Thye Moh Chan Cake House - A Piece of Singapore History About to be Lost Forever With Video

Traditional chinese pastry shops are rare these days, and as time passes, they will get even less, which is a very sad reality.

Last week, I was proud to present Tong Heng here, and it is heartwarming to see that its present generation of owners continuing to preserve its legacy.

Today, however, I am blogging about a different view of another traditional bakery.

Thye Moh Chan has been in operation for 70 years, which in itself, is no simple feat. And till today, they continue to sell very traditional tau sa pia and peanut brittle.

Being very much a Teochew heritage, these sumptuous pastries will be sorely missed. Shops like these are being rapidly replaced by the likes of BreadTalk at every corner. Commercialism and marketing seems to be the victor against good old fashioned tradition and effort.

Black Sesame Cake

This very classic and hard to find black sesame cake was once called the poor man's mooncake. Now we think of mooncakes as baked beauties or delicate snowskin creations from hotel chefs.

This simple but tasty cake holds it own charm and seeing the folks making this by hand, one can really taste the great tradition behind this classic dessert.

Traditional Mooncakes

They also carry the much more familiar mooncakes you find in most of Singapore, and yet they also retain a certain rustic appeal about them. Again, seeing the people in the shop working this one by one by hand with a certain Swiss precision was certainly very eye-opening for me.

Baking the tau sa pia

Walking through the entire shop, and seeing the behind the scenes, gave me an atmosphere that I was back in pre-war time Singapore. Where everything was done manually, using traditional methods and ovens and beating out the pastries by hand.

65 year old owner, Koh Hong Chua

So, why is it that this post sounds so melancholic, almost somber like. Well, it is because the 65 year old owner, Koh Hong Chua, will retire after next week and will end the business for good.

Although he has been in this business for the longest time, and being the third generation in his family to carry on the legacy, the legacy will, sadly, have to end.

He has mentioned to me that his children are pursuing other career interests and hence, he wants to retire and enjoy the good life. Which is more than deserved, and judging by the number of loyal customers he has during my visit there, it will be very missed.

I hope whoever reads this will take the effort to go to this quaint little shop and check it out before it closes. This is a little piece of Singapore history that is about to be lost. Forever.

Thye Moh Chan Cake House
53 Geylang Lorong 27



Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.

Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 in Geylang Lorong 27.

No black sesame cake was harmed in the shooting of this video.

"天山行" written by Goh SY and performed by Ian Low and Goh SY.

Chan Wai, Food Writer Extraordinaire With Video

If you have been noticing on my last couple of posts, there has been a constant mention of this wonderful gentleman by the name of Chan Wai, who just so happens to be one of Hong Kong's best food critics.

Chan Chun Wai, (Chan Wai for short), is a freelance food and travel writer and goes all over the globe to find the best in cuisine and food. He is basically Asia's Anthony Bourdain.

Armed with an immaculate palette, and an affable charm and personality, he was simply a joy to be with during our culinary adventures throughout the island over the last week or so. He was on assignment for the popular magazine, Eat and Travel Weekly.

Never wavering from any interesting food, he is a true culinary gladiator. And he has such a keen eye for everything that passes him by, so much so that even us locals miss the details that he was able to pick up on.

Chan Wai and Chef Winnie

The classic notions that food critics are stuffy and highly strung are thrown out of the window where Chan Wai is concerned. He is always ready to disarm even the sternest of hawker stall owners with his easy going manners, and his highly inquisitive nature on all things culinary.

On one such occasion during an impromptu pandan cake making session, he displayed all the abilities and charm of a seasoned TV host as he joked and cooked his way through with our local Chef Winnie. Thankfully, I was there to capture it all on video and it is attached below.

On other occasions, during our visit to Rich and Good Cake Shop, he created such a light and enlightening atmosphere that had the entire staff enamored and posing for him for pictures. Such is his ability with folks from all walks of life.

Chan Wai and Lily

It is his knowledge of food from all over the world that is easily impressive and something that I was thankful to learn from during this week. His generosity in sharing his travels and eating experiences was a treasure in itself and I heartily thank him for letting me in on these.

Ultimately, it has been my extreme privilege to make his acquaintance and to follow him on his food adventures in the land of Singa and making this wonderful friend and fellow food warrior. I am left with many great food memories on video that was so preciously captured.

Oh, and lest I forgot, I also want to applaud him for his courage to taste all things durian despite his obvious adverseness to the fruit and in the process, taking to it ever so slightly and slowly.

And in case I also forget, Rex Chapman, his talented photographer, is also a very friendly and funny sidekick. I am equally privileged to make this other fellow food friend. Both are very humble and simply nice folks.

With that said, I hope to meet up again with Chan Wai and Rex the next time they touch down here to begin a sequel of more food adventures. I leave you with the video of Chan Wai and Chef Winnie making a fabulous pandan cake!



Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.

Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 in Pan Pacific Hotel.

No pandan cakel was harmed in the shooting of this video.

"Chendol Jonker Mix" written and performed by Ian Low.

The Master Of Chinese Tea - Pek Sin Choon With Video

Chinese tea is akin to wine when it comes to cuisine and food pairing. And for those who enjoy a delicious bowl of bak kut teh, chinese tea is a must to go along with.

I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert on this subject, and will not even attempt to explain the various teas from Jasmine to Dragonwell.

What I would like to mention in this post, is our own master of this classic Chinese beverage, and he is none other than Mr. Kenry Peh, from Pek Sin Choon.

For those who frequent bak kut teh outlets, you will have no doubt have tasted the teas from this tea house. I have, and have noticed their simple but effective packaging over the years.

My dad would always make the tea from the little paper wrapped packets of tea leaves during our Sunday breakfasts years ago when we had our bak kut teh at Rochor market.

The fragrance and lightness of this beverage would always diffuse the oil from the pork ribs and pork knuckles, and elicit a wonderful and refreshing aftertaste.

Mr. Peh making a fresh pot of fragrant tea

Kenry's forefathers built this tea business and has been around since the mid 1920s, and he is carrying on the family business in the best way possible. Supplying to almost every bak kut teh owner in Singapore, he has since expanded his tea tradition to the best hotels here as well.

Recently, Kenry worked with Man Fu Yuan from InterContinental Hotel to supply a very unique brew of what is known as the Five Elemental Tea as an exclusive to the reputable Chinese restaurant.

This was done in conjunction with the total makeover and renovation of this much elegant restaurant, and it goes to show how important Chinese tea and Kenry's contribution is to Chinese cuisine at the highest level.

Kenry's Tea Culture on Display at Man Fu Yuan

Despite his successes, what struck me most about Kenry is his unassuming and very down to earth nature. He embodies the spirit of the greatest of Chinese businessmen. that of humility.

Every Wednesday morning, Kenry hosts a breakfast at a notable bak kut teh place in Sin Ming, where his friends and associates gather to enjoy a breakfast of great food and wonderful tea.

This is done to keep the spirit of camaraderie alive and kicking, and more importantly, to cultivate an understanding of what is truly great about all things Chinese, culturally and otherwise.

As National Day arrives, we should not only celebrate this nation's birthday and independence, but we should remind everyone that national pride is also about preserving our Chinese heritage.

And Kenry Peh is a living example of a great tradition that needs to be preserved for future generations to come.



Written, filmed, edited and directed by SilverTunes Productions.

Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 in Man Fu Yuan.

No dragonwell tea was harmed in the shooting of this video.

"Jasmine" written and performed by Ian Low.

The End Of Char Kway Teow

I recently had the opportunity to obtain a copy of Leslie Tay's new book, The End of Char Kway Teow and had him personally autographed it.

This is a very fascinating read as many of you would know, the book is an encapsulation of his popular blog, ieatishootipost.

Indeed, the distillation of his massive catalogue of hawker reviews into a coffee table book makes perfect sense, considering that there has never been such an extensive document of our hawker heritage. Until now.

Whilst Leslie writes with substance, and not with a flourishing style, it is also perfectly adequate for such a book that serves better as a hawker encyclopedia more than anything else.

Leslie has cleverly broken up each chapter of this book to focus on each of our hawker favourites. Thus, he explains in various chapters like bak kut teh and chicken rice, how some of these foods came about and some unique features and additional anecdotes associated with them.

At the end of each chapter, he will list his own favourite stalls of each of these hawker favourites, accompanied with his ratings culled from his blog as well as a short summary.

If anything, The End of Char Kway Teow will come in handy as a reference guide to all things hawker wise. You may argue on some of his selections, but with such a huge amount of information to cull from, his choices will always be subjective.

