Food Galore! BIBik GOURMAND!

Pictures speak louder than words .....

Check these out in BIBik GOURMAND ... http://bibikgourmand.blogspot.com/








Nanto Pasta











Lobster Porridge










Lobster Noodle













Caprise Salad












Cod Fish Carpaccio










Grilled Italian Vegetables












Burrata Salad









Duck Confit with Rocket Leafs

Aircon Ledge Farming - Tomato!

Yes! It is possible!

Tomatoes in a pot on an aircon ledge in a high rise in hot and humid Singapore.







Early Girl Tomato #1 from seeds bought off eBay

.... can't wait for it to ripen ... yummy!









And more Early Girl Tomatoes .....








Not in the photos are Momotaro and Black Cherries tomato plant ... flowering but yet to fruit.

Just bought Brandywine seeds from eBay ... can't wait to get this heirloom into a pot on the aircon ledge too!

Aircon Ledge Farming - Herb Garden!

New Pazzion! Aircon Ledge Farming - Herb Garden!

"Farming" on my approximate 3m x 1m air-con ledge (with 2 air con compressors).

The mission is to plant edible stuffs ... Herbs .... that can survive in hot and humid Singapore, in a high rise apartment, and on top of air-con compressor!

Sounds like Mission Impossible ... You Bet! After much trial and errors ... I present the results so far:

From top left to bottom right:
- Oregano,
- Sage,
- Chives,
- Marigold
- Thyme




OK.... Marigold is not a herb but a good companion plant as the flower will emit a sense that deter insects.






Here we have a pot of German Chamomile seedlings from seeds bought from eBay.

Other herbs that are not in the photos are Peppermint, Lemon Balm, Sweet Basil, Red Basil, French Tarragon (not doing too well), Rosemary and Pandan.



The one herbs that did not survive on the ledge is Tulasi. And still looking for a pot of Lavender.

Christmas dinner last year (2010) was an organic home-grown herbs galore meal :) .... need to give these plants a break now :)

Sign-seeing in Chengdu

I was in Chengdu last week on business and noticed that there were Boomz everywhere. Here's some of them .. enjoy!




Taking cover (automatically) in the toilet .... I think all of us who have been through National Service can identify with this :)












"Hairy" mobile phone?













It's electrifying!

EN for ENdless ala carte buffet of fine Japanese cuisine!

When anyone mention buffet, first thing that comes to my mind is food of above average fare (for the high end buffet in some 5 stars hotels) or of sub-standard stuffs. Not so when the family went to EN Japanese Dining Bar in Crown Centre for dinner last night.

For $58 (exclusive of all those extras) per adult and $18 for children above 5 years ... (no ... they won't take the I am a child at heart excuse :) ) ... you get the Aussie Wagyu grade 9 ala carte buffet set.

The set include endless serving of Wagyu done in Shabu Shabu or Sukiyaki style plus quite a number of Japanese standards such as Sashimi, Tempura, Maki ... guess you get the drift by now.

We started with their Sashimi Salad and Sliced Pork Salad (with lots of greens), which the family was wowing and wahing over ... to me it was just ok. I was craving for some starch and ordered the Kimchi Fried Rice ... and it was yummy! A surprise for buffet fare.

That started the ball rolling, we followed it up by:
- Soft Shell Crab Maki ... it was so good ... one order was not enough!
- Sashimi Moriwase ... combi of salmon, tuna, swordfish, sweet ebi, yellow fin, snapper ... the cut and standard of the Sashimi was definitely in the rank of fine Japanese restaurants
- Salmon in Teriyaki sauce ... it was ok
- Chicken wings ... the wings was "butterflied", skewered and grilled .... yummy!
- Bacon & Enoki ... it was ok
- Tempura Shrimp ... fine dining standard!
- Tempura White bait (fish) ... wow wow wow!
- Taco Harumaki (beef & cheese Taco) ... yup .. Maki style Taco ... Okinawan cuisine ... very interesting .. must try!
- Beef Carpacio (not in the menu .. the waitress sent it to the wrong table :) ) ... wonderful!
- Cha Soba ... another wow! taste like hand made soba
- Wagyu Shabu Shabu ... the main event and definitely the winner! The crab base stock and the grade 9 Wagyu with those beautiful marbling ... die die must try!

Dessert is not included in the ala carte buffet. Would have been a nice touch but then again for the price, cannot complain lah.

Service was impacable and everything was just right. The Restaurant Manager told us that they started the buffet concept only in December 2008 and introduced Wagyu only the previous month (September 2009).

I guess the recent economical situation must have been the main driver for this fine dining outlet to resort to buffet concept. Now that "greenshoots" are sprouting ... EN will not be serving ENdless ala carte buffet ... don't wait don't wait ... chiong Ah!

Check them out at:

En Japanese Dining Bar @ Bukit Timah
557 Bukit Timah Road
#01-14/16 Crown Centre
Tel: 6468 5710

My Chinese name on a Japanese knife

Just won an ebay bid for a brand new Japanese Santoku kitchen name. The seller allows 2 characters to be etched on the knife. Can't wait to see my name (as in the pix) on it ... picture of the knife and my current humble arsenal coming soon.

Sunday Dinner ... Coq Au Vin

Weekends are for the family and I believe in the wise old saying that "A family that eat together stays together". So come Sunday, out goes the working outfit and into my cooking Apron.

Sunday dinner's main event was Coq Au Vin. Having gone through quite a number of recipes, I finally found one that was easy and fast to cook, and most importantly from a trusted internet source - BBC. The recipe can found here.

In the picture, you could see my trusty cast iron pot (dutch oven) from Ikea. I used that for pilaf, onion soup and confit de canard (duck confit) ... definitely a fantastic buy at a fraction of what a Le Creuset would have cost.

So how was the verdict? The family gobbled every last piece (and slurped every last drop). Guess that's an affirmation.