The Different Kinds Of Rice

For the past two weeks or so, I have been eating a different kind of rice at home without even realizing it! All along, we were eating rice from Thailand – thick, a bit hard and rather aromatic. As an Asian, I grow up eating rice as a staple food. My parents are still open to adventures, if we go for different cuisines, but to my grandmother, rice is a must for every meal. She would frown if we eat steak or whatnot as our main course instead of rice, as to her, she can never fathom how anyone can be full without eating any rice!

I have tried different kinds of rice – polished, unpolished, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Australian. Rice can be cooked into porridge (for coarse grains) or congee (for fine grains). Chicken congee mixed with shredded chicken and fried onion, with fried dough fritters and sesame oil is the best! Japanese rice seems finer, as do Korean rice. Australian rice is pretty fine, and best to be used in making porridge.

When I was in lower secondary, we had to do a science investigative project and I chose to investigate the cooking times, temperatures and texture of the various kinds of rice. I discovered that Thai rice still takes the shortest time to cook and turns out the coarsest and most aromatic. There were times when I had unpolished rice, cooked as porridge. The porridge looks reddish brown, and tastes better than normal white porridge (which essentially is rather bland if it is just plain porridge). When I was young, whenever I had to take porridge, I would add it with Bovril or Marmite to sweeten it.

However, for the past couple of weeks, I did not even know I had been eating a different kind of rice! The price of Thai rice is getting rather exorbitant lately, and in order to buy enough to feed a family at the same price, my mum switched to Vietnamese rice. It was only after my dad commented the rice is a bit harder that I realize it was a different kind of rice!

The texture of Vietnamese rice is a bit coarser than Thai rice, thus harder. But the difference is very insignificant, in fact, hardly noticeable until my dad made the remark! It does not matter to me actually, whether the rice is hard or soft. It is just a staple food and I have gotten rather immune to eating it that I do not notice the taste anymore!

Cooking Up A Storm

It had been some time since I last pottered around the kitchen, so when I was invited to a mini gathering of sorts last night, I offered to bring food. I prepared fried chicken wings, fish bits, vermicelli (again!) and cheese crackers for dessert to go with the French white wine which my friend is bringing along.

I started with the chicken marinade. It is actually quite easy to marinade the chicken wings as they would be deep fried anyway, so all I did was to add light soya sauce, powder spices, chopped garlic and onions to get the flavour, and then soak the chicken wings thoroughly into the marinade. Leave on for at least half an hour or so.

Powder for the chicken marinade

Marinated Chicken Wings

When the chicken wings were ready to be fried, I had to prepare the flour. By right, corn flour or chicken frying flour should be used, but since I only have self-raising flour at home, I had to make do with that. Each wing has to be thoroughly covered with flour before it could be fried. In order to let the flour stick to the wing, the wing had to be dipped in a beaten egg first.

Dip the chicken wing into the beaten egg

Cover it thoroughly with flour

Pre-fried Chicken Wings

One thing about deep frying is the amount of oil to be used. By right, the oil should take up at least half the wok, as the wing has to be totally submerged in the oil. That is why deep frying is never a healthy option!

Amount of oil used to deep fry chicken wings

The first batch of fried chicken wings

Next, I fried fish bits. That was easier as all I had to do was to spread breadcrumbs over the fish bits, then dip it in the oil and within five minutes, it was done!

Fried Fish Bits

The completed chicken wings and fish bits

Next, I cooked vermicelli. Those who have been keeping up will know this was not the first time I cooked vermicelli. I cooked it again because it is easy to prepare and practical enough to bring to a gathering.

Fried Vermicelli (completed)

Finally, for dessert, I wanted to make canapes - crackers with cheese and a piece of grape on top. However, I did not have enough grapes, and if I used up those I had, my mum would kill me, so in the end I made cheese crackers instead.

I used three different kinds of cheese - Australian Mild Cheddar, French Brie and Blue Cheese. I cut the cheese into square bits, put a piece onto a cracker and covered it up with another cracker, and that was it!

