Hakka Lei Cha 客家擂茶

I am not a Hakka, am Teochew and I enjoy Lei Cha.

The dish consists of seven main types of vegetables and herbs which tops the fragrant rice.

The ingredients include chopped shallots, chye sim, kailan, cai por (preserved radish), tau kwa (beancurd), long beans, nuts, and the mani vegetable.


'Lei', which means thunder, refers to the booming sound of pounding.

'Cha', means tea.

How is it prepared?

Pound the pepper, tea leaves, sesame seeds, peanuts and the Yomogi, 'ku zhi xin' herb to make the lei cha paste.

Add hot water to the paste and it becomes a soup to be poured into the rice or to be served separately.

It is an acquired taste, too minty for my like, I tried the soup once and decided it is really not for me. But I like lei cha fan so I still eat it regularly.

This low-fat, low-cholesterol dish is said to be good for weight management and detoxification.

It is also said to help in reducing stomach wind, ease digestion, nourish the lungs and throat, and cleanse the blood and lower blood pressure.


But Lei Cha is not for everyone. Either you like it or you hate it. If you're looking for an easy detox method, you should try this dish.

There are only a few such stalls in Singapore. The following are some of my personal favorites :)

Thunder Tea Rice 家乡河婆客家擂茶
Blk 345 Jurong East Street 31 #01-29

BOON LAY PLACE MARKET & FOOD VILLAGE
Blk 221A/B #01-96 Boon Lay Place (S)641221

Thunder Tea Rice 家乡河婆客家擂茶
51 Telok Ayer Street, China Square Food Centre #01-31

Jia Xiang Ho Po Hakka Lei Cha Fan 家乡河婆客家擂茶
134 Sims Ave (S)387456 (Near Lor 17 Geylang)

Weekend Brunch @ PS Cafe

PS - Project Shop, from the owners behind the project shop blood brothers label.

Recalling my first dining experience at the PS cafe was Valentine's Day last year at the Paragon branch. I was nursing a really bad cold at that time so it was a pity I didn't get to enjoy the dinner very much. Overall the food was very average but of good presentation. The dishes kinda reminded J & I of our NY trip, which was extremely warming and loving for the V-day. Haha!


Second visit to the cafe, this time I wanted to try Harding Road for it's lush greenery. The weather was cooling and we sat outdoors. Food still wasn't that great. But they never fail to impress with the decor and furnishing. There is always a very understated sleek elegance in their style. Obviously PS cafe scores alot of points from me for retaining a very cosy ambience and it certainly doesn't feel like one is in Singapore. More like Aussie?

Poached Eggs Portobello Mushrooms

Generous serving of two poached eggs, halved tomatoes, bacon with potato gratin(very good!) and vegetables

Pancakes

Blue Cheese Forlorn

Caramelised cheese with bacon, rocket and cherry tomatoes. I usually don't take cheese but the blue cheese is actually quite good, taste very tarty. heee

Marshmallow Brownie with vanilla ice-cream

Service - 2 words. Very bad. Most of them have big time attitude problem. J was so pissed that it took us 3x to call for "ice-water". They must be too busy checking out the upscale 'hip' crowd that they had forgetten they are waiters...

I will probably be back just for the desserts.

Address:
28B Harding Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: 6479 3343

Famous Chicken Chop Hor Fun, Changi Village Hawker Centre

Both J & I love fine dining and hawker food. More often than not he will crave for the chicken chop hor fun at changi village, and I have since adopted the same "crave" 5 years ago. 爱屋及乌 mah...

But today I was craving for FRIED WANTON. I really love fried wanton!! Flat or Fat I all eat!!!

As usual J sticks to his Must-Eat...

I love having beans sprouts in my noodles. And lots and lots of chilli, Shiok!

Sugar cane juice to complete the meal.

Sorry this time no address. But it is not difficult to find. Situated at the last block of stalls with all the goreng pisang (fried banana fitters), you can see the stall owner from this very sneaky pic. Uncle very hip hor... fushcia leh...

