Singapore Eats Part 1

August 19, 2015 - Singapore

I recently returned from a work trip to Singapore. I’ll spare you descriptions of all the meetings I had with my APAC colleagues but I will freely share all the eats to be enjoyed in Singapore. I do this partly because I just like posting pictures of food (like that needs to be said – snort) but also as part of my travelogue to document what I enjoyed in case I ever go back or want to recommend it to someone going there in the future; I like having specifics to point to.

The bakery I found walking from the hotel to the office

 

First of all, if you’ve never been to Singapore, you should rectify that. It’s an interesting place and one of the few places in Asia where I see a very diverse group of people, not just Singaporeans but other Asians from the rest of the continent as well as Europeans, Australians and Americans amongst others. I’ve always thought of it as expat country since so many global companies have their Asia headquarters in Singapore and there’s a large expat population working out of Singapore for their respective companies.

Curry Pok

Second, if you like shopping and eating, Singapore is a must-see destination. It’s probably only rivaled by Hong Kong in the plethora of shops in its business district. What’s fascinating and tremendously convenient about Singapore’s shops is many are located underground in esplanades that connect high rise buildings and public transportation together. Think of it as an underground, air conditioned mall. This type of set up is more common in Asia and makes for convenient walking, especially when it’s hot and/or humid and outdoor walking is to be avoided.

And it’s not just shops in the underground esplanades but a number of eateries. Like a food court on steroids but with local, delicious food. My Singapore coworkers tell me the locals have high expectations for great food and from what I could tell in the brief time I spent there, those expectations are readily met and they’re right to have high standards.

On my first day, I walked through an underground esplanade on the way from my hotel to our office. Lo and behold, the path took me past a local bakery. I swear, I have an inner GPS that never steers me wrong on discovering local bakeries. It’s a typical Asian bakery that leans more towards breads and savory items than sweets and cakes, although they had some of the latter  too. What I love most about Asian bakeries? Bread! They’re soft and just unbearably good. My first breakfast was a simple bread roll with a sausage stuffed in it. The sausage was my concession to protein but it was the bread itself that was comforting goodness. I’ll never get tired of Asian-made bread.

Later that same morning, my coworkers introduced me to a typical Singapore coffee break: 3 types of coffees, mostly differentiated by whether you added evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk or no milk, curry pok which was like empanadas filled with potatoes and fried, and “Chinese roti” which is unlike the Indian roti of flaky flat bread. Instead it was soft white bread  - not Wonder white bread, mind you, this had flavor and texture – slathered with butter and a local jam, kaya, that was a cross between dulce de leche and coconut. It’s a typical Singapore breakfast and quite good.

Lunch with a couple of coworkers was in a different underground mall-type food court but food court is such a humble term for the plethora of little eateries and restaurant in this particular underground bevy of shops and food places. We went to a place called Teahouse, The Asian Kitchen and you order dishes family style to share.

Noodles

Crispy Fried Garlic Ribs (boneless)

Roast Duck in plum sauce

We got the house specialty of roasted duck in plum sauce, noodles, fried rice, long beans (not pictured) and crispy fried ribs. OMG, everything was delicious. The plates were typical Asian size, meaning rather tiny so you’re forced to not be a pig – cough – at least, not all at once. Fortunately I know how to eat with chopsticks passably well so I could partake of the food with decent facility. Service was quick as it’s the type of place that has a limited number of tables, almost all of which were full when we arrived and turned over fairly quickly. Such a convenient place for lunch and delicious as well. I may have a hard time adjusting when I go back home and don’t have these kinds of variety of places to choose from in a compact, convenient location.

After lunch, we did a quick walkaround the underground floor of the mall and, of course, I found a dessert stand to patronize. It was called Awfully Chocolate and while there wasn't a huge variety on offer, what they did have looked delicious and I was hard pressed to limit myself to just one. But I did because lunch had been sufficient and I was only looking for an afternoon snack for later.

I settled on the Hazelnut Crumble and it turned out to be a slightly cakey brownie with hazelnut crumbles on top. It looked deceptively fudgy and dense but it actually wasn't. More like a baked mousse with an airy texture rather than the rich fudginess of an American brownie that I was used to. It was still good but if I had my way, I would probably remake it as a more traditional fudgy brownie, top it with a thin layer of nutella then sprinkle coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts on top. Hmm, maybe next time I bake brownies.... In any case, lunch was so satisfying that I ended up just eating half the hazelnut crumble and a bread roll for dinner.

