Fruit Paradise

I'm back in London and getting comfy in my new flat. The last of the freshers party was last night/this morning, yet I'm up early on a Sunday morning with a cup of hot chocolate and some quiet music. I have yet to do any serious cooking/baking, but I do need to get into this new habit of making practical meals for a busy midweek schedule.

One of my last few lunches in Singapore was in Fruits Paradise, a Japanese fruit tart café franchise which I'd been eyeing for a while. They've got all these amazing plastic tarts for display as well as the actual ones in the chilled glass shelves, gleaming like mountains of juicy gemstones.

For a little bit of hot food pre-tart-madness, my friend and I got a katsu curry with ebi shrimp and chicken nuggets, (SG$12.90) (above) which was alright. Funny that they should serve fries as well as rice, though!

Just look at that beauty. Gorgeous layers of light mousse and sponge, as well as mango cream and fresh mangoes and strawberries, lined with shortcrust and flaky pastry! This 'Summer Sunset' (SG$6.80) was delicious, and worth its price for the size, light taste, and definitely its visual appeal.

My friend ordered a choco mont blanc (SG$7.80) which came atop a brownie and chocolate shortcrust base. The mont blanc's chestnut taste was extremely mild, and I wasn't a fan of the pairing with hardcore chocolate components like the brownie base and the chocolate sponge within. Although I'm not much of an expert on mont blanc and have only had it once before, the tart wasn't bad, but an unfortunate hit-and-miss for me.

Because we just couldn't get enough of those tarts, my friend and I got a final mango tart (SG$6.80) to share. This. Was my absolute favourite. It is an amazing tart – there's a light, cream cheese base which worked really well with the sponge, mangoes and cream, plus the fresh mango slices topped it all off perfectly.

The tart pastry also really stood out for me in these tarts, they had a distinctive, golden (can things taste golden? I say they can.) buttery taste which complimented the creamy, fruity tops really well.

I'm definitely paying Fruits Paradise a visit the next time I'm in Singapore, their tarts are just the perfect [edible] centrepiece to any conversation!

Fruit Paradise (there are other branches too)

Ang Mo Kio (AMK) Hub

#02-18

53 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

569933

Singapore

www.fruitparadise.com.sg

Sweet Home Farm Granola – Maple Pecan

It's been a while!

I wish I could say that I haven't been updating much because of my incredibly packed schedule due to being so super-popular that I have to meet up with three to four different friends per day, but that is not the case. While I am free and easy in Singapore, all my friends are in school on weekdays, and cooped up at home on weekends burying their heads in their books for the crazy school system which I've managed to escape!

Fortunately, before I head back to London next Wednesday, I'll be meeting up with friends for a bit, to celebrate birthdays and say goodbye!

When there is no pau, wonton mee, moon cake, egg tarts or curry puffs for breakfast, I grab myself a bowl, a spoon, some milk, and the carton of cereal above.

Wait a minute, those strange things don't sound like things people usually have for breakfast, says England. You're right, but only if you aren't in Asia.

Prior to contrary belief, Asians are in some ways pretttttty unhealthy eaters. Just walk through the Taiwanese streets full of fried-food vendors, or check out the Singporean ah peks ('uncles', i.e men aged 50-ish and above) in the kopitiams (hawker centres) at nine in the morning eating nasi lemak (fragrant Malaysian rice with varying side dishes) with fried chicken and egg.

To feel slightly back-to-routine again, I occasionally have a bowl of cereal when I sleep in and wake up too late to be served breakfast, or when Mum isn't in. USA-imported Sweet Home Farm cereals come in a fat carton and several other flavours which I haven't seen or tried.

The clusters in this cereal don't easily come apart like the one from Tesco, (which tastes amazing by the way) and the pecan nuts are wholesome and appealing. They taste noticeably unique, and far from the standard-sweetness of Tesco's and Sainsbury's versions – there's a deep, woody flavour in this cereal, a sigh of actual maple syrup! The sweetness doesn't hit you in the face, but there's a good amount which leaves a fabulous cereal milk to slurp up!

