i must admit that the 'high-life' culture which has been incorporated into us (gold, xt, qinghui, hao jung, sihui, szeyee and i) by raymond has really rejuvenated my love and passion for good food. however, good food dun always necessarily come with high prices. as the conversation that i had with the photocopying auntie just 30min ago, we both agreed that sometimes the simplest, and humble food, can be the nicest of food that we will ever have. reason being: ex-food makes you feel rich, not necessarily happier, nor healthier. but simple food can also be food for the soul and bring you in harmony with nature as you appreciate it not with just your palates, but with your heart.
that's what i've been trying to attempt (yea ok... just ignore my double usage of 2 words with synonymous definition over here... can you just concentrate on what i'm trying to express?) when i idly walked down the ntuc fariprice near my home and chanced upon a really rare promotion that they had for portobello mushrooms. the nutritional benefits of one of these can never be overemphasized. just their antioxidants alone is enough to leave you screaming in... erm... excitement.
so after adding a few accessories like a dash of freshly grounded pepper, chopped red onions, single slice of my favourite tomato (another powerful source of antioxidants), sprinkles of oregano and basil leaves, and a generous shower of mozarella cheese, not to mention coating the plate with slightly salted butter, i placed the beautiful, sexy-looking thing into a pre-heated oven.
in this instance, the temperature and heat-exposure time is crucial. it is very important that the oven is pre-heated so that the moment you place the mushroom inside, it gets warmed up evenly and not chao tar on top and soggy below. after the direct heat of 175 degrees celcius for a minute (no hard and fast rule... as long as it's moderate, and not blazing hot), the mushroom is left in the deactivated, but still powerfully warm oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is browned. if you happen to have colour deficiency, you can always depend on your chao-tar proof olfactory senses to sniff for the doneness of the mushroom.
so this is how it looked like before...
and after exposure to heat radiation... nice right? great... i'm making myself really hungry man.
ok... here is an example of unhealthy food which i assure i did absolutely nothing to have any part in it. it's a close to 40 bucks worth of ice-cream bucket where 5 of them tried to share and finish this seemingly impossible venture
it's at one of those jap-fusioned-with-western shop at the entrance of iluma. it's caleed bentien bento or something
and this is just one of those adventures that i had in search of traditional, handmade food. and the obvious place to go to is definitely chinatown.
when i passed by the shop-space of 2 shops, i'm deeply touched. 1 of the shop-spaces is dedicated to the handmade process of their buns and other pastries. the multi-layered 'phenomenon' that you witnessed here is really one-of-kind man. fascinating!
let me tell you another thing that touched me and motivated me to pay for a single meal that costs around 9 bucks. i must say, i had no regrets at all. and in fact, i thought that i had actually got a great bargain. this shop spans a total of 3 shop spaces. 2 of it is dedicated to the roasting process and it's where 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' takes on a literal meaning. you can actually see the whole roasting process and everything that they did. another factor that caught my attention is that the stall owners are really old. and as the saying goes, wisdom and experience comes with age. and if they have been around for this amount of time, they sure know by now what they are doing and how to be really good at it.
what's really amazing is that they give you a can of gravy to go with and you can add in any portions you want. and i realised that if you add it to the rice, it'll accentuate the fragrance of the rice with the incopration of the essence of the gravy. simply heavenly and you can simply eat the rice with sauce on its own. i was initially worried that the roasted skin would be soggy but to my contrary belief, it's as crsipy, and as fresh tasting as it could get. with the yellow beans as part of its traditional trait, you can be sure that you can't go wrong with this dish if you're looking for authentic, great-tasting duck drumstick rice.
gosh... my tummy's groaning in protest already. gotta go! cya! oh and for those who're probably cursing me for not specifying the shop, i'm truly sorry i din really get the place. all i know is it's at the food center beside the peopl'e park complex and simply look for the shop with its roasting ovens and all. you can't miss it.
