Bak Kee Teochew Satay Bee Hoon: Why is there so few Satay Bee Hoon stalls?

With Taukwa and Cactuskit


Ever wonder why there are so few Satay Bee Hoon stalls in Singapore? Is it because there is little demand for this dish or is it because there just aren't enough hawkers passionate enough to want to serve it?

According to the uncle who mans this particular stall, which has been around for over 30 years, the reason is because Satay Bee Hoon is a lot of work. There is a lot of ingredients that you need to prepare and also you have to cook that pot of peanut gravy. So I guess selling something like Kway Teow soup might be simpler. But hey, I can't imagine that Satay Bee Hoon can be more trouble to make than say Nasi Padang. Afterall, aside from the peanut gravy, the rest of the stuff needs little preparation right? But this is not the only Satay Bee Hoon seller that told me this. The uncle over at East Coast Lagoon also told me the same thing.



Our kaki, Taukwa as been eating at this stall since he was only a Tauhoo and he loves it so much that as long as the stall is still around, he will continue to patronize the stall until he becomes a Taukee.

After my first taste of the Satay sauce, I can see why. The gravy is very addictive and unlike the East Coast version, this one is more grainy and robust so you can actually bite into the peanuts. It is not overly spicy or sweet so the balance is just right. Satay Bee Hoon is not something I automatically look for when I am at the hawker centre, but if I come to Redhill Food Centre, this is definitely on my list of things to order. 4.5/5



If you want to make Satay Bee Hoon at home, they have ready made sauces direct from their own factory so all you have to do is add water and heat up! Just imagine what great ingredients you can pour the gravy over!

Conclusion

You can count the number of good Satay Bee Hoon stall using one hand even if you are missing a finger. With Satay Bee Hoon being so shiok, why are there so few around?

Bak Kee Satay Bee Hoon
2nd last row of stalls
12pm - 8pm
Closed on Wednesdays

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Levitating Food Photo Competition: One more week to go!

There is just one more week to go for the levitating food photo competition! So if you are the type that likes to wait till the day before the exams to start preparing, you got only a few more days to go before you start taking your photos.

More photos have been uploaded and you can view them at www.digitaldreams.com.sg/food.

Just a few tips as we move into the final stretch of the competition.

There is a lot of emphasis on creativity, so as long as your food depicts food that is floating in midair, it can be submitted. What we are looking for is a photo which makes you go "Oi! How did he manage to take that picture?". So the more you think out of the box, the better your chances of winning!



Here are two more photos I took using a different technique. See if you can guess how I did this one.

You can still win that Canon Powershot Camera! For competition details, please click here.

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Ming Yun Fried Hokkien Mee: Everyone loves the Underdog!

With Cactuskit and Taukwa

Hokkien Mee $3

Everyone loves an underdog right? One of our kakis, Champagne recently shared this video with me which was a real inspiration. In case you still have not heard about Susan Boyle, she is this 47 year old lady who managed to put a big smile on Simon Cowell's face. When she rocked up on stage, no one would ever imagine that this lady was going to bring the house down. Just watch this, it will really brighten up your day.

This relatively unknown Hokkien Mee in Redhill is just such an underdog. None of the usual accolades pasted on the front of the stall except one self proclaimed story of long snaking lines when the stall was still at Bedok Blk 85 more than 10 years ago. According to the owner, he moved to somewhere near Tampines Round Market where he used to only open for 1 and a half hours in the evening before he was sold out. How true this is, I do not know. Perhaps some of our readers might be able to shed some light on this stall?

Anyway the owner who is in his fifties now says that he had been frying Hokkien Mee since he was in his teens. He moved to Redhill after he took a break to have an operation and has been here for four months. Since no one talks about his stall in our forum or on the internet, we would have easily missed this stall except for the fact that Cactuskit had the sixth sense to give them a try.

We were unexpectedly surprised by how good this Hokkien Mee was. It is the thick bee hoon with gravy version but it is fried till the gravy is just nice and greyish brown. That grey brown colour might sound a bit dreary but for Hokkien Mee lovers, it is a sign of a tasty gravy. For $3 a plate it is probably the best tasting plate of Hokkien Mee at that price. 4.5/5

Conclusion

Always nice to be able to find a stall which not many people are talking about yet. Give it a try and see if you agree with us.

