ByFood: Steamed Pumpkin Cake (Inspired Version)

I realized that it is not exactly a fortunate thing to have favourite food stalls, especially the traditional and authentic ones. Many of these stall owners grew old and retired, else passed away without passing on their skills.  Quite a few times when I went to buy my favourite food, only to see empty lots or new faces cooking the same thing but of sub-standard taste. I never got to eat the same thing again. 

At current, I have a favourite food stall at Clementi Ave 2 Hawker Centre which serves food only till around 10am. And it is manned by 3 very old grannies. They sell steamed yam cake, steamed pumpkin cake, peanut porridge, chee cheong fun, and vegetarian beehoon. So far, I find that their yam and pumpkin cakes are one of the best that I have eaten so far. Those tasted and looked very traditional which reminded me of my Grandma's cooking. 

Afraid that one day the same tastes would be lost forever (if you know what I mean), I decided to try my luck in making at least one item. This would not be easy, especially to be able to get the same texture and right taste as theirs. I really hope that I will lucky!

Steamed Pumpkin Cake made by the 3 very old grannies

Well... it turned out that I was not so lucky afterall. I tried making the pumpkin cake from leftover porridge, flour and water. The rest of the ingredients used were Chopped Pumpkin, Chinese Sausage, Chinese Mushroom, and Dried Shrimps. Even though Mum and I felt the pumpkin cake tasted nice, someone else in the house said that a pumpkin cake should not look like that. 

Shallots were charred due to an unexpected phonecall ;[

I will keep trying till everyone likes it! =="

BySunny: Dim Sum Buffet

This April, Di is giving me & mei dim sum buffet because he has bonus :) We choose Swatow Seafood Restaurant at Toa Payoh. The Dim Sum buffet starts at 3pm - 5pm. We reached there on time! We start to think what we want to eat. By the end of the dishes below, Di cannot eat anymore. There goes his siew mai. 3 of us surrender with a very filling stomach!!

Century Egg Porridge-Mei says the century egg too big pieces. transfer into my bowl

Shark Fin with Crab Meat

This is abalone pieces with mayo & a bit of wasabi

Deep fried fish skin

Char Siew Sou

Deep fried prawn with mango

Steam Pork Rib

Chicken Feet - my fav :D

Chee Cheong Fun with Char Siew

Deep Fried prawn

Sliced Duck Meat to wrap in the egg crepe

Deep fried prawn

Prawn Dumpling-inside has 3 prawns!

This is durian deep fried prawn-inside is durian & prawn, it smell quite nice

小笼包

Pumpkin dumpling-inside has mashed pumpkin, mushroom & vegetarian luncheon meat

Salted Egg Custard Egg( 流沙包）-the must try dim sum

Red Bean Paste & Banana

Egg Tarts

Longan almond, Wheat Jelly, Gui ling gao, Mango pudding

Red Bean Soup

Thanks for the treat!!

ByFood: What if our Haze Level is in "Good" range?

I did not wake up of my own will this morning. I was woken up by Whatsapp beeps from my food dream. In it, SK cooked a full table of vegetables for me to eat. After replying to the messages, I badly wanted to go back to the dream but Mum came home. This was what happened next... 

Hand-drawn depiction by SK of the most accurate scenario. 

BySK: Our De-stress Meal at Mos Burger!

My Maths paper is finally over!!! I did not know how to do many questions so hopes for a good grade is dashed. ~T_T~ *cries till floods up Victoria Harbour*

I badly needed to regenerate a huge chunk of my brain cells that went dead after the mathematics ordeal. This is really necessary because I will need all the energy to focus on my revision for Chemistry! In order to do this, I have to de-stress and I must EAT. So my friend and I went to MOS Burger for lunch.

We are starving! =3

Only the salad is healthy, I guess. 

ByFood: Easy N Light Dessert for Gastric Troubles

People with gastric problems are usually very busy because they do not eat regular meals else they eat food that are often bad for the stomach to de-stress. I am plagued with gastric troubles too due to hectic schedules since schooling days like zillion years ago. 

Just two years back, I started finding various natural remedies to cure it because it did not help my bank account much by visiting the doctor way too often. There are hundreds of ways suggested by netizens to help relieve gastric problems like gastricitis and stomach ulcer. Also friends suggested that I eat this and that to help relieve the gastric pain and discomfort. My idea is, destruction caused by food can be countered the same way too. 

BySunny : Chocolate Chip Muffins

Finally! I have bought my Electric Oven for my baking. Porky is more excited than me so she started her journey to make her muffins after 10years not touching any oven. Really long time ago. She is so nervous throughout the whole process worrying the muffins will be a failure. Her friend told her - If you know how to make cupcakes, muffin is not a problem at all. But still she is walking to & fro to check on the oven while it is baking. As for me, I become the helper for the night. I am helping to clean all the kitchen utensils she has used. Hahaha...

