ANZAC Biscuits

Today, the 25th of April, is ANZAC day which commemorates the ANZAC soldiers who fought in Gallipoli during the first Great War. ANZAC is an acronym for the "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps". One of the earliest rations these soldiers had were hardtack sweet biscuits which were first known as "Soldiers' Biscuits" but since these biscuits were pretty much synonymous with only the ANZAC forces, they soon came to be known as "ANZAC Biscuits". These biscuits are tasty and quite addictive, not to mention really easy to make.

Ingredients:
1. Roasted halved hazelnuts (optional)
2. Dessicated grated coconut
3. 1 cup brown sugar
4. 1.5 cups plain flour
5. 1.5 cups rolled oats (you may use quick oats as well)
6. 3 Tbsp golden syrup (you may subtitute with honey or thick maple syrup)
7. 2 Tsp baking soda
8. 250g butter
9. 3 Tbsp boiling water
10. A pinch of salt

Method:
1. If you're doing it the hardcore way by dessicating your own grated coconut, do so until it turns pale brown

2. Mix all hazelnuts, dessicated coconut, brown sugar, flour and rolled oats in a bowl
3. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, water, baking soda, salt and golden syrup till smooth

4. Fold in the dry mix into the wet mix and knead gently until a doughy consistency is formed, if it's too wet, add more flour, if it's too dry add some olive oil (extra water tends to make the biscuits less crunchy)

5. Using a table-spoon to measure the biscuit volume, roll them into balls like these and place on your baking tray

6. Bake at 180degC for about 15-20 minutes, till medium brown

7. Remove from the oven and place the biscuits on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes prior to consumption

Hint:
1. Biscuits (Cookies) tend to brown a little more after being removed from the oven due to the residual internal heat
2. Cooling the biscuits is required for them to obtain that crunch

Serve them on their own or even better, with a glass of milk!

-Lest We Forget-

D

Kim San Seafood, Bukit Panjang, Singapore

I always enjoy finding nice eateries away from the city. A close friend brought me here for dinner and the food is consistently tasty and reasonably priced. Although this joint operates out of a coffeeshop most of the patrons here are theirs. They've even extended the seating way out to accomodate more customers.

The mayonnaise prawns were large, crisp on the outside, crunchy and juicy within. The mayonnaise was not overly sweet which was a good thing. This reminded me of those bacon prawns from Canton Wok. Quite a tasty appetizer.

Juicy squid in a crisp batter casing. Salty, greasy and crispy. What more could I ask for?

Stir-fried "big head" clams in a spicy local chili gravy. The gravy is great to stir into piping hot steamed white rice.

Although just slightly bland, this beancurd dish with preserved cuttlefish, prawns, fish and vegetables was refreshingly clean compared to the deep-fried dishes.

I was worried that the chicken cooked with preserved vegetables would be too salty, but fortunately my fears were unfounded.

They must have thoroughly soaked the preserved vegetables to reduce the salt content before baking it with the chicken. In fact, this was extremely fragrant and the bird being cooked in its own juices was delightfully tender and succulent.

Yam ring, another dish I didn't really appreciate as a kid but have somehow learnt to reconnect with. This is done pretty well here together with generous chunks of chicken and shelled prawns.

We ended the meal on another clean note with some stir-fried broccoli. Fresh, crunchy and sweet. Its natural flavor speaks for itself.

D

Grilled Pork Chops with Potato and Apple Gratin

Although I tend to be more of a red meat person, I occasionally have preferences for pork. Pork is classified as "white meat", so technically it's healthier than beef but from the sight of my chop of porcine splendor, I think I may stand corrected haha. I don't usually appreciate the desecration of meat with fruit. Of the rare exceptions; apple with pork would be one of them.

Ingredients:
1. A good porker
2. Shredded cheeses
3. Apples (Granny Smiths are better but I only had Fujis)
4. Potatoes
5. Gratin matrix (Yorkshire pudding mix sans parmesan)
6. Salt, pepper, spices, herbs
7. Butter
8. Honey
9. Ground cinnamon

Method:
1. Slice potatoes and apples into fine layers (use a skin peeler for this, it works perfectly)
2. Grease some plates generously with butter

3. Put a layer of potato followed by some of the shredded cheese (I used a mix of Italian parmesan, smoked cheddar and mozzarella - the same mix I use for pizzas)

4. Alternate the layer with apple slices and more cheese

5. Repeat the alternating layers till you hit the top. Pour just enough gratin matrix to penetrate the nooks and crannies and stop once it just reaches the surface

6. Bake them in the oven at 180degC (non-fan forced) till pale brown

7. Use the opportunity to grill the chops. I seasoned these with salt, pepper and some dried spices (paprika, oregano and basil) 15 minutes prior

8. Took this picture with the lights switched off just to illustrate the intensity of the heat. Ok... I'll admit it... I just like playing with fire haha

9. When the gratin is pale-brown, remove from oven and drizzle a glaze made from honey mixed with cinnamon and butter
10. Place the gratin back in the oven under grill-mode till the surface is nicely caramelized and golden-brown

Serve hot! I'm rather traditional when it comes to eating pork. I have to cook it well-done. But this breed of pork and that nice charred bit of fat didn't make this taste the least tough and dry at all.

I think the side of gratin deserves to share center stage with the meat tonight. Alternating layers of tart apple and potato held together by melted cheese and topped with a sweet honey-cinnamon glaze. Absolutely lovely.

