Klang Bak Kut Teh from Malaysia Boleh!

I've only had Klang bak kut teh a few times at the most (and not always the dry version either), so I don't know this dish too well. But I was quite happy with what the Malaysia Boleh! food courts in Singapore did above, as the meat was tender and fatty, and sat in a thick and savory dark sauce inclusive of dried chili peppers that was fun to eat with rice. The sweetness and herbal notes were very subtle and didn't overpower it. My only wish was that they gave me more.

Shoyu Udon with Tempura from Udon Shin Singapore

Here is set R05 from Udon Shin Singapore, with the noodles still being super chewy. But I was surprised to find this shoyu udon rather underseasoned. I'm not sure if they were catering to the local palate or if this is the way that they do it back in Japan too, but I really wish that they had added more soy sauce in there. One pleasant surprise was that had they provided included a chunk of "cheese" tempura on the side. The specific type was unnamed, but it was so savory that I think it was Parmesan. Either way, I liked it better than the noodles.

A Loose Collection of Items from Beijing

Here are a few loose ends from Beijing that I didn't get to post on their own. The first one is a dish called jingjiang rousi, which was served on more than one occasion this past week. It might hard to make out in the photo above, but in the background lies a plate of sliced pork tossed in a dark bean paste sauce close to what one finds in zhajiangmian. One takes that, along with julienned white scallions, and wraps them in those tofu sheets above. It's nothing that I'd flip out about, but it's notable in that it's literally named after Beijing and thus is very local.



Separately, I was surprised to find lots of street stalls in the Olympic Park area open well into the evening. Yangrouchuanr was available at many of them; this one used a vertically-oriented rotating grill that wasn't really as effective as the traditional flat ones that others were using. But I was still happy to get it, especially since there was a carousel of self-service beer taps next door, including lychee and hawthorn flavored ones. Next time I need to get some zhajiangmian as well as the "Old Beijing Quick Scalded Tripe" that I saw at various stalls.



Finally, I was rather surprised by what Air China served in flight. That Chinese braised beef above, for instance, didn't look that appetizing when they served it. But it was so incredibly tender that I inhaled it in seconds, despite the mushy rice. There was a thinly sliced beef that I got on the way back that I rather enjoyed too. Too bad that a rather old plane (or at least, older seats and IFE) was deployed on one of my legs. But the staff was still very fast at encouraging you to take off your shoes and put on slippers!

Wangshunge Fish Head Paobing in Beijing

This nationwide chain from Beijing specializes in braised fish heads. And it's a gigantic fish head at that; it's literally called a bighead carp. It's a bottom-feeding freshwater fish, so the point isn't to eat the meaty flesh, but the gelatinous collagen around the cheek and eye.

It requires a bit of work (and even if one eats the flesh, it's rather bony and thus also requires some effort). But there is an easy escape hatch, as they also throw in greasy carbs to soak up the sauce. That included not just plain laobing pancakes cut into squares, but also a big youtiao that they cut up like at Shan Jiu Ye.

Old Beijing Yogurt and Douzhir

Those white ceramic pots of drinkable yogurt on the right are common on the streets of Beijing, with patrons leaving lots of consumed jars in front of each stall for recycling purposes. But the clear green douzhir things on the left were something that I had never heard of before, so I decided to try one.

It turns out that it was a fermented byproduct of making mung bean starch for glass noodles. It was a "juice" that was surprisingly thin and sour. More notably, it had a funky decomposing taste that took some getting used to, a bit like stinky tofu.

I only found out afterwards it is supposed to be consumed as a hot beverage. But I took one from the fridge given the blazing hot weather this week, and apparently the cold temperature amplified that taste. Hopefully I got some good probiotics into my belly in the process at least.

Gastro Esthetics DaDong in Beijing, China

I went to an outlet of Da Dong many years ago, but that was not their main Nanxingcang location, and it was before it got a Michelin star (22A Dongsi 10th Alley). It has since been upgraded with an odd-sounding name and tacky decor, but the food was slam-your-fist-on-the-table delicious.

