Review: Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory @ Chinatown Point

I think Chir Chir needs no introduction? I've mentioned about them here  (OMG! Exactly, a year ago when I blogged about them! LOL!). Anyway, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, take a walk at 313 Somerset's B3 during dinner time. That long queue will lead you to Chir Chir. :) 

Anyway, being a fan of Chir Chir's fried chicken, I'm all excited to know what the Korean franchise has came up in their new menu! 

 Honey Butter Chicken ($28.90)

This new creation is inspired by the latest honey Butter craze in Korea. Love the slightly sweet coating on the deboned chicken, potato wedges and pan fried toppoki! 

Those pan fried topokki were so addictive! 

Review: Captain K Seafood Tower @ Prinsep Street

Captain K Seafood Tower, this 9-tiers seafood tower is bringing hotpot/steamboat to a whole new level!  Mr Tan and I were invited by this newly opened restaurant for a dinner. :)

Captain K here implies Korean, it's a concept that is being brought over from the K world, adding to the multitude of Korean inspired food choices in Singapore. While seafood tower obviously suggests that you're in for a seafood feast! ^^

Think 9 layers of steamed shells. Seafood fans, are you excited yet? :D 

Review: Masizzim @ 313 Somerset

Previously I reviewed on Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory, which has became a big hit now in the Korean Fried Chicken scene! Queues form really quickly outside both the 313 and bedok outlets during peak hours! I heard the waiting time can be as long as an hour? Wow.

With the huge success, the same folk behind Chir Chir now brings in another popular Korea food chain, Masizzim, to Singapore! 

Unlike the usual Korean food that we see, Masizzim brings you a whole new representation of Korean food culture! Yes, there is definitely more to Korean food than bibimbap and kimchi. :)

Recipe: Korean Jjimdak + Army Stew

A quick update before I disappear! Hahaha! Sorry, managing a blog is really so time consuming! Omg! 

Follow my on dayre instead if you're interested to stalk about my life! :P

Anyway, here is a recipe or rather, two recipes which have been sitting in my backlog. A Korean type of dinner that I've made for the family! :D  

If you could recall, I have previously made a Korean-style dinner for the family as well. 

Here! Click on the picture for the recipes! ^^

Recipe: Bibimbap (birthday dinner 2015)

The last of my birthday post! :P 

Read part 1 here, where Mr Tan brought me for a failed surprise vintage high tea at House Dempsey! Haha. 

Part 2, where we had a cosy afternoon tea (yes, more sweets for us. :P) at O'Coffee Club. 

So finally, it's time to celebrate with my family. :) 

Well, usually we will head out for a buffet lunch/dinner, but the brother suddenly wanted to make a feast for me! 

Oh wow! It's definitely not an everyday affair that the bro is so willing to cook, of course I agreed excitedly! Heh. 

So he asked me for a cuisine and naturally, Korean came into my mind first! So Tadah~ presenting my Korean feast right at the comfort of home! :) 

Recipe: Sushi Rolls + Valentine's Day 2015

Another "later-post" which was more than a month late. :P 

Again for memory sake, I'm going to read about our simple Vday together. In fact our 2nd Vday as "SUNTAN". Hehe.. (read my dayre for more recent + instant updates! :D)

So as you can see. We did not have any fanciful Vday dinner at any restaurant, which would have very much up-marketed the price because of this occasion. Mr Tan and I are quite rational creatures. We don't believe in paying X2 or even more of the usual price just because it's Vday. So instead, we made our own feast! ^^

Media invite: Joo Korean Bar

Joo, a brand new makgeolli bar and restaurant located just across Bugis Junction. 

In case you're unfamiliar with the term, makgeolli, it is actually the oldest alcoholic beverage native to Korean. Unlike the more popular, soju, makgeolli is not distilled after fermentation, thus it is a milky white colour instead. 

No worries if you have no idea about the existence of makgeolii, neither did I in the beginning! In fact, Joo is the first in Singapore to proudly brew their own makgeolli! 

