sugarcane juice

today we celebrate another national drink (besides milo) that can be found in almost ALL the foodcentres in singapore. after all, what's a food centre without the traditional "cooling" drink made from freshly squashed sugarcane? forget your canned drink or kopi-O, this beverage is your perfect mealtime accompaniment, washing down your oily char kway teow or mee goreng with its refreshing coolness and non-additives goodness. a huge mug like this is also sometimes much cheaper than your canned drink at $1-$1.50.

i find the sugarcane juice at Adam Road foodcentre's Sugarcane Factory especially delicious, and it has a catchy marketing technique of "satisfaction guaranteed" where you can get your money back if you find the drink unsatisfactory. it is not diluted and the sweetness just right and not too overbearing and is served in a generous big cup. another famous sugarcane juice comes from this place near orchard underpass where there's an exit to the marriot hotel. its a food marketplace or something there and has a stall there which sells sugarcane juice with variants like adding lemon or sour plum. you can see many working pple carrying cups of said green beverage back to work during lunch hours.

finally, the above picture comes from the harbourfront food centre and is a classic example of a honest-to-goodness mug of local sugarcane. it has a slice of lemon in it to add a zesty tinge to it to better wash away the oiliness after a meal. sweet and sour, the way we like it.

go on, have a cup of kam jiak zui the next time you lunch at a foodcentre!

random foods from the heartland

(no photos today. they are such a hassle on blogger!)

so after quite a while, i'm back! been busy sampling food from around the island so spare me. first up, i would like to recommend this stall in the Harbour Front Food Centre (beside the bus interchange). it sells hokkien mee, char kway teow and carrot cake. the 3 essentials to every local singaporean's diet. that day after my and my 2 friends went tanning at sentosa, we decided to drop down to the food centre for a quick dinner. we descended upon that stall for it seemed quite popular (their plates dotted the tables). to our pleasant surprise, each dish costs exactly SGD$2. it is quite rare these days to find 2 dollar dishes, but here it is, hidden in a remote corner of singapore.

i tried the hokkien mee, while the other 2 had the black carrot cake and CKT. delightful. i saw the uncle putting some stock into the hokkien mee while frying and that must have given the dish its wet, fragrant and slippery texture. they cook on the spot for you, so it is piping hot. the CKT and carrot cake are also very tasty, not too sweet (from the black sauce) and not salty as well. pair them with a big mug of sugarcane lemon juice at $1 and you have the most local and satisfying meal of your life, all for $3. incredible.

next up is the food in Jurong Point Food Court. finding a seat in that food court is virtually impossible during mealtimes so one has to be equipped with patience and a tolerating stomach. venturing into that area is also gastronomically tempting as each stall gives out its own tantalising aroma so you feel like trying the food from every stall. there is the famous Loy Kee Chicken Rice stall and i observe pple tucking in the Lai Lai Homemade Curry. i tried the tom yam seafood steamboat from the stall that is right smack in the middle of the 2 rows of stalls with its attention-grabbing metal mini-steamboat with fire underneath. the western fish and chips is also worth a mention with its generous portions and well fried fish :)

but the most memorable dish is the Golden Pillow meal of fried rice wrapped with a thin layer of egg. this preserves the heat and the moisture of the rice as well as make for a unique presentation. chicken cutlets are also provided, and those are nice and crunchy and fried well. add some ketchup and it becomes an extremely fun and delicous meal!

desserts

today, its about desserts. specifically, very sinful ones.



nydc mudpie
for the uninitiated, nydc serves delicious mudpies at 9.90 each. its basically a slice of ice cream cake drenched with chocolate sauce with topped with whipped cream. depending on what flavour you get, but i would strongly recommend the cookie monster, the jedi mudster and the irish cream. grandma goes nuts is also worth a try! they will send you to straight to heaven at the first bite. the crazysexycool mudpie was not that great. anyway its a great dessert to share with a friend (so that you can share the calories) and then get high with sugar rush and chocolate high. you can eat it on its own, but try the baked pasta/rice if you feel more than desserty. i esp dig the chicken pepper baked rice/pasta. yummy and worth it at 9.90 too!



and next up is the Swensens Earthquake! can u smell, what the rock is cookin'?? *earth trembles and shake* ha this is one hell of a ice cream ride. lets see, we ordered lime sherbet, orange sherbet, chewy choclate, yummy raisins, strawberry, cookies and cream, choco malt and thin mint. topped with nuts, whipped cream, cherries, caramel, strawberry and blueberry syrup.. omg. sugar explosion. we could practically feel our waistlines expanding. but its just 16.90 for pure pleasure! share it with 3 other pple and its like 5 bux each. how cool is that? ice cool!

oh ok this is unrelated but i tried the Oriental Chicken Salad from KFC and i like :)