Lan Zhou La Mian at Smith Street

Shopping malls housed la mian restaurants may not serve the best la mian and xiao long bao after all.

I headed down to Smith Street Chinatown on a weekend to try out one of its famous la mian restaurant; Lan Zhou La Mian. There, I was greeted by a sweet chinese lady. Who was apparently wife of the boss. =)) To all F&B bosses out there, courtesy counts a great deal. So, smile to your customers.

This restaurant was pretty tiny. It hold less then 10 tables inside. However, it was air-conditioned, clean and comfortable. A little counter showcasing an experience chef preparing la mian was in view right in front of the kitchen entrance.

The store's most popular la mian was minced meat la mian or zha jiang mian which cost below SGD 5. Sorry, I was too hungry till I had forgotten to take a snap before tucking in.

I absolutely love its xiao long bao as well. The thickness of the skin was just nice and the meat in it was so juicy and tender.

The best way to end a la mian meal was of course by ordering my favourite pastry, the deep-fried pancake. Generally, I will prefer lotus paste filled pancake. Unfortunately, this store only serves red bean paste pancake, which turned out to be equally good! Warm red bean paste enclosed in hot crispy pastry skin coated with fragrant sesame seeds and sugar. Totally fabulous.

New Food Product Concept Development Competition 2008

This will be my last semester being a teaching assistant (TA) at my university. The journey has been very rewarding. There are times when I am totally annoyed by the students. However, on the whole, I must say most of my students are very sweet and smart.

In this semester, I am once again the TA of the module FST 3104 Food Sensory and Innovation. My main responsibility is to guide the students in completing their new food product development project. This project is like a melting pot, taking into consideration chemistry of the food components, its microbiological aspects, its ease of manufacturing (lots of engineering involved) and its final route of marketing.

What makes this semester so memorable is that in conjunction with the course, our team was invited to participate in the New Food Product Concept Development Competition. This event is organized by the Singapore Food Manufacturer Association in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Food Expo 2008. The competition was pretty intense. There were a total of 28 participants ranging from those representing polytechnics and of course our university.

Our institution sent out 4 teams and we grab Best Packaging Award, Most Innovative Award and the Grand Champion. My team, creating the 'Cold-Brew' coffee concentrate was crowned Grand Champion. We were all so fascinated and utterly thrilled. Lots of photo-taking and interviewing by the media followed after the event.

I am so proud of my students. All of them had worked very hard. This will be the best present they gave me before my graduation. Thank you guys!!!

Christmas Treats

Christmas is around the corner!!! The festive mood is everywhere in Singapore. Orchard Road is congested with artificial Christmas trees and lightings. Hhhhmmm, even they are all man made, the view is still pretty magnificient. I shall click some snaps and post them here soon =))

While waiting for the Santa to arrive, my lab mate, Xiaohui has been busy baking a rich collection of Christmas cookies. Here are some of my top picks.

Ginger Bread Snaps:

Nicely brown ginger bread of various cute shapes. Top with colourful food grade decoration. They absolutely brighten up my boring day in the lab.

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies:

These guys might look a little ordinary. But, they taste like heaven! Sweet raisins suspended in a crunchy web of fragrant oatmeals. Delicious.

The Snow White:

These 'suji' like cookies are my beloved. Coated with icing sugars, they are smooth on the outside and soft in the inside. Totally fabulous!!!!