Cheng Tng from 88 Shan Ren Cold & Hot Dessert (88山人冷热甜品) @ Newton Hawker Centre [Singapore] #newtonhawkercentre

It wouldn't be wrong to say that cheng tng is my favourite dessert and I am ultra particular about this local hawker delicacy. Hence, when I read that the cheng tng at Newton Food Centre is well-known; I knew I had to give it a try despite already filling up my tummy with noodles and the oyster omelette from Hup Kee.

Like many such dessert stalls in Singapore, you would be spoilt with choices if cheng tng isn't quite your cup of tea. Even within my family, the likes differ with red ruby being my mom's preferred dessert whereas my sister would usually go with ice kacang.  

This bowl of cheng tng cost S$2.50 would be considered pricey when it can cost as cheap as S$1.20 at some hawker centres, although the best at Bedok Corner Food Centre can cost upwards to about S$3.00.

Substantial amount of ingredients inside which include canned longan, canned lychee, two attap chees, tons of barley which were a bit hard. If only they include mung beans and winter melon. Taste wise, it wasn't overly sweet but I took issue with the flavour; like sugary syrup was added to the traditional broth to enhance the sweetness. To put it bluntly, I would be better off with Ice Dessert's Traditional Cheng Teng @ Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. 

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Address

500 Clemenceau Avenue North, Newton Circus, 

#01-05, Newton Food Centre, Singapore 229495 

Map 

As above. 

Pricing 

Cheng Tng - S$2.50

Jerald's Birthday 2020

On one hand, I love the month of September as it's the birth month for three members of my immediate family. On the other hand, however, their birthdays would also coincide with a significantly higher expenditure due to the celebrations. Nonetheless, it's money well spent and it's not like unrestrained extravagance.

The second baby for September and the first grandchild for our family; can't believe that our little boy is now so grown up! To the extent he is now the tallest, towering over his little uncle here. 

Despite the challenges when he was a kid (my most memorable was when I lost him for a moment at Giant Hypermarket in Tampines), he has grown up to be a considerably nicer boy who doesn't even demand presents on an important day like his birthday. 

Sibling rivalry is the norm at their age; just like between my younger sister and I in our younger days. Back then, our bickering were not considered uncommon given that my zodiac is monkey whereas Louise is dog. I was an asshole then; labelling her as bitch as she is a female dog.  

See how much taller Jerald is, compared to me! 

Birthday song, begins! He actually requested for a Japanese version which we were unable to accommodate as we had returned our basic Japanese back to our teachers! Interestingly, we could somewhat remember the Korean version.

Always curious to know what his birthday wishes are. At his age, my wishes then were more individualistic and selfish; like the opportunity to play more, the intention to grow old faster so that I didn't have to listen to my parents' nagging etc. 

Blowing out the birthday cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes! 

Happy Birthday, Jerald! Hereby wishing you the ability to learn as much as you can while you are still young and work towards your passion, and most importantly, a happy childhood. 

Teochew Meat Puff (潮州香饼) - Stationed at Permanent Location in Woodlands (Wave9 Food Court [Singapore] #teochewmeatpuff

Temporary night markets were commonly held all over Singapore before COVID-19 and now; they are not allowed to operate due to the risk of congregation and challenges in imposing safe distancing. 

One of the food stalls I super missed during this period of time was Teochew Meat Puff (潮州香饼) and the good news is; they have finally secured a permanent spot at Admiralty (Woodlands) which isn't that far from Yishun! 

Opened for operation from 17 September, I deliberately went there the next day as I happened to be on leave and mooncake baking ended earlier than expected. Timing was at the tail end of the busy lunch period and the queue of 3 persons (red arrow) would definitely be manageable.

Shortly after, I realized my mistake. The queue was a bloody L-shaped and it didn't dawn on me that some of those in the queue were seated down! Oh well, I already expected a wait of at least an hour and came prepared with a fully charged power bank to play my Homescapes. 

My spot about half an hour later - it was earlier shared on the Facebook page of Teochew Meat Puff that there wasn't any need to queue. However, the first day of operations was chaotic according to the boss and the traditional queue system was imposed.

90 minutes later; finally about to reach my turn!

Time to look at the menu again to determine how many you would want to buy. My take is that after queuing for so long, I wouldn't be happy to purchase just two or three. Ten would be the bare minimum! I had assumed that the pricing for the puff would be higher than pasar malam but it wasn't! 

