Thursday, July 29, 2010
Food In Singapore 16: Roti Prata

In this blog post I will be posting about a popular Indian delicacy, Roti Prata.

What is Roti Prata?
Roti Prata is a round pancake that originated from India. There are two main types of the dish - a smaller but crispy version as well as a flatter and fluffier version. The dish is usually eaten with fish or mutton curry, or with sugar. Although roti prata is consumed at any time of the day in Singapore, many people prefer to eat it in the morning or late night, at 24 hour outlets.

Roti Prata can have no filling (known as a plain prata) or have fillings such as egg, garlic, banana, chocolate, durian or cheese.



Preparing the Prata
The Prata is prepared by flipping the dough into a large thin layer before folding the outside edges inwards. In the process of flipping the chef may choose to sprinkle some oil over the surface of the dough. The dough will then be heated on a hot plate. Flavourings or toppings, if ordered, can be added either before or after it is flipped, depending on the flavourings or the desired outcome.

Before the order is placed, the dough is in the form of a ball and it is placed by the side.



Personal Opinion
Roti Prata is an interesting dish. I think it’s the only Indian dish that can incorporate so many different types of fillings and still taste nice.

Personally I prefer eating roti prata at night, rather than eating it at the morning. Because there’s so much oil in roti prata, eating it in the morning is bad. (However, eating it at night as supper will make you fat).

Next, I prefer eating my prata with curry than sugar. This is because I prefer spicy food to sweet food. Furthermore, I think that the taste of prata does not go well with sugar, but this is just a personal opinion.

Regarding the filling of the prata, I personally prefer cheese and egg prata. To me, all the rest of the prata don’t taste as nice, with the exception of plain prata, because it just taste plain and boring. Cheeze and egg prata taste good and it goes well with curry too.

Food for Thought

Many Singaporeans prefer to eat Roti Prata in the early morning or late at night. What time of the day do you usually eat Roti Prata? Is there a specific reason to it?

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_prata
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
http://thatasianfoodproject.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/roti-prata.jpg

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Food In Singapore 15: Satay Bee Hoon

In this blog post I will be talking about a very interesting dish of Singapore cuisine, Satay Bee Hoon.

Satay Bee Hoon; why the long name?
Satay Bee Hoon probably reminds you of 2 separate dishes: the Malay Satay and the Chinese Bee Hoon. This already tells you about this unique cultural fusion dish. Satay Bee Hoon is a dish whereby a special type of peanut sauce is spreaded over vermicelli and other ingredients. The peanut sauce taste and looks very similar to the one served with satay, and thus bringing about the name.



Ingredients of the Satay Bee Hoon
The main ingredient of the dish is obviously the peanut sauce, which contributes to most of the taste of the dish. Other ingredients include sliced cuttlefish, kang kong (a type of vegetable), beansprouts, slices of pork, prawns and cockles. These ingredients are cooked separated and after cooking, they are placed together with the vermicelli before peanut sauce is spreaded over them.



Personal Opinion
In my opinion, I feel that satay bee hoon is a very difficult dish to prepare, because there are so many ingredients, and they must be cooked separately (e.g. how can prawns and cockles be cooked together?). However, I feel that making this dish taste nice is not very difficult. Even if the other ingredients taste mediocre, as long as the peanut sauce taste awesome, the taste of the peanut sauce will be able to overpower the taste of the other ingredients and make the entire dish taste good.

Personally, I don’t really care if the peanut sauce tastes nice. This is because all of the peanut sauce seems to taste the same. What matters to me is the amount of sauce given. As locals would put it, if the sauce given is too little, then you won’t feel “Shoik!” enough when you eat the dish. Thus I feel that the amount of sauce given should not be cut down, as it will be the downfall of the entire dish.

Food for Thought

As I have mentioned, the peanut sauce contributes to most of the dish’s taste. Can you imagine what the dish will taste like without the satay sauce? What will the dish become? Will it still taste nice?

Apart from that, what is your favourite ingredient among the many ingredients of Satay Bee Hoon?

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satay_bee_hoon
ttp://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIbH_xUEEe2ALlScciuIj7kwZ80GOJLgU2n0sqUuJCwID_K1lL1MTEvNWkeZjllMhBOoOtgFZXYue5LXWZvV4ggFOPorWRp65d2Xrxixgqofl-Opq4uN633mQuh_Y5St9VQV4yqCvmqo/s1600/sataybeehoon1.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwWSlFbBbIXOX6IcJ546U2T-yKF94kOMsZGraPkJyKqvESEGfrst2mMyg99OOtHBXbO_xLByBikhC_t-9xfoMYj0fnf8SuASrdQxo8HQu3cpb1hiU-qDRbNqHASuB4fJj_IUNspFN6T4g/s400/satay+beehoon.jpgu

Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Food In Singapore 14: Almond Jelly

Now I am going to blog about an uncommon desert in Singapore, Almond Jelly.