Restaurant Review: Alexander's Steakhouse

Alexander's Steakhouse - dinner on August 3, 2015

I’ve been to Alexander’s several times over the years and they’ve all been for company functions. It’s a good steakhouse, a cut – haha – above some of the other ones I’ve gone to and where I’d recommend people go if they want a nicer, classier steakhouse experience. I’ve also only ever gone there for company-sponsored dinners because they’re expensive! They’re good but expensive. You know I don’t mind paying for good food but….did I mention they were expensive?

On my last visit, we were given a separate dining room and a large square table which was nicer than the standard rectangular table since that helped facilitate conversation when people aren’t spaced so far apart. Alexander’s is all about the impeccable service and the classy presentation. Everyone around me ordered either a salad or an appetizer. Having been to Alexander’s before and understanding the ease with which I could slip into a food coma if I made unwise choices, I opted for nothing prior to my entrée but in true classy Alexander form, one of the waiters brought me a demitasse of creamy carrot soup so I “wouldn’t feel left out” while the others enjoyed their pre-dinner nibbles. Such a classy place.

Tuna Tartare

Trio of Sliders appetizers

Shrimp cocktail shot

Carrot Soup taster

For my entrée, once again mindful of food coma potential, I opted for the halibut. I know, who gets fish at a steakhouse? Yeah, that would be me. But it came with cute little siu mai dumplings! A coworker and I split a side order of truffle mac and cheese but unfortunately our server got the order wrong and brought out truffle fries. When we reminded her about our correct order, she brought out the mac and cheese but it was barely lukewarm by then so I don’t know if it had been sitting neglected somewhere before it made its way to our table. It was good but both she and I thought the truffle mac and cheese from Fleming’s was better. That’s the only misstep I’ve ever experienced at Alexander’s.

Halibut with Siu Mai 

Truffle Mac and Cheese

20-ounce prime rib

There were several impressive orders for the 20-ounce prime rib. 20 ounces! That’s almost 7 servings of meat on one plate. I’m not going to judge since I’m a fellow carnivore myself but let’s just say I’m glad I stuck to the fish because by the end of the meal, I still had room for dessert (insert smugness here). I opted for a chocolate dome thing for dessert and my smugness only lasted a third of the way through the dome when I had to concede defeat and no more room in my waistband. It was delicious but I’d had enough.

Eclipse

Textures

Of course, no meal ends at Alexander’s until they bring out the cotton candy they’re known for topping off the meal. I have no idea on the history of it or why they do it but that’s what people come to expect when they go there. I’m not a fan of cotton candy myself; that’s one kid experience I never embraced and one my sweet tooth never hankered for. You either like cotton candy or you don’t. I was in the don’t column but fortunately, my coworkers balanced me out by embracing it with enthusiasm. So it’s a nice touch to end a classy meal with something that could appeal to everyone’s inner child. I have an old soul so maybe that’s why spun sugar didn’t do anything for me.

Cotton Candy

In any case, Alexander’s doesn’t disappoint if you want an elegant meal and have some extra pocket money to spring for it. 

My Favorite Cake Recipes

As part of the new direction for my blog, I did want to curate some of my favorite recipes that may have gotten buried in almost 6 years' worth of blog posts. When I do a search, sometimes the older posts don't appear in the search so I'm going to surface the ones I think are well worth surfacing.

To start with, here are some of my favorite cake recipes through the years. Click on the titles to go to the recipes and the original blog posts for them.

My oldest favorite is this carrot cake from Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book. I discovered it early in my baking career and it's withstood the test of time to the point that I don't try a lot of different recipes for carrot cakes because I like this one so much.

Carrot Cake

Almost just as long-standing a recipe is my favorite for coconut cake. I've made this for people who don't even like coconut and, surprisingly, they love this cake. I don't make it often because it falls into the category of "I'd eat more than I should". Hence why I don't have a slice of the inside. It can be a three or four layer cake; that's up to you.