Order taking; do keep in mind that you can't add on any more once you confirm the order with the elderly uncle. Okay, technically you can add on although you would have to rejoin the end of the queue which I personally don't think you should. 

Keep this order sheet with you and protect it with your life! 

The moment your order is ready, the familiar boss would call the last two digits on the order sheet. Ensure your order is correct and pay for the puffs once everything is loaded into the plastic bag. Don't tie up the plastic bag as the puffs would still be hot! 

From start of queuing to receiving the puffs; it was a ridiculously long three hours to get my hands on the delicious teochew puffs! It actually didn't feel that long as my sister and niece were with me and I can still chit chat and even have my lunch while they stood in for me. We even had a good chat with the old couple in front of us! 

Queue was even longer when I left; god knows how many hours the last person would have to wait. Turned out they didn't have to wait too long; just that the puffs were sold out about an hour after I got my teochew meat puffs. 

How you know whether the puffs are still selling or not? Look at the signboard; once the lights are switched off; it means the puffs are sold out for the day! Guess it only means that it's best to go and queue before they start their business for the day! 

Back home and I was all ready to indulge! It's been more than half a year since I last had teochew meat puffs and I am so going to enjoy it slowly.

Trying their octopus-pork; still so yummy! Crispy on the outside with the meat filling continuing to give so much satisfaction! It's a must to pair it with some Kimball Thai chilli sauce! Not bad, quite a bit of octopus meat. 

Scallop-pork; you don't get a layer of rich scallop flavour and I think I would be better off with the slightly cheaper prawn-pork. Just wondering, how come there isn't a pure pork puff? Shall ask the boss next time I am there! 

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Address

60 Woodlands Industrial Park E4, 

Singapore 757705

Map

As above. 

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/TeochewMeatPuff

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Prawn Pork Meat Puff - S$3.50

Octopus Pork Meat Puff - S$3.50

Scallop Pork Meat Puff - S$4.00

Piggy Mooncakes (猪仔月饼) using 30g Mold from Phoon Huat #piggymooncake #pigmooncake

The eerie 7th month is finally over and with the upcoming mid-autumn festival, many avid home bakers are ramping up their production for mooncakes! I would of course be baking some traditional mooncakes using this recipe and it's common to have a little bit of leftover dough and filling.

This is when this old school wooden piglet mold comes into the picture. Purchased from Phoon Huat at less than S$5.00, each can fit, comfortably, 30 grams of dough and filling and you can adjust accordingly to your preference! 

Like many others, I love more filling though dough and hence, would use a dough-filling ratio of 10:20. Frankly, leftover dough is more an issue for me although you can still freeze them for re-use in the near future. You may also consider piggy mooncake that's just made of dough with no filling.

Using a cling wrap and a rolling pin, flatten the 10-gram dough. Do follow this recipe if you would like to know how I made the dough. This would allow you to easier wrap the filling.

After wrapping, it's important to dust with fine flour and made sure the dough has a leathery 'feel' before you put t into the mold. Failure to do that would result in the dough sticking to the dough and you would need time and effort to dig them out using a toothpick.

Molding time! As the "nose" is the thinnest area, do ensure the cavity is given due attention. If not, you would be faced with an "injured" piglet that would not be suitable as giveaways. 

Ta-dah! Not the prettiest piglet around and it kind of reminded me of the suckling pig that used to be served in many Chinese wedding banquets. I know some talented bakers would hand-mold the piglet mooncakes; pity I don't possess such skill! 

A closer look.

Wrapped up the filling with the dough using the ratio shared earlier. This was done as our dear Jovyn would like to have a go in giving the final makeover for the plain-looking ball. 

The use of wooden molds and the subsequent loud knocking were part and parcel of traditional mooncake making in the past but it's not that easy. For me, the mooncake-press is more straightforward in saving both time and effort.

Jovyn was actually pretty good for a newbie! 

Time to bake! As mentioned in the recipe, spray with water before throwing them in a pre-heated 170-degree-celcius oven! I go 15-15-15 rule; 15 minutes of baking, take out and leave them for 15 minutes, brush egg wash before putting them back into the oven for another 15 minutes! 

Cooked piglets.

Ready for immediate consumption but do note that the texture might be a tad crunchy right after baking. For traditional mooncakes, we would usually store them in an air-tight container for about 3 days so that the texture would soften. However, Jovyn loves the piglets better in their crunchier state.