26 Mar 10 (Fri) – SoEZ Lesson 4 (Western)

Clearing the last day of my leave and went for the Western Cuisine today at 2:30pm so that after that I could hitch a ride from my BIL to go to his place for the weekend. There were about three of us and the instructor was Chef Judy. She was rather fierce and asked us a lot of questions while teaching. She said it’s better to ask us questions so that we could remember better. Western Cuisine was another one that required a lot of ingredients though the cooking methods were not as complicated as the Paranakan one. Of all the classes, this was one that I didn’t enjoy much.

After lesson, it was only slightly after 5pm. So instead of waiting for BIL till close to 7pm, sis suggested that I made my way to her place myself. So in the end, I had to lug my big bag and my creations all the way from Great World City to Tiong Bahru Plaza where I then take a train to Tampines and then take a shuttle to her condo. My God, by the time I got to her place, it was as good as waiting for my BIL to drive back. Settled down, took photos of my creations and then Ry gobbled up most of the Chicken Cordon Bleu and all of the French Fries before giving them back to me coz he was very hungry after his NPCC activities. My sis and BIL were not a fan of today’s creations and so I ended up eating the rest of the food.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Homemade French Fries and Green Asparagus

Traditional Gratinated French Onion Soup

Classic Caesar Salad

(One of the left is the sauce; One on the right is the salad with the sauce)

20 Mar 10 (Sat) - Chocolate Melting Moments and Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms & Limpets

Found another recipe on Chocolate Melting Moments from Yochana's Cakke Delight and again psycho my sis’s SIL to make it together with me and M. Let M did most of the work coz on other days; she won’t have the chance to do it. Overall, the cookies were of the right texture but tasted a bit too chocolaty though, maybe we added a bit too much cocoa powder. Since it was mostly done by my niece and since she would be visiting her friend, AY, at her work place, so told her packed some for her friend to try.

Chocolate Melting Moments

Ingredients:

125g butter - softened

2 tbsp icing sugar

120g plain flour
1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Method:
1. Cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy
2. Add in dry ingredients and mix till soft dough is formed
3. Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe out onto a tray
4. Bake at 170C for about 15min or till cooked. Cool on tray

Then for dinner, I made Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets as one of the dishes while M helped my sis with the other dishes. Scoped some of the Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets and put them in a container coz intended to bring them to Mum and Dad when we visit them the next day.

Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets

Ingredients:

1 can of Limpets

350g sea cucumber (cut into wedges)
6 small chinese mushrooms (soften in water)
1 can of chicken stock (or make using chicken cube)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ - 1 tbsp Hua Tiao Wine
A dash of pepper
½ tbsp light soya sauce
A dash of dark soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar (depend on taste)
Starch

Method:
1.  Drain limpets
2.  Wash mushrooms (optional to slice)
3.  Boil sea cucumber in water, drain and clean
4.  Rinse limpets, mushrooms and sea cucumber
5.  Boil chicken stock with limpets, mushrooms and sea cucumber
6.  Add seasonings, bring to boil and simmer till sea cucumber turns soft
7.  Thicken stock with starch

19 Mar 10 (Fri) - Assorted Japanese Sushi

Was on leave again and got my elder niece, M, to go to sis’s place to spend the weekend. We played cooking and she enjoyed it quite a bit. We prepared the sushi ingredients together and then sat down to make them and that ended as most of our dinner.

Ebi Sushi and Cucumber Small Maki

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Rice Vinegar, Japanese Cucumber and Fresh Prawns)

Japanese Cucumber and Crab Stick Mayonnaise Salad

Crab Stick Small Maki and Kani Salad Gunka Sushi

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Crab Stick and Mayonnaise)

27 Feb 10 (Sat) - Chicken with Bamboo Shoots (Ayam Ponteh)

Spending the weekend at my sis’s place again and decided to try out my latest recipe from the Paranakan Cuisine course - Ayam Ponteh (Chicken with Bamboo Shoots). Overall comment of the dish was good.

Ayam Ponteh - Chicken with Bamboo Shoots

(Chicken, Bamboo Shoots, Chinese Mushrooms, Garlic and Shallots)

Ingredients:

10 chicken wings

5g salt to marinate chicken wings
10ml dark soya sauce to marinate chicken wings
20ml cooking oil
30g chopped garlic
30g shallots cut into small pieces
1.5ltr water
80g sliced bamboo shoots
150g shitake mushrooms

Seasoning Ingredients:
15g sugar
1/2 chicken cube
10ml oyster sauce
A dash of white pepper
10g light soya sauce
20g yellow bean paste

