Chinatown Food Complex - Dessert Station

I believe that our food is medicine. Given that our cells die and renew within every few months, the food we eat, the air we breathe and water we drink, thoughts we think affect how the next generation of cells, how they are formed and their inherent DNA. In lesser words, our DNA is changeable and we actions and choices impact our DNA.

Thus the rationale for my picky food choices. I'm trying to steer clear of processed food, cooking oils, MSG, any form of chemicals in our food. Trying to cut down on sugar too, wish me luck on that. But still, I do eat junk food. Just that with all this new gained knowledge, I enjoy them less.

Right. But in every case, it has become a habit to selective choose healthier versions, including desserts. I love desserts, all the hot desserts, especially bean soups, sesame pastes, peanut pastes, yam pastes, gingko nut and beancurd, etc. I think you get the idea. But they usually contain too much sugar for my preference. So I prefer to cook my own sometimes. Except for Sesame paste. Far too much work.

And today a dessert stall in particular really won my heart.

 Dessert Station is at the red zone in Chinatown Complex and by 2pm, their yam paste was sold out. That was probably my first clue.

So I ordered my favourite Sesame paste instead.

Most sesame paste are made using pre-made black sesame flour, some starch and water. The black sesame flour might have had sugar already added. Thus they taste pretty much the same everywhere.

Except for this one.

Black Sesame paste - $1.80

 One the first try I found it grittier and stronger tasting than most black sesame paste. And on closer look, I can see oil from the black sesame coating spoon.

This is probably one of the rare stalls which grind and mill their own sesame flour, from roasted black sesame seeds. Thus their black sesame taste far less of sugar and starch but very much of the real stuff.

Oh my................it's really really good!  I'll definitely try to have some whenever I'm in the area. If I'm lucky, perhaps I'll get to try the yam paste next time!

Updated - Apparently, they have branches. One of which is located at Albert Centre Food market at bugis!


Dessert Station

Chinatown Food Complex - 2nd Floor Red zone #02-132
Opening hours - 10plus am till 8plus pm

Chinatown Food Complex - Thousand Vegie

 Chinatown complex is one of the favourite haunts of many a foodie. Gems of good creations are buried within this myriad of a food centre and once upon a time during my meat eating days, I can be found here with best bud, sharing a grilled or steamed fish among other dishes.

But that was the past. So with my non meat agenda, I ventured this place again.

 The layout of this food centre can be daunting. Divided into red, yellow, blue and green zones, each with its maze of hawkers, it simply felt like walking into rubric cube, especially when I'm simply exploring and have little idea where I'm heading.

When I'm almost but give up after 2 rounds, I finally see a vegetarian stall. Having never saw it before, I assume it's new.

Spinach Noodles - $4

BBQ 'Fis' - $7

There's  two aunties manning the stall. The variety was pretty interesting but most of which involves mock meat in fried or grilled form. Despite my love for chlorophyll in my food, I gave it a try in the name of vegan spirit.

Waiting time was a bit long, around 15 minutes. From my observation, the aunties seems abit new at hawkering, thus they are climbing the steep learning hawker curve of multi-tasking.

The spinach noodle are alright. It tasted home cooked which is nice and in its favour, I don't taste much MSG. What I do lament is the lack of ingredients. Which were capsicums, carrots, mushrooms and strips of mock chicken. With some spinach and stewed mushroom, it might live up to its cost.

The BBQ 'Fis' arrived when I'm almost done with the noodles. I was slightly taken back by its appearance. But that aside, the sizing was a reasonably satisfying chunk. It was grilled in chili oil and sambal chili. Very much resembling the sambal stingray. It's quite spicy which I very much enjoyed.

It could been better if served sizzling hot in a hotplate instead.

Thousand Vegie would be where I might headed when I'm in the area and the mood for some vegan junk food (fried chiken, fis etc). I found it a little pricy for its standard though.

A sidenote, I found all 3 vegetarian stalls in Chinatown complex in the red zone.They are laid out in a triangle with the stairs in the centre.




Thousand Vegie
Chinatown Food Complex 2nd level #02-122
Opening hours: Everyday 11am - 930pm

Amoy Food Centre - 2nd Floor

Having left the crowd at Sophie Bakery, I continued to explore Amoy Food centre for lunch - having summoned just enough self restrain to save the Chocolate Chip Bun for dessert.

