Crystal Jade Kitchen

Crystal Jade Kitchen has a number of branches scatter at different parts of Singapore. Their menu consists of authentic Hong Kong Style Dim Sum, Roast Duck/Meat, Congee, Noodle and Cantonese dishes.

Last week, we happened to shop around Bishan area so we decided to drop-by one of the Crystal Jade Kitchen located at basement 1 of Junction 8. While queuing up for our seats, we are attracted to their Rice Dumpling promotion(click here).

From the list, we decided to try something sweet and savory so we ordered this "Rice Dumpling with Pork - 五香咸肉粽" that consists of pork belly, whole salted egg yolk and green bean. The glutinous rice is very soft and lightly fragrant by the spices and seasoning and it goes well with the tender pork belly that make you crave for more. Personally I love the adding of green bean to this savory rice dumpling as it really blends well with the ingredients, especially with the salted egg yolk.

Since it is around lunch time, we decided to try their 2-in-1 combo lunch menu. This set comes with the "Poach Chinese Spinach with 2 kinds of eggs" and "Deep-fried Prawn Coated with Wasabi Mayonnaise".

This vegetable dish taste great with the combination of 3 different eggs such as Egg, Century Egg and Salted Egg. The soup broth of this dish is very tasty and you can even drink it like a soup because it is cook using superior stock.

Next dish is this "Deep-fried Prawn Coated with Wasabi Mayonnaise" which we find it a bit disappointed. The large prawns are coated with batter and almond flakes then deep-fried till golden. Although the prawns are very fresh and crunchy but it was kind of overpower by the over coating of Wasabi Mayonnaise sauce. The wasabi sauce actually makes the dish too spicy and greasy to consume. If the sauce is slighter lesser like what is shown in the their menu, I guess this dish will taste better than what is it now.

Ginger Vinegar Trotter - 猪脚姜醋

Hello to all the Asian mums! I am sure you are familiar with this dish which brings back memories during your “Confinement - 坐月” days? Ginger Vinegar Trotter (猪脚姜醋) is one of the traditional "must have" confinement dish that is good for expelling the wind from the stomach, the calcium in the trotter plus the heat from the ginger  which helps to revitalize and replenish nutrients in the mother's body.

To prepare this dish, the two key ingredients are matured (old) ginger and black vinegar. Matured ginger is used because it imparts a stronger and more intense flavour for the dish and most of the folks also believe that Black Vinegar purifies blood and cleanses the arteries of stale blood while Old ginger drives out the wind in the body. And in order to prevent the vinegar for being too acidic and weakening the stomach; glutinous ligaments and collagen of the pig's trotters are added to serve as a lubricant.

Ingredients: (serves 2 -3)
1 Pig's Trotter, ask for the front trotter and cut into big pieces
2 Big Piece Of Old Ginger (老姜), about 500g
1 Small Bottle (375ml) Of Black Rice Vinegar (黑甜醋)
1 1/2 Bottle Of Water, use the same vinegar bottle
1 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
50g Rock Sugar/Brown Sugar
4 Hard Boiled Eggs

Method:
1. Scrap, wash and cut the old ginger into big pieces then flatten slightly.

2. Heat up sesame oil in a large claypot and saute old ginger till fragrant.

3. Pour in vinegar and water, covered and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, remove from heat and leave it to stand over night.(alternatively you can transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cooker for AUTO for about 3 hours then switch it off and let it stand over night)

4. Trim the pig's trotter, rinse and blanch into boiling water for about 3 minutes. Remove, rinse again and drain well.

5. Preheat frying pan with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, saute the prepare trotter for a few seconds to seal the meat.

6. Next bring the vinegar mixture to boil, add in the pig trotter and cooked for 30 minutes on low heat then add in the hard boiled eggs. (or you can transfer the mixture back to the slower cooker and cook over AUTO for another 2 hours before adding in the egg and cook for another 30 minutes or so).

7. Continue to simmer for another 20 - 30 minutes till the trotter is soften to bite then add in sugar to taste.

8. Remove from heat and serve hot or you can prepare this in the morning and let the mixture stand till the adsorb the flavour from the vinegar broth. and serve in the evening.

Note:
~ Cooking in Slow Cooker prevent the soup from drying out when compare to simmer it over the stove on low heat.

~ Ask for front trotter from the butcher as it contains more meat than bones or replace it with pork belly for more meaty dish.

Although this dish might seems a bit time consuming to prepared but you can always prepare the vinegar broth a day ahead and add in the trotter on the second day. Between this dish taste better after one or two days and you can store the unfinished portion in the fridge too but remember not to use plastic container for this dish due to the vinegar reaction to the plastic.

