Best Tasting Peranakan (Straits Born Chinese) Food 2019 ; Indigo Blue 1 of 2 Post

Level 3 of Shaw Centre 

This is the Les Amis group's newest offering, the Peranakan style of cooking which is characteristic of Straits born Chinese (called Baba Nonya) people. Some 500 years ago, the first Chinese people came as traders, and settled in Malacca (Malaysia) and Singapore amongst other locations in South East Asia.  Some married the local indigenous people (Mala) and while they were here, adopted many of the customs of the indigenous people such as their style of dressing (Baba Nonya), men wore sarongs (cotton cloth shawls around their lower part of their bodies), the methods of local farming and infused many of the local herbs, spices and vegetables into their methods of cooking.

Hence Peranakan cooking is quite similar (except that pork is allowed) to Malay style cooking. Les Amis is a 2 Michelin starred restaurant along the walking section of Shaw Centre in Shaw House, and I have not had the opportunity to try their (I believe very expensive) fine dining. 

However, as we wandered past Indigo Blue, we figured that the adherence to the finest culinary standards by the Les Amis group should be on display at Indigo Blue, we popped in. My, what a serendipitous dining experience ! I had not eated such tasty Peranakan food in years, the last was possibly 8 years ago in Malacca (Malacca Raya has several, the most famous being Oleh Sayang). 

Degustation (Tasting) Menu of 3 Favourites 

The prawn crackers (gratis) was crunchy (of course) and flavourful, as was the Keropok Berinjau (hard to describe, but some wheat cracker with local flavour). For starters, we had the deguatstion tasting menu of 3 favourites ; 2 of which were 'on point' and 1 miss, the string bean salad was also great tasting (see below). There was some prawn together with boiled egg tossed (fried) with a crunchy prawn paste garnish. Super. ! 

Degustatation Menu of a) Kueh Pai Tee b) Ngoh Hiang and c) Otak Otak 

The Kueh Pai Tee which has cooked radish as a base, you then add the half prawn and garnish with parsley as a topping, add some chilli and sweet sauce and Voila ! you pop it in your mouth. I personally perfer the ones served at My Cosy Corner on 2nd Floor of Coronation Plaza.  The radish is rather chunky and the Pie Tee comes up as rather a filler and no oomph or punch to it.

Ngoh Hiang (foreground and Pie Tee behind - tall tower of crispy pastry topped with prawn and garinsh with parsely 

The Ngoh Hiang (friend pork and prawn wrapped with bean curd dumpling) was just nice, quite moist to the taste and enough of meat fillings to satisfy the hungry palette. 

Otak Otak (at front) ; Ooh La La  !

This Otak is practically the BEST I have tasted in a long while ; the mackeral is cooked in a paste inside a pandan leaf with just the right texture, colour and the taste of the coconut just makes me want to eat it over and over. Best in Singapore !!! 

String Bean Salad ; Excellent Starter ! 

The salad was just nice, light and the string bean salad was crunchy and the garnish of a crunchy (I suspect prawn) topping made the dish a crowd pleaser. Will eat it again 

Nonya Chap Chye 

The Chap Chye I found only average though my wife liked it, bear in mind there is pork lard cooked with the food, so the nice lingering taste is probably due to that. The ingredients as you can see are simple, cabbage (2 types) ,some fungus mushroom ,stir fried and served.

The restaurant was packed (luckily this is only a 50 seater) and with some families booking you know their food is of a pretty high standard 

Wait for the next post on the Ayam Buak Keluak, Batang Fish and Babi Nonya    

Staying the Course till the end of the year

This time last year, 2018, we were in just starting out with some testing from a local Pharma company, and one year on, we are indeed a serious testing company with big intentions. New machines have been bought, and perhaps later on, new staff will be added to the team so that we are ready to take on bigger and better things. 

The economy may be really tough at this point, but we are not taking any self defeating news to heart ; the strongest will be the ones who survive and fight day in day out to not only offer the best to their customers, but to continue to engage and grow their business at all times, good and bad.

Challenges abound, personal health is my top priority and may we have an uneventful passage till the end of 2019.

Carpe Diem ! 

Turin 2 Wolves 3 ; we are a top European Club !

Wolves 1 Man Utd 1 20 Aug 2019 - Highlights

Come On Wolves ! FWAW !

Last season's 2 - 1 win over Man Utd at Molineux. OK history. This season will be different. 

Tomorrow morning at 2.00 am, Wolves take on Man Utd in their 101st meeting in all competitions ; 
Wolves have been strong pre-season but need to raise their game against the top 6 team, United.

Nuno has invested wisely in getting new and exciting players like Neto, Cutrone, Vallejo and with player like Gibbs White, Traore and Vinagre all coming along nicely, we have a very high quality team.  

My wish is that they can stand firm, and counter with their best duo Jiminez and Jota in sublime attack ! 

Attack ! Attack ! Attack ! 

Mr Victor Wee Speaks during our 2012 Class Gathering - our 50th collective birthdays !

Happy 54th BIrthday Singapore

As we mark the 54th year of our independence, my wish for Singapore and her citizens to continue the following below, as a proud and hopeful citizen :

a) Racial Harmony 
Keep it up, the founding fathers of the 1st Generation did something which  we must never take for granted and continue to uphold. Our ancestors came from parts of China, India, Europe and traded, and settled with the Orang Laut or Indigenous people from as early as the 19th century. Our far sighted Government made sure that there would be no enclaves in the public HDB housing and with numerous initiatives to ensure each ethnic group had their collective associations helping the less well off and disadvantaged, they also came together to celebrate each other's festivals and celebrations. Well done. 

b)Meritocracy and Education 
Everyone has a chance at making it good, our schools have given scholarships to every child who deserves it, regardless of race,social standing and financial background. Every school a good school is also something which we can proudly say, Singapore, we are up there with the best education systems in the world. Our schools have attained 1st position in PISA ranking for critical thinking and scores in English, Math and Sciences in the Organizarion for Economic Cooperation and Development (36 developed countries with US, UK, Australia and Canada included).  

c)Safety 
I have travelled many parts of Europe, Africa, US, Australia and Asia.  I can say that our personal safety as a visitor or citizen is never in doubt ; the supposed 'free' countries which Freedom House or Human Rights Watch ranks so highly, well, I think these organizations never walked the streets of Singapore and back lanes and compared them with many of the so called developed nations.

Freedom of personal movement in Singapore without fear of harassment or worse would rank very highly in that category.

d)Infrastructure 
Top marks again. Ease of movement using public transport, one Easylink card can get you across the entire island using the MRT, LRT and public buses all of which are air conditioned and with hardly any breakdowns (OK, MRT still needs to up their reliability !).

e)Food 
Best in the world, with competitive prices and Michelin stars abound. Enough said.

f)Quality of Life 
Our HDB Government flats have a ( for the last 20 years or so) pretty high standard of quality compared to many countries the world over. We have sheltered walkways between blocks and each new block has a mid level car park, the point block also has sheltered walkway to the bus stop. 99 year leases with financial incentives such as purchase rebates or 3 generation families to live close together and encourage intra family bonding. 

Community centres offer sports, recreational and gym membership for a nominal sum, swimming pools are open 365 days a year for $1 per entry.

Excellent ideas and implementation.

That said, lets remind ourselves what our pledge says :

"We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race,language or religion. To build a democratic society. Based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness,prosperity and progress for our nation'. 

Onward Singapore !!