OK so you wanna set up a supperclub? (Part 2) – 10 incredibly mindnumbing tips (cont’d)

Riding on the dusty coattails from the immensely blockbustering Oprah Winfrey post of the week post on How to Set Up a SupperClub, we “completely” “accidentally” “stumbled” on this link a “friend” sent to us and realised that it does sound remarkably like this wikihow site on how to make an amateur pr0rn0 - except maybe that bit about lubricants.

[Dont ask why we were googling that. I did tell you this schupperclub gig makes no money.]

So yes, if you missed the last instalment, we were getting all teary-eyed and sentimental at how plusixfive is all grown up now at a full one year old.

*awwwwwwwww* 

And how we decided that it might be a good idea to pass on some supperclub tips if you ever lost all your marbles, every semblence of sanity, decided sleep was overrated and stress underrated, and inviting possible monsters and ex-murderers into your home, and start a supperclub of sorts, hoping that by someone from national tv might just have you for the next Rachel Khoo (yes we’ve told goz to stop putting on red lipstick…)

No goz you are not her.

This was also catalystasized (?) by couple of emails and forum posts I saw / received all the way from New York to Vietnam sparked by them reading a piece on us in theonlinecitizen and Business Times newspaper. These kids were asking why there wasnt a plusixfive in their countries and were inspired to start one. So this one’s for you kiddo’s. Wherever you are whatever you are doing, I hope you read this, rock out the patriotism, the Majulah Singapura, the DragQueenKumar, the MrBrown, and bring some Singapore food action to wherever you are and kick some tastebuds into action.

(now i eagerly await hatemail from trolls accusing me for being a front for some undercover singapore gahmen / government ministry. Which happens everytime i spit out a little bit of patriotism. Check them out in the comments section here for instance.)

Any comments or queries or if you just need a general kick in the bum to set up your supperclub – drop us (plusixfive@gmail.com) or http://www.edibleexperiences.com/ a line and we’ll sort you guys out! 

So ’nuff chat, here’s

FOUR MORE TIPS ON THE ROAD TO ROCKING YOUR OWN SUPPERCLUB HEAVEN!

 YAY!

(7) DISH PLANNING AND TIMING

Ok you wanna sit down one day and list down all the dishes you think you can cook competently and confidently.

Now take that list and split it between (a) what can be done very quickly (salads, cut fruits, gazpacho, oyster shooters) and (b) what needs days of prepping (8 hour ox cheek rendang)

You basically want a good balance between the two. Ideally you want to be able to prep EVERYTHING before hand and then just reheat/ assemble/ or flash fry during service. But unless you are serving nothing but stews, salads, stews and salads, i guess thats gonna be pretty difficult.

Assuming you arent a professional chef with an industrial kitchen and a team of sous chefs and commies, you wanna be able to dish out starters at the beginning which you have prepped before hand and maybe just need some simple assembly. Then whilst people are gobbling that up, you can go on to assemble your next dish. Now time yourself. You basically dont want too much of a lag time between the courses as people absolutely hate waiting for their food. Neither do people like to rushed so dont throw everything on the table in the first 20 mins.

GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE YOU A$$HOLE!

okok pantyface sheesh.. so for example,

7:30pm: Guests arrive.

8pm: I usually serve up three starters which I have prepped before hand and which need minimal reheating or grilling. Then because they are reasonably small portions, these usually go quite quickly, so you have to watch the guests and make sure they dont get too bored.

8:15/8:20pm: Then in the meanwhile, i prep the mains. So I spoon out something I made earlier in the day, or the night before (like my 8 hours ox cheek rendang) or my nonya stir fry vegetable stew or my fish head curry. And serve up the rice. Now these are pretty bigbum dishes so everyones gonna sit back and chillax and pace themselves. Also because there’s rice, everyone’s just gonna chill out and slowly eat it. Well. most of the time anyway. You get sometime to mingle, talk about the dishes. Sometimes people ask for more rice etc etc.

8:45/ 9pm: So theres usually some peace and quiet in the kitchen. So if i can be bothered, I either go about frying an egg dish which is pretty easy or a prawn dish because prawns cook pretty quickly.

But usually i mostly just do this:

Ok *snap* you are back in the room.