The milk used here is Pura's regular whole milk, which has been the standard purchase in the household for years – there's no annoying taste, yet it isn't completely bland, a perfect blank canvas for cereal-consumption, and even for drinking it on its own.

Going to creep to my kitchen now and eat out of the tupperware (which it has been transferred to due to potential pesky ants) with a spoon, shhh!

Madam Kwan's

You may have heard of the newly-opened Madam Kwan's at Vivocity, Harbourfront, which has been highly-anticipated since its success from four branches in Malaysia. (Unless you don't live in Singapore, or don't know where it is. In any case, stay if you want to hear about this very particular Singaporean dining experience...)

I arrived at the restaurant before the rest of my family, and repeated to the dazed-looking table-usher a few times that, no, I do not want to make a reservation, I already have a reservation for five people.

Feeling quite thirsty after coming straight from work, I decided to order an interesting-sounding yam milkshake while the others come. (Sounds interesting, doesn't it?)Ordering in English seemed to be a mistake – the waitress replied me in Chinese stating that she didn't understand. Okay, I thought, strange for a restaurant in Vivocity, the ultimate tourist shopping mall. I repeated my order in Chinese, pointing to the item on the menu. She gave final confirmation by asking if she had circled the correct item on the mini-menu that she was holding. Goodness, yes, it was indeed a 'yam shake' which you have circled. Thank you.

The rest of my family finally arrived, and we ordered some dishes from the menu to share, and a plate of rice each. My milkshake arrived while we were ordering. I expected it to be purple, (most yam-flavoured desserts in Asia are purple) but I thought that it was white because of a lack of artificial colouring. I took a sip, frowned, and took a few more – lo and behold, it was a regular vanilla milkshake. (Man, I still wonder how a yam milkshake tastes like.)

I waited for us to finish ordering the food, before I spoke up. The waiter suggested the assam fish head while we were making decisions. My sister and I quietly flipped to the item on the menu, and it was priced at SG$49. (£24.50) Sly move, sir – that was what our eyes said when they met – but thankfully nobody on the table was up for fish that night, and the suggestion didn't lead anywhere.

Then I requested a change of drink, but the waiter refused. Why, I asked, the waitress who took my order made a mistake, I wanted yam, not vanilla. It's a restaurant regulation, he politely stated – once a customer tries their food, the kitchen can't take it back. My family and I exchanged amused faces.  Then, he said, you shouldn't have drunk it, if you wanted to change it. Internal laughter of disbelief rippled through the table.

"How would she have known it was wrong, if she didn't drink it?" Many variations of this was thrown towards the resilient waiter, who didn't bat an eyelid, and refused, again and again, without much apology.

After lots more slightly heated demands for explanation, as well as some mutterings of 'bad service' under our breaths, the waiter couldn't be persuaded. We gave up, and I drank that vanilla milkshake. (I've never seen a yam milkshake on a menu before... I'm really curious.)

The food came fast in a flurry, the plates all barely fitting onto the table. The best of it was the fried chicken – lovely tenderness, and a nice, crispy skin. There was also some great but spicy sotong, (squid) kangkong, (water spinach) and chicken curry – the latter had a distinct flavour of coconut milk, which was nice but activated a siren against my diet plan! The beef rendang tasted so-so, but was bad on the presentation front: plonked on a plain diner's plate, about three stingy scoops, with two pathetic cucumber slices sticking out of the side of the plate. Costing somewhere between SG$10 to SG$13, (£5 to £7.50) it certainly wasn't worth it. The beef satay was big and chunky but lacked charred, complex flavours I could get from my own barbecue party, although the accompanying peanut sauce was great.

The drinks were rather overpriced – SG$5 for my brother's 'Honey Lemon Tea', which was basically water, lemon slices, ice cubes, and honey.

The bill came up to SG$144 (£72) for the five of us. For local food that we can easily find elsewhere – despite the higher quality of just a few dishes – it was not worth it, and I don't think I'll be going back to Madam Kwan's unless this branch at Vivocity does some serious staff-training and policy-reviewing. (How in the world does a yam milkshake taste like!? I NEED TO KNOW!)

