Roasted Delights (Soya Sauce Chicken & Char Siew) from Jing Ma Che (HK) Roasted Porridge Noodle House @ Chong Pang, Yishun Block 101 [Singapore]

Alex has a foodie friend who frequently dishes out food recommendations and he recently shared on our LINE group of this roasted delight stall at Chong Pang that's like walking distance from my house! 

I chose a lazy Sunday to check out the stall known as Jing Ma Che (HK) Roasted Porridge Noodle House; Jing Ma Che is literally translated to Golden Horse Carriage, a name more synonymous to a gambling den than a food stall.

Nevertheless, i proceeded to order the roast chicken (as recommended by that friend) and when asked if i would want to add char siew, i agreed without any hesitation! Compared to roast chicken, my love for char siew is way deeper.

Served on a separate plate, it was a visual feast and i am happy to note the addition of fresh looking achar (a type of pickle in this region)! A bowl of soup was also provided and i must say it was rather flavourful; unlike those bland ones given for free in other stalls. 

Chilli was hot by the way (for my standard) and aside from the sweet and sourish achar which i enjoyed very much, another special from Jing Ma Che was the generous dollop of minced garlic paste. Don't belittle it; it added an appetizing punch to the chicken. Another thing that stood out, albeit not in a good way, was the roast chicken as i thought they didn't look like the roast chicken i was accustomed too. 

Turned out they were soya chicken! If you want me to rank the different types of roasted delights, soya chicken would be on the lower rung even though i have had pretty good ones around. The ones here were not bad with a soft texture and slide in to my mouth smoothly. My only complaint was that there were too many bones! 

From the dry, slightly pinkish and hardly charred appearance, i must say i was kicking myself for not going for the roast pork instead! I had to thank my lucky stars as they were surprisingly good; they were fatty, tender and flavoured nicely with a light smoky aftertaste. 

Never judge food by their appearance! p.s. the stall was actually more famous for their roast duck and i guess it wouldn't take too long for me revisit very soon in the near future.

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Location

Block 101, Yishun Avenue 5,

Singapore 760101

Map

As above (red star).

Pricing

Soya Chicken + Char Siew Rice - S$5.50

Interesting Sights near Bandung - Helmet for Motorcyclists Is Not 100% Enforced! @ Indonesia

Travelling to other countries allows us to compare with our home country and not necessarily for the worse as the comparison is generally a matter of individual perspective.

For example, the thought running through my mum's mind when she saw the young motorcyclist without a helmet would probably be "That's dangerous. He might hurt himself and his parents, who took pains to raise him, will be devastated".

But a majority of the motorcyclists at the outskirts of Bandung travel without donning the helmet and it could be an accepted norm. It might be illegal according to the books although from the look of it, enforcement just isn't strict enough. 

Taken from my perspective, i will be motivated to go for a motorcyclist license if i don't have to wear the helmet. Given the texture of my hair, i would likely be donning a helmet hairstyle (as in flattened hair) if i have to wear one for extended period of time! Hence, in my case, i am actually envious! 

For the summarised itinerary of our 5 days, 4 nights trip to Bandung, please click here.

Ministry of Rojak by Abdhus Salam Rojak @ Yishun's Northpoint Shopping Centre [Singapore]

The ongoing renovation, in phases, of Northpoint shopping centre in my hometown has resulted in new tenants; giving us Yishunites more variety in shopping and dining at Yishun's first and flagship mall. 

A new section, located on basement two and next to kopitiam food court, was opened recently and one of the new tenant was this Ministry of Rojak that seemed to generate a lot hype; so much so that my sister suggested giving it a try recently.

I actually joined them under the impression it's the common Chinese rojak; only to find out later that it's the Indian style rojak which is similar yet different. 

Some ingredients may appear the same as their Chinese counterparts like the prawn crackers but taste wise, texture wise, there are differences. Items that are quite the same are the fish cake, tau kwa (fried beancurd). In melting pot Singapore however, don't be taken aback when food cultures cross one another; it's a common phenomenon. 

Take your ingredients, pass it to the lady at the counter, secure the above number scribbled on a piece of paper and wait for your number to be called for payment and collection - honestly, i feel that i am a patient waiting for my turn in a clinic! 

It didn't help matter when there were so many people crowding the area waiting for their number to be called and the main staff member in charge had unfortunately quite a mild, soft voice. I feel that it's absurd the operator didn't invest in an electronic food pager system which is so common nowadays.

Twenty minutes passed before our number was called and above was the plate passed to us! Frankly, i didn't feel it differed visually from other Indian rojak i have had and when i heard it cost S$15, my eyes almost popped out of the sockets. 

Taste wise, nothing to complain about and the just-fried ingredients (two types of prawn crackers, potato, fish cake, fried tofu, fish fillet etc) were generally good. 

Most importantly was the dipping gravy and in this respect, Indian style rojak usually scores better than Chinese rojak as theirs are generally sweeter and spicier! The one's here at ministry of rojak was delicious with an addictive zest we found irresistible; thankfully, refills are allowed! 

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Location

930 Yishun Avenue 2, #B2-02,

Northpoint Shopping Centre,

Singapore 769098

Menu Pricing (For Rojak)

As above

Pricing

Hard to pinpoint the price for the individual ingredients, especially so when i didn't pay for it (my sister did). Anyway, the above cost S$15.50.

Fragrant, Moist and Delicious Banana Cake - Recipe As Requested

Those following my instagram would have noted my 'countless' experiences with banana cake and while i believe there's still room for improvement, some relatives and friends have been asking me for my recipe and i had delayed for far too long! 