Seafood Bee Hoon Soup

One dish meal is always the best dish to be served on the dining table during weekday’s menu. If you are bored with rice or bread perhaps you can try out this quick and easy Seafood Bee Hoon Soup. You can add in whatever seafood that you prefer to give the soup its natural sweetness.

That day I managed to find some very big and fresh "Clams - 蛤蜊" in the wet market and instantly I knew I want to use them to add extra flavour to my seafood soup. This clam is very cheap and good which cost about $4 per kg and you can also use it to cook herbal clams soup, pasta with clams and etc.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Piece of Dried Bee Hoon
500g of Clams
8 Medium Fresh Prawns
1 Bunch of Choy Sum
2 - 3 Slices of Ginger
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into section
1.5 Litre of Water
1 Ikan Bilis Stock Cubes, optional

Method:
1. Soaked the dried bee hoon in water for about 30 minutes till it soften. (you can cut it into a few session for easy consumed)
2. Trim the choy sum and cut it into sections and soaked in water for a few minutes to wash away the dirt. Rinse then set aside.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a soup pot, add in ginger and spring onion, saute them until fragrance then add in water and bring it to boil.
4. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes, then add in stock cubes and season to taste. Set the broth as side while blanching the seafood.
5. Bring another pot of water to boil, add in the clams and cook for about 30 seconds or less, when it opens removed it from the water immediately and rinse with cold/ice water.
6. When the clams are done, turn off the heat, and add in the prawns into the hot water. Let it soaked for about 1 minutes, removed and rinse with water.
7. Next bring the soup broth to boil, add in the soft bee hoon, when it comes to boil again add in the prawn and choy sum and cook for another 1 minutes or so.
8. Lastly, served the bee hoon and other ingredients in a big bowl, top with some clams and pour over some hot broth and serve immediately with some cut chilli and dried shallot.

Note:
~ You need to soak the clam in some salt water for about 10 - 15 minutes to remove the soil and dirt in it.
~ Blanching of the seafood before cook is to retain their crunchiness especially for the prawn so that it will not be overcooked and the soup broth will be clear.


So with all these wonderful ingredients, you can also served your very own Seafood Bee Hoon Soup at home in less than 30 minutes time. And most important you can assure that all ingredients used are fresh and full for bursting flavour. If you don't preferred clams, you can always replaced it with fish slices, squid or etc that suits your family preference.

Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake

It has being almost a year for chiffon cake baking since my last tried on “Banana & Passion Fruit Chiffon Cake”. While preparing the ingredients I was still kind of worry and nervous whether the texture of the chiffon cake will turn out with desire outcome.

Today’s combination idea came from my Matcha Madeleines. After using that new Matcha powder that I bought a few weeks ago, I was delighted to try out another recipe using it. So in order to have something light and healthy I decided to bake this Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake.

HOPPY - Herbal Duck @ Johor

Talking about "Roast Duck - 烧鸭 " or "Roast Meat - 烧肉", which is your favourite stall in Singapore that you love to patronise. Is it "Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint - 琪利珠江烧腊" or "Dian Xiao Er - 店小二". But no matter which is your choice, perhaps you might like to try out this "Restoran HOPPY - 好比港式烧鸭" which is about 2 streets away (10 - 15 minutes walk).

The "Dang Gui Ya - 当归烧鸭 " shown above is one of the top 3 selling item in this stall. The meat is nicely roasted and infused with a light and fragrance Dang Gui scent which leaves you crave for more after each bite.

"Restoran HOPPY - 好比港式烧鸭" owns a shop at No. 31, Jalan Meldrum, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia that is just beside "Bee Cheng Hiang - 美珍香" shop at the junction.

Second on our list is "Pao Sheng Roast Duck - 泡参烧鸭". The taste of the herbs is not very strong so it suitable for every members in the family including the kids. The herbal sauce that drizzles on the duck taste great with the steam rice.

The main item that brings us to this stall is their Roast Pork - 烧肉. The top layer of the skin is so crispy and fragrant when bite and the meat itself is so tender and juicy. I love this dish as you can have a few layer of taste when you bite it.

Bamboo Charcoal Bread @ Lavender Cake

Have you seen this "BLACK" colour bread before in Singapore? If you have being to any “Lavender Cake Shop” in Malaysia, or even other bakery shops Japan or Taiwan. I am sure you will not be shock like most reader, because this bread are made of "Bamboo Charcoal Powder" which is one the common ingredients found in their countries.

