What Excellent Pieces of Soon Kueh!

Out of the blue, J said she was sending me soon kueh. I was like, what the. This woman knows my freezer space and such, and she got me small packs. I'm so thankful, but I feel so bad for the delivery fees for such a small volume.

I was super stoked when the packs of soon kueh arrived. Two frozen packs for the freezer, and one still-warm box for the fridge. It came on a day that I had a party to attend, and the soon kueh would fill my stomach better than any of the food on the buffet table. Yay.

It was just nice that my bottles of soy sauce from Mikaku No Tabi arrived. I had two cold-smoked flavors of course, one aged tsuru-bishio and one tamari. Both go well with soon kueh. This should also have a touch of chilli. Opted for the tangy garlic-chilli from Putien to match the delicate flavors of soon kueh. Sambal belachan will do, but it tends to overpower the filling.  

It's a super random gift, but I love soon kueh!!! Tehehehehe. But I'm also particular about them. These from One Kueh at a Time are excellent, done just the way I like them. I'm extra thankful for the small packs. Work has been a bit mad recently. So the soon kueh aren't just comfort food for my tummy, they are literally my emergency stash. I can make excellent jiao-zi and soon kueh, but with the arrival of a dog and a tiny open kitchen, there's just no way to make them without getting fur in each piece. These packs make it convenient for me to have a decent meal in the middle of a busy day, and they're so easy to heat up. 

Sushi Seizan at Bugis Cube

We were in the area, and realized that Sushi Seizan was just two buildings away in the almost dilapidated and weird Bugis Cube. If you're driving and need to park, the nearest parking is at the National Library. Guocco Midtown is too far in the rain, and if you directly opposite at Bugis Junction, you'll have to meander through the mall to get to ground level.  

The Edomae-style restaurant is opened by Chefs Hiro and Chef Yoshi. It's a casual spot with six seats at the counter, and about eight seats in a private room. By now, we've gone there twice, the second time with our friends. We didn't need fancy sushi restaurants that charge us S$600 a head. We didn't like what we were paying for. We wouldn't mind something casual, and less pricey, and are more open to trying out new and tiny places with limited menus, and helmed by younger and less experienced chefs. That's more fun!

I don't know if the chefs at Sushi Seizan prefer to do it this way, but the rice is a tad too vinegared. Whatever it is, they can cure fish. They doesn't have many shiny fish since I assume his diners wouldn't like it. Tonight, Chef Yoshi doesn't have shima aji. He offered aji. That would do. 

We didn't opt for the higher-priced menu. That would simply see more tuna, and wagyu beef, and some fancier soups than our rather-thin and sad seaweed soup. However, we weren't interested in those. If we wanted, we would simply add on more sushi to what we had. It's always fish that I'm looking for, not beef, and not fancy cooked items or ankimo or anything like that. 

We took the basic $188 menu. Chef Yoshi knew that I decline all tuna, so this smart dude didn't even offer me bonito. Hahahahah I indeed dislike it. It's from the same family of tuna and mackerel. I don't mind bonito flakes, but not the meat. I very much prefer mackerel over tuna too. 

The 'handroll' was a crepe instead of seaweed. The husband got a negitoro thingy, and I got all uni. Hehehehe. We had a final dose of carbs in the form of a smoked uni sushi, and I got an extra piece of aji! Wheeeee. For smoked uni, we were given a choice of bafun or murasaki. I like bafun for its stronger pungency. It was indeed smoked in a little bowl, so using murasaki would have been wasted.  

Tonight's dessert was a chestnut cake of sorts. Luckily we only asked for one serving for us both instead of one each. We could never finish dessert unless it's fruits. We didn't bother with having sake tonight as well. It was a very hot night. I couldn't deal with anything else but a cold and refreshing glass of highballs all the way. 

Had Asador's Beef Tartare!

I ended work at 8pm and took a trot down to dinner at Asador at 8.45pm. Luckily we made a booking. Indoors was a full-house running on two seatings. They had to turn away walk-ins. Although nobody would want to sit outdoors without an overhead fan on a hot and muggy night.

I was right. There were only two high tables outdoors and the other was empty. This dinner would have been unbearable in this heat and humidity. So I brought our own fans. Choya had one too. It is hot, why complain more about it. I'll just find an acceptable solution. 

Started with anchovies on toast and Japanese oysters. The husband finally got to taste the beef tartare on fried polenta. It was really good. It was supposed to be mixed in table-side. But us sitting outdoors ain't conducive for it. We also had blistered Padrón peppers and the grilled hispi cabbage with anchovy garlic dressing and fried kale.

The husband ate too mucth already, so his main was a 'lighter' chargrilled squid stuffed with chorizo on mojo verde. The grilled Iberico pork shoulder with mojo picon was nice, but honestly it was a tad fatty for me. I think I would simply do fish for mains the next time. The sea bream here is excellent.

We had a lovely bottle of wine, and didn't bother making it to dessert. LOL Choya did pretty all right with a fan; she knew it was essential tonight. She wasn't too bothered by the passers-by. She had a safe space under our feet and the table had sufficient space for her to even stretch out. Lingered to finish up the wine before heading off.