Galbiati : Condiment of Discontent Part II

If chilli crab needs chilli to be yummy, what does eggplant parmigiana needs? Egg plant? Parmesan? While I know taste is subjective, Galbiati's version certainly did nothing for me.  Firstly, there was too much tomato sauce instead of cheese.  Secondly, there was too much tomato sauce instead of eggplant.  Thirdly, there was too much tomato ketchup instead of tomato sauce made from tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes.  Period.

Eggplant parmigiana

The end product became a watery version of something which can be both hearty and satisfying. Granted, it's really difficult to find an authentic version of this dish in our sunny island of Singapore. Most Italian restaurants on our sunny island used mozarella instead of parmesan and tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes.  If I were to have my way, I will really like my parmigiana to have pan-fried eggplant slices with layers of buffalo mozarella, tomato paste and loads of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  It's not authentic I know but that's what I'll like.

Had great potato gratin at La Petite Cuisine the other day so it spurred me to try Galbiati's.  While sauce was really creamy but it was too heavy especially coupled with thickly sliced potatoes.  Very hard to stomach and digest.  Give me LPC's anytime.

Potato Gratin

Sigh, I guess tomato ketchup has ruined my meal again. The only saving grace for our dinner were the meringues.  Little, cute and sweet nibbles to round off the meal :P

meringues

Galbiati

400 Upper Bukit Timah Road

Jumbo: Condiment of Discontent Part I

Ketchup. Whether it leads to satisfaction or discontent at the end of a meal depends. For example, I totally hate ketchup in bak chor mee while perfectly happy with it in sweet and sour pork.

The window of discontent at Jumbo came from the liberal use of ketchup in the famous chilli crab. Good chilli crab's gravy to me should be very spicy, thick, slightly sour, choked full of the goodness of egg white and complete with a tiny tinge of curry taste. Neither the sourness nor sweetness nor curry flavour should overshadow the presence of chilli, hence the name "Chilli Crab". Jumbo's chilli crab have degenerated to using too much ketchup to achieve the texture and taste. While the crab was fresh and succulent, the chef seem to do much injustice to the freshness of seafood by overdrowning the dish with large quantity of this off-the-shelf condiment. Can a some authority punish the first person who introduce ketchup into cooking indiscriminately please?

Other than the above. I am actually quite happy with my meal. The pepper crab was peppery with a hint of butter hence deserving of its name "Pepper Crab". The drunken prawns ($20) were fresh, crunchy and the soup was yummy with shaoxing wine and hint of chinese herbs hence deserving of its name "Drunken Prawns".

So if crab needs pepper to be yummy pepper crab and prawn needs shaoxing wine to be yummily drunken then why let ketchup steal the show for chilli crab? Life is complicated enough so the act of eating shouldn't be.

Jumbo Seafood
Waterfront No. 2 Stadium Walk
#01-05 Sinagpore Indoor Stadium 

The Old Pontian Cafe: Where Moderation is the Key

I will never disclose my favourite wanton mee to anyone.  But I do not mind sharing this moderately good wanton mee, moderately easy to get too.  Just follow the 10 steps given.

1) Go to the far west of Singapore, Choa Chu Kang

2) Walk into Lot 1 shoppers' mall and take an escalator down to B1

3) Locate Old Pontian Cafe right next to the escalator

4) Quene up in front of the white kiosk/counter

5) Place order for wanton mee and memorise the order number shouted out to you

6) Take tray, help yourself with the green chilli, find a table and sit down

7) Listen out for your order number and wave to the wait staff when you hear yours

8) Dig into the moderately springy and spicy noodles together with the moderately sweet char siew

9) Drink the moderately flavoured soup and eat the moderate-size wantons (both fried and boiled)

10) Tell yourself $3 for a moderately good wanton mee is worth a revisit 

 

Wanton Mee with Fried Wanton 

Moderately seasoned green chilli

A moderately good meal

The Old Pontian Cafe

Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall

Basement 1

Home: Steamed Minced Chicken Patty Rice

Steamed Minced Chicken Patty Rice

I am a simple eater. As long as it's something mummy cooks, I will enjoy it tremendously.

Recipe
1) Season minced chicken (appr $2) with soya sauce, pepper and a dash of shaoxing wine.
2) Add salted egg (if desired).
3) Cook rice (3/4 cup) in a rice cooker.
4) Once the rice is cooked, immediately spread the minced chicken on top. Cover for 10mins.
5) Garnish with spring onions.
(serves 2)

La Petite Cuisine: French Women Don't Get Fat

I believe in the principles of this book - eat the best in moderation and do not deprive oneself as long term weight management strategies. However, it was lunch at LPC which literally brought out the essence of these principles.