So upon entering the Lavender Cake Shop in City Square I was immediately captured by all their Bamboo Charcoal bread. I have read about it from baking books and etc but I have not seen the actual product till today. So without hesitate, we grab 3 of their bamboo charcoal bread products. First on the photo is this “Bamboo Charcoal Bread - 竹炭健康包” which consists of nut, sesame seeds, cranberries and most important ingredient, the “bamboo charcoal powder” which makes the natural black colour of this bread.

According to write-up Bamboo Charcoal has high mineral contents such as potassium, calcuim, iron and sodium. And for many years, people from Japan used bamboo charcoal in many area such as household items, kitchen tools and etc.

The second photo above is "Charcoal Mochi Bread - 竹炭麻薯面包". It has a very chewy and fragrance texture.

Sugar Donut is one of my dear son's favourite. But when he saw this "Charcoal Donut - 竹炭甜甜圈" he was kind of back off due to it’s colour. Although the colour might not look attractive compared to those “fancy donut shops”, I must admit this taste great compare to the other two above. The texture is kind of elastic when bite and it has a very light and sweet taste when you chewy it, which I can say it, taste rather different from those usual donut that we have.

Another interesting item that I found in Lavender Cake Shop is this "Tau Hu Sau - 豆腐沙" which mean the cake is soft and smooth like "Beancurd - 豆腐" and sandwich with "Red bean paste - 红豆沙". We all agreed that this is a very nice sweet pastry, which I think the white portion might be some steam sponge cake. Most important of all, it is healthy and not too sweet to our taste. A recommend item when you visit their shop.

Avocado Delights @ J. Co

During our shopping trip at City Square, Johor Bahru. We saw one of this J.Co Donuts & Coffee outlet located at level 1 of the shopping mall. The 1st thing that comes across my mind was not those attractive donuts but rather on their new promotion item which is on the "Avocado" products.

1st time when I saw this Avocado drink, it was at the outlet in Tampines 1 shopping mall a few weeks back. Tracy and I was still wondering how it taste like to have the combination of Avocado with Coffee. So today, I decided to try their "Caffe Avocado" and "Avocado Dicaprio".

Caffe Avocado was served together with a "Glazzy" donut (sweet honey glazed donut which is so soft and fluffy), which is a complimentary item for every beverage ordered. To us this "Caffe Avocado" is not as fragrance as what we thought of as it contain very little Avocado taste compare to the overpower of coffee in it. But this might be great for those who does not fancy the buttery taste of Avocado, because you cannot really tell the taste of Avocado used in this beverage.

Avocado is always one of my favourite fruit to get whenever I spot it in the fruit stalls or supermarkets. So I also grab one of this "Avocado Dicaprio" when I saw it appears on their Donut Menu. This donut is glaze with avocado cream and coated with some chocolate bits. Personally I don't really fancy the avocado whipped cream filling which I think it makes the donut too greasy and messy when consumed.




P/s: You can also get to try these Avocado Delights at any of the J.Co outlets in Singapore too.....

Lunch @ Johor Bahru

Jin Yun Yong Tau Foo - 金运釀豆腐 is a must try stall which is located at level 2 of another shopping complex which is joining to City Square, Johor Bahru though the bridge walkway. (you can get there on second level entrance near the washroom and telephone booth which at a corner opposite Waston & McDonald) During lunch hour, the stall is always packed with customers whom love their handmade yong tau foo.

You can pick any items from spread, which cost between RM0.50 to RM0.90 to go with either noodle/rice in dried or soup version. The soup broth is very light and refreshing leaving a sweet scent in your mouth that makes you craves for more. And all these sweetness does not come from adding of MSG or sugar because it does not leave you with thirst after consuming their food.

The Tofu taste soft and smooth with a generous amount of filling that consists of fish paste, minced mince, salted fish and seasoning which makes it so delicious. So if you are planning to shop at City Square during this school holiday, perhaps you can give this a try.

At the food corner, we also spot this "Zhen's Malaysia Pontian Wanton Noodles - 珍 . 云吞面" which is also commonly found in most of Singapore food centers or coffee shop. Since I am a Wanton Mee lover, I decided to order a bowl to try out their version compare to ours in Singapore.

So far, I have tried a few "Zhen's Wanton Noodles" stalls from different parts of Singapore and I find that this one that located in Johor taste rather different from what we have over here. The texture of the noodles is indeed better with their chilli sauce and the wanton also taste different. We all agreed that the Singapore version of "Zhen's Wanton Noodles" is rather salty and not as good as the one over in Malaysia.