The information presented in this account is true to the best of my knowledge. I wish Madam Kwan's all the best, and hopefully I'll see more customers and better staff on a Sunday night in Vivocity the next time I visit.

Also, I was not happy about having to pay compulsory service charge. Singapore needs a lesson or two from the UK.

Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon

Hawker centres in Singapore are sheltered eating areas with rows of unique stalls selling a particular type of cuisine. Most of the local delicacies are present, including Chicken Rice, Roti Prata, (flatbread with curry) Yong Tau Foo, (a pick-n-mix of veggies, tofu, seafood and meat, to boil in soup, with or without the addition of noodles) and local desserts and drinks. There are also stalls selling Japanese, Korean, and Western food.

Really, one can never run out of options at a Singaporean hawker centre. There is most likely something for everyone.

My mum brought me to try out the Fish Head Bee Hoon at Balestier, which was preceded by a 10-minute long queue. (Worth noting that the other stalls had under three customers at a time)

Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon @ Whampoa Makan Place is mended by two stall owners – a cook, and a lady who handles the orders and payment.

At $3.50 (£1.75) for a pretty big bowl, it's great value. There's nothing to pay for service nor eating area. Just grab your food and find a table. That's why I love eating in hawker centres.

Yes, that is a bucket of plastic chopsticks.

I often find myself thinking that London needs something like this. I'm tired of going into places and sighing at the price labels, the voice in my head whining, "But... but I'm a student..." I'm tired of supermarkets (and not even all of them) being the only cheap option, I want a budget dining-in choice like good old Singaporean hawker centres!

I'm no expert on Fish Head Bee Hoon, as it's not one of my usual hawker choices. However, after trying this one from Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon, it has become a favourite! I love the light, milky, fish stock soup, as well as the slippery, thick rice vermicelli. The meat from the fish's head is cooked to perfection, stiff enough to grasp with chopsticks, but not tough or rubbery, and it falls apart nicely when eaten. This particular stall is awesome, because there is a generous serving of sliced fish. It is infuriating when you get lots of noodle, soup and vegetable, but just two pieces of meat. There's another version in which the fish is fried in batter, which I'm eager to try – an excuse for another visit!

Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon
Whampoa Makan Place
Block 92 Whampoa Drive
#01-46
Balestier
Singapore 320092

Bon voyage

I departed to Heathrow on the one day when London hid its rare, persevering sun and threw out a layer of grey, indifferent clouds, as if it had decided to say farewell by serving a taster of what I'd get when I come back in September. (Hopefully not.)

Terminal 3 of London Heathrow Airport's departure hall is pretty much an actual hall, huge and oblong, lined with shops like Starbucks, Boots, WHSmith, YO! Sushi, duty free, etc.

Breakfast for me was a Ham & Egg Salad sandwich from Boots (£2) which was so-so. I mainly tasted peppered egg, but it filled me up nevertheless.

It's been a year, but I still don't understand why the English don't mind cold sandwiches. In fact, they probably eat more cold sandwiches than warm ones, because they can be taken straight from the fridge in any supermarket or a pharmacy with snacks. Warm sandwiches are so much nicer – there's more taste, and the meat tastes like meat, instead of cool rubber.

Yes, this is a breakfast menu from Singapore Airlines. Having forgotten to take a picture of the menu, I contacted Singapore Airlines, and they kindly scanned me a copy of the menu from that particular flight within a few days, even though they've probably got better things to do!

I got the Tandoori Salmon served with raita, vegetable curry and Kashmiri pilaf – it was a good choice! The Tandoori salmon was cooked well and tasted great, with fragrant, fluffy pilaf rice, and a decent vegetable curry. The bread roll that came with it was as soft as a pillow, and light-tasting, it was pretty much perfect!

This mango chutney tart served atop salad intrigued me. It looks a little dodgy, but it tasted very interesting! Under the chutney is ground chicken tikka, and the flavours all went together wonderfully in the firm pastry.

Pad Thai for breakfast sounds outrageous to some people, but noodles for breakfast happens sometimes in Southeast Asia. These noodles were average, they didn't reeeally taste like Pad Thai, but reguler fried broad noodles with seafood, egg and veggies. The bread roll was ten times tougher than the one served during dinner. *insert pout face here* There was also a random butter cake at the side, along with raspberry yoghurt and fruits... there was a lot on that breakfast plate!

Now that I'm in Singapore, I'll be attending the best culinary school in the world, held exclusively and privately in my home kitchen, led by Chef Mummy. Progress and updates will be slow, because I've got many other things to do during my time here. I'll also be visiting eating places that I've heard about and always wanted to try!

However, don't ignore my blog for this month just because you're in London! Singapore has a brilliant food culture which I will be exploring from a whole new perspective, having experienced many other international foods in London.

C&R

 As with any other country-specific foods, I suppose, where there is a 'correct' taste to these dishes, it was the authenticity of the vibrant Malaysian flavours which I was eager to judge during my dining experience at C&R in Chinatown.

But aren't you from Singapore?

Singaporean cuisine consists of mainly Chinese, Malay and Indian food, and there is usually a fair amount of each type in hawker centres and local eateries.

Likewise, Malaysian cuisine includes lots of Chinese, Malay (duh) and Indian delicacies too. Southeast Asia has a great potpourri of local foods – it's like we had this unspoken selection process happening throughout the decades, and the survivors of gustatory judgement (i.e. dishes we all can't get enough of) have been accepted as ours.

Then there's Thailand who's up there adding crushed peanuts and lime juice into everything and having their own little party.

C&R boasts an extensive menu of all the Malaysian/Singaporean favourites, from *real* Singapore Fried Noodles to nasi lemak, from chendol to ice kacang. And they just had to, had to, had to throw in the Asian-dining-in-Europe quintessential: Pad Thai.

The portions are exceptionally huge for some reason, but it makes me feel alright about spending £6.50 on my mountain of mee siam which is SG$3.50 (£1.75) in Singapore for a more sensible portion.

It's a little unfair, but my mum makes the best mee siam in the world, (recipe up soon) so I can't say that this dish was brilliant. Unlike the version served in a milky, spicy soup back home, this is the original 'dry' version which is truly Malaysian. These noodles were surprisingly spicy for my standards, let alone for the poor tongues of the British. I downed the iced Milo in the background quickly, but the spiciness lingered. Before the chilli became torturous, I did enjoy the noodles, which were tasty enough with a fragrance of bean-paste, and came with prawns, tried tofu, beansprouts, fried egg and some veggies. If I'm not wrong, the lemon wedge should have been a lime instead.

Char kway teow is also another extremely popular dish of Malaysia and Singapore. It is described as 'broad rice noodles stir-fried with egg, prawn, fishcake and bean sprouts.' This dish was actually of the average Singaporean standard, but then again, with black sauce, everything usually comes out okay. I'm glad they added in the chives, which are necessary for a great taste and texture contrast, together with the crunchy bean sprouts, an added yay-factor.

I definitely recommend sharing one dish between two diners, (unless you're a big guy/not having dessert/skipped breakfast/trying to gain weight) or taking away the leftovers. (Additional cost of 50p) Singaporeans and Malaysians will rejoice at this eatery which serves all our authentic local favourites at a good value.

C&R Café
4 Rupert Court
London W1D 6DY
http://www.cnrrestaurant.com/

Mikado White Chocolate

Mmm, chocolate-coated biscuit sticks. Pocky used to be my snack-of-happiness, (I just made that up... don't question me, I don't know either) and a box of strawberry-flavoured Pocky was unbeatable among all the other snacks sold in my old school's bookshop.

Mikado is actually the exact same thing, it's simply been renamed throughout Europe. I never get why they do this, it makes immigrants like me panic for a month or two, yelling, "They don't have Pocky here! They've got these other brands but no Pocky! It's not the sameee!!!" to anyone who would listen.

