Singapore Pictology 2014 (Part 1)

Here are some of the places we visited during our trips in April and July to Singapore this year.

On the way to the Gardens by the Bay, we walked past this very impressive structure. This is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which has a pool right on the top in the shape of a ship!

On the far left is the Singapore Flyer which is the giant Ferris Wheel. On the right is the Gardens by the Bay! Isn't the sky beautiful?

The Supertree Groove. It was so beautifully lit up during the night!

A panoramic view of the bay.

We entered the Flower Dome and were greeted by a HUGE variety of flowers! Such beautiful colours. This was indoor and air was approximately early 20C. The Flower Dome featured seven different gardens.

And then we headed to the Cloud Forest. This place is another indoor dome which features a 138 feet 'Cloud Mountain'. It has an awesome 115 feet waterfall too!

The top of the 'Cloud Mountain'!

A view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel from the top of 'Cloud Mountain'. 

The carnivores! 

The 'Supertrees' are tree-like structures with heights ranging from 82 feet to 160 feet! They light up at night and come alive with a music and light show. There is an elevated bridge between two 'Supertress' and it was an awesome view on the top!

View from the top!

Hokkaido Milk Buns

Ingredients:

1. 5 cups of organic strong bread flour
2. 1 teaspoon of sea-salt
3. 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar
4. 2 large eggs OR 3 medium-sized eggs (set a small amount aside for glazing of buns)
5. 1 cup of milk
6. 4 teaspoons of instant yeast
7. 6 tablespoons of butter (small pieces and softened at room temperature)
8. 1 serving of tangzhong*
    - 1/3 cup of bread flour
    - 1 cup of water

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1. In order for the Hokkaido bun to be soft, tender and fluffy, there is an ingredient which must be used. It is called the 'Tangzhong' or 'Water Roux'.

2. To make the 'tangzhong', mix the 1/3 cup of flour and water together.

3. Boil this over low medium heat. Stir continuously. Cook it until it thickens.

4. Set it aside once it looks something like the picture above.

5. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and instant yeast.

6. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients (milk, eggs and tangzhong).

7. Mix all ingredients well and knead until the dough becomes smooth.

8. Add the butter and knead again.

9. You can roll them into shapes that you like or just make a round bun shape or even a normal loaf. It is entirely up to you.

10. Grease your baking trays or moulds with butter or oil.

11. Once you have prepared all your pre-baked bun shapes and placed them in the baking trays/moulds, set aside for them to rise.

12. Preheat oven at 175C.

13. Just before baking, brush some beaten egg mixture on top of the buns to have a beautiful browned and shiny top.

14. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Bon appétit!

Sugar Butter Buns

Ingredients:

1. 270gm of organic strong bread flour
2. 30gm of organic all-purpose flour
3. 5gm of fine sea-salt
4. 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
5. 30gm of sugar (optional)
6. 50gm of unsalted butter
7. 100ml of milk
8. 2 eggs
9. 100ml of water

For the buns' topping:

1. 100gm of butter
2. 50gm of granulated sugar

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1. Whisk together the eggs, water and milk in a bowl.

2. In a large mixing bowl, pour the flours, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix them.

3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the wet mixture.

4. Mix everything together and knead the dough.

5. Incorporate the butter into the dough and fold and knead until dough is soft, pliable and smooth (about 15 to 20 minutes).

6. If the dough is sticky, add a bit of flour and continue kneading.

7. Put the dough aside and let it rise for an hour.

8. Knock the risen dough down and knead again.

9. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

10. Preheat oven at 180C.

11. Break the dough into 12 small round pieces.

12. Flatten the little pieces of dough and let them rise.

13. Slit all 12 pieces of dough and place pieces of butter in the slits. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over them.

14. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

15. Allow to cool before serving.

Bon appétit!

Home Sweet Home!

I'm beat today as I drove for 4 hours back. We came home one day early as it would be a horrifying traffic jam as many would be on the way home to their kampungs as it is the Hari Raya on Monday. We had a smooth journey home.

I'll be snoring like a walrus tonight!

Same Old, Same Old

So on Monday morning we went to Tan Tock Sing to see the immunologist. His answer to my condition did not surprise me a bit. It was 'No solution, no answer and no cure.' He labeled it as Idiopathic Food and Environmental Intolerances/Sensitivities. 

He also said to slowly experiment in new foods and to also get rid of the mentality of being afraid to try/being afraid of going into shock. 

He said that it is unlikely for these reactions to food to result in an anaphylactic attack. 

As for eating out, he told me to find a restaurant that would specifically cater to my needs and to stick to only one place and not go all over to eat. Eating out is a problem as there are too many herbs, spices and additives which are used. Even a change of chef on that day could pose a problem. He told me to only go for 'bland-outside-food'.

As for now I will maintain my normal way of living until I-don't-know-when...

380 Kilometres

I drove for 380 kilometres straight for the first time in my life. It was a stress-killer. I could feel the stress melting away as each kilometre went by. This is our first time driving to Singapore as we always flew for our past trips.

We are currently in Singapore again for my follow-up with the immunologist.

I'm definitely going to be snoring the loudest in this building tonight! Haha!

