[STAY HOME] OurPasar Essentials - Online Halal Grocer

Cheers and Happy New Year my readers! 

Although Singapore had transited to Phase 3 not long ago, a lot of us are still spending more time at home to avoid the crowds. Due to the pandemic, a lot of the business owners had adopted online services to cater for consumer like myself. Online shopping had been super convenient as it saved me the hassle of leaving the house, waiting in the queue and carrying back the heavy groceries from the supermarket or the wet market. 

 I was recently introduced to OurPasar, an online halal grocer that believes in providing fresh and quality products coupled with great service and price. A visit to their website and one will be able to find the following items available for purchase.

- Meat & Poultry: Premium/Fresh/Frozen Meat
- Seafood: Live/Fresh/Frozen Seafood
- Vegetable: Fresh/Frozen Vegetables and Fresh Fruit
- Pantry: Condiments, Sauces, Paste, Dried Goods, Canned Food, Drinks
- Ready To Cook
- Dairy & Eggs 

A 1 kg worth of Sirloin Steak was arranged for me on a Sunday. Unfortunately, my girl had her art class so nobody was at home to receive it. However, I was assured when the driver had informed me that he would leave the Sirloin Steak at the doorstep which was well packed and could last at least for about 6 hours so I was able to carry on my activity outside without worry. 

True enough, when we were back, we found a big styrofoam box containing the frozen steak packed in a clear bag, well submerged in ice. The steak was still kept frozen even after a few hours has passed. The 1 kg sirloin steak was already pre-cut to 5 pieces which makes it so much easier for cooking later on. Great job for the well packaging and smooth delivery! 

The packaging had a clear label on the production and expiry date. Our steak was packed one day before delivery and can be kept frozen for one year. OurPasar's aim to ensure sustained quality and freshness of the produce from farm to table was well met with satisfactory results. 

Now, it's time for Chef Ryden to show off his cooking skill. After thawing, he marinated the meat with Black Pepper and Garlic Salt. 

While waiting for the seasoning to set, he prepared the rest of the ingredients to go with the first slice of beef such as broccoli, mushroom with cheese and corn. Once the oven was preheated and the ingredients were all prepared, he put everything on a single tray and baked them together. 

For the second slice of beef, he decided to pan fry it with the "leftover" mushrooms, garlic and butter.

These were the final results! Looks fantastic and taste great too just that the cooking time could be shorter as he wanted it to get medium but got well done instead.

As part of their #mysirloinisbetterthanyours campaign, OurPasar is running a promotion for their sirloin meat whereby 1 kg of sirloin cost only $15/kg! When I told hubby the price he was just as surprised to find out. 

Beside that, they also have other promotions: 

  FREECHIX - free whole chicken with minimum spend of $65
FREEBSTEAK - free batang steak with minimum spend of $95
FREESALMON - free salmon with minimum spend of $180

Do note there is no minimum order but there will be a $10 islandwide delivery charge for orders below $60. Orders above $60 will get to enjoy free delivery! 

Simply create an account using my referral link https://www.ourpasar.com/?s=01534001 or key in 01534001 under sponsor code during registration to get a $2 cash voucher upon registration that you can use it immediately. So go ahead, create your online account with OurPasar and cart out now! 

OurPasar Online Links

Website: https://www.ourpasar.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourpasar/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourpasar/

P.S. Thanks OurPasar for the collaboration and thankful to hubby who did all the hard work by himself from preparation to cooking to plating and washing! He cook, I eat. Hehe.

XOXO

[STAY HOME] HomelyPot - Individual Hot Pot with 24-Hour Delivery on XINDOTS

I love having steamboat meals at home as it's a kind of comfort food where all I need to do is dump all the ingredients into one hotpot and wait for them to be cooked. Having steamboat is always an easier choice if one is not sure what dishes to cook at home. Now, with the launch of individual hotpot delivery to our home, it saves us a lot of time in preparation and having to go to the supermarkets to buy the ingredients and condiments! 

I first learnt about HomelyPot is when I saw some instagram postings of them and how it was emphasized that they not only deliver the steamboat ingredients, condiments but also an electric pot. That was quite interesting to me so when XINDOT launched their exclusive tasting voucher of $16 for $50 worth of food, I quickly bought it.