Since Strawberry and Chocolate were the only available flavours sold in the bookshop, (I didn't really do grocery shopping) so this was actually my first time trying the White Chocolate coating. (was on offer for £1 at WH Smith)

It's now my favourite flavour! The biscuit stick has that perfect snappability ('moreish' isn't a real word too. Deal with it.) that I know and love, and the smooth white chocolate coating is just delicious.

 A little bit of silliness – Mikado/Pocky is probably the closest I'll ever come to having a cigarette in my mouth!

Sushino En

I'm a major Japanese food fan, so I could easily appreciate both fast-food joints like Singapore's Yoshinoya, London's Wasabi, or fancy top-notch Sushisamba in Heron Tower, with main courses all above £10 which I can only dream of.

My sister brought me to a little gem in Whitechapel called Sushino EN, a humble Japanese restaurant with a great multi-level interior, complete with a faux-sit-on-the-floor set of tables on one side of the restaurant. There were very few diners during this off-peak time, so the soundtrack of our meal was the sounds of what seemed like a yoga/meditation album.

The prices are above average, with my bowl of  Sake Teriyaki (grilled salmon on rice) costing £8.95. The salmon with its sauce was superb, and the rice was fluffy and yummy.

My sister ordered a Chirashizushi at £14.90 which came with pickles, salad and ebi tempura. The rice was authentic and tasty with a great vinegar blend, topped with a variety of sashimi, which contributed to the eye-twitching price – the bowl was pretty small, even though the meal did come with little sides of salad and tempura.

The service also greatly sets Sushino EN apart from other Asian restaurants. coughchinatownshitservicecough The waiting staff and restaurant manager constantly returned to our table to ask us how the food was, and whether we needed anything else.

If you're in the Whitechapel area with a few bucks to spend, Sushino EN is a great place to sit down and enjoy lovely Japanese food and service, the latter probably very Japanese as well.

Sushino EN
2 White Church Lane
London, E1 7QR
Tel: 020 3645 6734
www.sushinoen.com

Café TPT

Tau huey is a favourite dessert among many young people in Singapore, and consists of silky-smooth, gelatinous beancurd in a sugar syrup. It is often served warm, but I personally prefer it chilled because of Singapore's tropical climate. It tastes sweeter too!

Anyway, Café TPT is a Chinese restaurant located on Wardour Street in Chinatown. It serves a wide array of common Chinese dishes, but their meat (pork and duck) were popular choices as noticed from the tables which my friends and I passed to get to the second story of the restaurant.

It isn't the prettiest place – plain, tiled floors, cream walls, crammed with as many tables as they can fit into the space.

However, many customers are keen on their dessert menu, which sells regular tau huey (chilled) for £3.50, and everything else at either £4 or £4.50. All the desserts are liquid-based, and are served in aluminium-lined wooden tubs – deep ones!

Although there are many choices, some dishes differ from another just by the addition of a fruit, or sago jellies. For example, the regular tau huey can come in mango 'soup', with red bean, or with fruit, among several other additions and variations. It's like how salad is basically lettuce, cucumber and dressing, but the British have created Niçoise, Wardour, Caesar, which are basically additions or renditions of what is, essentially, giraffe chow.

I ordered a tempting 'Mango & Coconut with Black Glutinous Rice & Sago'. The mango & coconut refers to a thin, creamy 'soup' with both flavours. It was served cold as well, and very delicious and refreshing! However, due to the use of coconut milk and the seemingly endless depth of the dessert tub, it's a good idea to come here with an empty stomach.

Café TPT is definitely a recommended place to visit with friends for a taste of good quality Chinese dessert!

Café TPT
Chinatown
21 Wardour Street
Soho, UK
W1D 6PN
020 7734 7980

Uncle Lim's Kitchen

Oh look, an Asian restaurant whose name has nothing to do with the oriental nickname of table tennis, a bloody dragon, golden-something, and doesn't claim to be some royal moon legend king of Sichuan and dumpling village.

Me? A problem with unoriginal, stereotypical Chinese restaurant names? No...

