Blogger Invite| Heartwarming Dinner @ Gu Ma Jia (姑妈家)

I was invited to Gu Ma Jia (姑妈家) for a food tasting, thanks to Irene for the lovely invitation! The direct translation for Gu Ma Jia is “Aunt’s Place”, and it is a closely-knit family business run by “Gu Ma”, a friendly and lovable owner of the restaurant herself. The restuarant is a hidden gem located along Tai Thong Crescent, Sennett Estate.

The term “Gu Ma” is a chinese way of greeting for nephews or nieces to call their eldest aunt. Being the eldest sister among her family, the lady boss is often called “Gu Ma” by her nephews and nieces. And the reason for adding Jia (家) is because their family want their restaurant to be a place where families can gather and strengthen family bonds through the joy of eating, providing food that taste like “home”. The name itself gave me a feeling of family warmth and I was already gleefully anticipating the taste of home cooked food! Along with me is le bf’s sister, SH, who was gamed when I asked her along. Eating together with a buddy is never boring! <3

PS: There is no service and GST charge too!

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Popiah Making

(FYI: Gu Ma Jia will be having a special Popiah bonding fun event for parents and children! Please see bottom of post for details)

Gu Ma started bringing out the first dish which is DIY popiah, which was my absolute favorite because I love adding ingredients myself and wrapping up! For those who are unfamiliar with the dish, popiah is a popular healthy Chinese food and an absolute favorite among Singaporeans. It is a traditional spring roll filled with mostly grated turnips and carrots. Other side dishes such as prawns, peanuts, chinese sausages, bean sprouts, corianders, garlic, sweet sauce and chili were also served together for us to top into our popiah.

Gu Ma also joined in and demonstrated to us how she add the ingredients before she folded the wrap and cut nicely to make it look presentable. Look at the filling! Look yummy isn’t it?

There is one thing about this popiah dish is that the ingredients were all finely chopped or grounded, to the point that I mistaken the garlic for the grated turnips and I added so much of it! My poor burning mouth after one bite which caused laughter across the table. What puzzled me is that why is her garlic so spicy? It turned out that she manually pounded the garlic instead of using machine so no water was needed. This bring out the very spicy flavor that does not require any chili added to the popiah at all! Even the grated turnips and chinese sausages were so finely sliced (yes..manually!).

Prawn Rolls (虾卷)

Next dish is the Prawn Rolls (虾卷) , which is also one of my favorite dishes of all time. The beancurd skin is fried to a crispy brown, giving the crunchy sound as I bite into the roll. The meat filling was very generous and it tasted so delicious when you dipped it with the sauce that comes with it.

Kyoto Pork Ribs (京都排骨)

The entire aluminium foil wrapped dish served on hot plate was on fire when it was brought out of the kitchen. Sadly, I couldn’t capture the picture fast enough as I was busy feasting on the previous dish and captivated by the dancing flames!

Another one of my favorite dishes! I was surprised by the tenderness of the meat when I bite into it. The sweet and juicy sauce filled my mouth as I chewed, savoring the natural flavours of the pork ribs. According to Gu Ma, she explained that the ingredients needed for the dish were placed first before putting the pork ribs over it. The aluminium foil was wrapped around the whole dish and put on hot plate, so that when it is flamed using rose wine and fire, the foil will help to retain the juiciness and the flavors of the meat.

 

Kai Lan 2 Styles (Yuan Yang) (鸳鸯芥兰)

This dish is unique in the sense that the stems were blanched and the leaves were fried, which explained the name. The leaves were blanched before being shredded to fry, so as you take in a mouthful, you can feel the crispness of the leaves while eating the stem. It feels like eating those kind of crunchy seaweeds. This is an interesting way of enticing people who doesn’t like kai lan 😉

 

Cereal Sotong with Curry Leaves (金香麦片苏东)

I always ordered cereal prawns because that is my absolute must-have dish when ordering zi char. So I wasn’t at all impressed when I heard that cereal sotong will be coming up next as I didn’t think the cereal and sotong can make a good combination. But when I eat the crispy sotong together with the cereal…I was thinking…that’s darn good! Even the kids who were sitting at our table love them too! And do you know what is the best part? Eating the cereal mixed with the kyoto pork rib sauce onto your rice! Crispy yet sweet. Awwww! <3

