Day 5
I'm pretty convinced that I've gained back the 2 lbs I lost this week after today's gorge-fest.
Since most of the Chinese food establishments are closed for the lunar new year holiday, I figure I should try the delicacies of another major ethnic group here in Singapore - Indian.
It was a little bit of an adventure getting there. I asked the cab driver to go to Race Course Rd, a street in Little India named after the race course that use to be there. Now it's known for it's restaurants. I quickly realize I really ought to pay more attention when I'm in a cab. The cabby stops at the part of Race Course Rd that's in the middle of a residential area. Obviously there weren't any restaurants there. He said this is it, so I got out of the cab. Luckily I saw that to my left about a half a block up was another Race Course Rd that seems to veer off to the left. I walk towards it and thanks to the GPS on my phone was able to see that if I kept going, there were going to be a few restaurants coming up.
The first restaurant I stumbled upon, Muthu's Curry, looked clean, air conditioned, and most importantly, popular. The restaurant was busy, filled with both Singaporeans and Indians. An important indication on the quality of the food at an ethnic restaurant - people of that ethnicity eat there too. Being such a hot day, (it's hot everyday in Singapore, but today felt extra hot) I was ready for some air conditioning.
The stars of the food universe must have aligned correctly for the food was everything I wanted and more. My favorite part of Indian food is if you order the right spread, you'll get a rainbow of flavor that are all different yet compliment each other perfectly without any redundancy.
So I order my usual variety to better gauge how I would like their food. First they set down a bowl of pappadam. They're Indian potato chips but made with flour and the batter is sprinkled with salt and whole cumin seeds to give it an slight perfumed aroma. I liked their version so much I almost bought a bag!
Next came the garlic naan bread, which I would've liked for them to cook it a bit longer to get the nice crisp on the bottom.
Then came tiger prawn masala. The masala sauce had a great smokey flavor to it but the prawns were very much overcooked. It was actually hard to chew.
At the same time, they brought the paneer. Paneer is Indian cheese made by simmering milk and lemon juice until the curds float to the top. Then wrapping those curds in cheese cloth and hanging it in the fridge for it to drain and solidify. It's usually cut into cubes and mixed with your choice of gravy. Today I chose the spinach gravy. It was good but nothing too exciting.
Last but not least they brought out the biryani rice (basmati rice mixed with dried fruit, nuts, and infused with saffron) and the main attraction, fish head curry.
Fish head curry is a Singaporean-Indian adaptation from Indian migrants fusing traditional technique with local ingredients. Much like how California rolls are made popular by Japanese-Americans. Except fish head curry is delicious! Made correctly, I can't get enough of it. And Muthu Curry's rendition deserves every bit of praise.
Just like the name implies, it's a fish head from a massive local fish that looks like snapper. It's then drenched in a velvety, slightly spicy, red sauce with a light tamarind tang mixed with okras, herbs, and topped with chunks of fresh pineapples. I've had fish head curry at other places before that although the sauce is always great, the fish is usually a bit dry. At Muthus, however, the fish was still moist and drenched in the sauce I almost wanted to put it in a cup and just drink it.
In addition to the spread I ordered that's enough to feed a small village, the wait staff came over and plopped down 2 complimentary heaping scoops of 2 different veggie dishes. Perhaps it was meant to cool down some of the spice. One was a crunchy cabbage slaw mixed with non spicy curry powder, yogurt, fresh peas, and lentils. Very refreshing. The other was eggplants and bell peppers stewed in tomato sauce. Both very fresh and flavorful.
Speaking of spice, although the food was spicy, it was a good spice. Meaning that it provided just enough heat to keep things going but still allowed room for all the other flavors to shine.
This grand spread all came to about $60 USD.
Well, as if I didn't get enough food here. I just remembered, I made reservations yesterday at the Fullerton Hotel to have high tea in about 2 hours. Good golly!
Stay tune..I'll let y'all know how it goes.
