my top favourite dessert "Yam Paste With Gingko Nut & Pumpkin - 福果芋泥". Although we nowadays we are able to find this similar dessert being sold in some of the dessert stall at Food Court but it's rather difficult to find some real good one.

Today, at least I managed to find a decent one at “Sweet Spring”. Their Yam Paste with Gingko Nut & Pumpkin really taste great with it’s smooth texture and not so sweet taste. The combination of some chestnut bites in the yam paste brings out extra texture and natural sweetness to this dessert. So I recommend this to be a must try dessert if you really love that cream texture of Teochew Style Yam Paste without going through the hassle of making it at home.
[Yam Paste With Gingko Nut & Pumpkin - 福果芋泥 : S$4.90]

If you prefer something light compare to the above Yam Paste, perhaps you can try this “Steamed Milk Egg White - 双皮奶” which is something similar to egg custard but it is using Egg White and Milk as the main ingredients. Most of us love this dessert, as it is very good to the complexion as well as more health conscious due to the ingredients used. So lady, if you are looking for low-fat dessert or something good for your complexion, try this! :)
[Steamed Milk Egg White -双皮奶 : S$2.80]

Before stepping into this restaurant I have saw the poster and menu about their signature “Homemade Soya Beancurd - 桶仔豆腐花” which is served in a wooden bucket in order to served it warm to the customer. The hosts told us that as each day as early as 8am, the chef will starts to boil the soya bean milk in order to get ready to set the beancurd in each bucket before the restaurant opens at 11:00am during weekdays. This beancurd comes in two sizes which served either 2 or 4 persons and this Homemade Soya Beancurd is not sweeten and each customer gets to add in their desire amount of honey to suit their taste buds.
[Homemade Soya Beancurd - 桶仔豆腐花 : 2 Pax S$4.50, 4 Pax S$7.00]

Other than eating your beancurd with honey, you can also select any topping from their list to go with it starting from $1.00 - S$1.50 depending on your choice. They have Lotus seeds, Longan, Mango, Pearl and etc which all goes well with the beancurd.

Finally here comes our long waiting “Mango Snow Ice - 非常芒果” which is both Joyce and my favourite. Unfortunately I have missed out this important dessert during my Taiwan trip in April, so at least today I can try this out which is very similar to the authentic Taiwan Mango Ice.

From the photo, you can see that the ice is shave layer by layer and it is very smooth and full of mango flavour either on the shaved ice, sauce or mango itself. Overall it is a very good summer dessert that will cool you down from that hot weather. The mango itself is very sweet and juicy and according to Sharon(the host) they actually used mango from Philippines. And each day, the workers will cut and taste each mango in order to standardised the taste and quality of the mango used. So Mango lover what are you waiting for..... :) Come!
[Mango Snow Ice - 非常芒果 : S$5.50]

Before ending our wonderful dim sum and desserts food tasting by Sweet Spring, the hosts also let us have a “big” glass of their Homemade Soya Milk that taste warm and fragrant and as similarly you can either sweeten it with honey or drink it plain. For me I find without adding any honey it taste more natural with it original flavour.

Lastly thanks Sharon & Julynn from Fish & Co for inviting me on this food tasting session. Don't worry for those who stay far away from Ang Mo Kio area, Sweet Spring has new branch coming up at Serangoon area soon too. And other than the above, you can also find a lot of interesting desserts and dim sum such as Mocha Tiramisu, Rainbow Milk Tea with Pearl, Pomelo Sago, Double-boiled Hashima and etc. I am sure there will be one that suits you :)

SWEET SPRING ~ 糖水春
53 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3
AMK Hub, #02-19/20/21
Singapore 569933
Telephone: 6753 9856 Fax: 6753 0962
Email: sweetspring@chaozhouinn.com

Operating Hours:
11:00am to 10:00pm, Weekdays
10:00am to 10:00pm, Weekdends

Sakae Welcome The World 2010

Yesterday, 21st June 2010, Sakae Sushi has organised a one-day carnival event at Sakae Sushi building located at 28 Tai Seng Street. During the event, we also get a chance to see Sakae Sushi’s latest “Power Pro Bento” set before it is officially being launch in their restaurants in Singapore.

