Thai crab and prawn cakes

Walking down the streets of Singapore I was reminded of an old, old song from a Hindi film. Once in your lifetime, went the song, you must visit Singapore. To that I can add my two-bit — if for nothing else, its glorious food.

Singapore, indeed, is a gourmet’s delight. Apart from its famed street food corners, there’s a restaurant to suit every palate — from traditional and nouvelle Chinese to classical European, Thai and, of course, Indian.

My whistle-stop tour of Singapore was a big food fest. I wasn’t very keen on eating Indian food in Singapore, but was curious to know what kind of Indian cuisine is served in the island nation which has a large population of Indians. So I tried out two popular places there — Rang Mahal and The Song of India.

The menu was a mix of what you get in most Indian restaurants, and some very innovative dishes. So you had your tandoori vegetables, stuffed potato and cottage cheese, but served along with a whole grilled pomfret, crabs and a Christmas tandoori chicken. The dessert menus were massive, and covered everything from kulfi to gajar ka halwa.

Kulfi

The Song of India is located in an old and splendidly restored colonial bungalow. Its innovative chef, Milind Sovani, has won a whole lot of awards, and the two-year-old restaurant itself has had its share of recognition. I particularly liked his nalli gosht, made in the nahari style (with roasted besan), and prawns in pomegranate juice.

At two of Singapore’s new restaurants — Jing and Kha — I remembered what a restaurateur had told me once. A restaurant ticks for two reasons. Good food, of course, is essential. But its location can make or break a restaurant too.

Most of the places I visited had awesome views. Jing, which serves Chinese food and is known for its stewed egg noodles with Boston lobster in ginger and scallion and crispy duck, had a promenade in front of it, which opened out to the sea. There was a little bay with colourful boats bobbing around in the water.

Grilled salmon souffle

Kha, which serves modern Thai food, faced a green expanse — a new horticulture park. I imbibed the greenery as I ate my grilled salmon soufflé, king prawns wrapped in rice vermicelli (with a honey mustard sauce) and Thai crab and prawn cakes with a green mango salad.

Kha is also known for its red curry wagyu beef. If you want to cook it at home, take 180gm wagyu striploin, 15gm red curry paste and 5gm salt. The dressing consists of 75ml lime juice, 45ml fish sauce and 30gm palm sugar. For the salad that goes with it, take 50gm of sliced green papaya, 50gm sliced carrot, 3 halved cherry tomatoes, 10gm chopped coriander and 10gm red chilli slices.

Nallli Gosht

The method is simple. Lightly coat the beef with the red curry paste and salt. Grill it till medium-rare and cut into thin strips. Keep warm. Mix the dressing ingredients until the palm sugar is dissolved, and set aside. Toss the salad ingredients in a bowl. Pour the dressing in a slow stream over the salad and toss lightly. Now place the mixed salad in a serving dish, and top with grilled beef strips. Add 15ml chilli jam and 15ml yoghurt on top of the grilled meat.

But I think my most memorable meal was at the Club Chinois, run by the Tung Lok group, which has 22 restaurants across Asia. Among them is My Humble House at ITC Maurya in Delhi.

Stewed egg noodles with boston

Let me tell you what we ate — among other things there was crab meat with Japanese cucumber, cherry tomato and mustard oil, a pan-seared North Atlantic cod fillet in a pomelo soya dressing, Australian wagyu beef in truffle jus (see recipe) and braised fresh Superior shark’s fin with dried scallops accompanied with a clear hot and sour consommé.

The shark fins are blanched and steamed in a stock. Hot and sour consommé soup goes into a soup cup. Bean sprouts are poached and placed on a plate with parsley. And then a sauce is prepared with stock and some Chinese wine — boiled till the texture is nice and thick. The sauce goes on top of the fins, which are served with the soup and sprouts.

Crispy duck with green

The meal was memorable not just for the food, but the conversation that went with it. I was with a fellow foodie — food writer and journalist Vir Sanghvi. The food merged harmoniously with the talk, and the tasteful surroundings. The aroma of food wafted lightly in the air, while the cod fillet sizzled aggressively. What more could one ask for?

 

Pan-seared Australian wagyu beef in truffle jus

Ingredients

20gm asparagus

1gm sea salt

1gm black truffle

1gm seasame seeds

10gm truffle reduction

80gm Australian wagyu beef

Method

Sprinkle sea salt on the thick slice of beef. Put the black truffle on it. Poach the asparagus until cooked. Place it on a plate and put aside. Pan-sear the beef for 3-4 minutes till it is medium done. Place it on top of the asparagus. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the cooked beef. Pour the truffle reduction sauce on one side of the plate and serve.