10 Food Places To Try In Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)

My picks for the food places to try in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) are appended below. If you are wondering what and where to eat in Ho Chi Minh, hopefully, this list of 10 Food Places To Try In Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) would get you started. Happy Eating! 

1) Fanny Ice Cream
Fanny Ice Cream an ice cream parlor is located along Ton That Thiep Street, a 5 minutes walk away from Saigon Centre. Established in Vietnam in 1994 by Jean-Marc Bruno, a pastry specialist graduated from the renowned Le Nôtre Paris school, it manufactures and distributes its premium ice cream to over 1000 restaurants and hotels, and has 7 ice cream parlors in Vietnam. The beautifully presented Demi Bol consisted of a mix of sorbet and ice cream, chocolate sauce, almonds, caramel sauce, whipped cream and fruit salad.

Its franchise outlet recently opened in Singapore earlier this year. The Demi Bol in Singapore costs S$25.

Demi Bol 149,000 VND (S$8.95)

2) Kem Cong Truong (Kem Công Trường)
Kem Cong Truong, an eatery located next to Turtle Lake (Hồ Con Rùa) around 15 minutes walk from the Reunification Palace sells mainly small snacks, desserts and drinks. Established before the 70s with its neon signboard, it is well-known among the locals for its Coconut Ice Cream (Kem Trái Dừa); an authentic Vietnamese-style Coconut Ice Cream. True enough during our visit, we were the only tourist. Unlike the Thai Coconut Ice Cream, this came with traditional toppings; crushed peanuts, pineapple, and dried bananas and plums adding complexity to the taste and texture.

Coconut Ice Cream (Kem Trái Dừa) 

3) Nghi Xuan Restaurant (Nghi Xuân)
Nghi Xuan Restaurant is a boutique restaurant that specialises in traditional Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant is located at the end of an alley opposite the Saigon Opera House. The Tiny Steamed Rice Cakes (Bánh bèo tôm chấy) which consisted of Shredded shrimp, pork lard and spring onions added on top of the rice cake is highly recommended.

Tiny steamed rice cakes (Bánh bèo tôm chấy) 68,000 VND (S$4.10)

4) Banh Xeo 46A (Quán Bánh Xèo 46A)
Banh Xeo 46A an eatery located along a small narrow road between shop houses is famous for its authentic Vietnamese Pancake known as Bánh Xèo. The Vietnamese Pancake was crisp, thin and slightly sweet with a hint of coconut fragrant. Its interior was filled with beansprouts, shrimps, onion, pork and mung beans. This is a must try! While you are there, you should also try their Spring Rolls (Chả Giò) 20,000 VND (S$1.20).

Vietnamese Pancake (Bánh Xèo) 60,000 VND (S$3.60)

5) 3T Quan Nuong (3T Quán Nướng)
3T Quan Nuong located next to Fanny Ice Cream, is an open air roof top Vietnamese Barbecue (BBQ) / Grilled restaurant. It is popular for its Roasted Prawn with Salt and Chilli (Tôm nướng muối ớt) which was consisted of grilling live prawns on wooden skewers. The prawns were fresh and dipping them into the lime, salt and chilli dipping sauce added a different dimension to the taste.

Roasted Prawn with Salt and Chilli (Tôm nướng muối ớt) (100g) 58,000 VND (S$3.50)

6) Pho Nho (Phố Nhỏ)
Pho Nho located along Nguyễn Đình Chiểu road, near War Remnant Museum serves Northern (Hanoi) style pho (beef noodles). Its interior was nicely designed to resemble the streets of Hanoi with its murals on the walls and traditional street lights and foot paths.

The Saute Beef Noodles Soup with Slices of Round Steak (Phở Áp Chảo) did not disappoint. Dipping the Crispy Chinese Roller (dough fritters) into the pho, reminded me of a particular dish back home. While you are there, you should also try the Yogurt mixed with Coconut Milk and Sweet Sticky Rice (Sữa chua nếp cẩm).

