Dancing Crab

Wanted to eat something different for a change! Cobby once had a cohesion session with his colleagues at this restaurant, so he brought me here on our date day for lunch. I let him do the ordering and this is our lunch!

Combo Bag #02 - SGD$40.00
300g Prawns, 250g Mussels, 250g Clams,
Potatoes, Corn, Sausages with Dancing Crab Signature Sauce (Mild)

After a short wait, the waitress came with a plastic bag and unceremoniously dumped the contents onto the table!

I've never experience dining like this before. So fun! Disposable aprons and gloves were the only thing else on the table. So it's quite obvious how they want us to eat. All HANDS on deck! Hehehe..

First of all, the seafood was VERY fresh, very sweet and succulent. The crab meat was very meaty and the prawns were so delicious! The sausages in the mix was also surprisingly yummy. The sauce was not like our Singapore style chilli crab. It's more tomato base, herby and spicy! Surprisingly spicy really, and our order wasn't the most spicy choice! Respect! But I'm glad we didn't order one that was too spicy. I don't want the spice to overpower the sweetness of the seafood!

As much as I enjoyed the meal, it feels a little lacking in terms of substance. There were potatoes in the mix but I still don't feel very full after eating. In the end we ordered a serving of truffle fries, which was quite generous in proportion, so I felt better after having some carbs in me.

Overall an enjoyable meal. The combo was delicious but I suggest ordering it with something else to make it a more filling meal.
http://www.dancingcrab.com.sg/

No skills required - Braised Peanuts 焖花生

There's this Chinese restaurant that we love to go to and the moment we settled down they would serve these delicious little plates of braised peanuts as appetiser. My son would demand, "peanuts!" and us the servants would pour a few at a time into his kiddy bowl. Before the food arrived he would have polished off at least a third of the plate. Back before we had kids, the both of us can leisurely enjoy the delicious plate of peanuts while we chat. Now it's like a competition. If you eat any slower the kid would finish all the food! -_-"

But as a parent I'm always on a lookout for food inspirations. Especially food that the kids like to eat! I did a little research on the internet and I was a little surprised that this dish is really a no-brainer. But to be honest, the 1st time I did struggle to catch the perfect cooking time. Those peanuts sure take a long time to cook! Once I got the timing right, it's really a too easy recipe. To me, the peanuts have to be soft and NOT crunchy. BUT, it should still hold it's shape. That would be perfect. No wonder the kids love it!

1 cup of raw peanuts
3 cups water (double the height of the peanuts in the pot)
2 tablespoons light soya sauce
1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder
a few dash of pepper

Put everything into a pressure cooker and stir well.

• Pressure Cookers:
1. Bring to pressure using high heat.
2. Bring to low heat and cook for 1 hour and 50 minutes.

• Regular Pots:
1. Bring to boil using high heat.
2. Bring to low heat and cook for 2-3 hours.
3. Check every 30-45 minutes to make sure it doesn't dry out. Add water if necessary.

And that's it! Sorry but it really is that simple. Haha, but it's so good, you cannot stop at just one. Yummy! Here's a video tutorial.

Danish Butter Cookies (Vaniljekranse)

Recently the famous Jenny Bakery from Hong Kong came to Singapore and suddenly everybody started going butter cookies crazy. I tried one of the "copycat" recipe online and found out that the famous butter cookies were actually the melt-in-your-mouth type. I don't like them. -_-

My ideal butter cookies comes in a famous blue tin. I don't even know how to pronouce the word! I only know it as Danish Butter Cookies. Choose from a few different designs in a little white cupcake case and pair it with a hot cup of coffee.. Ah.. the perfect tea time!

So I went online to search for a good recipe and settled on the one by Nordicfoodliving.com. Afterall, who better than the Danish to learn Danish Butter Cookies from right? But I did tweak it abit. (see below recipe) Furthermore it's a Christmas dish, how appropriate, given that it's almost Christmas now.

One bite and I know that this is the one! Nice crunchy texture, sweet with a wonderful rich aroma of butter. And the recipe is so simple! Great for gifts on Chinese New Year!

I made a few designs with my piping gun. After they come out of the oven, I noticed that they do spread out a little bit. So I spread a little batter onto a bear cake mould (see my carrot cake bears) and popped it into the oven to see if it works. It works and I got bear shaped cookies! So cute! Just remember to keep it a thin layer for a crispy texture.

Ingredients
175g sugar
200g unsalted butter (softened)
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract

250g plain flour
75g almond meal

Demerara sugar (optional - for sprinkling)

1. Preheat oven at 200°C. 
2. Using a paddle attachment, mix butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. 
3. Add flour and almond meal and mix until just incorporated.
4. Pipe into desired shapes. If you want to use a piping bag, make sure you have strong hands and even stronger piping bags. Sprinkle Demerara sugar on top. (optional) 
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. (turn tray halfway through to have an even baking)
6. Cool on wire rack before storing in air tight containers.