That ole Devil

Debal Curry - signature dish of the Portuguese Eurasians as enjoyed at the 500 year celebrations in the Portuguese settlement in Malacca. Devilishly good.

Yean Kee Beef Noodles, Kluang

Yean Kee Beef Noodles in Kluang. Authentic local heritage roots in a clean modern space. Very Nice.

★★★★☆

Spare Ribs and Watercress

One of my favorite meals regularly had at the Rochor Center Kopitiam - straight from the taxi stand on arrival in Singapore and on my way to the MRT. Spareribs with blackbeans  over rice and watercress soup. The chillies add the exact amount of contrast to the low profile flavors. ★★★★☆

Fried Salad

Well, that is technically what Indian Rojak is. You choose from this array of deep fried things that call your name as you walk past - I responded and chose battered shrimp from top left, whole potoato fried in turmeric bottom right and a sausage type thing from top right . The lady at the back cuts up all the fried stuff and adds some freshly chopped cucumber and raw onion (that's the salad part) and you are handed a thick red sweet chilli sauce with peanuts in it to drench everything in. Do you see a big vat of oil with things being fried- no that's done at home earlier- what you see and hear is the lady cutting up raw vegetables. It's genius because the salad part yins the fried yang and it's de-li-cious. Consumed without guilt at Tekka market in Singapore.

Duck Rice Redux

I finally got to eat the roast duck rice at people's Park Plaza that I wanted to , it was great. I also had the chance to look at some of the prep work  of turning the air dried ducks and then hooking them up to be placed in the roasting oven which surprisingly was not a cabinet oven but what looked like a  stainless steel tandoori oven -it's under the hood in the back left.

Appom

The Appom is one of the greatest breakfast foods invented, ever. It ranks up there with croissants. Just as you would tear off a piece to dip in a bowl of coffee, in a Parisian Cafe, the same applies for the Appom except you dip into a bowl of sweetened coconut milk. The difference would be you would make sure you tore off a piece that had both the starchy center and the crispy wafer like sides to enjoy that double sensory punch.

It is made of a fermented rice batter and cooked in a small wok shaped pan hence the bowl shape. It's a South Indian food, found in local Tamil restaurants and  sadly, harder to find these days.

I particularly enjoyed people watching where I had mine the other day in Kuala Lumpur where my fellow diners were an interesting bunch. Two young men of similar age in particular spoke volumes of  how things often are here, one was in a green costume replete with skirt and barefoot, presumably straight from a ceremony at a close by temple, the other with a faux hawk, hipster jeans, the latest sneakers and talking on his cellphone.