How I'm gonna Marinade & Grill the Lamb Chops.

I'm getting ready for a family BBQ party that's gonna be held during the Christmas weekend, and I've been busy doing my homework on the how tos from books and Youtube.

Lamb Chops will probably be the most challenging of meat dishes, and here's how I'm gonna prepare it (with a little improvisation from the reference videos below).

Step 1: Pour in 250g or more of fresh yogurt onto bowl.

Step 2: Add in Chili Paste, made from 10 to 15 Chili Padi (it varies depending on how spicy you like it to be) + 2 big balls of Onions + a pinch of fresh Coriander + 5 conservative slices of young Ginger + 1 bulb of Garlic (skin peeled).

Step 2a: (Optional) Uncork the bottle of Macallan Special Oak whiskey, pour generously onto the ice cubes filled rock glass, and begin to sip it before continuing with Step 3.

Step 3: Drop into the bowl 2 pieces of dried Bay Leaves + 1 tablespoon of Cumin + 5 shakes of finely grounded Black Pepper. And mix thoroughly.

Step 4: Next, drop into the mix the dry-wiped Lamb Chops that are at least an inch or an inch and a half thick, and hand-marinade the chunks of meat and set them for a minimum of 2 hours before you place them onto the BBQ pit.

Step 5: An hour before the party starts, put to boil some rice grains in your rice cooker. Add a giant dollop of salted butter + fried Shallots and you'd have Oriental Butter Rice to go with the Lamb Chops.

Next dish: BBQ Beef Block in Brown Sauce. Watch for it.

Random 10 One2Two How Tos

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#1: Chef McDang: Thai Green Curry Pt 2

Today's Top 10 Food 4 Thot Links.

They're all there - just click on the links and have a blast –

#10: Horsemeat May Become Available In US http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2100736,00.html

#9: Broke America to Live Off $2 Subway Sandwiches Now
http://eater.com/archives/2011/11/30/broke-america-to-live-off-2-subway-sandwiches.php

#8: Trouble with Dog Food http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2011/12/05/cartoons_20111128#slide=9

#7: Intermission: Exploding Cocktails
http://www.good.is/post/intermission-exploding-cocktails

#6: What did Mark Twain eat?
http://articles.courant.com/2010-08-12/features/hc-twains-feast-20100812_1_mark-twain-house-samuel-clemens-local-food

#5: Cooking with Chef Art Smith and Lady Gaga
http://youtu.be/6gJ09lyJJxg

#4: The First Ice Cream Sandwich Android Tablet Surfaces in China
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/30/the-first-ice-cream-sandwich-android-tablet-surfaces-in-china/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

#3: Life-altering Tea Cup (Design) of the Day
http://thedailywh.at/2011/11/26/life-altering-tea-cup-of-the-day/

#2: "Pizza is a Vegetable" The Song
http://holykaw.alltop.com/pizza-is-a-vegetable-the-song-video?tu4=1

#1: Nigella Lawson – Edible Christmas Tree Decoration
http://youtu.be/tDB5ucJ30cM

New World Mutton Soup.

I've heard of so many stories about what I will find in Bedok, being one of the oldest Singaporean residential township and all.

And I've been moving around from one bus stop to another via Tampines, looking for the good stuff.

On this particular trip, I've found one of the best herbal mutton soup after alighting bus 69 at the Bedok North Interchange.

This is one of my favourites in Singapore, so far: New World Mutton Soup.

The soup is no doubt potent, but not too strong on herbs. It's just enough to complement the aromatic mutton ribs, tripes, mutton balls and tendons. You will also enjoy the prominent taste of liquorice roots that leaves a tantalising aftertaste.

And you can have this with rice, or as it is.

Right next door to the New World Mutton Soup stall, you'll probably notice a long queue most of the time.

That will be the place where you can get the famous Bedok Chwee Kueh (Water Cake) that melts in your mouth, and in your hands. Malaysians will know this appetising side dish or dessert as Woon Chye Kou (Bowl Cake).

Tao You Bak (Stewed Soy Sauce Pork Belly).

All Chinese families must have a Tao You Bak recipe of their own. It's especially useful when you're in a foreign country and just can't get your hands on the traditional pork belly dish that your mum cooked for you when you were little.

So, let's get started...

Step 1: Marinate (min. 30 mins before cooking begins) 2kg of Pork Belly (uncut slabs) with salt, pepper, oyster sauce (optional), 5 pieces of anistars, 5 cardamoms, a pinch of peppercorns and a stick of cinnamon.

Step 2: Boil 5-6 rice bowls of water in a pot. Add carrot, tomatoes, ginger, and/or vegetables of your choice, which you will remove once the flavour builds in the soup. Add groundnuts too (optional), but only if you fancy them. And/or mushrooms for extra flavour.

Step 3: Remove all the spices used as marinate and place them into the boiling vegetable soup plus 5 tablespoons of premium light soy sauce.

Step 4: Pan sear marinated pork belly slabs till golden brown on the skin. This helps to retain the flavour.

Steps 5: Place pan-seared pork belly into the pot of boiling soup, along with 5 cloves of garlic (whole) and 5 tablespoons of caramalised soy sauce – for 50 mins if you're using a pressure cooker, then leave for another 30 mins. (The sauce should just cover the slabs of pork belly). For claypots, cook on slow fire for an hour and a half or less, depending on how soft you like your Tao You Bak.

Step 6: Remove the slabs of pork belly, and it should look something like this :P

Step 7: Cut to chunks or thin slices; serve with sauce and cut chili padi on the side.

Golden Bittersweet Mao Shan Wang: The King of Durians.

Durian is known to most Asians as the King of Fruits. Mao Shan Wang, or Cat Mountain King (a direct translation used by locals), is a species of durian known to some as the Durian King.

The aroma it gives is one that is as strong as any other durians. But you can see the difference in the colour of its wrinkly flesh. The deep golden yellow is unmistakably one of the most prominent characteristics of a Mao Shan Wang.

Ah Meng here, the man who delivers the goods in his van, will tell you that a 100% organic Mao Shan Wang, from Muar, Johor, Malaysia, is simply different from all durians there are out there, namely the D24, D13, XO, 101 and more.

The taste is bittersweet, the texture is thick and creamy, the seeds are small, and your satisfaction is guaranteed at a seasonal price that ranges from S$12 to S$16 a kg.

Now with half of my unfinished durians nicely tucked away in my freezer, (yes, keep your Mao Shan Wang in the freezer just long enough and you can eat them like soft-serve ice-cream), I'm forever indebted to Adeline Chung - my ever resourceful neighbour who introduced me to the knowledgeable durian man, Ah Meng.

For those who do not care much for the durian fruit, there is another option for you to actually get to like the taste.

Check out the homemade Mao Shan Wang ice-cream at Blic Ice-Cream Cafe, at Tampines Ave 4 – http://foursquare.com/venue/1201170

Plus there'll be lots of other natural flavours to choose from here. Perfect for kids of all ages.