Grand Shanghai, Singapore

It's that time of the year again. And before you frantically rush to call your accountants, I'm not talking about a premature tax return but the season of hairy crabs.

So I made my way down to Grand Shanghai at 390 Havelock Rd for my annual hairy crab fix. The season only lasts about a month that's why I didn't want to put this post on the back burner for too long in case you dudes and dudettes want to give it a try.

Grand Shanghai tries to mimic the Chinese restaurants of old by not only recreating the decor but also providing live music. As long as the songstress of the night does not sing in a screeching appetite-supressing voice, I'm ok with that. Thankfully her voice was not disturbing that night.

Hairy crab is reputated to be extremely "cooling" in a Chinese sense and to counter this "coolness" they provide the diners with a cup of Shaoxing wine. This came first but I left it by the side to be drank only after I've had the crab.

We ordered two starters which weren't included in the set menu. The first one that came was the crispy fried eel. Nicely caramelized with a crispy bite, these were quite fun to start off the meal. I only thought it was just abit too sweet but the bitter Chinese tea compensated for that.

The second starter was the pork terrine. Held together by a sparse gelatin-aspic matrix, the chopped pork in this terrine still provided a hearty bite. Funny how I thought it tasted very similar to a pork rillette I had some time ago.

Sliced cucumber with shredded ham salad was the starter from the set. Refreshing and crisp, the dressing was not too overpowering and the coarse vermicelli strands provided an interesting texture to this salad.

The soup of shredded beancurd and crab meat was normal. Except for the generous portions of crab meat it was overall like any other thick Chinese soup.

Hello Miss Crab, I'm D and I'm going to eat you. Yes, that's right; YOU.

The main thing that's really worth fussing over hairy crab is the roe. The roe is not lumpy or hard but a smooth buttery paste. This roe is so rich and creamy that it glides almost like butter down your throat.

The server actually does the initial dissection for you for easy access to that tasty roe. A nutcracker is provided for the harder bits like the legs and claws.

The crabs are steamed and served hot with just the mildest hint of ginger so that the sweet goodness of its natural flavor is retained.

Just to emphasize how hairy these crabs really are, here is a picture of the claw. The brown mossy looking stuff is hair. This crab has so much hair on her arms she'll put any Bollywood actor to shame haha.

I love the finger washbowl, it's the epitome of laziness. I remembered how I saw some Japanese tourists drinking this before. I guess it won't really taste that bad since it's essentially just lemon-tea.

This crab is apparently so "cooling" that they provide a hot cup of ginger tea in addition to the Shaoxing wine. I didn't really like this, I'll rather opt for the teh halia at Adam Rd.

Sauteed prawns in crab roe came next. I was really happy that these were already shelled. Somehow after all the effort expanded on shelling the crab I wasn't looking forward to shelling prawns as well. The prawns were large and crunchy and the asparagus on the side were fresh and juicy too. This tasted very clean without being too salty or greasy.

Brocolli was the seasonal vegetable of the day. Nothing too spectacular, quick boiled and served with a little salt and garlic the freshness of the brocolli spoke for itself.

To end off the savories we had crab roe little dragon buns (xiao long paos). These are actually larger than your average xiao long pao and as such the skin suffered abit of thickness to maintain structural integrity of the dumpling. The filling was very tasty and juicy though and the flavor of crab roe was evident in this.

You can see the little bits of orange crab roe in it. Ooh and look at the juice!

The dessert was greenbean soup with seaweed. This was actually the only real let-down that evening. I would have preferred it as pure greenbean instead. Somehow putting in the seaweed not only made it look odd but taste weird as well.

Grand Shanghai is currently having a promotion where you get a "one-for-one" deal for the hairy crab set menus. This meal including the two starters came to about 70SGD per person.

A rare glimpse of the dude behind the camera looking extremely daggy since he came straight from work. This photograph is courtesy of my sneaky female diner who took this shot whilst pretending to view the food pictures, who then subsequently insisted it be posted as well since "she" took it.

