Province by Law Jia-Jun - Fine, delicate, amazing Southeast Asian Cuisine

I’m back for some atas Southeast Asian cuisine at Province. Because at here, I get to experience refined unique and meticulously prepared food with a hint of familiarity. In addition, the snacks of this autumn menu feature prawn, lobster and crab, which are my trio of favourite proteins, so I definitely make it a point to come here for autumn season. And the dishes here continue to impress with their multifaceted tastes and varied textures.

I’m so pleasantly surprised by the intense, complex umami sweetness of Prawn and Sago Toast with Uni. That soft punch of flavours really makes me go, “Wow” at first bite. I also love it that it is different from the usual toast due to the sago, resulting in an awesome texture that is crispy on the outside and chewy in the centre.

Lobster Tartare, Hamburger and Flatbread showcases this unique, wonderful Southeast Asian complex, super natural sweetness. Featuring local rock lobster, this snack is full of exotic Southeast Asian flavours. Definitely one of my favourites of the night.

Cold Crab Tartlette has this interesting, simulating taste that is slightly tangy, tempered with the funk of preserved tangerine. The granita adds a nice moisture to the crab meat while allowing the sweetness of crab to come through.

Soy and Caviar consisted of fermented green papaya, smoked tongue, yuba and silken tofu. It is mellow in taste. The tongue actually tastes better than what I expected. It’s like meat with a slight firmness.

Mikan Madai is a form of fish carpaccio, Southeast Asian style. Brightened up by slight bit of citrus kick from kalamansi, made complex by pumpkin prepared in various ways, the taste is balanced while highlighting the sweetness of the Mikan Madai that carries a hint of taste of the tangerine.

The snacks hit the sweet spot, but the standout dish of the night is actually Golden Cap Farms, where mushrooms of different forms were prepared differently to showcase different contrasting textures and different layers of earthy goodness.

Packed with porcini gnocchi, deep fried golden shimeiji, this is mushroom heaven. In fact, this is the best mushroom dish I ever have.

The accompanying mushroom tea, made from mushroom trimming and kombu, topped with dots of shiso oil, tastes so comforting. It feels so good sipping on this cup of clear earthy umami. The tea elevates the dish oh so much.

From Vietnam with Love showcases air-dried Salmon grilled over charcoal, which is sweeter with crisper skin.  The sauce made from these super briny sweet sea worms, chervil, celtuce and ikura actually highlights the sweetness of the fish.

Curious about sea worms, a regular ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine, I immediately agree to chef’s offer to showcase me the sea worms in its dried form. It has a very intense briny aroma, kind of like dry cuttlefish.

The name “Dang Quail” is a word play on “Dang Gui”, a traditional Chinese herb also known female ginseng. And just like its namesake, this dish features aged quail, female ginseng, paired with the unique Bue to Nae rice and completed with liver sauce. This tastes so nourishing due to the bitter and sweet herbal aroma of female ginseng. I love it. And the quail meat is silky smooth and juicy, going perfectly with female ginseng.

Mulberries and Daun Salam has this super harmonious sweetness with a touch of tangy taste. It’s surprisingly so good.

Madu Lapis, with Medovik aka honey cake paired with the cold burnt honey ice cream, tastes so magical. It is a dessert like no others.

Thoughts: Awesome and Delicate Southeast Asian cuisine 

153 Joo Chiat Road

Marco Shochu - Amazingly Floral Japanese Spirit

I found a new favourite spirit from Old Moon Spirits!

The bottle of Macro Shochu is so beautiful, speaking of florals and pastel dreams. And its aroma reflects the visuals of the bottle, being full of floral aroma, with hints of rose. Made in Kagoshima and made with Japanese purple sweet potato, this tastes so smooth and sweet. I love this so much. In fact, I'm going to get a second bottle.

This drink can be enjoyed on the rocks, neat or with warm water, and I have tried em all. When on rocks, the drink is refreshing with hints of that lovely floral aroma. When drinking this on neat, the floral aroma intensifies and becomes sweeter. This is my favourite way of sipping this Shochu. When mixed one to one ratio with 70 degrees water, it becomes smoother and easier to drink.

Borderless Butter - Yummy Butter Making Fun

Since I love to spread lots of butter over breads, croissants, pancakes and regularly use butter as dipping sauce, I can say I love butter. And I always buy any butter that I find interesting when shopping at gourmet stores and supermarkets. So when I find out about Butter Making at Borderless Butter, I straightaway click on the link and book a session without hesitation.

It proves to be a fruitful experience. It is fun to churn out the butter from scratch and feels incredibly gratifying to create something that I always enjoy eating. And also very rewarding when I fall in love with the taste of the butters that I have customised by adding a variety of ingredients.

The workshop, located in the quaint neighborhood of Joo Chiat, has that whimsical, artistic, idyllic vibe that makes the experience feel unique and relaxing.