Saute Beef Noodles Soup with Slices of Round Steak (Phở Áp Chảo) 55,000 VND (S$3.30), Crispy Chinese Roller 30,000 VND per piece (S$1.80)

7) Hoa Dong (Quán Hoa Đông)
Hoa Dong is a small eatery located 5 minutes walk away from the North Gate (Cửa Bắc) of Ben Thanh Market. While Pho is a more commonly known food associated with Vietnam, you should not leave the country without trying the Glass Udon Soup with Crabmeat (Bánh Canh Cua) and Grilled Pork served with Rice Noodle (Bún Chả Thịt Nướng). Both dishes are a must try at Hoa Dong.

Grilled Pork served with Rice Noodle (Bún Chả Thịt Nướng) 60,000 VND (S$3.60), Glass Udon Soup with Crabmeat (Bánh Canh Cua) 65,000 VND (S$3.90)

8) BeefSteak Nam Son (BeefSteak Nam Sơn)

BeefSteak Nam Son located along Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai at the end of  a long alley is popular among the locals for its Vietnamese style western food; beefsteak (Bít tết). The eatery opens as early as 6am as the locals love eating this for breakfast. The Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) is served on a sizzling hotplate. Shred the Baguette (Bánh Mì) into small pieces, dipped it into the sauce in the plate and spread the pate (minced pork liver) on it to experience how the locals eat it.

Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) 60,000 VND (S$3.60)

9) Ngoc Suong Marina (Ngọc Sương Sài Gòn)
Ngoc Suong Marina also known as Marina Saigon Seafood Cuisine is a Vietnamese seafood restaurant located along Nguyen Dinh Chieu road (near Pho Nho). The recommended dishes to order are the Ngoc Suong Fish Salad (Gỏi cá Ngọc Sương), Deep Fried Prawns With Salt and Pepper (Tôm sú chiên giòn rang muối tiêu), Crab with Tamarind Sauce (Cua rang me) and Seafood Fried Spring Roll (Chả giò hải sản).

Deep Fried Prawns With Salt and Pepper (Tôm sú chiên giòn rang muối tiêu) 205,000 VND (S$12.30), Crab with Tamarind Sauce (Cua rang me) 55,000 VND (S$3.30) per 100 gram

10) 3G Trois Gourmands 

3G Trois Gourmands located in District 2 is around 20 to 40 minutes drive away from the city centre depending on traffic conditions. The restaurant located in a traditional colonial house with its interior beautifully furnished specialises in serving French cuisine. Their Set Menu offers a choice of 5, 6 or 7 Course meal at a nett price of USD40, USD45, USD50 respectively. Although the prices seems expensive, the food here was excellent and value for money considering the quality and quantity. You would have to pay much more to enjoy such food in Singapore.

Clockwise from top left:  Scallops Mashed Potatoes Truffle, Homemade Smoked Salmon, Duck Breast with Orange Sauce, Gils Dessert

Two Important Tips
1) Change money at goldsmith shop
The two goldsmith shops opposite “Cua Tay” gate number 5 (west gate) of Ben Thanh market on Phan Chu Trinh Street offers the best exchange rate. Better than the rates in Singapore.

2) Get a Vinasun Taxi
We did our research and knew that getting a good taxi was important to avoid getting rip off. The two most reliable taxis are Vinasun and MaiLinh. However, do note that there are alot of copycats with varied names such as Ma Linh, Mei Linh Vinasune, Vinason or Vinasum.

Source: Hello Saigon!

After an incident (read the last 3 para if you are intersested) that happened to us, we took just Vinasun taxi. We really learnt it the hard way. Faith restore in taking taxis in Vietnam. Thank you Vinasun. We also ensure that the Vinasun taxi was
      - a big taxi (the first car in the photo above). Not those small ones as copycats normally use those                   smaller ones
      - window are not tinted
      - wear maroon tie

At the airport, if you want to get a Vinasun taxi, head left once you exit from the airport's arrival hall (where there are people waiting for their friends, family, or clients). Walk to the far left, end of the taxi stand, you will spot Vinasun wardens wearing dark green shirts with maroon ties. The airport is not far from the city and should cost about 150,000 VND around 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic.

