Anthony Bourdain in Singapore...help! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

noodle · 01-08-2008, 08:09 PM

The season premiere of Bourdain's No Reservations was in Singapore. I've got an unholy obsession with this dirty man.

Despite the fact that that they actually sucked bright red-dyed marrow out of mutton bones, I've been thinking a lot about this episode.

I can't find the name or the recipe for this fantastic dish that the photographer's wife made. It was a traditional noodle bowl soup made from shrimp and short rib stock with both and vegtables placed over noodles.

The episode aired twice back-to-back last night and I drooled the first time and my man the second time.... does anyone know what the heck this man was eating and how I can even come close to making something similar?
We LOVE the Pho King Noodles restaurant next door to the house, too, but can't find a good recipe for any of those dishes either.

Charlatan? Cyn? Zkara? Anyone? Help?! Many thanks in advance.

World's King · 01-08-2008, 08:18 PM

I to love Pho King... I like Pho King all night long...

Anyway.

I love Anthony Bourdain. But sadly I didn't see the episode. I just wanted to make the Pho King joke.

noodle · 01-08-2008, 08:20 PM

You have no idea how I love the Pho King.

And watching Bourdain fish, get drunk and eat in a golden wheelchair was priceless.

World's King · 01-08-2008, 08:45 PM

All he does is eat and get drunk. The man is my hero.

Charlatan · 01-09-2008, 05:54 AM

I haven't seen the episode but it sounds like Bak Kut Teh.

By the way, I like Bourdain quite a bit... it's an occupational hazard.

World's King · 01-09-2008, 03:13 PM

I watched it last night... No idea what it was.

But damn did it look tasty.

Charlatan · 01-09-2008, 04:51 PM

By the way, the golden wheelchairs are in a restaurant called Arum. It's a restaurant specializing molecular gastronomy. It's above a club called Clinic that has a hospital theme.

In the club downstairs you can sit on hospital beds and have your drinks served in IV bags. Upstairs, you cut your meat with a scalpel and sit in wheel chairs.

It didn't quite work with many of the locals so they've been renovating the restaurant part to remove the whole hospital theme.

The best part, for me, was the entrance. It was set up to look like a morgue.

Was the episode this one?

If yes... clockwise: Shark's Head soup, Laksa (could be what you are describing), bone soup (the sucking of marrow!) and char kway teow.

I can't find an episode guide for No Reservations that lists what he eats in the episodes.

World's King · 01-09-2008, 05:27 PM

That's the episode but none of those are the dish.

And yeah... Seeing as how he hated all the food in that hospital themed restaurant... I didn't think it was gonna last.

Charlatan · 01-10-2008, 02:28 PM

If it's none of those then it is very likely the bak kut teh I mentioned above.

noodle · 01-10-2008, 02:37 PM

Hmmmm.... it was definitely noodles, not rice.
And it was the combination of shrimp and short ribs that had me so intrigued.

dang it. I can't understand what he's saying. it sounds like "huck-en on me".

Cynthetiq · 01-10-2008, 04:30 PM

I just found the episode on the Tivo. Wishlists FTW! I'll watch it later, but based on what you said, this seems like the dish.

Hokkien mee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien_mee

noodle · 01-10-2008, 05:03 PM

hokkien prawn mee?

He called it "Prawn noodle soup." Oops, I finally got that far. Cyn, you are the Bomb-diggety. Egg noodles, greens, sliced pork, prawns, fish cakes....

Now.... recipes?

Fun episode, by the way. I love the condiments.

Cynthetiq · 01-10-2008, 05:08 PM

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/04/...wn-noodle.html

Quote:

Stock ingredients:

1 ziploc bag of shrimp heads and shells (I used Ziplock Easy Zipper Bag)
15 cups of water (reduced to about 12-13 cups of water after hours of boiling and simmering)
2-3 pieces of rock sugar (about the size of a small ping pong ball) or to taste
1.5 lbs of pork ribs (cut into pieces)
Salt to taste (or fish sauce to taste if you want stronger flavor)

Chili Paste:

30 dried chilies (deseeded and soaked to soften)
10 shallots (peeled)
5 cloves garlic (peeled)
2 tablespoons of water
6 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 pound of yellow noodles (scalded)
1 pack of rice vermicelli (scalded)
Some kangkong or water convolvulus (scalded)
Some bean sprouts (scalded)

Toppings:

1/2 pound of lean pork meat (boiled and sliced thinly)
1/2 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
6 hard-boiled eggs (shelled and quartered)
Some fried shallot crisps (store-bought)

Blend the chili paste ingredients with a mini food processor until finely ground and well blended. Heat up the wok and add cooking oil. Stir fry the chili paste for 5 minutes. Dish up and set aside. On the same wok (unwashed), add in a little oil and cook the shrimp topping. Add in a little chili paste, sugar, and salt. Pan-fried the shrimp until they are slightly burned. Dish up, let cool and sliced them into halves.

Method:

Add 15 cups of water into a pot and bring it to bowl. Add in all the shrimp heads and shell and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours or longer until the stock becomes cloudy and tastes really prawny.
Strain the stock through sieve and transfer the stock into another pot. Discard the prawn heads and shells. Scoop up and discard the orange "foam" forming at the top of the stock.
Bring the stock to boil again and add in half of the chili paste. You can add more chili paste if you like it spicier.
Add in the pork ribs and continue to boil in low heat for another 1-1.5 hour until the pork ribs are thoroughly cooked.
Add rock sugar and salt/fish sauce to taste.
To serve, place a portion of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, water convolvulus and bean sprouts in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over. If desired, add a few pieces of pork ribs. Top with meat slices, sliced shrimp, egg quarters, and sprinkle with shallot crisps.
Serve immediately with more chili paste to taste.
Cook's notes:
Traditionally, the shrimp heads and shells are stir-fried with oil until aromatic before adding them into the boiling water. I tried this step before and found that my "cheated" method works equally well.
The hawkers in Penang also blended the shrimp heads and shells after they are briefly boiled to extract all the flavors from the shell. Again, I tried this step before and found that my method works as well if you have plenty of shrimp heads and shells.