Cheese Crackers

At least those who ate commented the food was good, so it was an achievement indeed! Luckily no one fell sick! Come to think of it, I kind of miss pottering around the kitchen. I should do it more often from now on!

Four Seasons Durian Cafe @ Joo Chiat

Finally, I had a chance to try out the famous Four Seasons Durian Cafe in Joo Chiat. Apparently the cafe has opened for about a year now, and I have not realised it until recently! Perhaps because it is the durian season (ending soon actually), so the place is only thriving this period of time.

The cafe is situated in a corner by the road side. It took the place of a converted shophouse. The walls are green with yellow and green signs to signify durians. Each time I passed by, the place would be crowded with all races - Chinese, Malays, Indian, even Caucasians!

When I went there on Friday night, we managed to find a place to sit. We started out with coconut juice, then had our pick of durians. The durians are big, more than a kilogram at least! We had three D24s, two with bitter flesh and one with a sweet flesh, and the ultimate "Mao Shan Wang", the high-class durian, with sweet flesh.

My friend parked at the road side at first, but when a police car came, everyone ran to their cars to park further into the lane in between the shophouses. I must say, despite the popularity of the place, it is rather inaccessible indeed if one has no transport!

The durians in season are really different from those from other months! The flesh is creamy and juicy, and the seeds are really big! Other times I could eat one durian, as the seeds were smaller, but that day, after just a few seeds, I was really full! I was so bloated! And my friends were equally full, all of us were about to burst that in the end, we could not finish all the durians and had to pack some seeds back!

Overall it was a good experience! What can be better to eat good fleshy durians, especially those in season, drinking coconut juice and chit chatting until daybreak? The only catch is that the durians there are more expensive than other places, but then I always believe you pay for what you get! I was so full that I could hardly sleep that night!

Shuunju Izakaya @ Robertson Quay

We went to the this other Yakitori place at Robertson Quay on Friday to celebrate my youngest brother's birthday and ate to our hearts' content again. We had a great variety of dishes, like chicken pieces, ox tongue, pork bellies, a kind of beancurd with egg that is the specialty of the restaurant, plum wine, sashimi, pregnant fish, and green tea ice cream for dessert.

The food was good, so was the ambience, although dining alfresco would be a better idea since we were sitting right in front of the counter where the food was prepared. The restaurant itself is pretty cosy with dim lighting and lots of Japanese wine on display. But to compare it with the previous Yakitori place I went to, the previous one is still better in my opinion!

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Mr Bean's Cafe @ Selegie

Finally I went to this cafe at Selegie Street after passing by it umpteen times. How my friend and I ended up at this cafe was because we were just wandering about, wondering where would be a good place to eat, so we ended up around that area, but a pity most places were closed (on Sundays?!), and that was the only one that was open in that area.

So we went in. The first thing I saw was a picture of Mona Lisa, with the face of Mr Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson). A rather humourous and light-hearted gesture actually, but real art connoisseurs will hit the roof! We sat down and looked through the menu, deciding where to eat, when we realised there were actually quite a lot of restrictions.

Firstly, the set dinner looked so appetising, but it was not available on Sunday. So we looked through the promotional menu, but that, too, was not available on Sunday. Finally, we had to order ala carte. When the waiter came to take our order, I asked for soup, but he said no soup on Sunday. Right.... why would the cafe even be open then, and it was stated open for twenty-four hours, if everything was unavailable?

In the end, I settled for a bacon and cheese bruschetta. When we had finished our meals, the waitress came with our bills without any prompt. We were thinking of ordering dessert, but the waitress said the rule was that the bill would be presented once we had made our orders. Which means, if we wanted something else, we would have to order and pay again? I am surprised the cafe can still survive till now.

And it is not as if the food is that good. Nothing fancy or spectacular to speak of. The only thing I like about the place is that it is quaint and cosy, with quaint-looking windows and setting, something like those old-fashioned small village cafe which I went to in England and Tasmania. But without the colonial flavour.