Yong Tau Foo

The Yong Tau Foo dish is a very popular Hakka Chinese soup dish found in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Basically it is a clear consommé soup served with a variety of food items such as fish balls, crab sticks, cuttlefish, vegetables and tofu which are stuffed with fish paste (also known as surimi). The usual vegetables that are used are bitter gourd, brinjal, lady fingers, and chillies.

These are cooked briefly in boiling broth and is served in the boiled broth.

Some people eat this dish with a bowl of steamed rice or with noodles. Some people serve this in a bowl of curry sauce!

This dish is usually served with a dipping sauce. It can be a spicy, vinegary chili sauce which is made from red, fermented bean curd or hoisin sauce.

Ingredients:

1. 20 okras (large in size if possible)
2. 1 bitter gourd (cut into medallion size)
3. 2 packets of firm square tofu.

This is how the tofu looks like. Just cut it into half. 

4. 600gm of fish paste (click on LINK)

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1. Slit open the okras. Slit the half-ed tofu. (Don't slice it into half.)

2. Scoop about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fish paste and stuff it into the slits. It should look something like this:

3. For the remaining fish paste, I made them into fish balls.

4. For the okras, bitter gourd and tofu stuffing, I steamed them for about 20 minutes. For the fish balls I baked them at 200C for about 20 minutes.

5. Serve warm with soup and rice or noodles.

Bon appétit!

Baking Soda Rescued The Peas!

The green peas which I had bought from the organic shop were a pain in the ass. They refused to soften no matter what I did to them. I think if they were around during Jesus' time, he would have yelled at them, 'You stiff necked peas!' I think the peas were 1000 years old.

I had soaked them for almost 24 hours.

And then I boiled them for 2 hours.

And they were as hard as ever. I think they overdosed on Viagra.

And then it struck me!

Why not add some baking soda to the water?

I did!

And they softened within 15 minutes.

Haha!

Baking soda saved the peas!

Here's a link which I found after I experimented! Click on LINK.

Yang Chow Fried Rice

The Yang Chow fried rice was invented by Yi Bingshou (1754 - 1815) during the Qing dynasty in China. The dish is given such a name as Yi was once the regional magistrate of the city of Yangzhou. Though there are many versions of the Yang Chow fried rice, but the staple items are cooked rice (which is preferably one day old rice), cooked shrimp, spring onions, fresh vegetable (peas, corn, carrots, bamboo shoots) and eggs. Many people add ham or char siew pork to their Yang Chow fried rice.

Below is my salicylate-tolerable-version of the Yang Chow fried rice.

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of cooked white rice (cooked, kept in freezer overnight and thawed the next day)
2. 2 large eggs (beaten)
3. 200gm of fish cake (for recipe, click on LINK) (cut into small pieces)
4. 200gm of prawns (cut into small pieces and seasoned with sea-salt and some sunflower oil)
5. 1/2 bulb of garlic (sliced into thin pieces)
6. 2 carrots (cut into cubes)
7. 1 cup of green peas

I bought a packet of dried garden peas from the organic shop. I had to soak it for about 18 hours to get it to soften. And then I had to boil it for 2 hours. But they were yummy. 

8. 2 stalks of spring onion (chopped into fine pieces)
9. Sea-salt
10. Sunflower oil

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1. Heat a wok.

2. Add three tablespoons of sunflower oil into heated wok.

3. Once oil is heated, add the sliced garlic and stir fry until it is slightly browned.

4. Add the fish cake, carrots and peas and stir fry until carrots and peas soften slightly.

5. Add the prawns and fry until throughly cooked.

6. Add the rice and some sea-salt. Mix everything thoroughly

7. Pour the beaten eggs over the rice.

8. Stir fry until eggs are cooked and well blended with the fried rice.

9. Add the spring onions and stir for another 2 minutes.

10. Scoop onto serving dish.

11. Serve warm.

Bon appétit!

Gluten-Free Baked Banana Fritters

Ingredients:

1. 4 large over-riped bananas
2. 1 1/2 cup of rice flour
3. 1 large egg
4. 1/2 cup of sunflower oil

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1. Break the bananas into small chunks. Place them in a large bowl.

2. Add the flour, egg and oil.

3. Mix the ingredients until they are well blended.

4. Preheat oven at 200.

5. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

6. Using a tablespoon, place scoops of the banana batter onto the baking tray.

7. Bake for about 1/2 hour or until golden brown.

8. Allow to cool before attacking the delicious baked fritters!

Bon appétit!

Gluten-Free Fish Croquettes

Ingredients:

1. 600gm potatoes
2. 450gm cod
3. 2 eggs
4. 50gm rice flour
5. 5ml sea-salt
6. 1 spring onion (chopped into very fine pieces)
7. 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

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1. Wash and peel the potatoes. Boil them until they are well done (or soft). Mash them.

2. Poach the fish.

3. Remove the flesh of the fish from the bones.

4. Add the potatoes and fish. Mix well.

5. Stir in the flour to make a thick mixture.

6. Add the salt, sunflower oil and spring onion.

7. Shape the mixture into balls and flatten them.

8. Bake at 220C for 1/2 hour or until golden brown.

9. Serve with bread or rice.

Bon appétit!