Still, there are enough recommendations and coverage for anyone to comb through and begin a food adventure on the local hawker scene. And it is more than likely you will uncover some new favourites and enjoy in the discovery of new and delicious hawker fare.

As a fellow food blogger, I think it is a great achievement to be able to publish a book out of a blog that has been driven simply out of passion and personal enjoyment. I am sure this book serves as a culmination of his achievement as a food blogger, but let's hope there is still much more to come.

The end of char kway teow perhaps, but the beginning of a renowned food writer?

Of Apple, Iphone 4, Food Blog and Video Blogging

It has been awhile since I took a bit of time away from reviewing and cooking food, and I thought this might be an opportune time to reflect on a few things.

First, I wanted to write about how I have been doing my food blogs and taking the videos and photos that you see here, and it might surprise a few of you.

Why you may ask? Well, simply because when I first started with Pauline on taking food shots all around town, we were using her Sony Cybershot compact digital camera of a few years.

Granted, it was really quite satisfactory then, and it is still a decent camera for taking photos on the run, and we are always first to admit we are not professionals when it comes to food photography, or any photography for that matter.

Yet, as time passed, we realised that using a Sony camera was quite tedious as there was a huge amount of transfers to be done, and then there was the constant need to recrop, resize and renaming the photos before they could be used for this blog.

Then in September, we both got our Iphone 4s, and things changed quickly from there on. I have always been a Mac fanboy and I was keen to see how far we could use Iphone 4 for all our shots, and we were surprised to find out that it basically could do everything the Sony camera could, and then some.

To write my posts, I use a Mac Mini at home and a MacBook Pro when I am in my office or on the go. So, you could imagine using an Iphone certainly alleviated a number of my frustrations when it came to transferring and resizing etc.

But, the biggest benefit we have had from the Iphone 4 was actually not photo related, but doing videos. Since early November, this blog has started to do a number of videos, starting with our Malacca trip, one video recipe and a lot of videos on the places that we have been to.

I definitely could not have imagined using a mobile phone to do a video blog just a few years ago, but now not am I shooting all my video on my Iphone, I am actually editing them on it as well! And all in 720p High Definition to boot.

The speed and efficiency in which the Iphone 4 has afforded me has been really incredible. Very often, I would easily finish shooting and editing an entire video right there on the spot where I just consumed my meal. To coin a very well known food blog, I am kinda ieatishootieditiupload now!

And on this topic of video blogging, I have found that doing videos of the places I have reviewed has indeed enhanced this blog manyfold. The actual realisation of the food and its surroundings is just something that cannot be expressed in just words and static pictures.

And through this video learning curve, I have now placed all my videos on YouTube for those who are interested to view them. And more importantly, I have also realised that for Singapore food, there is very little video or film done on a major scale that can be found on YouTube.

I have tasked myself to actually create a video library of the many wonderful Singapore eating outlets and restaurants. This has become like a pet project of mine now, as I have discovered that creating a 2 minute video of a hawker eatery can certainly say a lot about the food and place.

So, here I am, at the end of 2010, discovering a new and wonderful medium for my creative outlet. This whole business of food blogging, I have realised, requires a number of skill sets, not least, writing, cooking, tasting and now, filming.

Well, I certainly am not complaining about the number of chores required to keep this blog vibrant and interesting, and I certainly hope all these new additions will keep you readers coming back for more as well.

This is the Silver Chef, dangerously armed with an Apple Iphone 4!

Sweet One

Tonight I thought for once, I will do something a bit different, and actually not blog about food for a change.

Instead, I want to write about my trusted sidekick in this little adventure of mine, my sweet one.

The great photos that you see on this site, and many have salivated over the delicious looking food shown here, are mostly her diligent effort.

Pauline, aka bowlingball, has an eye for good photography and has through the development of this blog, developed a passion for shooting yummy food.

So today, instead of talking about food reviews and recipes, I would just like to tell you a bit of her and how we came to be together. You see, she was once my former lecturer, and yes, I was her student!

Her shot of the vogole she had

But of course, we were only officially together after I had graduated, seeing how we had to be politically correct and all. And if you are wondering about the title of this post, it actually refers to the song title of a little composition I wrote for her to win her heart then.

Recently, she dusted off a very old CD to remind me of this song and that had kind of rekindled my fond memories of our courtship days. And so, today I had deliberately shot a video of her, for her with that same title in mind.

This little video is a snippet of her favorite pastimes, which are namely, shopping and food blogging. It is also set to her favorite band and I hope you will enjoy this little tribute to her.