Ming Yun Fried Hokkien Mee
Redhill Food Centre Stall
11am to 2pm and 5pm till 9.30pm
Monday closed
They fry Mee Goreng from 5am till 10.30am
9798 0133

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My interview with Pulse Magazine

Pulse Magazine is the NUS Medical Society Publication ie the magazine for Med Students.

For those people who think that Doctors are all really health conscious and eat only salad and wholewheat organic stuff, then perhaps you don't know enough Doctors! Just last week I was having dinner with some colleagues from Malaysia and all we were talking about was the fantastic hawker food in Ipoh, KL and JB! The key, as always, is moderation or in other words "Never waste your calories on yucky food!"

Anyway, it is good to know that our new generation of Doctors are still very much into hawker food, so we might be nurturing the next generation of Food Blogger Doctors!

Reference:

Food Files, Pulse Mar 2009, Vol 1, Issue 6, Pg 24-29. NUS Medical Society Publication 2009

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Penang Food Trail 5: Penang Vs Singapore Part 2

OK, the current score is Singapore 2, Penang 1. We are going to compare three more dishes in this post. The first one is the Char Siew and Sio Bak. When it comes to Char Siew, there is one undisputed champion of Char Siew and Sio Bak in Penang and that is the one at Sky restaurant. I was told by our resident food blogger, CK Lam that they start selling their Char Siew at around 11.30am and it gets sold out by around 2pm.

The thing about Malaysia is that the people aren't as health conscious as Singaporeans, so they don't bat an eye about eating strips of belly pork that has been BBQed to a crisp with lots of charred bits. If you are expecting juicy Char Siew then you will be dissappointed because eating the Char Siew here is like eating Bak Kwa. It's really very tasty but I think I still prefer a Char Siew which is juicy and tender on the inside. But if you are in Penang, this is definitely one of the stalls to visit. 4.25/5



The Sio Bak on the other hand is very similar to Singapore and is very good. As good as my current favourite which is Fatty Cheong's at ABC brickworks. 4.5/5


Sky Restaurant along Chulia Street

Ok, I think this one has got to be a draw, so it's Penang 2, Singapore 3.



You know how they always have the Penang Hawkers fair at York Hotel every year where Hawkers from Penang and flown to Singapore to demonstrate their skills? Well, this particular hawker that operates this Lor Bak stall is one of those who make the pilgrimage every year. In case you don't know, Lor Bak is what the Penangites call our Ngoh Hiang and refers to a variety of deep fried items which are eaten with a chilli and sweet sauce dip.



I don't think that the Penangites have commercialized their Lor Bak manufacturing just yet, so many of the the hawkers here still make their own items. I might be wrong since we only went to eat at the most famous stalls. Once again, all their items which feature their prawns are really good. Their prawns are really tasty and when fried together in a fritter, it just tastes like Keropok! 4.5/5

I think their Lor Bak wins our Ngor Hiang so its Penang 3, Singapore 3.



The last item on our list is the Chicken Rice. This Chicken Rice Stall just happens to be in the same coffeeshop as the Loh Bak stall, so it is one coffeeshop that you might like to visit in Penang. The Chicken Rice here is very well known around Penang.



The Chicken here definitely beats the ones we have in Singapore. I think somehow they have better supply of free range chicken, so the chicken really has that extra chickeny flavour. However the rice here was rather dissappointing. I think Singaporeans are spoilt by having quality Jasmine Rice in most of our dishes. Over in Penang, they still use rice which is very light and lacks a good gummy bite. So overall, their Chicken is better than ours, but our rice is better than theirs. 4.25/5


Penang Lorbak & Hainan Chicken Rice at Kheng Pin Coffee Shop along
Penang /Sri Bahari Road - near to Cititel Hotel

Conclusion

OK, so the final score is Penang 4, Singapore 4.

You might have guess that I purposely chose these stalls so that I can make it a draw between Penang and Singapore and you are absolutely right. I could have easily "Kelonged" it so that one side wins.

