Word of the Week: Rempah

Many people, my mom included, believe a good rempah can only be made using mortar and pestle.
A food processor is a strict no-no.

Rempah - I learned this word from a classmate in culinary school during our lesson on Malay cuisine.  Apparently a common term amongst Peranakans (Straits Chinese), Rempah is a Malay word used to describe the spice paste used in many dishes throughout Southeast Asia.

I've never been big on chillies and spicy food but the Chef who specialised in Malay cuisine changed my mind and palate, and I have a much deeper appreciation now for rempah. Here's a typical rempah recipe which I absolutely adore - the die-die-must-try sambal roast chicken. I have tested this dish and received good feedback from family and friends. It's worth every calorie count! See if this picture helps to entice you to try it.

And in view of the coming holidays, let me end on this note. The Little Drummer Boy knew something about rempah that others didn't. Hear ye, hear ye!

Come, they told me, pa-rempah-pum-pum
A new born King to see, pa-rempah-pum-pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa-rempah-pum-pum
To lay before the King, pa-rempah-pum-pum
Rempah-pum-pum, Rempah-pum-pum
So to honour Him, pa-Rempah-pum-pum
When we come.

Practical Exams: Steamed Chicken Leg & Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms and Chestnut

Steamed chicken leg. Low interest = no practise = panic!

No one told me this was to be included in the practical as well! Alamak!

I walked into school this morning feeling somewhat anxious about the practical exams as I had not really practised on the dish. Even though today was the last day of school, I could not quite feel relaxed yet because of the exams. To make matters worse, I realised an hour before that we would be tested on two dishes, not one! How could I have missed that? Super blurr!

The first dish is Chinese steamed chicken leg which I have some fair idea of the process but was concerned about how to debone it. At midnight last night, I googled "How to debone a chicken thigh". I saw a video on Youtube of a youth showing off his deboning skills to his hostel mates so I figured it can't be all that difficult, and all I needed was more confidence.

The second dish - stewed chicken in mushroom and chestnut - was not one of my favourites during class and so I didn't pay too close attention to it. In fact, I didn't even blog about it so you can tell it figured very low on my personal radar. So naturally, my heart skipped when I realised this was also to be included in the exams! In complete honesty, I thought about whether I should pretend to suddenly fall sick, LOL. I think I understand better what my children go through everyday in school now. 

Being in kindergarten, we were given 1.5 hours to complete these 2 dishes. I had to whisper a quick prayer for myself and told God that I would place my confidence in His goodness and grace and not on my limited skills.

At 12.15pm sharp, when the deadline was up, I presented both dishes to Chef. With a sense of pride in my work! Many things happened for me in those 90 minutes. I surpassed myself in deboning a chicken thigh, I had a better appreciation of the stew dish, and I learned to taste and adjust my seasoning as I went along in the dish preparation. There was a connection with the sauces and a new respect for each ingredient, never experienced before. Chef's previous comment on "You have no idea what a garlic means to me" came to mind. 

Chef checked on the colour and texture of my simmered sauce, then he cut a small piece of chicken and placed in his mouth and chewed slowly. With eyebrows raised, he smacked his lips and asked me what I thought as he ran his spoon under running water. I confidently said I personally liked the taste which was true. He said, "Some people may find your stew too dry especially if you don't serve it immediately. But I personally like stew this way. In fact, I like it alot. The flavour is well balanced. The sauce is not starchy. Colour is just right. Good work."

On the steamed leg, he almost choked, LOL. He said the ginger was too overpowering and advised me to cut down on that next time. He had to reach for some water immediately! Everything else was good, the gelatin was flavorful, the chicken was properly blanched, steamed, deboned, chopped and presented. So I scored 28/30 marks for practical, and for yesterday's oral, I scored full marks. 

One actually learns even while taking exams!

Culinary Kindergarten Graduation

Today, I graduated from Culinary Kindergarten. There was a strong sense of nostalgia in the room since we had spent so much time together for the past 2 months. I was asked to represent my class to give a little farewell speech. Surprisingly for a critic like me, I was amazingly complimentary of the school, the course and the overall experience.

I created a little photo slideshow to reflect on our time here in at-Sunrice Global Chef Academy and to have a collection of the main dishes we learned to make. The school arranged for this to be shown at the farewell ceremony and it was well received.

Question now for me personally is, what next.

A free slideshow by Smilebox

Oral exams on moist heat cooking

How many of these can you answer?

1. Name 3 types of moist heat cooking.

2. Name 2 types of cooking that combine dry heat and moist heat.

3. Name 3 differences between braising and stewing.

4. What is the difference between poaching, simmering and boiling?

5. Name 2 advantages of moist heat cooking.

6. Name 2 disadvantages of moist heat cooking.

7. How do you prevent nutrients from being lost in the liquid in moist heat cooking?

8. What are the characteristics of a steamed fish?

9. What are the considerations for selecting cooking liquid for moist heat?

10. What is a sous vide?

Look at what the pastry students did today!

I always like to sniff and snoop around after class and today is no exception. I'm usually rewarded with some interesting sights for which I can practise more food photography. The last time I saw the students bake Callah bread - I managed to get the recipe from Chef and I'm going to try it and let you know how it goes.

But look at my catch today!! These pastry classes are damn happening!

And now, the end is near...

and so I face, the final curtain....

