Cooking For The President

I had the priviledge of paying a visit to one of our late President's house and collect this cookbook.

This book is written, photographed, tried, tested and compiled by one of his daughters, following her mother's recipes when they were still diplomats, ambassadors, and later President and First Lady. This is a big and heavy book and very expensive, but totally worth the price because it is printed on glossy paper with old, archived and coloured photographs, plus all the tips and know-hows of how to cook certain dishes.

This recipe book is Peranakan, which suits me fine as some may know I am rather interested in Peranakan culture and food. Now I cannot wait to try my hand at some of the recipes!

One Of The Best Invention Of All Times?

I finally got this!

 

The all-in-one breakfast maker, consisting of a coffee maker, oven and toaster, and a pan for frying eggs, bacon and sausage on top. Now I never have to worry about not having a full breakfast while on the go anymore!

 

Most importantly, when I get married, this will be the perfect equipment to use to surprise my man by serving him breakfast in bed!

 

This is by far one of the best invention of all times! Women will like it for the compactness and convenience, and men will like it for what it can do. Perfect gift for both genders!

First Attempt At Baking Macarons

I went for a macaron baking class last night, which I bought for a big discount via Groupon. I do not really have a chance to bake at home because I do not have a proper oven, so whenever there are any baking demonstrations, I always try to go as much as possible. I have tried cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, tiramisus, Christmas log cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, durian cakes, but never macarons. So this class came along at a right time.

The class was held at one of the training centres for civil servants. The kitchen is pretty well equipped. I really like the big mixer! The instructor happens to be the pastry chef at one of the restaurant schools, so she guided us step by step on how to bake the macarons. For the detailed recipe, please refer to my food blog.

 

One thing about the class is that, after the macarons have been piped into the respective trays and moulds, there was nothing else to do save to wait for the batter to set and then placed into the oven to bake. So there was about an hour of waiting time where there was nothing much to do. The instructor told us to go back to the classroom from the kitchen, but since everyone had nothing to do and being locals who do not bother talking to anyone else, we had about an hour's time of boredom, which I feel can be better utilised by letting us try our hand at some smaller recipes instead of sitting around and waiting.

 

Eventually the macarons were baked. Some of them were not baked properly yet so back to the oven they went. Those that were baked properly, we had to do the final step of spreading the cream and placing two macarons together to make a complete one.

 

The moulds my group used are pretty unique. There is the teddy bear shape, and the flower shape. In fact, the teddy bear turned out pretty good. Unfortunately, the round ones that we piped onto the trays did not turn out well.

The finished products

Still, it was a good experience. I have not baked for so long that I could not even remember how to fold in the icing sugar into the egg white and sugar mix! What a blunder! I think people were probably thinking I have never done any kitchen work in my life before!

 

I have not tasted the macarons yet, but I hope they taste alright at least. So now I know how to make macarons, I can start making them as and when I like, that is after I get a proper oven!

By the way, I also got a letter of appreciation for attending the class, as well as a discount card. So it is not that bad a deal after all!

My Dream Kitchen ....

I finally found my dream kitchen! See the stove area, the ovens, the friges and storage places, the wine cellar (at the corner)? Now if only I can have a kitchen like this, it will be a dream come true!

I want this clock in my kitchen wall too!

I want these ovens too to do all the baking and grilling I desire!

Oh, when, oh when, can I ever have my dream kitchen??

The Cooking Book

I found another "treasure" yesterday! After I saw this cookbook of all cookbooks at a friend's place, I have been wanting to get my hands on it. This is the absolute bible for cooking beginners. Every recipe is illustrated, ie there is a picture of every ingredient used, how the dishes turn out, and it comes equipped with a shopping list stating how many servings in how much quantity of ingredients, as well as a DVD on cooking demonstration!

What can be better than that - a cookbook with practical instructions and detailed pictures so you can never get the overall output wrong? I cannot wait to try out the French Onion Soup recipe and compare it to that one in the Le Cordon Bleu cookbook I have!

Here are some samples of recipes from the pages.

