Media Tasting at Picnic Food Park

Brother Cheng’s Chicken Rice is the latest addition to Picnic Food Park.

It features corn-fed ‘kampong’ chicken, fragrant Thai jasmine rice, ‘Bentong’ ginger and homemade chilli sauce. We were told that the team at Brother Cheng’s first fries the rice in chicken fat and Bentong ginger, before steaming the rice grains with fresh pandan leaves and chicken stock.

Whilst the ginger and homemade chilli sauce were good complements to the rice, the chicken was an unfortunate let-down. We felt that it could have been more succulent and flavourful, after being told of that the chicken was poached in boiling water till cooked and immersed in an ice water bath immediately.

Brother Cheng’s Chicken Rice is available in a set for one (S$14.90), three (S$42.90) or six (S$84.90). Traditional bean sprouts and oyster sauce vegetables are also available at an additional top-up of S$3.

Kumo Keiki Japanese soufflé pancakes is another new brand available at Picnic Food Park. Instead of wheat flour, these ‘cloud cakes’ used gluten-free rice flour, Japanese eggs and Kagoshima brown sugar in its ingredients. All pancakes are made fresh so there is a 15-minute waiting time for each portion.

We tried 2 different flavours. Pictured above is the mont blanc pancake (S$22 for 3 pieces, S$19 for 2 pieces). This pancake features chestnut puree, housemade sweet potato paste and served with a scoop of classic vanilla ice-cream finished off with a liberal dusting of matcha powder. I love how the pancakes were light enough and the chestnut puree was not too sweet – a delightful combination of textures and flavours indeed!

Another flavour that we tried was the fresh strawberry flavour. Topped with fresh strawberries, house-made whipped cream and served with sides of strawberry sauce and homemade vanilla ice-cream, this dish was good but there was nothing outstanding in terms of the profile. We preferred the mont blanc version for a more interesting taste profile.

Other flavours available include: plain, matcha, premium chocolate, hojicha tiramisu and fresh mango, with prices ranging from S$12 to S$22.

Picnic Food Park has also partnered with Two-Michelin Kaiseiki restaurant Seizan to present a customisable daifuku concept, Dai福Ku by Seizan. Daifuku (made with shiratama sweet mochi rice flour) is often presented as a gift as it symbolises good fortune and well wishes.

Dai福Ku offers five pre-fixed specialty daifuku combinations:

– Strawberry: Strawberry mochi skin, red bean paste, fresh strawberry and whipped cream

– Traditional: White mochi skin, red bean paste, whipped cream

– Matcha mont blanc: Matcha mochi skin, kuri kinton (chestnut and sweet potato puree), sweetened chestnut, mont blanc cream

– Chocolate: Chocolate mochi skin, custard cream, oreo cookie, powdered sugar

– Yuzu: Yuzu mochi skin, cheese mousse, yuzu honey and mixed berries

Out of the 5 that we tried, my favourite was the yuzu. The yuzu and mixed berries flavour gave it a tangy profile, whilst the cheese mousse cuts through the sweetness and adds to the overall texture.

You can also try your hand at customising your daifuku with the build your own option. Simply select from the five flavours of mochi and five home-made pastes before choosing from the available fillings. These daifukus are available at S$6 per piece.

*Service charge(10%) and GST(7%) applicable.

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