Review: Club Street Social

Before we start, let me preface this review by saying that the owner-operator Min Chan is a friend and lovely girl. I don't think that makes me biased about the food or the establishment but it's also her birthday today so wouldn't it be great to send some culinary love her way?

Min used to work with Aun Koh, aka Chubby Hubby, and the eye for detail and knack for good food is apparent at Club Stret Social. The way the small space has been outfitted is just gorgeously evocative, the floor is tiled mosiac, the bar counter heavy volakas marble, the fair-faced brick wall gives way to cafe tables and chairs shrouded in the shadows of French iron wrought lamps. Tucked away on the quieter Gemmill Lane, it is the cooler, shadier cousin to the expat-heavy and mass-franchise driven Club Street. The quiet is reminiscent of the speakeasies of East Village or Chelsea.


Min says Club Street Social’s design is an amalgamation of design features from her favorite restaurants and the cocktails are inspired by legendary bars. The restaurant is just a stone's throw away, across the street from the upscale chowderhouse Luke's, but seems born of the same hip, city genre. When we arrived for dinner, I was a bit sceptical, Club Street Social has the same quaintness as King Street Cafe in Perth at night, and is the size of the bar area at L'Artusi in the West Village- I could imagine it packed to the brim, three-deep with a Saturday night drinking, pre-Filter crowd but what would the food be like?

As it turns out, the food is well-made with incredibly fresh ingredients and as trendy as the beautiful people slouched over the cafe counters. The menu specializes in sandwiches, crispy crostini, tramezzini and hot, toasted panini. We tried the salads ($15), grilled rib eye panini ($28), the proscuitto panini (S$16) and the lobster panini with yuzu mayo($28); they were amazing. Crispy, tasty bread, laced with huge chunks of ingredients and moist, juicy fillings. The premium paninis are particularly out-of-this-world, if I close my eyes, I can still imagine the burst of savoury flavour from the caramelized garlic and the smooth richness of the fontina on the tender ribeye, it was a lovely taste experience. The paninis are also a much better deal than the goat's cheese crostini, which is excellent but a tad pricey at $10 for 3 small slices.


You can also get the sinful bacon, egg and maple butter panini (S$14) and ciabatta toast with mascarpone cream (S$9) as an all-day breakfast item, which I would definitely come back for. The other stars are the cocktails, they are just labelled No. 1, Two, 3rd and so on but you can also get the bar staff to concoct a special for you. I thought at first glance that the bartenders were from Klee but was doubly impressed when Min told us that she trained all of them from scratch; none of them had ever worked in a bar before. The drinks are formulated to introduce some new tastes and sexy alcohols, #4 for example, is rye italian vermouth and vegemite, the #7 is a cognac, with bacon, date and walnut. The spiked pitchers are mixed with gin, lemongrass, galagal and pineapple, or cognac with red wine, nutmeg and ginger ale, like a festive wintry sangria.

Drinks are $16 for a cocktail and $49 for a spiked pitcher. The prices are a little steep if you're looking for a full dinner meal but not generally out of place for the area. Min has other partners but from what I can see, is extremely hands-on in the design, service and administration of the bar and food. Bring your most deserving friends and make her day by paying her a visit!

Club Street Social
5 Gemmill Lane
069261 Singapore
www.clubstreetsocial.com

* Pictures from TimeOut Singapore via Maameemoomoo.com

Review: Crust Pizza

One thing about the new, varied demographics of Singapore- there are a lot of small food businesses. For example, just near my neighbourhood, I can buy morello cherry and pecan pies from a home vendor, Australian meat pies from a Gourmet savoury pie company, Peranakan favourites from elderly home cook and now, gourmet pizza from Crust Pizza.

Crust in Singapore is part of a franchise that started as a single store in Annandale, Sydney. They have 62 stores in Australia- despite being there twice a year, I never knew! (But then, as with many things transported, maybe in Australia, they don't consider this the best of the best). The franchise is already renowned across Australia for serving high quality, healthier pizzas made to order with the freshest ingredients. It was the first pizza franchise to offer gluten free bases and independently tested nutritional details on its top selling pizzas to customers both online and in store.


Forget about the more tame flavours, they are well-known for their Morroccan Lamb, which I didn't try on this occasion (but was ordered by my friend), their Paella and their White Prosciutto. The owner also talked about flavours developed for the Asian palate, which I assume is their Roast Duck. I'm not big on pizzas with Asian toppings but with 26 varieties, there's definitely something for all. I was impressed with their Magharita, the Wild Mushroom and the Salami pizzas.

Fortunately for me, we are in their delivery area but their radius is not very wide as they are concerned about delivered quality. They must be doing well, as within this small radius, the delivery took about 40 minutes (at peak dinner time, on a weekend) and the pizza was decently warm when it got to us.


