Krispy Kreme Donuts

You know your day is going pretty good when you find a Krispy Kreme bag on your dining table. But there wasn't one box of donuts on it.

There were four.

I'm quite a purist when it comes to donuts. Plain and simple sugar glazed ones are my favorite. Chocolate ones are still within my comfort zone. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm heaps adventurous with foods and I reckon I would try that zucchini-cream-cheese-affogato donut if someone sold them but when a friend is helping you courier some Krispy Kremes (abbreviated to KK for short, hmm luckily they're not known as "Krispy Krunchy Kreme" haha) from overseas, it's safer to go with the trialed and tested flavors.

As with most KK donuts, they're usually a tad bit overly sweet but luckily the chocolate glaze wasn't too sweet since it was layered over the original sugar glaze. Once I scraped off some of the sugar glaze, the sweetness was just nice.

And of course the original sugar glazed donuts were just as good as ever.

Despite traveling a substantial distance to get to me, these were still fluffy and soft. I guess KKs travel pretty well. Interestingly enough, with this current donut craze going on in Singapore, I wonder how much leverage I can milk out of these donuts. I'm sure they'll give me great bargaining power in any situation.

Interviewer: D, I'm not sure if you're really the man for the job...
D: I've got Krispy Kreme donuts.
Interviewer: Welcome aboard.

Cop: Did you know how fast you were going?
D: I've got Krispy Kreme donuts.
Cop: I'll get the coffee.

D: I've got Krispy Kreme donuts.
Girl: I'll go out with you.
D: You've got Krispy Kreme donuts.

Ok.. I think the point has been made.

D

Korean Ice-Creams, Perth, Australia

I walked passed the Hi-Mart at 113 Collins Rd, Willeton (where Taurus is) and decided to pop in for some ice-cream. A cold snack befitting the cold weather. I'm sure you can find these in Singapore too.

This wafer-like lattice structure encases some pretty tasty coffee ice-cream.

I think the overall flavor was supposed to be more like mocha because the middle bit tasted pretty chocolatey.

This is a pretty fun one I had in Korea.

It's like one of those Japanese taiyaki snacks.

And like those taiyaki snacks, there's azuki paste in this too. Coupled together with the smooth vanilla ice-cream, this made quite the cold tasty treat.

D

Mini Fu Cuk

When I saw the bold words on this pack from a distance, I was like "Whoa!", somehow another word comes to mind. I admit that this was bought purely out of amusement. I was hoping they would taste like fish crackers since I saw fish in the ingredients and these mini fu cuks did look crispy.

Gosh were these bad. The oil tasted rancid, the flavor confused (is it supposed to be sweet or savory?), it just didn't taste right. I guessed in the end I was the one who got "fu cuk-ed".

D

Stuff from Hokkaido

I love Hokkaido, it has got to be my favorite prefecture in Japan. Another trip back there is way overdue. The next best thing to visiting Hokkaido is receiving gifts from friends who had just returned from a trip there.

The vacuum-packed maize was ridiculously but yet naturally sweet (no added sugar) however my eyes were pretty much on the savory scallop candy.

I love these scallops. I remembered when I was a kid I could almost finish a whole pack in one sitting. These are quite salty and go great with beer (the "beer" bit came a bit later after the "kid" bit).

Packaging is almost another fine Japanese art by itself. The Japanese are indeed the kings of packaging and making things look pretty (although Korea and Taiwan are catching up pretty quick). I don't mind a pretty package as long as the contents taste good.

There's like this little story or something on the inside of the box. I can't read Japanese, so I had no idea what it meant. I made up my own story. It went something like this, "Hi, I'm a delicious cream biscuit. Please Eat me. Thank you."


Although it says "chocolat" on the box, there was definitely not sign of any cocoa-based chocolate in this. Was the filling supposed to be white chocolate? It tasted pretty much like a very light and fresh cream to me. Nevertheless, these crisp cream biscuits were pretty decent overall.

D

Oktoberfest 2006

Well, this post is kind of belated but I actually had a little Oktoberfest celebration of my own before my trip to Bangkok and now since we're already in November, I thought it better not to procrastinate any further. I love Oktoberfest, ok, honestly, I love any festival or celebration that has a lot of food in it. It could be something like this:

D: Hey what are you guys celebrating?
Random: It's John Doe Day
D: Say what?
Random: You know, John Doe he...
D: Wait, is there food involved?
Random: Yeah, as a matter of fact..
D: Put on your party hats dudes!

