Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon

Hubby and I would often dine here back when I was working around Clementi. Back then, it was located near Holland Village, hence the name. We haven't eaten there since they've moved, which was also around the same time I left that job to become a stay-at-home mom. One Saturday, we had a craving for some of it's soupy goodness, so we found out it's new location and headed there for dinner.

Obviously their signature dish is their XO fish head bee hoon, but they also have one of the best 虾酱鸡 (prawn paste fried chicken) in Singapore. So that definitely is a MUST-TRY dish.

The prawn paste flavour wasn't too heavy and salty like in most ze char stores, and it's served pipping hot to your table, so when you squeeze the lime juice all over the chicken, it makes a slight "sssssss" sound. It's yummy on it's own, but dip it in their special chilli sauce just for this dish, and it would be close to heaven. The chicken is crispy on the outside, and yet oozing with juices when you take a bite. Shiok!!!

By the time you are halfway through your chicken, your XO bee hoon would have arrived. As you would have guessed, they are famous for putting a generous amount of XO liquor into the soup. I'm not into hard liquor, but I love the soup. It's incredibly sweet from all the fish meat and bone and all, plus there's a nice fragrance from the XO that seemed to enhance the fish flavour of the soup. I'm not a fish head person, so we always order the fish meat bee hoon.

As you can see, they are very generous with the fish. Each piece is a huge chunk of sweet meat that isn't dry on the inside. Also, I love that they put loads of vegetables in the soup (it's at the bottom of the bowl). Healthy! :) Their thick bee hoon isn't your average hawker centre type that's semi-translucent and super slippery. It's actually white in colour and slightly rough. My dad once told me that these are actually how bee hoon and kway teow use to be like in the past. Using a higher percentage of rice flour, thus, more flavour and texture.

So the combination of good quality bee hoon, chunky sweet meat, fresh vegetables and a crazy sweet soup base, what's not to love about this dish??

Dover Coffee Hub
Blk 19A, Dover Crescent
#01-05, Singapore 131019

Herb Butter Chicken

A roast chicken recipe with a difference! I saw this recipe on Jamie Oliver's show, so this is based on what I vaguely remember. All you need is the usual stuff like...

A whole chicken
Your choice of vegetables to be roasted together with the chicken.
Herb butter!



Herb butter is very easy to make. Using soften unsalted butter, (not melted, softened) add in herbs like thyme, rosemary and parsley. Add in salt and pepper, mix well, and you're ready to use it!

Use a spoon to create space between the skin and the flesh of the chicken before you stuff as much of the butter inside.


Rub the remaining butter onto the vegetables and put them under the chicken. This way, the juices would flow from the chicken onto the veges while it roast!



Roast the chicken in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 45mins. The skin would be crispy, the meat juicy and delicious, you will love me, you are welcome! :)

CoCo's Chicken Country Pie

This dish was inspired by the famous Chicken Pie from The Coffee Club cafe, which I absolutely love! I made this once many years ago and wrote it down into my recipe notebook. I was reading my notebook, looking for inspirations for dinner when I came across this. So I improved on my previous recipe and am happy to say it is now more yummy and nutritious than before!

To make 2 giant pies,

Filling:
1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
1 onion, chopped finely
1 stick of carrots (half minced, half diced)
1 clove of garlic, either grated or chopped finely
1 de-boned chicken thigh, diced
chicken stock
1 small pinch of Thyme, Rosemary and 1 Bay leaf
a small knob of butter
2 tablespoons of flour

Pie covering on top:
Store bought mixed cheese
Potatoes, carrots and pumpkin

For the filling:

1. cook celery, onion, minced carrots and garlic in low heat with a small pinch of salt. The aim is to soften the vegetables, which would remove the yucky celery taste that many people hate, including me, and give the dish this lovely flavour.

2. Add in the chicken pieces, carrots, spices and cover the meat with chicken stock. Simmer for 5-10mins.

3. In a separate pan, melt butter and add flour onto melted butter. Stir till the mixture is dough-like. Add the watery juices from the chicken to make a thick gravy. (If too dry, add warm water) Mix into the chicken and vegetables, season to taste and you have your filling!

