Keep Singapore Delicious, Pt 3

Days 1 and 2 were a blast, but I was especially excited to start Day 3 because we'd be going to Geylang in search of the King of Fruits.

Geylang's history is definitely a mixed bag. The area, along the east coast, was a military outpost for the British and a hotspot for local entrepreneurs to set up their workshops and stores. But since it was a first point of contact for many Asian and European foreigners (civilian and naval) arriving into Singapore, it also became a center for prostitution and sex-worker trafficking. Geylang grew to become a major red-light district. Even to this day, Geylang is known to have some of that going on, some of it regulated and some of it running illegally.

 But Geylang in the daytime is something else completely. Walking around the side streets, Shan and I saw lots of active Buddhist community centers, temples and shrines. We checked out shops selling handmade bamboo birdcages and fruit stores with giant hanging pomelos. We enjoyed an outstanding bowl of Malay prawn noodle soup (one of the must-have dishes I had on my list of things to eat in Singapore). And once we got a certain distance into Geylang, we could smell our target...

D U R I A N!!!

The smell is unmistakeable, and extremely off-putting to many. The best I can describe it is that it's like gassy mango in dirty laundry. Shan says it smells like a diabetic foot wound. Subways stations, stores, hotels, and other establishments have clearly marked "No Durians Allowed" signs.

A durian can get as big as a rugby ball, and it's covered in spikes. When you chop it open, the flesh is big yellow seed pods, with a consistency somewhere between super-ripe mango and thick custard. Apparently, we bought a D24 variety/cultivar of durian. Shan says that the most popular cultivar is called Mountain Cat, but I think that was out of season.

Walking with the durian pack in a tote bag, we could smell the durian wafting up as we walked and as we ate our prawn noodles. Eventually, we sat down outside the metro rail station, and mentally prepared ourselves for this experience.

Shan: "Diabetic foot wound"

Me: "Hmm, not bad"

The best way I can describe the flavor is to think of over-ripe mango, dial down the sweetness and add more of a gassy almost-onion aroma. I would totally try it again, hopefully one that's in-season. Shan said F that... unless it's Mountain Cat, that would deserve another try. We then devoured a couple of mangosteens and then hopped a train to the Gardens By The Bay.

For the memories!

Keep Singapore Delicious, Pt 2

Day 2

Shannon and I went down to Little India, which, if you haven't deduced by now, is Singapore's hub of Indian (Tamil) culture, food, and shops. Originally, Little India was the section of old colonial Singapore where Indian immigrants were allowed to live, under British colonists' segregation laws. But nowadays, it's a thriving community with ornate Hindu temples, preserved and colorful colonial architecture, and a really impressive market and food centre.

Huge displays of fresh southeast Asian produce, dudes chopping up and packaging segments of giant jackfruit, and tons of fresh fish and butchered meat. Shan and I did a full lap around the upper level, and I swear we unlocked an achievement like on XBox because a random Tamil vendor with purple hair greeted us with a big smile and a thumbs up, as if to say "You've made it!"

To celebrate our achievement, we enjoyed some Teh Tarik (Malaysian "pulled" milk tea), and some roti paratha (Indian savory grilled flatbread). And then we wandered through Little India and into Arab Street.

Adjacent to Little India is Kampong Glam, Arab Street. It's similar to Tiong Bahru and Little India in that it's full of old colonial shophouses, but what sets it apart is the small, hip restaurants and cafes. Also, the Masjid Sultan Mosque. Shan and I were a little hesitant to go in, because we didn't know if we met the dress code.

We explored a couple of vintage clothing stores and t-shirt design shops, checked out the fragrance shop, discovered the Malay Cultural Center, and waited out a thunderstorm with some wine at a nice cafe/lounge before getting to our goal at an Arab St hawker centre.

Sup Tulang

Sup Tulang. As seen on the Singapore episode of No Reservations. It's a messy, deep red dish of slow-cooked mutton bones in a spicy tomato-based sauce. There's a little meat on the bones, but the real draw is the marrow inside them. Some people get to the marrow with a straw. Shan and I said F that, and we attacked the bone head-on.