Rip Off Incident (sharing this to spread the awareness and help more people avoid such situations)
Despite our research, we were ripped off on our first night. We spotted a MaiLinh taxi and board it. The driver was wearing a tie, had his photo displayed on the dashboard and on the meter. Seems to be the right (genuine) taxi. The first sign that something was not right was that he was impatient; drove very fast and cut into the opposite lane of the road despite other vehicles honking. In addition, the meter jumped very quickly. It was at this moment I noticed that the side-windows for passengers were slightly tinted (oh shit..). It did not help that our destination was Cuc Gach Quan, located at a quiet private residential area.

The taxi driver drove us to the restaurant, showed us the restaurant and then move forward a little as there was a security guard there. We then paid him the meter fee of 350,000 VND which was ridiculously considering that it should be below 100,000 VND (S$21). He locked us in and demand more money (than what showed up in the meter) shouting and even throwing newspaper at us. Knowing that this was not a battle that we should fight, we slowly gave him more and more. But he kept asking for more.  The process repeated (i.e. shout, throw newspaper, give abit of money) several times. We kept asking for him to open the door but he turned even more aggressive. Lucky for us, another security guard in charge of a residential a few units ahead sensed that something was amissed and walked up. We kept waving at him as the front window was not tinted (at this time, a staff from Cuc Gach Quan also came over) and the driver quickly opened the door, told us to get out and drove off.

The security guard managed to record the number of the taxi and we explained the incident to them through a staff who understood English. The staff of the restaurant called up MaiLinh to lodge a case for us. Unfortunately, the company stated that they had no such taxi number and claimed that the driver did not belong to their company. In total, we paid slightly more than 450,000 VND (S$27) to the driver. But what matter was that we were safe..

[Did you know?] 35 Secret Starbucks Drinks You Didn’t Know You Could Order

So much for being a foodie. I did not know that there are 35 Secret Starbucks drinks I can order! Nevertheless, its never too late. Did you know about it and have you tried it? 

Source: JOLT24

Fanatics of Harry Potter movie would be thrilled to know that they can now try the Butterbeer which was drank in the movie. It's call the 'Butterbeer' Frappuccino. How cool is that!!

There are so many unique drinks. Just to name a few, there's Red Velvet Frappuccino, Ferrero Rocher Frappuccino, Caramel Snickerdoodle Macchiato, Caramel Popcorn Frappuccino, Snickers Frappuccino and Horchata Frappuccino. 

Any recommendations?

Where is the Mona Lisa located at? (France, Paris)

Where is the Mona Lisa located at? Mona Lisa where are you putting up at?

I am a mountain tortoise. So before I went to Europe, this was what I googled "Where is the Mona Lisa located at?". Hence, this post is delegated to all mountain tortoise including myself anyone who may have the same question as me.

Today, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting is located at Musée du Louvre in Paris. The Louvre Museum can easily be accessible through the Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre metro station (line 1 and 7). As a result, we took the metro from our hotel. 

At Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station, look out for this sign (above) once you have alighted from the metro train. Sortie means exit. 

Once you have exit / 'tapped out' from the metro station you will notice this. From here onwards, you are actually in an underground link (similr to our Citylink Mall at City Hall MRT station). There are several signages that would direct you to the Louvre Museum.

Inverted Glass Pyramid

Once you see this inverted glass pyramid, you are very near the Louvre Museum entrance. All you need to do is to go through the security checkpoint, walk into the hall way and you are in the main area where you can purchase tickets. If you are a fan of Macarons, Laduree is located here! Just next to this inverted pyramid. Before you dash off to Laduree or Louvre Museum, remember to take some photos of the inverted pyramid.

The area which you purchase and enter the Louvre Museum is called Under The Pyramid (-2). If you intend to zoom in to Mona Lisa, find the Denon Wing entrance. Once there, you will notice that there are signs placed every now and then to direct you to the Mona Lisa painting. Mona Lisa is located at the 1st floor (1) of the Denon Wing. 

Even with the signages, it took us a long time to get to the Mona Lisa. Once you see this long corridor with its ceiling (lv 1 is the highest floor in the Denon Wing), you are on the right track and getting very close to Mona Lisa which is located in one of the rooms along this corridor. 