But the point I am making is this. Many people might say that Penang food beats Singapore's hands down, others might say that Penang food is overrated. Both are correct depending on what they managed to try. So the conclusion is this: Penang is a food paradize and so is Singapore. Isn't it wonderful that there is so much great stuff just waiting for you to try?

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Nan Xiang Chicken Rice: Great Chicken Rice but is it the Top 5?

The competition for the best chicken rice in Singapore is a tough one. There are a lot of chicken rice out there and most of them are not bad. The thing with chicken rice is that it is very easily franchised because the rice, chicken, chilli and soup can all be made in a central kitchen and distributed to several branches. Very little of it is operator dependent. So, as long as you can find someone who can chop the chicken, you've set up another branch of your chicken rice chain.

It's getting more difficult to blog about chicken rice because I really need to find one that has that special something in order to justify it being included into the blog since there are so many good chicken rice out there.

I actually do have a stash of chicken rice photos that lie unpublished because they were good but I just did not have much to say about their chicken rice. So when I chanced upon Nan Xiang last week, I was actually quite excited that at last I have found another chicken rice which has a little something special.



There are three things I would say about Nan Xiang. First, there are one of the very few stalls who claim that they still fry their rice before cooking. A lot of chicken rice stalls out there have stopped this practise because it is labour intensive especially if you have to cook bucket loads of rice. So when you eat the rice here, you can appreciate that extra fragrance and texture that sets it apart from the other stalls.

The second thing I would like to bring to your attention is that they have pasted on their display cabinet a newspaper cutting that proudly claim that their are one of the Top Five chicken rice in Singapore. I didn't take note of the details and who the other contenders were, but being able to be shortlisted as the Top Five is quite an achievement since I think that there are far more Chicken Rice stalls than any other types of food stalls in Singapore.



Now apart from the rice being very nice, I really like the ginger here. It is different from the ginger served at other places. The owner was mum about what goes into it, but it had a nice saltiness about it that went well with the chicken. If you are a lover of hot chilli, you would love their chilli sauce as well which is made from chilli padi and lime juice. That extra touch of lime juice rather than vinegar is also another indication that the owner is passionate about his food. The chicken is good, but much the same as any other good chicken rice stall around. Overall, this chicken rice gets a 4.5/5 because of the rice and condiments.



Since we were dining with our venerable Uncle Smart, we just had to request for the most prized part of the chicken for him. I actually wanted to try some but did not managed to get to them in time.



When I met the owner, I had a sense that I have met him before somewhere but I just could not put my finger on it. It was only when I started writing the blog that I realised that he looked a bit like our Hokkien Mee Uncle from Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee! Have a look at the two gentleman and see if you agree with me.

Conclusion

Yes this chicken rice is special, but is it really Top Five? What would your Top Five be?

Nan Xiang Chicken Rice
Left hand side facing the Carpark
Whampoa Food Centre

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Rubiah Muslim Food: To get your Sotong Roe, you need to get past the Nazi

With Smart, Sumosumo, Wahcow, Cactuskit, ijeff, chocolate and PK


If you enjoy Sotong with roe, you are going to like this post.

This is a stall that is frequented by Cactuskit and it has a perpetual queue outside the stall from the time they start selling. Now, I am not a big fan of Sotong, much less Sotong with roe. But our kakis that day, especially Sumosumo and Smart were all going on about this Sotong that I had to go buy a plate of rice just to be able to take a photo and find out what the fuss was all about.



I guess it is not easy to find a place that almost guarantees that you will get a Sotong that is full of roe. I found it amazing that the three or four servings that we ordered were all full of roe, much to the delight of our kakis. To me it was a 4.25/5, sumosumo gave it a 4.5/5 and Smart a 4.75/5. So I guess this is one dish that depends on whether you really like Sotong roe.



What I really did enjoy was the pennuts with ikan bilis which was excellent here, as was the bergedil. The Sayoh Lodeh was quite average. Cactuskit was also raving about the Assam Fish here.


Be nice to this lady or you might not get your Sotong with Roe!

