288 - i'm gonna forget so here's food from singapore 🍜🍗🍵🍣
...which helped make me feel better about my passport debacle
Hey there, !
This list contains food that is new to me from Singapore (because I've tried a whole bunch of places like Tian Tian and Song Fa Ba Kuh Teh in the past), that I'm doing some quick reviews for 🤤. If you wanna see some of my first ever Singapore opinions, I went back and it's literally the 20th post from this newsletter. PHWOAR it has been ages - nearly 5 years since!
Anyway...
Let's talk about Chagee:
This milky tea has become a hit in China, for its great flavour, and honestly, really nice bags. I can wax eloquent about how the Da Hong Pao and Peach Oolong flavours have a really nice taste, the fact that I don't get a messy stomach when drinking so much milk, and also that we had this nearly every day in Singapore which KEPT US ALIVE...but the main thing I was impressed by were these super nicely designed bags, and that they're all INSULATED. Like how cool is it to get an insulated bag like this every time you buy milk tea? Now I can use them to bring in food to work (which I don't do) or to keep things cool for going to picnics (which...okay sometimes I do).
Other notes: it took us like 15 minutes to sign up for the app, which you HAVE to use to order from the store. No more service workers?! I don't know how I feel about that. But also they have coupons that are like, buy1get1free or buy2get1free or buy3get1free so okay it's kinda worth the time.
Now, on to my favourite protein...CHICKEN:
Soup Kitchen
This is kinda like the chicken you get at chicken rice places, but it uses a ginger sauce that reminds me of the spring onion / ginger sauce that you get with soy sauce chicken. Look how symmetrical and pretty. I would call this A tier chicken - it's just a really well done chicken dish with a tender texture, and highlights the chickenness of the chicken. Note: they do really nice Cantonese soups as well which was nice!
Wee Nam Kee
I went to this place 3 times on the trip. Is that enough to sell you on this? Recommended by many friends incl. Kenny and Lynette and Laura, the chicken is A+, maybe S tier - on par with Tian Tian the first time I ever had it, but only for the drumstick version of the rice (which is $1 more and costs $7.5SGP). I got a wing piece the first time and it was mid, but the drumstick rice I had twice and it SLAPPED. They also had this amazing crispy roast pork the first time I went, but the next time I went it was mid...so your mileage may vary. The rice itself is flavorful, the soup is good, and the sauces are perfect accompaniments. Like I said, 3 times.
It's time for the NOODLEY GOODNESS
88 Hong Kong Roast Meats
I tried the version of Wanton Mee that they sold in Singapore, which to me is more like a Char Siew Noodles + two wontons. We were recommended this place when I was eating Tian Tian, and some person we were sharing the table with told us to go to this place...which we promptly up and went to in the swelteringly humid evening heat, and it had SOLD OUT at 8pm. So we went again another day. The meats here are good - they're fresh, crispy, fatty - whatever you want them to be, they are. Just consistent, above average roast meats. The wontons were okay, the soup was fine, and the noodles were the right level of al dente / chewy that you want from a wanton mee. However...
Chef Kang's
This place was better - genuinely better in every single component of the Wanton Mee:
- The noodles were a better level of al dente, and thinness, which is what you want from the wanton mee. They reminded me of HK wanton noodles.
- The char siew was made from the part of the pork belly that Chinese call 'Don't See the Sky' - i.e. it's always facing downwards, and is the best part. It fuckin' MELTED in my mouth and it was DEEEEEELICIOUS.
- The soup was a standout - peppery and flavorful by adding a bit of white pepper or something and it 100% elevated the meal. Top soup I had during the trip because it reminded me of the fish head + tofu + white pepper soup my dad makes which is my favourite soup in the whole world.
- The wontons were fine - had some water chestnuts through them which gave it more texture, but still was just mince only. None of the ones I had in Singapore did the Hong Kong thing where they put in a whole prawn piece and you can see the outline of it underneath the skin which is exactly what I want because the first bite into that wonton is just the right level of 'toothiness' when you take a bite. Ya know what I mean? Go to Mak An Kee in Hong Kong and you'll know what I mean.
- That sauce you see is some sort of chilli sauce but like...prawn sauce? I don't know how to describe it but it was SO good to add to the noodles.
So yeah, this was an S tier meal for me. If I could import the Hong Kong wonton's into this meal then it might be perfect.
