This was L's Chinese homework from his enrichment class. Did you manage to spot his mistakes? 

Like many typical Singaporean kids, L does not have enough exposure to the Chinese language as we seldom speak the language. This is probably one main reason why the Chinese enrichment centres are booming in their business here. It doesn't help that we also read more English books than Chinese ones to him. Furthermore, L didn't have a Chinese teacher for a few months back in K2, so he was very far behind others in his Chinese proficiency. 

To supplement L's Chinese language learning, I bought a Chinese comic book on the Monkey God and read it with him. I also signed him up for weekly Chinese enrichment classes. I'm glad the enrichment lessons have been interesting enough to engage him, and the centre adopts a multi-modal approach to learning language. In this particular lesson, the children were given a worksheet to fill in adjectives to describe their eyes, ears, popcorn etc. The teachers showed a video of the popcorn making process, and they were also given some popcorns to bring home. L happily showed me his popcorn treat and ate them on the way home. 

However, after L completed this piece of homework, I realised he didn't retain the learning from that interesting lesson! He couldn't remember the meaning of the words and how to use them appropriately. I am quite sure it wasn't a failure of the lesson. Instead, it could be because he only looked at this piece of work one week later. 

So, my teacher-instincts prompted me to do this... 

Throughout the process, I repeated the phrases from his worksheet and got him to use the Chinese words that he was supposed to learn. Like, when I asked him to describe the popcorn kernels, he had to say 黄黄的玉米。And when the popcorn kernels were popping in the pot, he had to describe the sound by saying 噼啪噼啪的声音。 I also sneaked in some Math concepts.  

Slow and steady in measuring out the honey

Look at THAT face! Wonder what he was thinking about.

Popcorns almost done!

Enjoying the fruit of his labour

Other than language literacy, cooking with children is also one of the best ways to train children to understand and execute the recipe systematically. With enough opportunities, they will be able to plan ahead and their cooking process will be more efficient. These skills also help them greatly in interpreting Science practicals, starting from primary school. You will be very surprised to know that a large number of my secondary school students lack the skills to understand Science experimental procedures properly, so they usually score very poorly in that component. And when I probe further, many of them have never helped out in their kitchen. 

You can get that original recipe we followed for this popcorn making process here. We tweaked the recipe a little to include more honey and less salt as we prefer a sweeter version. Believe me when I say this is really super duper easy to make, and you get a pot of buttery, crunchy popcorns within 10 mins!

No, this is not a night market in the streets of Malaysia. Looks like right?

With the company of Uncle Chan, we tasted various authentic hawker dishes at Malaysian Food Street. Uncle Chan was born in Malaysia, and stayed there for about 20 years before coming over to Singapore to find a living. Like most locals, he enjoys going to various places in search of good food, so it was interesting to see what he thought of the food at Malaysian Food Street. 

Beef Hor Fun Soup by Kwang Family $8

First dish we tried was the Beef Hor Fun Soup by Kwang Family. Beef noodles has always been one of my favourite Asian dish, and a good bowl of beef noodles soup never fails to give me a warm, comforting after-effect. The recipe for the Beef Hor Fun Soup by Kwang Family comes from the patriach of the family who founded 'Weld Quay Beef'. The tender beef brisket, shank and tripe, accompanied with the fragrant broth and a unique blend of vinegar chili sauce, left a deep impression on us. Even Uncle Chan commented that the beef is delicious and tender enough for him to chew easily. 

The best Koay Teow Th'ng must have a light and refreshing soup base, with smooth koay teow noodles that glide down the throat smoothly, and topped with big, springy fresh fishballs. Guest hawker Ah Heng nailed it perfectly with his Ah Heng Koay Teow Th'ng. I secretly hope that he will stay on at Malaysian Food Street after this promotion period so that Ch and L can eat this the next time we are there. 

Mamak Mee Goreng by Penang Swee Kong Kopitiam $6.50

The Mamak Mee Goreng is a unique Penang dish, which is very different from its cousin, the Singapore version. The secret lies in the crunchy bits of Indian fried batter that is mixed with the sinfully spicy yellow noodles. This signature dish is brought to us by Guest hawker Hafaz, who is a second generation hawker of his father's shop in Penang. 

