Vietnamese Honey Chicken Wings

Recipe adapted from: Authentic Recipes from Vietnam book by Thi Choi and Marcel Isaak.

This is realllly goood. You can also use this recipe to roast a whole chicken.

Recipe:

2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground white pepper
1 fresh chicken (1 1/4kg)

Honey Glaze
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sweet black soy sauce
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tsp sesame oil

Method:
1. Combine the sugar, sesame oil, salt and pepper in a bowl, and mix well. Rub the mixture onto the outside and inside of the chicken. Seal the cavity with a skewer and set aside for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 190C.
3. Combine the Honey Glaze ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
4. Place the chicken on a roasting pan and spread 1/2 of the Honey Glaze over the chicken. Roast the chicken in the oven for about 40 minutes, basting with the remaining Honey Glaze every 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and well cooked.
5. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve hot.

Tip: If using a roasting rack that fits over a roasting tin, pour some water inside the roasting tin to catch the drippings so they don't burn in the pan. It also makes it easier for cleaning up later.

How to stretch your dollar at the Supermarket.

Now we all know that times are hard and recession is upon us, so it's important to be able to stretch our dollar to get the most of out it. I'm sure everyone's got their little tips, but here is our tips for next time you go to the supermarket.

Do go thru the supermarket with your eyes WIDE open, not for gorgeous guys or girls, but for items that have a red mark down sticker on them. I generally do this anyway, but it wasn't until one day I realised how much I was saving by buying stuff that were marked down or on sale ( i saved $26 on one bill!) that I would now scour the supermarkets just to find items that have been reduced. Remember to check the expiry dates of course, but you'd be surprised that most often than not these items aren't going to expire until next year or even a year after that! Eg. I bought a box of Newman's microwave popcorn that was reduced from $8 to $4 and wasn't going to expire till 2010. I believe that the supermarkets are marking them down because they've overstocked the items and need to make more shelf space. And of course the other thing to check, if you're buying canned stuff, check that they're not dented.

Sometimes our shopping cart is completely filled with all marked downs stuff, and I told hubby that there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not like we're buying food that have expired. We're just being smart. And remember, that when you do buy marked down stuff you are in fact helping the environment. Because those that remain unsold will eventually end up in the dumpster and onto the land fills. My eyes were opened to this fact after watching an episode on Oprah that talked about Freeganism. People who've adopted a freegan lifestyle are against consumerism and go around commercial dumpsters looking for food that are still perfectly edible that have been thrown away by supermarkets. So I may not be going around dumpsters anytime soon, this is the least I can do to help reduce wastage.

And if you're into foreign brands or products, Cold Storage supermarkets usually have a lot of them on mark down. Especially those that are in the prime suburbs where the foreigners or angmohs usually frequent.

New favourite seafood restaurant - House of Seafood @ 180

The House of Seafood @ 180 serves The Best Black Pepper Crab in Singapore. Ok that's just my opinion, but judging by the full house at the restaurant, a lot of other people agree too. If black pepper crab isn't your thing, the Chilli Crab is just as delectable.

From what we've heard the people who opened this place were former chefs at the famous and popular crab restaurant Eng Seng Restaurant at Joo Chiat Place (near TJC Telok Kurau Church). And at the House of Seafood @ 180 you are constantly reminded that this place was 'formerly known @ Joo Chiat Place'. It's like they're on purpose trying to mislead people into thinking that Eng Seng at Joo Chiat has closed down and they are the replacements. But to be honest, good for them! As much as we loved the food at Eng Seng, there were a lot more things we hated about the place such as lots of shouting, rude owners, long lines waiting for table and once you get a table it was long waiting time for the crab to arrive and the somewhat unclean place. I loved how at House of Seafood @ 180 the tables were covered in pink plastic which they just wrap up and dispose after each table is finished and we most of all loved the friendly service AND the fast serving of our foods. It was also a plus that they had clean baby high chairs for the little ones and a plasma tv mounted on the wall. Oh and did I mention they even had little dipping bowls with lime in it to clean your dirty hands after you finish eating your crab (there are toilets and wash basins available too). Our only gripe was that parking is rather difficult to find since the restaurant is situated on busy Yio Chu Kang Rd. They do have a valet service which I think is probably worth taking up, but Edmund was a little apprehensive when he saw one of them nearly backing one of the cars into some orange cones. Or else you'll have to park really far amongst the streets in the private residential areas. The streets around there are pretty narrow too so there's not much street parking available and you'll have to walk kinda far.