9:30pm: Then i leisurely full of relaxation from my dance routine serve up my desserts and coffee, thank my lucky stars no one stabbed themselves in the face with chopsticks or choked on a fishbone and i dont have to give CPR to that disgusting fatbumface in the room (whew).

In a nutshell, PLAN DISHES YOU CAN COOK AND SERVE IN A REASONABLY QUICK TURNAROUND. You might wanna show off all your crazy cooking skills and people might appreciate the effort but people will also curse you and your family vehemently when they leave at 3am.

This is worse in a supperclub because if its taking too long in a resto, you just tell the waiter to cancel and up and leave. But in a supperclub, generally nice human beings wont leave, or they feel its too awkward to leave, British people are such nice stiff upper lipped people, they’ll probably never ever leave or say a bad word even if you made them wait for hours and serve burnt toast i reckon.

Now when you got your reasonably awesome dishes in your head…figure out how many plates you will be needing. Or how many change of plates you will be needing and…………………

(8) CUPS AND CHOPSTICKS

my fork rocks so forking hard its devil handsigning.

Ok it sounds stupidly obvious but for the love of God have enough plates/ spoons/ forks/ chopsticks/ napkins/ placemats etc.  In fact have more than enough. Without presuming what your supperclub is (it could be a “eat with your hands off the floor supperclub” or “BYOchairsplatesutensilsSupperclub” in that case, good luck and Godspeed), you should ideally make sure that:

(a) everyone has a clean set of plates, cups and there are sufficient utensils and serving spoons and carving knives etc; and

(b) there are spares lying around in case one breaks or if someone drops a spoon and lucks on on the 5 second rule. And there will inevitably always be that one person who keeps losing his cup and coming round to asking you for another cup. Or that dude who needs three different glasses to drink three different beverage from.

Reason for this is because no one, not you nor your guests wanna you be stressing out washing and drying plates halfway through dinner. It slows everything down and you lose the momentum, your guests get bored, they cant leave cos its awkward, they’re obliged to stay, you stress out even more, serve bad burnt undercooked food, they wanna leave even more but cant cos its awkward… … everything is just thrown out of whack and your world explodes you lose self-esteem, turn to crystal meth, evanescence and gothic eyeshadow.

(9) CHAIRS

Unless you regularly have such large numbers of people in your house or your buttocks have a burning desire to sit on a different seat everyday, chances are, no regular house would have that many seats. I recommend these foldable stools from ARGOS.

mmmm u so sexy and flexible… mmmmm..

Cheap and functional and when your supperclub is over, you can fold them away and hide these anti-design monstrosities out of sight.  My only tip is go to ARGOS to pick it up. I had it sent to me once on the morning of a supperclub. It must have been Send Broken Stuff to the Asian Person Day at ARGOS Warehouse or something but they arrived broken. All four of them. *cue panic mode*

Lesson: NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING TO THE LAST MINUTE. DUH.

Utensils and crockery wise, you could hit IKEA where they do some seriously simple and clean Scandi looking plates.

I get all my utensils and crockery from charity shops or antique fairs in the bargain bin. Most if not all of my plates are from people who leave London and give them to me, or Camden Passage – theres a shop with a lady with the OMFGCUTESTEVERsmallfatwhitefurrylildog, she has bargain bins where she sells odds and ends for just about nothing.

(10) GUESTS? PRICING?

Dont be an idiot and charge stupid amounts for your supperclub especially if you arent a well known chef or supperclub. Most amateur ones range from £25 to £35. If you go above that, you better justify it by serving potlots of seafood or are just plain freaking amazing like thelondonfoodiesupperclub or the defunct Tudor Road Supperclub by BenGreeno of Seiobo Momofuku (which incidentally was the first supperclub i ever went to).

How to get your word out and guests in?

(A) Go read point (7) of part one of this post on Social Media

(B) Invite some seriously hip and cool social media peeps

(C) Drop us or  Edible Experiences a line and we’ll sort you out.

(BONUS TIP!) And lastly ENJOY YOURSELF AND ROCK HARD.

Your guests vibe off you.

So if you arent vibing.

They arent vibing.