Review: Ssikkek Korean Grill BBQ Buffet @ Oriental Plaza

What is the first thing that come into your mind when think of Korean food? I'm sure other than kimchi, Gogigui or Korean BBQ is one of the hot favourite. 

With its flagship outlet at Novena Ville (now shifted to United Square). I have really good experiences over there! In fact I probably have been to Ssikkek  twice or thrice before this. 

For this visit, instead of going to United Square, we decided to go for the one at Chinatown, Oriental Plaza because it is more spacious and I head food wise is different?

Media invite: Kkongdon Barbeque @ Toa Payoh Safra

Kkongdon means ‘best price value’ in Korean language. Originated from Sinchon, Korean, Kkongdon BBQ opened its first outlet in Singapore in 2012 at Marina Square (Marina Link) and has since then expanded to a total of 4 outlets, including this located at Toa Payoh Safra. 

Media invite: SYNC Korean Tapas Bar @ Serangoon Gardens

New kid on the block! 

Located in the heart of Serangoon Gardens is Singapore's first ever Korean Tapas Bar. 

SYNC Korean Tapas Bar.

Sounds familiar? 

That's right, it is brought to you by the same folks behind SYNC Korean Fusion Bistro @ Westgate. 

Recipe: Korean spicy pork bulgogi

Not anything new that I'm in love with Korean food and the love escalated after my visit to Korea last Summer. <3 

This time round I attempted another popular korean dish, spicy pork bulgogi. 

Ingredients:

 pork belly, thinly sliced

onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon gochujang
1 teaspoon Korean sesame oil - or use normal sesame oil if you do not have this
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoon minced garlic
sesame seeds 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method:
1. Marinate pork with gochujang, sesame oil, minced garlic and light soy sauce. Set aside for about 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
2. Heat oil in wok. Stir-fry onion until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add pork,stir-fry until cooked through.
4. Garnish with sesame seeds.
5. Serve immediately with rice.

So yummy using the simplest ingredients! :')

Love,

Lirong.

Recipe: Korean-style pumpkin porridge

So here's the continuation of my Korean-inspired meal after the kimbap and roasted pork belly. 

Korean style pumpkin porridge. 

Recipe: Korean oven-roasted pork belly *step-by-step*

Alright continuing from 'Korean-inspired dinner', here is the step-by-step guide to roasting pork belly using a simple conventional oven. 

Oven roasted Korean pork belly (recipe adapted from here).

Recipe: Kimbap (Korean 'sushi') *step-by-step*

Because I love kimbap so much from my Seoul trip, I just have to replicate it. 

So here's my step-by-step guide to kimbap making (recipe adapted and modified from here), which I assure you is simpler that it sounds! 

Ingredients:

2 cups sushi rice

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

4 eggs, beaten, fried and cut into long strips 

Sliced pickled radish (Bought from Korean mart)

8 imitation crabsticks, boiled and cut into half each

Sliced cucumbers

Dry roasted seaweed (Bought from Korean mart)

Method: 

1. Wash the rice several times until you get the clear water. Drain and add given amount of water and cook the rice in a rice cooker as per normal.

2. When the rice is ready, transfer into a large bowl, add the rice vinegar and toss thoroughly together with cutting motion. **Do not smash the rice. You may sprinkle sesame seeds if you like. 

Cover the rice with damp towel and set aside to cool. Meanwhile prepare the filling.

3. Spread a sheet of seaweed over the bamboo sushi roll with the shining side facing the bamboo sushi roll.

 4. Spread about 3 tbsp of seasoned rice evenly over about 1/2 of seaweed (leaving 1" in the front and 2" at the back of rice for rolling later). 

5. Place the fillings one at a time over the rice toward you .

6. Lift up the front side of seaweed, carefully and quickly roll over the filling to cover them.

 7. At the end, wrap the entire seaweed roll with bamboo roll and gently squeeze to secure. 

And we are done with one! :) It's not that hard isn't it? Initially, I thought I probably would break the seaweed when rolling, however the seaweed was 'stronger' than I would imagine. Zero damage to the seaweed! :D  

With the 2 cups of rice I managed to make 8 rolls of kimbap. 

