Tampopo : Isn't it Ironic?

Irony Number 1: This centralised outlet did not sell its heavenly cream puff. You still need to go to Liang Court to get the legendary cream puff.
Irony Number 2: Me did not order its famous black pig katsu nor its recommended ramen.
Irony Number 3: The healthy set is all about fried stuff - fried pork loin, fried onion, fried mushroom, fried asparagus.
Irony Number 4: Healthy fried vegetables tasted better than "healthy" fried pork.
Irony Number 5: Dinner was good not excellent yet I have a strange craving to go back again.

Healthy Set

Chicken Katsu Set

Tampopo

I announced several times I cannot appreciate Japanese food and yet I keep eating and posting Japanese food.  Isn't it ironic? 

Tampopo

391 Orchard Road #B2-33

Takashimaya Shopping Center

Tel: 62352318

Patchi : My Fave Xmas Gift

Thrill to find a box of Patchi among my xmas presents.  Patchi is a Lebanese brand that offers Belgian-style chocolates.  Like true love Jeff de Bruges is not easy to find so Patchi is my next best option to pile on choc calories.  It may not be as popular as some other chocolatiers in town but I love these smooth and rich babies (especially those hazelnuts praline ones).  Yup this is my fave xmas present.  Thank you for loving me in this manner!  Didn't even realise they have an outlet in ION till I type this entry :)

Patchi
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #B4-50
Tel: 67385311

Marmalade Pantry II: Cupcakes Galore

Chocolate Deluxe, William, Granny's Apple ($4.20each)

Binge on 3 cupcakes to beat stress...

Wonder if it is just me but I found pantry's cupcakes rather dry these days.  Only enjoyed Granny's Apple with its creamy cream cheese frosting.  The others were just too dry and not good enough an incentive for me to pile on calories.  Wish they can bring the kurobuta pork belly pasta back...there is a free slice of cake for a main course ordered during dinner with club21 card and I cannot even use it because the only main I want is the pork belly pasta. 

Marmalade Pantry

2 Orchard Turn

#03-22

ION Orchard

Home: Yuzu Chiffon Cake

Couple of years ago I had a chemistry lesson with a chem lecturer friend who's teaching in the top JC here.  The lecture was not delivered in his homeground in Bishan but in then newly opened Pantry Magic.  It was probably the only chem lesson I ever remember.

Basically, if we use a copper bowl to beat egg white, fewer protein molecules will coagulate as they are tied up in conalbumin-copper complexes. Moreover copper may also react with sulfur-containing groups on other proteins, further stabilising the egg proteins.  Hence, the egg white can form soft but stable peaks faster and easier even without the use of cream of tartar.  Tempted I bought a copper mixing bowl which was a steal at less than $50.

However, for the longest time in my life, I was too caught up in meaningless pursuits to bake a humble chiffon cake.  Fast forward some years later, I am glad that this new-found blogging hobby allows me to get in touch with my inner baking self again.

This recipe is from my mum as I find more successes with her hand-me-down-from-who-knows-where recipes than the usual cookbooks.  I just subsituted oranges with yuzu which A gave me.  Mum and I took about 45min to work on the cake (excluding baking time and the 2hrs wait of course) 

Ingredients

110g sifted top flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

85ml of yuzu juice at room temperature

Zest of 2 yuzu

5 egg yolks + 30 caster sugar + 1/4 teaspoon salt = Egg mixture A

5 egg whites + 50 caster sugar = Egg mixture B

60ml cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Steps

1. Lightly whisk A till creamy. Add oil, yuzu juice and vanilla.  Mix well.

2. Add top flour and baking powder to A lightly.  Add yuzu zest.

3. Beat egg whites in the copper bowl with electric beater for about a min on medium speed before turning to high speed.  Start putting in the caster sugar in 3 batches till the egg whites form soft peaks.  The whole process took less than 8mins for me.

4. Pour half of B into A and blend well.  Pour the blended mixture back to B and blend.

5. Pour the ready mixture into a 20cm chiffon cake mould.  Bake 180degree for 40min.

6. When baking is done, remove cake from oven and turn the mould over to rest on a rack for 2hrs.

Hee, the final product is a pretty pretty soft soft yuzu chiffon

We were so nervous during the final 2-hr wait.  Were worried the cake will sink or get huge air bubbles.  In the end, thank goodness, the cake turn out ultra soft.  Mum said that she can save numerous future $17 on those Smiling Orchid chiffon cakes (I only eat chiffon cakes from SO)!  Ha ha, that is if I am not wasting time on some meaningless pursuits again lah.

Update on 24th Dec 2009: Just went to Chip Bee Gardens to collect stuff from The Butcher for tonight.  Dropped by Pantry Magic to see that a slightly bigger than mine copper mixing bowl is now going for $91. Inflation, inflation, inflation. 

