Dian Xiao Er

Since our initial choice of Japanese did not pan out, we settled for Dian Xiao Er.

Ordered the dang gui duck which had a strong herbal taste. Slightly on the salty side. However, the meat was a little tough.



Chinese cabbage cooked in fermented beancurd. This was something different and was quite tasty.

Hot plate lamb. The meat was very tender. There were some spices used here, which was mightily familiar, but I just cannot recall what it is.

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Deep Dish Pizza

 

Dinner on Saturday night this week is deep dish pizza. Deep dish pizza is commonly found in Chicago, at least that is what I watched on shows before. This is entirely home-made, as I made the dough myself, as well as the pizza sauce.

  

Lots of mozzarella cheese!

 

Topped with veal sausage and salami. Dough did turn out to be pretty soft and not overly dry.

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Recipe 

Dough
Bread Flour 250g
Caster Sugar 1tsp
Salt 1/2tsp
Yeast 1tsp
Unsalted Butter 3tbsp
Water 250g

1. Mix all ingredients, with the exception of butter, together and allow dough to proof until doubled.
2. Spread the dough onto work surface. Spread the butter on it, and roll the dough into a cylinder.
3. Make a book-fold and proof again in a fridge for 2-3 hours.

Pizza Sauce
Crushed/Diced Tomato 1 can(~250g)
Basil 3tbsp
Onion (medium) 1
Salt 1/2tsp
Olive Oil 1tbsp
Black pepper to taste

1. Saute the onions in a pot first until translucent.
2. Add in the tomatoes including the water.
3. Mix in remaining ingredients and bring to simmer until reduced.

Assembly
(250g Mozzarella cheese needed)

1. Spread olive oil in baking pan. Put ball of dough in; spread and press against and up sides.
2. Put in half of mozzarella cheese, followed by sauce.
3. Add in desired ingredients and cover with remaining cheese.
4. Bake at 210 degrees C for 30 minutes.

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Bonchon Crispy Chicken

Tried the 4 Fingers Bonchon Crispy Chicken at Ion Orchard. Supposedly from USA, but I have no idea why there were Korean words on their menus.

I took the 6 piece set and chose the Soy Garlic flavour. It was quite tasty, but I felt my chicken was over-fried and some parts were dry.

The set came with fries, which was seasoned with seaweed and chili flakes. Again, over-fried as well, and some pieces were even hollowed because of that. Didn't bother to finish it.

Overall, Popeye's is still my favourite!

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Gunther's

 

That's my lunch partner trying to dodge my camera. For his sake, I have pixelated his face to protect his identity... =p

We were served this warm little baguette, which had a very crispy crust.

  

Also given olive oil and vinegar. Not my first time dipping bread in this, but I usually stuck with butter. The vinegar here, however, tasted somewhat sweet and I liked it. So, for the first time, I dipped most of my bread in this.

  

First up, I took the Foie Gras Ravioli Consomme. The ravioli texture was more like wanton skin and not as chewy as the kind cooked as pasta.

  

For mains, I had the day's special which was striploin. The meat had a nice grilled flavour to it, although meat was a little tough at some parts.

  

Dessert was was mango sorbet. I think this was quite nice given that it was not too sweet and had a slight sour taste to it.

  

Coffee was very intense and aromatic.

We were given a plate of this. Not too sure what to term it as. It consisted of canelle, madeleine (I think..) and semi-sweet chocolate. Ended the meal with a challenge from cknewsstand to make canelles...

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Beef Sukiyaki

Dinner on a Saturday..

Wanted to do a deep dish pizza, but I shall leave it for next week. Been some time I ate sukiyaki, so I decided to cook myself. However the sauce I bought was not as nice as what I bought last time. Shall stay away from Kikkoman next time!

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