I'm pretty convinced that I've gained back the 2 lbs I lost this week after today's gorge-fest.
Since most of the Chinese food establishments are closed for the lunar new year holiday, I figure I should try the delicacies of another major ethnic group here in Singapore - Indian.
It was a little bit of an adventure getting there. I asked the cab driver to go to Race Course Rd, a street in Little India named after the race course that use to be there. Now it's known for it's restaurants. I quickly realize I really ought to pay more attention when I'm in a cab. The cabby stops at the part of Race Course Rd that's in the middle of a residential area. Obviously there weren't any restaurants there. He said this is it, so I got out of the cab. Luckily I saw that to my left about a half a block up was another Race Course Rd that seems to veer off to the left. I walk towards it and thanks to the GPS on my phone was able to see that if I kept going, there were going to be a few restaurants coming up.
The first restaurant I stumbled upon, Muthu's Curry, looked clean, air conditioned, and most importantly, popular. The restaurant was busy, filled with both Singaporeans and Indians. An important indication on the quality of the food at an ethnic restaurant - people of that ethnicity eat there too. Being such a hot day, (it's hot everyday in Singapore, but today felt extra hot) I was ready for some air conditioning.
The stars of the food universe must have aligned correctly for the food was everything I wanted and more. My favorite part of Indian food is if you order the right spread, you'll get a rainbow of flavor that are all different yet compliment each other perfectly without any redundancy.
So I order my usual variety to better gauge how I would like their food. First they set down a bowl of pappadam. They're Indian potato chips but made with flour and the batter is sprinkled with salt and whole cumin seeds to give it an slight perfumed aroma. I liked their version so much I almost bought a bag!
Next came the garlic naan bread, which I would've liked for them to cook it a bit longer to get the nice crisp on the bottom.
Then came tiger prawn masala. The masala sauce had a great smokey flavor to it but the prawns were very much overcooked. It was actually hard to chew.
At the same time, they brought the paneer. Paneer is Indian cheese made by simmering milk and lemon juice until the curds float to the top. Then wrapping those curds in cheese cloth and hanging it in the fridge for it to drain and solidify. It's usually cut into cubes and mixed with your choice of gravy. Today I chose the spinach gravy. It was good but nothing too exciting.
Last but not least they brought out the biryani rice (basmati rice mixed with dried fruit, nuts, and infused with saffron) and the main attraction, fish head curry.
Fish head curry is a Singaporean-Indian adaptation from Indian migrants fusing traditional technique with local ingredients. Much like how California rolls are made popular by Japanese-Americans. Except fish head curry is delicious! Made correctly, I can't get enough of it. And Muthu Curry's rendition deserves every bit of praise.
Just like the name implies, it's a fish head from a massive local fish that looks like snapper. It's then drenched in a velvety, slightly spicy, red sauce with a light tamarind tang mixed with okras, herbs, and topped with chunks of fresh pineapples. I've had fish head curry at other places before that although the sauce is always great, the fish is usually a bit dry. At Muthus, however, the fish was still moist and drenched in the sauce I almost wanted to put it in a cup and just drink it.
In addition to the spread I ordered that's enough to feed a small village, the wait staff came over and plopped down 2 complimentary heaping scoops of 2 different veggie dishes. Perhaps it was meant to cool down some of the spice. One was a crunchy cabbage slaw mixed with non spicy curry powder, yogurt, fresh peas, and lentils. Very refreshing. The other was eggplants and bell peppers stewed in tomato sauce. Both very fresh and flavorful.
Speaking of spice, although the food was spicy, it was a good spice. Meaning that it provided just enough heat to keep things going but still allowed room for all the other flavors to shine.
This grand spread all came to about $60 USD.
Well, as if I didn't get enough food here. I just remembered, I made reservations yesterday at the Fullerton Hotel to have high tea in about 2 hours. Good golly!
Stay tune..I'll let y'all know how it goes.
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