Thanks darling for the great photos! Keep walking and looking pretty :)

Click here for the YouTube link.
Click here to download the HD version.

Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.
Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4.
No Kate Spade bags were harmed during the shooting of this video.
"Side" performed by Travis.

Appreciation is in Order - My 40th post

It's amazing what started out as a simple exercise to document my recipes, has turned out to be something much more.

What has transformed from a personal library, has somehow taken a life of its own.

This marks my 40th post, in this food blog that just started a little less than 2 months back in mid August.

I just wanted to use this moment, not just to mark a minor milestone, but also to take this opportunity to send out a round of appreciation.

Firstly, a big round of thanks to those who have come and visited this blog, and I hope those who are looking for recipes would have found something useful and handy for your own cooking needs and enjoyment.

Cooking has always been a joy to me, and I hope you have found some joy in the creations I came up with. I know from some of your emails, that some of you have endeavored to try cooking for the first or first few times. Some with great results, and some with relative good ones too.

I hope you folks will keep trying and enjoying cooking as much as I enjoy putting up more new dishes for everyone to try. In the upcoming posts, I will attempt to fuse more local flavors with more classic established recipes to hopefully give you something new and exciting.

For those who come to read my reviews, I hope you have found my posts useful, be it new places you never came across, or wanting to see my comments on places that you may have already been to.

Good food is abundant in Singapore, and for those readers outside Singapore, I hope you will be intrigued enough to find more about Singaporean food and eateries as I bring more review in the coming weeks. And also on Asian cuisine in general.

I cannot forget my Pauline, who has been a trooper. She has steadfastly followed me through most of my adventures, and the pictures that you see here are almost all her good work.

She loves to take pictures, and I am glad that this has been an equally fantastic outlet for her to show her skills and passion in this area. And for those pictures in this blog that look less than adequate, well, those are down to yours truly :)

Lastly, for those who have followed me and endeared with me on my food reviews and sessions, I know you guys have been super patient while Pauline and I attempt to take the best pics possible - a big Thank You to you all as well.

So, I am glad to report, that there seems to be a healthy stream of visitors daily, and I know that there are a number of you who return regularly. I am extremely appreciative of every visit and and every visitor and every comment that you leave.

This food blog has already far exceeded my expectations and I am still wondering how much more this can lead and go to. I invite everyone who has been on this ride to continue on this adventure with me!

This is the Silver Chef, feeling extremely fortunate and appreciative.

From My Laptop to the Kitchen - Project Food Blog Official Entry

For the past couple of days, I been perplexing on what to put up for the entry for the competition. The entry is to touch on what defines a food blogger and what I think will make the next star of food blogging.

Myself, I am just literally weeks into food blogging, so I do not consider myself a foremost authority on food blogging.

But I do love cooking and eating, and find that it is one of those rare activities where one can both partake in the enjoyment and appreciation of food, and at the same time, anyone can cook and create good food.

Having come from a corporate culture (and in a technology field no less), cooking and the technology business are worlds apart. Or is it?

Being a food blogger now, I feel what defines me is what I was before I came to the blogging world. All 30 years of me, in fact. Throughout my life, I have always wanted to be involved in the creative arts. But, for some reason, the creative path eluded me, till now.

Admittedly, being in a respectable position in a rather large enterprise has its perks, and positives. But there was always that yearning within me to pursue something more creative, something that I can leave an impression on people, and not worry about managing systems, servers and backup drives etc.

This has led me to food and culinary pursuits. It is here that I can now, in my early 40s, find an avenue for my creative expressions. Not just in the creation of recipes and food, but also to partake in reviewing and appreciating great food alike.

And food blogging for me, also marries my ability and love for writing, an activity which I believe I can do relatively well, and has always wanted to do more of. And talking about food, writing about food is the perfect way to expand my writing skills and capabilities.

My anchor in life

But above all this, it is also my dear and lovely wife of 11 years that this passion of food and this entire blog is devoted to. For what truly defines me as a person, as an amateur chef, as a food writer/blogger, as a husband is really down to the one true anchor in my life, Pauline.

So, does that make me the next food blog star? I doubt it, but there is nothing I rather do today, than to share my passion with food with than the entire food blogging community, especially the folks at Foodbuzz.