Halx · 01-10-2008, 05:10 PM

"hospital themed restaurant" .. reminds me.. Clinic. I saw that in Singapore.

Charlatan · 01-11-2008, 07:41 AM

Hokkien Mee or Prawn Mee is tasty...

By the way, "mee" just means noodles in Malay. So fredweena's alter ego is mee...

And Hokkien is just a part of China from where the dish originated.

Cynthetiq · 01-12-2008, 09:25 PM

I just watched most of the episode, stopped at the bone soup marrow sucking part. Hokkien Prawn Mee is for sure the meal.

I did get a kick out of the Hyatt shill. At least you know that if you eat there you shouldn't get sick... sometimes those hawker stalls seemed to be a bit unclean, that is those in the outskirts of town. And the Coffee in a bag.... ahh the memories of pepsi in a bag.

I miss Singaporean food. Damn... really miss it. Some of the best and tastiest food that wasn't expensive.

Charlatan · 01-13-2008, 04:13 AM

Kopi in a bag...
Bak Kut Teh
Teh tarik...
Roti prata...
Kaya toast...
satay (the way it's supposed to taste)...

Ah yes... the good life.

Charlatan · 03-24-2008, 01:38 AM

So I finally saw this episode and got a little bit of insider information on the episode... Apparently the meal at Arum (the place with the wheelchairs) was kind of thrown together last minute. The ladies eating with him work for the Discovery Channel (they didn't have anyone else for him to hang out with). You can tell by the number of gin and tonics he consumed that he was not happy to be there (though he did say some nice things about the youthful ability to take risks and fail that the chef was displaying).

On the whole, it was a fairly good show about my current home town.

01-08-2008, 08:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	I to love Pho King... I like Pho King all night long... Anyway. I love Anthony Bourdain. But sadly I didn't see the episode. I just wanted to make the Pho King joke. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-08-2008, 08:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	All he does is eat and get drunk. The man is my hero. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-09-2008, 05:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	I haven't seen the episode but it sounds like Bak Kut Teh. By the way, I like Bourdain quite a bit... it's an occupational hazard. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

01-09-2008, 03:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	I watched it last night... No idea what it was. But damn did it look tasty. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-09-2008, 04:51 PM	#7 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	By the way, the golden wheelchairs are in a restaurant called Arum. It's a restaurant specializing molecular gastronomy. It's above a club called Clinic that has a hospital theme. In the club downstairs you can sit on hospital beds and have your drinks served in IV bags. Upstairs, you cut your meat with a scalpel and sit in wheel chairs. It didn't quite work with many of the locals so they've been renovating the restaurant part to remove the whole hospital theme. The best part, for me, was the entrance. It was set up to look like a morgue. Was the episode this one? If yes... clockwise: Shark's Head soup, Laksa (could be what you are describing), bone soup (the sucking of marrow!) and char kway teow. I can't find an episode guide for No Reservations that lists what he eats in the episodes. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke Last edited by Charlatan; 01-09-2008 at 05:06 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

01-09-2008, 05:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	That's the episode but none of those are the dish. And yeah... Seeing as how he hated all the food in that hospital themed restaurant... I didn't think it was gonna last. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-10-2008, 02:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	If it's none of those then it is very likely the bak kut teh I mentioned above. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

01-10-2008, 04:30 PM	#11 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	I just found the episode on the Tivo. Wishlists FTW! I'll watch it later, but based on what you said, this seems like the dish. Hokkien mee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien_mee __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

01-10-2008, 05:10 PM	#14 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	"hospital themed restaurant" .. reminds me.. Clinic. I saw that in Singapore. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

01-11-2008, 07:41 AM	#15 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	Hokkien Mee or Prawn Mee is tasty... By the way, "mee" just means noodles in Malay. So fredweena's alter ego is mee... And Hokkien is just a part of China from where the dish originated. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

01-12-2008, 09:25 PM	#16 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	I just watched most of the episode, stopped at the bone soup marrow sucking part. Hokkien Prawn Mee is for sure the meal. I did get a kick out of the Hyatt shill. At least you know that if you eat there you shouldn't get sick... sometimes those hawker stalls seemed to be a bit unclean, that is those in the outskirts of town. And the Coffee in a bag.... ahh the memories of pepsi in a bag. I miss Singaporean food. Damn... really miss it. Some of the best and tastiest food that wasn't expensive. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

01-13-2008, 04:13 AM	#17 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	Kopi in a bag... Bak Kut Teh Teh tarik... Roti prata... Kaya toast... satay (the way it's supposed to taste)... Ah yes... the good life. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

03-24-2008, 01:38 AM	#18 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	So I finally saw this episode and got a little bit of insider information on the episode... Apparently the meal at Arum (the place with the wheelchairs) was kind of thrown together last minute. The ladies eating with him work for the Discovery Channel (they didn't have anyone else for him to hang out with). You can tell by the number of gin and tonics he consumed that he was not happy to be there (though he did say some nice things about the youthful ability to take risks and fail that the chef was displaying). On the whole, it was a fairly good show about my current home town. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke