Chicken rice tops chili crab as an informal national dish of Singapore, and locals have strong and differing opinions about whose is best (FD said he’s heard it rivals the “Best Mission Burrito” religious wars). Generally, it’s rice cooked in chicken fat and broth, giving a rich, meaty flavor on its own, topped with cooked chicken (typically bone-in dark meat with skin), along with some ginger and chili paste. Simple in concept, and yet so delicious! ...

Asking a local where in Singapore to get a drink led us to Level 33, a brewpub on the 33rd floor of an office building, and by far my favorite place to have a drink all trip, even if it was expensive ($13-$17 Singapore dollars for a pint, or about $8-$12 US). Highly recommended. Just check out this view… (click through for a larger panorama) The brewing vessels, also on the 33rd floor: ...

I was briefly in China (in and near Shanghai), and tried to eat a little bit of everything… but nothing really stood out. Partly, I like the Shanghai style of food less (a lot of sweet sauces and heavy, oily food). Mostly, I think I just wasn’t eating at the right places, and was eating some meals at or near hotels and didn’t have much time to explore. Oh well, I’ll have to go back with some actual restaurant research. ...

Fish at the informal yet favorite sushi place* was in top form! The hamachi, albacore, and fresh scallop in particular. Sashimi plate (and the embarrassment of using one of those “retro camera filter” programs): Hamachi kama: Not shown: asparagus-shiitake stirfry, tsunomono (paper-thin cucumber slices, sliced octopus, vinegar, spicy sprouts), and one concession to rolls: crunchy fried salmon skin. \* I’ve vowed not to publish its name, because it doesn’t need any more customers (you have to get there 45+ minutes before it opens to get a seat, or tonight: 80 minutes)… but if you know me, I’m happy to take you there in person some time… ...

I’ve had a few decent meals out and at home recently, but the Hungarian-inspired brunch at Bar Tartine was really excellent. The Smørrebrød (smorgasbords?) on hearty rye bread were a great start, especially one with roe, avocado, and citrus. Also quite good was a blood sausage with sauerkraut, mushrooms (hen-of-the-woods?), apple, and a really great spicy broth (w/ bread to sop it up). We also got the escabeche pickles (spicy pickled hot peppers, carrots, and probably other vegetables), and the buckwheat spätzle with soft egg – both good. ...

My first time back to The Trappist (which just got an SFgate writeup) in a year. Two highlights I hadn’t had before: Petrus Oud Bruin – tart, slightly sour, but mellow after the first few seconds (oak-aged) Mikkeller Sur Monk -- a blend of a belgian quad and a sour beer… and it works. A big difference between the smell (strongly tart) and taste (rich, strong, slightly sweet, slightly tart). And labeled as 9.99% ABV – how cute.

Hat tip to SD, who shared this link. So just for the heck of it, I cooked a strip of bacon (mostly, not until crispy), used some of the bacon fat to grease a ramekin, cracked a raw egg into the “bacon cylinder”, added a little dried thyme, black pepper, and parmesan, and baked it in a “400F” (probably cooler) oven for 16 minutes, before sliding it out of the ramekin. ...

I have mixed luck with soup, but this weekend I made the best lentil soup I’ve had. And no, that’s not intended to be damning-with-faint-lentil-praise – it was delicious. I used The New Best Recipe for initial inspiration (their key insight being sweating the lentils first), but also made some changes: I cut two strips of bacon into pieces and cooked them until done but not crispy. I sauteed two minced shallots in the bacon fat (with the bacon still in) a few minutes until translucent, added 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 bay leaves, a crushed dried nora pepper from Tierra Farms, and about 1tsp of whole cardamom seed, turmeric, and cayenne powder, a little black pepper, and sauteed/toasted that for a few minutes. ...