Le Nu
Can you see that braised beef SOUP like my god the pearls of fat and oil makes me salivate even just looking at this picture. Highly recommended by my friend Nam and by gods it was outstanding. This was the beef noodles, which included tendons, and steak, and whatever else...but it rivaled even the braised beef noodle soup I've had in Taiwan. Yeah, that good. Le Nu means 'happy cow' but I am truly the happy one after eating the cow. Yum yum. Also the sides of bamboo shoots and black fungus were perfect accompaniments - usually they are mid in other places, but for whatever reason they added some pizzazz and flavour and maybe acidity to them that made them cut through all the richness.
Zhup Zhup
Can you see flavour through a picture? Because I hope you can. This was prawn mee made in claypots - they boast that they use 18kg of prawn heads and shells to make up 100L of prawn mee soup every day and I reckon I could have sprouted a whole prawn outta my head with the amount of flavour they packed into each soupy spoon I drank. Look at that claypot that is positively BRIMMING with prawn juice - almost like it's solid; honestly, it's not a broth, it's liquefied prawn that you're eating and it's divine. Unfortunately, it's less divine that this place has no air conditioning which is VERY IMPORTANT in Singapore when you're eating hot food, but the food does make up for it.
And then, some more funtime food:
Haku Japanese
"Omakase", but you make the handrolls yourself. HOW FUN IS THAT??? If you don't think that's fun then go back to your boring-ass life where the closest thing you get to this is spooning out a can of tuna on to wholemeal bread (yuck I hate tinned tuna). This set meal was like $50SGP which I was FLUMMOXED by - how are they making money?! The set menus that others had which were more like 'nigiri sets' were incredibly fresh and delicious and only $50 which I feel like you could never get in Australia???? It was such a nice time and the service was immaculate. And sure, they conned us into doing some DIY work for food, but honestly, at this price point who cares? Life's short, eat fish.™️
Imperial Treasure
For one of the nicer nights we had, we went to get some Peking Duck recommended by Soph and James. From what I've had in Australia compared to this, it's perhaps not miles apart, but it's definitely more polished, more consistent, more duck, and more yum. The presentation of the chef coming out to cut the duck into pieces is normal, but the amount they get from each duck seems to be way more. I know it doesn't show in this picture, but in addition to that plate you see there, they heaped ANOTHER massive plate for us (3 people). Also, they had a good, appropriate amount of pancakes for us - rather than what you get in Australia which is like 'okay here's 10, and if you want another 10 pay us through the nose for them and also that won't be enough for you but DEAL WITH IT'. So, yes, it's pretty damn good.
Violet Oon
Saving the newest to me food for last - Peranakan food which is a cuisine that combined local Malay and Chinese techniques together. Yes, and we had it in Singapore hahaha. It was the most curious dinner because I felt like it was very Malay, but there were certain flourishes that made it different? Like sure, it's a beef rendang, but it wasn't like anything I'd had before. There was just some hidden flavour or umami that unlocked a new layer of...something. Or the pork belly that they had that you were supposed to add this little black paste thing with, which gave it a very different dimension of flavour. Almost like it was a 2d image that gained a 3rd dimension - just something so new and unique - I don't think I'd ever had something like it before. The surroundings were also really beautifully tiled and the vibe was very fun.
Anyway, that's it. Links are all in this Google Maps list (plus some other locations!) - have fun eating :D
Chat soon :)
(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)
📋Today's Question
Results:
- Employer name: Potato Loop
- Path taken: Purple - the unknown, chaotic, uncontrollable, valuable loot, but difficult to navigate
--
A massive CRACK reverberates through the Borrowed Time and you hear Jimmy swear over the comms.
"Stabilisers have been ripped off - we need to get out of here NOW," you hear Jimmy's scream. Your control panel lights up in all different shades of red, white, and EMERGENCIES, lighting up every single neuron you have, and every light on your control panel.
In front of you, the whirling maelstrom of colour and light start to grow more and more chaotic. The red button has engaged your emergency exit procedures, but if you hit the edge of the vortex, you'll be spread across a lot of points in time.
Kind of like a bug on a windshield. Eek.
You desperately try to find an out, anything, some rip in the vortex, some little pinpricks of light that lead out, something...ANYTHING.
And suddenly, in the purple current below you, you notice something a bit off. A little weakness in the barrier under the rushing time, and in an instant, you dive.
The ship groans under the strain, but holds as your hull dives through the purple stream, the past, the future flowing like water around you with blue sparks and red, angry foam. The sprays of raw time throw up new errors left and right on your panel - some parts of the ship decaying and others becoming brand new.