Method:
1. Marinate chicken wings with salt and dark soya sauce for half an hour
2. Lightly fried the sliced bamboo shoots till golden
3. Heat up oil in a pot and saute the chicken wings with garlic and shallots untill frangrant
4. Add water and seasoing ingredients with bamboo shoots and mushrooms
5. Simmer untill the gravy becomes thick for around 20min in low heat
6. Ensure the chicken wings are cooked

22 Feb 10 (Mon) – SoEZ Lesson 3 (Paranakan)

Was on leave today again since last Friday and decided to go for another cooking lesson since I have the time and also I could get more discounts since it’s my birthday month. Since I had gone for Japanese Cuisine last Friday, so today went for the Chinese Paranakan Cuisine instead. Registered for the 2:30pm class and again as it was a weekday afternoon class, there were only four of us, two Caucasian ladies, one Chinese lady and myself. The instructor for the day was Chef Steven Low and he was equally friendly. Though not as humorous as Chef Kent, he was more fatherly type. He guided us through the cooking and we had fun on the whole. Compared to Japanese Cuisine, Paranaka Cuisine was more complicated and required more ingredients. The Chinese lady, named D, was also a foodie and loves to cook. Before the lesson began, she was asking me about how the class was like coz I had been here several times. So chatted with her and she suggested exchanging numbers so that we could go for cooking class together in future. During lesson, she asked Chef Low a lot of questions and even after class, she stayed back for a while to ask more questions.

Udang Masak Nanas (Prawns with Pineapple)

Sayur Lodeh (Vegetables Curry)

Ayam Ponteh (Chicken with Bamboo Shoots)

21 Feb 10 (Sun) - Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

Found a recipe on Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake from the internet and psycho my sis’s SIL to try with me. She was better at baking and pastry and also has a lot of baking equipment. Followed the steps closely and prayed that the end product would turn out well. The conclusion of the end product was that the cake itself tastes good; the topping was a bit too runny and sweet though. However, after leaving the cake in the fridge overnight, it turned out that the topping became sticky and not so sweet.

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients A (Chocolate cake):

188g corn oil

1 cups of castor sugar
1/2 can of evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a folk
1 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Combine castor sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla extract and corn oil in a bowl
2. Stir till well blended over low heat until sugar is dissolved, off fire and keep warm
3. Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cold evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mix
4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl then pour the egg mixture over the flour and stir till well mix (cake batter should be runny)
5. Heat up the steamer
6. Lined and greased a 9 inch baking pan or 2 9'inch sandwich pan
7. Pour the batter into prepared pan and place the pans into the steamer and cover the top of the pan loosely with a piece of aluminum foil
8. Steam over medium heat for 45min
9. Cold the cake in pan before turning out for further decoration


Ingredients B (Chocolate topping):
1/2 can of condense milk
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 cup corn oil
1/6 cup cocoa powder, sifted
A dash of salt

Method:
1. Combine the sifted cocoa powder, condense milk and oil
2. Stir over low heat till thickens (stirring all the time)
3. Add in salt and vanilla extract
4. Cold the chocolate topping a little before spreading on the cold cake

Credit to Yochana's Cake Delight - http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com/2006/06/steam-moist-chocolate-cake.html

19 Feb 10 (Fri) – SoEZ Lesson 2 (Jap)

Took leave today for cooking lesson coz I need to clear leave anyway. Went for another Japanese Cuisine course at 3pm so that after lesson, I could meet up with sis and BIL to hitch a ride back to their house to spend the weekend. As it was a weekday afternoon lesson, so there were only three persons in the class, a couple and myself. The instructor was Chef Kent Seah and he remembered me from the previous lesson. Today we were taught Gindara Nitsuke (Poached Cod Fish), Yaki Udon and Teapot Soup. Didn’t bring back the soup coz Chef said it doesn’t taste nice after it cooled. So all of us sat down and sipped our soup after the lesson ended early than the scheduled time. After lesson, took a bus to Raffles Place to meet up with sis and waited for BIL to knock off before going back to his place. Took photos of my creations before letting the rest of them sampled the food.

Gindara Nitsuke - Poached Cod Fish

Yaki Udon

16 Feb 10 (Mon) - Japanese Curry, Steamed Egg Cake (鸡蛋糕) & Stewed Fish Maw - Hokkien Style

Tried out the Japanese Curry today and not many knew how to appreciate coz unlike our normal curry, Japanese Curry has a sweet taste. Added more golden curry paste therefore the color was slightly darker and tasted spicier than the original recipe. Besides cooking that, also tried out a cake recipe given my my sis’s SIL - Steamed Egg Cake (鸡蛋糕). Used my sis’s steam oven for it and the results wasn’t good coz the base of the cakes were still damp. As for dinner, tried out another recipe that I got from The Momster's Kitchen - Stewed Fish Maw (Hokkien Style) - on top of the other dishes that my sis prepared.

