Buffetlicious

Mum brought our own stainless steel container to the market to buy me this Dry Style Prawn Noodles 🦐🍜 (干虾面) for breakfast. The last time I had this dish, the noodles was soggy so this round I had mum buy the firmer thin yellow noodles. Also, no special order with braised pork ribs, just the usual prawns 🦐, fish balls, fishcake and slices of pork plus chilli paste added. We Asians like our food with a spicy kick.

Brunch is a pack of Economy Rice (菜饭) mum bought from Chong Pang on her way back. Other than the cabbage 🥬 & black fungus stir-fry, the other two dishes seldom or never appear before in my meal box. The fried calamari 🦑 are crispy and flavourful while the fried fish 🐟 head, though bony is fresh and succulent.

KFC Singapore released Curry x Sambal Crispy Prata Burger 🍔 to celebrate the coming Singapore 🇸🇬 National Day. Replacing the two bread buns with crispy roti pratas 🫓 got me all excited about it. My colleague having tried both the curry burgers 🍔 from McDonald’s and KFC, proclaims KFC’s version to be the better of the two. Of course, I had to go buy it to review this burger myself.

The Golden Snapper 🐟 (Lutjanus johnii) is also another type of snapper that is commonly available at the market. In local dialects, we called it Ang Cho or Ang Zhor (紅鰽/红皂/ 红潮). Again, mum chose to prepare it spicy style. The other dish is Bok Choy Stir-Fry 🥬 (小白菜) with fishcake slices, minced pork and tomato 🍅 wedges.

We are in the midst of the Durian (榴莲) season and with the abundant harvests, the prices of the thorny fruits is at its lowest. There is no better time than now to go buy the king of fruits as evident of the long queues at popular outlets. My younger brother made the trip to HoJiak Durian & Fruits (榴步) located in Ang Mo Kio to buy durians knowing that mum loves these fragrant ♨️ or pungent fruits. He passed us three boxes of vacuum-sealed durians.

Home-cooked Pea Shoots with Abalones, prawns 🦐, minced pork and tomato 🍅 wedges. There are two types of Dou Miao 🌿 (豆苗) you can find in Singapore. One is the tiny sprouts which is called Xiao (small) Dou Miao 🌿 (小豆苗) and the other is Da (big) Dou Miao 🌿 (大豆苗) which is the young shoots of the pea vines. The latter is harvested from more mature pea plants, has a more desirable tender texture, a sweeter and juicier flavour, and a higher proportion of leaf to stem, thus more expensive. Small Dou Miao are young sprouts that grow faster and are therefore more affordable.

Was on half day annual leave so I packed home lunch from the Economy Rice (菜饭) stall at Kopitiam Food Hall. Picked a boneless fried chicken, pork & Sichuan vegetable stir-fry and the usual hotdog & potato. Sichuan vegetable or Zha Cai (榨菜) is a type of pickled mustard plant stem from China that is preserved in salt and chilli paste, known for its salty and spicy flavour. Most people typically used in stir-fry or in soup with other ingredients.

It started as a video clip showing a man putting a curry puff into his burger. Turned out McDonald’s Singapore and Old Chang Kee (老曾记) did have a collaboration on a curry-inspired line-up, which includes the Curry Potato Chicken Burger 🐓🍔, the Rendang Curry Beef Burger 🐄🍔 (23 July onward) and the Curry McShaker Fries 🍟. Reviews online showed many people enjoyed the latest burger, so I went and bought the set meal.

Back in August or September of 2023, there was a rumour floating around that the Chong Pang outlet of Choo Chiang Roasted Meat Noodle House (珠江烧腊面家) was closing. The rumour was dispelled when mum went to ask them if they are really closing. Around the same time, their dumplings 🥟 started to look like they went for slimming exercise leaving them with flapping (wanton) skin. I should have put two and two together that the business was not doing well. They closed when the coffee shop underwent renovation toward the end of 2024 and did not return. Anyway, here is the Pork & Shrimp Dumpling Noodles 🍜 (水饺面) from them. Noticed, the sad looking dumplings 🥟 with the extra loose skin? Grumbling aside, there are still more images of their food to be posted as I am drawing from my stash of backlogs.

Sis was out having dinner with her friend and asked if both me and mum would like some sushi. At Edo Sushi, sis selected an Aburi Mentai Salmon Bento for me and for mum the Maki Roll with Furikake. My pink salmon sushi 🍣 with seasoned cod roe mayo are given the flame treatment and they tasted heavenly. The maki rolls are coated in colourful furikake and adds a surprisingly good amount of flavours. 😋

Tummy filled, we proceed down to the basement of Causeway Point for shopping. We passed by Sunlife Durian Puffs & Pastries and mum wanted the Mini Durian Puffs (迷你榴莲泡芙). Bought a box of 20 pieces which cost S$18. The puffs 🧆 are filled with 100% pure D24 fresh durian puree, with no additional mix-ins of cream or sugar. If my memory served me right, it used to cost just S$12 but over the last few years, the price had steadily gone up. I just heard from my colleague, they closed the outlet at Causeway Point! Now, the nearest outlet is about an hour and the half to get to and come back. ☹️

Using the home blend chilli paste, mum cooked this mildly Spicy Bean Curd with pork slices, prawns 🦐 and tomato 🍅 wedges. She dusted the remaining pieces of the Emperor Red Snapper Fillets 🐟 (红狮) with flour and fried them. For the shabu shabu pork slices and vegetables, mum blanched them in the pot of soup stock she had on the stove.

Back to my Chicken & Egg Brunch which mum bought from her morning trip to the market. A golden-brown and crispy chicken drumstick 🍗 with an over easy egg. I like my fried egg 🍳 with the yolk still molten. Between sunny side up and over easy egg, I always go for the latter because the egg white is all firmed up. Besides, the person cooking it must have good flipping skill to not break the yolk. 👍 The other dish is stewed fried bean curd skin with steamed rice.

I am always asking mum what she would like to eat then buy from the same stall for myself based on her preferences. Today, she wants Fish Fillet Aglio Olio 🐟🍝 (鱼扒蒜香意面) from Western Boy Express, so I got myself the Chicken Steak Aglio Olio 🐓🍝 (鸡扒蒜香意面). Most of the time, I would top up the three bucks to get the set meal which included cheesy fries 🧀🍟, salad 🥗 and mushroom 🍄‍🟫 soup.

A plate of crispy Fried Chicken Mid Wings & Fish Balls mum prepared for dinner. There always seems to be fish balls or fishcakes in the fridge as mum like buying them. It is cheap and easy to cook via boiling or frying. She also Stir-Fried Cabbage 🥬 with prawns 🦐, minced pork and tomato 🍅 wedges. Steamed rice is a mixture of purple and white variety as mum doesn’t want to eat if we used only the purple one.

Something is baking in the muffin pan in the oven. The aroma ♨️ lingering in the air and draws me to peek through the glass door of the oven. Nope, sis is not making muffins or cupcakes. She is baking two types of bread 🥖 or more precisely, bread buns with different fillings. The glossy round ones are Cranberry Buns (蔓越莓面包) with dried cranberries mixed in the dough.

Mum cooked Preserved Mustard Greens with Pork Ribs (焖梅菜) for dinner. My family love the stewed mei cai (梅菜) and meat which goes very well with rice. On my plate, there are also a fillet of fried Emperor Red Snapper 🐟 (红狮) and a fried egg 🍳. Sis had been wanting to switch the white rice to something healthier like these purple grains, but mum had been resisting the change, so now we are just adding some to the jasmine rice as a compromise.