So far, Singapore was still blowing my mind with the sights, smells, and outstanding food. On Day 3, Shan and I head to the red light district to follow our noses for some Durian, and we go ballin' out of control at Clarke Quay over some chili crab.

Keep Singapore Delicious

In February, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting my good friends Adley and Shannon during their expat year in Singapore. The timing was perfect for this trip, right in the somewhat quiet time at work for me, and in time for Adley's Chinese New Year time off.

Typically, when I plan my trips, I put a lot of thought in and do tons of research on what I could possibly see, where I should eat, and how to make the most of my time. This time around, I left everything to Shan's expert hands. Eager to show me the best of what Singapore has to offer, she put together an epic Choose-Your-Own-Adventure of neighborhoods and hawker centres.

Day 1

After a little solo exploring at the Merlion plaza and Marina Bay, I got my first taste of hawker centres at the Lau Pa Sat market on Raffles Quay.

Aisles upon aisles of Chinese, Indonesian, Malay, South Indian, Korean, and other stalls. I can't even describe how good this place smelled. I took this interior shot around 11:00am. 30 minutes later, the lunch rush came in and there wasn't a single open table in the entire market.

After the Lau Pa Sat hawker centre, I met up with Shan and we explored the neighborhood of Tiong Bahru, one of Singapore's oldest housing developments. It's retained some of its older architecture, but now it's also home to newer condo/apt towers, famous hawker centres, and some nice thrift shops and indie bookstores. The must-have hawker dish of Tiong Bahru: char siew pork at Lee Hong Kee Cantonese Roasted Pork.

Tiger on the shoreline

Left to right: Sambal stingray, prawn fritter, carrot cake with prawns

What was left of the satay when we remembered to take a picture, and Mee Goreng.

After Tiong Bahru and a stroll through the Singapore Botanical Gardens, we met with Adley coming home from the office, and we headed to the East Coast Lagoon hawker centre. This one was an open air market right on the water. We knocked back some Tiger beer and enjoyed some ridiculously good Singapore specialties: sambal stingray, prawn fritters, "carrot cake" (actually stir-fried radish and rice flour cake with seafood, soy sauce, garlic, etc), and satay. It was a great end to my first full day in Singapore.

One thing I was really impressed with in Singapore was the diversity of people and food. Yes, on the surface it's all Southeast Asian (South Chinese, Indo/Malay, Tamil, what-have-you), but you never really feel like it's a homogeneous culture. I more of a feeling that this is the NYC or melting-pot of Asia.

In Part 2, Shan and I earn props for navigating a Little India fish market, and we get sloppy on some bones on Arab Street.

Asia 2013: Know Your Noodle

I'll admit that, on my first trip to Japan in 2010, my first impression of Tokyo was not the best. Granted I only gave myself approximately 2 days to enjoy a mega-city like that, and it was on the tail-end of the trip and I was sad about the idea of returning to work so soon. But one of the best things I took away from my first time in Tokyo was meeting up with my friend Nai for my first ever bowl of real ramen.

2010: Niboshi (fish-flavored broth) ramen at Nagi in Golden Gai, Shinjuku

On my 2nd trip in 2012, over the course of 10 days, my friends and I had at least 5 bowls of ramen each. It ranged from thick and spicy miso broth to the light and understated/underrated shio (sea-salt flavored) broth.

This time around, I knew I was going to have just a hot minute in Japan, and a couple of days were already accounted for. So I did a little research into what is the one bowl of ramen I should have on my layover in Tokyo before arriving in Singapore.

Fortunately, there's a number of American expat bloggers dedicated to sampling all of Tokyo's best ramen joints. The one in Ueno that they give glowing recommendations is Ramen Daiki Tenjinshita. They specialize in more of a chicken-based recipe. When I arrived, the first good sign was the line of people out the door.