Now the Malay lady behind the counter is perpetually stressed and sweating away but she's actually quite personable when you talk to her. However, in order to get to her, you will have to get past the Food Nazi who stands guard at the door taking orders. I won't say that she is particularly nasty, but just very pragmatic and bent on taking your orders without wanting to engage in small talk. If you don't believe me, just try asking her with a big grin on your face whether she can make sure that your sotong will be full of roe! ;)

Conclusion

As I alluded to in my opening sentence, if you like Sotong with Roe, you will definitely want to make a beeline to this stall, but just make sure you behave yourself when you are making your orders! You have been warned.

Note: I use the term "Food Nazi" in a very tongue in cheek manner. Food Nazis are not really that nasty, they are really people with a heart of gold but just lack the ability to express it. To read about other the Hawker Food Nazis please click here

Rubiah Muslim Food
Whampoa Food Centre
Stall 34
10am to 6pm
Closed on Sundays

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Floating Food Pics: New Photos uploaded!

Some excellent photos have already been submitted for the competition. Here is a nice one from one of the participants which I hope will inspire you all to bring out your cameras and start shooting! Remember there is a Canon Powershot camera and other prizes to be won!

To have a look at the entries please visit www.digitaldreams.com.sg/food

For contest details, please click here.

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Penang Food Trail 5: Penang Vs Singapore Part 1

We are not done with Penang just yet. There are still quite a few stalls to recommend for those who are planning to head up to Penang.

The next two posts will cover the foods that are very similar between Singapore and Penang. So unlike Penang Laksa and Penang Char Kway Teow which are quite unique to Penang, we will be covering stuff like Char Siew Rice and Chicken Rice in the next post. In this post, it is Penang vs Singapore in Prawn Mee, Beef Kway Teow and Oyster Omelette.



I think I have to conclude that the prawns in Penang are just more fabulous than Singapore, and probably much cheaper too. So anything that they cook with their prawns is sure to beat Singapore hands down.

One of the things that you really need to try when you are in Penang is their Hokkien Prawn Mee Soup. My first mouthful and all my umami receptors were turned on to the max. It was just one of those oomph moments. The secret to the supershiok soup is the fact that they slowly boil these small little prawns till they are almost dried. At first I thought they were hae bee (dried shrimps) until they told me that they were actually fresh prawns cooked till they became these powerpacked little morsels of protein. 4.75/5


Green House Prawn Mee and Loh Mee along Burma Road 8pm to 4am

It's Penang 1, Singapore 0.



Our local foodie, CK Lam actually brought us to a few places for beef kway teow and on the last day, she brought us to this stall which is considered to be the best in Penang.

The special thing about the stall is that they serve this bit of gristle which you can't find in Singapore. You can see it in the middle of the bowl in the photo above. At first, we were told that it was the bone marrow, but when I saw it, I identified it as part of the spinal cord right away. Now, you know about Mad Cow disease right? Well, this part of the cow cannot be sold in Singapore because the virus responsible for Mad Cow disease actually resides in the brain and spinal cord. So for a time, even the Porterhouse steaks were banned from sale in Singapore because this cut of the beef also includes part of the spinal cord.



So if you like these type of forbidden fruit, you might be pleased to know that they are available in Penang. It tastes ok but it's not something I would order again. Overall, I think the beef we use in Singapore is better, so our beef soup tastes more robust than the ones in Penang which tends to be more sweet than beefy. 4/5


Located at the junction of Chulia and Lebuh Pantai

Although the prawns are great in Penang, I don't think I can say the same of the oysters. Mind you, the oysters in Singapore are not great either and I heard it is becoming difficult to get Korean oysters now, so the quality is also suffering.



The oyster omelette is almost identical to the ones that we get here in Singapore, except that the oysters were smaller. We were told that this stall is the most popular in Penang. So if that is the case, I would say that I have tasted better ones in Singapore. The omelette was well executed, there was some gooey bits and other crispy bits so the texture is alright but somehow the taste just didn't cross the threshold into sublime shiokness. 4/5


Coffeeshop at the junction of Carnovan Street/Kimberley Street

Conclusion

So there you go and surprise, surprise, its Singapore 2 to Penang 1 at the moment. Guess at the moment, the grass looks greener on our side.