So like Adrock said, you gotta “rock the house party at the drop of a hat yeaah!“. If your hamster died, discovered a new STD, girlfriend left you, boiler broke, got a hangnail, bad hair day, pimple on nose, then you either suck it up, get some uppers and vibe it. Or just bite the bullet, apologise profusely to your guests and cancel it. And you have all the time to go into a corner curl into foetal position and cry for your mommy.

People come to supperclubs not just to eat the food. Chances are they came for the food AND also to interact with the chef, the front of house, ask about the food, talk to other guests, learn about the cooking etc, they came because they wanted a fuller, funner, wholesomely rounded experience. If not, they would have just gone to a restaurant. They didnt come hear to cheer you up or commiserate about your new STD.

So on the very night itself, assuming, none of the above happened, you wanna enjoy yourself, turn up the AC/DC, Spice Girls (ok maybe not Spice Girls), PJ Duncan (you know want some of that eternal love) , or whatever rumpshaker gets your booty shaking and your nipples tingling. And get your guests VIBING. THINK BIG VIBES.

So now that I have given you all my nuggets of  wisdom and the matrix of supperclubsecrets, go forth and set those curious tingly tastebuds on FIRE!

[insert cool 80s comic pop culture reference]

ARISE SUPPERCLUB RODIMUS PRIME!

REMEMBER! YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWER!!!

STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK (ish… or month or so…) FOR:

And lastly, as this little baby supperclub is coming up to ONE year old at the end of the month – oooh how quick these badboys grow up huh? So expect some super soppy mail out thanking the world and their moms. Probably some houseparty of sorts where we sit around and play a heck of a lotta beastie boys tunes, play scrabble and jenga.

And possibly announcement of a PIG DAY of sorts. When we feed you nothing but pig related products. Singapore style. It’ll be offally good. hurhurhur.

xxxoo

gozgozgozgozgozgozgozgozgozgozgoz

Sayur Lodeh

Reblogged from Tamarind and Thyme:

• 

Sayur lodeh – think of it as a curry and you’ll be disappointed with its gentle flavours; think of it as a thick stew of vegetables in spiced coconut milk and you’ve then got the idea of this comforting Indonesian dish. It’s also been embraced by the Peranakans and Malaysians but strangely, I cannot recall my mother ever cooking it at home.

Read more… 489 more words

Urgh. Im such a wordpress noob and I have stupidly curious fingers. So i saw this REBLOG toggle/button thing when I was reading one of my favourite blogs around for receipes and reviews - Tamarind and Thyme and I accidentally clicked the REBLOG. Thinking it was maybe like a LIKE button or something, I sure like hell didnt think it would drop itself into my wordpress blog! In any event, the lovely Su Lin who runs the site didnt mind so i decided to leave it on anyway. But sorry to everyone who received this in the mail without any headers or footers looking like some weirda$$ spam mail! Like how roast potatoes are best mates with roast chicken and ice lollies on a hot summers day, this is a classic dish I always have back home with my Nasi Lemak / Nasi Padang - its almost a "must" to have this and fried chicken! Enjoy!   

Tags: curry, nasi lemak, nasi padang, sayur lodeh, vegetables

Ok so you wanna set up a supperclub? – 10 vaguely useful tips.

goz on a good day.

That picture pretty much sums up how I felt a good whole year ago. When hours before the first supperclub, I went into pure crystal clear panic overdrive, cursed profusely and wondered why the hell i decided to do this in the first place.

So now one year later, maybe its just me (or my ability to finally understand twitter) but there seems to be a new supperclub popping up every other week. And bizarrely (and this is definitely probably just me), but most of them seem to be asia/ non-European-centric and set up by people generally annoyed by how their nation’s food is represented/ watered down/ Anglo-fied in London. And we think this is pretty darn special.

And having given pointers, helped, advised and given one or two peeps a leg-up and a hindering/helping hand at getting their supperclub started, we dont profess to be experts and pioneers of this whole Asian supperclub movement but we figured why not share some secrets/ tips/ rants/ whines/ grumbles we’ve learnt along the way.

So you dont have to make the same dumba$$ mistakes we went through.

And so you dont have to be that spongebob at the top but instead you can be bi-winning:

Also, plusixfive probably will not be around very much longer so we figured its probably time to hand over the Matrix of Supperclub Truth and Leadership to all you RodimusPrimes [bonus points if you got this 80s pop culture reference].