D

Cheng Li Yuan Again & Again...

After my first post on Cheng Li Yuan, I've had a few requests from friends to bring them there. Plus I have overseas family visiting who read my blog who want to try out the stuff there as well. So I've been there two more times since I last blogged about it and decided to compile both visits in one post. I will concentrate on dishes I did not order before to avoid boring repetition.

Nothing gets my appetite going more than a hearty laugh. After Russell Peters on a Saturday night, a friend suggested to try out that "China" place along Tanjong Pagar Road as it was near the Singapore Chinese Orchestra Concert Hall where R. Peters was held.

This is sliced cold pork which is basically the pork equivalent of the slice cold braised beef. Quite tasty but I still prefer the beef more because of the finely interlaced tendon which gives it a nice bite.

Shredded pork with popiah skins. This dish was good not only because the shredded pork was a tasty, generous serve but the skins came freshly made! It was still warm when served. I actually enjoyed the skins more than the pork.

This is how you eat it, with the raw spring onion and Peking duck sauce.

We ordered caramelized apple again because my friend was rather amused with my description of it. The batter was better (lame pun haha) this time round, meaning it was a lot thinner and crispier and they served it with ice-cold water. I was more amused than peeved that they didn't sprinkle sesame seeds on it but hundreds and thousands instead. As if I can't tell the difference, what an attempt to pull that bluff off. I didn't even know the general substitution for sesame seeds are hundreds and thousands haha.

Three-cup Chicken, this is a dish that I know how to cook but for some obscure reason don't make it often. For the curious, the three cups are sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese wine. This was fragrantly tasty and the curry leaves lent a nice aroma. I do wish they had meatier cuts other than just mid-joints though.

I was quite satisfied with the shredded pork and popiah skins previously and decided to give the duck version a shot. This comes at a premium of about 8SGD. Overall, I felt that the shredded pork version was still nicer as the duck was slightly too dry for my liking.

This is how you eat it, with the raw spring onion, cucumber slice and Peking duck sauce. (Hmm this sentence sounds uncannily familiar).

Although I ordered this dish when I first visited Cheng Li Yuan, I did not take a picture of it. This cold dish of century egg and soft beancurd is pretty good in its own right and I decided to do it justice by posting this picture.

If you are in the mood for a dumpling dish but are a bit bored of little dragon buns (xiaolongpaos), the pot stickers here are a good alternative. In fact, the thin and crisp skin encases a filling so juicy that it rivals their little dragon buns.

I think I will give Cheng Li Yuan a short rest for awhile, as I commented to someone previously, "Too much of a good thing is still er.... a bad thing."

D

Soft-Boiled Eggs & Dim Sims, Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, Singapore

After morning exercises, it's 645AM and I felt "healthy" enough to eat something clean. I found myself at Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre for the traditional local breakfast of soft-boiled (semi-hard-boiled) eggs with a cup of tea.

I like this place because they actually serve the eggs in a steaming container of hot water allowing you to determine how well-done you want your eggs; effectively shirking off any responsibility on their part hmm... Although it comes with the usual condiments of soy sauce, pepper etc, I always eat (or slurp) my soft-boiled eggs straight - totally plain. I just love that natural eggy flavor. Just when I was about to pat myself on the back for keeping it "clean", I saw a hawker stall selling dim sims and couldn't resist the urge from ordering some (retracts patting hand from back).

And boy were these nice little grease bombs. The siew mais especially were greasily smooth and tasty. The steamed pork ribs had a tad bit too much bone in it and the meat in beancurd skin rolls were not too bad either. Overall, this definitely wasn't spectacular dim sims but the fact that I was ordering them from a hawker store at 645 in the morning made it quite enjoyable. I'm a breakfast and dinner sort of person, somehow I don't really get lunch.