The rest of the dishes below are promotional items by the regular hawkers at Malaysian Food Street, and will be available until 10th May 2015. 

Prawn Mee Mix Broth ("Lor" sauce added) $6.50

The rich, prawn broth that is added with a braising sauce ('lor' sauce) makes the Prawn Mee noodles very palatable and different from the usual version. The cuttlefish slices add an interesting contrast to the rest of the ingredients. It would have been even better if they had used big fresh prawns, but the delicious thick soup compensated for that. Uncle Chan and I slurped up our bowls of noodles and were very full by now. 

Fried Lou See Fun  (KL Hokkien Mee style with black sauce and chilies) $6.50

The KL Jalan Alor Hokkien Mee uses a special black sauce to give the dish its distinguished taste and "wok-hei" fragrance. Specially for this promotion period, Malaysian Food Street presents Fried Lou See Fun in the KL Hokkien Mee style. I expected it to be non-spicy, but the chilies certainly gave a surprising twist to this dish.
  

Braised Pork Knuckle with Vinegar $20

I learnt from Executive Sous Chef Adolf Tan that the Braised Pork Knuckle with Vinegar takes two days to prepare and uses a special brand of vinegar. It reminds me of the pig trotters in black vinegar which my mom and mom-in-law cooked for me after giving birth, but is prudent on the ginger. This is a big portion and there is enough meat and deliciously sweet and vinegared sauce to feed a family of four. Really worth the money!

Char Koay Teow $5.50 without egg, $6 with egg

The Penang Char Koay Teow has a generous portion of ingredients like Chinese sausage, prawns and beansprouts. It is as authentic as it can be, sans the duck egg which I was told due to restrictions from the food authorities. There are no blood cockles too. 

Penang Curry Mee $5.50

Unlike the Singapore version, the Penang Curry Mee tastes slightly sweet and the curry is not as dense due to less coconut milk being used. The mint leaves give this dish an added fragrance. Don't expect to find pig's blood cubes and blood cockles which will make this dish more authentic, but I'm fine without them. 

Durian Puff in the making

Durian Puff, $2.80 per piece, minimum purchase of 2

Freshly baked every day, these durian puffs have a generous filling of rich Mao Shan Wang durian and wintermelon paste. To make these pastries, two types of dough have to be prepared, and the meticulous attention to every detail in the recipe convinces me that the durian puff is worth its value. As for the sweetness level, Goldilocks would say, the taste is just right. 

Penang Cendol $2.80

To end off this Malaysian street food galore, we had Cendol - a signature dessert of Malaysia. I remember when my grandparents were still living in Malacca, we would run across the street opposite the Red Square clock tower to buy cendol from an Indian-Muslim hawker. The richness of the Nyonya Peranakan-style cendol is still very vivid in my memory. So, whenever I come across a dessert stall that has cendol on its menu, I'll not be able to resist the temptation to order one. 

The Penang Cendol at Malaysian Food Street is generously topped with strings of pandan jelly and kidney beans on a bowl of shaved ice. It uses less coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar) than the Malacca version. Nonetheless, this is a must-have item when you visit Malaysian Food Street. 

Uncle Chan with Chef Adolf Tan (right of picture) and Chef Melvin

On the way home, I asked Uncle Chan to name me his favourite street food from Malaysian Food Street. He gave a satisfied smile and said, "样样都很好吃!" (meaning all the dishes were very tasty to him). 

That says it all!

Malaysian Food Street @ Resorts World Sentosa
The Bull Ring (next to Universal Studios)
Opening hours: Mon to Thu 11am – 10pm. Fri & Sat 9am – 11pm. Sun 9am – 10pm (Only for this promotional period)

After 10th May 2015, normal operating hours resume. They will be closed every Wednesday. 


Disclosure: We were invited for a food tasting session by ATE Integrated Communications and Resorts World Sentosa for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was given. All opinions and photos are ours.