Having your own little Oktoberfest is very simple, just serve some "fairly" authentic fare and wash it down with a good German bier. If it doesn't feel authentic enough, just drink enough bier and believe me, it will become authentic haha.

This is how I celebrated my Oktoberfest:

Ingredients:1. A variety of sausages. From bottom left corner in clockwise we have: Bratwurst, spicy German salami, cabanas, rolled knackerwurst, smoked chorizo. (It doesn't matter if they're not all German in origin as long as they taste good haha)

Method:

1. Slice them all up

2. Grill them till they're charred as desired

Hint:
1. Try to cut your sausages into even slices if you do not want some other pieces to overgrill and dry out
2. Chill your bier glasses so that they do not impart any heat to upset your the temperature of your bier

Serve sausages hot with some icy cold German bier.

D

D's Banana Crisps

So I had a lot of bananas one day and whilst I was preparing some of my favorite tempeh chips, I decided to experiment with some raw bananas as well. After all I thought to myself, "Hey, I've eaten banana crisps before, how hard can it be to make them?". It wasn't hard at all, in fact this is so easy to make that you'll be kicking yourself if you didn't give it a try.

Ingredients:
1. Raw or semi-raw bananas
2. Oil for deep-frying
3. Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Slice your bananas super thin. You can use a knife for this but I found (by chance) that a skin peeler works beautifully

2. Deep fry in oil
3. Drain well
4. Add salt and pepper to taste

Hint:
1. If you're preparing a lot at one time, soak your peeled bananas in some salt water, this prevents them from oxidizing and going brown
2. Raw bananas are ideal for chips because they are a lot firmer and therefore slice easier
3. Bananas are quite high producers of ethylene gas, this gives rise to the "ripening" phenomenon, that means if you encase your bananas in a box they tend to ripen faster because of the build-up of ethylene. In fact you can even speed up the ripening of other fruits by placing them together with bananas
4. These crisps can keep fresh for up to a week in an airtight container

These savory crisps are a great substitute for your typical potato crisps, bananas are also far richer in micronutrients than your usual potato. The best thing about making your own crisps at home is that you can use fresh and good quality oil thus avoiding the stale and rancid taste you get in some mass-produced chips due to the industry's tendency to reuse the oil for the umpteenth time.

D

Indonesian Cakes, China Town

I was actually in the mood for some durian after the hotpot at Xiao Ping so I went to the Smith St area where there were some stalls selling durian previously. Unfortunately, I did not see any durian vendors that night (the season is probably over?) but I did see something interesting. Indonesian cakes? I think (partly) not only out of the bemusement of eating Indonesian cakes in China Town but also because of the fragrant aroma coming from the steamed cakes, I decided to order a bit of each variety offered.

Ok, I'm not sure about the names of these cakes. The little yellow round ball at the top right is ondeh-ondeh and it's done really well here, the soft and tender skin gave way on first attack to reveal the sweet brown sugar gravy within. The brown thing in the middle is some sticky cake that tasted like it was based on brown sugar, the green thing besides it had a strong coconut and pandan flavor which I didn't mind because I love coconut. Last but not least the orange-brownish cupcake looking thingy tasted like a steamed sponge cake. The generous scatter of shredded coconut added that nice extra touch of fragrance. Funny how I could not help but think that the round ondeh-ondeh surrounded by shredded coconut reminded me of one of those hairy muppets from Sesame St or the Muppets Show haha.

The Indonesian bamboo cakes tasted exceptionally good because they're made fresh on the spot. This stuff is like cylindrical kueh tutu but the flour around it is a lot fluffier and less dense. A good toss of shredded coconut and coconut sugar ensured that this dessert went down well. And it went down very well indeed.

D

Dukes' Crunchy Munchies

It's always great when friends or family visit because not only do I "miss" them so, but also because of the fringe benefits of asking them to bring over some of your favorite snacks hehe. Although I'm pretty much a carnivore, I like legumes. Whether it's in the fermented form of tempeh, a lentil-dhal or chickpea curry or blended chickpeas to form hummus, I love them all.