Coconut Cake

 

A more recent favorite is this red velvet bundt cake which bills itself as a copycat to Nothing Bundt Cake's red velvet. I think it's better. 

Red Velvet Bundt Cake

Out of all the sheet cakes and Texas cakes I've made, this is hands-down my favorite vanilla sheet cake. You can make it with chocolate or vanilla frosting but either way, the cake is amazingly simple and delicious.

Texas Vanilla Cake

And of course, a list of favorites wouldn't be complete without a chocolate cake. I offer you two versions, one fancy and one simple, both delicious.

Chocolate Turtle Cake

Diane's Double Chocolate Sheet Cake

New Direction

If you've followed my blog for awhile and if you've paid attention to the dates when I've baked something and blogged it, you've probably noticed that I've cut back on baking significantly this summer. I actually haven't done any serious baking for over a month now and have only dabbled in a recipe here and there since early July. In the past 6 years since I started my blog, that's a pretty long stretch for me.

That's a conscious decision and one I've been considering for awhile. I still love to bake and I still want to bake. There's no one big factor that made me decide to suspend or cut back on baking but a bunch of smaller things converging to the same decision point. It's summer and it's often too hot to turn my oven on. I'm training for a half marathon and would run faster and easier if I actually did (finally) drop the last 10 pounds; something that's hard to do when I'm mainlining fat and sugar every baking weekend. It's always busy at work so it's getting more and more difficult to find both baking and blogging time. And after almost 6 years of blogging, I'm losing inspiration on new things to bake and feel like I've been in a rut on my blog for awhile.

So all those things combined led me to decide to take my blog in a new direction for a bit. At first I thought I would just shut my blog down and let it taper off. I was really torn about that because I've spent so much time and energy over the past 6 years to build it up to what it is now and it feels like a shame to let that drop. And since I'm such a foodie, I still like writing about new restaurants and bakeries I try, both to give coverage to local places I believe in supporting and because I've gotten into such an ingrained habit to take pictures of my food and I don't know what else to do with those pictures. Ha, I know, I'm weird that way.

Therefore, I decided to still keep my blog up but focus more on local food places. If you don't live in the Bay Area, that might not be interesting to you unless you plan to visit here someday. But I hope it'll still have wider appeal than that by reminding people to try out different places in their local areas. I'm a big believer in supporting local small businesses and that's where I try to spend most of my dollars. So I'm going to write more about them and hope others support them too.

And you never know when I will bake something new and blog about it. I'll also try to curate some of my more popular recipes once in awhile so you all have easy access to the top recipes for chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, brownies, cupcakes, cakes and so on, especially for holidays and other peak baking times.

Restaurant Review: Max's

Max's Opera Cafe - dinner on July 23, 2015

There was a time when I was somewhat of a regular at Max’s Opera Café. I had different friends who I’d go there with and Max’s had several locations so regardless of where I lived, worked or went to school, there was at least one Max’s conveniently nearby. The main point of going to Max’s was for dessert – at one time they made a killer seven layer bar, an apple pie and a chocolate layer cake. Plus Max’s believed in generous portions. Generous, I tell you.

Then I fell out of the habit of going to Max’s. I’m trying to remember why. One of my friends moved out of the area. Another got busy with her kids. The Max’s closest to me closed its doors. But truly, I think it’s because there was a period where that Max’s closest to me stopped making good desserts. Death knell to my culinary leanings right there.

But I was going out with another group of friends and I suggested Max’s at a different location for (my) old times’ sake.  They had changed the menu quite a bit from what I remember since yes, it’s been that long since I’ve been there. But this location has been there for awhile and seemed the most consistent in terms of its food. They also kept true to the “opera” part of their name and, just like in the old days, they had a singer singing live music to the accompaniment of the piano. I thought she sounded pretty good too.

Basket of warm fresh bread rolls

One of the perks of going to Max’s is the basket of warm bread rolls they serve and each basket has a selection of different flavors and types of rolls. Don’t come if you’re low-carbing or you’re going to miss out on one of Max’s strengths. 