Diana à la Biche

We actually missed the sign and overshot the room with Mona Lisa's painting in it. Look out for Diana à la Biche. Once you see Diana à la Biche, stop and enter the room at the side. 

This is how the room looks like when you enter. Noticed the crowd? So many people gathered inside here all wanting to take a photo of Mona Lisa. Do you spot the Mona Lisa painting in the background? 

Mona Lisa Painting

*Drum roll..* Presenting the Mona Lisa Painting, one of the most famous painting in the world - Leonardo da Vinci's most celebrated art work!

The visit to Louvre Museum was an eye opener. The paintings and artworks were amazing. So magnificent, so captivating, so beautiful! If you are someone who is interested in such artwork, do cater a day or two as there are so many exhibits in the Louvre Museum.

Before we left, we went up to the open to take photos of the exterior of Louvre Palace and Pyramid.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe which is located at one end of the Champs-Élysées (One of the most famous street with luxury shops along the street. The street is sometimes used for celebrations or gatherings such as after France won the World Cup in 1998. The Arc de Triomphe is a famous monument to honour those who fought and sacrificed their lives for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars.

Eiffel Tower

At night, we visited the Eiffel Tower. The view of the Eiffel Tower from afar was magnificent. The view was also jaw dropping from underneath the tower. The whole structure is made of metal; puddled iron. How did they designed and built this structure back in 1889?

Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre)
75058 Paris - France
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 20 53 17
Opening Hours: Mon, Thurs, Sat & Sun from 9am to 6pm
                         Wed, Fri from 9am to 945pm
                         Closed on Tue, 1 Jan and 25 Dec
Website

View FoodieFC's Europe Map in a larger map

*New Feature* Overseas Food Map

I have just added a new feature which is the Overseas Food Map. You can check it out by clicking on the tab above with the word 'Overseas food Map'.

FoodieFC's Overseas Map

In the page, the maps show the locations of restaurants / food outlets posted in FoodieFC's blog. In some instances, other locations mentioned such as hotels, airports and ferry terminals would be shown. Do note, maps such as Malaysia and China contain only Johor Bahru and Guangzhou locations. The maps are named in such a way to facilitate the addition of future posts.

The Europe Map is being updated. After it is updated, I will work on Dubai Map followed by Bangkok Map. 

Hopefully over the years (as I go overseas), the maps will slowly become more comprehensive and would be a useful tool for anyone planning a trip overseas to these specific locations.

FoodieFC's Guest Post on Johor Kaki Blog

Last week, I received a message from Tony to guest post on his Johor Kaki blog. I accepted it immediately. I have been following Johor Kaki since last year after I chance upon the blog. The blog is a useful source of information for anyone searching for makan places in Johor. Bagus! 

Johor Kaki Blog

In the guest post, I wrote on the 'must order' dishes at my two favourite restaurants (Teck Sing and San Low Seafood) near the causeway (Johor Bahru's checkpoint). If you are keen to read the post, please click here. 

End of 2012 and the next leap into 2013!

2012 has just flown by. Time seems to pass faster and faster. Before I know it, its now 2013. Since FoodieFC has been started in 2010, it has come a long way with more than 800,000 non-unique hits (in wordpress and blogspot). [Thanks everyone for for supporting] In addition, I have managed to post on my foodie experience in other countries such as China (Guangzhou), Hong Kong, India (Chennai, Pune), Indonesia (Bintan), Macau and Malaysia (Johor Bahru). Furthermore, I was also caught in the 'PSY Oppa Gangnam Style' craze, posting on the meaning of Gangnam Style and the interpretation of the song. It was not a silly and ridiculous song after all if you go deeper into the song. 

In 2013, the objective will still be the same. There will not be any drastic changes. Food posts and sharing of food deals will still continue. In addition, I will be able to add on some posts on my foodie experience in Europe. 

Last but not least, thanks for dropping by. Wishing everyone Happy New Year. May it be a fruitful and exciting year for each and everyone of you. Happy eating. 

Masterchef! Handling 12 woks at the same time!