Dukes' Crunchy Munchy is essentially a tasty deep-fried snack with a variety of legumes encased in a crispy batter-matrix. Even the flour used to form the batter is legume-based. From the little closeup above it's easy to spy some popular legumes such as splitpeas, lentils, chickpeas etc.

Another reason why I enjoy eating this is I like to live life on the edge. I'm a sucker for risks. And when I first saw this snack in Perth and its label at the back, I knew I had to go for it haha. I felt so gangsta' eating these.

Stuff that dermatological skin-patch test, if you think you have an allergy, just pop one of these and see what happens. Just make sure that you've already dialed the "99" and have your finger primed on the "5" in case an ambulance is required.

D

HL Milk, Singapore

There seems to be strong cult-following of HL Milk lovers in Singapore so I may probably step on a few toes with this post. I don't really like HL Milk at all. I like my plain milk creamy and flavorsome but not sweet. I was told that the vanillin-saccharin-like taste would soon grow on me but despite giving it some fair chances, it didn't. After a quick google, I found out the reason responsible for that weird sweetness. HL is targeted at the predominantly lactose-intolerant Asian market as a low lactose fresh milk. What happens is there is actually an enzyme added to HL milk in its processing stage that breaks down the lactose into simpler sugars such as glucose and galactose. I'm suspecting this enzyme is a synthetic variant of lactase but I could be complete wrong. Luckily, I'm 100% non lactose-intolerant but unfortunately am totally plain-milk-that-tastes-too-sweet-intolerant.

On an almost completely unrelated aside, I was dropping a friend home one night and being still very unfamiliar with Singaporean roads, she asked if I could find my way back. I replied, "Well.. if you see my face on a milk carton, it means I didn't quite make it." I then realised they don't really do that here, but I guess if they did, it'll look something like this:

I do not mind the chocolate variant of HL and actually find their banana version quite refreshing. It's only the "plain" one which I can't get used to because it's really not that plain. Maybe if they relabeled it "vanilla"...

D

Choc a Bloc, Singapore

Choc a bloc has been around for some time and gives the more established places such as Lana and Awfully Chocolate a run for their money.

As you can spy from that little circular perforation which previously held a candle, this was a actually a birthday cake for a friend who prefers dark chocolate. As such, I opted for the Americano Choco Truffle at 35SGD.

This stuff is rich, very rich. Do not expect a wimpy fluffy sponge cake with a cheap excuse of a chocolate fudge on this. This tasted like a rich, thick mud cake. The sort of thickness that would give your knife some resistance. We ate this cold from the fridge but I think it would have tasted better if slightly heated for the fudge to melt and go abit softer. A heated slice with some citrus sorbet by the side maybe?

The main branch at Bedok only sells whole cakes but if you're in the mood for just a slice, you can get them with beverages at their "Milk Bar" outlet at Cuppage Terrace. It's best that you have a few people to help you finish a whole cake because as tasty as it sounds, it does get you stuffed pretty quick.

D

Gateaux de Voyage

The Japanese have got to be the masters of presentation and packaging. I love receiving gifts from Japan because they're wrapped up as pretty as birthday gifts; I feel like it's my birthday again everytime I unwrap one. Anyway, this little package was bought from a Tokyo train station in Tokyo . What an appropriate name, "Gateaux de Voyage" = "Cakes of Voyage".

I was pretty surprised that this actually tasted as good as it looked. Normally I'm quite disappointed with the taste of some Japanese products because they're created more as feasts for the eyes and not the palate but the outer layer of this cake was moist and light whilst the ganache filling was rich and creamy. This actually tasted like a chocolate twinkie on steroids haha.

D

Shilin Snacks, Singapore

It's good to see enterprising people bringing in stuff from other countries for us to savor. I'm a big fan of Shilin Night Market and was fortunate enough to frequent it before its major renovation (somehow it's not the same anymore). This place does some iconic Taiwanese snacks such as the fried chicken cutlet, oyster vermicelli and tempura (tian bu la). Although their quality varies from store to store, I usually give into the temptation and still get at least a chicken cutlet whenever I see one because (people who know me will know that) I have a huge soft spot for Taiwan or more accurately; the Taiwanese.

I love to add extra chilli powder to my chicken cutlet. It's almost glistening in crimson glory. This isn't really the best chicken cutlet I've tasted, the meat was too thin and dry and the oil didn't really taste fresh but it sufficed for my little craving then.

