Chai Por spaghetti

this inspiration came from this bowl a noodle i bought from 7 eleven in Taipei. i only ate it like a couple of weeks after i returned because i was too hungry. i thought it was savoury, but there was a tad of sweetness to it. then it reminded me that this mix tasted like chai por. the one from tiong bahru chwee kueh stall. i always think the rice cake, oily chai por mix and the chilli were wicked combination. there is no other which can compare!!

so i decided that i will give it an italian twist to it. the noodles in the bowl had good asian texture to it. but i wanted my favourite spaghetti to be the combi. it's like alio alio but not with chilli flakes or chilli padi. i decided to use all the ingredients i can get from the chwee kueh stall.

ok i admit i didnt make everything from scratch, but the starting point is to see how this whole mix will taste like.

i postponed it for two weeks. today i finally managed to make it.

the initial thought was to just cook it with chai por and add the chilli as the final touch. however, in order not to waste the rice cake, i decided to add it as one of the ingredients. though the original intention was to mashed it and fried it till crisp. but i didnt have enough oil from the chai por, so i decided to mix everything together. Actually, the rice cake really has to be fried till crispy then i think it's nice. the one i made is not good enough.

mixing the entire mixture together, the oil is just nice if i didnt add the rice cake and the chilli gives the dish a slight savoury flavour which the chai por misses. The chai por adds sweetness and fragrance. though unfortunately i cannot get the bite of the sasame seeds which is one of the ingredient i liked most in the chai por mixture, but i guess i was too eager to eat the entire dish.

nevertheless, it's very yummy. just as i though. perhaps i'd add a little bit more chilli paste next time. in any case, it's quite solid. pair it with 2009 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc it's actually very awesome!

speedy spaghetti

okie, this was done out of leftover stuff. mostly stuff i got last Sunday but didnt have the chance to finish using or use at all.


i love the coral lettuce and this came with the soil. it's damn cool and costs only around $3 something at Cold Storage if i am not wrong. i had left over tobiko and knew i had to finish it soon. so i decided to conjure up this spaghetti salad or vege spaghetti or whatever you call it.


remembering the incident last Sun which fatally reduced the temperature of my spaghetti and couldn't warm up my mashed pea mentaiko mayo sauce, i did the same this time round. primarily because this was supposed to be cold or erm cool not hot coz lettuce cannot touch anything warm, they'd wither ugly plus no cooked tobiko for me too.


so the only thing which i really needed to cook was the spaghetti and nothing else. so i used the salad sauce (shaken) so that the oil and the sauce mix and tossed the chopped lettuce with the spaghetti first. i then put in the tobiko and then the mentaiko cream sauce and tossed it again.. i then threw another bunch of chopped lettuce.

done in 10 mins!

closer shot for better view

the tobiko and lettuce and sauce.. always a good combi!

hmm.. i think it's damn refreshing! done in 10 minutes damn cool! :D

green pea sauce spaghetti

okie, so i finally cooked up the dish today. hmm.. i'd say it's a flop. primarily, it's not savoury enough for my palette and it became pretty gerlat towards the end. probably due to rusty cookery skills, haven't really did experimental cooking for ages other than making salads which doesn't really require much cooking.


the process took longer than i expected and i made the portions a little too big, perhaps that's why the dimishing returns set in as everything felt kinda creamy.


cooking the green peas was a breeze, just boil it and when all the peas float, you know it's time to take them off the cooker and drain. i then cook the mussels (in place of prawns coz it was only 87 cents for like 20?! damn cheap and very fresh fortunately!!) in another pot, but in the midst of washing them, i forgot to boil the water to cook them (i think it's best to cook them in boiling water instead putting them in to boil with the water at the same time.) so that took sometime. i had to boil another pot of water for the spaghetti. a lot of things were happening at the same time.


