Western Lunch at Astons Express

I first tried Astons at NUS Campus. That time, I had its black pepper chicken. This new outlet had just opened at AMK Central. For the meal, you can choose two side dishes (hot or cold). Hot side dishes include mashed potato, baked potato, french fries, etc. Cold ones include coleslaw, potato salad and others.

Not too bad. Very filling.

I had Lemon Lime Chicken this afternoon. This is the first time I ate western mean without chilli sauce. The lemon lime gravy is nice. Very appetizing as it is a little sour. I chose mashed potato and coleslaw as the side dishes. They are nice! However, I couldn't finish the coleslaw. Too filling. By looking at it (esp when you are hungry), you may wonder how much this will satisfy your hunger. Hahahaha....Anyway, the price for this is $5.90.

This is the Chicken Burger. Ordered as a set meal (at $5.50), it came with one side dish and we chose french fries. The fries is nice, just that it is not hot at all.

Mmmmm....yummy, yummy....Trust me, the burger was huge. Need a big mouth to conquer it. The bread itself is quite soft. Overall: NICE.

Go try.

A de-stressor on a stressful day

Wanna give a guess what this is? Had this during one of my 'therapeutic' lunch to destress.

My Crap Dinner

Ooops, sorry. I mean crab. We had dinner at AMK Ave 3, Uncle Leong Seafood tonight. Had initially wanted to go to the famous one had Blk 232, but it was already very crowded (long queue) even before 6pm! So we crossed over to the opposite block, Blk 233, which was still empty (but gradually got more crowded after 6.30pm).

Hey, this lemon chicken is very tasty! The gravy is great. The sour and sweet combination is well balanced. It can help in boosting your appetite. The chicken coating is also very nice. All in one phrase - I have not eaten such great lemon chicken for a long time.

Nothing special about this xiao bai cai. I was just irritated that I couldn't bite off the vege nicely. The stalk kept hanging in my mouth!

Decided to order little man tou to go with our dishes, though there was no chilli crab to begin with. I thought the man tou wasn't fried too well. Still quite soft when I bit on it. Didn't really like it. Expected it to be more crunchy. Just look at the colour - doesn't look too well-fried right?

So, this is the reason we were there! Were still comtemplating what kind of crab to order. Finally decided on this black pepper crab with bee hoon. I would say, it tasted good. The crab meat was thick. Mmmmm....really a joy to eat this kind of crab.

That's our dinner for the evening. The proportion was just nice. We were reasonably full after the meal. My favourite? The crab and the lemon chicken.

The crabs they have are those very huge ones. Here's the claw, almost as big as the palm. See how meaty it is. Dying to have a bite?

Enjoying my meal. Trying to eat with grace.

Wow, what a big mou.....er....appetite. That's the best part of the crab, especially when it's soooo huge.

The shell is always being 'attacked' by dad. That has been his all-time favourite. Guess I know why. Because that's the easiest to eat. Can also eat with grace. Heeheehee.....

BURP! We are done. SLURP!

Care for a bowl of Soto Ayam?

For a long time, I have not eaten a bowl of soto ayam that I consider anywhere near 'good'. The standard seems to have deteriorated gradually.

BUT!! I have found a good soto ayam stall this afternoon while having lunch prior to attending a friend's Fish Spa opening at Upper Serangoon Road.

The stall is located within the Ah Seah Eating House, along Yio Chu Kang Road (well, that's what the road is called though the main road just across it's junction is Upper Serangoon Road where the Singapore Crocodile Farm is, if you know where).

Called Rahim Muslim Food, it focuses only on a few items, which I believed are their specialty dishes - Mee Rebus, Mee Soto, Soto Ayam and Satay. One of the special items is Mee Rebus with Chicken.

The Mee Soto I ate is one of the best I have eaten in many, many years. It is generous with its bean sprouts (if you like it). Thankfully, the bean sprouts were nicely cooked and crunchy, unlike the usual raw-tasting bean sprouts which is not even half-cooked. The chilli, when added to the soto makes the dish very tasty too.