I was, however, comforted by the fact that this Malaysian eating place had a name close to home: Uncle Lim's. In Southeast Asia, most particularly in Singapore and Malaysia, middle-aged to elderly men can be addressed as 'uncle', even if they are not a sibling of your parent. You can approach a 60-something year old man for $1 ice cream and greet him as 'uncle'.

When you go into a place with a name like 'Golden Dragon', you expect food which tastes unauthentic and mediocre, just like its unoriginal name. (Having said that, I've never eaten at Golden Dragon, so I can't judge just yet, but I'm already turned off anyway.) When you go to a Malaysian canteen-style eating place called 'Uncle Lim's', you are like, hey, I feel like I know this Uncle Lim guy already, and I'm going to see a balding, aproned Chinese man take my order with a smile and a familiar slang.

Maybe my expectations were a little high, as I had my order taken by one of two caucasian ladies who were standing behind the steaming trays of various meat and vegetable dishes, which were choices for meal deals which come with steamed rice or noodles.

I shared a plate of Hainanese Chicken Rice (£5) with a friend, as the portions are said to be huge, and they were indeed. The dish was served with steamed chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, and  fragrant rice cooked with chicken broth. For chicken rice so far from home, they really have managed to get the correct taste of both the rice and the tender chicken, plus the black sauce drizzled on top. Five more gold stars for the extra large portion as well. The only thing I was sceptical about was the fact that the skin on the chicken was yellow – quite a scary yellow. However, I did some research, and it appears that yellow-skinned chicken is corn-fed, and therefore extra tasty.

I'm definitely going to return to Uncle Lim's one day, to try their famed Char Kway Teow, (stir-fried, flat and broad rice noodles) and the mixed rice/noodle dishes. It is a good fix for a hometown-food-craving, with great value and a decent variety.

Uncle Lim's Kitchen (Croydon)
The Whitgift Centre (top floor)
Wellesley Rd
Surrey
Greater London
CR0 1UZ
020 8688 6378

Dorayaki Obsessed

Dorayaki refers to a Japanese confectionary, which is made up of two mini pancakes sandwiching a generous amount of azuki red bean paste in the middle – think dessert hamburger.

Before coming to London, I had never heard of dorayaki, and now I'm wondering: how many other great things in life have I missed out on!?

The first one which I encountered was from Japan Centre near Piccadilly Circus, which is a Japanese supermarket and restaurant. Knowing that a combination of strawberries and cream makes everything better, I decided to purchase a Wagashi (brand name) Strawberries & Cream Dorayaki from the fridge. (£1.59, maybe?)

I couldn't help but let my eyelids fall in ecstacy as I took a bite off the dorayaki. The pancakes are just so soft, light and fluffy, while the cream filling with strawberries blended and infused is smooth and delicious. What. A. Treat. It was love at first bite.

For a while, I was worried that I'd have to specially make a trip to Japan Centre every time I had a dorayaki craving, but my worries subsided when I realised that Wasabi, the express Japanese food franchise, sold different types of dorayaki as well. (£1.50 each)

Having had to pass by Hammersmith Broadway Shopping Centre for eleven days straight (long story short, I had rehearsals in town everyday and didn't want to spend £40 on transport in total, so I took a 2-hour bus ride to and fro my rehearsal venue throughout Easter break), I grasped the opportunity to try out the dorayaki from the Wasabi in the shopping centre.

The one filled with red bean was nothing special for me, but it was satisfying and yummy indeed. I'm aware that many non-Asian people are sceptical about red bean paste, and that for most, it is probably an acquired taste. Red bean paste is sweet, has the consistency of mashed potato, and has a very mild level of bitterness to it. (I'm a person who can't take any sort of coffee stronger than a chocolate Starbucks Frappuccino, keep that in mind.) There is a strong fragrance which you have to experience on your own in order to understand the taste of red bean.

I bought a Green Tea Mascarpone dorayaki because I love mascarpone cream cheese (long live tiramisu), and was curious to taste how the green tea would work within it.