D

Restoran Aunty Lee, Malacca, Malaysia

Quite a long time ago, Chinese settlers and traders married the locals of Malaysia and gave birth to some pretty kickass fusion food known as "Peranakan" or "Nonya" cuisine. Malacca was the outpost for Chinese admiral Zhang He and as such an intermesh of Chinese settler influx and the local female population resulted in a rather strong Peranakan population. No trip to Malacca is really complete without some tasty Nonya food. We knew this place is good when there are only about six tables in the premise and they were turning away quite a few who didn't have the foresight to make a reservation.

When I was young, I didn't really appreciate the taste of petai (also known as smelly beans) that much but somehow I now tend to order this dish whenever I see it on the menu. These were fried with shrimp and a very tasty and spicy local chili gravy.

A fluffy omelette cooked with preserved shrimp was next. I was worried this would be too salty sinced it used preserved baby shrimp but thankfully it was extremely fragrant and flavored just right.

Nonya otak is vaguely described as a fish and coconut paste cake. The nonya variants always at least abit spicy compared to the Indonesian otaks. This was steamed instead of grilled but the rich coconut taste and chunks of fish were very welcomed indeed.

Chicken buah keluak is a spicy, sourish curry dish which is characterized by the usage of nuts from the Pangium edule or kepayang tree to produce a unique taste. The contents of the nuts are an acquired taste but I do enjoy digging it out with a teaspoon, mixing it with some gravy and stirring everything into freshly steamed rice.

Chicken pong teh is another classic Nonya dish and involves cooking the meat and mushrooms in a sweet brown bean paste. Since this joint is halal they used chicken instead of babi (pork). I'm still more used to babi pong teh though, as chicken tends to be a rather boring meat.

This nonya fried chicken was surprisingly very good. Apparently the chicken is coated in balacan (preserved dried shrimp) powder before being fried hence giving it a unique flavor which isn't as strong as the prawn paste fried chicken we get at all the Hong Kong Street outlets here. Still this was extremely crispy on the outside but still juicy and succulent within.

The assam squid was decent. Definitely not bad but nothing much to shout about either.

The green dish of the meal was stir-fried morning glory with garlic. Nice big chunks of fried garlic really gave this dish quite a flavor boost, not to mention a breath boost as well haha.

As a taste-test we decided to try their cendol and see how it stacked up against Jonker Desserts. I know this answer may seem politically correct but this was very good as well in its own right. It tasted more traditional than the one at Jonker but still very nice. I'm a big fan of cendol and I'll put Aunty Lee's and Jonker's on the same pedestal as the excellent one I had in Jakarta.

D

Wan Tan Mee, Malacca, Malaysia

At the risk of being arrested for the potential to cause dissension, I can't help but pose the question, "Why does wan tan mee tastes so much better in Malaysia than compared to Singapore?" This stall at the corner of Jonker Walk is run by three generations, grandma at the cooking helm, mother preparing the ingredients and daughter serving the plates. The daughter is already in her 40s so you know, for sure, this has to be good.

The noodles were cooked to al dante perfection and each strand was a single entity without any annoying clumping. The sauce had just the right balance of saltiness, sweetness and spiciness. Although the barbecued pork was decently above average, the wan tans were bursting with an extremely fragrant sesame flavor. Good stuff indeed.

The toast served here was abit of a let-down though. This was so scantily dressed with butter and coconut-egg jam that I was worried it would catch a cold even in this heat.

The soft-boiled egg was cooked to just the right finish though. A great way to slurp up some protein to round off an excellent breakfast.

D

Teo Soon Loong Chan, Malacca, Malaysia

Malacca has quite a significant Teochew population and Teo Soon Loong Chan was recommended to be one of the oldest and best Teochew restaurants in town. I knew I had hit culinary gold when I first saw the place. I mean, just take a look at this hardcore external decor! You know only kickass food can be found here.

The man himself, the 80 year old owner and chef showed us the spread of ingredients they had and we chose some for our dinner.

Whilst waiting for dinner to commence, I started snacking on the anchovies in this local chili sauce. They were getting quite addictive.

The first dish served was noodles and oysters in a thick black sauce.

Cooked with ample lard, each strand of noodle was fragrant and silky-smooth which paired up really nicely with the juicy and succulent oysters. The sauce was rich and thick without being gooey from overcompensated starch-thickening.

The braised duck was next. A pity they didn't have braised goose here but the duck was done pretty good as well. The meat still maintained a nice bite and the sauce had flavor without being too salty.

The obligatory vegetable dish was stewed cabbage with broccoli, mushrooms and Japanese abalone. The cabbage was stewed to a point where it just melts in your mouth. The use of dried scallops in the gravy complemented the abalone very well.

We decided to veer away from the typical Teochew steamed pomfret with tomatoes and preserved plums, and decided to try another highly recommended style. Although the fish was steamed just right, the unique part about this dish was the extremely delicious sauce which contained a mix of minced chicken breast and re-fried dried solefish.

Almost every table has one of these little porkers. The suckling pig was roasted very well indeed (perhaps even better than the one in Bangkok?) with most of the fat being melted off and leaving just a crisp layer of cracking and a thin layer of meat. I prefered the seasoning in this over the one at Nam Sing because it wasn't as sweet.

Which Teochew feast is complete without a serve of yam paste dessert? This place serves the dessert steamed together with the gingko nuts and pumpkin on the side.

Smooth, extremely aromatic but not too sweet, the yam paste and the perfectly steamed pumpkin and gingko nuts were indeed just the thing to end off this sweet meal!

Of course, the hot and thick Chinese tea right at the end dissolves all oil, fat and grease ingested hence making this meal a rather balanced one haha.

Although this meal was our priciest yet in Malacca, it was definitely worth every cent (or should I say sen?). Please make your reservations in advanced because this place does get packed. The earliest reservation they could give us was the 9pm slot.

D