This past week would usually be filled with Christmas cookies at work, last minute shopping, drinking eggnog lattes (if your Jack), and enjoying a light snowfall. However here in Singapore the Christmas season has been void of any goodies at work (my waistline doesn't mind). To help me keep in the seasonal joys, I've been trying to watch a different Christmas movie every single night. It feels like I'm watching Christmas movies in July though with the weather and I still find it hard to get myself into the holiday mood most days. But hopefully the little holiday Ethan and I have planned will make us feel more Christmas-y.
Alright so lets get to the food!
First up I must give some recognition to two awesome drink spots that have opened up close by. One thing I've really enjoyed here in Singapore are the fresh fruit juice places where they blend up different varieties of fruit to make refreshing juice. This one in particular, Soul Green, has become my go to spot when I want a refreshing drink and I'm quite honored that they've also come to recognize me! If I'm lucky I will have bought enough juices soon to win a free prize!
Last weekend we headed down to Raffles MRT stop to have dinner at City Hot Pot. This spot was introduced to us through Mr. J when he was in Singapore for a business trip. While I didn't make it for the first trip, Ethan convinced me that this place was amazing and we had to go. Luckily the reviews were accurate!
So let's talk hot pot. You order your broth which we went with spicy szechuan and then pick a type of meat and noodles or rice. They bring along a basket of a variety of veggies for you too. So you take turns putting the meat, noodles, and veggies into the boiling broth and then eat them! You don't make a soup out of it and drink the broth as it's quite oily and more for just cooking the items to give them lots of flavor. I was shocked at how quick our meat cooked in the broth! We shared pork and beef and its sliced so thin that it took literally 1-2 minutes before it was cooked! The meal was SO delicious! To my surprise we weren't in a food coma afterward but we realized that having to basically cook your own meal made us tired hah. I can hear my older brother scoffing at me and saying "try cooking for hundreds of people"!
Monday night we decided to try out Eighteen Chefs, a restaurant that's famous for it's heart attack fried rice and ex-con owner. The line has been quite long since it opened the beginning of December but luckily when we got there it moved pretty quick. I opted for the Eighteen Funky Salad which had prawns, pine nuts, and a peppery dressing and also ordered some of the heart attack rice on the side (the salad negates the heart attack affect right??). The salad was wonderful and definitely a nice lighter option. The side of rice was HUGE and Ethan and I both agreed that one portion could easily be shared between 2 people. So why is it called heart attack fried rice? Well because it's probably doused in lots of salt and fat. While the first few bites were tasty, it's definitely something that can only be consumed in extreme moderation.
Heart attack fried rice is the black lump
Friday we ventured into the Tampines night market to try our luck at some street food. Night markets pop up all over Singapore, usually for just a couple weeks at a time. This one in Tampines is basically a massive tarp fortress with lots of local food vendors as well as stands selling electronic accessories, clothes, trinkets, rugs, and plants. Our goal was to try out a couple new foods that looked good (and of course had long queues per Singaporean rule).
First up was sotong takoyaki - fried squid balls! These were surprisingly pretty good and had I not seen the little squid inside when I bit into the first one I wouldn't have thought much about that it was squid.
Mmm squid balls
Next, we went for chicken kebab wraps. I wish I had a picture of how the kebabs are cooked because its more interesting than the actual wrap. But basically its a large stick of meat that just goes around and around. While the wrap was delicious, I would have expected a tad more flavor from the meat, but definitely a great thing to grab for a quick dinner.
We wrapped up our night market finds with mee chiang kueh which are fluffy, spongy pancakes filled with peanuts (original) and coconut. These are less dense than the usual pancakes we see in the US and only one side of them sees the pan which makes for a yummy edge and then the inside is soft and delicious. My favorite was the flaked coconut, yummm! These pancakes are in various restaurants and stalls around Singapore.
Coconut is on the left and peanut filling is on the right
And finally, this morning Ethan and I headed back to Wild Honey near Orchard Rd for another delicious brunch. While I was at first tempted to go with the amazing eggs benedict I had last time, I opted for a sweet breakfast instead and it delivered just as well. I ordered the Brittany, panetonne french toast with bananas, mascarpone, and caramel. Yup it was indulgent and probably made up for all the Christmas cookies I haven't eaten. My goodness this was just fabulous! The mascarpone added a nice balance against the sweet caramel so it wasn't overly sweet, and if you haven't made panetonne french toast yet do yourself a favor and go buy a panetonne and make it now!
Breakfast is definitely the best meal of the day!
Well folks that's all I have for now. I hope you are enjoying some favorite family holiday recipes and maybe trying something new too!
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