Orchid Live Seafood (Sembawang)

The lobster porridge I had at this ulu place had always been on my mind since the first time I had it for supper years ago. Yes, it was a very sinful supper but the food is just too tasty to care about calories at that time.

Made a return trip years later and bought the parents along. I was crossing my fingers that the food is still as good as I remember them. Not a economic meal but it’s definitely worth the price tag and a luxury to have once awhile.

I ordered the Saver’s Menu ($168 net) which is catered for 4 pax but the lobster porridge that came with it can easily feed 5 pax. 

This is definitely what they are known for – Live Lobster Porridge. Can consider this as teochew style porridge – lots of soup + rice. And why I (and now – we), love this is because of this soup/ stock that comes with it. It’s super light, tasty and sweet! Full of the goodness of the lots of lobster that came with the pot.

The rice of the porridge is also cooked to the texture we like. Lobster is also just cooked, hence, highlighting the sweetness of the seafood and the texture is sooo Q. Love it to bits.

Chilli Mussels. We all wish they went lighter on the chilli. The mussels are very fresh and juicy, ‘fat’ even. But the chilli taste was too overwhelming and cover the goodness of this live seafood. But my dad who’s a chilli lover, enjoyed this dish. I guess it’s why you can never go wrong with fresh ingredients.

Steven Chicken. Since this carries the name of the chef of the restaurant, this is also the ‘chef recommended dish’. Is this good? Of course! There’s a mixture of mid-wings and drumlets, which the meat are being ‘pushed’ to one end of the bone and deep-fried and stir with a special sauce. No oily feel and crispy till end of meal. What else to ask for?

A normal looking plate of Stir-Fry Mixed Vegetables, but it had been handled with care! Lots of garlic had been used but not overwhelming. And the gravy is also super tasty and goes well with all the vege. Wish there’s more of this.
Strictly speaking, nothing can go wrong with this steam fish because the fish is caught from the tank only after we ordered! The original fish in the set meal was Patin Fish (i have no idea what fish is this), and we ‘upgraded’ to a ‘red-spot’ fish. The upgrade cost a top-up of $20 plus. The meat is tender and not over-steam. Any fish lover will appreciate this.

We really enjoyed the meal and finished everything that was served. Extra rice was ordered to go with the sauce of the steam fish. Grandma was with us and enjoyed the lobster porridge too. So definitely a place good for family meal.

But note that the outdoor seating can get warm in the afternoon and a few houseflies might pay you a visit. Not to worry, they do have air-conditioned seating too.

Orchid Live Seafood (Sembawang)
1 Bah Soon Pah Rd, Singapore 769959
Tel: 67560311

 

Stir-Fry Glutinous Rice (生炒糯米饭)

Tags

glutinous rice

 

 

 

It had been a very long break from baking and cooking due to change of job. Sadly, I do not get to enjoy the kitchen as much as I like nowadays. I cant even remember the last thing I baked nor cooked.

But I managed to squeeze some time out to cook Glutinous Rice! The brown version.

 

Recipe (adapted from Christine’s Recipes, i tripled the recipe and modified)

500g glutinous rice
3 chinese sausage
2 handful of small dried shrimps
6 pcs dried mushroom (select the thin and flat ones)
ard 4cups of water (can use mushroom soaked water and top up with normal water or stock)

Seasoning (to taste)
5 tbsp light soy sauce
2 – 3 tsp dark soy suace
4 tsp sugar

Method
1. Soak glutinous rice for 3hours
2. Wash and soak dried shrimps and mushroom separately (can slightly chop shrimps, slice mushroom thinly)
3. Soak chinese sausage with warm water for 5min, remove wax skin and slice to small pieces
4. Stir-fry chinese sausage without oil till fragant, add dried shrimps, followed by mushroom. Remove and set aside. (i did not add any oil for this stage)
5. Add 6tbsp oil and rice, stir-fry at medium heat
6. Add 3 tbsp of water at each time when rice get dry, till cook. Est 30mins. (rice will get sticky when cooked)
7. Add chinese sausage, dried shrimps and mushroom and seasonings. Stir well and adjust seasoning to taste.

note: i added peanuts. boiled a handful of peanuts for 10mins – 15mins (still crunchy), drained and set aside. add at step 7.

 

I’m so proud of myself! The taste can be stronger, but I didn’t want to risk overcooking the glutinous rice while trying to adjust the taste. Nonetheless, it’s pretty good! Rice is of the right sticky-ness, taste slightly on the sweet side and with lots and lots of my favorite ingredients in glutinous rice.

And stir-frying this dish is the traditional way of doing it. There’s a short-cut of steaming it, you can google that.

Will I try this again? Not in the near future because it’s rather tedious but I will when I crave for glutinous rice again.