And the last thing is....the price is somewhat more expensive than those you buy at other places. My bowl of Soto Ayam cost $3.30. The usual price elsewhere is around $2 to $2.50 per bowl. But rest assured that the portion is decent. At least, I finally can fill my tummy reasonably with this bowl of soto. I will be happy to go back any time to patronise this stall again.

It states: If good, tell your friends. If no good, tell us!

Go try it, folks!

麦芽糖

不知从何时开始，市场推出了不同口味的麦芽糖。我常过了三种口味-葡萄味，巧克力味和以上照片里的Sarsi味。告诉你们，最难吃的是巧克力味的！

但我最怀念的还是那原汁原味的麦芽糖。已经好久没在市场见过了。

要是你还在那儿还见过Original 的麦芽糖，记得让我知道！

Recipe for Five-Minute Fudge

Found this Five-Minute Fudge recipe from the website. Glad to have found something chocolatey that doesn't need baking. No harm trying it out cos it seems soooo simple. Will let you know how it's like after I have tried it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Picture from Company's Coming Cookbooks

Granulated sugar 1 2/3 cups (400 mL)
Evaporated milk (or half-and-half cream) 2/3 cup (150 mL)
Butter (or hard margarine) 2 tbsp. (30 mL)
Salt 1/2 tsp. (2 mL)

Miniature marshmallows 2 cups (500 mL)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups (375 mL)
Chopped walnuts 1/2 cup (125 mL)
Vanilla extract 1 tsp. (5 mL)

Combine first 4 ingredients in medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium. Boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.Add remaining 4 ingredients. Stir. Beat with spoon for about 1 minute until marshmallows are melted. Spread evenly in greased 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan. Let stand until set. Makes about 2 lbs. (900 g) fudge. Cuts into 36 squares.

1 square: 100 Calories; 3.9 g Total Fat (1.0 g Mono, 0.9 g Poly, 1.8 g Sat); 2 mg Cholesterol; 17 g Carbohydrate; 1 g Fibre; 1 g Protein; 47 mg Sodium

Recipe for Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Marigold Non Fat Yoghurt Fruit Dip

Here's the recipe from cousin BL. She learnt this from a workshop. Thanks for sharing. I must try. The picture looks appetizing.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:
Coconut Shrimp
Desiccated Coconut Flaked, Lightly Toasted 2 cups
Corn Flour ½ cup
Japanese Panko Crumbs (Bread Crumb) ½ cup
Cajun Spice (to Taste) ½ tsp
Salt ½ tsp
White Pepper Powder ½ tsp
Egg White 3 nos
Fresh Lime Juice 1tbsp
Large Shrimp (peeled with Tails on) 20 pcs

Dipping Sauce
MARIGOLD NON FAT Peach Mango Yoghurt 400gm
Fresh Lime Juice 1 tbsp
Salt ¼ tsp
Thai Red Curry paste (to taste) ½ to 1 tbsp
Chopped Fresh Cilantro (Chinese Parsley) 1 tbsp
Lime (Garnish) 2 wedge


Cooking Method:
1. Mix well the coconut & bread crumb together in a bowl.
2. Marinate the prawns with salt, pepper & Cajun spice, then add in fresh lime juice after that add in the egg white for 2 mins.
3. Put the yoghurt in a bowl, add in Thai red curry paste, chopped Cilantro, fresh lime juice then stir well and add in salt, pepper and mix them well.
4. Put the corn flour in a small bowl then add in some water and stir it well.
5. Put the prawn into the corn flour mixture and then coat it well with the coconut & bread crumb mixture.
6. Put the prawn into the oil and deep fry until golden brown.
7. Serve shrimp with MARIGOLD NO FAT Peach Mango Yoghurt fruit dip garnished with cilantro.


Note:
Dried coconut (80%) best is more than Bread Crumb(20%), so the shrimp will more crispy.
Can change Shrimp to Dory Fish.
If want the shrimp straight, just massage the shrimp until it straight.