So up to the 2nd floor this time to see what's in store and lo and behold, 'Cha Dian Xiao Chi' greeted my growling stomach.

 I have a fondness for Teochew kuehs, partially cos of my nostalgia of growing up on them and also they mashed in my memories as part of Singapore's unique food culture.

And with this stall I spot a new kueh I have never seen - Black Bean Kueh. So it's a definitely try for this bean lover.

Soon Kueh on top and Black Bean Kueh below - $1 each.

I really like the smooth fresh skin and filling of the Soon kueh. The skin was just nice, not too thick and the freshness of the Kueh was a delight. However there's bits of hay-bee in it, so its definitely not vegetarian friendly

Black Bean Kueh - $1

The black bean kueh was not bad. The kueh itself was saltish, and the texture was smooth and embedded with black beans, cooked sufficiently to be chewed easily with a bit of crunch. More black beans throughout the kueh would be nice. No hay bee this time, so it's a okay for not-too-strict-vegetarians.

Yam Kueh - $1

 The Yam kueh however was a little unexpected. The kueh was a little sweet with bits of yam in it. The traditional saltish and hay-bee (dried shrimp) taste was missing from this version. More bits of yam would be good too.  I would say it's possible to vegetarians to try it, but I forgot to confirm it with the vendor.

Overall this is a pretty good Kueh stall with a surprising number of variety for handmade kuehs. I won't argue on the price as they are handmade, a spoonful more indgredients to the kuehs would bring it to the Wow level.

Cha Dian Xiao Chi (Teatime snacks)
Amoy Food Centre - 2nd Floor (just walk up the stairs and it's right there)

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 7am - 3.30pm (Alterate Saturdays)

Sophie Bakery

Finished my yoga session in the mid noon heat on a Thursday, and had some time to explore Telok Ayer with it's lunchtime crowd and goodies. Just a couple of shops down, I chanced upon Sophie's Bakery.

Picture from Thursday. Maddeningly hot afternoon.

It was apparent on first sight this is not going to be your standard Singapore bread shop. The decor is so very quaint and europeanish. What lured me however was the crowd in and outside during Thursday lunch hour. The last time I 'd seen such a bread horde was probably during Breadtalk's $1 bread hour. Of course I have to join the crowd and find out!

 

Picture taken on a Saturday when
it's decidedly less crowded and I love the floor tiles!

I was surprised by  the single one item sold throughout the shop. I was pretty much surrounded by Chocolate Chip Buns - together with their cousins, White Chocolate Chip Buns. Seriously, chocolate chip buns are pretty much 80% of all the baking goods in the shop. I think there a couple of other minority breads like the baguette, and a few exotic macaroons in the cooler shelf. But most people exit with bags of chocolate chip buns. Compared to the usual bakery, this is a rarity. Most would produce at least 15 different types of various bake items in principle of chance. Higher the variety, the more likely the customer will find something to his or her liking. But usually I'd walk pass these, they're are dime a dozen such in bread crazed Singapore. So Sophie Bakery is interesting, a complete opposite of its industry norm.

 I had wanted to take more pictures - clearer ones, but I was deterred by the staff. So I put my phone away and took a tray instead.

And obviously I can't leave without one of these buns.

And the verdict; a really good tasting fresh bread evenly filled and covered with chocolate chips.

It tasted soft yet solid enough not to be fluffy. Not too moist that the flour clump together but not dry either.

It tasted of freshly leavened dough made with excellent butter and flour with a pinch of salt. Which is in short; excellent bread with bits of chocolate in every bite.


Don't be fooled by its look. It's seriously heavy on the stomach. I had one after a light lunch and it stuffed me for the next 3 hours.

A understated fact about cooking and life that Sophie's Bakery highlighted. You don't need to be Jack of all trade to succeed, you just need to be par excellent at one.






Sophie Bakery
http://www.sophiebakery.sg/

Telok Ayer Street 197 - 169 (diagonally opposite Amoy Food Centre)

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 7.30pm
                        Sat - 10am - 4pm

Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein

I have decided to up my protein intake since 1) I'm almost vegan, - so no milk or cheese for me, no eggs either. Unless they are camouflage in cakes and I'm too excited to pay attention. 2) The nice TCM lady doctor informs me my water retention might be due to a accumulated shortness of protein; and my blood circulation becoming slow.