Talk about efficiency, this man in China can handle and cook with 12 woks, all at the same time! Amazing!  Fast food in a different perspective. Video title is called 'King of Wok'.

Reason for using so many woks (as mentioned in video towards the end during an 'interview'): 

a) More throughput; essentially increase efficiency and well as what the Singapore Government has been advocating recently Productively! This man has worked his way up to 12 woks so that he can dish out more food within the same time. This way, his customers who ordered multiple orders will not need to wait too long.

b) Using so many woks, each dish (fried noodles) need to go through a few woks of frying and stirring. With each wok, the noodles gets exposure to prolong duration of heat and absorption of flavour. Hence, the tast of the fried noodles will taste nicer. 

**I tried translating the reasons from the video. Hence, it might sound weird. Best to view the video yourself! 

Its as though this man has studied a Supply Chain Management degree/course. If you observe closely you will also notice his assistance helping him helps to put the ingredients into the woks (around 4?) that is in front of her.

Anyone know where this is at? I want to try! Wonder if the noodles tasted charred. 

PSY Oppa Gangnam Style Meaning

By now this video (PSY - Gangnam Style) will need no further introduction (185 million youtube hits in 2months!!). If you do not know what this is about, take a look at my first post for a quick introduction, along with selected spoof videos by people living in Korea, America and even Singapore.

Disclaimer: From my perspective and in my opinion. Whether PSY had the intention behind the scenes, meanings and ironies, I do not know. Hence, read with a pinch of salt. Make it two...as different people have different views/opinions. More importantly, this post is not meant to defame or ridicule anyone or culture. 

Food for thought about this video
One of the rare K-pop song that did not feature a boy/girl band and the main cast (in this case PSY) is not handsome/beautiful/sexy. Instead PSY is chubby and not good looking.

After looking at the English translation of this song, watching the video repeatedly, I can only say that there may be hidden meanings in the video. The silly and ridiculous song may not be as simple as we thought. A lot of effort and thought has been put into the video. At least this is what I think. This is mainly due to locations shown in the video, the actions and the song title/lyrics. 

Let's start with 'Oppa Gangnam Style'. 

What does Gangnam mean? 

Gangnam - an area in korea where the rich stays in.

What does Oppa mean?

Oppa is used by females to address older brothers or males who are older than them (the females). Essentially, Oppa means big brother (form of respect).

What does Oppa Gangnam Style mean?

The singer, in this case PSY is telling ladies that he (big brother) is cool and rich (classy), and has a gangnam lifestyle. 

Looking up the english translation of the lyrics, it describes who he (PSY) thinks he is, a guy who is smart (knows a thing or two), cool, thinks properly and is not a nerd. When it comes to having fun, he knows when is the right time to play and goes completely crazy when it is time to play. He also goes on to describe that the type of girl he likes. The girl have the same style as him; is sensible, classy, naive and innocent ('covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all'). When it comes to playing, she also knows when is the right time, play hard and is sexy. 

Keeping in mind the character (PSY) is supposed to be; rich, cool, classy and the type of girl he likes, look at the scenes in the video. It is ironic as it is clearly not Gangnam style and the locations are not where the rich and cool goes to. Let me try to site examples from the video:

1) Beach? (at the start of the video): Looks like he is relaxing on a beach, with a young beautiful lady fanning him(he must be rich), a drink and even a beach umbrella. But after he sings 'Oppa Gangnam Style', the camera zoom out to show that he is actually at a public playground instead of a beach.

2) Walking with 2 ladies in his arms as trash (newspaper and leaves) and snow flakes were thrown at them on the street: Resembling stars walking down the red carpet during award ceremony/movie premiere as confetti rain down on them (a recent example is the Avengers Premiere). 

3) Sauna: with two gangsters as protrayed by their tattoos

4) Two old man playing chess and then they were 'killed' by an explosion. Could have several meanings:
        a) a lost culture among the young generation as now they play games using the smartphones and
            computer.
        b) watching the older generation play chest, accompanying them. Today's generation no longer
            does that in this fast-paced and globalised world. 

5) Bus: Disco on a bus instead of a pub or nightclub. And the passengers on the bus have grey hair (older generation). 

