Category Archives: Food

Everybody loves ice cream. It’s an amazing dessert, and one of the things that makes it awesome is that it can be paired with almost any ingredient to give it a different flavor. And what better way to enjoy it at your leisure than to make it yourself at home?

It can, however, be tricky to achieve the perfect balance between firmness and creaminess at the first try, and it will take a few more tries to get that balance. But don’t worry – here are some tips you can use to make awesome homemade ice cream:

1. Always use a solid sweetener
One of the biggest complaints and problems about homemade ice cream is that it gets hard and develops ice crystals when they are stored in the freezer. This is why most traditional methods used in making ice cream involve keeping ice crystals from forming.

Using solid sweetener, such as sugar or evaporated cane juice, is one way to keep these ice crystals from forming. Another is to use alcohol to lower the freezing point, but this may instead give them the taste of alcohol.

2. Bring air into the mix
If you’re wondering why homemade ice cream tends to be heavier and less fluffy compared to commercial brands, the secret lies in the air. This is because ice cream is sold commercially by volume, and is why most manufacturers whip the cream to bring as much air as possible.

3. Keep the custard chilled extremely well
You will often find many recipes having you cook custard out of eggs, sugar, and milk. If you do choose to follow this recipe (part of the process involves making whipped cream, if you don’t already have it), be sure to keep the custard chilled thoroughly.

Some recipes would even recommend allowing the custard to “age” overnight. This introduces air into the mixture, which helps in producing smooth, creamy ice cream.

4. Use a cool place to churn your custard
If you have to churn your custard to make whipped cream, be sure to do it in a cool place. Avoid doing it next to a heat source, such as a working stove or when the temperature in your kitchen is high overall.

5. Don’t start out with the best ingredients
Ice cream is only as good as the ingredients that go into it. However, if this is your first time making this sweet treat at home, not everything has to be fresh. You can start off with standard, generic ingredients: cold milk, vanilla extract, condensed milk, and salt.

Once you perfect the technique that comes into making the right consistency for ice cream, start working with the more expensive ingredients.

We are forever in search for healthy foods. Singaporeans these days are conscious of the way we live and what we eat. That is good because we have to be healthy to experience all the good things Singapore has to offer.

Let us start off by considering healthy food choices. If we have time, we should prepare our foods personally to ensure that it is safe and healthy. Here are some suggestions that we can consider:

• Duck sandwich: We have to know that ducks are healthier than chicken. Duck without the skin has lower calories compared to chicken. We can make a sandwich out of it. We only need to heat up the smoked duck and slice it thinly. We can layer it with cheddar cheese put lettuce and sliced boiled egg on our bread. Voila, we have a healthy sandwich.

• Avocado salad: Avocados are sometimes ignored but avocados are filled with nutrients. It has at least twenty vitamins and minerals. We can make a salad out of it. We can put together slices of avocado, broccoli, sesame seeds and seaweed. The dressing will depend on what we prefer.

• Quinoa topping: Quinoa is an excellent alternative of rice. Quinoa is filled with mono unsaturated fats plus omega-3 fatty acid. We can just microwave quinoa (with 1 cup of water) and include chopped bell pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and chick peas.

If we are too busy to prepare our foods, we can go out and grab something but we have to make sure that it is healthy. We are what we eat. We have to remember that.

Ramen is made with simple ingredients but its flavours contain such complexity. We, together with other nationalities the world over, are united in our love for a good, steaming bowl of ramen. Even when the weather outside is close to being feverishly hot, we would still be delighted to chow down on ramen.

Here in Singapore, there isn’t a shortage of ramen houses, so there’s definitely no need for us to jump on a plane, fly to Japan, just to have a taste of some scrumptious ramen. Well, unless you have plenty of cash to waste and want to do exactly that, then so be it, but if you want to grab hold of good ramen here in Singapore, this list will guide you to the right direction.

Ippudo

Founded by no less than the internationally renowned Ramen King, Shigemi Kawahara, Ippudo will surely not disappoint. With 65 stores in Japan and additional outlets all across the globe, you don’t need any more proof that people, no matter where they’re from, are fans of Ippudo’s ramen. Ippudo specializes in Hakata style ramen with a tonkotsu (pork bone) broth. You could choose from any of their Original, Modern, or Spicy Tonkotsu ramen and you could even select the firmness of your noodles, ranging from soft, medium, hard, to very hard.

This only goes to show their dedication for serving high quality ramen while taking into consideration their consumers’ preferences. And as they do in Hakata, here in Ippudo, you could also request for an extra serving of noodles as long as there is still enough soup left in your bowl. To experience this ramen goodness, order a bowl of their famous ramen at 333A Orchard Road, #04-02/03/04, Mandarin Gallery.

Marutama Ramen

Most ramen lovers go for the pork-based soup. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, pork is indeed tasty. However, if you happen to be in search of a different taste and of something lighter then perhaps you could try a bowl of Marutama Ramen’s chicken broth noodles. Their noodles are cooked just right. The chicken soup is savoury and richly-textured and made without using MSG or any preservatives.

And the toppings are phenomenal. The pork slices are cooked so tenderly and the egg is boiled to perfection, with a taste that is a star on its own and a yolk that’s delightfully runny. All these qualities of a good chicken noodle soup from Marutama Ramen should be more than enough to entice you to have a taste of their concoction at 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #03-90/91 The Central at Clarke Quay.

Travelling means unleashing the adventurer inside you and allowing yourself to be free to explore the world. Travelling also means being respectful and accepting to the culture, lifestyle and environment of the place you are travelling in. Most of all, travelling means—good food. If you are in Singapore, and you want to taste something different, authentic and something that you could only taste in this place, I have a list of what you must eat. 

Let’s have noodles as first food stop. In Singapore, noodles vary and most of the time, they are a combination of dishes from Malaysia, Indian and other cuisines. Nonetheless, you will still taste the difference. Try Mee Siam or Siamese noodles. This noodle has the combination of sweet, spicy and sour, for its sauce contains tamarind, different chilli and sweet ingredients. It is very saucy and often served with boiled eggs. Wanton Mee is a fusion of Chinese and Singaporean dish. This noodle has beef, dumplings and sauce which are not spicy. Bak Chor Mee, Hokkien Prawn Mee and Mee Rebus are also some noodle dishes you can taste.

Crabs, oyster, fish and other seafood are also included in the local foods here, so if you are a seafood lover, Singapore’s got a place for you. Try their fish head steamboat which is promised to have grouper, promfert and red snapper fishes freshly caught and cooked. Authentic Singapore restaurants cook this dish through charcoal for the fish’s perfect taste and tenderness. Sting Ray barbeque, Singapore’s famous fish head curry which is a fusion of Indian and Malay cuisine and chilli crabs boiled, meat removed from the body and stuffed to the shell, fried and cooked again in spicy sauce are the seafood dishes you should not fail taste.

For rice dishes perfect for carbohydrates-lovers, Singapore Chicken Rice which is a dish with steamed chicken and special Hainanese rice is Singapore’s most famous. Biryani is another rice dish which uses Basmati rice cooked in different spices and topped with chicken and beef. Nasi Lemak and Duck Riceare other rice dishes you must taste.