Although the chicken cutlet is nothing compared to the ones in Taiwan, I'm always pleasantly surprised with the tempura. This actually tasted better than some I had in Taiwan and believe me, I've tried a lot. From the stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled and grilled versions; I've tried them all. I like to add chilli powder to my tempura as well which is usually not the norm, in fact I had a mini lecture from one server once on how, by definition that "tian bu la" can't be spicy because it's "bu la". In which, I responded with an emotionless blank face and gestured towards the chilli powder. She eventually but reluctantly sprinkled it on.

Ahh, the ORIGINAL Shilin Night Market. That's one happy guy holding a piece of Extra Super Large Fried Chicken Cutlet (literal translation).

D

Lotte Sunfuds - Chocolate Coated Sunflower Seeds

I've always had a soft spot for the sunflower, I guess it's probably because I like to eat sunflower seeds haha. My preferred method of eating them was shelled and honey-roasted, that was until I came across Lotte Sunfuds, which are basically Korean chocolate coated sunflower seeds. This stuff is so addictive that after awhile you just start eating directly from the packet by putting your lips at the corner and pouring copious amounts into your mouth.

Eating choc-coated sunflower seeds can be fun too. Haha, talk about the ultimate product placement ad! I bought a box of these from overseas because I'm not sure if I can find this in Singapore but I'll go check out that Korean shop at Tanjong Pagar where I get my Jinro from. Well, one pack of chocolate coated sunflower seeds certainly isn't a healthy well-balanced meal; but who's to say that ten packets aren't? Haha.

Since we're on the topic of sunflowers, I thought I'll just share this as well. I was driving through the Orchard strip a few days before the IMF thingy when I saw sunflowers by the verge. "This is so cool." I thought to myself and wound down my window and took a quick shot. But I had my doubts if they could survive in our climate.

This was how they looked like yesterday. Poor little buggers, they didn't even stand a chance...

D

Bee Cheng Hiang, Singapore

There's one main thing that sets aside Bee Cheng Hiang from the rest of the the bakkwa stores. This is also the reason why I patronize Bee Cheng Hiang. That reason is - Gourmet Bakkwa. Bakkwa is very much like a grilled pork jerky. Traditional bakkwas are made from seasoned minced pork. What sets gourmet bakkwa from the rest is that thin strips of belly pork are used instead of mince. The interlacing of fat and meat creates a nicely caramelized texture which practically melts in your mouth.

The edges are charred just enough to impart a smokey taste without any bitter hints of being burnt. The meat fibres are continuous and the cut is actually very similar to bacon without the rind. Quality doesn't come cheap here though and you do pay a premium of about 1.20SGD per 100g above the traditional bakkwas but that's ok with me because I can't eat too much of this in one sitting and normally just get a 100-200g bag to snack on.

D

Donuts from The Regent, Singapore

There's something about The Regent; there seems to be some sort of aura about this place that attracts alot of good grub. Iggy's is here, so is TenShin and they have a bar with an excellent selection of Macallan. A nice little (often overlooked) gem here is their bakery "Something To Go". They used to be located at the rear by the little street that runs between Dan Ryan's and The Regent but have since moved to the side, near Camden Medical Center. It's a lot more accessible now and there are five minute parking spots at the front so it's heaps more convenient to stop for awhile and pickup your cakes, breads or pastries.

I don't know about you guys but I'm a BIG fan of donuts. Whenever I see or even think about them, I'll go "Donuts........" *drools Homer style*. It's actually rather bad but I don't see Donuts Anonymous anywhere, so I guess I'll just have to live with this affliction. I get my donut fix at Something To Go, they have one of (if not THE) best donuts in Singapore. You won't get barraged by an orgy of varieties here a la Dunkin or Mr Donut, they even have less choices than Krispy Kreme but what they do, they do most excellent. From left to right is their blueberry custard, chocolate peanut and sugar donuts respectively (and that's all they've got). Although you pay a very slight premium as compared to your neigborhood bakery it's worth the quality and quantity. These donuts are huge and the dough is soft, fluffy and chewy without being crumbly (just how I like them - if that makes any sense). Quality is not skimped on here; the blueberry donut is so obesed with blueberry jam and custard that it literally bursts in your mouth but my old time favorite is still the traditional old school sugar donut, good memories are a special taste by themselves.

D