 

Crispy Bean-Jal (豆茄双脆)

This dish created a bit of confusion in a good way because it is great for people who do not like eggplants 😉 The dish has a perfect combination of crispy fried brinjal and French beans, where sweet marmite sauce was added into the dish. This is quite addictive for me because I love brinjals, marmite and french beans so it’s a perfect dish for me. However, as I bite into the brinjal, somehow, it tasted like potatoes instead which “confused” me a little. I think it is due to the unusually crispness of the brinjal as well as the marmite sauce. This is amazing because the dish is cooked in a way such that both brinjal lovers and haters alike can still enjoy the dish!

 

Assam Fish Head (亚叁鱼头)

Finally, the assam fish head arrived! A long awaited anticipation for this dish because it is the hot favorite and one of Gu Ma’s signature dish. This dish consist of the fish head together with many other ingredients, complemented by Gu Ma Jia’s exclusive spicy and sour Assam blend gravy.  I have never tried Assam Fish Head before and I actually asked around but somehow, not many of my friends have a liking for assam or fish. I am not a spicy eater, so before I visited, this dish actually gives me mixed feeling of whether I will enjoy it or not.

However, as I scooped the red snapper fish meat into my rice bowl and add abit of the sauce to my rice, it tasted so heavenly. The fish meat was so soft and tender, it just literally “melt” into my mouth. The plus point is that it is not very spicy nor sour as I expected to be, which allowed me to enjoy the dish without having to drink so much water! So this dish is suited for everyone in general 🙂 And I strongly recommend this dish if you are a fish lover like me!

 

 Claypot Chicken with Ginger & Sesame Oil (姜丝麻油鸡)

The night before, Irene was raving about this dish so I was also looking forward to this dish. As expected, this dish brought me straight to food coma. I was really full by then, but somehow, the taste made me crave for more and I satisfied myself by drinking more of the soup. A must try dish if you ever want to get a soup-based dish when you visit!

 

Refreshing Fruity Goodness

Fruity enzyme juice and dessert are something that I have never heard of. So I was quite intrigued and this dessert/drink is their newly launched dessert and beverage range this year, providing customers a healthier choice to pair with the rest of the home-cooked dishes.

Fruit enzyme extracts are used in these fruit desserts and beverage, bringing health benefits to customers while dining at Gu Ma Jia. Enzymes are protein molecules which are the life force of all biological activities in human cells. Enzymes act as catalysts for the human cells to function. The body‘s ability to digest, absorb and utilize nutrients depends on the presence of enzymes.

Fruity Jelly Enzyme with longans and wolfberries

Digging my spoon into the jelly dessert and eating it, the taste is both sweet and sour at the same time. With the additional of the longans and the wolfberries, it brings out the refreshing flavor which is really good especially after a heavy meal because it helps to aid in the digestion!

 

Fruity Enzyme Juice with rock melon, strawberries, kiwi and basil seeds 

I love this drink! Again, same as the dessert, it was very refreshing as well, with many fruits bits inside which feels almost like I am “bubble tea” 🙂 And it tasted almost like apple cider which is one of my favorite drinks <3

 

How the fruit enzymes are stored:

 

Gu Ma was showing us how she actually stored the fruit enzymes for about 3 months to allow fermentation, which means that it has to be cool and dry to prevent contamination. She also took out the fermented fruits to let us try and it tasted really good. The fermented fruits can be used to eat it on its own, used as jam/dessert or ferment further, while the juice will be used for dessert/drinks.

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It has been such a pleasure to meet Gu Ma and tasting her family-cooked dishes which is a really heartwarming dinner. SH also enjoyed the dinner and we both agree that it is great to bring our own families the next time round to let them try too!

Special Event coming up!

Parent & Child Popiah Bonding Fun

Gu Ma Jia will be having “Parent & Child Popiah Bonding Fun” event where you will learn how to cook and roll popiah over the bonding session!

Gu Ma Jia
45 Tai Thong Crescent Sennett Estate
Singapore 347866
Website: http://gumajia.com.sg
Opening hours: 11am – 10pm

Disclaimer: I was invited by AT Marketing Consultancy for food tasting. All the photos and opinions are of my own, unless otherwise stated.