Honjin 7 : Just the Unagi

Unagi Don ($30)

Was stress over the past few days and enjoyed rare moments of no appetite.  WC dragged me out for dinner and we didn't want to go to the more centralised outlet.  Honjin 7 is quieter with ample parking.  I always wanted to know how's the food like in this gorgeous colonial house but was too stress to eat that evening (which is a pity).  As a dancer who is concern about his weight, WC claimed that unagi is a good source of energy with low calories count.  Japanese eat these fresh water eel to last them through harsh winter.  The char parts of the fish usually comes from the fats release via grilling (yum yum).  The unagi don sure looked fatty and tender enough for me to return soon. Like most other Japanese restaurant, the set comes with miso soup, pickles and ice-cream.

Honjin 7

7 Adam Park

Forlino : Lunch $68++ View Priceless

Hey I am typing this in wee hours of the night all for you babes and dudes out there okay!  Will jump straight into talking about Forlino's festive lunch menu, lest you miss the deal which ends 31 Dec 2009. 

Ciabatta 

Deep Fried Mushroom

First up were ciabatta and deep fried mushroom.  Ciabatta was interesting with a good amount of olive oil which made it yummy and mushroom was nicely fried with bread crumbs slightly browned hence crispy.

Citrus Fruit Cured Salmon with Fennel & Promegrate Sauce

My fave course as citrus seasoning blended really well with salmon and took away any hint of fishiness in raw fish.  Love the way il Lido dealt with fennel on my last visit and Forlino did not disappoint too.  Great match!  I usually don't like light dishes but this was excellent.

Tagliatelle with Duck Confit, Goose Liver and Red Wine Reduction

Only course which disappointed me greatly.  Goose liver was too dry (Ember and Zambucca's much better), duck confit was near non-existence, pasta was too heavy with a strong presence of "ducky" scent. 

Pan Roasted Black Cod with Smoked Row Sauce & Oyster Mushroom

Black cod was really well executed and just cooked to achieve a perfect firm yet soft and oily texture.  Too bad sauce tasted too "mushroomy".  We prefer to just eat the fish without sauce.

'Meyer' Beef Tenderloin with Truffle, Potato Flan & Bone Marrow Sauce

I am a foodie not connoisseur so this medium well beef suited me just right.  Again, flavours matched nicely and meat was tender.  What tasted really interesting was the potato flan, very buttery and spongy - almost pudding-liked...

Chocolate Log Cake with Raspberry

Cake was rather uninspiring and the white chocolate (see photo below on right) that came with our coffee looked normal BUT DON'T YOU EVER GIVE IT A MISS JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO FULL ETC...JUST EAT IT AND YOU WILL KNOW! I won't tell you why and spoil the fun.

Eat the white chocolate on the right!

Service was impeccable, scenary from Forlino fabulous.  There is a UOB promotion, this is a 1 for 1 set lunch so it ended up just $40 per pax after tax.  But if you are lunching with someone who gave you a lot of pain in life (like me) then just keep this from the chap lah! Ha Ha! I am so bad.  

From where we sat

Forlino

1 Fullerton Road

#02-06 Singapore 049213

Tel: 68776995

Shimbashi Soba : Green with Envy

Japanese savouries are too delicate for my liking and so are their desserts.  Strangely, I always end up in some Japanese restaurant whenever I shop in Orchard with my galfriends. Very envious of my galfriends' gorgeous figures which they credit to green tea. This pretty $6 dessert set (with loads of green tea elements) is certainly a great incentive for girls to rest their feet before hitting the town with their shopping bags again.  

Green Tea Cheese Cake - Very subtle taste of green tea, nothing too overwhelming.

Green Tea Tiramisu - Generous serving of green tea powder on Tiramisu.  Good if you like sweet red bean paste and frosty ice-cream. 

Shimbashi Soba

290 Orchard Road

#B1-41 The Paragon

Te: 67359882

Expect super short posts from now on, life has been extremely demanding :(

Ember : For the Longest Time

For the longest time, Ember has a special place in my heart.  Dining at ember is always a bliss.  I wonder if anyone will kill me for saying this but I rate Ember above places such as Gunthers, Garibaldi and Oso...

While it is a pity that the bacon-wrapped scallop is taken out of the menu.  This scallop on bacon ragout was really good too!  The scallops were so huge that we need to spend a while eating them,

The prawns look rather wash-out here because my camera is quite lousy but they tasted great as well.

For the first time at Ember, they forgot my second order of this wonderful bread.  It's ok I will forgive Ember for anything they do...

 

Both appetizers came with wonderful salad with citrus dressing.

We both ordered the chilean seabass...eat it before it extincts. I am so bad...I realised having great friends with similar taste is not doing anything good to this blog! Happy sigh...

White chocolate semifreddo. I forgot its full name but this dessert is real good! The white chocolate is creamy but not too cloying.  The strawberry sauce gives a welcomed break to the tastebuds. 

Molten lava cake with vanilla ice-cream never fails to cheer us up.  This cake really flows!

  

As usual Ember was a bit noisy while we were there.  But people must be really cheery, chatty and chirpy due to the excellent food.  

Restaurant Ember

50 Keong Saik Road

Tel: 63471928