All posts by chinesetuition88

food hunting, Uncategorized

Indonesian Local Food @ Lagoi Bay

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Everytime my husband and I go to a new place, we will definitely try the local food. During our stay in Bintan, Indonesia, we also want to try more local food other than Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng. As I mentioned before, the food in the hotel is not very nice, we plan to have food outside the resorts. And there is free shuttle bus from our hotel Angsana to Lagoi Bay. We took the late afternoon bus to go there. I was thinking about seeing sunset there. Yet, when we got there, it’s almost dark. Too bad we missed sunset.

Famous love lock @ Lagoi Bay

We chose a restaurant just in front of the beach and sea – Warung Yeah.

https://flic.kr/p/24qtuwM

There were also many tourists having dinner there except us. We hose a seat outside just facing the sea and beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2dD6g6e

For the drink, my husband ordered fresh coconut water. (He’s a big fan). I ordered mango and lemon squash.

Very refreshing.

My husband also ordered one more drink. He told me the drink’s name is Bintan Coco Drink.

I must say, it’s very sweet.

https://flic.kr/p/2eXiUgJ

For the food, we ordered the first one Sego Tahu. And it looks ike this.

It’s a tofu dish. The specialty lies in sauce. Sweet and spicy. My husband loves it.

We also ordered a grilled round fish. Outside skin tastes a bit spicy. Flavor goes in so the inside fish is also very tasty. Dipping it in the Indonesian special chili sauce just makes it more yummy.

Here is my favorite Indonesian finger food, called Jajanan Pasar. Outside layer is banana leaf. Sticky rice is wrapped by it. And the filing inside rice is chicken and vegetable. It’s really special. I guess I love all the sticky rice snacks.

The price is very reasonable compared to hotel. And you can enjoy the sea view at the same time.

Uncategorized

Angsana Hotel (Bintan) Review

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During our stay in Bintan, Indonesia, My husband and I chose Angsana Hotel to live for one night.

After we arrived at Bintan Ferry terminal, staff from Angsana welcomed us and let us take a short rest in their lounge, which is just at the terminal hall.

Then we took the Angsana shuttle bus to hotel, and it takes about 15 mins.

The minute we got off the bus, a staff strike the gong in front of the hotel hall to welcome us.

It’s not peak season, but there are still many tourists in the hall busy with check-in or check-out procedure. A friendly staff guided us to the sofa. Then welcome drink and dessert were served to us.

https://flic.kr/p/2dAgZTr

Hall is connected with dinning area. That’s where guests have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

https://flic.kr/p/SQW8fJ

Corridor is very long, since there are many rooms in this hotel.

Finally, we reach our room.

Room is nice and cozy. And the best part is ocean view balcony.

From where, you can see the beautiful sea, beach and swimming pool.

Because when we arrived there, it’s already lunch time. And we were starving, so we had lunch there.

https://flic.kr/p/SQW8mL

We ordered Mi Goreng (stir-fried noodles) and Nasi Goreng (stir-fried rice). They served us with a kind of cracker first. My husband likes it. It also contains a special bean. As you can see, the lunch is really in big portion. Both of us like the chili sauce. It is special, because it also has sour tomato flavor. Hmmm, food is good. But considering the price, it’s not that good.

After lunch, we took a walk to the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2dT9m8N

Walk through the garden first, then swimming pool and got to the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2dAgZPP

It suddenly became cloudy after lunch.

https://flic.kr/p/2dAh27Z

It was supposed to be many water activities, but got called off due to bad weather. We were so looking forward to participate in releasing the sea turtle, but we were just told that activity already finished.

walking along the beach or lying down on the beach is quite relaxing.

Then we went to the activity room to have some fun.

https://flic.kr/p/2eZ6hp4

We almost tried every game. My husband was so surprised that I, as a Chinese, don’t know how to play table tennis. πŸ™‚

They also have gym, but due to our schedule, we didn’t go there.

When we went back to our room in the evening, we received this letter and small gift  from the hotel.

Breakfast is buffet, including eastern and western food.

https://flic.kr/p/2eUuazs

They have congee,

pancake and waffle,

Soto ayam, (a kind of chicken soup, and I add in glass noodles and some vegetables)

bread and tea,

Indonesian special snack,

freshly made omelette,

and fresh fruit.

Breakfast is nice to me. But if let me rate the food, I will probably give it 3.5 out of 5. Just compared to the cozy room and warm service, food is not that great.

Before we left, my husband tried their special banana coffee.

If you are going to Bintan, you can take Angsana Hotel into consideration. We had great experience there.