(1) Why do you wanna do one?

If you are doing it solely bcause you wanna make a heck of a lotta money from this. Then stop reading. You might as well go into amateur p0orn.

Firstly, unless you have your own farm and rear your own poultry/cattle, chances are you are probably going to go to Tescos to get your groceries and already you have lost on the margins there as you are not getting your produce direct from source.

Then take into account the amount of time, energy, hardwork that goes into one and all that time spent prepping and cooking (unless your supperclub is a weird raw food one which requires no prep/cooking…), the time spent cleaning up and washing up, the broken plates and cups (u will inevitably get at least one dumba$$ clumsy drunk guest), scratched up pots and pans, overworked dishwashers… AND last minute cancellations… Its simply not worth the money really.

(2) Think of an novel idea/ concept.

What is it you trying to set out to showcase? plusixfive largely happened cos i was generally annoyed at how everyone knew what Malaysians, Thais, Indonesians, Vietnamese eat… but no one knew what the hell Singaporeans eat and think we stuff our faces everyday with that glorious luminously yellow Singapore Fried Noodles. (NO!)

So go think of an interesting novel concept and cuisine that you are so bada$$ passionate about and that you actually gotta gotta gotta the skillz, the skillz, “what skillz” to pay the billz  to cook it. I think its a fair assumption to think that people coming to a supperclub are generally coming cos they actually wanna eat reasonably good food.

Think of a concept or cuisine that also isnt done to death. I think theres a gazillion supperclubs out there touting themselves as English supperclubs. So think of how you can differentiate yourself from them. I dunno, cook victorian english food or something. Or have a theme. Or be the supperclub that cooks the fat duck cook book (hmmm…. you heard it here first).

Don’t just be the next “English supperclub serving up fresh seasonal English produce”.

(3) Go to a well reviewed well respected supperclub. 

Just to generally see how its run. But go to one which people have at least talked about or there is some buzz about. Dont go to some lamea$$ one no one has heard of. Chances are its run by a psycho who serves up mystery meat and no one will ever hear from you again.

The best is if you can get them to agree to letting you help out (by twisting their arm, bribe, pay, beg, showbigbambieyes, flash body parts, do whatever needs be cos this is the best experience), so you really get into the thick of it and see how its all run operationally. Its no loss really and win-win for all. You probably get to eat the food, interact with guests and generally have a rocking good time.

If you dont get to eat any food, he/she’s a stingy busturd and you should spread vicious rumours about their supperclub.

FYI, plusixfive is generally always in need of a good pair of healthy non-clumsy drunken hands so buzz if you want a look-see at how we do our shiitz round here. Flashing of body parts optional.

And chances are you’ll even get to doggy bag food cos we always bloody over cater food. We’re Singaporean like that.

(4) Think of a catchy name.

Put some thought into it for crying out loud.

No thank you.

 (5) Vaguely legal shi1tz.

Yes im boring, risk adverse and chicken shitz like that. If you are renting, best check with your landlord if he minds you doing this. Some landlords couldnt give a hoot. Some will never ever find out or care because they are copiously rich and probably have 800 apartments being rented out. But some might care a lot and use it as an excuse to terminate your lease agreement or whatevs.

So check or read your tenancy agreement. Or get your landlord drunk and get him to sign on the dotted line.

(6) Fix a date.

You can talk and talk about it for ages. But nothings ever gonna happen til you fix a dammn date. So go fix a dammn date for a trial or the first session.

Then figure out how many people your home can fit (DUH.) and how many you can comfortably cook for. You dont wanna stress yourself out for the first one.

Once you have fixed a date and committed to it, invite a whole bunch of friends, foodie types, family, enemies, superheros and villains. If you know mega superduper influential peeps like Giles Coren, President Obama or Nicki Minaj, you probably dont need me to tell you to invite them. Nicki Minaj had 11 million followers on her twitter account, so if she tells the world how good your food was, a population the size of roughly twice the size of Singapore knocking at yo door.  