Shoyu (soy sauce flavored) at Ramen Daiki Tenjinshita in Ueno

At first, the soup tasted like little more than chicken broth. But going deeper, I realized there was a lot more going on. It was nice and light like shio broth. I guess I've gotten so used to the thick tonkotsu (pork bone) broth that's more popular, and is available at Austin ramen houses Michi Ramen and Ramen Tatsu-ya. This soup was subtly complex, light, and doesn't bog you down in the end. And the toppings of green onion and clover sprouts accented it perfectly. So did the chashu (pork belly), cooked so well that the fat was nicely rendered off but the meat still tender enough to break apart with the slightest bit of chopstick pressure.


About a week later, after being shown the wonders of the foodie metropolis that is Singapore, and after rediscovering real relaxation off the gulf of Thailand, I got to spend 2 days with Nai in his swank Osaka bachelor pad. That 2nd night, he took me out for what would probably ruin me for this variety of ramen for the rest of life.

Itadakimasu

Tsukemen is a style of ramen where the soup is kept separate from the noodles so that you can dip each mouthful of noodles in it. San Ku (三く) is a special tsukemen shop in that it's not run by your typical ramen chef. It's been in operation for about 1 year now, and the chef is trained more in classical Japanese cuisine. So he takes flavors and techniques you find in fancy Japanese haute-cuisine, and twists them into his soup.

Thick noodles topped with what we think is dried husks of rice/wheat grains. And dat soup.

Normally, when you see the soup that thick and cloudy, it's from the marrow and fat rendered out of the pork bones. San Ku's soup, on the other hand, is flavored with bonito fish (?) and is thickened with grated Japanese mountain potato. I first learned about the mountain potato at my splurge-meal during my first visit to Kyoto. So you don't feel as bogged down and heavy in the end as you would with a tonkotsu soup.

Another feature the chef puts into the soup is a stash of "treasure" at the bottom of the bowl: bits of Japanese pickled plum (umeboshi) and shiso leaf under a super thin slice of crunchy lotus root. Shiso is like basil + mint + parsley + love. Umeboshi is strong and sour on your first try, but in small amounts it really enhances other flavors in your mouth, and it's pickled with some shiso leaf.

Nai tells me that he's gone to San Ku so many times now that he and the chef know each other by name now. And that sometimes when Nai goes to the shop, he's privileged with samples of the chef's new experimental recipes. Now I'm determined to change jobs to a company that will let me expat in the Osaka area.


Good God, I'm in shiso withdrawal right now.

More to come soon

Nothing inspires me to write new posts more than fresh new travel experiences. I had the pleasure of spending time with some good friends in Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. And that 2 week span was filled with some of the most outstanding food I've ever had on my travels. While I get my photos organized, enjoy a recap of my time in Singapore and Thailand over at Shannon and Adley's blog, starting here.

Comfort Food

It's been a pretty stressful month for me, and this week is proving to be especially bad. Now, this stress has started to manifest in my food cravings and the meals I have planned for this week. This is the very definition of comfort food: what I want to eat/cook when I'm feeling down.

When I go to the Whole Foods pre-cooked food bar, and they have out "Comfort Food," it's typical American/Southern foods: meatloaf, mac & cheese, casseroles. That's all too heavy to me, and doesn't jive with my palate.

Ideally, I'd have some of my mom's Haitian cooking as my comfort food. I could eat the pants off some braised chicken and rice with red beans, or white rice and black bean sauce, or some bouillon (pronounced boo-yohn). But I'm still working on getting up to my mom's level of Haitian cooking.

Until I get to that level, it seems my tastes tend toward Asian flavors: light, savory, salty, and a little bit sweet. My planned dinners for this week are a couple of good old standbys.

