An Fu Restaurant

Does this scare you???

“Not for the faint-hearted” the email stated.

That disclaimer was quite redundant I thought. Especially since it clearly stated Sichuan. hahaha… not that I would be fazed, but seriously, it only made me look forward to it. The email had a long menu attached to it, most of which just made me curious. Having never experienced authentic Sichuan cuisine, I was more than game.

It was to be a fiery night with a generous amount of peppers and chilli oil.

RED was the colour of the night. Everything looked RED.

I went home with red lips still pounding from the heat and believe me when I say that my lips were still stinging this morning.

This is what you get when you voluntarily indulge in yet another of the deliciously exciting Makansutra gatherings organised by Makansutra forum members. The exuberant K.F. Seetoh was there too. The entire restaurant was filled with us foodies, some of whom are food bloggers like myself.

Perhaps I’ll just cut and paste the entire menu here:

Cold dishes:
1) Cold chicken in spicy sauce 口水鸡
2) Sliced pork in garlic sauce 蒜泥白肉
3) Pork tripe in chilli oil 红油肚片
4) Black fungus in Vinegar and ginger sauce 醋姜黑木耳
5) Preserved mixed vegetables 开胃什锦

Hot dishes:
1) Tyrant Crab 霸王花蟹
2) Salt and pepper prawn cake 椒盐虾排
3) Chongqing Fried chicken with dried chilli 重庆辣子鸡
4) Water boiled beef served with plain noodle 水煮牛肉配拌面
5) Hometown style Duck 家乡风味鸭
6) Cold Wok Fish slices 冷锅鱼片
7) Assorted mushroom and fungus in chicken oil sauce鸡油真菌
8 ) Ma Po Dou fu 麻婆豆腐

Dessert:
Water melon with white fungus.银耳西瓜盅

See what I mean? I really didn’t know what I got myself into. All I know is that I was going to go with an open mind and empty stomach. Thank God I’m a chilli person. My chilli threshold is rather high.

There are plenty of photos and since almost everything was cooked in Sichuan peppers and peppercorns, it won’t make a difference if I try to describe every dish one by one. The food was yummy, though I heard that this wasn’t as authentic as it should be. Well well, a Sichuan greenhorn like me won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.

Enjoy the photos and if you cannot take spices, I reckon that you just scroll quickly.. haha lest you be frightened by the oily redness. They do use plenty of chilli oil mind you.

People who cannot take chilli should NEVER visit this restaurant. I mean it! hahaha… okay I’ll just go ahead and tell you about this person at our table who simply cannot take spices. That poor dude was sweating so much and hardly touched the dishes. I found it hilarious but not in a rude way… haha… oh gosh… I bet he regretted coming.

Anyway, I’ll let the photos tell the story…

Cold chicken in spicy sauce

Sliced pork in garlic sauce

Okay, this one.. I have to talk about. The highlight was more to do with the garlic sauce. It’s basically this bowl of red chilli oil with minced roasted garlic… Very fragrant and tasty… The pork tasted great with the sauce. Put lots of it on my rice.

Pork tripe in chilli oil

Black fungus in Vinegar and ginger sauce

Preserved mixed vegetables

That which you see is a very webbed duck’s foot. I didn’t eat the foot but I ate most of the vegetables. The foot looked raw! No way was I going to eat it… Hardly anyone at our table ate it. Well only one but I think he just put it on his plate. haha.

Tyrant Crab

Ahh… this one is HOT. there were sooooo many Sichuan peppers under the crabs. When I was eating it with my bare hands I knew that my eyes would sting when I try to take out my contact lenses from my eyes tonight. This is the bomb.

Salt and pepper prawn cake

A mild dish, this was rather light and easy on the tummy.

Chongqing Fried chicken with dried chilli

Tried to figure out if it was duck or chicken but concluded that it was chicken. The duck one came out soon after and it looked as if they used the same sauce. My duck photo was too blur so didn’t put it up.

Water boiled beef served with plain noodle

You cannot see the beef because the thick oily chilli laden soup has covered it! But I like this dish. The beef was tender. The sauce was tasty too. But like I said, there’s so much oil…. Half the time we were wonder if the people in Sichuan province really consumed that much oil everyday.

Cold Wok Fish slices

Totally fell in love with the fish. Tender and melts in your mouth. But I made the mistake of drinking the oil. You see that glistening layer on top? Yea that’s the oil. I thought it was clear soup. hahaha

Assorted mushroom and fungus in chicken oil sauce

Ma Po Dou fu

This was a tad disappointing. There wasn’t enough flavour. Sure it was spicy but it was flat as well. No omph!

Oh the pot sticklers (guo tie) were yummy…

and haha I took the liberty of taking a photo of the chilli oil of one of the dishes so you have a better idea of what I mean when I say oil-laden dishes.

Scared yet?

Here’s the harmless dessert:

Water melon with white fungus

Someone actually wondered if the dessert was going to be spicy as well. Haha, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were! They served dessert earlier because apparently some peoples’ tongues were on fire and needed serious dousing!

Honestly, the food was not that scary. Well to me at least. I thought it could have been spicier. I think I really like Sichuan food. Can’t imagine how it must taste like back in their hometown…

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An Fu Restaurant
#01-06/07 Balestier Road
Tel: 6254-3266
Open 11:30am to 3am

Oodles of Noodles

Sometimes, when given a choice between rice and noodles, I tend to get a tad fickle and take a pretty long time to decide.

But then there are days that I’m just craving for these long luscious slurps of smoothness. I’m a big pasta fan but when I’m not eating Italian, I like to have my noodles with bite. I used to really like noodles alot in the past but now, I’m pretty impartial about it.