6) Sexy ladies doing yoga outdoor along what seems to be the Han River: PSY get to find and see sexy girls along the Han River. (this does not happen in real life right?) These girls should be in a yoga class(indoor) instead, in the Gangnam district or  shopping malls, not the Han River. Ironic. In addition, PSY's description of the girl he likes is sensible and classy. Will a girl of this description do yoga in the open (along the Han River) wearing that kind of shorts?

7) Speed boat: On a speedboat instead of a yacht. The rich with their own yachts (symbol of status) can have parties on board, chill out, ride along the Han River or even impress girls. PSY showed that he can have a fun filled 'yacht' experience using a speedboat too. 

8) Subway (MRT): PSY meets the girl (Hyuna) that he likes, with the same style as him (sensible, classy, naive yet sexy) on the train. Hyuna even does sexy dance moves on the train. At the subway station, observe how 'sexy' Hyuna is through her body movement and her hair. This is followed by them dancing in the subway station. Now who says you can't meet these type of girls in the subway. And ironically, the subway is not a mode of transport the rich and classy normally take. Furthermore, dancing at a subway station and not a pub or nightclub. Hmmm..

9) Emerging from the water with goggles. Looks like he is swimming (alone) either at a private swimming pool or beach. But yet again as he sings 'Oppa Gangnam Style', the camera zoom out to show that he is instead at a public bath house. Ironic! Moreover, as he plays at the 'pool' a member of the public is staring at him. But he is definitely oblivious to that - thick skin. 

10) At the finale of the video a group of dancers wearing different clothes: A closer look, these are all differnt working class people wearing uniforms that represent the; traffic police, chef, wrestler, office worker, maid, taekwondo instructor, waitress, nurse, cheerleader and more.

11) Underground Carpark: Where Jaesuk (a well-known celebrity aka National MC) appears in a sports car and challenge him (PSY) to a dance. The sports car obviously does not belong to PSY. 

12) Horse riding is a luxury. PSY has shown that you do not even need a real horse to experience horse riding as his dance mainly revolves around 'invisible horse riding'. Even when he is at the stable, PSY did not get to ride on a horse, instead he does his 'invisible horse riding'. The closest he got to a real horse riding is sitting on a carousel horse.

13) Wearing Sunglasses: Wearing sunglasses in most of the scenes even indoors, which is not the norm. (just to name a few: sauna, tennis court, stable, toilet, carpark, subway..) Ironically, PSY had to wear sunglasses all the time when he was in America (US) as no one recognised him if he did not wear sunglasses. His comment on America was that it was dark all the time as he never took it off...even at night he was wearing sunglasses. 

Ironically, this is the way PSY depicts Gangnam style. He seems to be making a mockery of  people who want to be associated with gangnam style. Moreover, portray how materialism and superficiality seems to be playing a part in today's world. Being rich and cool is not everything. There are many things/places out there that people are missing out on (subway, tennis court, watching the older generation play chess).

To me, this K-POP hit reminds me of the movie 'Inception'. Different people will have different interpretations of the song.
_________________________________________________________________________________
More spoof videos:

PSY - "MIKO STYLE" (Gangnam Style) Parody By Miss Korea 2012 Contestants

Oppa Gangnam Style (Gwang Soo's cover)

KL Style

Gangnam Style Mom (Umma Gangnam Style)

[Oppa] Gangnam Style - Singapore Style!

My first non-food post. 

The Official Version - by Korea Singer (rapper) Park Jae-Sang also known as PSY who started this craze with this single 'Gangnam Style'. Since its release on Youtube on 15 July 2012, it has received over 38million hits and has made its way to even CNN. For Running Man fans, did you know that Yoo Jae-Seok made a cameo appearance in the dance duel with PSY at the carpark (1:43 min of video). (why did he not wear Green!?)

PSY even held a competition and asked people to create their own spoof videos. The winner with the best video will get to win his Korea concert tickets and also meet him.

Gangnam Style - The Singapore Version (Singapore Style). This was filmed in a day by Toxien (a local Korean company) with a budget of less than $10 as the team travelled via public transport.

