How do I rate my food?

There are a lot of efforts needed to create good tasting food. Some aren't even that good, still they need effort for that. So I would appreciate the effort of preparing the food by at least eating the meal.

There are 2 reason I don't finish a meal. Either the portion is too big or the taste is so bad I can't stand it. Like all food enthusiast, we discern every meal, enjoying it and be thankful for every slop, grub, or munchies we have.

It's been a long time habits of mine to describe food I ate in a very extensive way. I will never comment that the food is "good" or "fine". Instead, a story will be told. Something like "the chicken was tender and the sauce really seeped right to the bone. However when you eat it with the cucumber, the extra crunch gave a really different tone." can be expected.

Oh well, the food that ate, like any other foodie, they give stars based on taste, presentation and value for money. As for me, here's my rating:
1. Poor. I won't come back.
2. Standard. Nothing special about it.
3. Good. I might considering to be a regular.
4. Excellent. I will recommend it.

And well, like any other sensible countries who give 5 stars General status only to the most exceptional person in the world, my 5 stars rating means:

IT'S A CURSE!!! once you're hooked, you find your standard and view about that certain food is absurdly skyrocketed.

So for today, I'd like to introduce a 5-stars award winning in Singapore.

for takoyaki. a 5-stars have been awarded to:

JAPAN BOAT!

As a food chain from Taiwan, they have expanded to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau and now, Singapore.

The first time I ate it in Taipei, I got hooked up. Their crunchy outer layer give that love in the first bite. They use cabbage instead of tempura balls to add some crunch into the ball and plenty of spring onions that make me willing to eat it again and again and again...

But the final punch is on the bonito flakes. the fish flake was truly awesome! Even the one in Singapore is better than any other takoyaki shop in the country. (But in Taipei, a freshly harvested bonito flakes will give another different meaning to it. it's SWEET and CRISPY!)

So. No picture today. So far there are less than half a dozen 5-stars award winner existed. I'll share with you some other time.

And for you who might ask, "what do you think about Gindaco?" my answer is a bit cruel and subjective but... I HATE GINGER! But yeah, they are still good enough for a 4-stars.

Discern and digest.

Chris

Bali, the island of gods.

Well, since January is dedicated to Katsudon, a japanese delicacy, then February can be dedicated to a dish that internationally available.

But since we haven't reach the month of February, let me just give you a hint through my 2009 journey in Bali.

I had this very cheap flight from Singapore to Bali and boy, how I got "cheated". I suppose to arrive in Bali in Monday afternoon and leave in Wednesday evening. Then it got reversed. I took off late in Monday evening and arrive when the sky is dark. Then I leave Bali in Wednesday morning. It essentially makes my 3 days trip only have 24 hours in between.

Twilight in Bali sky

Nevertheless, it's quite enjoyable trip and I'll be back soon. I had my extra late dinner in Mini Restaurant. They serve great seafood.

MINI Restaurant

It's a place with a wonderful atmosphere in Jalan Legian, just a stone throw away from Kuta Memorial monument.

Kuta Bombing Memorial Monument

Tuesday was a blast! Lunch in some mall in the city, got reaaal duped with the calamari. They had so little of it for about SGD2. And yeah, being a stinger, the lonely planet was loaned from the library. But if you see those lonely planets in the library, you can actually see that people do bring them around to the destination place.

Fried Rice and Calamari

It was Awesome! A long ride to Tanah Lot

Nice, eh? Tanah Lot Temple.

With a nice sunset moments in Uluwatu. It's heavenly.

Pre-sunset Uluwatu. This is the only pic taken by others. The rest are self-taken.

Uluwatu was my favorite place. It's simply majestic to see the ocean from the rock.

Yeah, it's that high!

Dinner at Cak Asmo. A tiny restaurant located near university. The best thing is? They charge student price!

Meal at Cak Asmo

And finally, the day is wrapped by a darn nice burger that makes the whole trip worth it.

Duuude. The best burger I've had in my life!

So let me end this post with the highlight of my trip. This probably the picture, the only picture that really worth the whole trip down there. Nearly 13 hours of adventuring, out of gas, got broke down once, have a severe sunburn... I present you:

Uluwatu sunset

These are the digested and digestible photos of my trip to Bali. The menu of February will be the dish that appear and re-appear in the photos.