Making Sago Gula Melaka

I will be going to a Peranakan-themed pot luck party tomorrow night, so I was thinking what food to prepare. Initially I thought of making mee siam but it will be too time-consuming. Due to my schedule, I need to prepare the food tonight, store it then bring to the party tomorrow. Hence mee siam is not feasible and practical.

So I thought of sago gula melaka. It is easy to prepare with just a few ingredients, able to prepare in advance and makes a good dessert after all the food and partying.

Hence sago gula melaka it is. I had to make about twenty so I estimated the ingredients and bought them accordingly.

This evening, after the intensive cycling training, I started the preparation. This was the first time I am making sago gula melaka but luckily I did not do that badly (I think)!

A pity I did not manage to snap any photos otherwise the recipe will be more authentic! Initially I thought there would not be enough to go around but I was able to make twenty-four bowls!

This was the recipe I used :

2 packets or 600 grams of sago seeds
1 litre of water
1 kilograms of grated coconut
3 packets or 600 grams of gula melaka (brown sugar)
6 pandan leaves
2 teaspoons of salt
More water (for gula melaka and coconut)

1. Place the sago seeds into 1 litre of water and submerge for ten minutes.

2. Heat the sago seeds in the water under a low heat, stirring all the way until the mixture thickens.

3. Simmer the sago mixture.

4. Squeeze 250 mililitres of coconut milk from the grated coconut.

5. Pour the coconut milk with one teaspoon of salt into the sago mixture.

6. Stir until the mixture thickens until it cannot be stirred anymore.

7. Ladle out the sago mixture into individual containers and chill.

8. Melt the gula melaka in 600 mililitres of water and four pandan leaves, stirring the mixture along.

9. Once the sugar is all melted, strain the syrup into a bowl and leave it to settle.

10. Take the remaining coconut and drain out 500 mililitres of coconut milk.

11. Tie 2 pandan leaves into a knot and pour the coconut milk into a pot together with the pandan leaves.

13. Add in one teaspoon of salt into the coconut milk and heat it until the smell of the pandan leaves have been absorbed.

14. Pour the coconut milk into a bowl and leave it to set.

15. To serve, pour one tablespoon of gula melaka into each sago and top it off with some coconut milk.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bookwork Deluxe : Le Cordon Bleu At Home

I have not done a book review for quite some time. I have said I would like to catch up on my reading, so in order to really get it done, I may be doing more book reviews henceforth. Anyway, this is not exactly a normal story book, but a cookbook, and my first attempt actually reviewing a cookbook.

I have been trying to whip up a full meal for ages, instead of various dishes here and there. So I referred to the cookbook of all cookbooks - Le Cordon Bleu At Home, written by the chefs and trainers of Le Cordon Bleu Paris itself and published by them too.

The book is divided into three sections - Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. Every section has about a hundred recipes or so, and every receipe is a full meal, starting from the appetizer to the main course, ending with dessert. For instance, there is a Peach Mixed Fruit Salad, Duck Confit and Poached Pear in one recipe.

As expected, the famous Beouf Bugignon is under the Intermediate section. Although the beginners section looks to be a bit too advanced for me too! The prologue to the book includes kitchen skills, the different utensils, the different measurements, and every section also touches on how to bone poultry and how to remove all the innards of a fish.

In short, this is a chef's bible. If there is a cookbook you must have on fine dining, this should be the book. Afterall, every recipe lets you whip up a full meal, what can be better than that?

Mastering The Art Of French Cooking

Today is 11 October 2009. 111009 to be exact. It is an extremely hot day, so hot that I feel so sluggish and lethargic all over! The heat and humidity can really get one down! Anyway, thought of dedicating this space to two great cooks - Julie and Julia, of a certain great cooking project which Julie Powell started and actually stuck with.

Many people have said it is a food and eating paradise here. True, we have great comfort food, which overseas locals always miss and crave for whenever they return. However, I find this place lacking of real gourmet food. Hence, the movie is really good and inspiring. At least, it inspired me to try my hand at mastering the art of French cooking!