And in the morning, we found some monkeys fighting/playing just in front of the hotel.

Uncategorized

Mangrove Tour in Bintan

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Angsana Bintan Review Part 1

My husband and I went to Bintan (Indonesia) for a short 2D1N trip. A highlight of our Bintan tour was the Mangrove Tour. It is available at Angsana Bintan Resort. It is probably by an external service provider rather than Angsana, but Angsana Bintan will help to facilitate the booking, including 2-way transport to and from the Mangrove Tour.

The price of the Mangrove Tour was around $45 SGD per person. It is rather pricy, but quite worth it if you like nature. First, the driver will arrive at Angsana Bintan to pick you up, and drive you to purchase the ticket from an office. Then, he will drive you to the Mangrove. Total travel time is approximately 15 minutes.

Upon reaching the Mangrove, life vests are provided and we boarded a small boat (maximum capacity should be around 6-8 people, but we were the only tourists at that time). There will be a boat driver, and also a guide. Amazingly, the Indonesian guide spoke Mandarin (and quite good Mandarin in fact)! Apparently, there are many Chinese tourists to Bintan.

https://flic.kr/p/24mNzz8

The Mangrove Tour itself is around 1 hour in duration. Other than looking at the mangrove trees, the guide will give some explanation. The people there used to burn mangrove tree roots to make charcoal, but the practice was banned due to environmental concerns. There are also many animals in the Mangrove. We managed to spot a snake (coiled up in the tree branches), a monkey (can be seen in the video), bird (should be kingfisher), as well as small fish. Apparently, there can be monitor lizards as well.

 

Overall, it was quite an unforgettable experience. There should be no such equivalent tour in Singapore (possibly there is land tour, but not river tour of mangrove).

https://flic.kr/p/2dSjT3E

https://flic.kr/p/2dSjXyJ

Note that the Fireflies tour is exactly the same tour as the Mangrove tour, but it is at night. We did not go for the Fireflies tour. Note that it can be very dark in Bintan at night, as there are very few street lights. Most places are completely dark at night.

Ribs, Soup, Uncategorized

My Husband’s Favorite Rib, Lotus Root & Peanut Soup Recipe

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I was born and grew up in northern part of China. Actually, my family didn’t have the habit of having soup during the meal. I know that people from southern part really like soup. Soup to them is a must-have dish on the table.

My husband is a soup lover. He basically likes all kinds of soup. Influenced by him, I start to realize soup’s charm.

There is a chicken rice stall near where we live. If you order chicken rice there, a small bowl of lotus root & peanut soup will be served as well. My husband loves the chicken rice there and also their soup. He mentioned more than once how much he loves the soup with lotus root and peanut in it.

That’s why I decided to cook this soup.

1. Rinse ribs under water.

2. Place all ribs in the pot. Pour in enough water covers and even higher than the ribs.

3. Bring to boil with high heat. Skim the soup.

4. Add in several ginger slices, lotus root chunks, some peanuts. Turn to low heat. Cook for 1-2 hrs.

Nice soup takes long time unless you have pressure cooker.

Season with salt before serving.

The amazing part of the soup is that it tastes a bit sweet even without adding in any sugar.

My husband can have 2 bowls of it.

https://flic.kr/p/2b3tQxq

Fish

Oven-Roasted Saba Fish

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Saba fish is very popular in Japan. And Saba fish fillet is also very commonly seen here in Singapore. I buy them sometimes.

This fish can be easily roasted by oven.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree C.

2. Season fish fillet with salt and black pepper on both sides.

3. Into the oven for 15-18 mins. Because my husband likes the crispy fish skin, so when I put the fish into oven, I usually set the skin side up. At the last 5 mins, I will turn the fish over and place lemon slice on the fish.

Very easy to cook.

Fish, Soup

Fish Maw Soup

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In fact, I’ve never had fish maw before I came to Singapore. Fish maw is not that popular in my hometown as it is in southern part of China. The story began on one day, my husband received a CNY gift, which contained many traditional Chinese ingredients for CNY and that’s how we got a can of fish maw. Never cooked fish maw before. But I still wanted to give it a try.

Main ingredient of this soup is fish maw. To make the soup more tasty, I made some fresh chicken stock.

Just put a half chicken into a pot with some ginger slices. and cook for 2 hours.

Apart from fish maw, I also used clams. I guess seafood like shrimps and crab meat also goes well with this soup.