Food : 2.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Torisho Taka By Aoki @ Gallery Hotel

A friend and I went to this yakitori place at Gallery Hotel for dinner last night. The place is posh indeed! No wonder the dress code states "Smart Elegant". I was racking my brains wondering what "Smart Elegant" means, because it is different from smart casual. In the end, I figured as long as it is not denim or slippers, a bit dressier should suffice.

Thus I ended up with a black toga dress, draped with a lime green pashmina. The restaurant is a small place, with just four tables, and about fifteen or so counter seats. It does not seat that many. Thank goodness I managed to get reservations! But then the place was not really fully packed as well. And it seems like I happened to be the dressiest. Oh well....

We ordered the chicken skewers consisting of breast meat, gizzards, pork bellies, sirloin, squid, asparagus, hot and spicy ramen (still cannot be compared to the one I took in Sapporo, although the chef did a pretty good job), and fillets. With beer for him and sake for me. The sake comes in a traditional Japanese wine pot. I felt as if I had moved back one century!

Since there was still time after dinner, we decided to order dessert, so I tried Sakura ice-cream (cherry blosson ice cream, although it was tasteless) and he tried black sesame ice-cream (that is really black sesame). Overall a nice and cosy place, with good ambience and fine dining!

Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily

A friend and I went to this restaurant on Saturday. That was the first time I went there, because for the whole of my life, I have never stepped into that area. I have stepped into the Mount Sophia area, but Mount Emily is further up and it is a bit hard to get to without a car or cab.

Initially we were thinking of going to Prive at the new Keppel Bay area, but when I called on Friday, the place was already fully booked for Saturday, and I was put on the waiting list, pending confirmation on Saturday afternoon. So we settled for Wild Rocket and it was lucky we managed to get reservations for Saturday night!

Anyway the place is situated on a hill in a small hotel, next to a colonial bungalow. The entire piece of land belongs to the same management, so we parked outside the colonial bungalow, which houses Wild Oats, the drinking place next to the restaurant. For someone who always loved Victorian architecture, I like the place the moment I set eyes on it.

The interior of the restaurant is pretty cosy and dimly lit. The waiters are jolly and friendly, with a good sense of humour. We started off with a salmon appetizer, had laksa pento, and for dessert I had Affagato with gula melaka while he had Yam Paste (aka orh nee).

The salmon was thinly sliced and mixed with wasabi and streaks of mayonaise (or was it tartar sauce?). The wasabi was just nice, not too thick, not too thin, just the right kick with the salmon. The laksa pento was cooked with the typical laksa leaves, sauce, prawns and egg, but instead of the white noodles, linguine was used in its place, and instead of the thick gravy, it was dried laksa.

For my dessert, I thought I could finally partake gula melaka again (something which is so hard to find nowadays), but then I realise, the place serves fusion food, so even though the menu states "gula melaka", it was probably not the same type I like. And how right I was! It was actually ice cream with the brown sugar syrup, without the sago, filled with Affagato (something like thick espresso). Nice, but the caffeine taste was too strong.

The Yam Paste was also coconut ice cream on top of the orh nee, put in thinly sliced waffle. Not too bad as well. The meal was complemented with lychee martini for me and a kind of beer for my friend, although I think the lychee martini at Au Petit Salut was better. I just realised that lychee martini is shaken, not stirred, as in true 007 style.

Overall, it was a good meal, with good food and good ambience. At least it was somewhere different, and that is what I enjoy - exploring different places to venture into. It is good to have company that enjoys the same things I do!

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 4.5 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Oscar's Cafe @ Conrad Centennial

I went to Oscar's Cafe at Conrad Centennial a few days back. I have heard about Oscar's Cafe quite some time ago and have always wanted to try it out, so when I got the chance a few days back, I seized at the opportunity. However, it was quite a letdown. Or perhaps I was expecting the place to be cosy and quiet, with a nice aura, but it was just a normal place for buffet. The food is alright, with a a bit of variety, but overall, I was not overwhelmed by the place.