And on an impulse, I bought SunWarrior Protein - in chocolate flavour.

Price around $90 at Four Seasons Organic Market (Silly blogger here threw receipt away before mum found out, so hence the close estimation.)

I'm not so keen on the Xanthan Gum and Pectin but they don't hurt I guess.

 I can smell cocoa already upon opening up the packet and it looks safe enough.

Although the label suggested mixing with a favourite beverage I gave it a try on its own first.

So I mixed 1 scoop with half a cup of hot water, and it's not too bad tasting, given that it's chocolate flavour. But what I realised is that I don't like Stevia. Never had it before and having tried it now, don't like it. It reminds me too much of artificial sweeteners. I missed the actual glucose behind the taste!

In the end, I added 2 spoons of Milo and topped up with more water. But a good thing happened. I feel satisfied and full after half a cup (no Milo usually don't have that effect), so the protein is working.

Verdict: I'm liking it, but it's far better in a smoothie than beverage.

Update: Morning smoothie goodness the next day with a banana, a spoon of cocoa and half a cup of soy milk. Delicious!

New horizons

Hallo!

I hadn't update this space for a looong time. Mostly because the water diet has since made me a very poor food blogger. I rarely eat out now and even when I do, it's highly selective.

But just to share more in the meantime about my own biological changes.

I had been cooking for myself 5 out of 7 days, and it's basically stir-fried 5 - 7 different vegetables in a non-stick pan. No seasoning, no oil, just black pepper for taste. And it's pretty great. Perhap cos I don't add water, so the veg pretty much cook in their own steam (just cover the pan) and are slightly charred at the bottom. Which, is actually pretty nice.

My stir-fried salad, consisting of Shitake mushrooms, brown mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and yam.
Takes 30 minutes to wash, cut, and cook. 

Beside both hot or cool salads, I would have a banana with almond butter for brekkie, and nuts/seeds/fruits inbetween. Or bean soups.

So it's been quite a clean diet, with lots of healthy oils and fats coming from nuts or seeds.

I have a friend, who since I had known for awhile back, hardly eats at foodcourt or kopitiam. I thought he was just picky but recently, I realised why. After a while on homecooked food, I met a friend at the food court for supper and ordered some dishes from a vegetarian stall. After which, I felt uncomfortable. Why? I can feel the cooking oil coating my stomach in grease, and the sharpness of msg and salt on my tongue.  And that my body really would prefer to remove the effects of these chemical foods.

It was an interestingly experience on the effects of cooking oil, which I ate growing up and hardly felt a thing then.

In conclusion, I have now officially gained my place in the picky eaters' club.

More on cooking oil and their effects on the body here; http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/06/28/vegetable-oils.aspx
http://blog.sejalvora.com/2010/10/25/the-truth-about-refined-cooking-oil/

Amoy Street Food Centre 1st Floor - Battle of the Salads

Lo and behold, right after my shiok curry puff and not so sexy lor mee, just right in the centre I see a stall serving up salads, ala Saladstop.

Great! The health freak in me got excited.

 It's quite a hit with the local office crowd, given the perpetual queue. And it's prices are fairly modest as well.

The stall carries a nice array and variety of salad ingredients. The salad leaves and ingredients are quite fresh.

The servings are decent and there's sufficient variety to choose from. Although I found the  pickled items quite saltish.

Basic salad on bed of  Lettuce  - $5.00

My choice of ingredients were the pickled beets, olives, semi dried tomatoes, blanched zucchini and portobellos mushrooms with japanese wafu dressing. It's was pretty yum.

Abit heavy handed with the salt for the beets tho.

 For someone who's rarely in the area at lunchtime, I was tickled to see another stall selling salads just right behind Salad Kitchen. Obviously salads are doing well in the CBD. If only the trend cascades to other hawker centres as well.

The Salad Corner, right behind Salad Kitchen. Untried .

Salad Kitchen

Amoy Street Food Centre #01-37

Opening Days and hours: Mon - Fri, 9 plus in the morning till 8pm