ByFood: Taiwanese Food vs My Taste Buds

No matter how many times I tried Taiwanese food, unless it was dessert, I could never rate them more than 7/10. Perhaps the problem lies with my taste buds and till now, I am still not able to put a finger to what went wrong. 

Many friends raved about the food they ate in Taiwan and told me that I had to try the "authentic thing". So I flew to Taiwan, only to come home in disappointment. I have had better food before in my life elsewhere and it was only natural to compare. I prefer the braised minced pork with rice cooked by Mum's Filipino maid to those that I ate in Taiwan. The desserts sold in Taiwan are simply fantastic and almost good beyond words though. One thing for sure, Taiwan really has a vast and interesting variety of dishes on their country's food menu till it is not possible for anyone to try every single dish in his/her entire life.

BySunny : Radish Balls

On Thurs, the ladies in the office was happily talking about the kueh made by our elders. One of my colleagues is telling us about this Radish Balls. It is a dish she always make for her family whenever she is free. It is quite interesting. Normally we eat pumpkin & yam cake in flat rectangle pieces but this kueh is make into balls. Last night, she actually went to buy the ingredient last night & made it for us. So I asked her how to make this Radish Balls. Personally, I find it very yummy & nice. 

BySK: A Beef Bowl After Exam Paper!

Today's exam was English Paper 1. The reading section was difficult; I did not understand some of the words and sentences. The written part was still fine. After that long and tedious paper, the next best thing for me to do was to fill my hungry stomach. 

My friends and I decided to go to Yoshinoya. I love the Beef Bowl sold there and would always choose this for my meal. But I did not add the pickled ginger as I do not like ginger at all. It was delicious eating the rice with the fragrant and juicy thin beef slices, and of course, the shining onions too!

Now I feel energized to study for my next paper tomorrow!

My Yummy Beef Bowl at Yoshinoya!

ByFood: O... Coconut!

This was my 1st time hacking open a coconut. Fibre husks flew everywhere. Some juice spurt onto my face. Finally, Mr Coconut looked badly injured. But thanks to him that I recovered from dehydration today. 

I need to buy more coconuts to train. If only it is as easy as cracking open a peanut. One day I'll be able to make fast and clean cuts then enjoy the sweet refreshing coconut juice...

Sorry, Mr Coconut.

ByFood: Otah Omelette... Toast

Last week, Dad brought "New Moon" brand Otah home and I was racking my brains on what to do with it. Then Sunny suggested that I try cooking Otah Omelette. I haven't eaten such a dish before and it sounded interesting so why not give it a try? At then, I had half a loaf of bread due to expire the next day so I decided to toast them and add to my omelette. It should taste OK.

BySunny: Grandma's Mochi

Colourful Mochi sell outside

Nowadays the mochi which are sold outside is all very colourful & with lot of fillings like red beans, yam, mango & etc etc. As for my family, we always like the kind of mochi my grandma had made for us. It is either peanut or beans fillings. The skin is always white. Maybe the colour is not very nice but it is very different & yummy....

ByFood: Joy of Gifting DIY items

On days when I lounged on my sofa without any care, I caught a Japanese documentary "At home with Venetia in Kyoto". The things that this lady did sparked my interests to send gifts to my friends too. Somehow it can be a joy to send gifts without expecting any in return so long as friends are happy to receive them. 

ByFood: Porridge Nuggets (from leftover porridge)

I woke up early this morning to prepare porridge and some dishes for my family. Everyone ate till burped at least 3 to 4 times so I guessed this must be what is called, a filling breakfast. There was still some porridge left in the pot and my family has a "no food wastage" policy so I thought that making Porridge Pancake (taught by Sunny) would be a good idea. I made into nuggets version

ByFood: When You Are Tipsy, 2 Remedies

One evening, a Eurasian guy and Indian lady (alias Nick and Geeta) boarded the bus I was on and they started chatting while standing beside my seat. Obviously Nick was trying his best to impress Geeta that he was a party goer and would not get drunk easily. Then Geeta was keen to know how was he able to hold his alcohol so well, and so was I.

BySunny: Go Penang with Porky & Jasmine flower...

Porky suggested to give Jasmine flower & me a treat this week. We have been choosing from buffet from Plaza Singapura to Shaw Centre & finally we decided on "Penang Place Resturant" at Connexis. I personally like penang food quite alot. Especially the Penang Laksa. In my heart, I am hoping it will not be a disappointment this time. Cant find very nice Penang Laksa so far. Well..overall the food is quite nice although Penang Laksa is not really up to my expectation..haha.. The Char Kway Teow is not so oily & the taste is good. The Century Egg Porridge is nice too.