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Most Singaporeans shun Newton Food Centre

Well, the polls are in and it seems that only 8.3% of our readers actually love Newton Food centre.

So it looks like it is a real tourist trap. Quite a shame really as it used to be a great place to go for a variety of hawker food.

Hopefully after this incident, the food centre can clean up its act. The first thing that needs to happen, I think, is for some of the BBQ seafood places to be replaced by other types of hawker food. But somehow I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Thanks to all 1553 readers who polled!

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Simon Road Oyster Omelette: Crispy or Sticky?

With Wahcow


One of the things that I realise when I was in Penang was how much the Singapore coffeeshop scene has changed. In Penang you get to see what our coffeeshops were like back in the 70's and 80's. In those days, the hawker stalls were still placed at the front of the coffeeshops so that customers can just walk along the outside of the coffeeshop to see what is being offered. Another thing I noticed is that the individual stalls in Penang don't have their own names. It was simply "beef kway teow" or "char kway teow" and the way to identify them was to mention the name of the coffeeshop. I can't remember if that is also the case for Singapore. Does anyone remember?

Anyway, if you want to see what coffeeshops were like in the old days, here is one which hasn't changed for the last 30 years. There are three stalls here and they are all pretty good. I have already mentioned the Hokkien Mee in my last post. So in this post I just wanted to post pictures of the other two stalls here.



The Oyster Omelette here is very popular and this uncle still adheres to the Oyster Omelette credo of "Really hot pan with lots of good lard" (Teochew: Jiak Tia Gao Lar). If your doctor has warned you about your cholesterol levels, then you shouldn't continue reading this post.

Oyster Omelette is one of those things that should be very difficult to get wrong. I mean, fried eggs in lots of oil is a very simple and tasty combination which we often take for granted until we are out camping. Trust me, a good fried egg is a godsend during reservist training when you are somewhere in Neo Tew in the middle of the night after having to eat combat rations.

And yet, some hawkers can still get it dreadfully wrong when they don't get the consistency of the starch right. A good oyster omelette should be nice and crispy on the outside but still sticky with a good amount of well fried eggs. It really is one of those things that you can do at home and still come out pretty good. If you don't believe me, you could try it at home yourself. All you need is a packet of sweet potato starch, a few eggs, fish sauce and oysters or any other seafood like prawns. Just add water to the pototo starch and test fry some in a hot pan until you get the right consistency. Once you have the right consistency, pour some into the hot pan, add the eggs and then add the seafood. Dash of fishsauce, chopped cilantro on top and voila, a great omelette and it doesn't have to be overly oily.

But if you are the type who can't fry an egg, then you can go to this stall and let this uncle fry one for you. As I said, he is still very old school, so you can watch your omelette being "deep fried" with lot of oil. The end product is a crispy oyster omelette which is sinfully good. Well, it would have been better if the uncle wasn't so enthusiastic about frying it to a crisp. I was told later that the plate we had was a little overfried and that usually it would have sticky gooey bits. But hey if you like it crisp, this one is for you. I would give it 4/5 for the dish I had that day, but I am confident that it would get a higher rating when I come back the next time and tell the uncle not to overdo the crispy bit.



Just a quick mention about the satay and chicken wing stall here. The satay is alright and I am always grateful for any satay when I eat Hokkien Mee. The chicken wing on the other hand is actually better than average. Not the best but worthy of mention. The taste is a little unique and it is not overly heavy on the five spice powder. I would order this again. 4/5

Conclusion

Traditional little coffeeshop where you still get to see the hawkers frying their stuff on the outside. With a Hokkien Mee, Oyster Omelette and a Satay stall, it would almost seem that it is a coffeeshop designed to be a supper place. Definitely a place to put on your supper list.

Oyster Omelette
Nam Heng Restaurant
Corner of Simon Road and Upper Serangoon Road
Open in the evenings till around 10pm

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Good Friday: We call Him Saviour

It's interesting. When you google the word Saviour, almost all the hits refer to Jesus Christ. I guess it just sums up who He is. He is the Saviour.