And you know what the best thing is eventhough we had great service, there were no service charge and no GST! I always prefer it when the service charge and GST is built into the prices already. The small portions are very generous and reasonably priced. The crabs are finger licking good and oh so sweet and fresh, and they were the huge sri lankan kinds. So next time I have a crab craving I won't need to go far, and they also have take away as well, just call them and order in advance!

Sorry for the bad pictures, used my cameraphone to take.

Salad You Tiao

Champagne Pork Ribs

Mee Goreng (very nice)

Fried Bee Hoon for the kids (caelyn loved this one)

Black Pepper Crab


Chilli Crab

Mini ManTou

Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar at Raffles City

I finally got to try Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar at Raffles City. I was so surprised that there were no long snaking line outside the place as was the scene when they first opened earlier this year. I had been looking forward to trying this place for a long time, I wanted to see what the hype was all about and I wasn't disappointed at all. Unfortunately I left my camera at home and was stuck to using my crummy camera phone, so I was a bit sad that I couldn't get any nice photos since most of them ended up being blurry. I guess it just means that I'll have to come back here again with a proper camera next time :) But check out this blog to see some nice photos and a review of the place.

What I liked about the place was the layout and the concept. If you've ever been to Marche then you'd be familiar with the 'charge card' system. When you first enter the restaurant, each patron (regardless of age) receives a card for which you use to charge your purchases into. Your party is also given a 'Reserved' tag to put on your table to reserve i while you go around 'shopping' for your food. I say shopping is because that's exactly what you do. Within the restaurant there are individual stalls selling a variety of different things. So you basically go to the one you want, give your order, they charge your card and you come back in a little while to get your food. The interesting thing here is the service was so good that we were even approached by one of the wait staff who saw I was holding a receipt at the table and asked if I wanted her to get my food for me. I was very surprised. I was a little taken aback tho when as soon as I sat down the staff came over to me and quickly took my tray and gave me serviettes and put the cutlery on top. She was like an eagle swooping down on her prey. A bit freaked out, so a little warning before hand like a polite 'let me help you with that' would've been nice. Oh well, with the usual lack of service standards in Singapore, it was nice to see this place employed good staff who smiled and were enthusiastic about their job (this included those that prepared the food).

Ok so apart fromm the concept, the food itself was great. You could tell the ingredients were fresh and of good quality. So after you are done, you bring your card to the cashier who will then total your purchases. I think this place is great for gatherings with friends because everyone can just choose to eat what they please and there's no need to fight over the bill because you simply pay for your purchases on your own card. Price wise everything was very reasonable. We had an Omu Rice thing which was Fried Rice with your choice of topping wrapped in an omelet topped with Japanese mayo for about $8 something (++) If you didn't want the omelet it was only $5 something. And we also had grilled squid tentacles for $3 a plate of adequate appetiser size portion - I was rather surprised at how cheap it was. I also saw grilled Salmon head for about $5, My Mum loves salmon head so I'm definitely going back to bring her to try.

Omu Rice


The restaurant is designed to look like an old style street.

There were different themed sitting areas, we chose to sit in one of these wooden booths. that was made to look like we were sitting in a little Japanese Hut (or home?)

The world economic crisis

Australian dollar is on par with Singaporean dollar. I didn't think I'd see that happen again. I'm not a banking or economics person, but we do watch the foreign exchange rates from time tho time. Brother in law told us that all the money changers around his office in the CBD area are out of Aussie dollars. There's a mad rush as people hurry to change their money for their holiday, children's aussie study tuition or even just to keep to make a quick buck in the hopes that the rates will go back up again. I wonder how long or if it'll go back up again? There's speculation that it'll continue to drop, then again who knows what'll happen when and if Singapore's currency is weakened to help with the recession.

Hello Kitty Humidifier & Raku Shoe Wheel

Check out my latest babies For some reason as I grow older I've become more of a fan of Hello Kitty than when I was younger. Maybe too much exposure to all the Hello Kitty stuff here. The humidifier works great, we use it at night when we sleep with aircon.
As for the shoe wheel, it was a great investment. The slots are really big too and can fit more than one pair of shoes in them. However Edmund's shoes do not fit in them, they're too long.


POSTNOTE: The humidifier no longer works...:( Such a short life....

