Crystal Jade Steamboat Kitchen

OK when the previous non-food post was out, I had friends who were like, "WTF??!!"

WTF means "Where's the food?" hor.

So I decided to do a food post before I do my Cambodia Part 3 of 3 post. Dedicated to the famished and starved.

When I think of Crystal Jade, I think of three words - reliable, good and affordable. The dining scene in Singapore is not some easy game. Hence, to not only survive but also thrive for such a long time, Crystal Jade must have got it right.

And not just get it right today, but also getting it right tomorrow by constantly changing its strategy to suit the changing trends.

So when an opportunity to revamp the Crystal Jade Kitchen at Plaza Singapura arose, the management transformed the outlet into a new hybrid concept restaurant - an all-you-can-eat 90 minute steamboat, and Cantonese delicacies and dim sum. Since steamboat is the trend now. A totally feasible feastible concept for me, the glutton.

I had the blessings to be invited to try out the best of both worlds of steamboat and kitchen.

Deep fried yam puff with minced meat ($4 per serving of 3 pieces)

This is as delicious as it looks. Deep fried with a delicate, golden, wispy covering, the yam paste and the minced meat were moist and savoury with a salty finish. Great appetizer.

Steamed pork & shrimp with crab roe dumpling ($4.20 per serving of 3 pieces)

Siew Mai was fresh and the meat was chewy. The shrimps they used were pretty huge. And I like that the skin doesn't stick to my teeth. If you know what I mean.

Steamed shrimp dumpling / Har Kau ($4.60 per serving of 3 pieces)
The shrimps used for their har kau were nice, big and fresh.

Pan-fried fish cake with radish ($4 per serving of 3 pieces)
This is unique to the Crystal Jade kitchen and hard to find in Singapore. It is made by stuffing minced fresh fish cake and radish between two layers of wonton skin, and then deep fried until crispy on the outside. It's like eating a fried har kau, but without the inconvenience of the skin flying all over the place. Yummy.. must try!

Roasted combination platter ($25.80 per serving)

Crystal Jade's roasted combination platter comprises of my favourite roast meats: Roast duck, Char Siew (honey barbequed pork), and Siew Yok (pork belly).

I personally find the char siew and siew yok to be average and I've had better ones. But the roast duck stole the limelight. The roast duck is a product of Crystal Jade's hard work and research. Based on their research, ducks which were grown up to 49 days have the best meat. Wah so sad, like the Korean drama 49 days. Can only live for 49 days.

Anyway, I have personally tested their hypothesis and am glad to report the meat is indeed very tender and had the perfect proportion of meat and fat. During the roasting process, the chef has to keep turning the duck and add on a sweet glaze that helps to caramelise the thin layer of skin for a crispy texture. Goes well with the plum sauce. Must try!

After eating the above, I was kinda full. But the never-say-die spirit in me persevered to continue the steamboat buffet. The steamboat buffet was truly value for money.

Induction cooker

Mix your own sauces!

There are six different soup bases to choose from: Pork's bone soup, tomato soup, curry soup, miso soup, superior soup, and spicy mala. Each steamboat pot comes with two compartments so you can choose more than 1 soup. So no need to fight with your friend.

We got to try the pork's bone soup and curry soup. The curry soup is not like our Singaporean curry soup. It's not the "knock you out" kind of spiciness. There's no coconut milk in it, unlike the Singaporean curry. Most of the rest preferred the pork's bone soup. I personally preferred the curry soup as it is more flavourful, and the maggi noodles soaked the flavours pretty well.

The above shows the meat paste. It tasted like minced meat but smoother in texture. Must try!

We also got fried fish skin and mushrooms, which can be eaten as such. However, we think it tasted better when dipped in the soup as they absorb the soup flavours very well.

QQ rice (above) is something that only Crystal Jade has. It is made of both Thai jasmine rice, and glutinous rice. Add some freshly made scallion oil and it turns into flavourful rice that has more than one texture.

The buffet comes with free flow of drinks (soft drinks, hot tea, coffee) and ice-cream.

Don't know why there is lever for the "vanilla" and "chocolate" at the ice-cream machine. Because obviously people will take the "mixed"? Hahaha..