But just what did he save us from?

Well, most Christians will tell you that He was sent to save us from our sins. That is indeed true and when he died on the Cross on Good Friday, He paid the penalty of our sins so that we can be pardoned for all the wrongdoings that we have ever done in our lives. We call Him "Saviour" because we know that not only did he die on Good Friday, but he came back to life again on Sunday and thus paved the way for us to be right with God.

But it is interesting to note that he was known as the "Saviour" even before he died on the Cross. It is recorded in the Bible that when they saw him on the Cross, they scoffed at him:

"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

Even before his death, he was going around healing the sick, freeing those who were oppressed and administering wholeness into people's life. The people knew that when they got to meet him, their lives would be touched and changed for the better. So for the Jews at that time, the Saviour doesn't refer to someone saving them from their sins, but to someone who saves them from their circumstances.

This is perhaps not so apparent to someone who is not a Christian. A lot of the time, we Christians focus the message on being saved from our sins, but we actually forget to tell others about the practical benefits that salvation brings. To put it very simply, we tell our friends that to believe in Jesus is to be able to go to heaven after we die, but we forget to emphasize that Salvation actually starts right here and now.

The original text of the Bible was written in Greek. And in the Greek, the word "Salvation" is translated from the Greek word Sozo. The Greeks understood Sozo to be more than just eternal life in heaven. Sozo refers to wholeness in mind, body and spirit. So, the understanding is that we are saved from our sins, saved from poverty, saved from depression, loneliness, anxiety and fear.

Before my aunt became a Christian, she was so tortured with depression that her life was a real mess. Jesus saved her from her depression and gave her peace. I myself have also gone through some valleys. There was a time when I was trying to carve out a career in the pharmaceutical industry but was suddenly asked to leave because of restructuring. Jesus was with me through the struggle and He guided me to a new direction in my life. The fact that I am writing this post today is solely by the grace of God.

Life is not easy especially in this economic climate. In my medical practice, I know that a lot of people are struggling with stress and anxiety over an uncertain future. But the Good News is that there is a Saviour and His name is Jesus. He said:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matt: 11:28

If you are in a situation and it seems that there is no way out, take heart, there might not seem to be a way out, but God can make a way. He would part the Red Sea for you if you are willing to believe.

There are lots of events happening throughout the Easter weekend. Today (Good Friday) we have a gathering at Mandarin Gardens at 10am and you are very much welcome to join us. The details are here.

Over the next three nights, the German Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke will be speaking at the Indoor Stadium at 7.30pm. I still remember attending his meeting at the National Stadium when I was still a teenager. I experienced God in a very special way that night which changed the course of my life. More information can be found at www.goodnewssingapore.com.

On Sunday, my church, St John's St Margaret's at Dover Avenue (right opposite Singapore Polytechnic) is having the Easter Sunday service at 10am. May I invite you to join us if you are looking for a Church to go to on Easter Sunday.

As I am writing this post, I am very aware that it is not written to everyone. I know that many readers live very happy and well adjusted lives. If that is the case then that's really good. But if you are the one who is finding that life is a struggle, then I hope that you will look up at the Cross this Good Friday and see the face of the Saviour. He died so that you might have a chance to live life in abundance.

Have a Blessed Easter everyone.

If you have any questions or wish to know more about Jesus, please email me at leslie.tay@gmail.com.

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Food Poisoning at Geylang Serai Temporary Market

This morning the news reported that they have isolated a bacteria which might be the cause of the food poisoning outbreak at the Indian Rojak Stall in Geylang Serai. The Vibrio Parahaemolyticus bacteria is the same family of bacteria that causes Cholera. But the authorities have yet to conclude that this bacteria is the cause of the outbreak.

So how has this latest food poisoning outbreak affected your eating habits? Have you stopped eating at hawker centres altogether or are you just more careful about choosing what to eat? Has anyone here eaten Indian Rojak over the last few days? I reckon all the Indian Rojak stalls must have been severely affected by this. One person I met whose Uncle-in-law was one of the patients in ICU said that they would sue the Indian Rojak Stall. What kind of punishment should NEA dish out to such stalls? Or is the fact that the negative publicity which will almost certainly mean financial disaster for the stall enough?

