Fourth time lucky.We went to Lao San Kway Chup in Ang Mo Kio unsuccessfully THRICE. They were either sold out and closing, or just closed. ARGHS. It got me really frustrated. By the third time, I was saying to the Hubbs, “I’m giving up!”
But of course, we didn’t. And thank goodness we didn’t.
Lao San Kway Chup is now officially my favourite kway chup place.
While I haven’t had any insatiable, violent cravings during the pregnancy, I do find myself wanting something sweet on a daily basis. Brownies had been on my mind for a while and with all this spending on baby/maternity things, I wasn’t up for shelling out $7 for a minute slice of so-so brownie. Plus, I knew I wanted to eat more than just ONE slice. I wanted to be able to eat a brownie a day for at least 3-4 days in a row. Uh Huh. Pregnant women rights.
So one fine afternoon, feeling most confident and armed with the easiest looking of brownie recipes, I attempted baking these all by myself. With success on the very first try and all mine to savour, I’ve definitely developed a biasness for this keeper of a recipe. It yields a moist, chewy, intense dark chocolatey brownie, perfect with some vanilla ice cream or simply unadorned. A dear friend whom I met up for tea the following day, couldn’t help but eat 7 cubes all by herself, one after another.
I first read about this lemon cream recipe by S on Chubby Hubby’s blog. Having had much success with their other recipes (scones, popping candy chocolate cake etc), decided to give it a go to fill a batch of pastry tarts made using Heston Blumenthal’s recipe*. Honestly, I can eat teaspoon after teaspoon of this lemon curd on its own without a tart base. It’s that good and so, so easy to make. If you’re a fan of light, creamy lemon curd, I urge you to give it a go.
Bangkok is becoming a yearly quick trip for us. Last year, we managed to hit Or Tor Kor Market, Let Them Eat Cake, Som Tum Nua and more but Soul Food Mahanakorn eluded us. First it was fully booked out and on another night, it was closed for a private function.
This time around, determined not to give it a miss again, I made an email reservation a week in advance. When we arrived, I could see why reservations were hard to score on a weekend night at this small cosy establishment.
Getting a private driver to drive us to the Great Wall was probably the best decision we made during our Beijing trip. Honestly, it made the trip so much more enjoyable. Without having to squeeze with hordes of unruly tourists was a big plus, but what was also wonderful was that we could interact with a local who gave us insights on how living in Beijing was like. The best part? He brought us to Yu Shi Fu 鱼师傅 for lunch on the way back to the city – a restaurant we would probably have never found on our own.
We were actually headed for a random Italian restaurant called Assaggi after drinks at Apothecary. As chance would have it, Assaggi was right next to Yi Zuo Yi Wang 一坐一忘 which I recalled being listed on our host’s friend’s compiled list of recommended eats in the city. Have I ever mentioned I have a knack for remembering restaurant names after reading about them once or twice but hardly ever can remember names of characters in movies?
Forsaking Assaggi, I pulled the hubbs along to try Yunnan cuisine at Yi Zuo Yi Wang – something both of us have never had. To be honest, we have not had a chance to eat another Yunnanese meal yet. The hubbs, while hesitant, was kind enough to let me have my way.
Navigating Yi Zuo Yi Wang’s menu was thankfully easy. There were English translations and accompanying images to help us along. I also always fall back on the recommendations of wait staff who would usually at the very least be able to tell you what the popular or signature dishes are.
We ordered the lemongrass roasted tilapia 香茅草烤罗非鱼 which was hands down one of the best grilled fish I’ve had. Why is there a lack of good grilled fish in Singapore? We wiped this one clean (just like the one we did at James’ Kitchen) like any cat worth its whiskers.
Continue reading
trufflehogs 