I was stupidly lucky enough to have known some superawesomebeautifulridiculouslyencouragingandloving foodie types, Wen of the edible experience crew (who we’ve worked with since day 1), Jas/Dom, @tehbus, @hollowlegs, @heavenwildfleur, @asernet, @sulineats, @lovelychaos, and had them along for the inaugural one and I am sure they know this but they have been a massive massive help in every shape and way possible. I probably wont be writing this blog today if not for them and every other person who’s supported me and help me spread the word so far. Do not underestimate the power of Greyskull. I mean twitter. And social media in general. 

(7) Social Media.

I am not a social media geek or consultant so I dont profess to knowing any of this. But tehbus summed it up when in a rare moment of sobriety and cruel bluntness, he screamed “dude, without twitter, plusixfive would be nothing!!!!!!” (ok i exaggerate a lil)

After crying my eyes out and curling up into a foetal position sucking on my thumb at such brutality (awwww….. hugs for goz, everyone!), I figured, yeah he’s probably right. twitter and all those friends ive made on it really really helped plusixfive out a HUGE bunch. I cannot think of a faster way to get your word out on the street about your new venture and if its good, people WILL talk about it. Its the best word of mouth monster ever. (I guess conversely if its craap, you are so screwed.)

But if you do sign up to twitter, for the love of God, at least try to be interesting.

Yes people come to a supperclub for the food but also for the experience, if you are as boring as paint drying n recite Moby Dick on twitter, no one’s gonna be tempted to coming to your supperclub. plusixfive‘s twitter persona is largely excitable and constantly perving shouting because goz is mostly a pervert extrovert in real life anyway.

So… thats it for now! Purely because you peeps have the attention span of a spermatoooza! (and I need to think of another 3 tips…)

Next time, we’ll chat about more about schocial schmedia (yeahyeahyeah i can see all y’all social media ultrahipsterati rolling ya rayban eyeballs), pricing, dish planning, timing and the importance of being epichardcorepartyrockering!

Tags: how to, planning, secrets, supperclub tips, timing

Spicy Deep Fried Sambal Eggs Recipe – Guestpost from this Sunday’s guest supperclubchef

In the great barrage/deluge of inane craaapy natter and misinformation on the web, rarely do I stumble upon stuff on the web that really totally inspires me. And most of the time when i do find something, it either involves kickazz art from Os Gemeos or anything design related from notcot or obscenely awesome foodventures from theskinnybib or gourmetraveller and their equally well shot photos.

Then sometimes, you stumble upon a real real gem.

So here’s introducing Shu Han of Mummy,I can cook !

I dont even know how I found this chica but all i know is that shes only in her early 20s, mad with passion, manages a farmers’ market (yes. you read that right) and gots the mad art and cooking skillz to pay the billz.  But dont take my word for it, go check out her blog which is filled with just about 2 million and 40 recipes! AND LOOK AT ALL THOSE CRAZY CUTE GRAPHICS! LOOK!

And shes even agreed to guestchef this Sunday at our fishheadcurry dinner! So to all those coming this Sunday, you’ll be eating some of these sambal egg bad boys!

Take it away Shu!

————————–

I love eggs. I may have professed my love for eggs more than just once or twice, but I really do love eggs. Fried, scrambled, omelette, or whipped beyond recognition in a batter. Boiled eggs were the first few things I learnt to cook for myself, really, how difficult can it get? Plonk eggs in water, boil. I didn’t care much about rubbery whites and powdery yolks with grey sulphurous rings around them then. I’ve since improved my egg-boiling skills, and indeed there’s nothing better than cutting into a hard-boiled egg from a happy hen to reveal orange yolks that are still slightly creamy. Well, nothing better except that same egg, deep-fried to create a crisp golden surface, and then smothered with a spicy sambal chilli sauce.

SAMBAL TELUR (i.e. SAMBAL EGGS)

Ingredients serves 2-4

4 eggs

3 tbsp sambal tumis (see below)

1 large shallot, sliced into rings (optional, but I like)

oil for frying

Method

1. Put room temperature eggs in a single layer in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, and once boiling, take the pan off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 min and then immediately remove to a bowl of ice-cold water. This gives perfectly hard—boiled eggs. Peel when cool.
2. Heat oil in wok and deep fry the eggs until golden on the outside. Drain and set aside.
3. Over medium heat, saute the sliced shallots till lightly caramelized, and then add the sambal and fry till fragrant. Add the eggs back, and gently toss to coat. Remove from heat and serve.