For a cafe with such a name, and at such a location, I would kind of expect it to be better, considering the price paid. I have heard raving reviews about the hot chocolate there, but when I ordered one, it was nothing out of the ordinary. I have had better hot chocolates elsewhere. Also, I heard it is one of those places that still have my favourite dessert - Sago Gula Melaka, but there was no trace of it at all! Overall, my experience there was quite disappointing.

I do not mind going there again though, but at a different time. Perhaps the lunch, tea or supper menu will be better? Not to mention it is open twenty-four hours of the day, so maybe the menu on the other timings are better?

Cuisine : International
Food : 2.5 out of 5
Ambience : 2 out of 5
Price : 2 out of 5

Villa Bali @ Gilman Barracks

Villa Bali is a Balinese-inspired bar, where most prefer to sit al fresco, and at the end of the place are some Balinese huts, complete with mats and cushions. Apparently, if any customer wants to sit in the hut, there will be a special charge. We sat on rattan chairs that are comfortable, and it makes a good environment to chill out. That was the first time I tried a frozen margarita, strawberry-flavoured with huge chunks of ice!

When the drink came, it was spilling out from the side, so I quickly grabbed the straw and sipped away the sides. I wanted something sweet and will not make me drunk, so the frozen margarita is a good choice. I managed to drink the entire glass, without getting drunk (although I still felt a tad tipsy when I reached home - my cheeks were so red!), as compared to when I drank Singapore Sling, now that will make me drunk rather quickly!

It is a good place to go again, at least to just chill out and drink!

Food : (no comment since did not taste any)
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Corduroy Cafe @ ViVo City

There is this rather quaint cafe in ViVo City called the Corduroy Cafe, under the same umbrella as Corduroy and Finch. The place is pretty cosy, with sofa chairs, English-inspired theme, with home-made jam, complete with an antique piano. There is also a bookshelf filled with magazines like National Geographic where people can sit and read for hours. The food is not too bad as well.

A friend and I were there last night for dinner. I ordered lasagne and English Breakfast tea, and the tea comes in a tea strainer instead of a teapot, but I love the teacup and saucer set! The teacup and saucer set is clear and transparent, so cute and quaint! Not to mention when I asked for milk, the milk comes in a mini glass bottle, which reminds me of those old-fashioned glass milk bottles that were left outside English village houses!

A pity we were rushed for time, so did not get to stay much. But the service sucks though. I had to ask for quite a few things before they gave me, and some of the things had to be self-service, like bill payment. I wonder why they even have the cheek to charge us service charge?

Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Au Petit Salut @ Dempsey

I went to a fantabulous dining place on Saturday night - a cosy French restaurant called Au Petit Salut, the one at Dempsey, although there is another one at Holland Village. Kudos to the chef, because almost everything was perfect! We ordered a la carte instead of the set, so started off with traditional French Onion soup (how can anyone go to a French restaurant and not have onion soup?), pan-friend onglet beef (medium) for me and roasted quail for my friend, and ended off with dessert, where I ordered Creme Brulee and he Orange Souffle. I had a glass of lychee martini, mixed to perfection!

The food is really good, the beef is perfectly medium and the creme brulee is on par with the one I had in England last year. Even the quail is tender and juicy (well, but then that was the first time I actually ate a bird other than chicken and the occasional duck, so there was no basis for any comparison, still it tastes pretty good). Service is good too, the waitress is polite yet not overbearing, and enthusiastic (too enthusiastic at certain times!). The only gripe is that the onion soup is a bit too bland, despite putting pepper in.

We were dining al fresco, but luckily it rained that afternoon, so the weather was not too hot and humid. The ambience is really nice, dimly lit, candlelight, with trees and the roadside just next to us. It kind of reminded me of the open restaurant in Gozo (Malta) which I went to last year, where the dining is by candlelight, with the restaurant being next to the sea. Compared to the Pump Room where we went for drinks after that (it has the worst Long Island Tea I ever tasted - too concentrated!), Au Petit Salut is really a highly recommended place to go to.

Cuisine : French
Food : 4.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4.5 out of 5
Service : 4 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5