But I've been mulling over crustaceans for awhile and decided to let it all out...my favorite place - which may not be the cheapest option - is Quayside Seafood (Blk 3A Clarke Quay; Tel: 9633 9146).
It's not that expensive either...you don't have to worry about your pacer working overtime. A huge meal for four can be anything from S$200 - S$350. Plus the sights and sounds of the river is pretty special. Thank good ness though I wore my cottons...it can get a little sweaty on a humid evening.
Starting off on a sweet note, they made me actually LOVE drinking out of coconuts...I used to detest it but I'm in love with it now...I can drink buckets of it and spend hours scraping off the soft flesh from all sides and corners... yummmm...very therapeutic... I used to be traumatised by scantily covered insides of these husky fruits. I ended up digesting undesirable fibres...gross-o-rama. But not anymore!
Anyhoo, the drunken prawns are really something. The strong but not overwhelming aroma, clean taste and gorgeous color simply magnetises me to the very thing that causes me to break out in hives and bad itches. My uncle does fantastic steamed drunken prawns which gives Quayside a run for their money. In fact, hire him folks...he's the real deal - You can always trust a Peranakan to whip out a-ma-ma-zing spreads... ;D
Yes, crustaceans were born to be my enemy...any part of me which is in direct contact with these shelled underwater creatures make me break out...not in song...but in red patches. Hah! And the war goes on between me - the Yao Kwee (a.k.a. greedy) Versus Seafood.
Moving on...A must must must is fried baby squids...the crunchiness, sweetness and oiliness are addictive...I keep popping them in my mouth...they should serve them as popcorn in movie theaters...seriously.
And who can resist CRABS??!!!! They are an absolute yes! especially since they are said to lower blood pressure, minimise blood triglycerides or bad fats, and can even improve your chances of living longer after a heart attack...whoa...But then again all these unbelievable benefits are also contingent on how the fare is prepared and the amount consumed at one seating. Too much of a good thing, I always believe, can wreak havoc where it's supposed to heal..
Back to my crabby friends, they should taste yummilicious with salted egg yolk. I absolutely adore shrimps stir-fried with egg yolk from Imperial Treasure Nan Bei...and I think age has caused my taste buds to mature to that of a forty-something...I used to spit out century eggs and preserved eeky thingeys but nowadays I devour them wholly.
So here I am with a humoungous plate of crabs smothered with dirty-yellow salted egg yolk...It was not too bad overall. However, I felt that the succulent crab meat, and preserved flavor of the egg did not blend well. It was a tad sweet which I guess can be considerably lightened when eaten with mantou or plain rice which act as a starchy protection layer over not-so-perfect selections such as this one.
The drunken prawns made me very happy though and is truly stellar. I plan to return with my brood and populate the dining table with prawns, prawns, prawns! And check out their chilli crabs. Skip the dessert though cause the last I saw they only served ice-cream...My friends and I crossed over the bridge instead and ooh'ed and aah'ed over the Yuzu sorbet @ Haato (Liang Court Shopping Centre, Medi-Ya Supermarket; Tel: 6337 8835) - I bought a tub back for my grandparents who licked it all up in a day. Yeah, it's that good...