Imagine all I need is to cook one meal per day. Or make it two. Can I really finish five hundred and twenty-four recipes in three hundred and sixty-five days? Well.... Julie did it. With ups and downs along the way. What better way to learn to cook than to get guidance and trials and errors? Since I love food, why not create something which people like too?

Of course there are things which I will not do, like kill a lobster, or a crab. Or learn how to bone a duck. Perhaps that is why I am still not capable of making big meals, instead of simple dishes. One of these days I must learn how to whip up a mean stew! Beef stew, or oxtail stew!

Meanwhile, I am sourcing for the book. If and when I ever get the book, it is back to the cooking pot again! Hopefully one day I can whip up a variety of dishes instead of just the few I know!

Housekeeping Weekend!

I actually survived! Yeah! A housekeeping weekend, that is. I was off housekeeping for the August CHOICE weekend. Being a participant was an experience, now being part of the hospitality crew is an even bigger experience.

Because we have to be hospitable, everything have to be ensured that things are running smoothly, from the food to the utensils to the stationery to the hall setting to flowers decorations to making the participants feel welcomed to taking care of their every need.

If you think it is easy, try surviving on just four hours of sleep in three days. Long after the participants have gone to bed, we had to prepare the food for breakfast the next day, so we ended up boiling macaroni, shredding chicken and chopping small tomatoes in the dead of the night.

We ended up getting up before the sunrise to start cooking. We ended up grocery shopping at seven in the morning. And barely when one meal was done, we had to start preparing for the next. Plus all the cleaning up after all the meals! But it was all worth it, as the participants seemed to enjoy themselves so much, at least they seem better than the participants during my own weekend!

By the time I reached home last night, I could barely walk straight! It is not an easy feat trying to feed an army of people, who, for some reason, these participants can really eat! They kept asking for second and third helpings even! Even six hours of sleep last night was not enough for me! Yet it is back to work again today, hopefully I can keep myself awake!

Mini Gourmet Feast ....

It had been some time since I last pottered around the kitchen, so when I was invited to a mini gathering of sorts last night, I offered to bring food. I prepared fried chicken wings, fish bits, vermicelli (again!) and cheese crackers for dessert to go with the French white wine which my friend is bringing along.

I started with the chicken marinade. It is actually quite easy to marinade the chicken wings as they would be deep fried anyway, so all I did was to add light soya sauce, powder spices, chopped garlic and onions to get the flavour, and then soak the chicken wings thoroughly into the marinade. Leave on for at least half an hour or so.

Powder for the chicken marinade

Marinated Chicken Wings

When the chicken wings were ready to be fried, I had to get ready the flour. By right, corn flour or chicken frying flour should be used, but since I only have self-raising flour at home, I had to make do with that. Each wing has to be thoroughly covered with flour before it could be fried. In order to let the flour stick to the wing, the wing had to be dipped in a beaten egg first.

Dip the chicken wing into the beaten egg

Cover it thoroughly with flour

Pre-fried Chicken Wings

One thing about deep frying is the amount of oil to be used. By right, the oil should take up at least half the wok, as the wing has to be totally submerged in the oil. That is why deep frying is never a healthy option!

Amount of oil used to deep fry chicken wings

The first batch of fried chicken wings

Next, I fried fish bits. That was easier as all I had to do was to spread breadcrumbs over the fish bits, then dip it in the oil and within five minutes, it was done!

Fried Fish Bits

The completed chicken wings and fish bits

Next, I cooked vermicelli. Those who have been keeping up will know this was not the first time I cooked vermicelli. I cooked it again because it is easy to prepare and practical enough to being to a gathering.

Fried Vermicelli (completed)

Finally, for dessert, I wanted to make canapes - crackers with cheese and a piece of grape on top. However, I did not have enough grapes, and if I used up those I had, my mum would kill me, so in the end I made cheese crackers instead.

I used three different kinds of cheese - Australian Mild Cheddar, French Brie and Blue Cheese. I cut the cheese into square bits, put a piece onto a cracker and covered it up with another cracker, and that was it!

Cheese Crackers

At least those who ate commented the food was good, so it was an achievement indeed! Luckily no one fell sick! Come to think of it, I kind of miss pottering around the kitchen. I should do it more often from now on!

