(CLOSED) Singapore Food Festival at Howdy Hello Hola Hey Ho (H5)

September 12th, 2014. I came to Howdy Hello Hola Hey Ho for attending their event. Singapore Food Festival. I came with a bunch of fellow foodies. We were ready for having so much fun. Yaaaay..

Howdy Hello Hola Hey Ho (H5) is known for its specialisation in Southeast Asian street food. Therefore, with the aim to delight the tastebuds of the customer with Sngapore food, H5 is glad to announce its event, Singapore Food Festival that will be held between 11 September 2014 and 12 October 2014. The festival is aiming to bring the best-known dishes from Singapore such as Chili Crab, Popiah, Bak Kut Teh, Laksa and many delicious more, which will be served in a whole month. The festival is organised by OPCO Indoensia with full support by 3 well-known brands from Singapore. Yi Kou Wei, Ming Fa Fishball and Hai's. All the brand owners will make their presence at H5 to ensure the authentication of the food. During the festival, customers can sample all these delights and may choose their favourite dishes to remain permanently on H5 menu. Singapore Food Festival, a full mouth-watering month that invites all food lover to come and experience the real flavour of the Lion City.

Yi Kou Wei "Heritage Taste"

Established in 1983, Yi Kou Wei is known for their local famous freshly made Springroll "Popiah" in their early years when they were located in Uppercross Street. As the years passed, they slowly built their reputation in selling their unique traditional cakes.

Popiah 25k

A Hokkien snack wrapped with paper thin wheat flour skin and assortment of vegetables.

It's a starter with a spring roll form. Fresh vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, radishes and chopped mixed nuts, rolled in a thin sheet popiah skin. Cut into 5 pieces, then swallow it piece by piece :) It looked like spring roll, it tasted like spring roll. What an easy snack to start your meal.

Popiah (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pȯh-piáⁿ) is a Fujian/Chaozhou-style fresh spring roll common in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Popiah is often eaten in the Fujian province of China (usually in Xiamen) and its neighbouring Chaoshan on the Qingming Festival. In the Teochew (Chaozhou) dialect, popiah is pronounced as "Bo-BEE-a"(薄餅仔), which means "thin wafer". In variants of the Hokkien dialect, it is also commonly referred to as "lun-BEE-a"(潤餅仔), which probably explains why the spring rolls are referred to as "lumpia" in Indonesia and the Philippines. It is sometimes referred to as runbing (潤餅) or baobing (薄饼) in Mandarin, and also as bópíjuǎn (薄皮卷). "Popiah" entered the English language from Malay by 1986.

Pineapple Tarts 135k

Rich, buttery, tender and melt-in-the-mouth bite-size pastries filled with caramelized pineapple jam.

Favourite!! I couldn't stop munching this pineapple tarts. It's so buttery and fragrant. The pineapple jam was sweet and I love the texture. A little bit dense. Overall, this was one of the best pineapple tarts, trust me. And I believe I was not the only who liked it. I think everybody liked it. I had to scramble with the others *sigh*

Pineapple tarts refers to small, bite-size pastries filled with or topped with pineapple jam found in different parts of Asia. In South East Asia exists one form of Pineapple tart. A different form of pineapple tart, also known as Pineapple pastry or Pineapple cake is found in Taiwan. The pastry consists of a large proportion of butter and egg yolk, besides using corn starch, giving it a rich, buttery, tender and melt-in-the-mouth texture. The pineapple jam is usually made by slowly reducing and caramelizing grated fresh pineapple that has been mixed with sugar and spices - usually cinnamon, star anise and cloves.

The Taiwanese version of Pineapple Tart is known as Fènglísū (鳳梨酥). The filling is fully enclosed within a rectangular tart. Generally the taste is sweet due to sugar added. However, some bakers add or even substitute pineapple with winter melon to make the jam less tart as well giving a less fibrous texture to the filling.

Hai's "House of Authentic Innovative Sauces"

Innovated by a woman and mother of culinary passion, her creation and skills are passed down to what has become famously known today as HAI's. Now, the family owned a company established in 1984, the authentic flavours of various popular cuisines are sealed in packets of pastes for anyone to enjoy.

Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice 58k

Singapore Style Poached Chicken served with Fragrant Rice and Chili.

This Hainanese Chicken Rice should be good. Unfortunately, the rice has too much water. So it became mushy. Actually, it tasted delicious, but the mushy texture was a little bit ruined my appetite, sorry to say. I told them about the mushy rice, and they said, it's because too much water. But, the chicken was delicious and juicy.

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from the Hainan province in southern China. It is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore. Hainanese chicken rice most commonly associated with Malaysian, Hainanese and Singaporean cuisines, although it is also popular in Thailand and Vietnam. It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), due to its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia). Catherine Ling of CNN describes Hainanese chicken rice as one of the "40 Singapore foods we can't live without". It also listed at number 45 on World's 50 most delicious foods complied byCNN Go in 2011. In Malaysia, Chicken rice is available in many Chinese coffee shops or restaurants or street hawker stalls, but also chain restaurants such as The Chicken Rice Shop and OldTown White Coffee.

Ming Fa Fishball "Old Brand, Great Taste"

Back to 1946, Ming Fa Fishball started their business on a pushcart along the street of Chinatown. The fish balls were made from 100% fish meat and sold on the spot. Building upon the popularity of their handmade fish balls and emphasising on the quality of the fish, they expand the food menu and establish more food stalls and since then more local delights such as minced pork noodles, laksa, etc were added to the menu.

Fishball Noodle 58k

Handmade Fish Balls served with Mee Pok Noodles.

This was quite unique, because the sauce and the soup served separately from the noodles. Maybe they let us adjust our own taste. Actually, I love this noodle dish. They cooked the mee pok in a perfect texture. Not too soggy, not too undercooked. Just perfect. The fish ball was my favourite in the dish. It was elastic, bouncy and had a fluffy texture. So good..

Mee pok is a noodle dish with Chinese noodle characterized by its flat and yellow appearance, varying in thickness and width. The dish is of Teocheworigin and is commonly served in a number of countries such as Chaoshan (China), Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Mee Pok is commonly served tossed in a sauce (often referred to as "dry", or tah in Hokkien (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ta)), though sometimes served in a soup (where it is referred to as "soup", orterng). Meat and vegetables are added on top.

Bak Chor Mee 68k

Minced Pork Noodles served with Beef Meatballs.

This is similar with the fish ball noodle, but different in meat. This dish used minced pork with beef meatballs. And there's liver too. I think it's pork liver hahaha.. cool. They served the noodles just the same with fish ball noodle. The sauce and the soup served separately. But, I prefer this noodles, because it's pork. Yup, pork is everything.. *hugging Babe* hihihi

Laksa 68k

A Singapore Style curry rice vermicelli dish served with Tau Pok and cockles.

I knew Laksa from my childhood. My daddy loved it. I remember he usually bought it for himself, then I sat next to him and ate a small portion. This Laksa was really reminded me of him. Ok, enough with the good memory. Let's talk about the laksa. The rich gravy enhanced with coconut milk, making it a well-balanced creamy delight. It tasted very delightful. Trust me. :) The noodle, the shrimp, the tau pok and the cockles were appetizing as well.

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan cuisine, which is a combination of Chinese and Malay cuisine. Laksa is a popular spicynoodle soup from the Peranakan culture, and can also be found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. CNN Travel ranked Penang Assam Laksa 7th out of the 50 most delicious food in the world.

Taupok /tow-pok, ˈtaʊpɒk̚/ n. [Hk. 薄 pok thin; Mand. báo] Also tau pok.  A variety of fried beancurd which is flattish and square with a brown, wrinkled skin and soft, spongy interior. 

A cockle is a small, edible, saltwater clam, a mollusc in the family Cardiidae. Various species of cockles live in sandy, sheltered beaches throughout the world.

H5 Specials

MAIN DISHES

Blackpepper Crab 188k

Perfect Combination of Black Pepper and butter that makes the hot and peppery crab the number 2 most ordered crab dish in Singapore.