Mapo Tofu

I absolutely love mapo tofu; I sometimes use it as a benchmark for a new Chinese restaurant. It's bold, spicy, and just warms you up inside. The slight numbing sensation and increased salivation caused by the Sichuan peppercorns is just an added bonus :)

Yaki-Udon with Chicken & Veggies

It's super simple, just stir fry the cooked noodles, some broccoli, carrots, baby bok choy, and ginger in the right sauce. It's savory, but has that sweetness from the yaki-soba/yaki-udon sauce, and the bit of spice from the ginger.

Photo from lovehwaseong.kr

Soon Dubu Chigae (Korean soft tofu soup)

This isn't one that I can make myself yet, but sooner or later I will buy a Korean stew pot and try my hand at this. Soon dubu chigae is a hearty, spicy stew made from hot peppers, fish stock, silken tofu, prawns, clams, and a raw egg on top that cooks in the hot broth. Whenever I have a cold that just won't go away, I go to Korea House and order one of these.


I think I've associated Korean food with comfort ever since grad school, when I was commuting from Long Island to UWS Manhattan. My first semester final exams happened to fall on the first day of the NYC transit workers' strike, so none of the subways or city buses were running... and my exam started at 9am. Anticipating the delays on the LIRR, I took the 5am train into the city, and the ride that was typically 1 hour long took at least 2. Then I joined a group of people trying to grab a taxi uptown; easier said than done, when all the cabbies were gouging us.

Luckily we found a really nice van driver who could take us up to around 90th, and I'd have to walk the rest of the way. But I completely forgot to go a few avenues west before getting around 110th, because I ended up on the wrong side of Morningside Park. I backtracked and got to my first exam 35 minutes late. Oh, and the exam was difficult as sh!t.

So I handed in my exam, heart still pounding, feeling like crap, and not looking forward to my next exam in 5 hours. The first thing I wanted to do? Treat myself to a nicer lunch than usual. And so I went to Mill Korean Restaurant on 113th and B'way, and had a pot of soon dubu chigae, and then went to the EE student lounge for a nap.

For a moment, while I was face-deep into that hot stone pot, I didn't hate the world.

What's your go-to comfort food?

Roasted Whole Branzino in Cherry Tomato Sauce

I freaking love my new kitchen. I love all the counter space on the island, the granite counter tops, the deep sink. The hanging pot rack still has me a little paranoid that one day all of it is going to come crashing down. But nonetheless, I still make good use of it.

Once I got all my kitchen things out of their boxes and in their proper places, and organized my pantry-and-utility-closet-and-laundry-room, it was time to get back to regular cooking. And this was one of the first meals I made for myself once the kitchen was up and running. It's super simple, so I won't go into details on the procedure.

Whole Foods recently started carrying fresh whole fish. Or maybe they've been carrying whole fish for a while now and I'm just late to the party. Either way, their Mediterranean sea bass (branzini) looked fascinating. It was already gutted, and the guy at the counter gladly scaled it for me. Pret-à-cuisiner.

All I did with it was rub its skin with olive oil, season liberally with salt and crushed black pepper and a little bit of dried oregano, and stuff the cavity with a couple of springs of fresh rosemary and fresh dill and 3 thin slices of lemon. Put it in an oven-safe roasting pan and put it in an oven preheated to 375 deg for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip the fish to its other side, and set the oven to broil for 2 minutes.

I made a really simple sauce to go with it, using grape tomatoes, shallots, fresh dill, and sake.  Why sake? I didn't have any white wine in house, and I was enjoying the fantastic sake I brought back from my trip to Japan. Call it a successful experiment.

I did feel a little guilty using my good sake for cooking, so the 2nd time around with this sauce, I bought the cheapo stuff that's everywhere in the States, Gekkeikan. It's unfortunate that the standard bottle of Gekkeikan in the US is not really that good (served chilled, anyway), even though it's one of Japan's oldest breweries. Actually one of the world's oldest companies, est 1637. And they have a wide variety of premium sake sold overseas that I'm sure are way better than what we have access to.

Sauté some shallots in olive oil and add 1 cup of halved grape tomatoes, then add about a half cup of sake and the fresh dill.

Quick, easy, and tasty. Just watch out for bones.