Malay-Style Roast Chicken

Recipe from: September 08 Simply Her Magazine

This was really yummy and I think makes the chicken tender and juicy. I created my own gravy and served it with a mixed salad and purple sweet potato and white potato mash. The list of ingredients sounds exhaustive, but for me I already had all of them in my pantry or freezer since these ingredients are commonly used in Indonesian/Malay cooking.

Ingredients (serves 4)

:

1 chicken
5 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water for 5 min and drained
1 tbsp coriander seeds (I used the powder form)
1 tsp cumin seeds (I used the powder form)
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled
1 thumb-sized piece galangal, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 stalk lemongrass (white part only), bruised
1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions:
1. Make cuts on the breasts and thighs of the chicken.
2. Grind or pound the chillies, coriander and cumin seeds, ginger, galangal, garlic, oil, soya sauce and salt to a fine paste. Add the turmeric powder. Mix well.
3. Rub marinade all over the chicken and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Use plastic gloves or a basting brush so your hands don't stain.
4. Leave the lemongrass to steep in the coconut milk for an hour.
5. Pre-heat oven to 225degrees. Lightly grease a roasting tin before putting the chicken in.
6. Baste the chicken with the lemongrass infused coconut milk and roast for 1 1/2 hours. basting occasionally with the coconut milk.

For the gravy:
After the chicken has cooked, transfer it to another dish and put the roasting pan (if it's a metal one) on the stovetop. Sprinkle some flour into the pan and scrape off the yummy stuff on the bottom. Add some chicken stock, stir and bring to boil. Add a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce and season to taste.

Movie Recommendation - "Human Trafficking" stars Mira Sorvino, Donald Sutherland

I just saw this fantastic movie on the Hallmark Channel (Starhub 17) that I want to recommend to everyone. Tho we don't think about this everyday, when we do stop and think about it, human trafficking is a most horrid crime that needs to be stopped, alongside drug trafficking. As a parent we constantly worry about the safety of our children, and this movie is a reminder for us that the dangers of predators and kidnappers are real. It makes u wonder how many of those 'Geylang girls' in Singapore's red light district are the victims of human trafficking since, I've been told, there are girls from Russia, Ukraine, etc, amongst the China 'Pei-Du' or study Mamas. Maybe even the China, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Indian ones are also victims of human trafficking. Geylang is definitely notorious, but I hope we can all spare a thought to this issue whenever we pass by there. This movie really moved me and almost brought me to tears.

Here's the synopsis of the movie from Amazon.com:

Amazon.com
The Lifetime cable channel made TV history with this ambitious, acclaimed original miniseries on the horrifying phenomenon of human trafficking, or sexual slavery. It follows the fictional cases of young women around the world, lured or abducted, sometimes right off the street, into a world of unspeakable brutality--which the filmmakers show in almost overwhelming detail at times. Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland star as American government officials bent on exposing and stopping the phenomenon, and both are more than serviceable in their roles. But the revelation is Robert Carlyle, the Scottish star of The Full Monty and Trainspotting, who here is transformed into a ruthless criminal mastermind behind his own trafficking network. Even his Eastern European accent is spot-on and blood-chilling. The supporting cast of women and girls is strong, and in some cases, truly heartbreaking. And while sometimes almost unbearably harsh, the film serves as a reminder this terrible situation still exists and thrives; and told through the characters, is also a well-paced thriller. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description
Nominated for Two Golden Globes® - Best Actress and Best Actor in a TV Miniseries; Lifetime Television's most-watched miniseries of 2005. Featuring Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award winner Donald Sutherland (The Italian Job), Academy Award® and Golden Globe® Award winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) and Trainspotting's Robert Carlyle, Human Trafficking is at once a gripping thriller, a cautionary tale, and one of the most fundamentally important stories of our time. DVD Features include: Interviews with Mira Sorvino and Robert Carlyle, Behind the Scenes with the cast and crew, and A "Take Action" Guide to shop human trafficking now!

XO Clams with Bee Hoon (Rice Vermicelli)

This is a rather interesting dish that is similar to spaghetti with seafood. All you need to do is slice up some red chilli and carrots, and chop up some garlic. Heat up some oil in a big pan and stir fry the garlic, carrots and chilli, add the clams and XO or chinese cooking wine or white wine and cover the pan with a lid and cook until the clams open up. Soak the Bee Hoon in hot water until it softens (but not too soft), drain and add to the clam sauce. Season with pepper and fish sauce to taste. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions or flat leaf parsley or coriander, as you wish.

The clams will release a bit of juice and the bee hoon will then soak up all that wonderful briney gravy.