I really liked that it tasted somewhat home-made, with a airy crust and good toppings of cheese pieces and vegetables. It was tasty but not overly oily, in particular, the oil didn't taste commercial, as it sometimes can with Pizza Hut, for example. The only drawback was that the prices are on the high side, averaging $24 a pie with a $3 delivery fee, for a 13 inch x 9 inch rectangular pizza (that's a long ruler by a short ruler) and the pizzas seemed like something you could make yourself, with a little elbow grease and a good bread recipe. Still, if I was a busy mother or had some friends for a casual lunch, this is definitely a service I would use from time to time.


Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

Holland Village
34B Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 277691
Nearest Parking: Lorong Liput, HDB Carpark
Telephone: +65 6467-2224

Monday to Thursday: 5.00pm to 10:30pm
Friday: 4.00pm to 1.00am
Saturday: 5.00pm to 1.00am
Sunday: 5.00pm to 11.00pm
Delivering: 7 days a week, 5 pm to 11pm

Upper Thomson
215R Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574349
Parking on StreetTelephone: +6456-1555

Tuesday to Thursday: 5pm to10:30pm
Friday to Saturday: 11am to Midnight
Sunday: 11am to 11pm
Monday: Closed

* Pictures provided by Crust Pizza

Recipe: Orh-nee Cheesecake

I first heard of this recipe from a friend, whose sister had copied it from the Straits Times. They were a Teochew family and as many do, they were big fans of 'Orh-nee' or steamed yam.

She was so proud of their home baking that she insisted I try some, which I did, hesistantly. One of my perculiar food dislikes is what I call mushed-bean textures. This means that a lot of Mexican foods and more inconveniently, a lot of Chinese desserts are off-limits for me. The list is quite wide, from refried black beans, to red bean, green bean, yellow bean, mung bean, 'ling yong' or yam soups or desserts. It isn't the taste that I don't like, but the mouthfeel of the starchy, pastey texture. (I love, for example, Indian yellow dhal).


I'll tell you a secret. When I was young (for this food dislike has been a long time in the making), at the birthdays of my grandparents, I would take the birthday buns- traditionally steamed 'ling yong' or lotus seed buns encased in sweet white dough and dyed a soft pink hue to resemble peaches, a Chinese symbol for long life and, lifting the long Chinese restaurant tablecloths, surreptitiously and gently lob it under the table. I've always thought about the little pile of buns that must have built up over the years.

Having had the good fortune to have been born Cantonese, where traditional desserts tend to be clear, thin, smooth and syrupy, this was generally not a problem. Nowadays, having married a Hokkien man, the deception has become harder. His family is incapable of appreciating that anyone can systematically reject all their traditional desserts and the concept of mouthfeel hardly seems a necessary or adequate explanation. I don't think they've noticed, for example, that I never eat mooncakes.


I've of course, never been a fan of yam, or taro, as they call it in the US and my idea of taro extends to about as extensively as pearl milk tea. But this orh-nee cheesecake (orh-nee is steamed yam, mixed with cream, oil and coconut milk and blended and steamed into a smooth but thick pudding) was actually not strong and it wasn't oily either. It wasn't delicate, but then, cheesecake generally isn't and it was flavourful. I dug up the recipe which was featured by Rebecca Lynne Tan (her sister was a friend of mine) and realized it was from a fellow blogger. You can find the recipe on her lovely site here.


My chance finally came this past weekend, my godfather, who is Teochew and loves orh-nee, was coming to dinner and I had leftover cream cheese and sour cream in the fridge. I bought three lovely Thai yams from the market (this recipe just needs two yams but I didn't know that) and was completely seduced by their gorgeous purple colour, if yam tasted the way it looks, I would totally be a convert! A tip to the wise; only the head of the yam steams into a beautiful, deep purple softness, the butt of the yam is where you get the striated pattern and dry hardness, like taro chips.

The most tedious part was probably peeling the yams, the recipe itself was a cinch and I particularly liked that you don't have to use a water bath in this recipe. I tweaked a little bit of the recipe but not intentionally, I used less butter in the crust, omitted the purple colouring and I only belatedly realized that I had halved the amount of cream cheese. If I were to do it again, I would whip the egg white first, then fold it into the yam to lighten and fluff up the texture. I would also peel and cut the yams before instead of after steaming and steam them wrapped with a few knots of pandan leaves to highlight the fragrance. There were fourteen for dinner and this dessert intrigued everyone, even those who like me, weren't a fan of yam. It was particularly popular with the older folk who liked that it wasn't sweet and it had a lovely baked, savoury-sweet aroma.



