Kueh Lapis

As a little girl, I loved kueh lapis. I grew up with the rainbow coloured sticky version as a breakfast or tea time treat.  It was a game to me, peeling layer after layer of the soft, stretchy sweet dessert, folding each layer to bite holes in the centre creating patterns. Yeah, I played with my food more than I ate it as a kid.

As I grew older, the nonya version appealed more to my tastes. Each in typical, elaborate nonya style comprised of fine layers of cake baked one on top of the other. The composite cake is sliced to expose the thin yellow and brown layers of cake.

At a reunion dinner, an old friend brought the nonya version of kueh lapis. Tried it, loved it.

Nonya chap chye recipe

I must confess. Mom made this dish , not me.

I remember how my late grandpa used to share his recipes with me. Though we spoke English , when it came to food, he'd explain it all in Malay . Typically the amounts were estimated , like a pinch of the, a handful of that , just enough of this etc.

The secret to great food was always stir frying pounded shallots and garlic or rempah in oil til brown then adding in the meat, then everything else.

Here's a simple way to prepare chap chye.

1. Soak dried black fungus , rice vermicelli and dried tau kee on water to hydrate these.


2. Dry with a paper towel.


3. Peel fresh prawn


4. Slice belly pork finely


5. Peel and slice a carrot or two


6. Slice a cabbage


7. Peel and Pound a clove of garlic and five shallots.


8. Stir fry the garlic and shallots til brown


9. Add the pork and prawns and let it cook


10. Add in the cabbage, carrots, black fungus, tau kee and vermicelli


11. Season with sea salt


12. Serve hot

Beard papa chocolate lava

Lava oozing out of a chocolate lava cake on chocoholics has the same effect as blood on sharks . It sends us chocoholics into a feeding frenzy.

I had a bummer of a morning and could use a little chocolate to cheer me up. Guess what, Beard Papa's first batch of chocolate lava cake had just come out of the oven.

Unlike some places which forbid you to take photos of the food, the ladies at beard papa, bugis mrt station, when they saw me trying to photograph my lava cake from the bag, took out a tray of fresh chocolate lava delights for an impromptu shoot.

Got my photos, got my cake and the morning's disappointment was quickly forgotten. An awesome breakfast was in store for me once I'd a chance to savor it.

I couldn't wait. The rich melted chocolate in soft pastry made my day.

Mimosa

The mimosa brings back fond memories of my childhood.

I was a little girl, growing up on Katong. Daddy's girl.

Dad and mom would bring me to Katong Park, sit on a swing, chill out as we enjoy the sweet outdoors.



I remember, was it my dad or my fourth uncle who showed me the thorny weed that was so lively. Touch it and its leaves were closed, hence its name, touch-me-not.


I'd squeal in delight whenever I encountered that touchy plant and run to touch its leaves with my tiny fingers, laughing as I watched the shy leaves close.

Durian Fiesta!

Mom's god daughters visited her with durians . One felt the four or five boxes of that luscious fruit wasn't enough so she went to get a few more boxes of the best.

Once she was back, we had a durian feast, Singaporean style !

We certainly had a blast. *burp*

Beef steak at Hans

Pay day. Treat Ian to a set meal at Hans. I was craving beef so I went for the beef steak. Medium well but turned out well done.

Hans set meals are value for money. For $15 I get a steak set with soup of the day, dessert and a drink

The creamy tomatoish soup was tasty enough . Dessert was a half peach with the syrup it was canned in. Orange drink on ice.

The steak was ok. Not fantastic though but good enough. Tender Tasty but the meat was.. Somewhat lacking.. Maybe I should have ordered medium rare instead

Sky ride for the acrophobic

I'm in Sentosa relaxing by the beach after going up the sky ride and down the luge.

Snuck that shot past my photo bombing son ;)

The sky ride's interesting. I like the way they automated the luge ride with the sky ride. You take the sky ride up the hill, together with the luge bikes..

Then you take the luge like a speedster riding down the winding road back to the start of the Sky ride

I got on the sky ride with my son. When my feet were dangling way above the tree tops, I remembered my fear of heights. Clung to the safety bar tighter than ever while my son enjoyed the joy ride. After a while I got used to it. The view was fantastic.

Then came the fun part. The luge. Both hands were needed to control to ride so couldn't take photos but speeding down that winding road was awesome.

3 rounds up the sky ride and down the luge. Then we met my hubby and older son for a picnic at the beach.

Bliss.

Roadside ice cream

As a little girl, I'd get so excited whenever the ice cream man came along with the cart. I loved the home made ice cream in plain crunchy cones.

Imagine my delight when I found this elderly couple selling home made ice cream near my work place.

Yeah there is the ever popular mass produced Ice cream cut in slices, sandwiched in wafer or bread.

There's the old fashion home made type on flavors like attap chee, mango, sweet corn and chocolate.

I went for the home made in all flavors . Yum!

Katong laksa

Why is it all the laksa shops in Katong are called Katong laksa?

Ian and I walked down the streets of Katong at sunset. That's where we started dating almost 2 decades ago. Kids were home. We abandoned them. :p

Anyway, we were looking for food that's good and cheap. There's lot to eat in Katong if you're willing to spend. But not us. We're broke. What's affordable and yummy?
Laksa.
Katong is so famous for laksa, you see store after store selling laksa and otak, each proclaiming that they're the famous Katong Laksa store.

What's laksa without the chilli or sambal that goes without it?

We settled down at one of the Katong Laksa stores for a bowl of laksa each. Laksa is an asian dish that consists of the thick round noodles in spicy coconut gravy with prawns and cockles.

Here's what's left of mine, by the time I remembered to take photographs. :p

Still got a long way to go before I can be a proper food blogger. Need to remember to shoot before eating.