Here're the ingredients needed and i need to credit the banana cake posts from two blogs, Bakericious and Travelling Foodies, for inspiring this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Large Eggs - 4
• Caster Sugar - 150 grams 
• Bananas - 315 grams
• Fresh Milk - 4 tablespoons
• Vanilla Paste / Extract - 1 teaspoon
• Plain Flour - 220 grams
• Baking Soda - 0.5 1 teaspoon
• Baking Powder - 0.5 1 teaspoon
• Salted Butter - 150 grams

Instructions as follows:

Step 01 - Preheat oven at 180 degrees celcius (top and bottom). 

Step 02 - Mash the bananas using a fork. Don't be too greedy and increase the amount of bananas; i did once and the batter was too heavy. Stick to at least 315 grams and not more 325 grams. 

Step 03 - Crack the eggs and whisk them at medium speed (at least no 5 on Sensonic Stand Mixer). Gradually add in the caster sugar in batches to ensure a thorough mix.

Step 04 - Continue with the fresh milk and vanilla paste / extract. My personal preference is extract / paste over essence and from the start of my baking life, the brand i used is nielsen massey. If you ask me, i would go for vanilla paste rather than extract for two reasons; paste is more aromatic and you can find speckles of vanilla seeds.

Step 05 - Throw in the mashed bananas and let the stand mixer do the work for the next ten minutes! 

Step 06 - While waiting for the mixer to complete its work, melt the salted butter; boil a pot of water, switch off the gas once the water boils and then put another pot that has the butter, over it. The brand of butter i like is the hokkien-vulgar-sounding Lurpak! 

Step 07 - As the butter is working to become liquid form, please make use of your spare time to sieve the flour with baking soda and baking powder. Sieve twice! 

Step 08 - Grease your cake pans / tins using butter or the baking spray.

Step 09 - When you are done, take a look at the stand mixer; the batter by this time would have ballooned to a thick consistency.

Step 10 - Batter has to be at the ribbon state as shown above.

Step 11 - Mix in the sieved cake flour + baking powder + baking soda in three different batches. You may consider four batches for a more even mix. Impatient individuals may baulk as you couldn't rush through this process; too fast and the flour will fly all over the place and you also get a lot of bubbles in the batter.

Step 12 - Ensure all traces of flour are mixed in as the much thicker batter gives you the false impression that everything has been mixed in.

Step 13 - Melted butter would be our next step.

Step 14 - Slowly mix in the butter and make sure no streak of oil remains! Check by using your spatula to scoop from the bottom of the bowl as the oil usually remains there. You wouldn't want the shock to see all the hidden oil appearing when you are pouring the batter into the cake pan!

Step 15 - Pour the completed batter into the baking tins / cake pans from a height of 30 centimeters and tap the tin / pan to eliminate bubbles.

Step 16 - Place the tin / pan into the heated oven for forty minutes; now, there's the option on adding in extra slices of banana and walnut brittle and you may take out the tin / pan to put them after ten minutes when the top has somewhat hardened up to take the extra "load".

Step 17 - Cake is ready when the inserted cake tester comes out clean! But don't be too excited to remove it from the tin / bake; do it only when the cake has cooled totally! I made the horrendous mistakes (not just once) of removing it in haste and the entire cake collapsed.

Step 18 - Ready for delivery to my sister's mother in law. :) 

Notes:

The type of bananas matters and for those living in Singapore, please get your bananas from those fruit stalls in the wet market. They taste much better than the supposedly famous brands sold at NTUC and Cold Storage. p.s. always ask for very ripe bananas. 

Honestly, the time taken to bake the cake is dependent on many factors and the ones often overlooked by inexperienced bakers like me would be the size of the cake pan / tin and also the oven temperature which may be inaccurate (mine deviates about 10-20 degrees celcius). Hence, the best gauge is to invest in an oven thermometer (for accuracy) and an inexpensive cake tester.

Personally, i like the banana cakes in muffin cups as they take so much faster to bake and you don't have the hassle of washing the greasy cake tin / pan later. Texture wise, they are also fluffier than their cake form. 

For my benefit - a picture of the ingredients needed for the banana cake so that i can refer to it whenever i need to bake. More eco-friendly since i can pull it out straight from the web, just like the jenny cookies taste-alike. 

Budgie / Parakeet at Work

I was on the way back to my office when i noticed a kid at the corner using his long jacket sleeve to swipe at something that was blocked from my view. Out of curiosity, i actually stopped and tilted my head back; just so i can catch a glimpse of what's in front of the child.

Surprisingly, i found a budgerigar on the metal ledge and upon clarification with the boy's mom, the little cutey thing doesn't belong to them. My first thought was why didn't the mom stop her child from being so cruel but i stopped my tongue from berating them as the day didn't quite start right for me and i must prevent myself from spoiling my day further. 

The budgie (short for budgerigar) was just standing there and although trying its best to avoid my nearing hand, it didn't go full out and fly away.

My experience with birds back when i was working at a pet store is limited but my suspicion told me it's likely a pet with its wings clipped.  It wouldn't have dared to spread its wings as there's a high likelihood it would just jump to its death from the second floor. 

No owner appeared to be on site and i am worried as leaving it alone might not be in its best interest, especially not with that kid around. However, i am rushing off for another appointment and didn't have much time to spare.

I did manage to snap some photos though using my iPhone 7; damn am i impressed with the quality. In just a few years' time, the quality of photographs from smartphone has jumped leaps and i think it would not be long before people would start abandoning huge ass and heavy DSLR for the very much lighter alternative. 

Before leaving, i warned the kid not to bully the budgie and make a mental note to return after my appointment to see if it would still be around (it wasn't). As the area is frequently filled with students walking past, i was hopeful that caring students would lend a helping hand in no time.