soup of the day: tangy roasted tomato rasam (non-spicy)

Inspired by a recent Slug Supper outing at Alif Corner Restaurant, a rasam is a thin, very spicy southern Indian soup served alone or combined with other foods, such as rice, as a side dish. To make it our own, we’ve added a handful of basil leaves and taken out the “very spicy” bit.

Today’s soup is meant to go with today’s fish.

special catch: Parmesan-dill Breaded Dory with seasoned potato wedges, homemade zingy sambal belacan mayo dip by side

You know how when someone is frying sambal belacan the whole world kinda sorta knows it? And if you  smell it in the air and go, “Ahhhhh this is LURRRVVVVVVE” then you, my dear friend, get a 100% A+++ grade in true-blue Southeast Asian-ness.

Regular food shot.

Close-up shot.

Split open that creamy sweet dory shot.

dessert special: Vanilla Mudpie stuffed with Baileys Truffles, New York cheesecake chunks, Dark Chocolate Fudge and Almond Cookie Crumble

soup of the day: Hungarian-styled mushroom soup.
Earthy and creamy with a hint of smoked paprika and fresh lemon. Just like them Hungarians. No that’s not true and you knew that. OK NEXT TOPIC!

special main: a hunky piece-a brined pork roasted in thyme.
Accompanied by a very well-meaning ginger-roasted pear and perry gravy, served over hand-mashed potatoes.

A perry is an alcoholic drink made from the fermented juice of pears. Why isn’t it just called “peary”, riiiight? Anyhoo. For this dish we use everyone’s favourite perry – Brothers Festival Pear Cider. KYAAAAA!

24-hour home-brined pork, stuffed with crushed garlic, rubbed with thyme, basted with pear cider, steam-baked for hours until tender.

The brine we make is from root vegetables and soy broth infused with bay leaves, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorns.

dessert special: all-natural red velvet pancakes. With cream cheese, raspberry coulis and maple pecan crunch.

Is all natural because Le Ingrédients are all natural (also, we love repeating the words “all natural”.) To obtain that lovely ruby red, we use freshly puréed beetroot instead of bottled colouring.

Also. Le maple pecan crunch is da bomb. That’s an opinion coming from a squirrel who loves all forms of nuts. So don’t agree until you try it yourself. That is all, folks.

It’s basically Mindy’s Chicken Pasta (spicy), with added mushrooms and sliced bratwurst. Simple yet hearty, just like Susan <3

soup of the day: creamy roasted pumpkin with a touch of nutmeg

We’re going somewhat Asian this week, starting with the touch of nutmeg. YES NUTMEG IS ASIAN THE DEBATE ENDS HERE.

special main: Asian-inspired Puttanesca with large, juicy prawns, white button mushrooms, shallots, olives and ‘chye po’

To make any Italian dish somewhat Asian, replace capers with chye po (preserved radish). So clever we are.

dessert special: Muar-inspired Sweet Banana Fritters with a generous scoop of vanilla gelato & spicy caramel drizzle

Anyone from Muar (and there are plenty in Singapore) will tell you it’s difficult to find decent pisang goreng (banana fritters) in Singapore. Joe’s done a pretty good job attempting to replicate the pisang goreng he had in Muar.

We’re likely to be busy this weekend, so it’s best to make a reservation if you’re planning to pop by. Quickest way is to call the shop at 6346-0504 or SMS 9225-7913 to book a good table.

I couldn’t decide on a card for you, so I picked all three from Scallop Inc. These cards are hand-stitched by dear friends of mine. I didn’t just get them because Sook & Fishe made them (okay that’s part of the reason. And don’t ask me why I have a friend named “Fishe”). I mean everything it says on them cards. I do love you. You are the best. And often I feel all the thankyous in the world could never suffice.. but thank you Mum, for everything.

I think you are the sort of mother everyone wishes they had, which constantly reminds me how lucky I am to have you. The other constant reminder is the fact that my friends May and Charlie have repeatedly told me they would like to hang out with you more, because they think you are really cool. Just you. Without me in the picture. :-/ They say I am super uncool. With friends like these who needs enemies, right?

You might like this week’s soup, because you like soup in general. Puréed vegetable soup w/ sage chilli brown butter. We can leave out the sage chilli thingy if you’re afraid it’s too spicy or oily, but it does add a nice little punch to the soup. Just a small, friendly, jab-in-the-shoulder type of punch, nothing too violent at all.

I asked Joe to make a chicken stew. (Okay, chicken stew was actually Sook‘s idea because she thought something “traditional” would go with the vintage-esque cards she’s hawking.) But Joe had other ideas. He always does. Paper-wrapped chicken baked in chardonnay & water chestnut consommé, served with antipasto pasta salad. A “consommé” is just a fancy name for clear soup. I think the chardonnay bit might excite you; after all Dad doesn’t call you a toper for nothing.

