An early Mother's Day dinner was the perfect excuse to check out the latest Chinese inspired menu at Amber. Not that we need an excuse to eat out, but I suppose it soothes the over-indulgence-conscious part of the conscience. Amber's one of the rare places that my family visits pretty regularly, partly due to their menu that changes every few months and the very reasonable prices.

Amber saw a full house for dinner that day and we were, to our pleasant surprise, ushered to a private room away from the hustle and chatter. The waiter started us off with a complimentary passionfruit and pineapple mocktail that was refreshingly sour. I liked it but  my parents found it average. For starters, we had a prawn tikka salad tossed with Japanese cucumber, tomatoes, and achar. There was a touch of yoghurt in the dish as well that complemented the sourish taste of the achar rather well. Opted for the sea bass and scallop for the main course and the fish was great, as usual, although I thought the accompaniment of the yam fritter was a bit odd. Dessert was a chilled snow pear & white fungus served with red date jelly, which I found a little too sweet and but pleasant overall.

Always inspired to cook after I return from such dinners. Dinner conversations would normally involve critiquing the dish and figuring out what's the best way to recreate the dish at home...not that I've gotten around to it. Yet. Gonna break in the muffin maker first.

For the love of food

Cooking is beginning to look like a more regular affair. Most of the adrenaline lies in the delivery however, not so much the cooking itself. Plating, presentation and timing.

Dinner was an eggplant mushroom quinoa risotto with white wine reduction and ramekin portions of a cauliflower gratin. The family gave a unanimous thumbs up, which is about the best feedback to receive. The cauliflower gratin can be improved. I should try to follow recipes a little closer and not wing it half the time - the exception being how much wine to add in a dish (hahaha). I loved that the risotto had the delicate aroma and sweetness of the wine. Should have added some saffron like I did the previous time - the fragrance and colour a few strands of the spice lends to the dish is really quite extraordinary. 

In older news, the molten lava cake was 80% successful. It left the oven a couple of minutes early. Two more minutes would have made all the difference. So a bite-sized bit of the chocolate-y goodness had a too-fragile shell. And I forgot to add coffee liqueur to the mix. No wonder it felt like there was something missing. Well, more to drink then.