Love Notes

I’m in love. In love with a very special someone. Her name is Cambodia. I know. ALL my friends say I just can’t stop raving about it. Cambodia’s simply breathtaking. I just can’t get her off my mind. She’s made me drop all of my defenses and love again without apprehension, without looking forward to rejection, without false hope. I love her for all her humble and not-so-humble edible offerings every day and every night.

Particularly broth in any form. Khmer broth is addictive. Be forewarned. Best tasted in casual shorts and tees, with favorite flip flops. The most memorable sloppy slurps I experienced is with this bowl of locally made porridge. I had the opportunity to meet with the owner who ran a street joint that could hold 50-60 people easily. Palm-sized squares of white one-ply tissues are freely supplied at every table, as well as a small waste basket lays sturdy at each corner. So I guess one could rate the success of any food stall quite easily with the naked eye by the number of used tissues in the small bins and on the cement floor.

A bowl of the yummilicious “chok” saturated with cooked slices of chicken, pork, beef and chunks of vegetables can change your day from a so-so one to a very satisfied-with-a-toothy-smile night. All of which cost me US$1. The owner revealed that she boiled chicken and pork bones for a few hours every morning and added unidentified local spices into the whole mix. I could taste ginger, definitely pepper and a dash of salt.

But the broth is spectacular. Spectacularly a-ma-ma-zing. Absolutely unforgettable. Hence my love affair continues. I might just move over to this unforbidden city for a few months. And add more savory memories to the already overflowing ones. I’m in love. Can’t you tell?

My Green Loves - The Last Instalment

One of the many good surprises I had in the last hours of 2006 lies in this four-lettered word : Aiwo (Raffles City Shopping Centre).

Extremely tasty and not a busy sight at all, the New Year’s Eve lunch I had was outstanding. The Omega-3 lunch plan was yummy-doodles. I’ll let the pictures do the talkin’.

The main course I had was a medley of mushrooms, cauliflower and broccoli tossed and marinated tandoori-style. Very Indian. I like! And it seemed as though I might not get to see the white of the plate after a good thirty minutes of active fork-stabbing, teeth-crunching exercises.

What kept me going was the upcoming surprise which would complete the trilogy experience :)

Voila! The dessert left me lingering for more – chocolate and green tea parfait with berries reduction. Smooth, rich and sexy. I savored every spoonful from expresso-dessert cup to willingly-parted lips. Again and again. I would like to think that the sweetness and chocolate ingredient ingested (rather quickly) could be attributed to a sugarless sugar substitute. And that all the calories were sucked out of the unforgettable sweet before it landed in front of me on the dining table by the kitchen angels. Uh-huh...

Truth or dare, folks?

For those who prefer meat and veggies sharing the leading role on the table, Aiwo also offers generous portions of salmon and chicken for your masticating enjoyment.

And the sinless = guiltless chocolate cake is also irresistibly available.

Come on, take a go at it. Who knows, you might lose everything (unwanted double chin, useless fat cells, bloated silhouette), and gain nothing except the check (a.k.a. bill).

My Green Loves - The Sequel

When I was a practising vegetarian a few years ago (and lost a LOT of weight might I add), my dearest friend, let’s call her Bubu, sent me a picture of a well-known vegetarian. A COW.

Isn’t it nature’s wonder that although cows and cow-like animals share the same diet as Love Princess, they weigh a ton, and I lost a ton? Hah.

Since I’m on a winning streak here with this whole “Go Green, You Can Eat Whatever You Want” campaign, shake your cute bon-bons to Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant @ Liat Towers.

Happening, man. You will feel guiltless about gorging yourself with everything on the menu. EVERYTHING. The most digestive-worthy dish is “Fire In The Belly” – fried monkey head mushrooms with spinach and shredded ginger. It’s spicy too. Mmmmmmm… You can pop these babies like popcorn. My virgin encounter with these monkey-head things was at Four Seasons’ Jiang Nan Chun. SHIOK. It was crispy and peppered with sesame seeds (sesame seeds should be on everything!), and had me serial-popping till they disappeared from the communal lunch table. Pai seh (embarrassing) *blush*

The dim sum selection was really nothing to shout about. And the soup, sheesh. It’s grossly diluted.

Stick to the star dishes such as “Rolling Crunch” – crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, fried mushrooms are rolled and served sushi style, with chunks of capsicum, shredded cucumber and moistened with soya vinaigrette; sweet and sour vegetarian fish, and beancurd skin “satay” on a stick heavily drizzled with spicy peanut sauce will leave you a satisfied bunny.

And of course, the black sesame glutinous ball dusted with fine peanut shavings, and mellow yellow custard roll is yummy-doodles.

With attentive service and accessibility (geographically speaking), and a tasty menu tagged at S$18.80++ per pax only, wasted if you don’t go lah.

Then after you makan, make sure you come back, and tell me whether the trip was worth it or not. Remember ah! (Oh, minimum two diners for buffet treatment)

My Green Loves

I need to detox. And I figured the best way to do it is overdo the daily water drill, and set up regular dates with sweet-looking, fresh-smelling, totally healthy vegetables. Yes, sirree…people, veggies are totally delish. I love this country for allowing the epidemic spread of yong tau foo in almost every food court I walk into.

Singapore rocks! If you’re a fan of this soupy or dry dish, you’d realize that the assortment of healthy edible items are growing as is my rising euphoria. What exactly am I talking about? YONG TAU FOO. There’s usually a showcase of taupok (fried beancurd) stuffed with fish, spinach-topped beancurd, mock crab sticks and full-sized sotong (cuttlefish), amongst dozens of other yummy-doodles, paraded au naturel before your eyes. No camera tricks, or colorings, or mouldy smells.

Usually accompanied by a selection of Asian noodles, you can even choose to have the individual goodies served ampang-style or dunked in laksa (coconut-based and spicy) broth. Most importantly, the serving bowl is HUGE. Very important lah, especially since I adore steaming broth. Woo-hoo. And spice-infused smells are equally integral to the overall makan experience.

One of my favorite stalls is the one at Wisma’s newly-renovated food court on the top floor. The “buffet-style” bar is so pretty! The broth could definitely be improved but for a few local dollars, it’s almost free, I can’t complain! It would be nice though if there were white truffle oil-infused noodles to up the flavor-ante at super-hero heights with these mouthwatering grubbers. Hmmmmm...

Ah well, until such a time, I am belly content :)