Of Chiffon Cakes

I came across a small shop selling chiffon cakes earlier on. Being a fan of the pandan chiffon, I stopped to take a look. The chiffon cakes are the mini types and come in all flavours, namely pandan, durian, coffee, oreo cookie, banana, orange, chocolate, triple chocolate, vanilla and cheese.

I could not resist it. Since my family members like chiffon cakes as well, I bought almost all the flavours, save for coffee and vanilla. A few weeks back, I was supposed to go for a chiffon cake baking workshop, but due to a clash in schedule, I was not able to make the class. How I wish there will be another class then I can bake to my heart's content!

Chocoholics, Reunited

I had another chocolate day today, baking specialised chocolate cakes! First up was the Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake. It is a normal sponge cake filled with mixed nuts and rich chocolate paste, topped with sticky gooey chocolate! A heavenly treat for me!

The cake has to be kept in the freezer for about six hours before it can harden and be ready to served. At the time I took the photo, the cake was only frozen for two hours, which explains why it was still messy and wet. But the chocolate is really delicious indeed! :-)

Completed Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake

The next cake we made was the Chocolate Cheesecake. We had to make a sponge cake from scratch, fill it with cream cheese batter, then cover it with the remaining cream cheese batter. Splatter almond bits at the side, whipped cream on top, chocolate decorations and mixed nuts, and it is ready to serve.

Chocolate Cheesecake with Decorations

I am going to try to create this for my best friend's housewarming this week. Hopefully she and her husband will like it!

Christmas Cupcake Making

I had a real fun baking session today. After the stuffed turkey session, there was a series of cupcakes session. We made three types of Christmas cupcakes, namely the Red Velvet Cupcakes, Christmas Fruit Cupcakes and Hummingbird Cupcakes.

The Red Velvet Cupcakes were made using red food colouring. It is not just normal red, but real crimson dark red, so when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they looked really red. However, after they were covered with frosting and marzipan snowmen, they looked just perfect!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Completed Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marzipan Snowmen, Mint Leaves and small Cherries

The next cupcake, Christmas Fruit Cupcake, was made using crushed nuts and mixed fruit, decorated with frosting and Christmas mint leaves and small cherries.

Christmas Fruit Cupcake

Completed Christmas Fruit Cupcake with Mint Leaves and Cherries

The last cupcake we made were Hummingbird Cupcakes, so called because the ingredients used were pineapple and banana, which are the two fruit which hummingbirds like. The cupcake turned out looking yellowish as well. Unfortunately, we forgot to put in baking powder, so the cupcake turned out looking flatter than others.

Hummingbird Cupcake

We decorated the cupcake with Royal Icing, then put in food colouring into gelatine to make a Santa Claus decoration, using chocolate bits for eyes and whipped cream for the beard. The final product turns out looking like Santa Claus!

Completed Hummingbird Cupcake

How To Stuff A Turkey

I have always been interested in how some people celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving with a turkey. We never have that tradition in my family, and besides, turkeys are expensive during the festive season, so my parents never really let us have a chance of tasting that. The only times I actually ate turkey was when I attended Christmas parties at my friends' or relatives' places.

Since there is never a tradition of Thanksgiving here, the only times turkey will be sold wholesale is during Christmas. The turkeys that are being sold have already been pre-stuffed and pre-processed and mass produced, so the taste may not be that appealing to some.

Which is why when I came across the Special Christmas Turkey workshop, I grabbed the chance to sign up for it, as I have always wanted to know how to stuff a turkey. Besides, the recipe can be used on a chicken too, although lesser since the chicken is a smaller bird.

Apparently, in order to have a real juicy turkey, the turkey has to be bought six days in advance. It has to be thawed in the fridge for three days, before marinating. Once the turkey has been marinated, keep it in the fridge to thaw for another three more days. Only when the turkey is ready to be roasted / baked, then the stuffing will be prepared. The turkey will then be stuffed until it is full.

Pre-roasted Marinated Stuffed Turkey

Once the turkey has been stuffed, cover it with aluminium foil and put it in the oven to bake / roast for about three hours. Once the turkey has been roasted for an hour, take it out and glace it with butter before putting it back into the oven.

