It’s been five years since I last blogged about the flower crabs I got from NTUC . I got them at $12/kg then but when I visited NTUC again, this has now went up to $18/kg so that’s $1/kg increase every year. Not to fret though, I’ve recently found a new “lobang” or source for extra-large flower crabs (400g average per piece) which are fresh and meaty. They even clean the crabs and deliver them to you. Contact and cost is shared below at the end. I detail below on how I received them, how I cooked them and how meaty they were. Crab check out Good colour, no pincers dropping off! Great brain juice retention. Not watery or milky. Biggest was 473g a pop The first thing I did when I received the individually packed flower crabs was to check for freshness and meatiness. All the crabs passed this test. To do this, you don’t have to press the crabs and all. That is what crude aunties do and this actually spoils (bruises) a fair bit of crab in the market. The best way (in m...

It has really been a long time since I did clam digging in Singapore and when Mediacorp asked me if I was keen to bring them for a little scene on national television, I was a little hesitant because I always like to ensure results. That was not possible though as we found out pollution and perhaps “over-clamming” have taken their toll on the clam populations. The episode still went on though and you can watch it using the below links (it was first televised on Channel 5 and Channel NewsAsia. 'On The Red Dot: Singapore Snapshots'. (Click) One thing that wasn't aired was how clam digging used to a free family hobby as we were growing up. We would simply all go down to the beach and get ankle deep in fresh mud. It was a way of life and how we used to pass time together. It wasn't ground-breaking or massive in terms of livelihood but it was probably one the last definitions of what it felt to be "kampung-ish" in the prehistoric sleeping fishing village that...

Most of know the golden snapper (also known as ang cho, jenahak) and this fish is exceptionally good eating but also offers a great fight on rod and reel. Over the years, golden snappers have been targeted using more novel fishing methods like slow fall jigging or light jigging. That said, the traditional way to fish them (at least in Singapore) would still be at night using squid bait or mantis prawns . Here’s a handy list on how to cook these wonderful eating fish. Remember that if you can bleed the fish or eat the fish on the same day (without freezing), the quality of the meat would be much better. This fish also doesn’t suffer from meat stiffness or the “lor kor” effect. For bigger fish, you can slice steak cuts of the fish for steaming or frying. 1. Steamed fish Steaming the golden snapper is one of most recommended ways to enjoy it. You can choose from many different ways of steaming (Hong Kong style, Teochew style, Assam steam) as the fish is quite versatile. My favou...

Fishing has always been a hobby and a way of life for many Singaporeans. Proud fathers have brought their sons (or daughters) out to catch their first big fish and their children have brought their own children out as well. My own father brought me on my very first fishing trip to Bedok Jetty at East Coast Park and when I caught my first tambans, I could see my father being quietly proud. I never knew what it meant back then until recently when I brought my dad and younger brother on an offshore fishing trip. Such a sweet role reversal and a subtle positive feeling that. Singaporeans as a community have been talking about the future of Singapore – jobs, infrastructure, quality of living and so on, but has anyone thought about the future of fishing in Singapore? Looking at how the Singapore Government treats fishing in general, I really doubt so. The future of fishing would probably be the last thing in their yearly desired achievements. Below, I predict some of the key trends t...

Do you know that one of the tastiest and easiest to catch fish is the river half beak? It is present in many salt-water or brackish water bodies and can be easily caught with bread or a little prawn bait. Floated rigs or sight casting some bait at these cute fish work very well. Note that this is not to be confused with the larger half beak species. Fry it the same way you would fry whitings (swa jiam). It's actually sweeter than whitings and a crispier beer snack since it is less meaty and gets really crispy easily. Some pictures of a simple outing I went on last year to get some of these for a snack. Some other fishes came along the way (including some whiting) so I had to eat all of them. Coat them evenly Fry till golden and crispy Served! Simple recipe: 1) Mix all purpose plain flour with black pepper, sea salt and oregano. Feel free to tweak the seasoning according to your preference. 2) Coat the fish evenly 3) Proceed to fry till golden and crispy

I've never really done and unboxing before as I saw no need for most reels found in the market. There was always some resource on them whether in the form of tackle reviews, videos and so on. That was not true for the Daiwa Ishidai Genpaoh 40 though. There were only bits and pieces on the Internet and not even any promotional videos and information. I'm going to be using the Genpao for night bottom fishing (cracking heavy sinkers) so don't ask me about using this reel for conventional jigging or slow fall jigging. You might wanna take a look at the Reel Spa (Calvin) video in which an Ishidai Genpaoh is being tuned up to do those. The reel should also be an excellent choice for wreck fishing due to its drag (15kg) and also very high retrieve per crank (111 cm). Reel specifications for Genpao 40 Line retrieve per crank 111cm Weight 705g Drag 15kg PE10-200m, PE20-150m Handle length 85mm Gear ration 5:9 For official reel specifications: http://www.daiwa.com/jp/fi...

The last time that I fish Tuas waters on an offshore trip was 10 years back . Back then, I went with this fishing charter boatman called “Ah Poh”. The boat was small and only for four passengers and had no toilet. I was very impressed by the snappers that we were hauling up though! Recently, we tried this fishing charter which was very literally named as “Seacharter”. The fishing charter has three boats to choose from (full details below) and we chose SC-01 which was skippered by Daniel. First thought was when I boarded the boat was that this was a very low boat and was perfect for some light offshore baiting. As for the fishing action, spots were mostly rocky and coral patches near breakers, channels and near docks/jetties/wharves. Action was quite consistent and the species that seemed to appear more were groupers. I caught four groupers that day (3 on Kurau Deep 150g jig and 1 on bait) and I was pretty surprised that when aggressive, groupers will hit jigs that are even 10...