i think the toughest part of this whole process was to 'sieve' the green peas. i knew i had to take away the skin so that 'sieving' it into a paste like substance would be easier, but i didn't. so it took a long time. i had to mash the peas with the skin and had to do it batch by batch. i think the whole thing took about 15 to 20 mins!!


by then my spaghetti was cooked just right but came out to be quite a bigger portion i had in mind and i absent mindedly ran it under cold water when it was supposed to be hot! i tossed in some oil from the japanese salad sauce which turned out pretty good! and there were mussels which i need to take out from the shells. good thing they were cooked just right too.

before adding the green pea sauce. think with the salad sauce tossed in and eating it with the mussels would have been nicer.

when everything was done, everything was cold. the presentation was not what i wanted either. anyway, i just tossed the green pea paste with the mentaiko mayo sauce and a little bit of wasabi which unfortunately did not save this dish. topped it off with some tobiko and it was done.

that's how the green pea mentaiko sauce looked like.. erm still a brilliant shade of creamy green!!

after tossing it with tobiko and the sauce. the final outcome.

i finished everything, didnt want to waste it. i think the sauce would be better off as a dip or a starter.. spreading the sauce on top of sliced toasted baguette, add a mussel, some tobiko and some chopped tomatoes would probably be nice. well, will try harder next time.

still on the topic of green peas

thought of this yesterday. think i wanna make spaghetti this coming Sunday.. hmm, well if i am alive by then still.


anyway, the ingredients.


green peas - mashed without skin
mentaiko mayo sauce
spaghetti - cooked
tobiko - because they are bigger and crunchier than ebiko
fresh prawn - cubed
Parmesan cheese - shaved thinly


mashed the green peas through the sift and then mix with the mentaiko mayo sauce till creamy.

cook the cubed bits of the fresh prawns in boiling water, once turned pink - drain.

when the spaghetti is cooked, mix a bit of olive oil (actually i think SCS butter will be nice but very sinful!!).

toss in the tobiko and prawn bits.

then add the creamy mashed green pea mentaiko mayo mix on top.

sprinkle some bonito flakes on top.


hmm.. i wonder how this will taste.. let's see and will post the pics when ready! :)

Porta Porta @ Stanley St

Bro recommended this place a couple of weeks back. his description of the food he tasted triggered an instant curiosity in me. determined to try and since i havent meet Cece for weeks, i decided that we should go check out Porta Porta.

Entering the restaurant, it's not very big. yet it has a very rustic feel. very different from any of the restaurants i have been to recently. i felt as if i was transported to italy. if the lightings of the place were incandescent, it would definitely have set the mood better. one has got to see for oneself the deco of the place. it looked as if it's quite messy but, it grows on you. it's a very special feeling :)


The place serves italian food. menu is pretty simple. lots of pasta, some soup, some appetizers and some dessert. bro recommended that i try the tasting menu of which we get to try soup, starters, mains and dessert, dished out by the chef and from the stuff in the menu and we don't get to specify. as we didnt know how big the portions were, we wanted to order the tasting menu and a plate of vongole spaghetti. the waiter seeing that we are both girls suggested instead that he will add the vongole spaghetti into the tasting menu coz if we were to order one plate, it's unlikely that we will be able to finish the whole dish.

first came the bread. wrapped in towel and served on a basket and it also comes with a dip. first the bread. not as warm and hot as i wished or expected. what's nice is that the crust is crispy like eating keropok yet the insides was fluffy soft. lotsa of olive oil were used i supposed coz fingers become rather oily.

dip it into the olive oil with anchovies, garlic slices and onion, you'd think it's an overkill. surprisingly, it's quite nice! would have kept on asking for more bread if we were super hungry, but we decided that one basket was enough and wise decision indeed for we were not prepared for the dishes which followed.

the appetizer was tomato bruschetta. more olive oil, but it's not bad. believe the taste of the tomatoes was enhanced by some good quality salt and it's sourish, sweet as well as savoury.