In a short amount of time, I have gotten to know a number of friends from Foodbuzz and have enjoyed reading countless blogs from all over the world. Star or not, I think what is important in a food blog, is to understand not just the food being blogged, but the blogger's own personality and passion for food.

Ultimately, this is what I hope to achieve with The Silver Chef blog, which is through the writing of food, that the readers out there get to know the person behind the apron. Whether this means I can be the next star or not, is only secondary.

This is the Silver Chef, cooking from the heart with passion ... and writing for anyone who has an interest for food.

Dining Out in the Lion City

Singapore Food Court

Again, I thought I'd take a break from the usual food stuff by just reflecting on some food thoughts, this time on dining out in Singapore.

Eating in Singapore is not so much different from other countries and cities, and yes, we have a multi-cultural food repertoire, and yes, we have a very cosmopolitan food scene that's most vibrant and happening.

And certainly, we have local dishes that has a unique place on the global food map. Talk about Chili crabs and chicken rice and even foreigners have no problem understanding, and very likely have tasted those dishes before.

But for locals that have lived here all of their lives, the typical meal in a day is often a hurried and bustling one, one where lunch hour is mostly consisting of taking 30 mins to buy, consume and off to the nearest coffee bar for the daily office gossip. Food, thus becomes, more a chore than a leisure activity.

Dinners are not that much different, as most working couples would 'tabao' (Chinese for takeaways) food for the nearby food courts or hawker centers. Not that it is necessarily negative or even bad, but often one would not really think of dinner or dining out as something more than filling one's stomachs on a weekday.

As for weekends, Singaporeans are often hampered by time and spending that time with family members that dinners on Sun and Sat are often cramped around local zhi char (fried food) restaurants or outlets, drowning down local fare of cereal prawns, fish head bee hoon and chilli crabs etc.

That leaves mostly the Gen Y crowd to really savor the gastronomical adventures of the latest and more happening food outlets in town and outside of town. Perhaps that explains why one local food expert told me recently that the easiest food to succeed is dim sum. Chances are if you are thinking of being the local Gordon Ramsay, you better look elsewhere.

But lest one gets despondent over trying something exciting and innovative, there are always bold and adventurous folks like Willin Low and his Wild Rocket and other interesting restaurants to provide some inspiration. And whilst I haven't been to WR, I would certainly make the trip in the very near future to give it a spin and hopefully, inspire my own culinary explorations in time to come.

This is the Silver Chef ... eating out tonight!

Anyone can cook ...

Anyone can and should learn to cook

Anyone can cook ... but not everyone should!

This line was most recently quoted from the Pixar film Ratatouille, which of course, combined my love for films and food in a most imaginative and fully appetizing way. I am taking a deviant from the usual food and recipe blogs to just muse on a few things.

After all, I have intended this to be a journey and adventure for myself through the culinary zone, and in the midst of all this cooking and creating, I think it's also good to reflect on what food can mean to us at different times and at different places.

We all eat to live, that's been said many times, and food is essential to all of us. Most of us take food to be a daily routine, be it the bread and egg of Yan Kun during breakfast, to the fine dining gastronomy of Iggy's and the Imperials of this island. Throughout our lives, our palettes have also evolved and matured (well, most of us :) ), and yet, food is as subjective as any art form out there, sometimes even more so.

My interest in food came from a young age from my dad, who loves to cook as well (strange how in my family, how the hubbys are better cooks) and would love to create different dishes on the weekends all by himself. He would chop, prepare, cook and even wash. This I am still in awe after all these years.

It's amazing that after so many years, food can never cease to amaze us, or challenge us in different directions and cuisines etc. Yet, fundamentally, very few of us actually will pick up an apron and go to the kitchen, thinking it is something as alien or as foreign as anything out there. Even I used to be intimidated by it just as much.

Yet, like all art, not everyone of us is born to be creative and talented. Yet food, unlike fine art, is not necessarily in the domain of only the talented, but even the most pedestrian of amateur cooks can cook something simple yet delicious. We tend to overthink at times, be it at work, love, or life. And it is this same mindset that I think that permeates a lot of people who love food but is hesitant to step into a chef's shoes.

So yeah, anyone can cook ... and everyone who loves food should at least attempt to learn to cook I think. Why? Because it will give you an even greater appreciation of the food on your plate the next time you enjoy a dish. And the understanding of how that dish was created from raw ingredients and condiments will only enhance the flavors even more.

This is the Silver Chef ... musing on food.