But maybe not because the chocolate was not intense enough.

We were given a bottle of chilli oil as a gift. I forgot to ask if they sell chilli oil separately. Because it makes a perfect gift for friends/family who are abroad. I got this delivered to my friend who was on a London secondment. By passing to another colleague who happened to be flying there. Delivery time was not perfect, tracking service was nonexistent, but never mind since it's free delivery.

Overall, I think Crystal Jade Steamboat Kitchen is an awesome place to dine in. The pricing is right. The food is right. The location is right. Great for gatherings. Hmmm, really difficult to find a reason not to visit this outlet. Maybe that is Crystal Jade's strategy for surviving and thriving so long in the local food scene.

Thanks to Crystal Jade and Joh-Ju for the invited tasting!

Address: Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road #02-32 s238839

Tel: 6336 2833

Cambodia | The amazing Angkor temples of Siem Reap

OK I know this is a food blog. But just so you know, I am applying to be a travel blogger too. Anyway, this is a place which I record all my happy adventures during my downtime, which includes food and travelling!

Angkor Wat is probably one of the most mystic places I've ever been. Once upon a time, the kings of Cambodia built temples of worship to honour their gods. Each king who reigned built his series of temples, to honour his god of worship, as well as his ancestors (1 for father, 1 for mother etc). So you can imagine how many temples were built over the centuries.

We got a 3 day pass for USD 40, although we only planned to visit Angkor temples for 2 days. Somehow, only 1 day and 3 day passes were available for sale. We visited some of the most important temples. We got a tour guide and driver to bring us around.

Bayon temple
This was the first temple we went. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and he showed us the picture perfect spots. Like the second photo below which had a nice reflection of Bayon temple. We call this the "face" temple because there were faces of a same man being carved on the temples. Initially, we thought it was Buddha because of the round face. But our tour guide enlightened us that it is the face of Cambodia's legendary king, Jayavarman VII. He built this temple to show his benevolent face as well as to exude authority.

Intricate carvings on the walls - depicting soldiers and elephants in a war 

An Apsara dancer - which is a beautiful woman - commonly found on the carvings/statues

Precarious sighting #1 - Seriously the top of this thing looks dangerous and ready to fall.

Baphuon temple
This was one of my favourite temples. Because it has a long flight of stairs.  Oh yeah I love stairs. I mean, look at the awesome view when you get to the top. This temple was built earlier than the Bayon temple and it is actually a Hindu temple. A bit of interesting background: Cambodia today is largely a Buddhist country that practises Theravada Buddhism. This is slightly different from the Buddhism practiced by Singaporeans which is Mahayana Buddhism. I am not sure what are the differences. To be explored. But in the historical days, the kings of Angkor practised both Hinduism and Buddhism. So depending on which king reigned, the temple built would be either Hindu or Buddhist temple according to his religious beliefs.

Froggie seeking enlightenment too..

Why do they climb the precarious-looking stairs?

To see these walkways with huge windows

And for this aerial view

Huge solid bricks that could weather the storm and age of time.

Terrace of elephants
These walls which were decorated with stone formations of elephants indicated that elephants played an important part in the historic days. Elephants were used in wars, as well as in agriculture. These walls formed a terrace which the king held celebrations and ceremonies.

One of the elephant's trunk was stolen or destroyed by environment. Nobody knows.

Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm was the temple that appeared in the movie Tomb Raider. No Angelina Jolie-wannabes here please. The temple looks really dangerous with the trees' roots growing all over the temples. These strong tall trees looked like they were swallowing the temples. Someday, the temples are going to be destroyed by the weight of these trees. I would think it is a dilemma whether to cut a hundred year old tree and save the temples, or to save the trees and let them ruin the temples.

Precarious sighting #2 - roof hanging over a door frame

The baby dinosaur carving could lend consistency to the myth that dinosaurs existed

Mysterious face on the temple wall that is partially hidden by the overgrowing trees

Angkor Wat
The king of all the temples. Angkor Wat is also the most important temple in Siem Reap and it is a UNESCO world heritage site. This is also the temple that appears on the Cambodia national flag, and also the temple that flooded every tourist's instagram/facebook.