next came this lasagna looking dish. but instead of pasta inbetween the layers, there's eggplant. love the tomato sauce and the slightly harden cheese. personally, i don't really like eggplant, but this dish was pretty good. it has such varied texture and flavours i wouldn't mind eating it again. though, lotsa of olive oil was being used again.

soup arrived next and yah, the colour looked similar to our previous dishes. we were told this was fish soup. after tasting it, i sure don't remember drinking any fish soup which tasted like lobster bisque, though not as thick. i sure felt like i was drinking seafood soup than fish soup. it's light and i can drink it forever. it's so flavourful i'd order this the next time i'm there!

next came the squid ink ravoli stuffed with crab meat cooked with tomato sauce with crab meat. it was pure indulgence. i couldn't taste much of the squid ink, but nevermind. anything squid ink i like. the crab meat was really fresh and enhanced the taste of the sauce. i want to eat this next time too!!

after seeing the oranges, red, yellows etc, this risotto dish came. simple as it looked, it sure packed a punch. this is something i will try again too! the risotto was cooked perfectly soaking up the creamy flavour of the mushroom sauce. each mouthful makes me want more and it's really unstoppable!! i just kept scooping and savouring each and every mouthful.

the vongole finally arrive, but i was disappointed. it's different from the usual vongole pasta i've tasted. though i must say they were really generous, but i didnt taste the sweetness in the clams ad the sauce as well as the pasta didnt come together very nicely. lucky we didnt order 1 plate. bro told me later the 1 plate is really huge!

calamari and prawns is a must try!!! the batter is almost not there, it's there for that little bit to nicely coat the squid rings and prawns. the squid rings were big and very Q so they were very chewy. love it! the prawns definitely fresh but pity only have two. eating them individually, you know that there's a sprinkling of something on the calamari and that my friends is the secret ingredient that really enhance the taste of this dish. you can also mix it with the chopped tomato and the black thingy coz the lemon is squeezed on top of that side vege combi. but i like the calamari as it is.

finally, the meal ended with a light tiramisu. it's just enough to end the meal on a sweet note.


it may seem like there were a lot of tomato-ish items which initially i thought so much tomato sauce would be too much, but surprisingly, the tomato sauce had their own flavours which matched the dishes very nicely.


the whole degustation menu cost only $47++ but if you pay by cash, there's no ++. for so many dishes and for this price which feeds 2 not so big eater, i think it's really reasonable. the portions they served were generous indeed!


am thinking of going back again soon with a better camera of course and more friends to try different stuff!!! :D

home early on a Friday night

i'm home early today for the following reasons:


1) Cece couldn't meet up coz she got lots of stuff to clear

2) I couldn't meet Cece coz last night my swelling bottom right wisdom tooth gum was hurting more so i told her i was going to visit the dentist

3) dentist i didn't go, didnt even call to make appointment. the swell went down and it feels less painful, i was lucky.

4) i was extremely tired. for the first time this year, i yawned more than 30 times today. i hardly yawn so much in a day regardless at work or home.


either i was lacking oxygen, or it must be all thanks to the tiramisu last night.


yesterday, i was having happy hours drinks @ paulanars with a group of gal pals i haven't met for the longest time. thereafter, i left them and headed to mustafa but first for dinner.


we were around Jalan Besar. neither of us knew where it was located nor the name. he only told me it served pasta.. since i don't really know the area well, i just followed him. so we walked (me in my uber high heels for the day), along uneven pavements, siaming potted plants, tables and cars. it probably didnt seem the case, but i definitely found it a challenge and i was super worried that i'd sprain my feet. haha! Thankfully, the walk went ok and i was pleasantly surprised when i saw the signage!


ad hoc, unknown and after a long walk on a hot thursday night, we reached PASTA INC which was on my TTT (things to try) list! seriously unexpected but was absolutely delighted, i think i squealed slightly! never exactly thought that i'd be there actually.


