Sunday, December 17, 2006

Northern style Claypot Bah Kut Teh

Hong Ji Claypot Bah Kut Teh
(宏记砂煲肉骨茶)
Marsiling Lane Blk 19
( Quite a huge place. The coffeeshop is at the corner nearer to Blk 17)
Don't know for sure if when they are closed ( Mondays perhaps? )


The other half heard abt this place sometime back but we hardly had the chance to venture so far out from where we stay.

Chinese Singaporeans loves their Bah Kut Teh. The Hokkien version with a darker soup base and less peppercorns, and the Teochew version with clear soup and loads of peppercorns. Our version simply has only pork ribs, soup and YouTiao ( not YouTube mind you ).

Our neightbour up north has their version, which they claim to be the origin. Theirs, i understand, comes with everything from ribs to intestines to liver to stomach and has a more herbal soup base.

Legacy aside, i remember how my granddad used to bring me for Bah Kut Teh early in the morning where he spend most of the moring chatting with his friends. Having Bah Kut Teh never fails to remind me of my granddad and how hard it was for him as a settler in a foreign country bringing up his kid.




We had a small serving of braised trotters to go with the claypot bah kut teh here. Nothing fantastic abt it. The meat was hard and doesn't seem to me that they had been braising for a long time. Ah Hua's version is much better.




The claypot bah kut teh. The ingredients are extremely fresh. Especially worth mentioning are the intestines and stomach which are so tender. The ribs on the other hand should have been cooked for a longer period of time. We're not exactly looking for the Ah Hua's fall of the bone kind of bah kut but this was way too hard.




Worth A try, unless you like chewing-gums ribs. Total damage all in all SGD$13.80. Cheap but not exactly the version we like. Give me the Singapore's version any day.

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Steamboat for 2

So it's a weekend, no where in particular to go. What can a couple do... the duo here at eatfatfat decides to enjoy the weekend lazing around and have a little steamboat dinner.

Considering we had a great dinner at Cartel the night earlier ( a huge slab of ribs and pork chops), we wouldn't have gotten up early on a sunday morning for anything except for food. Breakfast at Coffee Bean to be exact. Forgo Graze for Coffee Bean cause the lady wants to hit back to bed after breakfast.

After another round of bagel with cream cheese we head straight for the supermarket to shop for the steamboat dinner. We love shopping and spending time together thinking of funy and weird stuff to cook and eat.

To cut everything short, i forgot abt the rice and we nearly ended up with no rice to go with the steamboat. Thank god for the trusty electric rice cooker, the ebarrassment was quickly forgotten in 20 minutes. Trust me to let such a thing from happening. Nevertheless dinner was simple and wholesome but the company was fantastic.

They say a picture speak a thousand words. I wonder if you feel the same way too ;)

The mini-steamboat with slices of winter melon boiling in prawn stock

Sliced chicken thighs

Crab sticks and hotdogs

Chinese cabbbage

Prawns ( shelled and deveined, leaving only the heads on )

Tofu cut into cubes

Fishballs

Sliced pork tenderloin

Soy Sauce on the left for the lady and the special sauce for myself (loads of garlic, juice of one lime, some white vinegar and an equal amount of soy sauce )

Steamboat begins...