You can guess it don't you?

Discern, and digest!

Chris

Things you can only find in Jakarta

Ahhh, weekend in the big durian!

Oh well, I won't talk really much about this city. It's known for massive traffic jam, ridiculous flooding and crazy governance. But it's also known for great food.

This stupid person entirely forget to take a pic of his favorite hoka-hoka bento restaurant. Japanese food restaurant that's not exactly Japanese but we love it anyway. For a mere SGD5 or even less, you can have a great meal in this "fake" japanese chain hokka-hokka tei.

But anyway, here's the number 1 food you can never find it in Singapore.

BAKMI GM!

It's the old traditional noodle from Jakarta. Chinese believe that you must eat something long during your birthday (i.e. noodle) to have a long life. So most of my birthdays are spent here.

It's unique noodle, lightly crusted pangsit and tasty ifumie (there's a history of Indonesian Ifumie and it's connection to Hong Kong Yee Foo Mian. But let's get to it another time) It's a treat (after hoka hoka bento) I wouldn't miss in Jakarta.

As for the drink. (DRUM ROLLLL...)

It's...

A&W root beer on a frosty mug!!!

Oh well. It's supposedly A&W root beer float on a frosty mug. (but I was full when I get to A&W) Now, not every outlet provide the mug. It's important to ask whether they serve it in the mug or measly paper cup. Do take note that while my favorite root beer is still Australian Bundaberg(cos it's real brewed! not syrup), the experience of drinking from the frosty mug is a totally different experience. I'm somewhat convinced that the death of A&W in Singapore is more or less contributed by the missing frosty mug that replaced by paper cups.

Some KFC Restaurant in Jakarta still serve their chicken (and rice. Yes, rice!) in a china plate and a teh botol drink instead of pepsi.

So there will be another trip to Jakarta in February and more pics to come!

And to close this posting, let me remind you that it's not all sweet and tasty in the big durian.

There this DARNED TRAFFIC JAM, TOO!!!!

Discern and digest!

Chris

Balik kampung, nih!

It's phrase uttered by Barack Obama during his speech in University of Indonesia.

"Balik kampung, nih" means "I'm back hometown!"

Probably the only thing I've been waiting for in Jakarta is all about the food. Since I'll be going back home tomorrow, it's good to educate you a little bit.

There would be thousand kind of exotic food in Indonesia and the only thing I really hate is how Indonesian love their chilies.

Ooooh... i hate chili. I hate the piquancy of the food. Sometimes it's nice to have a little hot sensation here and there but most of them are annoying.

Now this might be new but let me introduce you to one word. "Piquant" (adj.) "Piquancy" (n.)
It simply means the hotness from chili. In Indonesian, it's a true English translation for "pedas".

This word is not really known in Singapore (we express it as "spicy"). But Piquant would give a non ambiguous meaning compared to "hot" or "spicy". Hot can refer to temperature. While spicy may be refer to the taste of spice. So hot chai tea (indian traditional mixture of black tea and spices) would be hot and spicy, but not piquant.


Indonesian is one of the country with food known for it's piquancy. Regions such as Padang, Lombok and Manado are places where extra piquant food are abundant.

Other countries such as Mexico, India, some parts of China are known best for their sweat inducing delights.

So if you like food with chili heat, remember the word "piquant".

discern! and digest... ; )

Ginza Bairin

If you come for the first time and you come around quiet hours (2-5PM), you might be a little confused with how this restaurant works. Cause I've been confused too.

The ordering procedure is to queue at the cashier, place your order at the cashier and sit on the table with your order number. Then the food will be delivered to you.

Okay, let's move on to the food itself.

There are 3 things that I've tried so far. Kurobuta special katsudon, cheese katsu, and Chicken katsudon.

Chicken katsudon

First, Chicken katsudon was simply traditional. It's juicy and tasty to the core. but again, nothing special you can expect from here. Price wise, it's similar to other restaurant.

