30 Jan 2014
Crystal Jade Jiang Nan - A Rainbow!
28 Jan 2014
Secret Recipe Cakes - Take-away from JB
I missed out posting some Secret Recipe Cakes which I 'smuggled' (brought) back to Singapore when I visited Johor Bahru City Square some time back. No harm bringing back some cakes for the next day's breakfast right? Durian Cake with alternating layers of plain sponge and durian flavored 'paste'. I guessed one of the trademark of Secret Recipe Cakes would be the excessive amount of cream (filling or coating). My other JB posts can be found here (Sushi King), here (KSL City Street Food) and here (Bear Paw Cafe)! |
26 Jan 2014
Gelateria Italia - 8 Flavors at a time!
15 Jan 2014
Bear Paw Cafe (Johor Bahru City Square) - Cute and yummy bear paws!
14 Jan 2014
Back to Johor Bahru (JB) - Reds Salon & KSL City Street Food
After my 1st trip to Johor Bahru City Square, I am back again with another friend (within the same week). Awkwardness as a typical food blogger usually post pictures of food and not selfies! Since my friend's priority was to colour his hair to cover up those greys, I decided to do mine too. There were like 5-6 hair salons around and we randomly picked Reds Salon since my friend heard of that brand name before. The salon seems to be rather packed and shorthanded that day and I spinned about on the chair while waiting to be attended to. I regretted not taking a picture of myself while undergoing the dyeing process! Not sure how fast it would take, but it was only like about 10 minutes or so before the hairstylist told me that the colour had came out and would be ready to wash soon. I was like 'So fast'? |
Another shot which I used as my FB display picture LOL. My hair was towards the gold-light brown while my friend went for the brownish-red. At least we both were different! |
This was one yummy carrot cake stall which I bought my black carrot cake from. It was fried on the spot and I waited only less than 10 minutes before having my packet of piping hot carrot cake. |
13 Jan 2014
Sushi King (JB) - Virgin's trip 1st meal
So not appetizing! My friend and I decided to order from the menu instead. |
My friend's rice set with deep fried chicken karaage, jellyfish, salmon sashimi and a piece of grilled salmon. That concludes my 1st meal in JB, but more to come! |
11 Jan 2014
Prego Italian Restaurant - All that yumminess!
More yummy food shared among my other 3 friends and I! |
9 Jan 2014
Creamier - Totally packed
After I did a tasting for the green tea flavor, I did not order because it tasted diluted and not intense enough. O well, my friend got the green tea flavor anyway. It was more towards the refreshing light taste instead of the usual intense matcha which I always loved. Maybe some people would prefer green tea without the bitter aftertaste. (Click to view my 1st and and 2nd visit.) |
*Update* (29/04/14)
Cake Spade - Light but still heavy
7 Jan 2014
Yonehachi - Sticky rice in Japanese cuisine?
6 Jan 2014
Rive Gauche Patisserie - X'mas Potluck 2013 at Vivocity Skypark
A group shot before ending this post! Too dark to capture any good shots already... |
4 Jan 2014
Homemade meat jerky! Bak Kwa experiment for Chinese New Year!
My very 1st post for the year 2014 and I will be blogging about my homemade meat jerky process! I still
have a couple of 2013 posts which I have yet to update but this post was the priority since Chinese New
Year is approaching! My 3rd time experimenting with the seasoning quantity before finally settling with the
one below. (Note: Adjusted based on my personal preference!)
have a couple of 2013 posts which I have yet to update but this post was the priority since Chinese New
Year is approaching! My 3rd time experimenting with the seasoning quantity before finally settling with the
one below. (Note: Adjusted based on my personal preference!)
The recipe I modified into:
Pork 300g (A bit fattier would be better)
Sugar 3 tbs
Honey 3 tbs (I think malt syrup would be better, more caramelised flavor.)
Fish Sauce 1.5 tbs
Sweet Wine 2 tbs (I used a dessert wine)
Dark Soy Sauce 1/2 tbs
Char Siew Sauce 1 tbs (Removed after 3rd batch)
Five Spice 1/2 tbs
Sesame Oil 1/2 tbs (Removed after 3rd batch)
If anyone knows of any better tried-and-tested-before recipe, care to share with me so I could try?
I knew it would not be so easy to get close to the exact taste of Bak Kwa, if not everyone would be making
their own already.
Picture of myself barbecuing the meat jerky! |
Another selfie shot with my friend's barbecue pit! Thanks Glenn for letting me use his house to barbecue! |
The texture was way too smooth to be Bak Kwa and it looked more like ham instead. |
My friend did the baking to firm up the minced meat before I barbecued them. Kept flipping and barbecuing piece by piece as his oven could only bake a piece at a time. |
Glazed with honey when the meat was about to be done with a bit of charred parts appearing. Make sure the honey dries slightly or it would end up sticky. |
Done! Pork or beef ?? |
Another shot with only 2 pieces... |
Some of the minced chicken ended up like this, all broken apart because it was too soft to flip with tongs. |
Done with all the 1.2kg of beef and pork which took about 5 hours...? |
Final conclusion:
Beef - Jerky have quite a strong beefy taste and smell which could be quite unpleasant.
The meat was rather firm but soft and tender.
Easy to handle while baking and barbecuing.
Easiest to dry up and discolour after a few days in the fridge
Chicken - Became watery/mushy after marination and broke apart easily.
Tasted a bit like satay / chicken steak.
Pork - Texture a bit rubbery after a few days in the fridge.
More suitable due to having more fats (although mine still not enough)
All - Unusual smell and taste, something like hoisin sauce detected.
The texture too smooth to be Bak Kwa.
Overall taste still negative to me.