SAMBAL TUMIS (more details on my blog)

Ingredients makes 2 cups, I always make extra because it takes so much effort!

1″ length of a block of belachan

400g (~2 1/2 cups) shallots

75g (~30) dried chillies

50g (4-5 large ones) fresh chillies

5 cloves garlic

8 candlenuts

3 tbsp tamarind pulp, soaked in equal amounts of warm water

1″ slice of gula melaka (unrefined coconut palm sugar)

1/2 cup of oil for frying

Method

1. Toast the blechan in a dry pan, chopping at it with your spatula to break it up, till aromatic and powdery. You can also do this in the oven for less fuss/complaints from next door.
2. Blend/ pound the toasted belachan, shallots, chillies, garlic, and candlenuts till you get a smooth paste.
3. Over a medium-low heat, fry the paste, keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. 10 minutes in, add the assam water.
4. You can stop stirring when you see the oil separating from the mixture, at least 30 minutes (yes, at least. Treat it as risotto practice).

5. Add the gula melaka at the end, allowing it to melt and cook into the hot sambal chilli, and stir to combine.

6. Leave to cool before storing. The sambal will keep about 1 month in the fridge, with the layer of oil on top to keep it from spoiling, or freeze for months in smaller containers.

The sambal tumis/belachan is one of the most amazing chilli sauces you can make so make more and chuck in the fridge/freezer. With just that one amazing sauce you can boast a wide repertoire of Singaporean/Malaysian dishes: nasi goreng, sambal ikan bilis, sambal udang, or really, just use it to top anything and you’ve got instant phwoar! That golden jacket around the egg isn’t just for show; besides adding a crispy fragrance, it makes sure that yummy chilli sauce doesn’t just glide off smoothly. You want to maximise the amount of sambal clinging to the egg, and hence, entering your mouth. Hardcore science.

Now fingers crossed we can get twenty of these eggs boiled, fried and smothered right for this Sunday.

 Now go check out her blog at http://mummyicancook.blogspot.co.uk/ !

Tags: dinner, food, hard boiled egg, sambal chilli, vegetarian

A FOOL’S MENU – April Fool’s Supperclub

We figured it has been a while since we posted up any pictures of any of the supperclubs we have held.

So just in case you think:

(a) we run a Keyser Soze type operation (for avoidance of doubt, reference of Keyser Soze being to where we convince the world we dont actually exist as opposed to a reference to me killing my own family and all but one of the Hungarians who raped my wife and killed my children bit); or that

(b) plusixfive is an elaborate supperclub Matrix where none of these actually exists and goz is actually Neo (although we know he’s always wanted to do slowmotion pingpong kung fu fighting),

we thought we should post up some pics of at least the last supperclub we held (mostly because I cannot for the love of all things fluffy and cute, find where the hell photos from all previous superclubs have gone despite my unstoppable new incredible new filing technique).

It being Aprils Fools day and inspired by some brainstorming with theskinnybib,  i thought it appropriate that we set about trying our best to be as pretentious as humanly possible clever and witty and did a meal of chinese takeaway stereotypes and generic bad English snack food (sorry to those who think of Crisps and Cornish Pasty as haute cuisine… *REALLY?!*).  See below for our last menu. If you interested or just plain hungry, we have another supperclub coming up on 13 May and will probably be serving a few dishes from the below (so dont worry if you are scared of fish head curry – although if you come, I can promise u will leave the supperclub a fishhead curry convert. I promise)!

A FOOL’S MENU

.

.

“CRISPS”

belingjau chips freshly fried in beef dripping  

(a bitter Indonesian nut which dad used to get for me as a kid as a treat after i persevered with swim class. Yes believe it or not this tubbytub o’ lard can swim. Well. Float at least.)

“CORNISH PASTY”

phoebe’s chilli sardine puffs

(the kind we used to get during recess – a break between classes when we’ll all dash to the canteen & stuff our faces with snacks & laugh at the fat kid who was always last in line. No im not bitter) 

“SINGAPORE FRIED NOODLES”

vermicelli fried in prawn stock and pork lard, luncheon meat, egg

(yeap the real deal. yes we do eat fried noodles in Singapore. But its not drenched in lurid yellow curry powder like the UK version. We have it for breakfast. Cooked in pork fat, served with a fried egg and a hunk of fried spam and ladles of fiery dark sambal chilli. Not for the faint hearted/heart attack inclined.)