To-Ricos Guo Shi Kway Chap, Old Airport Road

I'm having a few posts from Old Airport Road Food Centre today; a place that houses everything from western to eastern cuisine. It's MY kind of gourmet haven, with all the BEST stalls in town. Must-Eat!

To-Ricos used to be from the famous Blanco Court before it was re-developed into the medical centre.

The 'Kway', Sheets of rice noodles in light soya sauce soup

Ter-kar, pig trotters

Kiam-chai, preserved salted vegetables

Braised peanuts, tao-pok(beancurd skin), lor-neng, and pork innards(intestines)

I've heard many people 'lao-sai' after they had To-Rico's... and I too suffered the same fate...

To-Ricos Guo Shi
51 Old Airport Road Temp Market
#01-136
Opening Hours: 11.30am - 4.30pm

Toa Payoh Rojak, Old Airport Road

One of the Must-Eats in Old Airport Road Food Centre. Owner Mr Cheng first set up the stall in 1971 in Toa Payoh Central. This is probably the only hawker stall that has a ticketing system. Take a queue number and wait for your number to be displayed on the LED at the stall before placing your order.

It was only 2pm on a Saturday afternoon and my card reads 99. ???!



I don't know what's the hype but I've had better elsewhere...

Address:
51 Old Airport Road
#01-108 Old Airport Rd Market Hawker's Food Centre
Tel: 6958 9380
Opening Hours: Noon to 8pm, closed on Sundays

Miss Sweet Tooth @ Old Airport Road

Or-ni with pek-ge
aka yam paste with ginko nuts

Ah Balling
aka 'tang-yuan' or assorted rice balls with sesame, nuts and yam paste fillings

Pulau Hitam with pek-ge
aka black glutinous rice with coconut and ginko nuts

Thai Express, Raffles City

Dinner with the girls on friday evenings is just pure madness. We can't stick to our plans, and we can never get into the places we want. We settled for Thai Express since we can't stand the queue at Shokudo, aww I was craving for quantity! But anything Thai is hard to go wrong...
We ordered some entrees.

First to start was the Kanom Pang Na Kung (Prawn Toast)....
LOVE IT

Next up is some stuffed deep fried beancurd skin with fish cake and vegetable fillings...

Miss T's Stick Noodle with Sliced Fish White Tom Yum soup...

Miss J's Phat Kung Woon Sen (Succulent Prawns stir-fried with Glass Noodles)

Lastly, my Khanom Chine Kaeng Khiew Wan Pla
(Thai Laksa with Fish in Jade-Green Gravy)

VERY VERY GOOD AHHHH!!!

I love Thai Express. Simple and always good.

Raffles City Shopping Centre 252 North Bridge Road
B1-13/14 The Raffles MarketPlace
Singapore 179103
Tel: 65-6883 1490

Ah Yat Even 28 Seafood House 阿一一口价海鲜楼

I am still trying to figure what this is. To be served either raw or dip it into the hot stock just like steamboat style. It is some kinda fish... unfortunately i can't remember the name.

Garlic Steamed Scallops!!! LOADS and LOADS of garlic. VERY GOOD

Steamed Fish... and I lovelovelove spring onions...

Braised Slipper Lobster
... My god. It was SUPER SUPER FRESH. Another thumbs up!

We had more food than these but later on all my concentration went onto the food... haha.

Address:
207 River Valley Road
#01-53 UE Square
Tel: 6235 8779

Spring Court

Spring Court, located in a heritage building at Chinatown, is one of the oldest restaurants in Singapore. They are celebrating their 79-year Anniversary. As usual, there is no surprise this year. Their "famous" Peking duck dish is still going for 79cents. After two years and still promoting Peking duck... Quak quakkkkk....

Famous 79cents Peking Quakkk

Prawns, cant remember the name of the dish but they were super super fresh

This is turtle meat.. ... .. I didn't try

Szechuan vegetable soup

Steamed fish

White chicken topped with ham and vegetables

close-up

Braised Winter Melon with Mixed Vegetable & Mushrooms

Could be bland for most but overall a very healthy dish. I kinda like it actually...

ADDRESS:
52-56 Upper Cross Street
Phone: 6449 5030
Nearby Stations: Chinatown