Still feeling a little silly from my not-too-successful attempts at Singapore Char Kway Teow and Dry Fishball Noodles, I saw something that made me feel even sillier...
There's actually a Singaporean Kitchen and Bar that serves exactly what I failed to recreate at home!
:S
Naturally, I booked a table ASAP to see if they can help me with my Singapore food cravings...
We had the Char Tow Kway (Fried Carrot Cake), the white version. I was really happy with this dish, it's very close to what I had in Singapore, tasty carrot cake chunks fried with eggs, and I especially enjoyed the delicious sambal (chilli paste) it was served with.
Their Bakuteh isn't the brown, Malaysian type I normally make at home (with ready-to-use instant spice pack, of course), it's the peppery clear broth version. The broth was not too bad, and I like the intestines, but the ribs were nowhere near tender enough. I won't order this again.
The Bak Chor Mee (Dry Fishball Noodle) I tried to make at home...after simply mixing the whole bowl, something still wasn't right...something's missing.
Yep! It's the thick black sauce with chilli they served on the side, after mixing everything, bingo! The flavors were exactly the ones I've been missing. In terms of flavor, I'd totally go back for this bowl of noodles, but the noodle itself lacks the chewy quality the Singapore version has. If I managed to find the correct vinegar for this dish, I'll try to recreate this again at home using fresh fettucini.
When I saw Singapore fried rice noodles with see ham (cockles) was the Tuesday Special, I ordered it immediately! When it was served, I had my doubts seeing how pale the color was compared to Singapore char kway teow. Seeing how it is served with sambal and half piece of lime, I was wondering if they made this the way they make mee goreng, instead of char kway teow? Mee goreng or char kway teow, it lacked flavors. I had to ask for another serving of sambal for more flavors, and it still ended up flavorless.
I gave up, but no way I'm gonna waste a good amount of noodles. I had most of the dish packed to be "tweaked" at home.
Since I still have some leftover rice...I turned the kway teow goreng/char kway teow leftover into a version of...
Nasi Goreng Campur Campur (Mixed Fried Rice)
I simply added 1 clove of minced garlic, sauteed in a bit of olive oil, added a bowl of leftover rice, a dash of fish sauce, light soy sauce and sweet soy sauce....and I could pack two servings of lunch.
^_^
Absolutely delicious, nothing's wasted.
The barley drink isn't sweet enough, maybe it's the healthier less-sugar Hong Kong version ^_^ but the kaya smoothie was a delight! The pandan is very fragrant, and it's mixed with sweet and rich coconut milk (it should probably be named pandan smoothie though?). Anyway, absolutely sinful and delicious!
PS. I was extremely disappointed when I was informed that they didn't have grilled stingray that day. Sad, sad, sad.
PS2. Have you ever doggie-bagged less-than-satisfying restaurant dish to tweak at home?
PS3. If you wanna try...
Shiok
G/F, 66 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong
中環卑利街66號地下
Tel: +852 2899 2001
Oh yeah, the Singapore version of the BBTeh is the white, peppery version, while the Malaysian version is the dark herbal soup. Me too, always "takeaway" the less satisfying meal and cook it at home, nothing wasted right? I have been taught when small not to waste food and it sticks. Like your version of nasi goreng campur campur, creative!
ReplyDeleteOh I have a question, I realized whenever I visited a blog these days, the computer will leave a link of my blog post under your "Link to this Page" section. I wonder why it did that and do you know how to correct this? Please advice, thanks.
nasi goreng campur-campur... sounds like the 'tek-tek' version you used to order when you went back home to jakarta... but this one looks like the chinese version. better order tek-tek lah, cheaper and easier... no need to wash the dishes.
ReplyDeleteThis food all looks so delicious! I can tell that it's just intensely savory.
ReplyDeleteI had intestines for the first time this year...I didn't LOVE them but I didn't hate them either. That noodle dish! So good.
it's hard to find authentic Singaporean food outside Singapore...:) Glad you find one restaurant even though some of its food are not that authentic :)
ReplyDeleteI like your new spin on CKT at home! Usually I will not bother for takeaway if the dish is under expectations. But I like your thrifty tip :)
ReplyDeleteKaya smoothie...hmmm....that's new!
hmmmm I think a trip back to Singapore is what you need!!! I'm sorry most dishes were lackluster!
ReplyDeletehow clever of you! kaya smoothie is something we have never heard of, trying to figure out how it would taste like :p
ReplyDelete