Fifteen minutes later, take it out again and glace it with honey before putting it back. After which, every fifteen minutes, repeat the process, alternating the butter and honey until the turkey has been roasted for three hours. Cover it back with aluminium foil each time to prevent burning.

Three hours later, take it out and glace it a final time, then put carrots all over as decorations. This time, remove the aluminium foil from the body of the turkey, leaving only the wings and thighs covered, then put it back into the oven to roast / bake for another forty-five minutes before removing it. Garnish the completed turkey with English parsley and cherry tomatoes.

The completed turkey with all garnishings

Since there was only one turkey, we had to carve it up and share it amongst everyone. So I only managed to get one part. I ate it there and then and I must say, it tasted really good! Exactly like black pepper honey chicken, considering those were some of the ingredients used. I cannot wait to try it out myself, except my house does not have an oven so I must figure out how to make it using the microwave.

As a bonus, we got to make desserts too - the Chocolate Truffle with Brandy and Cinnamon Roll. The chocolate truffle was made using dark chocolate and almond bits, sprinkled with cocoa powder and crushed nuts. The final product turns out looking like Ferrero Rochor, but of course the latter is still much better tasting!

Chocolate Truffle with Brandy

The Cinnamon Roll was the last to be made. We used bread flour, with bread optimizer, so the dough could be rolled and kneaded into a round shape, which would rise on its own after about ten minutes or so. Just imagine a small kneaded dough could rise to about twice its size!

The kneaded dough (before rising)

The size of the dough after rising

Once the dough has risen, we had to punch it using our knuckles to flatten it and even out the air inside. Then roll it with a rolling pin, flattening the dough at all sides. Cut butter into small pieces and place it onto the flattened dough. Then sprinkle cinnamon powder on top. Roll up the dough and cut it into small round pieces. Place it into the oven and bake it.

The completed Cinnamon Roll

Each of us took back three pieces (rolls) each. I have eaten one and it tastes good, with a buttery strong cinnamon taste. This should be easier to make since I have a bread maker at home, so maybe I can start on that soon!

Tiramisu ....

I went for a special Christmas baking workshop earlier on. We made Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake and a Christmas Log Cake. Finally, I got to find out how a log cake is being made, although of course mine does not really look like a log cake, as can be seen from the picture. :-p

At least the Tiramisu cake turned out looking like one, but since it is in the fridge as at the time of this entry, I have no idea how it tastes like. I hope it tastes good though!

The Tiramisu cake was made using the original recipe of rum, tiramisu fingers and freezing of the batter, instead of baking. Once the cake has hardened, remove it from the freezer then sprinkle cocoa powder on top of it. Splatter with chocolate bits at the side. No wonder Tramisu cakes all taste of bitter chocolate, because of the cocoa powder!

Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake

The next cake we made was the Christmas Log Cake. The log cake was originally made using a square sponge cake. The batter consists of melted chocolate and cream cheese. Once the sponge cake has been baked, splatter the batter on half of the cake, then roll it into a Swiss roll.

Cut off a bit of the cake at the end, then attach the bit to the middle to make it look like a log. Splatter with icing all over to attach the two parts together, then draw lines using a fork. Decorate with Christmas decorative bits and it is ready to be served.

Christmas Log Cake

Chocolate Day!

I had a very enjoyable time at a chocolate cake making workshop yesterday. The recipes ranged from simple cake making to more advanced cake decoration. All in all, we made three cakes (two required baking, one did not) and some muffins. This time I managed to take some photos of my "creation"!

We started off with muffin making. Besides the normal ingredients for muffins, the recipe also include melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder to give a chocolatey feel and taste. Once the muffins are ready, cut a hollow bit off the centre and fill it with melted chocolate paste. Cover up the hollow and leave to cool. Decorate with whipped cream and top it with cherries, Chocolate decorations or sprinkle with hundreds and thousands as desired.

Muffins with cherry, hundreds and thousands and Malteser.

