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.

Manpuku @ Tampines 1

I am sure most of you are familiar with "Manpuku" which is located at level 3 of Tampines 1. This Japanese Food Mall was once flooded with crowds when it first started early last year. According to some read up, this place can hold roughly about 500 seats which is consider a big mall with 10 different food stalls selling all kinds of Japanese food, dessert and drinks.

Today I was meeting up an old friend for lunch whereby she suggested that we can have lunch over at Manpuku. At first, I was quiet shock as because I ask her that isn’t it will be too crowded to fight with the lunch crowd at this food mall? But she told me that I would be surprised to see how empty the place is compare to what it is before. Now they also do away with the “card” system and customer can just walk in and order from whichever stall and just make payment.

Although their business might not be as good as before, but I was kind of attract to their window display outside the shops and interior decoration in the food mall.

After going round the food mall, Tracy settles for the Kimchi Chicken Ramen while I went over to “Hokkyokusei Omu Rice” stall and get a set of their promotion Mixed Sauce Omu Rice with Mushroom Soup for S$7.50. The mushroom soup was kind of diluted I guess that is what to expect for the price of S$1.00.

“Mixed Sauce Omu Rice” is just Japanese fried rice wrapped with omelette then drizzle with half each of tomato and creamy sauce. Overall I find the sauces still goes well with the rice and since both rice and eggs are my favourite item I am quiet satisfy with the dish too. But Tracy on the other hand mentioned that it was rather not worth to have just rice and egg with sauce for S$6.50.

SuperNature Organic Products

SuperNature store is located inside Park House Condominium that is near the road junction of Orchard Boulevard and Tomlinson Road. This organic store was established in 2001 and offers a complete range of organic and natural products in the meat, poultry, dairy, grocery and household care categories in a combined floor space of 4,500 square feet.

At the entrance of the store, you will notice a lot of carton boxes and cooler bags display on the left side of the shelf. These boxes are known as “Farm Box” whereby they offer 5 different range of farm box varieties for customer to select from such as “Asian Farm Box” (popular leafy greens, herbs, tubers and fruit in Asian cuisine), “Juice Farm Box”(different types of fresh organic fruit to blend into fruit juice to quench thirst) and etc.

This place is like a mini supermarket where you can find all kinds of fresh vegetables, seasonal fruits, frozen meat/poultry, dairy products and etc. Although the price might be around 10 – 30% higher than those usual products we get from the local supermarket but I am sure these organic products are worth it penny because of its' health benefit values.

Look at the fresh vegetables section, most of the vegetables such as egg plant, pumpkin, corn, green pea, mushroom and etc are all imported from overseas countries such as Taiwan, Australia, France, Japan, USA and many others. These products are all pesticide and antibiotics free and as well retain its very own vitamins and minerals.

Breakfast items are always one of the most important groceries that I would rather spent more to select some health choice for my family members. So while scanning around SuperNature store today, I am so delighted to find a wide range of Organic breakfast cereal, oats and dairy products. At their dairy section I also saw this “Straus Family Creamery” fresh milk that is imported from Marshall, California.

Next let’s take a look at their Pasta section where they have all kind of pasta such as Penne, Spaghetti, Shell, Elbow and some of them are even made of brown rice and they are “Wheat and Gluten-free”. Apart from the wide range of pasta sauce that can used to cook these organic pasta, you can also find some soy sauce, ketchup or more others seasoning sauce to lift up your dish from mundane to marvelous taste.

There are still many interesting sections in this store that I would like to share with you but due photographing restriction, I can only share some of the items which I find it great for working mum like me because some of these products really makes a great different to what we normally consume. Especially if you have young kids or old folks around, healthy life-style and food are always a great investment for them. Apart from the above, I also read from their website that they are having some "Dumplings"(made from organic pork belly & mushroom, click Here for more promotion detail) specially made for this coming "Dumpling Festival".

Other than the grocery store, SuperNature also has another new "Wellness" store that is location at the other end before the Supermarket near the entrance of the Condominium. Even before you enter the store, the light and refreshing scent of aroma is filling around the air and surrounding area that makes you attracted to the store. As I was rushing off, I only just roughly glance through the store to see what they are offering and I was surprised to find many organic baby food products such as drink, biscuits, cereals and etc.

Another discovery I found in this store is, they actually have "Organic Laundry Detergent/Powder" that does not contain any chlorine, phosphates or other chemicals which dangerous to our health. Perhaps I would drop-by another day together with mum and aunty to find more on their organic household items and beauty products which they might be interested in. If you are keen to know more about this store and the items they offer, you can click on their website stated below or drop-by their store and take a look at their products too.

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

Rice Dumpling Aka ZongZi

The yearly Dumpling Festival is just a couple of days away which falls on Wednesday, 16 June 2010. I am sure these few days you can smell the aroma of the mouth drooling dumpling circulating around your neighbourhood area as some families are busy with the wrapping and cooking of this festive food. And as usual a few weeks to a month before the festival, most of Chinese restaurants will create all kinds of festive dumplings using some special ingredients in order to attract more customers.

Although the traditional Nonya and Cantonese rice dumplings are good, but most often we are still looking forward to delicious new creations to satisfy our taste buds. Recently I read from a food magazine that this year Cherry Garden offer a special “Lychee Braised Pork Belly Dumpling” which consists of ingredients likes dried lychees and braised pork belly flavoured with lychee liqueur. I wonder how it will taste as normally we only used cooking wine instead of fruit wine as seasoning. But I am sure this will taste great with lychee flavour.

No matter where is your choice to get the best rice dumplings or you are intending to make some before the festival. I am sure there is always something suitable for you everyone. The “Savory Pork Dumpling - 咸肉粽” shown in the photos above are made by my Mother-in-law. Sometime I just wonder in this modern society, is it only those older generations folks are willing to spend time and effort in the kitchen making all these traditional foods. Because most youngest like us tend to buy read-made products instead of spending the whole day preparing and making these time consuming food.

But if you are interested to try, there is a Rice Dumpling making post(with video) in my recipe blog that you might like to read more about it. (click Here)