A kedgeree from The Cellar Door

A kedgeree as I've learnt recently, is an Anglo Indian boiled rice dish with fish and eggs. They originated from British colonials in India. This one from The Cellar Door was precisely that and probably also a variant of possibly many renditions. It did contain small bits of smoked fish (mackerel I think) and diced tomatoes. Just that and the mildly creamy curried rice. This curried rice had just enough of the curry aroma and flavour but none of the spiciness normally associated. Even Japanese curries would be considered fairly strong in comparison with this. In spite of the mildness, I thought it was a comforting dish. I think there might have been yoghurt or cream in the rice. It tasted a little bit like a dry risotto. Does anyone know where else can kedgeree be found?

Strawberry cheese pancake from Mr Obanyaki

This I stumbled upon by chance at Takashimaya. I didn't realise that Mr Obanyaki has got strawberry flavored fillings with cream cheese and I'm not sure when did it appear. So in enthusiasm, I burnt my tongue with the hot fillings. The positive side to things is, I have been lucky so far that I've always gotten them really warm which is the best way they should be when eaten. Yeah, that hot gooey cream cheese is definitely good with the strawberry.

Lunch @ Hong Lim Food Centre

This as you see above, was the cumulation of a couple of decades of prawn noodle making. Doesn't look like that much does it? I cannot remember any point of my life in recent years when I've been down to Hong Lim Food Centre to eat despite the location being rather iconic for good local fare. That will be probably because, I haven't. What I do remember is eating there as a child, dragged by my mother to have lunch with my father who used to work in the vicinity and these happened on the basis of once or twice in a week. After so many years, I was wondering if I could reconnect with any of the memories from 20 years or so ago. The only thing that actually stuck was the uncomfortable heat, the crowd and the taste of the prawn noodles. None of it was particularly intimate in any sense. Though it's not necessarily a bad thing.

The prawn noodles from Ah Hui (Ah Hui Famous Hokkien Big Prawn Mee, Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street, #02-61) did taste like how I remembered them to be. The noodles were surprisingly al dente firm which was something that I never quite registered from the past. Prawns were decent, also thinly sliced which isn't usually the way I like them. There's a bunch of short pork ribs which were okay-ish, some sliced pork and a generous helping of pork lard. The chilli powder was good and has probably got to be one of the compelling factors contributing to the taste of the prawn noodles.

 

Another dish that I remember from then was the crayfish hor fun from Tuck Kee (Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Ho Fun, Hong Lim Food Centre, #02-41). I joined the lunch queue, grabbed a plate to re-live it and I guess it was pretty ok. I never realised that there were so many crayfishes neatly arranged at the back of the store, all ready to feed the daily lunch mobs. The prices weren't on the lower end for hawker fare and what you paid determined the size of the crayfish that you got. And it's not the cheap and bland starch that many others attempt pass off for gravy in there too. The taste of the gravy is unmistakably crustacean and as I understood of that taste, it's acquired. I wonder if there are any other crayfish noodles out there.

Dinner at home

Uncle Sim's curry chicken

This was pretty good stuff coming from the claypot curry stall (Whampoa Drive Blk 90, #01-66) which is just a few units away from the cooked food stall of the same name. I was just a little bit concerned when it arrived at the table bubbling at the surface exuberance. Fortunately, there wasn't any accidents involving burstings of hot fluid. 

What I liked about this curry beside the curry itself were the chicken wings which were cooked to the point that you could easily remove the meat from the bones, making them relatively easy to manage with utensils. This curry had a good amount of coconut for a rich flavour and a decent amount of spice. While this wasn't the thickest of curries that I've had, it was sufficiently flavourful and the creaminess came across. I'm sure you can imagine what it would be like to slather this over a plate of steaming rice. Which is why there we also had an accompanying plate of said rice with some vegetables for a balanced diet. Lol. Couldn't get past their minced meat ladened steamed egg with bits of century/salted egg.

 

Steeples Deli, Tanglin Shopping Centre

Beside the old school charm of a deli, I didn't think much of the sandwiches Steeples Deli (19 Tanglin Road, #02-25 Tanglin Shopping Centre, tel: 6737 0701). These folks from what I've heard were the very first deli in business in this country. I might not mind eating here occasionally if I were living or working in the vicinity but I just didn't think the food was good enough for a special trip down. Not to mention that we were faced with the grumpy lady proprietor who looked like she had a perpetual scowl etched in her face or the two Chinese guys in the kitchen that behaved like they were only interested in putting each other of out of their miseries. These two persons had given me the impression that making sandwiches were a just job for them and it also looked to me that they have probably never eaten what they've made before.

The deli had actually run out of pastrami and corned beef was used as substitute for the Reuben sandwich. A stringy corned beef it was with portions that could do with a lot more generosity. It was just strange that the sandwich maker actually took pinches of the meat and placed them on a weighing scale to determine that tiny amount he wanted to put into the sandwich. Their sauerkraut looked as yellowed and stale as the lettuce on the side that I almost forgot that it was actually sauerkraut. It appeared desiccated like old shredded cabbage and wasn't good at all. And then, just about enough of the thinly sliced cheese to cover the beef.

The portions for the food wasn't large. The steak sandwich did come with a nice sized piece of meat, but it wasn't satisfying at all. I was disappointed at the lack of beefiness from the marinated meat which tasted mostly of salt and basil. Seriously, onions don't cost so much so what's with those portions? The most enjoyable thing we had was the chocolate peanut butter shake which could do with a bit more viscosity.