Let us know what you think of the whole incident.

Our condolences to the family of Mdm Aminah Samijo and also to the family of the lady who miscarried and lost her 2 month old child. Please remember to pray their families and also for the others who are still in ICU.

Link to my blog post on this stall.

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Simon Road Hokkien Mee: Wet or Dry or Wet and Dry?

With Wahcow

Wet version

I have grown to appreciate Hokkien Mee which is fried with the thin Bee Hoon. I used to like the other version which has the thick bee hoon and lots of gravy, but after blogging close to 30 of the most popular Hokkien Mee stalls in Singapore, I have developed a taste for the thin bee hoon type which has been fried till the gravy is absorbed and the bee hoon has crisp little brown bits which are full of that charred crustacean flavour.

Sadly, not many hawkers fry them this way anymore. You can't really blame them. If you have a queue of 10 people waiting for your Hokkien Mee, you can hardly spend time to really fry the noodles. What you would do is to quickly add the stock, and bring the whole thing to a boil so that you can heat up the noodles quickly. So really, it should be called braised Hokkien Mee rather than fried Hokkien Mee.

This old man has been around for a long time and I am sure there are some ardent supporters reading this blog. Now, he himself has admits that the Hokkien Mee he fries is different from the version he fried years ago. Nowadays, he doesn't use lard and there is no more pork belly added to the Hokkien Mee. However, he insisted that the taste is still as good as it was in the past.

Our first plate of Hokkien Mee was really wet and tasted pretty ordinary. It is a plate which we would have given a 3.75/5. However, I was not satisfied since a lot of people have told me that the Hokkien Mee here is really good. So when there was no one waiting for the Hokkien Mee, I asked the uncle if he would fry another plate for me. This time, I requested it to be fried till it was dry.


Dry version

So, after a few minutes we were presented with the dry version which frankly, was a bit too dry. However, the big difference in the second plate was that the bee hoon had really been infused with the stock and was nice and fragrant. I would have given it a 4/5

It was then that I decided to mix noodles from the two plates together and voila, I got what I was looking for! The noodles were so tasty and infused with the prawn stock and the bit of gravy really gives a nice contrast to the flavorful noodles. Now, this one deserves a 4.25/5.



Conclusion

Of all the hawker foods, Hokkien Mee is the one dish that really tastes better when it is brought home. It is then that the noodles have enough time to rest and absorb all that wonderful stock. So I reckon, if you want to get the best Hokkien Mee experience, you should come by when uncle is not too busy, ask him to fry a dry version and at the last minute just splash some stock over it and pack it to eat at home. I reckon that would be a 4.5/5 Hokkien Mee experience.

Hokkien Mee
Nam Heng Restaurant
Corner of Simon and Upper Serangoon Road
Opened in the evenings until around 10pm or when the uncle feels like going home.

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TGIF: Especially this coming Friday

It's Palm Sunday today and for Christians it marks the beginning of the Holy Week.

On Palm Sunday, we commemorate the fact that Jesus entered Jerusalem with the crowds all cheering him on and waving palm leaves as a way of welcoming their King. Within the next few days, things would change drastically culminating in the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and then his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. This week is the most significant for Christians as it commemorates the series of events that makes it possible for Christians to be Christians.

I have been invited by Cactuskit and Cactuskitty to celebrate Good Friday with them and they would also like me to extend this invitation to our readers who may be interested to find out more about why Christians celebrate Easter. It is going to be quite informal with the showing of a video and people sharing about why they decided to become Christians.

And because they opening this invite to foodies, Cactuskit has specially engaged a nice lady to cook up some really authentic Nonya dishes like Nonya Chicken Curry, Babi Ponteh, Satay Ayam, etc to spice up (pun intended) the occasion. Apparently, she only cooks for her friends and family, but on this occasion she has agreed to cook for us as well. I was told she still insists on pounding all the spices by hand, so the food will definitely be memorable.

So if you are still wondering about what to do for Good Friday, perhaps you might like to come join us. Cactuskit and I will be there as well as a few of our other kakis.