Another Singapore Version

American Version by a Korean-America Jun Sung Ahn with his violin. This is the video selected PSY himself as the winner of the competition.

Oppa Daegu Style

Hongdae Style

Oppa is Just My Style (from a woman's perspective). Sang by 4Minute Member, Hyuna with PSY released on 14 August 2012 with over 10million hits in a short time span of 4 days.

#CookForFamily Initiative: Ajitsuke Tamago and Chilled Beancurd

#CookForFamily Initiative is initiated by Daniel Ang from Daniel's Food Diary. The objective is simple and meaningful; to get 100 bloggers (hopefully their fans and followers) to start cooking and bonding with their families. To date, he has garnered 109 bloggers to join in this initiative.

I will not call mine a meal. It is more of a side dish and dessert. Well, as the title states, I made Ajitsuke Tamago and Chilled Beancurd. 

Ajitsuke Tamago is actually marinated soft boiled egg. It is the egg which is frequently served with Japanese Ramen, sometimes for an extra $2. The characteristic of the Ajitsuke Tamago is that the egg whites are hard boiled (solid but soft and delicate) while the egg yolk are runny/molten. 

Marinated  Ajitsuke Tamago

Ajitsuke Tamago (when sliced into half)

This is an item which is hard to gauge the response from my parents as they do eat Ajitsuke Tamago outside. But after so many attempts they are still eating it. While my sister comment is that I have improved after the past few attempts (especially the first). But can be better. How did I made it? Click here. 

The dessert which I made was the Chilled Beancurd (or lao ban beancurd, not exactly similar in taste). The recipe can be found here. This is quite an easy item to make as it requires just half an hour or even less to make it. Followed by another 3 hours to chill it before it is ready to be consumed. 

Chilled Beancurd

I have been making the Chilled Beancurd frequently for consumption within the family or for friends. This is a good item to counter the heat from our scorching weather. And this is something which the family enjoys. 

I certainly enjoying making both the Ajitsuke Tamago and Chilled Beancurd. I am likely to continue making them. In fact, have been making the Chilled Beancurd biweekly. The two recipes are posted online. You can take a look at them and try making them yourselves too. Moreover, both the Ajitsuke Tamago and Chilled Beancurd will not require long hours in making it or oily utensils or risk your kitchen becoming smokey/oily. Give it a try and do give me comments on improvements if any. Have fun making it!

Coca-Cola Hug Me Machine in NUS

Coca-Cola marketing campaigns and videos never fail to impress me.

Coke Hug Me Machine - Hug the vending machine and get a coke! I wish I am still back in National University of Singapore! Looks fun!

Chanced upon this video (top) and reminded me of the past commercials. Hence this post. =)
.

1979 Mean Joe Greene Coke Commercial - part of 'Have a Coke and a Smile' ad campaign. Caught the most attention when it was aired during the 1980 Super Bowl. Won a Clio Award for the best ad and is known as one of the top 10 commercial all time by multiple sources

1993 Coca Cola Polar Bear Commercial - One of the classics shown worldwide.

Coca Cola Coke Factory - Shown worldwide. Executed to perfection and done tastefully.

Coke Happiness Machine - A machine that not only dispense coke but also happiness. You will never know what you will get from the coke machine! (One can literally say to the machine 'Surprise me' and get really wowed). Spreading happiness around the campus. Giving big items to share among the students to spread the love. Sharing is caring.

Recent hype:

Self-Freezing Coke

Even in movies: The Gods Must Be Crazy

Not forgetting the Coke and Mentos reaction

Just in case you are wondering what is the market share between Coke and Pepsi:
1) Coke        17%
2) Diet Coke 9.9%
3) Pepsi        9.5%

FoodieFC will be away froom 14th to 18th May 2012

Dear all

I will be travelling to Guangzhou for work on 14th to 18th May 2012.

Email and comment response will be delayed. However, there will still be posts as I am using the 'schedule' function.

So stay tuned!

Regards,
FoodieFC

This is what I call Customer Service (Food Hotel Asia 2012)

Remember what I wrote in my previous post on Food Hotel Asia 2012 last week?

