Indigo Blue - Top Peranakan Food Blog 2 of 2

Ayam Buak Keluak (Betel Nut Curry Chicken) Best !

I can safely say I have not eaten a better Ayam Buak Keluak in a long while. Such is the high standard of Indigo Blue. The chicken is cooked in the curry sauce so that the meat is very tender while the Betel Nut (Buak Keluak) is cut open with easy access to the goody black 'meat' of the nut. The gravy is not too thick and the taste of the cinnamon together with the betel nut and spices remind me of the days of visiting Malacca and sampling their best Peranakan cuisine !  

Shiok ! Very very tasty in my humble opinion.  

Babi Nonya

This is the fatty pork done with the lemak (cocunut) flavour, mildly spicy but I would say not too impressive compared to the degustation 3 servings, and the Ayam Buak Keluak.  As Peranakan Chinese people, they have fused the pork dish with something which most indigenous people would associate with either Chicken or Dou Fu.  

We sat at the table at the forefront 

The setting of the place is simple, well lit, blue (hence the name) tones with clean overall look. I commented that they must have very strong supply and exhaust fan ducts (I have experienced in this) such that the detached kitchen when open does not emnate strong lemak and other smells which are so typical of older establishments. 

They have done a major coup this time, the Les Amis Group.

My ratings :

Food           : 4.8 / 5   (I could not give a 5, the babi lemak was only so so)

Ambience   : 4. 5 / 5 (50 persons in an 2500 ft2 area with clean lines and bright lighting)

Service       : 3. 8 (the serving staff while helpful were clueless about several dishes)

Price          :  $ 150 approx. for 3 persons, $ 50 per person with more than enough food for 

                     each person

Overall       : 13. 1 / 15 

                     4.4   / 5    ;  Excellent (short of perfect)  

Would I come again ?  :  Yes 

INDIGO BLUE KITCHEN 

1 Scotts Road

#03-09/10/11

Shaw Centre

Singapore 228208

Tel : 6235 3218 

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 ! 

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 !! 






                        
        

Being Resolute and Resilient

One of the values I think I try to embody is to be resolute and resilient in challenging times. The world is facing the most uncertain of times and everyday we are bombarded with stories which appall us and while news organizations earn revenue from bad news or even shocking news, I think some good news is always very welcome especially as we are facing headwinds from the very downbeat economic outlook ; Take a look at the world today ; we have the uncertainity of a No Deal Brexit for the UK, the US China Trade Wars, the HK crisis and the Japan S Korea trade spat all do not bode well for an open society like ours. 

I will say this - Push On ; for every crisis this is opportunity knocking at our doorstep ! 

Are we a country of yes men ?

I am aghast that our top marathoner, Soh Rui Yong has been omitted from this year's 2019 SEA games held in November in Manila Philippines. He has been very consistent in his training and spent alot of time and his family's money in training slogging the kms and doing the races all through the 2 years since he won his second SEA Games marathon in Thailand in 2017.

There has been talk of his non compliance with the running association rules such as his cutting holes in his running vest at a regional competition, his public feud with another runner, Ashley Siew at the last SEA games where there was a controversy about the former slowing down for the other competitors (Soh included) as they had taken a wrong turn. Also there was some warning given to Soh about his promotion of sponsors while he is still an amateur. (Correct me if I am wrong). For the record he proudly donned the Singapore colours and won 2 SEA Games Gold medals in 2015 and 2017. He also raced in many overseas meets such as Japan and numerous US meets.

The road to sporting success is long, arduous and full of sacrifices. There was surely tears and sweat and forgoing his social life, the many kms spent overseas in US and Africa to train, waking up at ungodly hours such as 2 am to clock in the 180 - 250 km per week in freezing cold weather. 

The man is probably a maverick, but hey, he is a 2 time SEA Games winner. He has recorded the fastest time ever by a Singaporean (I believe in the Seoul marathon). He runs to the beat of his own drum and sets extremely high standards for himself, his club and his country. 

SNOC will have their reasons, opaquely given in the newspapers as "SA has on several occasions breached the athletics code of conduct". Fair point, but did he cheat, use performance enhancing substances or commit grave fatal errors to cause embarrassment to the athletics community ? The answer is "No" or not that the public knows about.  We are proud of his achievements and what he stands for, a proud Singaporean donning the colours of his country. To omit him from his pet event when he is the fastest competitor by far based on recent records is frankly, childish. 

If Bruce Lee quietly followed his Wing Chun master and toed the line, he would be just one of many instructors of Wing Chun. If Jimi Hendrix used riffs from any of the past masters of the electric guitar and never implement his won style of playing (including teeth, behind the back) he would never brought electric guitar rock music to those great heights. Hendrix was his own genius, an out of this world performer. 

Great artistes and competitors are great because they have learnt the rules, they have mastered the rules and yes they rewrite the rules.  

I think this move is only reinforcing many of our citizens views that to represent the country in sport of in the public sector, we must comply and be 'yes' men. The only way is the way as directed from the top and nothing else. That will only lead to incremental improvement at the very best and a decline in overall standards the more likely outcome. 

Its sad to see this turn of events for a country which is supposedly First World.  Its time the administrators and the officials take some calculated risks for the betterment of the sport, else it will alsways be the "Two Steps Forward, One Step Backward and March on the Spot"

What a Pity.