All you have to do finally is to slice which of them and enjoy the fruit of your labour! 

Tadah! 

These kimbaps were well-received by the family and I'm definitely making them again! 

These were the dinner spread for one of our usual Sunday night. It took me almost the whole day to prepare (well, I slacked off here and there), but I can say it was all worth the time when I got the stamp of approval from the fam. <3 

Anyways, coming up will be another step-by-step guide to roasting pork belly using the oven. So stay tune! :)

PS: for the recipe of kimchi jjigae please click here while for the recipe of rabokki please click here 

Loves,

Lirong. 

Recipe: Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup

Sorry to keep you waiting if you have requested for this recipe! My bad, I'm sorry! So here you go. :)

Samgyetang (삼계탕/参鸡汤), is a  Korean style chicken soup which consists of a whole chicken and Korean ginseng. In Korea,  this soup is believed to prevent illness and it is traditionally served in the summer for its supposed nutrients, which replaces those lost through excessive sweating and physical exertion during the hot summer in Korea. 

Ingredients (source):
1 Whole Chicken
3 - 4 Pieces Finger-thick Fresh or Dried Ginseng Roots, washed
4 Red Dates
2 Thin Slices of Ginger
2 Cloves Garlic, washed and lightly pound
2 Stalks Spring Onion, washed 
Extra Chestnut and Gingko Nut, 4 each(optional)

Stuffing:
1/2 Cup(100g) Glutinous Rice, rinse and soaked for 30 minutes
4 Red Dates
4 Fresh Chestnuts, shell and skin removed
4 Fresh Ginkgo Nuts, shell and skin removed
2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Method:

1. Clean and rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside. Meanwhile drain the soaked glutinous rice and combine with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.  

2. First using one or two red dates to block the opening from the chicken neck area in order to prevent the stuffing from oozing out during simmering. Next stuff the rice mixture into the chicken.(remember not to pack the mixture too tightly as it will swell during cooking) 

3. When done, close the cavity of the chicken by threading a skewer/toothpick or using portion of the ginseng root/red dates to block the opening. 

4. Place chicken in a soup pot/claypot large enough to hold the chicken, add in enough water to cover the chicken then scatter in remaining ingredients (ginseng roots, garlic, ginger, red dates, extra ginkgo nuts and chestnut) and bring it to boil.

5. Skim off the white foam, cover and low the heat and simmer gently for about 50 - 60 minutes(turning the chicken once/twice).

Dinner is serve. Enjoy!:)

I'm submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Recipe: Ddukbokki or tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Rice Cake)

I love to create new dishes in the kitchen and I'm a very greedy person so the things that I made are usually loaded with too-many-different-ingredients so nu surprise that the food I make are usually very upsized. hahaha! Wells, that's my style! So one day I finally set my mind to make the famous Korean food, ddukbokki. FYI, I have not eaten enough ddukbokki to make any authentic ones. So this recipe is really very much based on my own preference. :)

Ingredients:

1. Topokki hot sauce (available in NTUC, under Korean food section)

2. Korean rice cakes (available in NTUC, under Korean food section)

3. Napa cabbage, thinly sliced

4. Carrots, thinly sliced

5. Leeks, sliced

6. chopped onions and garlic

**Noted I did not put in any korean fish cakes because I couldn't find them :( 

Method:

1. Boil the korean rice cakes in medium fire till soften

2. Add 2 tbsp of oil to a frying pan and fry the onions and garlic till golden brown

3. Add in the vegetables, let the mixture simmer for about 2mins on medium fire

4. Add in the pre-boiled rice cakes and give a quick stir

5. Add in the topokki hot sauce followed by 200ml of water

6. Cook under low fire until the sauce has thickened slightly (about 10mins)

7. Serve. Get ready a huge bowl of rice because the sauce is seriously daebak!!! 

Tadah! :D

I probably will be waiting another soon, but I'm going to be more adventitious this time round! Hehe, guess how am I going to transform this transitional Korean food? Stay tune! :P