Orh-Nee Cheesecake

Ingredients
Cheesecake Base:
160g Oreo cookies (1 1/2 tubes of Oreos if you remove the cream)
50g butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:
1 3/4 cup yam (about 2 medium yams, steamed for 30 minutes, then peeled)
1 8 ounce pack of Philadelphia cream cheese
120g castor sugar
3 Tbs corn flour, sifted
2 1/2 eggs
150ml whipping cream
1/2 tsp sea salt

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbps sugar
3 Tbs coconut cream (Kara brand)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Steam the yams for at least 30 minutes until soft.
3. Process the Oreos till fine, mix with the melted butter and press neatly into the base of a 9inch springform baking tin. You can also use a square tin and cut the cheesecake into slices.
4. Freeze the pan for at least 30 minutes until the base is set.
5. Puree the yam in a food processor until smooth
6. Beat the cream cheese and sugar till it is smooth and creamy, using an eggbeater. Add the eggs one at a time and add the corn flour. Beat until smooth. (This is where I would have whipped the egg whites separately and folded them into the mixture).
7. Fold in the whipping cream and add the salt. I used the processer to mix all the ingredients together, as it was just faster and more convenient. Unless you are going to beat the egg whites or whipping cream separately, it doesn't really make a difference if you process all the ingredients into a smooth batter.)
8. Pour the batter into the base and bake for 60 minutes.
9. The edge of the cheesecake should be set and the centre may still be a bit wobbly. Bake on a lower rack if the top starts to crack, this will help to keep it moist.
10. Whisk the sour cream, sugar and Kara coconut cream (santan) together and pour it over the cheesecake to form a topping.
11. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. If you want a browned top, you can try grilling the surface of the sour cream topping.
12. Take the cake out of the oven but keep it in the pan till it cools completely. Chill in the fridge for at least four hours (I put mine in the freezer for two, as I was in a hurry). Unmould only when the cake is completely cooled through.
13. The recipe should serve eight slices but in today's calorie-concious society, the guests all carved really slim pieces, so there were easily sixteen slices.

Recipe: Huat Kueh, featured on Notabilia

We are featured on Pooja Makhijani's beautiful blog, Notabilia, here with a gorgeous Huat Kueh recipe. This home recipe is from my collague, Kia Meau, and was originally written for a family charity cookbook. In Kia Meau's own words "the steaming process for the Huat Kueh creates a “bloom” that symbolises prosperity. Hence, Huat Kueh (also known as prosperity cake), is commonly used for offerings during ceremonies and Chinese New Year. My family will usually prepare the Huat Kueh during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Each time when we make the kueh, we always have an anticipatory “you-never-know-what-you’re-gonna-get” moment as we were not allowed to peek inside until the time is up."

I, on the other hand, had never eaten Huat Kueh before last year, having always associated them with Chinese religiousity and prayer, as they were often dotted with red dye on the top surface. When I was young, I balked at the bright colours and I felt they were often dry (especially if left out in the sun or on an altar) or too sticky. The beautifully perfumed steam from the steamer drew me to try Kia Meau's kueh and I loved it, from the natural colour to the deep aromatic fragrance, which just goes to show that you learn a new thing about food everyday.

These kueh are made of gula melaka and coconut milk which makes them more healthy than the refined-sugared version, the taste is thus more mild while being more deeply flavoured and the texture slightly more sticky. This recipe fascinated me because I’d never seen one that told you to put the pandan leaves in the steaming water, thus perfuming the steam that goes up through the kueh. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.


o o o o o

Huat Kueh

8-10 stalks pandan leaves
Water for steaming
400 grams coconut sugar (gula melaka)
300 milliliters water
1 tablespoon butter
500 grams self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
250 milliliters coconut milk

1. Prepare a steamer. Tie 4-5 stalks of pandan leaves into a knot and boil together with water in the steamer.
2. Prepare the sugar mixture. Tie 4-5 stalks of pandan leaves into a knot. Add to chopped coconut sugar and 300 ml of water and bring to a boil until the sugar mixture becomes 550 ml.
3. Strain the pandan leaves and impurities out of the sugar mixture.
4. Stir the butter into the sugar mixture until it melts completely. Set aside to cool.
5. Sift the self-raising flour with bicarbonate of soda. Using an electic mixer, slowing mix in the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda, egg, and coconut milk to the cooled sugar mixture.
6. Pour the huat kueh mixture into greased muffin trays and fill them to the brim.
7. Steam for 15 minutes. A longer time will be required for steaming larger huat kuehs. Do not open the steamer before the stipulated time.
8. Remove the muffin tray from the steamer and leave to cool for at least 10 minutes. Do not remove the huat kuehs from the muffin tray within that time as they need to be cooled in the trays to set.
9. Remove the huat kuehs from the muffin tray and place them on cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 8 muffin-sized huat kuehs.

o o o o o

(Additional credits: Recipe: Phay Kia Meau, Photograph: Melvin Leong and Constance Kok.)

Macaron relief

When people hear the word macarons, they seem to think they always turn out like these-
beautiful macarons, olive oil macarons, chocolate macarons and jasmine tea macarons, waiting for a delivery. I wanted to show you a recent macaron adventure that was a little less than perfect.



Brewing a thick mix of tea and emulsifying it into milk chocolate.




A misstep with the shells that looked so perfect and this is what we wound up with. Disaster, the shells were perfectly formed on the surface and then completely melted within.




We re-made the macaron shells and these are the French Lavender Earl Grey Tea macarons.


To regain our macaron mojo, we also made some pistachio macaron prettiness.