We visited on an afternoon and entered from the west gate, instead of from the main entrance on the east. Mainly because it was quieter and less crowded with the other tourists.

This temple was a Hindu buddhist subsequently converted to a Buddhist temple and it is gigantic.

Below shows a huge walkway along the sides of the temple. On the walls were bas relief (sculpted carvings) depicting the Hindu story of Ocean of Milk. In this mythical story, the gods and the demons had to work together to milk a elixer called Amrita from a huge serpent, like in a tug of war. The top right hand picture shows the demons. The bottom right hand picture shows the gods. In the middle is the Hindu god Vishnu. The demons and gods had an agreement that the Amrita belongs to whichever side it appears. Unfortunately, the Amrita appeared at the demons' side. Vishnu pulled wool over the demons by sending apasaras which were beautiful women to distract them, and took away the Amrita from the demons. Vishnu then passed the Amrita to the gods. This story is important in Hinduism as it tells of the importance that the elixer should never fall into the hands of the demons.

This ocean of milking is seen at entrances of many Angkor temples.

Missing buddha head - possibly looted

One of the towers of Angkor Wat

There were at least 100 Buddha statues in this temple. However, not all of them are here. Our tour guide said some were stolen and now in Thailand museums. He asked us to go Thailand and investigate ourselves.

There were so many tourists and given the steep entrance fee charged, it did not gel with the poverty in Cambodia that we saw. Our tour guide said Angkor Wat is owned by a Vietnamese company. It's really sad to know that Angkor Wat, which is the Cambodians' roots, heritage, culture, and national treasure, was sold to a foreign company. Whether this is true or not, it still doesn't show that the funds were put to the correct uses, given the underdevelopment of the country.

We woke up at 4am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We left the hotel at around 5am. The road to Angkor Wat was unlit. There was unknown darkness on both sides of the roads. The driver was guided by car headlights only.

When we reached the temple, we had to walk into the compound with the lake. It was a dark walk from the entrance to the lake. So do bring a strong torch light as there are a lot of steps and ledges along the way.

We could hear morning drums and chanting from the nearby monastery, which were disturbed by the excitement of the tourists. The place was very packed, especially at the spots which were best for photo-taking. Luckily we were the early birds.

It was a zen moment to see the sky change colour, and the tranquillity and serenity that surrounded the Angkor Wat towers made me feel at peace with the world.. until a Chinese tourist tried to block everyone's view.

Presenting to you the beauty of Angkor Wat sunrise. #nofilter #natural

We were told this is rare sighting that the sun rises above the middle tower. Because it only happens in two months - March & September. We had breakfast nearby after which we continued with the rest of the temples.

Preah Khan
This temple was built by King Jayavarman VII to honour his father. So the Ta Prohm aka tomb raider temple was built for the mother, this was for the father. I don't really like this temple as it had a lot of spiderwebs, musty smell and a lot algae.

The Ocean of Milk statues flanked the entrance.

It was said that King Jayavarman wanted to merge Buddhism and Hinduism together. Hence, the temples included statues of both Hindu gods (first picture below) and Buddhist gods (second picture below). However, his successor did not allow Buddhism and hence the Buddhist gods statues were removed.

The tree in picture below was cut because the temple would be destroyed if it continued to grow.

Precarious sighting #3 - Glad I made it back alive!

Banteay Srei
This was the smallest temple, and also the most different from the rest. The temple was made of pink sandstone. It was suspected that the temple was built by women, because of the really detailed and delicate carvings found.

Pre Rup

Pre Rup is kind of creepy vibe to me. Because it means "turning the body" and it refers to a traditional method of cremation. So it means this served as a royal cremation place.

Guess what's this?

Nevertheless, the view on top was great. After a flight of stairs again. 

After visiting the temples, I felt amazed how religion played such a significant role in ancient civilisation. I guess in the past when science and technology are not that advanced, humans turn to gods for help and peace. And it's also quite interesting that these ancient civilisations built by ancestors continue to ensure livelihood of many Cambodians today, and the tourism industry it created forms an important part of the Cambodia's economy. 

Stay tuned for the last part of this series which I will record my adventures in the other side of Siem Reap, as well as the food I ate, and a cooking class I attended!