“CARROT CAKE”

chai tau kueh – mooli cakes fried in dark sweet sauce with egg and preserved turnip

(definitely not the pretty perfectly formed fantabulous version they serve at Bea’s. This is a deep fried deliciously angry ugly dark coloured mess of fried egg and mooli/turnip madness. GRRRR.)

“STIR FRY”

nonya tau jieo chap chye

(this dish will probably never leave the menu. I want to shake up conceptions that stir fry is merely a cheap overlooked side dish. I want the stir fry to be the main event. the piece de resistance. This is cooked with overnight boiled prawn/chicken stock reduction, fried with pork belly, mooli, dried prawns, wood ear mushroom, beancurd skins, cabbage and carrots. Its proper HORNY*.) 

“SWEET AND SOUR PORK”

grandmas’ hainanese fried pork chops

(pork chops fried in panko, breadcrumbs and a whole lotta love. my grandma’s favourite dish and taught to me by another grandma whose feistiness is matched only by her awesome cooking)

“BEEF STEW”

8 hour ox cheek, skirt, brisket and short rib beef rendang

(’nuff said)

“CHOC ICE CREAM”

milo ice cream, milo powder, cornflakes, condensed milk

(just about every cool kid in Singapore worth their salt in cool would have hung out at some late night roadside store and ordered a ice milo dinosaur (God bless the first dude who thought of that awesome name). No its not prehistoric but it sure is epic. Its a ice cold milo with a heap spoonful of milo on it and drenched in condensed milk. This is my reinterpretation of it. If it even needed any reinterpretation)

“PORK MINTS”

 (pork mince geddit geddit hur hur hur hur… ok. sorry.) 

homemade bak kwa

(I just thought it would be amusing to serve little cubes of sweet chargrilled minced pork as a petit four!)

“ROAST PORK”

Cassava Cake

(It looks like roast pork no?) 

.

.

feed you soon at the next supper kids!

(photo credits go to Toby Henderson and Nic Tse (no not the actor).

(*Use of “HORNY” attributed to Liz)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tags: april fool, beef, chap chye, hainanese, milo dinosaur, milo ice cream, pork chop, rendang

NEXT SUPPERCLUB (13 May 2012) : ASSAM FISH HEAD CURRY AND PERANAKAN PARTY. ‘Nuff said.

HEADS UP you crazy kids!

No that wasn’t some hip greeting lah. That’s our next menu. Our next supper is going to test who are the most hardcore gourmets among you all, cos we’re going to serve

FISH FREAKING HEAD CURRY, YO!

AND, not to mention whatever other Nyonya Singaporean delights we manage to haul back in our suitcases from our upcoming Singapore research trip.

Come if you’re homesick for the real deal.

Come if you’re curious about how amazingly awesome fish face can taste.

Come even if you’re scared. Heck, we’ve witnessed vegetarians sucking down prawn heads for the first time in our dining room. And actually liking it. So you never know, you might just surprise yourself. 

(WE WILL BE SERVING UP OTHER DELICIOUS PERANAKAN/ NONYA FOOD AS WELL IF THE FISH DONT TAKE YO FANCY! SO DONT WORRY!)

Sunday 13 May
7.30pm
Islington, between Angel and Old St tube
£35 minimum suggested donation, BYOB

Please book your instant confirmation seats online at Edible Experiences (BOOK QUICK COWBOYS AND COWGIRLS):

http://www.edibleexperiences.com/p/9054/65-Plusixfive/113001/Fish-Head-Curry-Supper

In the meanwhile, here are some fish head related products we made earlier in in the not so distant past:

Recipes – Kueh Ubi Bingka/ Cassava Cake/ Tapioca Cake/ “Heehee it looks like Roast Pork” cake (for Nick and Claire)

[if you ever actually make this or any other recipes, drop us a note as I will love to know how you got on! This recipe is so easypeasy you will have to be a seriously clueless dummba$$ who probably shouldnt be allowed anywhere near any kitchen implements to c00ock this one up...!]