"Stabilisers back online...apparently?!?"
"We've lost the fins though - and I think our comms are being lost as we speak!"
"Sayla - plug the reserve time we have to the comms post! We can't lose it!" You strain to see your gauge, and see that your reserve time is at around 50%.
The darkness up ahead yawns and gapes wider, and little pinpricks of light appear, rapidly rushing your ship past suns, and moons, and planets, and stars. There is an immense feeling of speed as even your time suit, designed to protect you from this exit stress, starts to tear a little. As you grip the thruster tightly and speed towards this dirty puddle of an exit, a ragged edge of the vortex starts to crack and start folding in you, and you pray and pray that you'll slip out in time.
WHOOSH! Streaks of purple clear from your window as you emerge out into space, but the excess speed means it's quickly replaced with flickers of colours, of sounds, of time, of...nukes? Military parades? Explosions! Farmers. Houses. Cities. People thriving. People dead. People alive. People. Space warps and bends around you as you're thrown through different time periods, and the familiar continents and countries of Earth below you goes up, goes down, cuts left, dodges, morphs, spins, turns, pirouettes, fills the entire screen, and then BAM!
Your ship emerges from the washing machine of time, and crashes straight into a forest, right underneath a sheer cliff of a mountain.
One lonely plate rolls out from the door and spins wildly like in the movies, starting slow, but getting quicker and quicker as it falls, until it finally, excruciatingly, falls - because that's what you'd expect from a story like this.
"Sayla, Jimmy - report!" your head pounds as you look around at the mess, and you frantically try to tap the screens around you which have all gone dead.
No comms, no maps, no computer.
Great.
"I'm fine, Cap'n," Sayla says weakly, "at least we're alive". Lying on the floor, she holds up the cable that routed time to the comms post, "...but we'll have to check if that worked out. No signal otherwise. And no signal means, well, maybe we won't be alive much longer." She slumps back with a big sigh.
"Jimmy!!"
You hear a series of crashes as boxes and crates move about somewhere in the back, but fortunately, Jimmy emerges.
"Hah, what a ride. Those potatoes ain't gonna like how we've done their ship again...we always living on borrowed time, hey?"
You and Sayla groan as Jimmy grins, but it slips off his face like melted ice cream.
"Anyway, it ain't looking good Cap - we've got a gnarly rip in her side and it's gone through a bunch of of the power cables. Our core is fine but she'll take a bit to fix. The generator's on for life support functions, and I can patch up what I can, but there ain't much we can do but wait."
You stare outside the window at the sky, and feel like something is off. A colour, perhaps, a scent in the air...the intangible feeling of unease. Lost in the woods, Grandit knows where...and all the time in the world to kill until you get rescued.
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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2001: A Space Odyssey - 4 stars, but only because I read the book beforehand, and taking into account that it was released in 1968. FOR THAT TIME, it's a great, inventive, innovative movie that really pushed the envelope on what could be imagined. Obviously, it didn't come true in 2001, and I don't think anyone has really captured the imagination of the general public the way this movie did. However, the scenes are long, they're confusing, they're not really pushing the plot along, and they don't do a very good job at exposition. But man, that production is amazing.
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Fluffy Torpedo - I finally made it. Honey/Soy Sauce, and then a Vanilla Coke/Whipped Cream double scoop - so umami, so fantastically creative, and just a really nice ice cream place. It fired up the imagination in terms of weird and wonderful things you can make into ice cream - I think next time I'll try saffron, or miso, or even blue gatorade! Definitely recommended.
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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The Fed says this is a cube of $1M. They're off by half a million. - the way people use their weekends can be so fun and niche. And when you build something specifically to prove the government wrong, it's even better.
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Reading Abundance from China - all credit to my friend Bev for this one - it is a transcript from a book club that talks about the book 'Abundance' by Ezra Klein. And it's chock full of really interesting takes of how Chinese people view America, and I guess to some extent the Western world. For example, and I agree entirely with this:
The poverty of American elite imagination about "happy life" is a key factor preventing visions like Abundance from being realized. ...just looking at popular culture, America’s deeply influential soft power, the society has already fallen into a kind of imaginative local optimization...America's cultural machine has really dominated for so many years that it's actually constrained people's imagination
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The Art of Hanakami, or Flower-Petal Folding - because sometimes, it's just fun to learn art. I don't think I'll ever do this but you never know!