About Daniel&Esther

daniel & esther

Daniel works in the consumer electronics industry but hopes to one day own a cafe. Like most Hainanese men, he can whip up a storm in the kitchen and is constantly invited to other people's house parties... to cook for them.

Esther works for a major airline by day, and bakes incessantly by night. Trained as a chemical engineer, she puts that knowledge to good use - by reading package labels to see if it's good for you.

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Ingredients

Souvenirs From Down Under

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Nope – Esther and I didn’t buy any fluffy koala or wombat soft toys; neither did we get a boomerang or the aboriginal instrument didgeridoo during our recent trip to Melbourne.
When we travel, we usually buy groceries and cooking ingredients that are either unavailable or hard to find in Singapore, such as the last time [...]

Spice and Everything Nice!

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Here’s a look at the spice and herb rack Esther and I have at home.
We’ve even got a bottle of McCormick’s Gourmet Collection Chipotle Chile Pepper that we bought during our honeymoon in San Francisco. It’s just not available here in Singapore – if you know of where we can get these, please let us [...]

Review: Fig & Olive Cafe

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Feeling rather adventurous one Saturday evening, Daniel and I decided to brave the crowds at VivoCity for dinner. Knowing we would get lost in the vast expanse of the shopping mall, we searched the VivoCity website for eating places before setting out. We decided on Fig & Olive Cafe – we once saw its Tanjong Pagar [...]

Salted Black Beans

Friday, March 9th, 2007

Salted black beans complement seafood very well and used in dishes such as steamed fresh fish with Chinese wine and ginger. These tiny but potent beans should be used sparingly due to its strong salty flavour
They must be chopped and soaked in hot water before use.

Rice Wine

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Made from fermented glutinous rice or millet and aged for ten years or more, rice wine is a sweet and richly-flavoured liquid that has a relatively low alcoholic content. Rice wine is used for both drinking and cooking. A dry sherry can be used in place of rice wine if unavailable.

Five Spice Powder

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Five-spice powder is made from a strong blend of star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon and Szechuan pepper. It is used in both marinating and cooking, and should be used sparingly. It is sometimes sold whole, but more commonly ground into a powder.

Sesame Oil

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007

Open sesame! One of the most recognisable flavours in Chinese cuisine, a few drops of sesame oil impart a rich nutty taste to any dish. Sesame oil is made from cold pressing untoasted sesame seeds and is amber in colour.

Szechuan Pepper

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

 
Szechuan pepper actually is not a pepper at all but the dried berries of the prickly ash tree native to Szechuan.  It is indispensible in Szechuan cooking – it has slightly lemony overtones that evokes a somewhat tingly numbness in the mouth.
The strong and fragrant Szechuan peppercorns should be dry-roasted in a wok until brown [...]