Beet Salad

Roast Chicken

The menu has a decent selection of standard, typical American fare. I went with fish and chips and upgraded to sweet potato fries as did a couple of my dining companions. One person ordered the chicken and mashed potatoes and got more than she bargained for, literally. Max’s does not believe in skimping on its portions. It’s got a standard price point with prices ranging from $15-$20. Not cheap but not super expensive either. I can’t say the food was exceptionally terrific. To be honest, I can’t remember it long after I had the meal so it wasn’t a standout, at least my fish and chips weren’t. It’s a good place to go if you’re meeting others as the menu is varied enough to provide good options for different palates but I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to go there for anything in particular.

Club Sandwich

Beer Batter Fish n Chips with Sweet Potato Fries

The brownie sundae we had for dessert was good but it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate fudginess topped with vanilla ice cream. I would have to use the word “standard” again. It wasn’t bad but I’m not sure I really remember it after I ate it.

Brownie Sundae

Display case of desserts

Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Cookies

Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Cookies - made dough August 10, 2015, recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Remember the last white chocolate chip cookie recipe I posted was a little too sweet for me with the toffee and white chocolate chips? I decided to try a different version with macadamia nuts to cut the sweetness.

Macadamia nuts are that rare exception where I like nuts in cookies as long as they're macadamia nuts in a white chocolate and/or coconut cookie. Something about macadamia nuts pairs very well with both and makes me forgive their presence in a cookie. I can all too easily overeat macadamia nuts by themselves which is why I rarely have them except in cookies. They're expensive and we didn't have them often when I was growing up so they were in the rare-treat category, typically when someone was traveling or visiting from Hawaii and brought us a jar of Mauna Loa macadamia nuts or a box of chocolate-covered macadamias.

I had my usual reticence in using a cookie recipe with shortening in it but it had the saving grace of butter as well so I went with it. I know why the recipe authors did it this way; butter gives the flavor and the shortening prevents spreading. The dough was easy to work with even though it was warm when I made this so I had to work quickly to portion it into dough balls, porcupine it with white chocolate chips on the outside and freeze them.

I learned the porcupine trick awhile back for any cookie that has chips in it. You mix almost all of the chips into the batter but reserve a generous handful or two and stick the remaining chips on the outside of the cookie. When it bakes, you have a cookie visually bursting with chocolate chips.

This was a pretty standard white chocolate macadamia cookie (but remember I have high standards). It met my criteria in that it stayed thick enough to nicely incorporate the chunky macadamia nuts and the shortening, despite my prejudices, did its job in also adding a little crispness to the cookie as well as keeping its shape. The flavor of the brown sugar really makes the cookie to provide a good backdrop for the white chocolate. My only angst came from the browning of the white chocolate due to the heat and baking time. It didn't affect the flavor, just the appearance. There's no getting around it that I can figure out even if you try underbaking. You want to bake these long enough for the edges to brown and the middles to get chewy, not mushy. I actually advocate letting these cool completely instead of eating lukewarm or 10 minutes out of the oven. At freshly baked room temperature, they have a better texture. I took the pics at fully cooled an hour after they came out of the oven and really liked both the taste and texture.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, toasted, rough chop

1. Cream butter and shortening together until blended. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until creamy. Add baking soda, salt, eggs and vanilla and beat until just combined.
2. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until just blended.
3. Add white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, reserving a handful of each.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and press reserved chocolate chips and macadamia nuts on the outside of each. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls, about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw or shiny. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling completely.

Bakery Review: Noe Valley Bakery

Noe Valley Bakery - July 20, 2015

This isn't really a bakery review since I've never personally been to Noe Valley Bakery in San Francisco so I can't comment on the bakery itself.

But my team at work brought in this red velvet cake from that bakery for my birthday last month and it was so good I thought it was worth a shout out on my blog.

I love red velvet cake. I love a moist red velvet cake even more and that's what this was. It was a 4-layer tower of goodness of moist, rich cake with just the right perfectly cakey texture that marks a good cake. Even better, the cream cheese frosting wasn't too tangy and had just the right amount of sweetness. I also liked the elegant simple presentation of the cake itself.

My coworkers and I enjoyed it thoroughly. From start to finish, I think we ended up at the empty plate below in a matter of minutes. I've now added Noe Valley Bakery to my list of must-visit bakeries in San Francisco; this cake alone is worth a visit.