Indeed, I don't remember liking the Peking Duck so much last time, but the specimen tonight was amazing. It was leaner than most other shops and thus less soggy, yet with enough fat to make it velvety rich and crispy too. Granulated sugar seemed weird as a condiment, but it worked, as did some very finely pureed garlic.

Everything else that we had was good, with a seasonal shanshu fern from Taiwan being particularly memorable, as well as sliced ham stuffed with sticky rice, boneless duck feet in Chinese mustard, and baked croaker with green peppercorns. I left here very happy and was hoping for more of that duck.

Danjiang Fishing Village in Beijing, China

This small chain of seafood restaurants in Beijing was quaint with its wooden courtyard decor, and the food was enjoyable too. I liked it better than last night, with pretty much everything they served tonight being good. There were some rice and lotus root cakes that I kept reaching for, as well as some tender and thin slices of beef. That poached chicken above was delicately handled too. The service tonight was a bit unpolished, but I was happy with the food.

Chef MA's Master Studio @ DI Chinese Restaurant in Beijing

That's a rather long and confusing name above, but it is a posh restaurant inside the Intercontinental Beichen Hotel in Beijing, China (8 Beichen West Road). The food in our banquet was pretty good, including that spiced tofu above, not to mention some deliciously fatty lamb ribs as well as deep-fried yet tender tofu. The service was attentive too.

OMMA Korean Charcoal BBQ in Singapore

When this place first opened a number of years ago, its main selling point was that they had different types of wood for you to select to create more aroma. When we went to its second outlet today (126 Telok Ayer Street), they didn't even ask us which one we wanted. They admitted that it would have been just a few bits of wood anyway, whereas the bulk of the heat came from standard charcoal.

The good thing though is that it didn't really matter, as the food was decent and wasn't as commercialized as I had feared. We had a beef set that came with a number of different cuts, including kalbi, chadolbaegi, and that yukhoe above. The banchan was passable too, even if it couldn't compare to places like Um Yong Baek and Joong San. They even had a range of different salts for you to choose from.

Aladdin Lanzhou Beef Noodle at Textile Centre

I had my hopes up for this Lanzhou beef noodle place, but was kinda let down (200 Jalan Sultan #01-07). That was because of the texture of both the slightly tough beef as well as the slippery smooth noodles. Now, silky noodles could be a virtue in its own right, but I wanted something with more bite, and these didn't have it.

The good thing is that the clear broth was crisp. And the chili sauce was the best thing here, especially with its very pronounced sesame seeds. But I would rather go to Shejianjian if there were one nearby. If I am here again, then I hope that they are doing chuanr since they weren't available today.

Japan's Gatten Sushi in Singapore

This place at ION Orchard looks like it's another low-grade kaiten sushi place from the outside (2 Orchard Turn #B3-20, 6876-1210). But the quality of the fish is so much better than places like Sushiro and Genki. They featured a number of specials today that I was quite happy with. That flamboyant fried green onion and mayonnaise-topped squid above was more of an exception to what was otherwise a surprisingly conservative menu. The quality of the food came at a higher price than those other shops though, as I racked up quite a bill when grabbing some rather pricey items off the conveyor belt. In that sense, I'd rather go to Sushidan, which delivers even better fish at a lower price.

Katsu by Kyu at OUE Downtown Gallery

On the surface, this place looks like it's a ripoff of Tonshou, especially since they finish their tonkatsu over a grill (6A Shenton Way #01-09). They may not get any originality points for that, but the good thing at least is that the food is actually pretty good.

That includes the quality of the ingredients as well as the techniques used in things like the perky salad dressing and smoky tartar sauce. Wrapping the prawns in super thin threads of kadaif pastry may have been for showy theatrics, but nonethless it was impressively light and airy without being soggy. I don't mind going here again, even if Tonshou is still my first choice.

By the way, it looks like "Kyu" is neither a restaurant nor a person. But this place is from the folks who brought in Song Gye Ok, and also run Tofu G. I'm quite a big fan of Tofu G's smooth soybean taste, and I even went there afterwards for dessert. These guys sure seem to have a thing for wooden decors at their restaurants.