Espirito Santo - Fabiane's Bistro

Cool! Espirito Santo at my favourite weekend hangout, Parkway Parade Shopping Centre, just opened a new bistro section a couple of months ago. The "to-order" items are of course the meats - E had a sirloin steak while I had a roast pork with crackling skin. Awfully sinful, tender and full of flavour. That's the test of a good aged steak! Their prices are reasonable too - not cheap, but value considering the quality. Next time I am going back for their whopper of a German pork knuckle.

The Best Satay in Town

A quick dinner stop at Old Airport Road hawker centre over the last week after work, yielded a pleasant surprise. For once, the ever popular Chuan Kee Satay, didn't have a queue. Being the ever opportunist, E quickly ordered 10 sticks - well, you usually have to wait at least half an hour!

Chuan Kee makes simply, the best satay in town. The taste of this satay is sooo good. I love the crispy burnt pork fat with its wonderful aroma wafting to your nose and the peanut gravy with a dollop of mashed pineapple to add a tangy edge.

Audio Books

We discovered that the National Library (the main building at Bras Brasah area) has a good collection of audio books, ranging from business and management to fiction. Seeing that we spend a good portion of our time each day commuting to and from work, we borrowed a few to play in the car.

What a great idea, and only for a nominal subscription charge of $21 per year! In justa week, we're already close to completing Anthony Bordain's Kitchen Confidential and I'm halfway through The Nanny Diaries (narrated by Julia Roberts).

Inagiku II

The food at Inagiku was exquisitely fresh, lovingly prepared, and beautifully presented, as always. Especially wonderful was the stewed pork belly with daikon and konnyaku, which E slurped up in all its succulent, savoury, slightly oily glory. The chef gave us a very generous helping of uni (sea urchin) which I demanded in return for allowing E to finish the pork belly. Inagiku serves up food of great quality but it is extremely pricey - lunch for two at $90, after the 50% discount from the Feed@Raffles card.

Our weekend away in Singapore: Fairmont Hotel

An utterly blissful weekend spent in the Fairmont hotel (formerly Raffles the Plaza). The ever-so-useful Feed At Raffles privilege card that we bought had come with a complimentary one night stay at a deluxe room at the Fairmont, which we decided to activate given our precarious state of near burn-out. We loved the room, which was absolutely huge and with its own balcony and a stunning view of the city vista and marina area. And we really really liked the accessibility of the hotel, just a short MRT ride away from our home and adjoining the Raffles City shopping arcade, City Link Mall, Marina Square, and Suntec City Mall. It really felt like we were on vacation again. I even managed to finish half a bottle of wine all by myself and not get drunk (I know wine in excess is not very healthy but hey, I only drink once or twice a year.)

BBQ Char Siew Pork

This is a very easy recipe for char siew. All it needs is 10 minutes to do the marinade, and waiting time for the meat to soak up the lovely sauce. I omitted the sesame oil, shallot oil, and ginger juice, and it was still perfectly yums. (Also, E did not allow me to use the red food colouring so visually it doesn't look as nice as those sold by hawkers/ restaurants. )

500g pork

Marinade: 3tbs sugar, 1/2 tsp red colouring, 1 tsp dark soya sauce, 1 tbs honey, 1/2 tbs oyster sauce, 1+1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp light soya sauce, 2 tbs water, 1/2 tbs ginger juice.

Pre-grilling: 1 + 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 2 tbs cooking oil, 1 tbs wine.

Glaze: some dark sauce, shallot oil, and honey

1. Season meat with marinade and leave for at least 4 - 5 hours (or overnight).

2. Add the pre-grill ingredients to the meat-marinade mixture just before grilling.

3. Grill for about 25 to 30 min.

4. When ready, brush with glaze mixture.