Introduction of Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin, and is most commonly associated with Hainanese, Malaysian and Singaporean cuisines, although it is also popular in Thailand. It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), due to its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia). Hainanese chicken also appears as a speciality in Vietnamese cuisine.

Preparation

The chicken is prepared in traditional Hainanese methods which involve steeping the entire chicken at sub-boiling temperatures in a pork and chicken bone stock, reusing the broth over and over and only topping it up with water when needed, in accordance with the Chinese preferences for creating master stocks. This stock is not used for rice preparation^,which instead involves chicken stock created specifically for that purpose, producing an oily, flavourful rice sometimes known as "oily rice" with Southeast Asian pandan leaves added sometimes. Some cooks may add coconut milk to the rice, reminiscent of the Malay dish nasi lemak.

Interview for Chicken Rice

Did you ever pass by this kopitiam in Yishun? It is just nearby Yishun MRT Station.

Hiap Hoe Eating House

We are going to introduce a famous local chicken rice stall that is recommended by many people in Yishun.

Now,Melinda and Lishan will queueing up for chicken rice for all of us,hehe :b

This is front view of the stall. Through this interview we found out that they have won many type of certificates.    

You may also find a similar recommendations news of this stall in the newspaper! This stall have been reported on newspaper and it is strongly recommend to try their chicken rice.

Let's take a look at the menu to see what shall we purchase for our lunch today.

This are the stall owners. They are twin brother and working together for  their chicken rice stall.

This is the chicken rice that we brought.

Feedback from Li Shan: The chicken rice is very fragrant and the meat is very tender. It is one of the tasty chicken rice that I have ever tasted !

Feedback from Stella: Yum-yum! The rice is nice and not too oily. The price is reasonable nice to eat. Truly recommended!

Location:

Blk 747 Yishun Street 72
Singapore 760747

Introduction of Tang Yuan

Tāngyuán (Chinese: 汤圆) a homophone of and frequent metaphor for family-union is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao, or the Lantern Festival. They are also traditionally serve during the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival(Chinese 冬至) any occasions of family/relatives re-union such as wedding ceremony with both the paternal and maternal family.

 

 

Historical development

 

Origins

According to a legend, in the Han Dynasty, there was a maid of honor who was called Yuanxiao. She missed her parents a lot but she could not leave the palace, therefore, she wept all the time and even wanted to turn to suicide. A minister knew her story and promised to help her. What Yuanxiao needed to do was to make lots of Tangyuans, which was the best cuisine she could make, in order to worship the god on 15th day of the first month in the Chinese calendar. Finally, Yuanxiao did a great job and the emperor was so contented; therefore, Yuanxiao was permitted to meet her parents, Tangyuan was named as Yuanxiao and the 15th day of the first month in the Chinese calendar was considered to be Yuanxiao Festival.

 

Name

Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to tangyuan. During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the name was officially settled as yuanxiao (derived from the Yuanxiao Festival), which is used in northern China. This name literally means "first evening", being the first full moon after Chinese New Year, which is always a new moon.
In southern China, however, they are called tangyuan or tangtuan. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai's rule from 1912 to 1916, he disliked the name yuanxiao (元宵) because it sounded identical to "remove Yuan" (袁消), and so he gave orders to change the name to tangyuan. This new moniker literally means "round balls in soup". Tangtuan similarly means "round dumplings in soup".

 

Interview for Tang Yuan

We are now at Chong Pang and we will be introducing one of the local dishes,tang yuan!

Chong Pang has a collection of shophouses,a hawker centre and a market.

After 5 minutes walk from the Chong Pang entrance,we have reach the stall “Houses of dessert”:D

Houses of desserts

Now,Stella is going to buy a bowl of tang yuan here. While waiting for Stella to buy tang yuan we saw a scene of Lishan get bored and impatience to wait for the long queue!! The monkey expression is exactly the same as Lishan getting bored,haha!---->

Haha Lishan caught you! XD

She was waiting and thinking why the queue was so long and why Stella havent come back after 15 minutes of queuing up.
FINALLY ITS STELLA TURN TO PURCHASE!~

Stella bought a bowl of sesame and peanut fillings tang yuan with peanut soup base.

Wow lets have a look for how does the tang yuan taste like:

Stella & Lishan were eating Tang Yuan.

Feedbacks from Lishan: Wow, its so nice and cheap!I am gonna order another bowl and bring my family here to try out!:Dits so nice and cheap!It only cost $2 per bowl, 4 tangyuan per bowl!