The “Sakae Welcomes the World 2010” event will be held at the Sakae’s new Tai Seng Headquarters with Mr Teo Ser Luck (Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) gracing the event as the Guest-of-Honour. Sakae also invited over 200 students from Red Swastika Primary School to participate in a day of fun with sports with the Singapore Sports Council’s roving sports truck.

Although it was kind of a cloudy/rainy Monday noon, but the kids, parents and most of the organisers are enjoying themselves with those exciting mini games such as Table-tennis, Handball, Basketballs, Football and etc. The aim of this event is to promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle.

This is the “Power Pro Bento” set @ S$22.90 which is launched during yesterday event to tie in with the upcoming Youth Olympic Games. This bento set consists of protein rich ingredients that help to increase strength, muscle development and improves athletic performance. It consists of Seafood Kaminabe Hotpot, Gindara Cod Fish, Ebi Avocado Tofu, Kinoko Soup, Sakae Chawanmushi , choice of Rice or Udon and fresh cut Fruits.

Also 15% of the proceeds from this “Sakae's Power Pro Bento” that available from now till 31st August 2010 will go to the Singapore Sailing Federation. So do try this out if you love grill cod fish and seafood hotpot.

These are some of the finger food that are being served during the event. Look at these, isn't it look great and health for both kids and adults!

Each guest is given a lunch ticket whereby we can use it to redeem our sushi lunch box and a bottle of Mineral Water(with cute Sakae wrapper on it). Each box consists of 8 pieces of freshly made sushi which are:- Kani Makimono, Ebi Nigiri, Lobster Salad Gunkan and etc. This is indeed a special experience of us to enjoy our favourite Sakae Sushi in a lunchbox at the void desk of Sakae Sushi building during raining day afternoon…

These are some of the items found in my boy’s goodies bag which consists of Sakae design notepad, photo frame, mini electric fan, cap and a plush toy (my boy kept it). Thanks Sakae for the invitation, although they might be some disappointment on the event and weather but overall we still enjoy ourselves with the food and etc.

SuperNature ~ Super Sunday

Remember last week or so, I have shared with you a post on SuperNature’s Organic store that is located at 21 Orchard Boulevard. Today I happen to receive a newsletter from them regarding about this SUPER SUNDAY event which take place on next Sunday, 27 June 2010. According to the newsletter there are a lot of freebies, product discount and even food sampling during the event. (Click HERE for more details)

Since the theme of the event is based on “Fresh & Green” I guess there will be a lot of freshly imported vegetables and fruits that available for your choice and selection. Other than vegetables you could sample some of their fresh organic fruit juice before deciding on which one to get.

According to the newsletter there would be a serving of Roasted Rhug Estate Lamb from the award winning Organic Welsh Lamb from 11:00am – 1:00pm only. So do not hesitate, remember to bring your friends or family and pop-by their store on 27 June 2010 to get your freebies and as well sampling this award winning Organic Welsh Lamb.

To get there by public transport, you can take SBS Bus 111 from the bus-stop opposite Orchard MRT station and alight at the second bus-stop which is opposite Four Seasons Hotel. From there walk straight towards the junction of Tomlinson and Orchard Boulevard Road and you will see Park House Condominium. Or you can drive and park at the public carpark outside the store.

SuperNature
21 Orchard Boulevard
#01-21/23 & 27 Park House
Singapore 248645
Tel:(65)6304 1338
Fax:(65)6735 0366
Email: sales@supernature.com.sg
Website: www.supernature.com.sg

Xin Zhao Yang Seafood Garden

Soup! This is always the first category that I will look for before ordering any other dishes from the Zhi Char - 煮炒摊 Menu. From the menu, we ordered this “Kau Khee Soup - 九杞菜汤/枸杞菜汤” which is cooked with slices of pork fillet, minced pork and egg. This is a very quick and easy soup that you can also whipped it up at home with simple ingredients such as egg and minced meat. The soup itself is infused with light ginger fragrant which it very refreshing. Look at the amount of ingredients in it, this bowl of soup cost S$4.00 which I think is worth it's price.

Xin Zhao Yang Seafood Garden - 新朝阳海鲜 is a Zhi Char Stall located at a corner in the coffee shop near Yishun Bus Inter-change at Block 921, Yishun Central 1. It is usually packed with crowds during weekends from as early as 5.30pm onwards.