Kurobuta special tonkatsu and cheese katsu (green plate)

As for kurobuta special tonkatsu (do take note that special simply means that instead of scrambled, the egg was made moonlight style with half cooked yolk), I must say that the katsu was awesome. It's so awesome till I felt it's such a waste to have this meat so good cooked in broth. As a purist, I prefer to enjoy the real taste of meat. If I have to cook meat so tasty and tender, I would have grill it over the frying pan with little oil only. No, no seasoning, not even salt.

But overall, it give a pure tenderness enjoyment for katsu lovers. (Darn it! I hate it when I started to drool while writing a blog entry) The broth is again, traditional. It's something that you'll find easily in any of good Japanese restaurant.

As for the cheese katsu, it's good but not really supported by good sauce. Well, I don't really like tonkatsu sauce in the first place. It tastes weird for me. Oh, how I wish I can have some of Ichiban sushi's spicy sauce to complement my cheese katsu.

Sometimes good sauce can really give a great feeling. Just like when I have mang kiko's lechon liempo (the grilled pork), I found out that if you use hoisin sauce instead of their sauce, the taste is getting much much better. (i.e. better suited to my tastebuds)

So all in all, for good katsu, I would recommend this place. Good food, fast service. But remember, this place is semi fast food. So don't expect to stay and eat slowly.

Discern and digest!

Chris

Katsudon!

Mmmm, I love katsudon. Be it pork, chicken or the rare beef katsudon, I love it!

So what makes a proper katsudon?
Katsudon is basically a meat cutlet cooked on egg and onion with dashi broth, laid on top of a rice bowl. Typically it's pork cutlet but chicken cutlet has gained more popularity to non-pork eaters. For me, I love onions and fresh leek for toppings but as you can see, lots of variation can be done.

Katsudon from RamenPlay

What makes GOOD katsudon?
There are definitely benchmarks for good or even extraordinary katsudon. The term "katsudon" typically refer to "tonkatsu" or pork cutlet. For the cutlet itself, you can look for the thickness and tenderness of the meat. Normally the part used are the loins. These what made tonkatsu itself is a tricky job to do. Too thick, the sauce will find it hard to seep in but you'll have a nice chewy meat. Too thin, you'll have it too crispy and sometimes too salty

For chicken katsu, you can always look at the part of the meat used. A proper chicken katsu would always use the thigh meat. Never the breast.

Chicken Katsudon from Ginza Bairin

Now we look at the breading. The crumbs used for katsu breading is typically the rough crumbs. These thick crumbs normally used for Katsu meant for katsudon. The thicker crumbs will make the coating able to absorb more flavor from the broth.

Katsudon from a Singapore foodcourt

finally, it's all about assembly. The proper katsudon would involve the cook to
1. fry a perfect katsu
2. warm up the broth in a small frying pan, cook with a little onion.
3. place the katsu in the warmed up broth to let the broth seep into the meat
4. put the egg (beaten or unbeaten) on top of the katsu
5. close the lid to cook the egg halfway
6. place everything on top of the rice bowl!

so if you see the picture on top, the one from a foodcourt, compared with the perfectly authentic Ginza Bairin on the bottom, then you will see which one makes a perfect Katsudon.

And oh, the small frying pan used to cook the broth always matches the size of the bowl. So a proper serving of katsudon would have the egg covered up all the rice.

Special Kurobuta Katsudon from Ginza Bairin

I'll tell you more about these stuffs I ate in the next posting!

Discern and Digest!

Chris

Eat with me!

Hi there!

2011 is coming and here I start a new blog (again).

My passion is on food and always on food. So I want you to eat with me!

In every post I'll put about what you need to know about the food we love.

As for what I am, I've been a chef in a small school cooking everything from a scratch. Chicken rice, sushi, pasta, crepe, bibimbap, ... I was a manager in one of the restaurant chain in Singapore and currently enjoying my life as a financial planner.

However, my one true love is food and story telling. So long as my tastebuds still in operation, this blog is the love child of two of my passion.

I'm a purist. I love my food with little or no seasoning. I love the true taste of meat, bread, fruits... and well, cooked vegetables. (tried to eat raw alfalfa without any sauce: it's crazy!)

Any suggestion or comments regarding this blog, do email to christianimmanuel@yahoo.com or you can write a comment in the respective post.

Discern... and digest!