Feedback from Stella:  Although the tangyuan do not look that delicious,but after the first try of tangyuan,I learned that don't judge a book by its cover.

Feedback from Melinda: Not bad,it is affordable and not too sweet,the taste is just right,maybe I shall bring my parents here for a try another day.

Feedback from Jun Ning: The tang yuan is very chewy and sesame filling of the tangyuan is very fragrant!

Location:

#01-143,chong pang food centre ,

105 yishun ring road.

Demostration on milk base tang yuan with chocolate fillings

Tang yuan is a dish of glutinous rice balls served in a sweet broth. By eating tang yuan, we welcome in the winter and become one year older. It is quite easy to prepare. This is our company demostrationing on milk base chocolate tangyuan.

The ingredients needed are
-1kg of glutinous flour
-a box chocolate chips[Silver Bird brand]
-1 litre of HL milk

Firstly,pour the glutinous rice flour in a bowl and slowly add water until the mixture becomes the texture of dough.



 Next,add water and knead the dough until soft, smooth, easily kneadable yet not sticky to the fingers (too wet), nor crumbling (too dry).



The amount of flour & water is very forgiving and adaptable – If the dough is too dry, add a bit more water. If the dough is too wet, add a bit more flour.

Now your dough is done! :D

Now,we need to do the chocolate filling for the tangyuan.

Take it out and pour it to the double cook boiler (shown as below)

Now boil the chocolate chips for about 10 minutes.

This is the chocolate fillings of the tang yuan.

Firstly,roll the tangyuan into a "ball shape",the tangyuan should be even-sized. Secondly,"flatten" the dough and place a some chocolate fillings in the middle. Lastly,wrap the dough around the chocolate filling between your two palms to form a smooth round ball.

After 10 minutes....

Bring a pot of water (enough water to submerge the dumplings completely) to boil. Then we drop the balls into boiling water and cook them until they float – about 5 to 10 minutes.

The tangyuan is starting to float!

While the tangyuan is starting to float,we can start to boil the HL milk.

Next,transfer them immediately to a bowl of room temperature water to cool down. This prevents the tang yuan from sticking to one another or discolour the soup, especially helpful if you are not serving immediately.

Lastly, put the cooked balls into the soup and serve!

 

 

 

 

 

Comments from us: It is  our first try on making tangyuan and it turn out not bad. Maybe the next time when we do the tangyuan again we can try to make tangyuan with different fillings such as mango and peanut.

                                                                                              

 

 

Introduction of Roti Prata

Roti prata is a fried flour-based pancake that is cooked over a flat grill. It is usually served with a vegetable or meat based curry and is sold all over Singapore in food centres. Prata is also commonly cooked (upon request) with cheese, onion, banana, red bean, chocolate, mushroom or egg. It is listed at number 45 on World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll compiled by CNN Go in 2011.

History

The Prata has always been known as  Paratha in the Indian Subcontinent while it is usually known as Roti Prata in countries like Singapore.  Roti Prata is derived from the original pancake recipes from Pakistan and India. Roti means “bread”, and Prata means “flat”, but it is actually closer to a pancake with a lightly flavoured and subtle sweet dough that makes for a gratifying meal, especially in the mornings.  Whereas the Malaysian variant, known as Roti Canai, are served slightly differently, influenced by each country's culture. In Singapore, the varieties of Roti Prata are named mostly in English.

Preparation

Roti prata is prepared by flipping the dough into a large thin layer before folding the outside edges inwards. The dough will then be heated on a hot plate. Flavorings or toppings, if ordered, can be added either before or after it is flipped, depending on the flavorings or the desired outcome.

Roti Prata Interview

We are now at 769 Food Hub to try out the roti prata which was recommended by many people who were living in Yishun.

There are a few stalls in 769 Food Hub and one of the stall is RSA Indian Muslim Food which sells great roti prata.

This stall start their business since 2011 and it is 24 hour shop. This is his friend family business and the children will help out whenever they are free.



You will see this man making roti prata in front of the stall everyday when you come to here. He has many years experienced of making roti prata, his first shop opened in Chong Pang Citry but after that he moved his shop to 769 Food Hub!

Ordered by us! :b

Feedback: The fluffy and soft folds within that soaked up the Chicken Curry gravy eagerly. So unlike the greasy, flat and sometimes pretty rubbery ones that you sometimes get. The secret lies in the dough and to a large extent, how skilled and diligent the Prata man was in ensuring that the dough’s stretched out just right to bring out the fluffiness while refraining from overworking the gluten in the dough such that the prata becomes tough. The Roti Prata here is a Must-Try!