Here are the details:

Date: Good Friday
Time: 10am
Venue: Mandarin Gardens Function Room
Dress Code: Casual

To facilitate with the catering, please RSVP to 2009tgif@gmail.com and leave your name and contact number and how many persons you are bringing. You can also call Shirley at 97946034 if you have any questions.

It would be great if you could join us and do bring your friends along as well! We really look forward to meeting with you this Friday.

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The Food Levitation Effect revealed: Submit your own Photos and win attractive Prizes from Canon

Ok, its time to reveal how these series of floating food fotos are taken.

Some of the theories are very imaginative indeed and although I used one specific trick, the other theories just might work as well.



Those of you who guessed that I used a toothpick got it right. This optical illusion is based on the same principles as the Balducci levitation technique which is used by David Blaine in his street magic. Essentially it is just a matter of giving the illusion of a floating object by playing with the line of sight.

Here is my explanation of why this trick works:

1. Most of us assume that the supporting structure would be directly placed under any object, so in this case when the toothpick is placed behind the onion, it just does not seem as if it should be able to balance. When placed at the correct angle, the brain is fooled to believing that the onion is floating.

2. The effect is enhanced by the fact that the background is blurred while the object is clear. Even without the toothpick, it will look very distinct. This is achieved by taking the photo with a large aperture ie a small f stop, in this case f2.8. The blurred effect is also enhanced when it is taken at the zoom end of the lens which in this case is 70mm.

3. It is important for the basket to be in the picture as it serves as a frame of reference to enhance the effect. When we look at the picture, the eye perceives the height of the basket to be around 5 cm and so when the it sees the onion at the same level as the rim of the basket, it enhances the illusion of the floating effect.



On the earlier occasion, I took the pau picture with a leftover pau just when we were about to leave the restaurant. It was just one of those things that suddenly struck me when I was contemplating whether I should just finish off the pau rather than having it go to waste.



The pau is bigger and heavier than the onion, so I had to balance it on 2 toothpicks. I was quite lucky that the toothpicks fit snugly into the gaps of the bamboo steamer. There wasn't much time so the photos did not come out as well as the onion shots. I had to cheat a bit by removing a some shadows with photoshop, which is why I did not show this photo in my first post as I cannot claim that is has not been "photoshopped". If I had a bit more time, I could have just moved my camera just a fraction higher and taken the perfect shot. This angle actually works better than the previous picture I posted.

Anyway, there you have it. Now you too can try taking some levitating food photos.

I spoke with the good people at Canon and managed to get them to run a competition so that you can also showcase your floating food photos on their digitaldreams.com.sg website.

Here are the rules:

1. The theme is levitating food. You can use any technique you like to achieve the effect but please no pies in midair on route to someone's face. It has to look as if it is just hovering in mid air.

2. No alteration of the photo is allowed. The photo must be submitted without being "photoshopped".

3. The photos have to be resized to 800x600 pixels

4. You are allowed to submit as many entries as you like. Entries are to be sent to: greatfoodshots@gmail.com

5. Photos will be displayed on Canon's digitaldreams.com.sg website.
(Some photos have already started coming in so you can click on the link to view them)

6. Please include your name, email and contact number when you submit your photos. Put contact number as your filename.

7. Closing Date is 30 April and winners will be notified. The judge's decision is final and so on and so forth, blah blah blah.

Here are some of the prizes you stand to win:


Canon Powershot A1100IS

The grand winner will walk away with Canon's latest A series Powershot A1100IS camera which features 12.1mega pixel images and their latest Smart Auto mode (an improved Easy mode), Motion Detection and Face Detection that can detect up to 35 faces.


Canon EOS 5D Mk II miniature with 1GB flash memory

The 3 best entries will win a Canon EOS 5D Mk II miniature with 2GB flash memory.

Many thanks to Canon Singapore for sponsoring the competition.

You can view the photos at www.digitaldreams.com.sg/food which will be updated regularly throughout the length of the competition.

Remember to submit your photos to: greatfoodshots@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing your levitating food photos!

Read comments from our readers in the previous two posts here and here.

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