My first butter creation is Ma Ma Mia! And like its namesake, this butter is supposed to taste bombastic. And it does, due to the pepper flakes I add, with a dash of salt. It tastes great. Though after I’m done with this butter, I’m thinking that maybe adding a drop of honey will deepen the complexity of the taste and bind together the savoury and spicy flavours.

Umami Cream tastes exactly as it is named. The main ingredient added is finely cubed Shitake mushrooms, whose earthy flavour is perked up by the intense briny sweetness of seaweed sauce. And the texture is rendered varied and exciting. A sprinkle of salt for extra savoury taste and a scattering of brown sugar for a touch of richness and caramel goodness. This tastes absolutely amazing. So good that I realise how much a bit of sweetness does to harmonise the flavours. Thus I want to add some to Ma Ma Mia!

Bottles for making of butter.

Pouring cultured cream into the shaker bottle (screw-on cap type). After closing the cap, I just keeping shaking while keeping an ear on the sounds the cream makes. At first, there is swishing sounds. Then the cream turns into whipped cream consistency, and there is no more sound. Keep going at it until the fats separate from the liquid to form butter. At this point, the swishing sounds can be heard again! Kind of amazing, if you ask me.

Butter after draining off the buttermilk, which actually tastes good too! Then it’s off to the ice bath to wash off any remaining liquid. Followed by squeezing the butter dry, which determines the shelf life of the butter.

Array of ingredients from salt, brown sugar, caramel, honey, mustard, soy sauce, pepper flakes, kimchi, seaweed to mushroom. The possibilities are endless.

Mixing in progress ...

Umami Cream - Mixed with Mushroom, Seaweed Sauce, Brown Sugar and a pinch of Salt

Ma Ma Mia! - Mixed with Pepper Flakes, a dash of Salt and a dot of Mustard

Thoughts: Awesome, Delicious and Fulfilling Experience

180B Joo Chiat Road Level 3

Province by Law Jia-Jun - Amazing Medley of Southeast Asian flavours

Since my awesome outing at Province during Spring, the thought of coming back is always on my mind. So I’m here for the summer menu and get absolutely spellbound by unique, awesome, refined reinterpretations of Southeast Asian flavours.

First dish of Grignotages is Spiced Pork Spring Roll, which is served piping hot. I love its super crispy spring roll skin and the core is meaty, sweet yet surprisingly and amazingly refreshing due to the herbs added. The contrast between meaty warmness and vegetal coolness is amazing.

Saba and Smoked Salmon Roe is like the Taste of Summer by the Sea punctuated by the freshness of herbs. And there is an excellent mix of textures to make it better.

Kueh Cara with Maguro and Avocado is an amazing marriage of totally different components from the humble local kueh cake, the sea to the farms. Fluffy and sweet kueh Cara highlights both the taste and texture of the briny sweet maguro and creamy buttery avocado with a touch of tangy flavour. There is lots of flavours going on for a complex, satisfying, exciting gastronomic experience. 

Octopus is reinterpreted into exciting Thai style when paried with Ginger Flower, Petai, Green Mango, Fermented Chillia and Fish Garum Gel. The optopus is super tender. In fact, it is the most tender octopus, which surprsinglyly tastes refreshing with its milky brininess. There is lots of texture and sweetness at different layers.

Abalone and Cabbage Sweetness of roasted cabbage and its cool slight bitterness works with with mild briny sweetness of braised abalone exotic tasteulam raja gazpacho

Kani Chawamushi is packed with Asian exotic umami goodness full of textures. This dish has so many goodies such as Flower Crab, Tobiko, Pumpkin, Salted Egg Yolk, Century Egg Custard. This is like No Holds Barred Rich Flavours Fiesta. And the pops of excitement due to the tobiko is actually very pronounced when paired with the custard.

Sawara with Bouillabaise features interesting sweetness of Aged Sawara fish that goes even better with the peppers. Clams, rempah, shishito kosho and saffron are added to amp up the complexity of the taste.

Iberico with White Curry tastes so good with the fresh sweetness of eggplant. Nasu Pork Chop coated with unique Asian aromatic crumbs and soaked in Curry Oil is Asian Pork Chop at its best. So meaty sweet and so many flavours,

Mandarin and Sour Plum kamquat and crispy tangerine skin is Mandarin Orange goodness manifested in different forms. I love this very Asian in taste but western and modern in presentation dessert that is unique and refreshing, with a touch of sweetness.

Rockmelon and Kueh dessert is Warm Southeast Asian sticky cake invigorated by the refreshing flora sweetness of rockmelon lime ice-cream  Sago makes for the nice firm bouncy texture in the rice kueh to balance the creaminess of the housemade ice-cream. And the coconut sugar added completes the Southeast Asian Sweet Magic. 

