Had dinner at Sin Tong Kee with 2 lovely girls last night. ^^. Sin Tong Kee’s a restaurant in Ebisu that serves Singaporean food. Singaporeans or Malaysians in Japan missing some local goodies can go there for a little taste of home. ^^. Man, I think I ate 3 dinners that night!
Up above is Singapore’s version of the Hokkien Mee. FYI, the Malaysian version is totally black! There’s a picture over at Foodgasmic Wellington.

To say that Malaysians are talented is not an overstatement as some of the best–and most impressive–food blogs are authored by Malaysians. I am constantly amazed by the sheer talent of my fellow Malaysians, for example: Billy Law at A Table for Two. A Table for Two chronicles Billy’s eating adventures in Sydney as well as documents delectable recipes from his kitchen. Graced with outstanding food photography plus a keen sense of humor and wicked writing style, I am ready to crown A Table for Two the best new food blog of 2009! Please welcome Billy to Rasa Malaysia as he shares Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken (芽菜鸡) recipe with us–a famed dish from the state of Ipoh in Malaysia.
Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken (芽菜鸡)Guest Writer: Billy Law
I can confirm this - no matter where you are, the only one topic that can reunite all Malaysian expats around the world together has to be food. I am sure you will all agree with me, Malaysian food especially. When Rasa Malaysia asked me to be a guest writer on her blog to feature a signature dish from my hometown, the answer is loud and clear - the most famous dish from Ipoh has to be Bean Sprout Chicken (芽菜鸡) with Sar Hor Fun (rice noodle).
This is a very simple dish to prepare, all you need is patience. The chicken is cooked using the same technique as Hainan Chicken. It is poached in a water bath then quickly dunk into cold water to stop the cooking process to retain its juicy smoothness texture. As for the bean sprout, it will only need to be blanched no more than 10 seconds, then drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce, and a smidge of white pepper for bit of kick…(get Ipoh bean sprouts chicken recipe after the jump)

Inspired by my recent trip to Hawaii, I made garlic shrimp today. It’s not quite the shrimp scampi I had, but it’s a close cousin done in Chinese style and without too much grease.
Garlic and shrimp are two of my favorite ingredients and I love pairing them together whenever I feel like having a shrimp dish. Most people in the United States prefer shelled shrimp, but for garlic shrimp, I strongly suggest you to cook the shrimp head-on and with the shell intact. The shrimp head and the shell “soak up” the fragrance and nuance imbued by the chopped garlic and butter used in this garlic shrimp recipe. The natural sweetness of the shrimp heads and shell also add depth to this dish…(get garlic shrimp recipe after the jump)

I have always thought that making ramen is no small feat, but was very surprised to find out that it’s actually rather easy, if you are willing to cheat. (As you all know, I am quite a cheater when it comes to cooking; I don’t mind taking shortcuts as long as it doesn’t compromise a recipe too much.) The soul of ramen is its soup stock or dashi–where bonito flakes and kombu (seaweed) are boiled in water and then strained. I didn’t have both ingredients so I cheated with hondashi or an instant powdered alternative which essentially is an MSG.
It turned out very well, almost like the spicy miso ramen I get at my favorite ramen joint Santouka. The miso ramen was very tasty, spicy, and I couldn’t get enough. And now, my appetite is totally back!

Tom Kha Gai–everyone’s favorite Thai coconut chicken soup–is one of the Thai recipes that I have always always wanted to make but never did. Why? Because there are plenty of good Thai restaurants in the US that serve pretty authentic Thai food.
So, it’s no surprise that this is my virgin Tom Kha Gai–my first attempt at home. It was easier than I thought, and the Tom Kha Gai turned out really good and tasted exactly like what it should be: milky, aromatic, sour, salty, and super appetizing…(get Tom Khai Gai/Thai coconut chicken soup after the jump)
The main ingredient of Tom Kha Gai is galangal, or “Tom Kha” in Thai. “Gai” means Chicken. The more I cook Thai food, it dawns to me that Thai recipes are pretty much variations of the following Thai ingredients:

If there is one Nyonya dish that I wish I could make in the United States but couldn’t, this rempah fish or fried fish stuffed with sambal would probably be it.
Why? Because a true and authentic Nyonya rempah fish (’Hu Chee Rempah” in Penang Hokkien) can only be made with hardtail mackerel, a fish that is not available in the waters here. If you don’t have hardtail mackerel (or “Ngeh Buey” in Hokkien), you simply don’t make rempah fish because other fish will do no justice to this dish and will not deliver the essence, texture, and authentic flavor. Yes, Nyonya will not compromise when it comes to ingredients used in Nyonya food…
So words can’t even begin to recite how I’ve missed my late mother’s rempah fish, a recipe she had perfected. Her rempah fish was always sublime, with aromatic and moist sambal plus perfect balance of flavors, and let’s not forget about the charred sambal paste oozing out of the fish. But consider ourselves lucky, my sister-in-law did cook side-by-side with my mother and helped her make rempah fish on countless occasions. I asked her to recreate the dish for this blog and she nailed it.
Here is our recipe for rempah fish—a Penang Nyonya specialty that is well-loved by many Peranakan/Nyonya-Baba families. If you go to Penang, you might find it at economy rice stalls if you are lucky!

It’s impossible to get good Hokkien Mee here in the US, so for the past few months, I bought only head-on shrimps. Patiently and religiously I saved up their heads so I could make this at home…
This past weekend, the ziploc bag was finally so full that I could no longer zip it up. I quickly rushed out to the nearest Asian supermarket and got myself all the other ingredients–pork ribs, bean sprouts, noodles, etc.–and started cooking this famous hawker delicacy. The end result was a pot full of real prawny stock that was as close as what you get in Penang. It was really satisfying slurping up the soup and had unlimited topping of pork ribs that fell off the bones! Mmmm…