This recipe goes out at the request of handsomestNICK & gorgeousnessCLAIRE, one of the most “OMGOMGOMGOMG! did you two get lost on the way to London fashion week or justcameofftherunwaybeautiful“ cutest couple ever to grace our supperclub since

(ok i lie. Maybe spongeb and pstar havent been to the supperclub).

I swear when they walked in I thought this song was playing and Adam Levine and his beau just walked in off a Victorias Secret set.

Ok Wen says I should stop my couple crush before it gets creepy.

.

.

.

(pfft. bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ring)

.

.

ok.

I am assuming you didnt come here to listen to me rant about beautiful people.

(and if you are one of those people who found this site by searching for Singapore P*0*r*n (i know you do yeap i do – according to my wordpress site stats), gosh you must right now be one seriously disappointed sicko sat there in your underpants. Sorry there are no nekkid singalalaland women here, so you can stop scrolling furiously with your one free hand now.)

So yes, Kueh Ubi Bingka recipe!

We had this as desserts on our Aprils Fool menu recently as a petit four at the end with coffee and called it “Roast Pork” and had the guests scratching heads throughout dinner and wondering why the heck i was serving it as dessert after Milo Ice Cream… cos… well.. it really does look like Roast Pork no?

(ok maybe if u squinted a lil? and took some psychotropic drugs?)

WHAT DO I NEED TO GET!

454g of grated cassava/tapioca (I use Buenas brand frozen one. but im sure you can get this in the frozen food section of any decent Chinese supermarket. If they dont stock it, write letters to your MP, boycott them and throw eggs repeatedly at the owner until they do)

2 large eggs

120g of unsalted butter

225g of brown sugar

240ml coconut milk (if you use a regular can (440ml?), you’ll probably have leftovers, keep a couple of tablespoons aside and use rest to cook something like coconut rice or something. DONT WASTE OK! CAPTAIN PLANET SAYS SO!)

a teaspoon of salt

Songs from Marilyn Manson on repeat (optional)

WHAT DO I DO NOW WITH ALL THESE STUFFS!

(1) Preheat your oven to 190 deg celsius

(2) Take all the ingredients above. Chuck into a microwaveable (there is no shame in using a microwave ok. be brave be strong) bowl and blitz it on high in the microwave for two minutes. Take it out, and mix it all together.

(3) Chuck it back into the microwave and blitz it again for a minute. Take out and stir again. Some bits around the edge should firm up. Just stir them stubborn bad boys back in.

(4) You basically want a fairly thick and gloopy consistency. A bit like an oats porridge.  or (if you bake cakes) cake batter. or (if you rear bees) slight thick runny honey. or (if you are a builder) wet cement.  If its not thick enough, chuck it back into the microwave at 1 minute shots. It should look a bit like this. It will be crazy lumpy so have no fear. Dont panic. Its okay. Everythings gonna be alright.

(5) Lay a baking tin with baking paper. I use any baking tin I have handy. I guess a square one would be nice so you havent got any weirdo shaped ones ends if you use a round one.

(6) Now pour the gloopy mixture in.

(7) Put in oven (duh!).

(8) Be kiasu and watch it like a hawk.

(9) Or throw caution in the wind and come back in 40 mins. Go watch an episode of SpongeBob and sing the campfire song. Or headbang to this awesome Nine Inch Nails song 10 times.

(10) Take it out. Take a couple of teaspoons of coconut milk that you reserved (you DID reserve it right?) and brush it all over on the top.

(11) Shove it back into the oven and set your oven at grill function and totally zap the top til it becomes nice and dark brown. This is the best bit. Its crazy chewy crispy. Watch it like a hawk ok? Cos it might burn easily depending on how superpower your oven is.

(12) Now take it out and wait for it to cool before slicing into little cubes/ slices, star shaped whatever. According to this pictorial cross section meticulously drawn by an ex-girlfriend, it should look like something like this:

(13) Eat with your friends, enemies, superheros and loved ones. Or have it all to yourself cos its seriously moreish.

Ok im off to diet, slap on a face mask, watch a flurry of beautiful people videos and consider plastic surgery.

xxooo

goz

Tags: cake, cassava, desserts, grated, kueh, kuih, recipes, snack, tapioca, ubi bingka