Dessert was also made with you in mind. I know you love lavender, judging by the bushels of dried lavender flowers you carted back from Grandaunt Mavis’ garden in Melbourne last year. And that you always only buy the lavender-scented Yardley’s talcum powder. Lavender panna cotta w/ summer berry compote, with chocolate Baileys truffle as an added delight. Compote is a fancy way of saying fruit that is stewed in a syrup.
And yes, the truffles have your favourite nightcap in them – Baileys Irish Cream.

I’ll be working most of this weekend, and I might forget to call or text. But I know you’ll see this because I know you often stalk our website. Often the things I want to say are never really said. Must be an Asian upbringing thing. Although, I think you and Dad both know you’ve done a really good job in bringing up rather decent, well-adjusted children.

I saw this video at the end of Scallop Inc’s blog post, thought you might like it. You know I can never really cry, but this one made me choke and tear at the end of it.

Thanks Mum, I love you.

Business as usual from Tuesday 8th May 2012, 6.00pm.

But first, a video.

Ah, The Bee Gees. They were SO kool. So masculine and so feminine. We rike.

soup of the day: double mushroom potage
Rather ordinary, some might say. We are but ordinary people, leading ordinary lives.
And sometimes a little bit of ordinary solace is what we seek in this mad, greedy world full of mad, greedy people.

Anyhoo. Remember to check-in on Foursquare when you visit us and someday a cup of soup-o-the-day may just be yours, on the house.

special main: chargrilled tender chicken breast with spicy mojo sauce
What is in the mojo sauce? Why is it called a mojo sauce? One has to ask the Mo Joe himself:

Le mojo sauce contains le tangy orange, le toasted cumin, le crushed garlic, and le smoked paprika. This combinaison is guaranteed to put le mojo into anything you do ~ cooking, spring-cleaning, eating, drinking, not thinking..

With the wise words of The Mo Joe himself in mind, have the tender chargrilled chicken atop Real Mash™, OR with pasta aglio olio con funghi, OR gently clasped in a lightly-toasted sesame bun.

Photos only of spicy mojo chicken breast atop Real Mash™. We leave the rest to your imagina-syion.

dessert special: Black. Forest. Lava. Cake.
‘Nuff said.

Ask to have this with a generous scoop of vanilla gelato to complete the picture.

So, on your first visit, diddly-doo twiddly-thumbs.. there’s nothing for you but hey whip out the phone and check-in anyway. ‘Coz that’ll get you somewhere on your next and next-next visits. Genius, right? Right.

All you have to do is flash any one of us… the “unlocked prize” screen on your smartphone.

We’re always open to feedback on how we can make things more exciting, Foursquare specials included. We love hearing from you and we try to make ourselves available a few hours a day on Facebook and Twitter. So come talk to us.

And. You’re welcome.

soup of the day: onion & quinoa bisque, sprinkled with dill
Had to look this one up. Le Kitchen Slugs like to cook things which Le Drivel Writer no understand. Le dictionary says quinoa (pronounced kin-wa) is “a goosefoot found in the Andes, where it was widely cultivated for its edible starchy seeds before the introduction of Old World grains“.
Two questions:
1) Simi si ‘goosefoot’?
2) Simi si ‘Old World grains’ ?

With a tippy-tap of le keyboard, le dictionary then explained goosefoot is “a plant of temperate regions with divided leaves that are said to resemble the foot of a goose. Some kinds are edible and many are common weeds“.

So there. We’re feeding you weed seeds.

And speaking of dill, we thought this was knee-slapping guffaw-inducing HI-LA-RIOUS


© Threadless

This week, instead of having a thing to share-share, we are introducing you a new menu item.

Introducing: The ULTIMATE Bangers & Mash
Ultimately, if you’re a Bangers & Mash fan, this would be like, the ultimate fantasy. The B&M to rule all B&Ms.

Featuring three studly bangers: German pork bratwurst, chicken chipolata, and spicy Italian pork & beef sausages. Handsomely sat atop Real Mash™, with sautéed onions and wholegrain mustard for merry accompaniment.

special main: Seafoodura Tempura Singapura
Beer-battered seafood and beans tempura, with a zingy garlicky taucheo sauce.
Simi si ‘taucheo’? Taucheo si soybean paaaaaste. (you must say this in a very aunty-aunty tone okayyyy)

Use fingers and dip-dip like this for full enjoyment. But if you want to use fork, also can, we won’t judge you.

dessert special: brûlée all-butter cake, with plump red wine poached plums
And a generous scoop of vanilla gelato topped with almond tar to top it all off

This is what we call “The Titanic shot”

Thank you once again, for reading right till the very end. We are deeply, deeply heartened by your… patience. So here’s a little reward for those of us who prefer quiet days and quiet nights: Should our gentle reader choose to visit our humble li’l diner on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowd, here’s a little Happy Hour special you might enjoy.

See you this weekend, and see you one of these quiet nights too.