Eggs and Tea - 1.80SGD
Dim Sims - 4.00SGD
Sitting there, sipping my tea and nibbling on a little greasy morsel whilst watching the sky turn bright - PRICELESS

D

ABC Brickworks Food Centre, Jalan Bukit Merah, Singapore

*Just to clear up some potential misunderstandings, ABC brickworks food centre is the recently renovated one and not the one near the AIA building in Queenstown. You'll be surprised with how many people confuse the two.

After the renovation, I came to this place for supper knowing that it was pretty good in the past. Quite alot of the stalls I'm familiar with aren't around any more. We did see a little queue for this minced meat and fishball noodles and gave it a shot.

It was really only average. The shot of vinegar in the noodles made it quite tasty and the fishballs were quite crunchy, decent fare but nothing really worth shouting about.

We ordered some deep-fried prawn paste chicken from the Taiwanese porridge stall which survived the renovation and were quite upset with it. It was really rather appalling. The flavor was lacking and the meat within had a "pink" hue, like a bright neon pink. I don't want to know what they put in this.

The satays were quite alright. The pork satay had that important sliver of fat within which imparted a tasty, crunch bite. A pity the sauce wasn't heated though, it's such a turn off to dip hot steaming satay into cold sauce.

The barbecued chicken wings came from the same store as the satay and these were actually quite good. They were well marinated and fully cooked. I do wished they would char it abit more because I do enjoy the smokey aroma of the crispy burnt edges.

I was thinking of drinking beer when I saw this hardcore-looking bottle of oldenlandia water. This stuff is pretty refreshing although it tasted strangely salty. I think I enjoyed this beverage partly because of the ambiguous label in the front (like Calpico) which doesn't really describe anything about the taste. I surely didn't taste any "mountain" in this.

They had some other interesting things here like that claypot rice which everyone seemed to be eating so I guess I'll be back one day to try out the other stuff.

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

Bone Steak, Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, Singapore

I love eating marrow, whether it's the Western style from from osso bucco spread onto hot crusty bread or the localized Indian version in the form of bone steak. Yusoff's has been here at 115 Bukit Merah View for more than 15 years and survived the renovation (with the "coincidental" accompanied rental increase) a few years ago.

Eating bone steak is a rather messy affair and as such I normally order to-go, so that I can enjoy it in the comfort of my home (and go crazy with the messiness as well hehe). Although I've tried the "famous" ones at Beach Rd and Adam Rd, I prefer Yusoff's version because they use mutton soup (sup kambing) as the base for the bonesteak gravy and they use quite alot of egg in it as well which makes it deliciously eggy. I prefer to eat the marrow by sucking it out with a straw not only because I fear the banging will crack my porcelain plates but also because I do believe it's more efficient. The trick here is to use a good quality rigid straw, like the sort you get at Macca's. The flimsy ones will just close up once you apply that negative pressure.

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

D's Garlic Nam Lu Pork Ribs

I love ribs. My favorite cuts are sparerib (shortrib), babyback, primerib, rack of ribs, ribeye, French cutlet and mainly come from beef, pork or lamb in origin (I find chicken ribs too troublesome to eat). The best part about the rib is that crunchy bit between the meat and the bone or the membrane known as the aponeurosis. But enough googled medical jargon, let's get this show on the road.

I tasted deepfried pork in preserved red beancurd (nam lu) at some restaurant awhile ago and thought it was pretty good, then I thought to myself that I could make it even better by using pork spareribs instead of pork slices and since I'm at it, I might as well throw in some garlic for good measure.

Ingredients:
1. Pork spareribs
2. Oyster sauce, pepper, salt, sake (or any cooking wine), soy sauce
3. Preserved red beancurd (nam lu)
4. Diced garlic
5. Rice flour
6. Oil for deep-frying and stir-frying

I actually used a Cantonese seasoned salt for salt-baked chicken in this dish to give it a slight twist to the flavor. Check out the hardcore earthen pot the preserved red beancurd comes in. Anything which comes in such a hardcore pot has to be good haha.