'The show attracted such a huge crowd that there was a traffic jam into expo. Moreover, I had to queue 1 hour just to get my pass even though I had pre-registered. Still it was well worth the wait!'

Email from organisers of Food Hotel Asia 2012

Well, I received an email from the organisers of Food Hotel Asia 2012 yesterday. (please note that this email was sent to all visitors who attended the trade show on the first day. It was not sent because of my blog post)

This is great customer service; the little things that can make a difference! I am impressive. Glad to know that they realised the problem, admit it and will improve on it on their own accord all within 2 weeks after the event. Kudos to FHA!

A Simple Lunch

Since I was alone at home, decided to cook a simple lunch; mee sua.

Ingredients

Ingredients

Ingredients include cabbage, mushroom, fish, golden mushroom, spring onion, dried scallop, boy choy, tomato and mee sua. 

A quick and simple home-cooked lunch!

Food Hotel Asia 2012

Food Hotel Asia (FHA) is a biennial trade show started in 1978 showcasing food and hospitality products around the world. 

The recent FHA this year; FHA 2012 is the largest ever held in Singapore with 2,800 exhibitors from 71 countries taking up Hall 1 all the way to Hall 9 in Singapore Expo! That is over 92,000 square metre of space! It was held from 17 to 20 April 2012 at Singapore Expo. The show spanned across the various sectors such as Food, Hotel, Bakery & Pastry, Hospitality and Tea & Coffee.

How can any foodie miss this experience! I shall let the pictures do the 'talking'!

Cupcakes

Cake

Cake

Tigerson Philti - Art of Cake Design and Chocolate Ornament

Tigerson Philti - Edible Chocolate Prints [Left to right: LV Bag, Mahjong Tiles]

Chocolate Louis Vuitton (LV) bag or Mahjong, anyone?

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee art!

Ice Cream - Movenpick

Movenpick, Swiss ice cream.

Kindori Ice Cream

Kindori Malaysia Ice Cream with its concept of frozen fresh fruits (blast frozen) blended with fresh milk base. They were looking people interested in bringing the ice cream concept to Singapore (franchise model).

Automated Ice Cream Machine

Customers just need to press the black button and the machine will automatically move the cone upwards, let the ice cream dispense on it. When it is done, the machine will move the cone downwards. Can start putting a coin or note slot so that when $1 or $2 is slotted in your can get your ice cream! Imagine Ice Cream vending machine.

Stick Skewering Machine by Kong Shiang Engineering

Stick Skewering Machine by Kong Shiang Engineering (KSE) a Singapore company.

Bread Vacuum Suction Depanner

Yamato Manufacturing

Yamato Manufacturing is a Japanese manufacturer of noodle making machines and equipment.

Yamato Manufacturing

Yamato Manufacturing 

What is the best way to show case your noodle machines and equipments capabilities? Well, make and cook the noodles and let visitors sample them!

Yamato Manufacturing  - Sampling Hours

Yamato Manufacturing  - Yakisoba

I was in time for their Yakisoba sampling.

Yamato Manufacturing - Ramen

Guess what, I went back on the 3rd day and saw them distributing the Ramen for sampling.

Pure-Bred Iberico Pig

Pure-Bred Iberico Pig - Ham

Left to right: Abalone, Lobster 

Yes! There was even abalone (available for sampling) and lobster!

Seafood

Seafood

Looks like a fish market? Well, these are real! Seafood, snowcrabs, clams, fish, lobsters, scallops! 

The pictures above are just the tip of the ice berg. The show is so big that it is hard to cover everything. There were bakery (bread, cakes, biscuits), beef, pork, parma ham, hot dog bun, korean kimbap, green tea, strawberries, pizza, coffee machines, machines of all kinds, wine, ice cream, fish, salmon, vegetarian, fruit juice..the list is endless! 

The show attracted such a huge crowd that there was a traffic jam into expo. Moreover, I had to queue 1 hour just to get my pass even though I had pre-registered. Still it was well worth the wait!

The next Food Hotel Asia 2014 will be held on 8 to 11 April 2014! Can't wait, hope I can visit it then!