For the top:
The original was just instant mashed potatoes, but I wanted to make it more nutritious, so I boiled potatoes, carrots and pumpkin for 15-20mins, until it's soft. Then I mash them all up, added some butter, salt and pepper it's done!

To finish, dish the chicken gravy into oven proof dishes, spread the mashed vegetables on top, and just before serving, sprinkle cheese generously on top and bake the pies in a 200°C for 10mins, or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly!



World best...

Sapphire

When to the Sapphire on Saturday for dinner. Surprisingly, the open air restaurant was quite empty even at 6.30pm. Were we too early?

We started with their French Onion Soup - $10.80. Very rich in flavour, but wished there were more cheese on the toast. And why were there spring onion on French onion soup, I would never know.



I ordered their Chicken Pasta - $24.80, which they indicated was their specialty. It was basically chicken meat aglio oli pasta with olives, sun-dried tomato and some herbs I think. But they put SO MUCH olives into the pasta, it turned out a little too salty. All the black stuff you see in the photo, yah, it's olives. But overall, it tasted quite ok, just a little too salty.



Hubby ordered this Moroccan spiced chicken - $32.80. It's quite delicious really! It tasted like those smoky Indonesian BBQ chicken. A little charred on the outside, but juicy on the inside. Interestingly, their vegetables included xiao bai cai. Fusion cooking? Haha...



Dessert was what they called Jewel Peak - $15.80. It's actually ice cream, but it was quite disappointing to me because I find the ice cream not rich enough. The chocolate ice cream is just not chocolate-ty enough! Obviously they used cheapo brand of ice cream to make this "peak". Sigh~



Overall, it was an average tasting meal. If you want something better, I can easily name a few. So why do we still go there? For the ambiance of course. Located at the highest point in Singapore, there's no sound of the busy traffic or shopping crowds. Just birds chirping, insects humming and the soft music playing in the background. Of course, everything taste better with a fantastic view of the city and it's sunset.



Sapphire @ The Jewel Box
Mount Faber

Braised Chicken Wings

This is my Mummy's recipe and it's easy and delicious!

1. Marinate the chicken wings with a pinch of salt
2. Slice up some ginger and smack about 2 cloves of garlic
3. Stir fry the ginger and garlic with sesame seed oil and a splash of regular cooking oil
4. When the ginger is slightly brown, add in the chicken wings and stir fry it for a minute.
5. Add water till it almost cover the meat.
6. Pour in about 2-3 tablespoons of dark soya sauce and a tablespoon of sugar
7. Let it simmer in high heat for a few minutes before turning down the heat and let it braise slowly.
8. When the sauce has been reduced to about 1/3, check the flavour and add salt if necessary.

Done!

Variations:
1. Add mushrooms for added flavour
2. Use pork belly if you like!

For Braised Pork Belly...
Ginger - cut into bigger slices instead of sticks
At step 4,
-Add a stick of cinnamon (optional)
-Add hard boil eggs

Enjoy! :)

Shanghainese Rice Cake

Also known as Shanhainese Nien Gou, this dish is very close to my heart as my mom would make this on the mornings of chinese new year. So it represents the best years of my childhood and my family. Interestingly, many only know this rice cake for stir-fry or pan-fried. For me, the best way and the only way is to cook it with soup.


1. Soak the nien gou and dried mushroom overnight
2. To make the soup, boil a chicken breast with 2 slices of ginger and mushrooms for 30mins
3. Add chicken wings and chinese cabbage and boil till cooked. Add some salt for seasoning.



4. Cook the nien gou in a seperate pot of water. When the nien gou float to the surface, it's cooked. Careful not to overcook, or it would become mushy!



5. Scoop out the nien gou and ladle the soup and ingredients over it.
6. Serve with a dash of pepper!

Braised Chicken Spaghetti

Most homemade pasta dishes involve a jar of pasta sauce from the store, honestly I have nothing against that, and they make quick and fantastic pasta dishes! But sometimes I just like to have something different, and this recipe is an easy and delicious alternative to the usual tomato based pasta.