I must say HomelyPot really brings ordering hotpot to eat at home to another new level! Not only do they provide 24 hours islandwide delivery service (delivery fees applies), every purchase of an individual set meal also comes with a FREE electric pot including utensils and a full range of condiments (1 portion). There is 8 different kind of soup base and up to 80 choices of dishes to choose from. Now, we can easily satisfy our cravings for hotpot at any time of the day as we relax and chill while waiting for the delivery. 

We ordered the chicken set meal with tomato soup base and what makes us felt really heartwarming when we received our order was a sweet handwritten note in Chinese saying "No matter how busy you are, you still have to eat a proper meal. I am always caring for you". This is really what I believe in and has been telling others too when people skipped their meals. Portion wise, it may not be too big but we added on with our own kolo mee and was full by the end of the meal. An impromptu and satisfying meal at home. 

Here's 4 recipes for the different sauces recommended by HomelyPot

Spiced Hot Sauce

Sesame Oil 1/2

Chili Powder 1

Vinegar 1/2

Garlic 1

Chili Padi 1/2

Oyster Sauce 1/2

Spring Onion 1

Coriander 1

Crushed Peanut 1

Oyster Sesame Sauce

Oyster Sauce 1

Sesame Oil 1

Garlic 1/2

Coriander 1/2

Fragrant Sauce

Homelypot Spice 1

Sesame Oil 1/4

Crushed Peanut 1/2

Oyster Sauce 1

Spring Onion 1

Sesame Sauce

Homelypot Sesame Sauce 1

Chili Powder 1/2

Vinegar 1/4

Sesame Oil 1/4

Oyster Sauce 1/2

Coriander 1/2

Spring Onion 1/2

Fried Sesame 1/2

XINDOTS is a platform for foodies to post photos of their food and dining experience. This app is also useful when I eat at certain stalls in the CBD areas as I can use the app to make my order and wait for the app to prompt me when the food is ready, thus skipping the queue. Recently, they have lots of discounted vouchers available for purchase and that's also where I get to know new dining places. As good as free food! Use my code <YY7G70U> to get $3 OFF your first purchase on XINDOTS. https://m.xindots.com/home?inviteCode=YY7G70U

XOXO

[STAY HOME] My first IGTV on Traditional Matcha Preparation with Naoki Matcha + Happy Ice Ice-Cream + Kofuku Ramen & Don

 Whenever I dine-in at a Japanese restaurant, I would usually ordered their hot Matcha as my drink. Matcha is known to improve our health as it is high in antioxidant, helps to prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and even aids in weight loss according to some studies.

Recently, Naoki Matcha (@naokimatcha) delivered to me their Superior Ceremonial Blend Matcha Powder which is a versatile blend suitable for beginners to make lattes, matcha tea and etc. After doing some research, I realised that there is so much more knowledge in the traditional matcha preparation and it's not only just adding of hot water. To prepare Matcha in the traditional way, one would need the traditional Matcha Tools. I ordered them online from Lazada consisting of the Chashaku (Bamboo Scoop), Chawan (Matcha Bowl) and Chasen (Bamboo Whisk). 

Recorded a video of myself preparing the traditional matcha and uploaded it on Instagram as my first IGTV post as the video was longer than 60 seconds thus I had the option to trim it and post it on my feed as an IG post or post as IGTV. One issue I faced was the layout ratio. I make the video into the square ratio of 1:1 but when it was uploaded as IGTV, everything including my subtitle was cut off! I have to re-edit my video to fit into the IGTV proportion of 9:16 ratio. The whole process including recording of the video took me hours.  Click on this link to view my IGTV.

After whisking the matcha in circular motion to the hot water, it should turned frothy. The matcha from this blend has a balanced, unami flavour which is not too bitter. Would consider making a cold version of matcha latte soon. You can get this from Shopee at this link too.

Tried out lots of different flavours of ice-cream from Happy Ice SG thanks to a collaboration arranged by Irene (@foodwanderers) and Jonathan (@happyicesg). They are most famous for bringing in the range of popular Xiao Mei Boba series ice cream from Taiwan on Shopee. 

The most common one being the Xiao Mei Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream that is made of caramelised brown sugar and milk filled with soft and chewy boba! 

I'm loving the Xiao Mei Taro Chunk & Boba Ice Cream that comes with a smooth milky pudding on top and filled with QQ Boba and chunks of taro. So yummy! 

The Xiao Mei Pudding and Boba Ice Cream taste like custard with ice cream and boba.