This. Dorayaki. Is. Just. So. Good. I. Hope. That. All. These. Periods. Emphasize. My. Point.

Much like the dorayaki with strawberries and cream, the lightness of the pancake compliments the creaminess of the mascarpone, and the green tea powder adds a pleasant fragrance to it. My favourite thus far.

Fuyumi brought some authentic dorayakis from Japan when she went home for Easter break, and promised that they were the 'real' kind.

These are considerably different, mostly in the fact that the pancakes are yellower and richer, probably with more use of egg yolks, which added moisture to the dorayaki, gave it a slightly denser texture, and an eggy smell and taste.

These were nothing too far away from the Red Bean Dorayaki from Wasabi, which is a relief, considering how I've had sweet, un-spicy curry and bland stir-fry noodles here in London. However, I slightly preferred the dorayaki from Wasabi and Japan Centre, mainly because of the stunning, Europeanised fillings and the lighter pancakes.


Japan Centre
Address: 16 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PT
Phone:020 7255 8255
http://www.japancentre.com/


Wasabi (Hammersmith)

Address: 77 Rannoch Rd, London W6 9SX
Phone:020 8748 8675
http://www.wasabi.uk.com/

Chinese Peanut Cookies

Apparently today, April 9, is National Chinese Almond Cookie Day. I don't know who the heck comes up with these extremely necessary special days. I can understand if they decide to have International Chocolate Appreciation Day, or Cereal Day, but National Chinese Almond Cookie Day just doesn't make any sense to me as a legitimate day day. But whatever.

These are Chinese peanut cookies, which my mother often makes during the Chinese New Year period. (mid-February) They neither look, taste, nor feel like Chinese almond cookies, which, although I personally have not tried, seem to be flatter, crispier and obviously has a sweet almond fragrance instead of an earthy peanut one.

I've made these Chinese peanut cookies on two occasions so far, and they have gotten great feedback both times. Lots of this feedback comes from the voice in my head which goes, "Mmm..." after every cookie.

It all starts with this bad boy right here.

This cookies are best made with a friend or any other living thing which can provide you with an extra pair of functional hands, which will be ideal for the tedious task of rolling the cookie dough into Maltesers-sized balls.

Chinese Peanut Cookies

(makes 2-3 tupperware-boxes)

Ingredients

200g raw unsalted peanut (without skin)

300g plain flour

120g icing sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

175ml peanut oil

1 egg  - lightly beaten (for glazing)

Method

1. Spread the peanuts on a baking sheet and roast in the middle of a preheated oven at 175C for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring them once or twice during cooking time. (If your peanuts are salted, rinse them with water and dab them dry before placing them in the oven.)

2. Crush the peanuts very finely, until they are as close as possible to powder form. (This is going to take forever, be prepared. Unless you have a fancy appliance like a food processor or whatever.)

3. Put all the above ingredients (sift the flour and baking soda and powder) and the roasted ground peanuts (except for peanut oil and egg) into a big mixing bowl and mix well. Heat the peanut butter slightly for easier mixing.

4. Add peanut oil and mix it into a dough.

5. Roll and gently press (the dough is quite fragile) them into marble-sized balls and place on ungreased baking trays.

6. Egg wash them before baking in preheated oven at 175C for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly browned. 

7. Cool on trays and put them in an air tight container.

Roasting peanuts

The fragrance will fill your kitchen like no other.

Look at me trying to be all creative.

Dad: It looks like the Incredible Hulk.

2013 is the year of the serpent.

 The result of all this hard work is loads and loads of melt-in-your-mouth, bite-sized cookies which are just firm enough to hold, but crumble immediately as you bite into them, disintegrating into buttery, nutty goodness.

If you don't have a blender or food processor, you are stuck with a rolling pin and a ziploc bag. During my second time making these cookies, I gave up with the crushing and ended up with a few crumbly bits of peanut, which I could feel in the end product, which disturbed the powdery, little-particle texture of the cookie. A sieve is a good tool to use to ensure that the peanuts are close to powder-form.

You can find peanut oil in most Asian supermarkets.

Enjoy!