Occasionally, if I hear that a certain noodle dish is good, I’d try it and then enjoy it.

Right now, there are two noodle places that I want to rave about. One’s a spicy one, and one’s covered in thick brown gravy.

Okay, first off, let me say that my tolerance for spicy food is pretty high so when Dot and I decided to lunch at Beppu Ramen last week, I was excited. I’ve heard so much about this ramen place – that you can choose your prefered level of spiciness. I nearly ordered 3. But Dot has eaten here and told me that number 2 is already pretty spicy. I had to trust her, and I’m so glad I did!

My ramen came, and lo and behold, it WAS spicy. Hmmm wasn’t mind-blowing spicy, but since it was a really hot day, it was pretty much enough for me. I had the Oniyama Jigok (the one with the fried chicken). I like the texture of the ramen and the soup – I think it was made with miso. Whatever it is, I liked it, even though I was already sniffing halfway through. It makes me wonder how the number 8 would taste like!

Anyway, if you cannot take even the slightest hint of spice, then maybe this would interest you: Lor Mee

I seldom eat Lor Mee because I usually like my noodles light and easy on the tummy but man, when I’m at Golden Mile Food Centre (a.k.a. Beach Road Army Market), I have to get this.

I’m going to say this only once: this is by far the best Lor Mee I’ve ever eaten! It comes with fried lotus root pieces and fried wanton. There’s just so much good stuff in this bowl! Love the generous portion and the meat is so tender. The sauce is just nice – not too thick. I like my Lor Mee with lots of vinegar! haha.. Gosh, this is one superb noodle that rocks my socks. Go try it!

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Tong Ji Mian Shi
#01-100
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road
Open: 6:30am to 9pm
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Beppu Menkan Japanese Noodle Restaurant
#01-01 Far East Square,
Tel: 6438-0328
Open: Weekdays 11.30am to 3pm and 6 to 10pm,
Saturdays noon to 10.30pm and Sundays noon to 9pm),

Cholula

I’m involved in a torrid affair.

An affair so hot and messy that I get teary as it gets fiesty.

How long has this been going? It’s been so long that I’ve lost count! Whatever it is, I believe I have my Dad to thank. Obviously you dear readers know what I’m talking about.

My affair with all things spicy that is.

I’m inspired to write this post after reading Leo’s Red Hot Love Affair. He’s another person I know who loves chilli as much as I do. Seriously, it’s a love that surpasses all others. Come on, to love something that burns you or chokes you or makes you tear?

You must be thinking “who’s she kidding, she’s obviously mad!”.

I am mad! Madly in love with chilli. I was nodding my head the entire time as I was reading Leo’s bond with the red hot spicy gem. All of you chilli-lovers should read it! We should have our own Chilli Club – we’d go round the island searching for the best chilli: be it sambal belachan, chilli padi, chicken rice garlic chilli, etc…

Why do I sound so obsessed with something that sounds torturing? Trust me, I do have a 1001 reasons. But perhaps if you realise that as much as it is painful, it is this pain that makes it so endearing. Wait… I know i know, you must be thinking what a sadist I am. I don’t necessary adore pain, but I am unpredictable and I totally dig the spontaneous rush I get from consuming chilli. Sometimes you never know how spicy it gets or how lousy it is. That’s the excitement of eating chilli.

Heck, I’m adventurous. I’ve even tried Dave’s Insanity Sauce.

Yes, you read right: INSANITY Sauce. It’s really a hot sauce that promises to make you cry and run straight to the freezer. What’s this about? You see, red habaneros make up the bulk of the sauce. I’ve read that this was the only sauce banned from hot sauce competitions because it was simply too hot! Before you dismiss this information, let me tell you, I’ve tried it!

A few years ago, I was at my photojournalism lecturer’s place with my classmates for a farewell do. We ordered pizza and were happily chowing down on dough & meat when Mr. Umehara (that’s my lecturer’s name) brought out this delicate bottle with the words Insanity Sauce.

Me, being the ultimate chilli lover quietly dismissed the label and tried some. I didn’t believe what he said (about it being the hottest sauce ever) so I tried it on the pizza….

GUESS what happened?

My tongue burst into flames.

Then it fell to the ground, black and ashen.

Just then, I wished I had Harry Potter’s wand to fix my tongue.

Hmmm. HAHA. Pardon my lame attempt to include magic on this blog!

Anyhow, it was seriously seriously hot. Thing is, I only put a drop! This is lethal stuff I thought. Geez! My classmates and I were pretty excited. Haha… we decided to play a prank on those who arrived late. We ‘hid’ drops of the sauce in the pizza and offered it to latecomers.

No tongue was spared. Everyone looked as though they were eating fire. It was that strong! I will never forget that experience. I believe Mr. Umehara bought it from the States but he said he saw it sold here somewhere. I’ve been looking high and low for it but to no avail.

Since then, my eyes widen whenever I see bottles of hot sauce because I would really love to relive that insane experience simply for the kick (or to play pranks) :p

Now now, I’m not an evil person! I just like to have fun. So since I don’t have any insanity sauce with me, I’ll just have to make do with my old favourite Tabasco.

But I’ve recently discovered something that’s quite easy on the tastebuds – Cholula Hot Sauce. I believe it’s Mexican but even though it doesn’t pack as much punch as Dave’s Insanity sauce, it works well because of its slightly tangy undertone. A bottle costs $2.30 and I found it at Mustafa Centre. I’ve been eating it with almost anything! I have to go back to get more though… it’s finishing soon.

Hey, I’ve an idea, someone should bring Dave’s Insanity Sauce here! Or better yet, if you know any place that sells it, drop me and email! Best, if you’re in the States and are coming back, could you kindly get me a bottle? I will bake you cookies I promise!