Other than the above, we also ordered another plate of "Thai-style Char Kway Teow" from another stall at the end corner. Although the taste of this Kway Teow dish is very fragrance and delicious, but we find it rather oily for our preference. But if you don't mind those "oil" you can actually tried this out which you might like it because the Kway Teow is very nicely fried with that special "wok fragrant" that we can hardly find in Singapore these days.

To visit City Square, Johor Bahru, you can take SBS Bus 170 outside Kranji MRT which will bring you all the way to Woodlands Checkpoint and after verifying the passport, you can board the same bus to Malaysia Custom. From there it will takes about 10 -15 minutes walking distance to the City Square shopping mall.

Matcha Madeleines with Azuki Bean

Madeleines are very small traditional sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape which traditional recipes always include ground almonds and lemon zest. But for the Madeleines in this post, I did not included the the two ingredients mentioned by rather I add in some Matcha - 抹茶(Green Tea) powder and cooked Azuki Bean - 紅豆 for a Japanese snack fusion. 

Choy Sum And Salted Egg Soup

Hot and humid weather is always great to have a bowl of soup for dinner which will cool down and replenish the body with extra fluid. This soup can be eaten together with steam rice or you can add in been hoon or noodle to turn it into a one-pot dish.

This is a very quick soup where you can get everything done within 15 minutes or less and Choy Sum has an excellent source of vitamin C and fiber too. With more flexibility, you can replace the minced pork with fresh prawn, fish or pork slices that you have prepared ahead. And by switching the meat ingredients, you can served this with your favourite noodles or rice.

Ingredient: (serves 2)
1 Bunch of Choy Sum(菜心)
100g of Minced Pork
1 Salted Egg
2 Slices of Ginger
800ml Water
Salt to Taste

Method:
1. Rinse the choy sum and cut into long sections then soaked in water for a while to remove soil or dirt. Rinse well again and set aside.
2. Marinate the minced pork with some pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil and cornflour. Stir well and leave it for a while.
3. Removed the soil of the salted egg, washed well and crack the shell to separate the yolk and white.
4. Slice or dice the yolk in a small bowl then keep the white for later use.
5. Heat up a pot with 1 teaspoon of oil, saute the ginger till fragrance then pour in water and bring it to boil.
6. When the water boil, add in the choy sum and minced pork and let it cooked for 30 seconds before adding the salted egg yolks and cook until done.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the salted egg whites, keep stirring until the white set and season it with some extra salt to taste.

Hort Park - The Gardening Hub

"HortPark - 园艺园林" is a 23-hectare park located in the South-Western part of Singapore. It is also serves as a park connector that allows visitors to travel around Kent Ridge Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Mount Faber Park with ease and convenience through the elevated walkways and connecting bridges.

Near the entrance of the park on the right hand side you will find the Lifestyle Corner which is sponsored by Ikea which will probably be your first stop upon arrival at HortPark. Further in, you will see a patch of green grass which enhance the surrounding view of the nearby cafe.

Along the walk you will discovered a lot of interesting theme gardens with their unique setup that attract visitors attention. For example:- The Recycling Garden which is a place for recycling ideas in gardening where it display how those old and defunct items can find a second life as re-usable decorative items in the garden. Or you can explore the Fantasy Garden that consists of characters from "The Wizard of Oz" if you and your family are Fans of them. For those who love aroma therapy perhaps you would like to infused yourself in the Herb and Spice Garden.

Floral Walk is a welcoming gateway to HortPark where it consists a lot of beautiful walkaway that is full of different varieties of exotic flowers. I guess it will be great to sit under a shady tree and have a cup of tea/coffee together with good storybook for a great sunday morning/afternoon past time.

Towards the end of the walk at the HortPark , you’ll see about six glasshouses that serve as research stations for the upcoming Gardens at the Bay. Inside the glasshouses you will see a lot of potted plants that is store in the air conditioning rooms.

There is a link way gate at the rear end of the park right after the glasshouses with a pathway leading you up towards Kent Ridge park where the tree top canopy walk resides.

While walking backward to the main entrance of the Hort Park, we discover the HortMart that enable visitors to shop for all kinds of gardening-related products and potted plants. It is also a one-stop garden center that aims to provide a comprehensive shopping experience for visitors.

Look at all these beautiful potted plants and herbs which you can choose and bring it home from the HortMart at a reasonable price. Hort Park open daily from 6.00am to 10.00pm and there it is NO Admission Fee too :) So maybe you can consider to pop by with your kids or love one one of these day during June school holiday.