Serves 2
1 pc of boneless chicken thigh - diced
5 pcs of large button mushrooms - sliced
1 large onion - cut into large slices
a few slices of carrots
2 pcs garlic - roughly chopped
Chicken stock
1 tsp of dried Oregano
pinch of salt
1 small knob of butter

Spaghetti - a bunch with circumference of about a 50cent


1. Using a deep pot, brown the chicken pieces in oil. Remove from pot.

2. Stir fry the mushrooms, onions, carrots, garlic in pot with the remaining oil with a good pinch of salt.

3. Add in the chicken, oregano and add stock till it almost covers all the contents.


4. Put the lid on the pot, lower fire, and let it simmer while you prepare the pasta.

5. Cook the pasta according to the instruction on the packaging.

**while waiting for the pasta to cook, keep busy by washing dishes and clean up the kitchen!**

6. About 5mins before the pasta is done, add a knob of butter into the chicken and let it continue to braise. The butter would make the sauce rich and velvety!

7. Drain the cooked pasta and pour into the pot with the braised chicken.

8. Stir well and serve with a nice salad!

Super Yummy Braised Chicken Spaghetti

Teriyaki Roast Chicken with Corn

After checking with my previous entry, I realised that I've actually posted this recipe before, but it was a more simple version and it was more asian style, served with mushroom rice.

We didn't feel like eating rice today, so we opted for a western style of dining...

1. Place the boneless chicken thighs into a ziplock bag and add in the marinate:
2 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped
1 teaspoon of ground ginger *TIP*
a good splash of teriyaki sauce
Then I just throw the zipped up bag into the fridge and let it marinate for 20-30mins.


2. About 30mins before we are ready to dine, preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10mins

3. Marinate the corn with a little of the chicken marinate, oil & a pinch of salt.


4. Place everything onto your baking tray and pop them into the oven for 20mins!


5. After dishing out the meat, you can make some sauce! To make the sauce, pour the drippings from the baking tray onto a frying pan. Add some liquids (wine, stock or water) and heat it up a little. Add some cornstarch water to thicken the sauce.


6. Serve with a nice green garden salad!


*TIP*

I saw this on TV! Next time you buy fresh ginger, keep some frozen ones in your freezer. It's a great idea because:
1. It keeps it fresh for longer
2. When you need ginger as a marinate, grind it into the food. The frozen ginger becomes something like a ginger powder - perfect for marinates.

Sri Bistari - Famous Nasi Ayam Penyet (Changi)

Ever since I saw Makansutra recommend Nasi Ayam Penyet on TV, I've been hooked. I thought the one that Seetoh recommended was Nuramin at Changi village but it turned out to be the wrong stall, so, not very good. Then, upon recommendation by Mao, I went to try out The Ayam Penyet House at Beach Road. It's good, but not exactly to my liking. Then one fine day I was inspired to find the original recommendation by Makansutra and... I FOUND IT!



Apparently the store is located at the more obsure and quiet wet market side of the Changi Village Hawker Center. No wonder cannot find it! Good things are really harder to find huh!

This is the second time I've visited the store. I love how the skin of the chicken is super crispy with a slight spice fragrance to it. But amazingly, the flesh is still very tender and moist! So, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside! Best!



The chilli paste is not the super spicy type, but has a slight sweetness in it. But somehow it goes very well with the chicken, and I love to mix it with the rice like when having nasi lemak.

Unlike the Ayam Penyet House with the fancy side dishes, this store only gives a cherry tomato, some cucumber slices and a lettuce as a side. But I like it this way as the raw vegetables provides a nice refreshing contrast to the crispy fried chicken.

My only complain is that the chicken is TOO SMALL! Leaving you with a half full feeling, but allowing you more space for other yummy delights you can find at Changi Village's hawker center. On our 2nd visit we ordered 2 sets and an additional plate of chicken ($3.50) to share - just nice... :D



The chicken comes with a plate of fragrant chicken rice and a bowl of soup, total cost - $4.00

Definitely will go back again!

