Steamed fish: simple yet satisfying

Had this for dinner today.


Steamed ikan kurau fish with a slightly sweet gravy poured over it and topped with lettuce. Although it looks simple, the dish was actually quite satisfying- the meat was soft and succulent, flavoured by the gravy while the lettuce provides a refreshing touch.

Dish of the week: Chicken curry, Indonesian style !

This delicious dish was prepared for dinner tonight.


Unlike Indian curries, Thai, Malay and Indonesian curries are generally based on a mixture of local fresh herbs such as lemongrass, galangal, coriander leaf, fresh tumeric, lime leaves and coconut. Common Indian curry spices of cinnamon, cumin or coriander seeds are seldom used.

This dish is extremely appetizing, with a strong fragrance of lemongrass and spices, but not too spicy. This is the dry type of curry, which does not have any gravy, but instead has a dry paste which is equally tasty. Every piece of chicken is rich with flavour and spices, such as onion, lemongrass, tumeric and many others. It is rather similar to the beef rendang being sold at indonesian restaurants outside. Not as spicy as some other curries, but every bit as yummy.



Ingredients for making the curry paste: sugar, salt, ginger, spring onion, lemongrass, tumeric, onions, chili.

Dinner at NYDC

Went to NYDC at Wheelock place for a simple dinner. The outlet was already fairly crowded by the time I got there.


NYDC is a fairly well-known chain of cafes selling western dishes such as pasta, pizza, baked dishes, salads and other main courses. Its outlets have a laid back design with a trendy feel to them.

The service was prompt and the food arrived quite quickly. Ice water was also served free of charge.


First up was the lemon drink ($6.95) A tangy lemon sherbet with the perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, this drink is a must-try. An excellent start to the dinner.

Rating:9/10



Next was the meatball spaghetti($15.50), one of their recommended dishes. However the dish turned out to be slightly disappointing overall- the pasta was quite decent with the tomato base giving it a welcome sweetness but the meatballs were a little too dry and tough, maybe even a little fatty. Simply not juicy enough. Overall rather mediocre.

The portions also seems to have been reduced somewhat since my last visit.

Rating:6.5/10

Not sure if I would return any time soon as the dishes are quite mediocre, but the drinks are rather good. The pricing isn't exactly cheap either.


Food:6.5/10
Ambience:6.5/10
Service:7/10
Value:6/10

Stir fried chinese noodles

This plate of noodles was prepared by my Indonesian maid for lunch.




This dish is suitable when you don't want to have too heavy a meal, but at the same time also want something that is fairly satisfying and tasty.

Much tastier than it looks, the noodles burst forth with peppery flavour. The minced pork is well-marinated and tasty while the vegetables go well with the springy noodles. The bits of fishcake serve to enhance the overall flavour. Small pieces of lemongrass also add a faint fragrance to the dish. The addition of a few prawns would certainly be welcome.

Ingredients: Noodles, some vegetables, minced pork, fishcake, garlic, light sauce, sesame oil, lemongrass, pepper.

Response to owl's comment

This post is in response to owl's comment.

owl said...

Hello! Came across your blog when i was browsing thru ieatishootipost. noticed that your last post was months ago, seems like this blog aint active anymore? i went to your cheesecake blog, but it wasnt updated too. have you stopped due to low traffic? hmm. and the views abt food blogging in one entry are pretty interesting. if u really like food, why stop blogging? hope to see your entry soon. food- it's all abt sharing that brings the joy out of it aint it? :)

Ok, firstly I would like to say that lugging my camera around to blog is increasingly becoming a hassle. My compact digital camera stopped working some time ago and I only have a rather large and bulky camera now which I am hesitant to take out. Until then, although I could, it doesn't seem quite worth it to fork out a few hundred bucks to buy another camera.

Next, I find that it is easier to enjoy the food without your camera- bothering about when and how to take photos etc etc. Especially for long dinners, having to take out your camera after every course arrives is simply troublesome.

Also, some restaurants don't allow you to take any photos. I tried taking some photos at an Indian restaurant recently and was told to stop taking them. How irritating.

But this blog isn't dead yet. Who knows, I might continue it in the future.

Meanwhile, do check out this very nice blog here .

What's your favorite cuisine?

My favorite cuisines are Thai, Indian and Italian.

Thai cuisine combines a fantastic variety of spices. Dishes like green curry chicken, pad thai and pineapple rice are difficult to resist.

Indian cuisine also has a wide variety of spices. Butter and yoghurt are frequently used. Having tried North and South Indian cuisine in Mumbai, I certainly preferred South Indian cuisine- more rice based and seafood, compared to North Indian, which is more bread-based.

Italian cuisine uses many spices and herbs for tasty cooking. Pasta, pizza and ravioli..

What are yours? Do vote on the newly created poll.

Food blogs are simply hard to maintain

Quoted from another blog:

"To me, being a food-blogger is kinda crazy. Who wants to go through all the trouble of lugging a camera around everytime he/she steps out, snapping pictures of the food, uploading and optimising photographs, drafting up a blog entry, editing and finally posting it?? With no tangible benefits as well may I add."

That's exactly what I feel too. Food blogging takes quite a bit of time and effort, and there are really few benefits. And you have to keep posting regularly or your viewers will not come back.

Viewership has only increased a bit recently due to some helpful links from Breadpig and ieatishootipost. Not sure how long this will last though.