My girl is excited to try their cute Arty Cream Ice Cream which comes in 3 different flavours and in the shape of a panda paw, kitty head and shape of heart. Love that we don't have to step out of the house and can get these cool ice-cream delivered to our doorsteps just by ordering from shopee. 

Kofuku Ramen & Don operates as a kiosk concept in Downtown East serving affordable and authentic Japanese Ramen, Donburi and some sides with no pork or lard! By affordable, it means that none of their items on the menu cost over $9! 

I tried out the following items on the menu 

TORI KATSU DON ~ S$6.80
KOFUKU RAMEN ~ S$5.80
TAKOYAKI ~ S$3.80
GOYOZA ~ S$3.80

My favourite is the Tori Katsu Don which is prepared in the style like an Oyako Don with seaweeds, onions, dashi-based sauce eggs and chicken katsu. There is a generous amount of chicken katsu in this bowl. It has a nice breaded crunch on the outside and tender meat inside. 

The Kofuku Ramen is packed in a way that the broth and ramen is separated so that the noodles do not turned soggy or the broth getting dried up. It's basically chicken paitan ramen with bean sprout, seaweed and a ramen egg.

Takoyaki are soft with a well spread of Takoyaki and Mayonnaise sauce and the Goyoza is nicely fried and taste just the way I love my goyoza to be. Just missing the vinegar sauce to dip in. Thanks Kenny (@_boyz86) and Kofuku (@sgkofuku) for arranging and delivery these over! 

Enjoying the current arrangement of alternating between going back to office and working from home which I guess won't last too long. Soon, it will be back to the usual daily grind. 

XOXO

[STAY HOME] Lunch with Dr.Oetker Pizza + Uncle Saba's Poppadoms + Hearty Spices Turmeric Latte Spice Mix

 On days when we don't feel like cooking or going out, having some ready-made pizza in the freezer comes into good use. We had the Mozzarella Cheese and Cherry Tomatoes pizza from Dr.Oetker for our stay home lunch on one of the Sundays. 

Just bought this Mistral 32L electric oven not long ago when it was on sale for less than $90 and this is the first time using it. If I had got it earlier during the circuit breaker period, I probably would have been a home baker now. Hehe. Just kidding. Bought it as I didn't want to be restricted when it comes to baking and hoping to try baking some cookies and pastries in future too. For this pizza, we simply heat it up in the oven for about 10 minutes and out comes a yummy and delicious meal for the family. 

What we liked about the pizza from Dr.Oetker is how thin and crispy the crust is, we can hear the crunchy sound with every bite. We also love having cheese and juicy tomatoes as our toppings for pizza. In fact, my girl even finished two slices all by herself. Gonna stock up on the other flavours to try out too. 

Sometimes back during the National Day period, I pre-ordered 3 cans of the limited edition chilli crab poppadoms from Uncle Saba. Unlike the usual potato chips that I'm so used to, poppadoms are actually plant based snacks made from lentils. It's a healthier snack to munch on as it's made with more protein, fibre, have less carbs, less saturated fats and is cholesterol free with no trans-fat and MSG! 

These ready-to-eat poppadoms are also Halal-certified and suitable for those on a vegan and gluten-free diet. I find that the chilli crab taste is not strong enough. Probably will try the Sweet Chilli flavour as recommended by my friend.   

I'm a spice lover and after learning about the many benefits of Hearty Spices Turmeric Latte Spice Mix, I just have to order it online to try it out. Hearty Spices Turmeric Latte Spice Mix is formulated with 7 different spices that helps us to enhance our digestion, improve immunity and regulates our blood sugar, just to name a few. The 7 spices includes Turmeric, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Fennel, Ginger, Black Pepper and Saffron.

I love how it comes in a simple zip-lock packaging and has all the necessary information such as the preparation method and benefits all stated on the packaging itself. Turning this into my favourite drink is easy too. Simply pour 240 ml of my favourite milk into the saucepan and add 0.5 teaspoon of the Turmeric Latte Mix to the heated milk. Stirred for another 2 to 3 minutes and this hot, golden milk will be ready to be served! 

Much to my surprise, the taste of the spice was so mild and not overpowering at all, I can still enjoy my milk and knowing that it now comes with so much added goodness to it. My girl also tried adding some of the turmeric latte spice mix to her cold milk and although it doesn't mix in as well, she could still drink it easily. Both mummy and daughter's favourite drink now.

XOXO