Sri Bistari - Famous Nasi Ayam Penyet (Changi)
Blk 3 Changi Village Road
#01-40/41 Singapore 500003
Time: 1000 - 0200
For other outlets, click here

Yi Bao (怡宝) Shredded Chicken Hor Fun

What used to be called Yee Cheong Yuen Noodle Restaurant in a coffeeshop, is now air-conditioned and renamed as Yi Bao. Cobby and I always pass by this place on the way to other eateries as we were heading go to Holland Village for dinner. Not until I saw a recommendation by another food blogger did I actually gave the place a try. Verdict? I'm so glad we did!

An affordable menu

Highly recommended: Shredded chicken hor fun

The hor fun is nice and silky, the gravy is full of flavour and the chicken is very tender! Excellent!

Alternative: Braised beef hor fun

For beef lovers, the braised beef is very tender and flavourful.

Fried baby sotong

Try out their wide variety of side dishes, like this fried baby sotong. Nice and crispy...

31 Lorong Liput
Singapore 277742

Shami Banana Leaf Delights

It's more commonly known as the Briyani store at Yishun. In fact, I only found out what was the store name when I last visited it. I'm forgot to check if it's Halal or not, but I'm quite sure they don't sell pork! :)

OK, for those who have not tried Shami's Briyani, beware. Especially for all you small eaters out there. Their portions are HUGE!

Many people just order one and share it with someone. Apart from the huge portions, Shami's briyani is also what we describe as very jelak - very heavy and filling.

They have quite alot of variety, such as mutton, chicken, fish, prawns, even crab! For vegetarians, they have vegetarian sets too! They also have alot of vegetable side dishes to choose from...



We ordered the mutton set which was S$5.50 for a huge portion of briyani, a choice of vegetable, 2 crispy papadum and a giant chunk of mutton with meat so soft it just melts in your mouth!!!



But surprisingly the curry wasn't very spicy, so this would be suitable for people who have a lower tolerance to spicy food. Spice lovers like me would have felt it lacked the "shiokness". But overall the dish was alright.

Shami Banana Leaf Delights

Northpoint Shopping Centre
The Food Mall
930 Yishun Avenue 2, #B2-10
Singapore 769098

Ayam Penyet House

Tucked away at the basement, most people would not even notice this obsure food outlet. Since it's recommended by a friend, I had to try.



We ordered the Ayam Penyet (Chicken Smashed), eggplant penyet, oxtail soup and some chendol to end the meal. Sadly, the eggplant and the chendol CANNOT MAKE IT. But you can try the chicken. The chicken is very tender and crispy! Yum...



The chilli is not as spicy as I would expect it to be... (I have high expectations for indonesian chilli paste!!) Ahem... I'm a spice queen... But it's still spicy nontheless and it goes very well with the chicken and rice.



The oxtail is very flavourful and the bits of meat between the bones are super soft and tender. Good as appetiser or as a meal by itself. They would serve this with rice actually.



Ayam Penyet House
67 Beach Road
NTUC Income Beach Junction
#B1-01/02
Tel: 6337 7761

CoCo's Greek Double Roasted Chicken

This dish is inspired by a cooking show on SCV, My Greek Kitchen. In the original they'll put herbs and use olive oil instead. So this is CoCo's simplified version. Just as good mind you...

The original recipie uses pork shoulder meat. Which is just as good! See below for pictures...

For 2 persons:
2 drumsticks (note: not enough - you may want to add more)
4 slices of bacon (note: not enough! because it just taste SO good!)
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 big onion, cut into big chunks
Pinch of salt, pepper & oil
Sprinkle of paprika (optional)



1. Preheat your oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees
2. Put everything into a baking tray (except for your bacon) and mix them all up!
3. Place your bacon slices on top of the mix



4. Drizzle a little oil over everything. This would help with the browning of your bacon.
5. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake for 1 hour



6. Remove the aluminium cover and bake for another 30 minutes. This would help to make everything brown and crispy!



SERVE~





The beauty about baking a dinner - NO MESSY KITCHEN! Can you tell that dinner is being prepared in this kitchen below??


This is the pork shoulder version. I skipped the paprika for the pork.



After 1.5 hours, the meat becomes so juicy and tender! A must try!