Method:
1. Mix in oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sake and nam lu with the spareribs
2. Coat each sparerib with a fine layer of rice flour

3. Deep-fry the spareribs till they're just about cooked
4. Heat some oil in a separate wok and brown the diced garlic till golden
5. Toss in the pre-deep-fried ribs and stir-fry with the garlic till well-done

Hint:
1. I normally let the ribs marinate for at least 24 hrs before cooking
2. Allow sufficient time for your meats to "warm up" abit prior to cooking, especially with bone-in cuts. This prevents the area near the bone from being bloody. I took these ribs out from my fridge about three hours before I deep-fried them

This is how I would serve this dish if I were a "fine-dining" Chinese restaurant with intentions to rip you off haha. But this is normally my preferred style of serving such food:

Lots of it!

D

Kway Chap, Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, Singapore

Kway chap is essentially a dish consisting of braised pig innards accompanied with broad, flat rice noodles. This stall at Blk 628 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 has been around for more than 15 years and the owner hones his art of making kway chap quite well.


The stock used for the broad rice noodles is fragrant without being too salty. It's important for this to be even slightly bland because it's eaten together with the braised bits which are normally pretty salty by themselves. The garnish of spring onions and fried onions on top helps to enhance the aromatic flavor of the broad rice noodle.

Eating innards is really an acquired taste. Those who want to be on the safe side may order just the pork belly, beancurd and beancurd skins but eating kway chap without the intestines, ears, tongue etc is rather meaningless. It's getting extremely rare to find a place which still serves fresh large intestines and this place still does it. This stall has a good turnover, so you do not get food that's been boiled to death and the innards here still maintain a nice bite. The chilli sauce provided is pretty kickass too. Go on, be adventurous, give kway chap a chance!

D

A Mid-Autumn Night's Dream [MA]

*The following post has been classified MA. Please be advised that it is only to be viewed by Mature Audiences*
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10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3 *beep*

2 *beep*

1

She was a gift to me. I was promised she would provide me with immense enjoyment and satisfaction. She sat there quiet, avoiding my gaze. I slowly undid her Chinese dress, one button at a time. In one smooth flick of my finger her outfit came undone. I paused to savor the sight of her with my eyes.

Pale, smooth and white skin, did angels ever fly so low? No, she was no angel, she was far from that because she tempted me and angels do not tempt. I extended a finger and caressed her skin, so soft, so supple. I ran my finger down her and paused again to clear my throat which had gone dry from an excitement most overwhelming. But just looking at her was not enough, touching her was not enough, can it ever be enough? I felt insatiable; I needed to have a taste of her deepest regions.

What aroma, what fragrance, it was almost intoxicating when my tongue made contact with her. I knew pleasure so sinful could only be short-lived but I took my time anyway and teased every bit of her being before going in for the kill. And as she laid there, empty, used and taken, I moved on to her sister.

Her sister was different, she was bolder and stronger. I didn’t have to undo her outfit as she was already spread before me. Her bronze tanned skin a far cry from the soft silky complexion of a conquest almost forgotten. Would she appreciate me as much as her sister? Would I appreciate her as much as her sister? I didn’t know, I didn’t care, it didn’t matter. I was fuelled by my hunger and I needed to know if she could satisfy me.

And she did… oh did she know every trick in the book. Smooth on the touch, soft within and hard in the right places; she knew it all. Although we were surrounded by the candle-lit lanterns, the only heat was the one shared between us and this heat only burned stronger as the night went on…

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Director:
D

Producer:
Raffles the Plaza, Singapore

Cast:
The Insatiable – D
First Sister – Miss Snowskin Champagne Truffle with Chocolate Ganache
Second Sister – Miss Baked Lotus Seed with Double Salted Egg-yolks and Macadamia

Shot on location at D’s

A BIG BIG Special thanks to all the friends, clients and colleagues who give me so many mooncakes every year that I’m so overwhelmed to the point which I don’t even need to buy any hahaha! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

D

p.s: I’m sorry if anyone found this offensive but please try to understand, some wise guy thought of dressing up mooncakes in cheongsam boxes! I could not resist….