  1. Boil a pot of chicken stock.
  2. Take the fish maw out, drain and cut into smaller pieces. The liquid in the can is also edible, so I just poured everything (there are also some shiitake mushroom slices) into the pot.
  3. When stock boils, add fish maw in. Skim the soup when it boils again.
  4. Clams in and simmer for 5 mins.
  5. Dissolve 1 tablespoon starch in 2 tablespoon water. Pour starch water into the soup and stir evenly.
  6. Beat 1 egg into a bowl. Pour egg into the soup while stirring the soup.
  7. Boil for another minute and season with salt.

https://flic.kr/p/R5Dsr4

Soup is easy.

My husband loves it very much.

Oh. For the chicken I used to make chicken stock, It can be served as one dish. Just cut in into smaller chunks. Mix 2 tsp light soy sauce and 2 tsp sesame oil. pour the sauce over chicken.

mushroom

Butter Garlic Mushroom

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Just like me, my husband is also a crazy mushroom lover. That’s why I cooked this dish on his birthday.

  1. Preheat oven to 200 Degree C.
  2. Wash mushrooms (I was using white bottom mushroom). Remove the stems.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan. When butter melted, add in mushroom. Fry for 2 mins with medium heat. Flip over and fry for another 2 mins.
  4. Season with salt and pepper. Add in 1/4 cup stock or water. bring to boil..Simmer with low heat for 3-5 mins.
  5. Prepare a baking pan. Spread chopped garlic at the bottom. Place mushroom with stock over garlic. Then top with some extra chopped garlic.
  6. Into the oven and bake for 10 mins.
  7. Garnish with parsley.

Smells and tastes very good.

Potato, Soup, Vegetables

Vegetable Soup

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Before anything. Yeah! That’s a whole potato in the soup.

It’s a rally light and simple soup. And of course, it’s also healthy. Even my husband, a 100% meat lover, falls for this soup.

Ingredients (serving for 2)

potatoes 2 (peeled)

carrot 1  (cut into thick strips)

onion 1 (cut into quarters)

1/4 head of cabbage

celery 2 stalks

bacon 5 or 6 slices

salt

black pepper

stock 1 cup

water 2 cups

  1. Place peeled potatoes, carrot strips and onion quarters into a pot.
  2. Add in water and stock. (You can adjust water and stock according to your preference. You can even use all water or all stock). Also add in 1 pinch salt and 1 dash black pepper. Turn to high heat. Bring to boil. Turn to low heat. Lid on and simmer for 15-20 mins.
  3. Put celery strips, bacon slices and cabbage into the pot. Same procedure. Bring to boil with high heat and simmer with low heat for 25 mins.
  4. Season with salt and pepper.

https://flic.kr/p/SGV271

It can be served with baguette or any bread you like.

Even though no sugar is added to this soup, it still tastes a bit sweet. I cooked this soup on my husband’s birthday. And served it with garlic bread. He really loved it.

banana, Cake, Uncategorized

Upside Down Banana Cake

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I tried banana cake before:

Banana Cake

This upside down banana cake is kind of an improved version of banana cake. It’s a combination of banana cake and caramelized banana top.

Ingredients:

Butter 80g

Sugar 120g

Egg 1

Flour 140g

Milk 1/4 Cup

Baking Soda 1 tsp

Baking powder 1 tsp

Ripe Bananas 2

Vanilla 1 tsp

Salt 1 pinch

Cinnamon powder 1 tsp

Butter 3 Tablespoon

brown sugar 1/4 cup

vanilla 1/2 tsp

Banana 1

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2. Add in egg, vanilla and baking soda. Stir well.

3. Add in 2 mashed bananas and milk. Stir well.

4. Add in flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix them well and set aside.

5. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.

6. Add 3 Tablespoon butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar into a sauce pan. Turn to low heat and stir till sugar melts.

7. Cut an another banana into slices and arrange at the bottom of baking pan.

8. Pour the butter & brown sugar mixture into the pan.

9. At last pour the batter in.

10. Into the oven and bake for 30-40 mins.

Cool down a bit. Cover the cake with a plate. Then flip it over.

And voila!

https://flic.kr/p/2dK55G3

Really moisture.

My husband loves it.

Pork

Bitter gourd, Black Fungus & Pork Stir-fry

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Pork better contains a bit fat.

1. Cut pork into slices. Remove the seed of bitter gourd and cut into slices. Soak black fungus in water for 3 mins. Tear into smaller pieces.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the pan. Sear pork first till slightly brownish.

3. Add in a little ginger shreds. Then bittergourd and black fungus.

4. Stir fry for 1 min. Add in 1 tsp cooking wine and 1 tsp light soy sauce. Stir fry evenly for 2-3 mins.

5. Season with salt. And ready to serve.

https://flic.kr/p/2a8u2K9

Quick and easy.