This is our first time patronising this Zhi Char stall which is quite new in this coffee shop. But actually a few weeks back we had actually tried their “Hor Fun - 河粉” which mum has bought for us. And because of the good review we had from the hor fun, today we are here to try more on their dishes.

From their staff’s recommendation, we ordered two of their signature dishes which are “Thai-style Deep-fried Fish Fillet - 泰式酸甜鱼片” and “Braised Spare Ribs - 红烧排骨”. The “Thai-style Deep-Fried Fish Fillet” was kind of different from what we expected from the usual one that is cooked with those refreshing ingredients such as shredded cucumber and mango. This is dish is rather some deep-fried fish fillet that serves with some chilli sauce. Overall the taste is not too spicy or sour but we just feel that it’s still not towards our liking of thai-style sauce.

A few minutes later, our “Braised Spare Ribs - 红烧排骨” are served together with some "Deep-fried Mantou - 炸馒头". According to the staff, they only have limited plates of this signature dish available each day and from what I have observed, most of the customers do order this dish on their table. The texture of the spare ribs is very tender and it is well flavour by the seasoning and gravy which makes it a "hot" ordering item . You can also use the fried mantou to dip with the sauce or sandwich the meat from the spare ribs which is easily fall off due to the long hour of cooking time. This dish cost S$10.00 with about 6 spare ribs and 4 deep-fried mantou.

This Zhi Char stall still has a lot of interesting dishes that we would definitely go back and try out some of it soon. So if you are staying around this area or happen to pop-by, perhaps you might also want to give it a try too!

Kau Kee Mee Suah - 九杞面线

Kau Kee - 九杞 (wolfberry leaves) is a kind of leafy vegetables that comes in long stalks and sharp thorns on it. You can get this from most local supermarkets or tradition wet markets near your area. I normally cook this vegetable together with minced meat and egg. But in this post I am sharing another version by  transforming it into a noodle dish.

Komala's - Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

Komala's Restaurants are Singapore based restaurants-chain serving Indian vegetarian cuisine for its low priced and high quality of Indian food. There have different branches all over Singapore with stalls located in either Coffee Shop or Shopping Mall Food Courts. There is a Komala's vegetarian stall located at the basement food court of North Point Shopping Center just beside another famous Indian Banana Leaf Biryani Rice.

Till now we have only tried their Poori Set and Masala Tea which is quite suitable for our taste buds. Poori is a unleavened Indian bread that is served with Potato Masala or Chana Masala(chickpeas in it).

Before the main course, let starts off with some Indian finger food such as “Vadai” and “Samosa”. While queuing up for my orders, I saw these piping hot snacks coming out from the kitchen stoves so without hesitate, I also ordered one each to try out their varieties. Personally I prefer the Samosa more than the Vadai which is sort of like a deep-fried donut. We love the crispy outer skin of the samosa which is made from crust pastry instead of spring roll wrapper or flaky pastry.

All along mum and aunt were curious about the taste of Dosai which we always saw a lot of customers ordering it. In short Dosai is actually a crepe made from rice and black lentils which is a typical dish in South Indian cuisine that is rich in carbohydrates and protein. Here we ordered the “Paper Masala Dosai” that is filled with mashed potato and other vegetables like onion and green peas. This is served with coconut sauce (white in colour), onion (green in colour) and sambar (a kind of vegetable stew). The Dosai itself is really paper thin which is crispy on the outside and yet moist and soft when eaten. Overall it taste ok with all the different type of dipping sauce except we find it rather a bit salty towards our taste.

But accordingly to some of my friends, Dosai is not supposed to taste very salty when eaten. So I guess either the chef has added too much salt for my order or basically I am not those who can take savoury food :)

FairPrice Family COOK OFF

These few days if you are watching Channel 8, during some commerical break you might be able to catch up with this advertisement on FairPirce Cook Off. Their search is on for "Families of Four" to take part in the very first TV series of the FAIRPRICE FAMILY COOK OFF, an exciting new cooking show coming soon to Channel 8 in Mid-October 2010.

The "FairPrice Family Cook Off" show, created by Brand New Media and sponsored by FairPrice, will be a showcase of Singapore’s cultural diversity, and is designed for everyday “family” cooks, not culinary experts or trained chefs. It celebrates the talent and cohesiveness that everyday Singaporean families demonstrate in the kitchen.

