greetings from seoul.

It's my last night in Seoul. Feels all different blogging from outside of Singapore cos I'm typing on a keyboard that can write both English and Korean. All the words on the screen that usually appears in English is now in Korean!

I've had a blast here the past 6 days. I really really love it here. In fact I like it so much that I feel like packing my bags in Singapore and move to Korea. The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful and most of all, the food is DELICIOUS! 맛있어요! Just ate one of the best meals of the trip with soju and all. I have lots of pics to share and I'll post it when I get back.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy whatever little time I have left here. Definitely going to come back again. If I have a choice, can I not go home??

a roaring business of fishball noodles.

Meng Boon Fishball Noodle Soup.Dry
Hillside Drive, along Upper Serangoon Road
Coffeeshop next to Greenland Vegeterian Restaurant














The recent elections seem to have made Singapore's political environment more vibrant. With so many things going on, I guess today must have been quite exciting for those who went to the polls. After Mum made her way to cast her vote, we headed for the Hougang Mall to get our money changed for our coming trip and on the way there, decided to stop for some fishball noodles which we haven't had in a while.

I first came to know about this place from Ling cos it's been her favourite hangout every Sunday since she was young. If I remember correctly from her, the son of the old man who used to cook her noodles years ago has now taken over the stall (Correct me if I'm wrong, Ling). I told my mum about it, she liked it and started buying it occassionally for breakfast.

To be honest, I can't really tell what's good or great fishball noodles. All I know is that the noodles served here is cooked well to the right texture for me. The chilli is not overly spicy so at least my tastebuds can still pick up the taste of the noodles. One thing to note though, is that for $3, they're quite extravagant with their ingredients especially with fishcake.

If you want to have a taste of the noodles, be prepared to wait at least half and hour. In fact, I think we waited longer than that. They're really packing in a roaring business with many take-away orders especially. Whether the fishball noodles is worth the wait and the patience is up to the individual. At least for me, I left with a satisfied tummy.

P/S: During the wait, Mum and I got too hungry and ordered some Indian Rojak from one of the stalls at the coffeeshop. It turned out quite good actually cos the gravy was tasty and the Rojak especially those with the flour, were lightly crispy. Quite good compared to many that I've tried before at least.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Seems like a long long time since I left an entry. Work has been pretty overwhelming for the past 2 weeks. It's just painful coming home to stare into the comp after 10 - 12 hours of doing that in the office. I'm just glad the busy period's coming to an end.

Well, before work started getting crazy, I managed to bake Pandan Chiffon Cake, something I've wanted to do for a long time. Baking this brings back very fond memories of the days back in Perth. I remember Ling spending many nights and days in our small pantry experimenting, trying to perfect the recipe. It got so successful in the end that we even baked for our whole hostel during one of the International Weeks. It was just like home; soft and spongy but better yet, it was made with our bare hands. It was fun, the good 'ol days. Unfortunately though, we've both lost the recipe so I did some searching on my own. Found something that's quite good but would be even better with the tweaking of what I remember from our Perth days. I know it's much simpler to just go out to buy a cake but it's the process that matters. I hope you give this a try.














10 Egg Whites
1 tsp Cream of Tartar

170ml Coconut Cream
2 tbsp Pandan Juice
1/2 tsp Green Food Colouring

Yolk Mixture
8 Egg Yolks
240g Caster Sugar
170ml Corn Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Flour Mixture
140g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Fine Salt

Oven Temperature: 170 degrees celsius

• Beat the egg whites til frothy, sieve the cream of tartar into the egg whites. Continue beating til very stiff but not dry. Set aside after this is complete.
• Combine all the ingredients in the Yolk Mixture. Beat lightly til well blended.
• Sift the ingredients in the Flour Mixture and place in a mixing bowl.
• Make a well in the centre of the Flour Mixture and pour in the Yolk Mixture. Bring the flour in from the sides and beat til smooth.
• Add the pandan juice, green food colouring and coconut cream to the Flour/Yolk Mixture. Stir til well blended.
• Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to the Flour/Yolk Mixture and blend well.
• Add the rest of the egg whites and fold in lightly with a rubber spatula til well blended.
• Pour into an ungreased 25cm x 10cm chiffon cake tin & bake for 45 - 50 min or until cake is well baked.
• Remove from oven when cake is baked, invert cake tin and leave for 1 1/2 hours before removing the cake from the tin.

Notes

You may wish to use fresh coconut for the coconut cream. You will need around 445g of grated coconut. Squeeze the coconut for 170ml 'first round' milk. Cook over low heat til it boils and thickens like cream. Stir all the time while cooking and allow to cool.

The original recipe only asked for 9 egg whites but I found that it wasn't spongy enough. I remember that Ling added extra egg whites in the past so I think 10 should do the trick.

Use the green food colouring with discretion. Original recipe asked for 1 tsp but I don't like my cake to be too green so I only used half the portion. I guess it will depend on whether you're using pandan essence or real pandan juice. Try to use pandan juice cos the aroma and taste will turn out different and real juice makes it better.

The original recipe can be found here.