Crystal Jade, Hong Kong

My favourite was definitely the hand pulled noodles, in a chili and peanut sauce. You must also try their speciality too, the pork dumplings.

Lamb Stew and Dumplings

Whilst in the UK I had a heart warming bowl of lamb stew at the 3 kings pub, Clerkenwell.

Cambodia Pot Throwing

I made an attempt of making my own plates = unsuccessful.

As you can see you can't eat much off that plate.

Khmer cooking course, Part 2

The next task was to actually cook it!

We split in to teams and we had to cook 3 course.

1. A Chicken Curry

2. Steamed fish and banana leaf parcels

3. A dish of our choice using the left over ingredients, we chose to make Fish Satay of Lemon grass skewers. 

We even sculpted a DB 25 symbol!

Not enough as we didn't win the competition, but our team loved what we cooked and the whole day was a great adventure.

Battered Mars Bar at Smith's Fish and Chips, Singapore

A northern UK delicacy has made it 16,000km to the shores of Singapore.... the battered Mars Bar! Oh and Fish and Chips. Both are highly recommended. 

The Devonshire Arms - Middle Handley

On a recent trip back to the UK I visited the Devonshire Arms, Middle Handley, Derbyshire.

I strongly recommend you go visit if you are in the area, (I know, that is unlikely for the majority of the people that read this! It's a long way from Singapore) however the food is fantastic and even though it has gone through a modern refurb they have managed to keep hold of that traditional UK pub feel.

I had Scallops, Lamb Shank and Treacle Tart, all top notch.

All washed down with a local ale and a glass of Rioja!

Robinson 100 Sunday Lunch

When 6 UK ex-pats get together in Singapore, craving a good old Sunday Dinner, there is no messing about. Chicken and Pork Joint, Yorkshire Puddings, Carrots and Parsnips, Cauliflower Cheese, Leeks, Broccoli, Sprouts and the star of the show.... Rachels Roast Potatoes!

Frog

Whilst in China town, on our Tuesday bank holiday to celebrate Buddha's Birthday, I thought I would try something new... Live Frog Stir-fried with ginger and spring onion.

The meat tasted really good, nicely flavored by the ginger and onion. The only problem was finding the meat! We had a frog each and there was about a tablespoons worth of meat. I recommend getting at least 2/3 each if you are expecting it to be a meal.

Washed down with some flowering jasmine tea.

Chinese Tea Pouring Performance

At my recent visit to Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant I drank White Tea and this is how is was served...

Holding a kettle in one hand, a waiter can pour boiling water into a teacup 50 centimeters away without spilling any on the table. There is a teapot that originates from Chengdu teahouses, usually made of brass and having an absurdly long spout, servers use these teapots to refresh customers' teacups without interrupting conversations. it also adds great theatre to a usually mundane task.

Senayan City - Urban Kitchen, Indonesian Food

On a recent business trip to Jakarta, my work colleagues treated me to some traditional Indonesian cuisine.

Sop Buntut - Oxtail Soup

Buntut Goreng - Fried Oxtail

Iga Bakar - Grilled Spare Ribs

Sate Ayam - Chicken Satay

Nasi Timbel with tempe - Fermented Soy Bean

Ikan Asm - Salted Fish

Sayur Asem - Tamarind Soup

Ayam Goreng - Fried Chicken

Nasi Timbel - Rice wrapped in Banana Leaves

Gabo Gabo - Vegetables with Peanut sauce

Sagu Rangi (Grilled) - Tapioca Dessert drizzled with melted brown Sugar (Yum!)

As I mentioned, it was a feast! And the food was fantastic, I would recommend any of the dishes, but my favourite was the Iga Bakar.

Shrove Tuesday

In the UK, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, is Shove Tuesday or Pancake Day! A tradition of eating and celebrating before the fasting that (is meant to anyway!) take place in for the 40 days of Lent.

We celebrated here in Singapore. It was a feast of sweet and savory pancakes, my favourites being, Cheese and Tomato, and Vanilla Ice cream, Sultanas, and Baileys!

Sunday Lunch - The Dubliner

The Dubliner Sunday Lunch, this place has got a reputation for doing good Sunday Roast dinners and it didn't disappoint.

Choose 2 out of the 3 meats on offer, I chose beef and Lamb, (the beef was actually frying steak, but you can't have it all!)

Someone in the party din't like Yorkshire puddings! What is that about?! So luckily I had 2!

CNY tossing the salad

Our Chinese New Year Celebrations included 'Tossing the Salad'. This is when everyone puts their chopsticks into the salad and tosses it together. The action of mixing the 'yu sheng' is called ‘lo hei’, and hei means ‘to rise’, again symbolising prosperity.

So throwing it up in the air should hopefully bring you prosperity.

Chinese Banquet

Lei Garden Restaurant, Chijimes

We went to Lei Gardens to Celebrate a friends 40th Birthday.

Favourite dish was the Belly Pork and the Shredded Yam

Least Favorite... obviously the Fish head.

bakkwa 肉乾

As Chinese New Year approaches this will be sold by the bucket loads! It is Bakkwa, or BBQ Pork slices as I like to call it. It is a dried, sweet and salted pork that resembles jerky, but it is a bit fresher, softer and requires less chewing as the amount of fat in the Bakkwa makes it very tender.

Singaporean Chinese Wedding

It was an honour to be invited to a Singaporean Chinese wedding, we were warmly welcomed into their family home, encouraged to indulge in a huge spread of food from all walks of Singaporean origins from curry, to Duck, to Sushi, plus several desserts. We were even lucky enough to witness the traditional Tea Drinking Ceremony.