Applications to audition for the first series of the FairPrice Family Cook Off are open from 01 June 2010, to midnight, 07 July 2010. Full details and entry are available at www.cookoff.com.sg Shortlisted families will be invited for an audition during the first two weeks of July to select the eight families that will participate in the programme that will be aired on Mediacorp TV Channel 8 in Mid-October. Furthermore, the winning family of the “FairPrice Family Cook off” stands to win an all-expense paid trip to Tasmania including complimentary lessons at a gourmet cooking school.

Brand New Media will be looking to cast a range of “family” units - the traditional Mum, Dad and two children; Great Grandma, Grandma, mother and daughter; groups of relatives who enjoy cooking together. So if you or any members or relatives in your family who loves to cook and have their very own "secret recipes" perhaps you would like to:-

Click HERE to get the application form today! Good Luck!

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条 is one of the popular hawker food that is "flat rice noodles" being stir-fried over high heat together with dark soy sauce, Chinese sausage, deshelled cockles, egg and etc. Traditionally this dish is stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

Although at home, we might not be able to achieve that traditional taste of Char Kway Teow due to the wok, fire and ingredients used, but I am sure we still can whipped up something tasty and healthier using our modern utensils or choice of ingredients.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
500g Thin Flat Rice Noodle
10 Medium Prawns, shelled
200g Bean Sprouts
1 Chinese Sausage, cut into thin slices
1 Piece of Rectangle Fishcake, cut into thin slices
2 Eggs
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

For those staying overseas, if you cannot get hold of most of these ingredients shown above, you can always reduce the ingredients to the simplest 3 which is rice noodles, egg and choy sum/bean sprouts. As you can read from the list, I have omitted cockles which are not to our liking.

Sauce/Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Water

Method:
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Saute the Chinese sausage for a few second till fragrance, dish up and set aside.
3. Heat up the oil and fry minced garlic and spring onion till slight brown, add in rice noodles stir for a about 30 seconds before adding the prawn and fish cake.
4. Fry the prawns and noodles over high heat until prawns are seared then drizzle in the seasoning sauce.
5. Continue to toss them over high heat for a couple of minutes before spreading the noodle out over the wok.
6. Make a well in the center or push the noodles to aside , add in 1 teaspoon of oil at the side before cracking the eggs into it.
7. Stir to scramble the eggs and then combine with the noodles.
8. Add in the bean sprouts and season to taste with a pinch of salt(optional) and some ground pepper.
9. Add in the Chinese sausage, stir fry over high heat for a minute or so just to wilt the vegetables but retain their crispness.
10. Dish up and served with some cut chilli and soy sauce.

Note:
~ This dish is best fried in small batches(to achieve better flavour so that the rice noodles are evenly cooked, unless you are using a big wok then you can cook them in one batch) so divide the ingredients to be fried in two equal portion.

Now you can have your favourite Char Kway Teow at anytime of the day with minimum used of ingredients and seasons to achieve a healthier version that satisfy your crave for this dish.

Seafood Kimuchi Don @ Sakae

Recently it has always being raining in the afternoon or late evening and I guess having a bowl of piping hot rice will definitely warm up your body. Today we are going to try out one of rice item on Sakae’s new menu which is known as "Seafood Kimuchi Binbinba Don". Actually I have struggle for quite some time on whether to order this dish as I am afraid it might be a cold dish like “Salmon Don”.

Due to the dinner crowds, I waited for more than 20 minutes before my main course is being served. So while waiting, I ordered "Macha Ice Cream with Warabi Mochi". I have being craving for this dessert ever since I have tried it twice at Sakae. I love the taste of the Matcha ice-cream which really makes me drool for more, so I can't wait till finished my dinner before having this dessert.

Finally here comes my "Seafood Kimuchi Binbinba Don" that is being served in a scorching hot stone pot. The rice is well-blended with kimchi sauce together with decent amount of prawn, squid and half portion of soft-boiled egg. Although the rice is piping hot but it is not cooked in the stone pot itself so you won’t find any burning rice at the base of the pot like claypot rice.

Overall I find this Kimuchi Rice very appetising especially eating it on raining day as it gives you that kind of warm-hearted homecook food feel. This can be a good recommendation for those who love seafood and kimchi combination.