Thoughts: Southeast Asian Flavours reinterpreted to be at its Finest

La Maison & Velier @ Old Moon Spirits

La Maison & Velier Tasting Gang at Old Moon Spirits takes me on the intriguing journey further down the rabbit hole of Rum. I'm absolutely into Rum, thanks to Old Moon Spirits, and this time, it is about OB (Officially Bottling) and IB (Independent Bottling). And the rums featured in this event are all from IB, which is interesting and exciting. Since trying IB is a bit like playing roulette for rum novices like me, this event, where the premium IBs are specially curated by Jason, is perfect for me to experience how awesome quality IB can be.

Made from fresh sugar cane juice, Saint James from Barbados surprises me by its rich, deep aroma of caramel with velvety feel. It's rum yet different from the rums I know. This is actually my favourite of the night. I love it so much that I got a bottle of this.

Beenleigh, from Australia, features peach notes, hint of molasses, is lighter and gets better with each subsequent sip.

Jamica's Clarendon has this rich toffee aroma that I like.

Hampden is a rare Hampten that is aged longer than most rums, so it has a special character to its flavour profile.

Province by Law Jia-Jun - Amazing Southeast Asian Flavours never seen before

During a wonderful Wine Dinner with gourmets, the restaurant, Province, whihc is actually one of my favourites, actually came up in the conversation, with lots of us at the table talking about how awesome the experience here is. Then one lovely lady straightaway said, "It's a must to try the Spring Menu, it's so good." And so I quickly booked a reservation before Spring ends. She is so right on this. I have such an amazing time at Province.

The food explores the far extends of the taste spectrum delighting the palates, features the excellent juxtapose of textures while retaining core feel of Southeast Asian cuisine. It's moments of "familiar and warm yet unique and surprising at the same time". It is also an experience itself to watch Chef Jia-Jun and crew meticulously assemble the components of each dish at the open kitchen counter and then go in depths on the details of the ingredients. I enjoy myself so much.

I can't wait for Summer to come here again!

First snack of Grignotages is Peas and Ikura. Ikura with creamy egg, where the intense brininess tamed by the creaminess, definitely pleases the palates. But the pea is actually the magic. Its grilled vegetal sweetness opens up the light creaminess and intense briny sweetness to a taste that is so unique, complex and simply awesome. I also love the crunchiness of the peas. And the lime adds a dash of excitement to make it even better.

Next is Crayfish and traditional Chinese steamed rice cake, featuring such excellent texture where the springy bouncy flesh of crayfish juxtaposes perfectly with the fluffiness of steam cake. The mild briny sweetness of crayfish is highlighted by the mildly sweet starchy base of steam cake.

Caviar and Tartare is like the luxurious Southeast Asian treat. The distinctive taste of Southeast Asia is pronounced, while at the same time refined, complex and balanced, with hints of the flavours to evoke the feelings of familiarity without overwhelming the palates. The lovely combination of meaty sweetness and briny sweetness hits the exact sweet spot. The caviar, from a Southeast Asian farm, is so well balanced in taste.

Aka Ebi featuring prawn gel, fermented kohlrabi, calamansi is another dish with perfect texture, where gelatine texture of prawn gel and the crunchiness of the fermented turnip contrast so well with the juicy, bouncy raw prawn. Szechuan pepper, with all the distinctive aroma, but without numbing spiciness, highlight the mild sweetness of the ama ebi. A brilliant creation.

Beautiful Garden of Spring with aged Aji, spring greens, sesame & Szechuan peppercorn oil, yoghurt foam, showcases aji, a sweet fish with intense flavour, like never before. And I love it! It tastes so exciting, bright, with the briny sweetness of the fish highlighted by a myriad of flavours.

Snapper and Crustaceans Sweetness of the ocean chicken consommé comforting magic lies in the mosiac tiger prawns, zucchini lifts up the taste exciting

First Bite of Wagyu aged beef presents ribeye beef in different cuts and beef jus. The more cooked, tender cut is full of meaty goodness while the rare cut is creamy in taste. The unique freshness of asparagus cleanses the palate to make each bite so satisfying and enjoyable .

Smoked Rice and Squid uses the special Bue Ta Nae Rice that is dry and sweet. The charred squid has the light lovely char to complement the smooth briny sweetness of the squid. This dish is like sweetness on different layers, it feels so satisfying to savour this. The pickles perk things too.

Passionfruit and Rice Yoghurt marries Passionfruit sherbet, koji yoghurt, gooseberries and almonds together successfully. Refreshing and exciting, amazingly creamy.

I’m not a coffee person but Coffee and Roasted Banana here totally converts me to be a coffee enthusiast for the night. Roasted goodness of coffee, toasty goodness caramel and coffee crumble totally works together. The tang of roasted banana ice-cream brings a whole new level to the taste. The cashew sponge adds a good fluffy texture to the dessert. I’m surprised and pleased.

Lots of good wines to go with the course

Thoughts: Thoughtful, Unique, Refined Southeast Asian Delights!

153 Joo Chiat Road