the entrance were glass doors darken with a layer of blackish/brownish film and we couldn't exactly see inside. a guy opened the door and welcomed us in. the place was small there was a big group of about 10 or 12 gals celebrating someone's birthday. two couples and 2 empty tables - one for 2 and the other for a group of 4. so we took the table for two and were promptly given the menu.


it was actually quite dark coz there was minimal light erm from a rather large chanderlier which i like (coz it was black) and the rest came from flickering tea lights. i can't say it's cosy because the ceiling's pretty high. there was some sort of emptiness in fact maybe coz they arranged a big table for the big group. anyhow, the ambience was quite nice and soothing, very comfortable. i love the chairs too! provided good support, upholstered with soft leather (if i didnt remember wrongly) and very bouncy too!


i had to go to the ladies coz had a bit too much beer. Was told the restrooms were in the other arched door way covered by red velvet curtains. drawing the curtains presented me with another dining area which i very much prefer. about 1/3 the size of the main dining area, it managed to squeeze in quite a few seats! this is what i call cosy! walking pass the area i went down a few cement steps and reached the kitchen area. Man.. was it hot and stuffy! directly opposite the kitchen was two long cemented tables and seats. damn cool i like, but i think it's for staff. from there, it was only a short walk to the restroom.


i love the restroom! hah! old as it is - think aluminum doors with hooks to lock the door but they are painted a classy matte black, shiny white tiles and partial aluminum flooring. what is not old about the loo is that there is a very happening shower head (for shower?) and very ample space! NICE!!


what appealed to me was also the wash basin. instead of normal taps, the owner replaced it with a uber huge shower head! it's bigger than my head for sure. so fun washing my hands underneath it! hehe :) there were money plants (i think) to add some natural greenery to the area. silly as it sounds, i was so excited i asked him to check out the restroom too :p! haha


we ordered the Nero di seppia - Squid ink spaghetti and i think seafood carbonara linguini. the SIS was delish, i leave you to check out the comments of this dish at the Hungry Go Where website.


i love the texture of the spaghetti, it's the best i have ever eaten so far. springy, has the just right softness, got a good feel when chewed and perfectly smooth when swallowed. i can eat two plates of this or any dish with this amazing spaghetti. didn't try the carbonara coz didn't think it will be fair to eat anything else after eating the SIS. i am only intrigued by what's the reddish/orangey oil spots though. could it be that they blended sun dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil and thus the slight sourish taste to the sauce? next time i will ask.


we went for tiramisu for dessert. lucky us, it was freshly made that day! Keith (if i am not wrong) told us that they keep the tiramisu max for 3 days and if not sold they will throw away and make new ones.


my conclusion? i like but not heart coz no alcohol... but the strong coffee more than made up for the zlich liquor. so strong until i cannot sleep last night and thus causing me to yawn and yawn like siao today. the fresh cream on top was light, fluffy totally melt in my mouth. mmmm.. but the funny thing about the tiramisu was the top layer of sponge cake quite difficult to 'break' apart leh. i don't mean it's hard, it's just doesn't 'break' away willingly from the main piece. the middle layer just keeps dripping coffee!! overall ok but not fantastic for me.


service was excellent, friendly, very knowledgeable and also very prompt. i don't think they are waiters waiters kind. must be high level management mingling with the customers asking for their opinions about the dishes. there were no airs and what impressed me when i asked them about their 3 selected dishes which are part of this 100 signature dish award, Keith (if i am not wrong, yet again) introduced us to two of the 3 dishes (coz the 3rd dish was SIS).


Nevermind that i didnt remember what he was talking about other than 1 being a veal dish in some herby sauce, the other being lamb shanks cooked dunno how, i was impressed by the way he made sure he made eye contact with both of us when explaining. Usually you don't get this from a normal waiter. so i think he must be one of the bosses if not at least management level person. the other two who served us were equally impressive. should the restaurant really takes off to newer heights one day, i hope they inculcate such a culture and service level to their staff. Customers will definitely appreciate it!


i definitely will go back again and bring my camera then. hmm.. i just wonder when will be the next time be though...