La PetiteCuisine

Firstly, the portions at LPC were not exactly petite but really not sizeable. The panfried foie gras with orange confit ($17) was about the size of a child's palm and pan-fried to perfection. Crisp with a slight caramelised exterior, the tender and almost creamy interior can just send one's taste buds to heaven. The richness of the liver was just right for me. For the rest of the world, the tangy orange confit served as a good foil to the oily liver. Sauce for this dish was a bit too salty for my liking but it did served its good purpose as I could mop it up with the accompanying salad. Rockets were liberally used in the salad so the saltiness of the sauce went very well with the bitter and musky taste of rockets. In all, this foie gras was much more enjoyable than the last one I had in Gunthers (G's was very tender too but slightly bitter. There was no hint of bitterness for the LPC's at all).

Panfried Foie Gras with Orange Confit

Confit de Canard with gratin ($15) was only good in parts, really. Some parts of the duck were tender and oily while others rather dry and tough. I only had duck confit once and hence not sure if I can consider this good or bad. However, the accompanying gratin was so great that I kept thinking about it since yesterday. The sliced potatoes were very sweet and soft. The taste of cream for the gratin was simply gratifying.

Confit de Canard with Gratin

My friend and I split both dishes. We aren't exactly full even though strangely satisfied. It felt kind of good and happy to have a delicious meal without stuffing our faces and burning a hole in our pockets. Strangely, this satisfied and pleasant feeling lasted all the way till dinner. I did not crave for tea nor ate more than I should. Now, no wonder french women don't get fat for they eat small and satisfying meals which happiness and pleasure can last the whole day. But I will be even happier if I can have the whole foie gras to myself on the next visit!

La Petite Cuisine
10 Jalan Serene
#01-05 Serene Centre

U.d.d.e.r.s: Stirred and Shaken

Rum Rum Raisin

I feel very bad now, especially after this sweet young man treated me to his dad's new joint further down the road. But I just need to eat udders ice-cream after having the more established competitor's frostier version. Nevertheless, I am glad I secretly went to take-away the rum2 raisin ($10.90 for 1 pint) after I packed sweet young man home. As I was walking from my car to the outlet, I saw mr friendly walking out of the shop but went in again quickly. Ha ha, he must have detected my very purposeful steps towards his ice-cream. Service was thoughtful and the lady who served me gave me some dry ice for my pint although I told her I am only 5mins away from home (great attitude and very customer-oriented indeed). Mr friendly was very nice and asked if I want to try anything. He gave me the bourbon and baileys - creamy with more bourbon than baileys. He was also careful enough to advise me not to try the green tea as the bourbon flavour will affect the taste of it. I had the tira-miss-u instead - great recommendation from mr friendly. I am impressed by how creamy the ice-cream is, how comfortable mr friendly made me feel (even after trying many flavours) and how sensitive the service at udders can be. This time round, I am stirred and shaken by how passionate people are in running a good business. I will definitely be back at udders for more.

You may be interested in my previous review of U.d.d.e.r.s, Stirred not Shaken 

U.d.d.e.r.s
No. 17 Lorong Kilat
#01-08 Kilat Court

Simply Bread: No need to Gamble with this Fantan

Orange Fantan

Simply eat it, it's fantastic!

The orange fantan ($1.70) from simply bread.

Simply eat it, no regret!

Walking around cluny court after a morning walk at botanic gardens.

Simply caught a whiff of freshly baked bread.

Wondered where it came from.

Simply went up the escalator.

At a corner next to relish, saw a short quene.

Ha ha, signboard of Simply Bread waving at me!

Intended to simply grab a raisin loaf and run.

But hey, the lady was simply professional, polite and knowledgeable.

Told me the various ingredients and differences between their huge variety.

She simply recommended fantan and I wanted my usual sticky bread ($1.70) too.

Simply went into the cafe.

Simply love the sugar frosting on fantan, sweet, light and crisp.

Orange peels contributed to burst of flavour and bite.

Bread neither too dense nor light.

Sticky bun, dense yet puffy and not sticky.

Stickiness from the caramel and cinnamon dusting simply yum!

Décor simply simple, cosy and relaxing.

Long black was simply rich and not acidic.

Sticky Bread

Must be the fantan I ate.

Writing also become simple.

What power simply good food has!

Simply Bread
Cluny Court
501 Bukit Timah Road #02-07