The next recipe was on American Chocolate Carrot Cake. It is a normal carrot cake with chocolate filling, covered with the layer of frosting on top, and sprinkled with white chocolate cut into little bits. I must say I am rather proud the cake turned out looking almost perfect!

American Chocolate Carrot Cake (Side View)

Completed American Chocolate Carrot Cake
(topped with chopped white chocolate)

Next recipe was on non-baked cheesecake - the Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake. It is non-baked as it requires freezing to harden the cake. There are two kinds of fillings - one cheese feeling and the other chocolate filling. The cheese filling is made of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and the chocolate filling is made of cocoa powder and chopped Mars bars.

There are two layers to this cake. The first layer is made of crushed Digestive biscuits as the base, added with cocoa powder and melted butter. Then the cheese filling is poured over it until the pan is about two-thirds full. After that, the cake is put into the freezer to harden. Top it off with a layer of melted chocolate before putting it back into the freezer. Freeze for twenty-four hours or so before serving.

Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake

The last cake was the Chocolate Celebration Cake, consisting of a layered sponge cake with decorations and garnishings. The sponge cake consists of four layers, like a marble cake. The first layer is also a cheese filling (filled with crushed nuts and mixed fruit), second layer cocoa filling, and so on until the round tin is two-thirds full. The top layer is the cocoa filling.

Next, we made whipped cream filled with chocolate paste as icing to put on top of the cake. Spread the icing evenly on top and at the sides. Decorate the sides with chocolate rice or chopped milk chocolate.

After that, melt some chocolate, put on top of a plastic bag on a tray, smooth the chocolate over the bag, leave it to cool for a while before putting it in the freezer to harden the melted chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened, cut it into triangles or any other decorative shapes as desired.

Chocolate Decorations
(made from hardened melted chocolate)

Place the chocolate decorations on top of the sponge cake. Garnish with whipped cream, hundreds and thousands, chocolate rice, chocolate bits and cherries if desired. Ready to serve.

Completed Chocolate Celebration Cake

Oreo Cookie Baking Workshop

I went for another baking workshop earlier on. It is on Oreo Cookies, and how to use Oreo Cookies to make cakes. We made Oreo Tiramisu Ice-Cream Cake, Oreo Chocolate Truffles and Oreo Chocolate Tart.

The easiest to make is the Oreo Chocolate Truffles. All it needs is melted butter, cream cheese and crushed Oreo cookies, mix them altogether, scoop up a bit at a time and roll into a ball, put it in the freezer, dip the truffles in melted chocolate, put them into cupcake cases, decorate with white chocolate and serve.

The most complicated is the Oreo Tiramisu Ice-Cream Cake. That needs more time as the ice-cream has to be melted, then frozen again. Furthermore, the rum and coffee taste that is so synonymous with Tiramisu has to be blended to perfection. Which is why today's session ended an hour later than originally planned.

But it was an enjoyable session. I get to bake to my heart's content, without using the oven! And I get to prepare Oreo cookies cake. Just a pity there is no recipe for Oreo Cheesecake, one of my favourites! Perhaps one day I should try to source for the recipe, then I can make Oreo Cheesecake as well!

How To Cook A Cod Steak

In my younger years (from the time I was born until about the age of twenty-five), my family and my aunt's family would gather at my maternal grandmother's house every Saturday for a dinner-cum-reunion.

This was our routine almost every Saturday without fail (unless we had other things on like wedding dinners or we were overseas), until a few years back when my grandmother had a second heart bypass surgery coupled with rheumatism, so we decided not to go anymore so as to let her rest and not strain herself cooking for us.

I remember she would cook many dishes for us. During the week, she would scrimp and save and eat simple dishes, but come Saturday, she would cook about ten dishes. There would be tiger prawns, fish, chicken, mushrooms, vegetables, abalone and rice, with the occasional vermicelli which was a traditional dish for people of her dialect group. We were really spoilt.

I love partaking her dishes, as she is a wonderful cook. She is able to mix and bring out the flavour of the sauces of the food, making the food so aromatic and appetising. My youngest brother loves her prawns the most. Somehow, she is able to cook the prawns in such a way that the final dish comes out looking red and juicy.