S&B Golden Curry Paste (Hot) and House Java Curry Paste (Med Hot)

Japanese Curry

(Golden Curry Paste, Java Curry Paste, Cooking Sake, Plum Sauce, Idaho Potatoes, Large Onion and Carrot)

Steamed Egg Cake (鸡蛋糕)

(Self-rising Flour, Eggs and Fine Sugar)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
120g fine sugar
120g self-rising flour
(Note: if using plain flour, add in ¼ cup of 7-up)

Method:
1.  Mixed all the ingredients together and beat till they turn white
2.  Pour into foil cups
3.  Steam at 100 degree celsius for 30min

Stewed Fish Maw - Hokkien Style

(Fish Maw, Crab Meat, Dried Scallop and Carrot)

Ingredients:

1 packet fish maw, soak in water till soft
Some chopped garlic
A few dried scallops
1 carrot, cut into thin strips
1 packet frozen crab meat
1 chicken cube to make chicken stock with 500ml water
Salt , sesame oil and pepper to taste
1 tbsp Hsiao Hsing Wine
Cornstarch for thickening

Method:
1.  Heat oil in pan, sautee the garlic till fragrant
2.  Add in carrot and stir-fried for a minute
3.  Pour in the chicken stock and add in fish maw. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes or till fish maw is soft
4.  Season with salt and pepper and a dash of sesame oil. Add in the Hsiao Hsing Wine
5.. Thicken the stewed fish maw with cornstarch. Served hot with a dash of black vinegar

14 Feb 10 (Sun) – CNY Lunch

For the past three years, during the first day of the Lunar New Year, I would cook lunch and waited for my sis and her family as well as my elder niece and her dad to come and eat before leaving with my sis back to her house to spend the rest of the Lunar New Year. This year, however, there had been a change. My sis shifted from her HDB flat to a condominium and so BIL suggested that I cooked the CNY lunch at his place and invite my elder niece and her dad over.

Started preparing the ingredients bright and early after breakfast with some help from my sis. Started cooking around 10+am and only finished just in time my elder niece and her dad reached. Cooked sushi, breaded prawns, vegetables with abalone and BIL made grilled chicken. Overall comments on the food was good and was especially happy when my elder niece, M, enjoyed the food.

Bull-Dog Plum Sauce and Mizkan Rice Vinegar

Akita Komachi Japanese Rice

Mizkan Cooking Sake and Ajinomoto Japanese Mayonnaise

Breaded Prawns, Fried Bread Crumbs, California Maki, Small Maki and Hand Rolls

Hand Rolls

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Rice Vinegar, Japanese Cucumber, Avocado, Ebiko, Crab Stick and Mayonnaise)

Breaded Prawns

(Glass Prawns, Egg, Corn Flour and Bread Crumbs)

California Maki and Small Maki

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Rice Vinegar, Japanese Cucumber, Avocado, Ebiko, Crab Stick and Mayonnaise)

24 Jan 10 (Sun) - SoEZ Lesson 1 (Jap)

It was late December 2009 when I followed my sis and her family to Great World City for a movie that I found out about SoEz Cooking Studio. Took a brochure from the reception counter, asked a few questions about the classes and registration before leaving. After a few weeks, I signed up for today’s Japanese Cuisine lesson. Usually Sunday means rest day and I won’t go out. However, chose today’s 4:30pm class was so that I could eat whatever I had cooked as dinner and whatever was leftover would become my lunch for tomorrow. For most of the afternoon, I was restless coz I kept thinking how the class would be conducted and if the instructor would be fierce.

Got there early, registered my attendance and the receptionist asked if I would like to join as member coz member gets 10% off for subsequent lessons and additional 20% on birthday month. So signed up since I could foresee that I would be going for more lessons. Today’s class consisted of five persons, a couple, a young girl, a Caucasian and myself. The instructor was Chef Kent Seah of Tetsu. It turned out that my worries were unnecessary. He was friendly and chatty. While teaching, he also joked and told us his learning during his younger days in Japan. We learnt three dishes: So Easy Japanese Curry Rice; Famous Tetsu Breaded Pork Loin (Rosu Katsu) and sushi. While making sushi, we were encouraged to use as much ingredients as we want. It was fun throughout the whole lesson.

After lesson was over, collected my goodie bag and headed home straight. Once back, took pictures of my creations before devouring them.

The welcome pack when signed up as SoEZ Cooking Studio member

So Easy Japanese Curry Rice (minus the rice)

Famous Tetsu Breaded Pork Loin, "Rosu Katsu"

(The Japanese Restaurant "Tetsu" signature dish)

California Temaki (Hand Rolls)

California Maki and Small Mak