Actually, the popular crab dish in Singapore is Chilli Crab. But, I never tried Blackpepper Crab before, so it's quite new for me hihihi.. The meat was good, but I didn't like the blackpepper. Too much for me. So I just ate a small bite of it. I liked crab, but not the spicy one. I will eat the crab with crazy appetite. Trust me, if the crab can talk, it will say, "I surrender!!!" hahaha..

Black pepper crab is one of the two most popular ways that crab is served in Singapore. It is made with hard-shell crabs, and fried with black pepper. Unlike the other popular chilli crab dish, it is less heavy due to the absence of a sauce. The black pepper crab is liked by many locals and foreign tourists over the chilli crab because of its drier and fragrant pepperish nature. It is becoming very popular to mix the pepper crab with a fresh jackfruitsauce. It is however not in the list of Singapore's National Dishes.

Hokkien Prawn Mee 80k

This Fried version of Singapore's top-selling Prawn noodles will make you ask for more.

This was unique because served on a leaf. The noodle was cooked perfectly with the right texture. The prawns were fresh, juicy and well-seasoned. This one is worth to try :) Recommended!

Hokkien mee is a dish in Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine that has its origins in the cuisine of China's Fujian (Hokkien) province. In its most common form, the dish consists of egg noodles and rice noodles stir-fried with egg, slices of pork, prawns and squid, and served and garnished with vegetables, small pieces of lard, sambal sauce and lime (for adding the lime juice to the dish). Hokkien hae mee (Hokkien prawn noodles) is commonly served in Penang and Singapore while Hokkien char mee (Hokkien fried noodles) is commonly served in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. The dish commonly referred to as "Hokkien mee", depending on the locality, can mean either Hokkien hae mee or Hokkien char mee.

Char Kway Teow 58k

A combination of sweet and savoury wok-fried Rice Noodles dish served with Chinese Sausages, Cockles and Fish Cakes.

This one was my favourite too. The shortcoming from the dish was too oily. But, overall, this char kway teow was appetizing. I love the fish cakes. So delicious. Well, from my picture, maybe you won't find it pretty, but trust me, it's so tasty. The rice noodles were splendid. It's a very recommended dish here. You should try!!

Char kway teow, literally "stir-fried ricecake strips", is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia. The dish is considered a national favourite in Malaysia and Singapore. It is made from flat rice noodles (河粉 hé fěn in Chinese) of approximately 1 cm or (in the north of Malaysia) about 0.5 cm in width, stir-fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chilli, a small quantity of belachan, whole prawns, deshelled cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. The dish is commonly stir-fried with egg, slices of Chinese sausage and fishcake, and less commonly with other ingredients. Char kway teowis traditionally stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

BEVERAGES

Cocktail

Cucumber Gimlet 110k

A delicate and comforting drink on your warm days made from freshly muddled cucumber, ice cold gin and rosemary.

I love cocktail. So, when they said, they would serve us cocktail, I was like, "Gorgeous!!" The cucumber gimlet was very fresh, though I think they used too much cucumber. The cucumber overpowered the gin and rosemary. I prefer they balanced the taste. But, overall,  it's good.

The gimlet is a cocktail made of gin or vodka and lime juice. A 1928 description of the drink was: "gin, a spot of lime, and soda." The description in the 1953 Raymond Chandler novel The Long Goodbye stated that "a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else".

Mocktail

Ong Lai Punch 42k

Tempt your tastebud with this seriously fresh Pineapple punch with hints of honey and ginger ale.

Ong Lai is pineapple in hokkien language. So it's literally pineapple punch. This pineapple-flavoured punch was cool and refreshing. Hints of honey and ginger ale made the punch more passionate. I'm proud of myself. I was the one who finish the punch. Yaaaay.

Lemongrass Elixir 38k

The greatness from lemongrass served with aloe vera chunks, perfect companion for spicy food.

This was everybody's favourite. Too bad, I think I didn't taste the aloe vera chunks, or was it too smooth? Hahaha.. But, the lemon and lemongrass were the stars in this mocktail. It was a thirst-quenching drink. So, when you feel hot, try this one. Sensational! No wonder they called it elixir. It's truly a magical potion LOL.

Thanks H5 for the great food and lovely event. I had a fun night. Let's do this again some time. :)

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