This quick meal was unremarkable, and involved three pots to clean. The Brussles sprouts were pretty good: a strip of bacon fried, then drained, a minced shallot + thyme + a sliced apple sauteed in the bacon fat, brussels sprouts separately braised (in a covered pot w/ half a cup of water for 8 minutes), then added to the frying pan along with the drained bacon for a minute (perhaps it should have been longer – they were successfully not-overcooked-or-bitter, but also not as bacony as I’d hoped). ...

For New Year’s Eve, I wanted to eat a series of delicious little dishes and drink some excellent beer with friends, without going out to a crowded restaurant. So four of us hung out at an apartment in the Mission and shared the Osechi (New Year’s Bento) made by Peko Peko Catering*, a mix of traditional Japanese foods and California interpretations with local ingredients. We also each brought some special beer, and spent plenty of time geeking out over what beer went well with each course (it wasn’t always what we expected, so at times we’d have three half-glasses of different beer, trying them with each new dish). It was a great evening. ...

I took a bike trip up to the Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa for the first time. While you can get most of their beers at City Beer Store, they had a few there I’d never heard of: We started with the 18-beer sampler: My favorites were mostly ones I knew I liked: Damnation 23 (golden color, strong, a bit sweet (like a belgian tripel?), aged with oak chips). I’ve bought it a few times, but didn’t realize until this trip that it’s 10.5% ABV. Whew. Consecration (sour dark beer aged in red wine barrels) Supplication (sour brown ale aged in pinot noir barrels with sour cherries) Perdition (malty blonde?) A few others I liked: ...

Using the new pressure cooker to try to make beans quickly: A mix of classy-looking anasazi beans and white navy beans from Tierra Farms, soaked for about 12 hours, drained, then combined with 3 cups water per cup beans, half an onion, two bay leaves, two dried guajillo chiles, a few garlic cloves. Pressure cooked for 15 minutes (from the time the steam started escaping), which it turns out was longer than needed– they were very soft by the end of this. ...

A good Christmas Eve for food and beer. 4505 Meats duck confit plate with egg and pickles: San Tung “dry-fried” chicken wings for a crowd of 14. The shrimp-leek steamed dumplings were also worth it: Amsterdam Cafe, had an interesting beer selection. Highlights included Oskar Blues Ten Fidy and Stone Vertical Epic 11 on tap, a lot of unusual Mikkellers, and a long list of holiday beers. Their holiday beers (click through for a high-res image): ...

I dropped by Triple Rock in Berkeley for the first time tonight with a homebrewing friend. They and Beechwood (from Long Beach) were holding a beer event where they brewed the same Laurel IPA recipe and had both versions on top at each brewery .They also published the recipe and invited homebrewers to make their own takes on the beer and bring some to informally share. Of the two “official” brews and three homebrew versions I tried, I think Julian’s version from Beechwood was my favorite– the distinctive Simcoe hop smell (which a friend describes as “reminiscent of cat piss”, but I refuse to agree), and a complex citrus-pine taste with a little sweetness that stayed with me. I’m even no IPA fiend, but I’d happily drink that again. My friend’s homebrew was also quite good. And hanging out at the brewers’ table is always fun. How the discussion migrated to physics, ultrasonic measurement of solar panels, and space-hardened robotics I can’t quite remember. ...

Arkansas Black apples in the CSA were beautiful– so while I rarely make dessert, it seemed time to make a crisp. A quick search for a Cooks Illustrated take on it turned up this recipe, which I followed the rough spirit of without measuring because I was running around making dinner at the last minute. Basically, I sliced four apples and tossed them in lemon juice, brown sugar, and grated nutmeg, then melted butter and a cup of hard cider in a skillet, tossed in the apples, and cooked them over medium covered until mostly cooked through– 10-15 minutes. I mixed some oats, flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt and cinnamon, sprinkled that over the apples, sliced 4 Tbsp of butter into thin squares over that, and put the whole skillet in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes, while we ate the rest of dinner. Not bad, with vanilla ice cream, of course. ...