Intro and making the Jelly
Almond Jelly is a desert whereby a jelly of almond (that looks like tofu, thus the other name of the dish is almond tofu) suspends some wolfberry in the centre of the jelly. In the traditional recipe, the primary ingredient (almond) used is southern Chinese almond, or sweet Chinese almond. Almond milk is then extracted with the help of a machine, sweetened, and heated with a gelling agent such as agar. The mixture is then chilled, when it solidifies into the gelatin desert of Almond Jelly.

Interestingly, there is also instant mix almond jelly available in supermarkets. It is an almond-flavored soy-based powder, which dissolves in hot water and solidifies into sweetened soft tofu upon cooling.



Personal Opinion
Truth to be told, I have eaten this dish only at people’s wedding, and I’ve never bought it on my own. I’ve only seen its name on menu’s before. And because of that, I have decided to call this desert “uncommon”, as seen from the first sentence of this blog post.

The reason why I rarely eat this dish is because I don’t really like almonds. I feel that almond has a really strong taste that does not suit me. Even when almond is not concentrated, I find the strong taste of it unbearable. Thus, I feel that for this desert, the almond taste of it must not be too strong. If it is too strong, the person eating the desert will get put off.

Another reason why I don’t like this dish is because of its visual appeal. It looks simple, and pretty much boring. It’s just a white jelly with wolfberry in the middle. The looks alone make me think that it’s a boring and tasteless dish. (But looks can be deceiving, as seen from the REAL taste of the dish).

Food for Thought

I believe that for this dish, wolfberry is added to make the dish look nicer (more colourful) and to make the desert taste better. What other effects do you think that wolfberry has on the dish?

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond_jelly
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuBwHuVmuMDP5uexSo83CbmCYdNcOJyZ7OJNKGvj2I7vXMQTDW2ZvOqxnk9zbUEkqZYX4Y3u3RZ0Z_y82BH5BamwINu84AvOyXL3O25r3vPQOesWVJGpeNgdzM-1e1D2Lm88aFlufrCg/s400/almond+jelly.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Almond_jelly.jpg

Monday, July 5, 2010
Food In Singapore 13: Red Bean Soup

In this post I will be talking about Red Bean Soup, a common desert in Singapore.

The Red Bean Soup
Red Bean Soup is an Asian Soup that is made with azuki beans.

In China, there is a thinner variation of this dish. It is served hot in the winter and served cold in the summer. Many other countries such as Korea and Japan also follow this pattern.

Red Bean Soup in the making
Red Bean Soup is a fairly easy soup to make. The ingredients needed are sagi seeds, dried red azuki seeds, and some rock sugar or brown sugar. Put red azuki seeds and the sugar in a pot and pour 8 – 10 cups of water together with the mixture (the more the amount of water put, the thinner the red bean soup will be). After around 1h 45mins of cooking, put the sagi seeds in. After around 15 mins, the soup will be ready to be served.



Dried tangerine peels can also be added into the soup before cooking so that the taste of the soup will be enhanced.

Personal Opinion
Red Bean Soup is a soup that is “fairly easy to make”, but it is difficult to master it. There are many factors involved, such as the thickness of the soup and the sweetness of the soup.

Personally, I prefer the soup to be sweet but not too sweet. As a desert, it must definitely be sweet and taste nice. However, if it is too sweet it will be disgusting and will overpower the taste of the red azuki seeds or the tangerine peels.



I will also like my soup to be not very thick. I feel that soup should always be watery and thus the soup should be thin. If it is too thick, the soup will become red bean paste. Furthermore, if the soup is too thick, elderly may not be able to enjoy the soup fully as the soup may be difficult to swallow.
However, a thin soup means that there will be a lot of water added, and thus means that the concentration of the taste will be compromised.

Lastly, I personally prefer my soup to have dried tangerine peels. This is because if the soup is done properly, you will be able to taste and smell the scent of the dried tangerine soup, and it really makes the soup nicer. Sadly, most of the hawkers in Singapore do not include dried tangerine peels in their soup, because some people may not like it and adding that means that they have to pay extra.

Food for Thought

Many people say that there are health benefits to drinking Red Bean Soup, such as “it boost your blood growth” and etc. Do you drink Red Bean Soup for the health benefits or purely because it taste nice?

Credits:
http://chowtimes.com/2006/06/04/red-bean-soup/
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
http://www.hot-screensaver.com/wp-myimages/red-bean-soup.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2288/2107650025_c87e46419e.jpg