Whetting Your Appetite

To whet your appetite means to hone or make more keen or to stimulate your appetite. It is different from wetting your bed. Everybody loves food but the question is whether you eat to live or live to eat. Those around my age will testify about the good old days where even hawkers do not hawk their fares or other businesses would peddle their wares if they were  not good at it. They took great pride in their work and they prepared every ingredient on their own. So when you can find good food today, it becomes like a birdie in golf. A rare gem. People kept asking me to write more on food. They like it because I do not talk about those famous ones but find unknown gems and polish them like a King-maker and boy oh boy I have had some very unexpected and pleasant experiences. I help put hawkers on and they got so excited and proud of themselves.

To start you off healthy, also done previously I'll give you Yong Tau Fu. This one is at Bedok where you will find a good spa nearby and if you need also BRT (Bio Resonance Technology). 

Actually, all YTF is good - from the traditional dry or soup, Hakka, Ampang, Tom Yam to Laksa or what have you and if you like all of them what should you do? Go on rotation like soccer teams who has too many games to play. The version here is very fresh and drenched in light gravy.

The "tau kee" is very good and nutritious.

They give you the thick bee hoon in minced pork gravy to go along. OK, not give, you have to pay for it.

The Thai food here at Maxwell has a constant line at peak hours. They hung a picture of then President S R Nathan who patronized.

Typical Thai favorites like Tom Yam, curry, mango salad, phad thai and many more.

Turkish Kebab is wonderful. If I give you Western food everyday you can get tired. That was what happened once in Australia when we found a very good kebab shop and we had kebab once each day. The slab of meat hung there and heated slowly is really enticing.

We saw quite a number of people eating from this store at Novena"s Velocity and decided to try. The rice was wrapped in a ball and they offered a set menu.

It included soup, vegetables and...

Braised pork.

We also had mapo tofu.

Well, look at these birds. If other chickens walk by seeing this, it will be their horror movies.

Everyone loves porridge sometimes, at least once in awhile when you wish for something light or when the weather takes its toll on you. This one at Hougang has taken over the entire shop. They even have frog porridge.

There are always people eating there.

During peak hours, you may have to wait for quite some time.

Even if they have several people cooking with so many pots with strong fire, taking orders, serving and packing for take-aways.

They have a long list of different types of porridge to titillate you but if you are taking away leave out the egg unless it is beaten or it will be thoroughly cooked by the time you got home.

K-League, K-Drama Series, K-Pop and KTV - no not the last one but basically it was just like how J-League, J-Pop, etc. became popular. What's next? K-food. Not every one that says "Korean" is really Korean or taste good and right. ChoWon Garden at Peck Seah Street is authentic. The first thing you know whether the Korrean food stall or restaurant has got a real standard is when the Kimchi is in your mouth. Then the rest of the ikan billis, vegetable and pickles tells the rest of the story.

This Kimchi pancake is also fabulous.

A simple steamboat with a little meat, mushroom, lots of other vegetables, tofu and throw in some ramen with a spicy soup and it can make your day.

Ok, go whet yourself.