Anyone who regularly visits my Instagram feed knows that I am a ridiculous uni (sea urchin) addict. But I wasn’t always like that. Decades ago, when I first started eating sushi (which is how I […]
Category: Food Porn
Perfect char siu (barbecued pork) using sous-vide
I am a char siu addict. But I am also a char siu snob. I absolutely hate artificially colored, dried out, flavorless char siu. It’s like eating cardboard that someone’s poured syrup and food coloring […]
Four great Chinese restaurants in Shanghai
A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of speaking at an F&B conference held at Yancheng Lake, a little resort area a few hours outside of Shanghai. My hosts, the fine folks from the FRHI hotel group, offered to host my wife and I for a few nights at the absolutely stunning Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, if, that was, I wanted to stay for the weekend, and if she wanted to fly in for a quick holiday.
Sous-Vide your pork belly for the perfect texture
Weekdays can be tough for us amateur cooks. As much as we’d like to spend the day prepping something fresh and wonderful to serve one’s family for dinner, the reality is our jobs kind of get in the way. That’s why I do a lot of cooking on weekends, making things that I know won’t lose any flavour or freshness when frozen and defrosted several days later. One of the best methods for cooking this way is sous-vide.
Best food in a hotel in Southeast Asia? Definitely Point Yamu in Phuket
Last week, I wrote a little bit about Point Yamu, a newish ultra-luxe property in Phuket opened by COMO Hotels and Resorts. In that post, I said that Point Yamu is my and my wife’s new favourite resort. One of the chief reasons for that is the stunning food. I’m trying my best not to oversell things too much, but I simply have to say that I can’t remember staying in a hotel or resort in which every single meal was as amazing as they were at Point Yamu. To put it as simply as possible, it is — to me at least, right now — the best place in Southeast Asia for an all-inclusive foodie vacation.
Oldie but goodie: Chin Mee Chin Confectionery
From its powder-blue exterior walls to its monochromatic pillars and floor, its fragrantly-charred fluffy buns to its strong black coffee, I love everything about Chin Mee Chin Confectionery (aka C.M.C.). It’s the stop I must make whenever I find myself in the east, and last week was no exception.
Flipside- a fantastic burger joint in Fremantle
If you ever find yourself in Perth, Fremantle craving a juicy, meaty burger, I highly recommend Flipside. To tackle a Flipside burger, you need all your fingers. It is huge and extremely messy to eat. But it is also without a doubt, one of the best burgers I have ever sunk my teeth into.
Siem Reap – Visit the temples. Worship the food.
Siem Reap is home to hundreds of temples including the majestic Angkor Wat and Bayon. It also boasts of scrumptious Khmer cuisine that is as awe-inspiring as these world heritage monuments. Almost wiped out by the ruthless Khmer Rouge regime, Khmer cuisine has a long and varied history encompassing elements of Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, French and of course Chinese. However, it has its own more nuanced touch that is evident in the soups, curries and marinades. And rice lovers will love the long grain presented to them with every dish – so fragrant and well-cooked.
BAM! Tapas Sake Bar – a cacophony of colour and flavour
Having sampled some amazing modern tapas restaurants in Spain, Japan and Singapore over the years, I confess that I am rather partial to this genre. Tapas is a celebration of life with its cacophony of colours and tastes – all enjoyed in a casual and energetic setting. BAM! on Tras Street met all these key benchmarks and then some. With such an explosive name, my expectations were, ahem, loaded.
The Best Steamboat I have Ever Eaten, Man Fu Yuan
There are some friends who you simply trust explicitly when it comes to food recommendations. My friend L is one such person. So when she raved about the best steamboat meal she’d ever had, and added the caveat that she had been introduced to this gastronomic revelation by none other than Wong Ah Yoke, chief food critic of The Straits Times, the main English newspaper here in Singapore, I knew it was something I had to try for myself. And soon.