Out of all the dishes, I love her cod fish steak the most. For such a simple dish, she is able to make it so aromatic and crispy, that each time she cooked the dish, I would attack the skin and the bone in the middle. The skin was so crispy that with each bite, I could feel the crunch. The bone was so juicy that I could just suck off the juice and sauce inside and crave for more.

I really miss the fish now that we no longer go to her place for dinner every weekend. My mum would buy the cod steak occasionally and instruct my maid to cook it the way my grandma used to cook, but somehow no one is able to bring out the flavour like how my grandma did.

So I did the unexpected. We were shopping for groceries yesterday morning in preparation for a barbecue tomorrow evening when I came across the cod fish steak. Immediately, I remember how I love this fish. Coincidentally, he said he like the fish too. Thus I offered to cook them and we bought the fish.

How did my grandmother used to prepare the fish? First, the fish is pan-fried with little oil, about a tablespoon. Once the bottom part is cooked (golden brown), turn the fish over and start cooking the other side. Once the fish is cooked, put it on a plate. Then, using the same oil, cook some garlic (chopped into fine pieces) until golden brown. Sprinkle the cooked garlic with the oil over the fish and start serving.

Simple, right? It may seem simple, but actually it is not that easy to cook it to perfection. The trick to the taste and flavour is in the garlic oil. If the fish is pan-fried to perfection and the right amount of garlic is used, the colour will be golden-brown, the bone will be juicy and the skin will be crispy. The flesh of the fish itself should be soft and easy to break using chopsticks.

Needless to say, I have not perfected the recipe. My cod steak turned out soft, but the skin was not crispy and the bone not juicy enough. Furthermore, there was no garlic, so I had to improvise by using chopped onions and ginger instead, so the taste was very different although the oil still brought out a bit of the flavour.

It was quite a good first attempt. When I told my mum, she exclaimed, "Are you sure you know how to cook that?!" Hmmmm.... At least the fish was eatable, and no one had any stomach upset (I hope!). But I still wish to be able to cook the fish to perfection, the way my grandmother did. Perhaps next time, with a bit more practice, I should be able to achieve it!

Durian (Cake) Workshop

I went for two durian cake-making workshops on Friday night and Saturday morning. These workshops are interesting as the cakes are to be chilled, hence no oven baking is involved. Cool! Then I can finally make a cake without having to go through any oven!

Not using an oven means the steps are so much simpler and easier. All you need to do is to mix the ingredients together, whisk all together, then put in the fridge and let the cream settle. The tip is to use durians that are in season, so the fruit itself is softer and more aromatic. Also, remove all the seeds, crush the flesh and freeze the durians before mixing them into the cake ingredients.

I went home smelling like a big durian! But the efforts are paid off though, especially when people who ate the cakes all gave positive comments! I shall try out the recipe on my own one of these days and see if I can do it just as well!

Making "Nasi Lemak"

"Nasi Lemak" - rice made of coconut milk, garnished with anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted nuts, fried chicken wing (or fish), beancurd and sambal (chilli sauce). It is a traditional Malay or Peranakan dish, normally served during breakfast. It is also one of the most popular local dishes.

I went for a workshop this morning, on how to make "nasi lemak". First impression when I stepped into the class was that there was an overwhelming lot of ingredients. We went through the step by step instructions on how to prepare the various ingredients, like the chilli (now I know why some chilli is hotter than others), the anchovies (why some are more fragrant and crunchy) and the chicken wings (how to make the chicken crispier? It is all in the flour!).

It was a very fun-filled session. Everyone chipped in and the instructor was very detailed in her explanations. Before the session was over, I was so worried about getting belachan all over myself as the smell was really strong when the chilli was being cooked. I feared that people would complain of me being smelly!

Come to think of it, the cost of S$2.00 per dish by the hawkers is considered pretty inexpensive already, considering the amount of work and preparation involved, not to mention the cost of all the ingredients. Wonder if the hawkers ever recoup their losses even if they sell two hundred dishes a day? I will never complain that hawker food is expensive again!