07 Jan 2012 - Xiao Bar Wang and 4fingers

She finally got to try the braised meat meal box $3.80 from Xiao Bar Wang. They'd used lean meat instead of all the fatty portions one would in Taiwan. It was still tasty anyway.

He decided to have the vermicelli soup (mee sua) $3.30 for the umpteenth time. That orange bit of chilli paste packed more than enough spice to leave him sweating. And also upset the digestive system a few hours later. Why did he ask for chilli, then? Because it's worth it.


After cleaning out the set above, they shuffled across to 4fingers for some crispy chicken wing parts. 1 piece of chicken means either the drumlet, or the mid-joint and wing. Asked for the a 12 piece set ($14.50 - upsized) with combo sauce, soy garlic + spicy. Outside crispy and the inside well marinated. Some pieces were a little too salty though.


Came with a drink, and fries sprinkled with some herb seasoning.

02 Oct 2011 - Xiao Bar Wang (Ion)

Apologies for the haphazard pictures. They were cramped at a small table and that made the food all the more inviting. (excuses... excuses...)

After all that trotting around town, all the while trying to determine whether to get Ipad2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1, it was decided that they have something light.

Stepped into Xiao Bar Wang at around 8pm, and noticed the shop had more manpower than usual. They'd usually see 2 people at the counter, but on this day, there were 4 or 5 of them. The exuberant pretty lady serving them was new, but looked awfully familiar. He wasn't really sure until another lady served up some items. This second lady, he immediately recognized as television artiste Apple Hong! It then dawned upon him that the friendly lady manning the counter was Ong Ai Leng. So pretty! Both of their faces looked smaller than on screen, especially Apple Hong's. Or maybe, it was just his glasses. Alright, enough of raving, time to get to the food. (wanted to ask them for pictures, but then a queue had already formed)

Got the Set 1, which comprised of Mee Sua (rice vermicelli), crispy chicken strips, tea flavored egg, and choice of drink. $7.30.

Mee sua with meat balls instead of oysters. Like the soup base and the thick texture of the broth. This time round, he also requested for chilli and just that bit introduced quite a kick. Small cup of milk tea in the background (right).


Tea egg and crispy chicken. The egg was well flavored, evident from the coloring of the whites. The bag used to hold the chicken was also wrapped like a cone, perhaps to make it easier to reach the food. (more pictures from another source, soon)


And yes, they had this earlier in the afternoon. BK Turkey Bacon meal and they redeemed a BK Fish with a coupon cutoff.

17 Nov 2010 - home-made oyster vermicelli

Just yesterday, they visited the supermarket. Some of the ingredients were gotten so that they could satiate cravings for oyster vermicelli (mee sua).

What they bought:
1x pack of vermicelli $1.10
1x pack of frozen oysters $4
1x pepper corn grinder $7.08
2x packs of cheese sausages $7.95
1x pack of parsley $0.85

Woke up really late today, so oyster mee sua was to be late brunch. Preparations as below, they used 2 pots of water, 1 for mee sua and another for blanching the oysters. Please note that this tastes nothing like the Taiwanese version which many of us love, it's just homemade and good enough for them.

For the mee sua pot:
1. Put to boil 3 bowls of water in the pot
2. Add 2x chicken stock cubes into the pot, 1x tablespoon premium dark soy sauce and 1x tablespoon standard dark soy sauce into the pot
3. Put mee sua into the pot when water starts boiling again
4. Add corn starch as needed to thicken the broth
(on hindsight, they probably should have tried adding a little Chinese culinary wine too)

For the oysters
1. Defrost and rinse (some of them burst easily, sad)
2. Drain and pat with corn starch
3. Blanch oysters in batches in the other pot of boiling water using a colander ladle (to protect oysters from strong bubbling)
4. Remove and put in a serving bowl to cool

To serve, heap vermicelli into a bowl, then add oysters at the top. Garnish with condiments of your choice. For them, one teaspoon of vinegar adds some zest, another teaspoon of sesame seed oil for aroma, and decorating with a sprig of parsley completes the picture with a certain sense of freshness.

His setting of the bowl for her


Her setting of the bowl for him


Sounds all beautiful, right? In between, they had actually microwaved a remaining potato to make cheese potato. Put the new grinder toy to work, and sprinkled the peppercorns onto the melted cheese. She added a sprig of parsley just for the picture.


They also had a pack of 5 cheese sausages microwaved, but it had all been gobbled up way before they even remembered the camera.

29 May 2010 in Taiwan

had a filling breakfast this day. simple meals look very good under orange/yellow lighting huh.

sandwich


egg wrap - a little like roti prata with filling


finished up with packing to check out for taipei. a colleague got hungry on the high speed rail and look what he got. chicken bento. smelt really good, especially when his was the only meal in that car.


finally reached ximen mrt station to start searching for our hotel


saw this really huge heineken poster on a party world building. made for it, probably.


checked into their "3 star" goodground hotel, where some rooms had no window, and the aircon was was centrally controlled. SGD80/night, wow.

good thing that it was right smack in the shopping (food) belt. just around the bend was the famous a zong mee sua. immediately ordered the 60NT big bowl. slurped up everything gratefully. look at the queue.


also found some time to get their butts down to freedom square to watch the change parade. drizzling all the way, got themselves wet but luckily not sick.


and the best part? took the mrt to jiantan for shilin market.


the chicken cutlet was really a huge portion. somehow the batter did not stick onto the meat, and it sort of enveloped a layer of hot air between itself and the chicken. the batter also seemed to be the same one used to make oyster omelette over there. one thing worth noting is that the cutlet wasn't boneless.


next on the expedition list, 红油抄手 as recommended by colleague


looked like normal dumplings topped with vegetable and extremely salty satay sauce. the below is the normal 抄手.


红油抄手, supposed to be spicier?


close up after he had bit into one


still not feeling satisfied, they decided to attack another stall. 棺材版 coffin board again. the bread tasted better than the one they had at 六合 night market.


that was all for this day. perhaps.