TRIVIA: GARLIC

WHEN IN SINGAPORE: CROSSING'S CAFE, A SMALL RESTO WITH A BIG HEART

Rarely do you come across a restaurant with a heart. The kind that truly serves its community and not just providing lip service to sell the food. That's why when I found myself eating at Crossings Cafe in Singapore, it was such a fulfilling experience.

  

The restaurant is described in its website as "a social enterprise that serves delicious comfort food at affordable prices. Nourishing connections in the community is at the heart of our business. Thus, we channel all our profits to charitable and social causes." And like I said, it's not all lip service. The restaurant employs disadvantaged persons as servers, cooks and baristas, giving them opportunities to be productive, earn for themselves and get respect they deserve.

 

That and some kick-ass food.

For starters, I had the Crisp Green & Honey Tangerine Salad made with  rocket arugula, baby spinach, honey tangerine, cherry tomatoes, candied walnuts & crispy bacon bits drizzled in citrus vinaigrette. The sweet and tangy mix of the fruits vinaigrette balanced the slightly herbaceous and peppery crunch of the greens.

 

For some seafood, I had their Signature Chilli Crab Pasta, fettucine in chilli crab claw meat sauce, topped with deep fried soft shell crab and fresh rocket arugula. The combination was very simple layer of tastes and very filling. Which is why I don't know how I finished the Honey Berry Ribs. The tender roasted porkloin ribs were smothered with wild honey berry sauce and served with  sweet potato fries.

The place is quote out of the way if you're in Singapore for some shopping. But if you do have time, this is one honest-to-goodness restaurant you might want to try.

Crossing's Cafe

Address: 55 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187954

Telephone: (+65) 6336 6203

FOOD4THOUGHT: WINE & COOKING

TRIED & TASTED: KUYA J

Doing errands at the mall is always a good excuse to check out restos I haven’t tried out yet.  Half a day of walking always makes me hungry and looking for comfort food.  Luckily, a Kuya J restaurant had a lot of empty tables after the lunchtime rush.

The menu was pretty clear about what they were offering- Pinoy comfort food with a twist. To start with, I ordered one of their  specialties, Grilled Scallops topped with butter and cheese. 

 

The platter was full and good to share but the round seafood was oddly brownish instead of white like a thumb-sized burger patty. The garlic topping was pre-cooked and the flavor did not seep in which made the dish taste like cheese and butter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of processed dairy but I was expecting it to complement the salty-sweet of fresh scallops.

Good thing  I had the Lumpiang Presko after. The sauteed crab meat and labong (bamboo shoot) was prettily wrapped in malungay-flavored egg-wrapper with the sweet garlic sauce sauce and freshly crushed peanuts on the side. 

To top the meal, I had Adobo sa Mangga, pork belly stewed in soy sauce and vinegar sweetened by ripe, yellow mangoes. The pork was tender enough but the sauce is just too sweet for me.

 Kuya J: http: www.kuyaj.ph

SINGAPORE IN A BOWL: BAKUT TEH

The Singaporean dish Bakut Teh literally translates as "meat bone tea." Despite its name, this popular broth among the early migrants from Southern China, is not flavored with  tea leaves but garlic, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds and ginseng,  a root used mainly for medicinal purposes. Meaty pork ribs are simmered in this concoction until it is tender. It is served with rice and Oolong tea which is believed to dilute all the fat you get from the pork ribs.

My first encounter with Bakut Teh was at a roadside hawker stall along Mandalay Road.

There were several patrons who seemed to be regulars which I took as a sign that the stall served good food. Not unlike our own carinderias, the stall served cooked dishes of all kinds, from stir-fried vegetables to noodles to stewed meats and seafood.

Their specialty was the Bakut Teh, served with rice, chopped fresh chillies and dried bean curd sticks stewed in soy sauce. The soup was rather disappointing. I found it bland and the eat not as tender as I thought it would be.What saved the meal was the dried bean curd stew.

I didn't want to leave Singapore with such a mediocre Bakut Teh experience so I  went on to try another restaurant nearer my hotel in Baliester Road, the Founder Bakut Teh. Even before their dinner service started, the  queue was already long. It turns out,  it's a popular restaurant amongst Asian celebrities like Jay Chou ("The Green Hornet" was his Hollywood debut), Andy Lau ("House of Flying Daggers") and Jackie Chan. 

The restaurant, founded by has been operating for 40 years with a promise to serve only the freshest and meatiest pork ribs. The branch we were at was being run by the son of Mr. Chua, the founder whom this restaurant was eponymously named from.

The Baut Teh serve here had bigger chinks of tender meat. Almost but not quite falling off the bone. The broth was aromatic but still not as flavorful as what we're used to. It still felt like I needed some patis or toyo to put on the meat. It may just be the Pinoy in me or maybe the weather was too warm for a bowl of Bakut Teh.

So that I won't leave disappointed, I ordered what I knew would satisfy my craving for a tastier dish to go with the rice: Braised Pig's Trotters (Pata Tim) and  Braised Pig's Intestines.

On my first spoonfuls, it seemed like I was having a meal in any Chinese restaurant here in Manila. For this food adventure, familiar tastes won over new experience. There's always new places to visit in Singapore. Maybe we'll try finding a good place for Hainanese Chicken Rice next time.

Any suggestions where to find the best Bakut Teh in Singapore?

TRIVIA: CAFFE LATTE

QUICK & EASY: PINIRITONG PAKSIW NA BANGUS BELLY

Aside from Sinigang sa Bayabas, the other ways I like my bangus belly are fried or pinaksiw. One day, I decided to combine both cooking process just because.  So here it is.

INGREDIENTS

• 400 gms boneless bangus  belly
• 500 ml   sukang paombong (vinegar)
• 250 ml   water
• 50  gms  ginger (peeled, sliced)
• 4 cloves  garlic 
• 1 pc        siling haba 
• 1 pc        dried laurel leaf
• salt to taste
• whole peppercorn
• Cooking oil

TO MAKE

• Arrange the bangus belly at the bottom of the pan
• Place the ginger, garlic, siling haba, laurel leaf and pepper corn
• Pour the vinegar and water
•  Let it boil. Add salt to taste.
• Once it boils, lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes
• Remove the bangus and set the broth aside.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Once hot, fry the bangus belly with the ginger and garlic.
• Serve with the paksiw broth as sawsawan (dipping sauce)