Next week today will be our last day in this culinary kindergarten course. We will also be having oral exams and practical exams on the last day. I dread having to make a decision on what I will do next. I have many options - bum around in the guise of being a housewife and cooking for the family, continue in culinary school in kindergarten pastry or diploma in culinary or pastry, go look for work in a big professional kitchen ten times the size of the restaurant I interned in, find a restaurant internship overseas through a personal contact, sign up with a different culinary school, start my own business (in ??), or go back to a corporate role.

That was in order of preference!

Many ideas brewing but no clear direction as yet. God is the giver of creative ideas.

"101 things I learned in culinary school"

My husband picked this book up from a local bookstore about a year ago.
12 months ago, I had zero interest in cooking, and today, all I can think of is
about ingredients and recipes. How strange life takes its turns.

Interesting, useful and practical tips presented in simple one-pagers.

And the difference between sauteing and stir-fry again is?

I totally believe this now, and I think it applies to canned tomatoes too!

Do you like this? We are more connected in this universe than we think.

Oral and practical exams today on dry heat cooking

My submission for practical exams on golden brown deep-fried dory fillet.
After passing the colour test, my heart stopped for a second as Chef cut
open to check the doneness. It's an immediate fail if the fish is uncooked.

Chef took a bite, pondered, squeezed some lemon juice over it and took
another bite. He asked me to taste it, and went on to ask what I thought.
(Shouldn't he be telling me??) I said, I would pay to eat this.
Honestly, that was what I felt! He smiled and said, You're done
here. Clean up your station and go.

We were divided into 2 groups, the first group of 8 went into the kitchen for practical while the second group of 7 was sent to the classroom for an oral exam on the theory of dry heat cooking. I was in the first group. We were given an hour to produce a golden brown deep-fried dory fillet. We had a chance to practise this last week - see earlier post. This I think is the equivalent of giving an intern 3 luxurious hours to research on a piece of work to produce a good press release. I decided to take my time and not rush since any mistakes would be costly and any damaged ingredients are not replaceable.

Chef is expecting to see a few things from us at every stage and I have this mental checklist in my head as I go along:

1. How we flour, eggwash and bread the fillet. Tap off excess flour so you don't get a heavy batter. Flour it enough to absorb moisture from fish so there is no water and no splatter when you dip it into the oil. Flouring correctly also gives you a nice crisp texture when you bite into it. In the photo above, Chef checks for thickness of my flouring. Can't really tell what he thinks of it!

2. Colour - golden brown is a sign of good heat control. The oil temperature should be between 175-190C. You can use a thermometer to be sure but I have also been taught to observe movements in the oil and small bubbles (or lazy bubbles as Chef calls it). One way to test if the oil is ready is to throw a few bits of bread crumbs in there. If it sizzles, it's ready. If it just floats there like nothing is happening, the oil is not ready. If you see smoke, the oil is too hot and you should reduce the heat and wait a while before putting in the fish. To reduce heat, you can add oil, or remove pot from fire or turn off fire. Then start the process again, looking for lazy bubbles. If the oil is too hot, you will get dark brown fillet immediately while the inside is still not cooked.

Having this knowledge has helped me overcome my fear of working on open fire with so much oil, and gives me a better sense of control. I'm a woman, I always need my sense of control! I also have a better appreciation and higher acceptance level of deep-fried now. If done properly, they are not soggy and greasy and disgusting!

So, overall, I'm delighted that I'm really learning. With each session, I gain more confidence in the kitchen and I'm happy I've made peace with an old enemy called deep-fry. The ultimate beneficiaries of this new skill, I suspect, are the kids. They can now have home-made KFC without me nagging at the ill-effects.

Now for the oral exams, here are some of the questions I can recall on dry heat cooking methods. Can you answer them?

1. What is the purpose of pre-heating an oven?

2. Name 3 types of heat transfers.

3. What is the purpose of basting?

4. What is the purpose of flouring?

5. What is smoking point?

6. Why is it you should not carve meat that's just out of the oven?

7. Why should you deep-fry food in small batches rather than all at once?

Saying sorry to Chef

Since I wrote about Kitchen Politics a couple of weeks ago, there have been a few more dramas in the kitchen to entertain me when I have enough of cooking and cleaning. One major outburst of loud wails and tears, one woman-to-woman claw-to-claw catfight, a faithfully latecomer to ruffle Chef's feathers and the daily gossips to spice the morning breaks.

Today Chef got so mad with the class he walked out on us. Stubborn refusal to take and follow simple instructions, insisting on doing things our own way, not adhering to safety standards and endangering others in the process - these were some of the things that irked him. In the session this morning, he spelt out very clearly, Prepare the mise en place, don't cut anything, don't pound anything. I will teach you every step. When he came back 5 minutes later, there was serious mortar pounding going on. He blew his top and decided we were smart enough to do our own cooking and he walked out, leaving 15 astonished kindergarten kids to ourselves. Everyone froze and all activities stopped abruptly.

I broke the silence and suggested to Sous Chef of the day and her assistant, the Sanitarium, to apologise on behalf of the class and ask him to come back to the kitchen. They were hesitant, so I decided to do it, and they followed after me. I chased Chef down the corridor and humbly apologised to him. Sous Chef adopted a begging approach - Please la, Chef, please, please - which I did not want to be a part of.

I repeated my apology for the unacceptable behaviour of the class. I could not promise him it wouldn't happen again. It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. Because some of them are experienced in the kitchen, they are pretty set on how things are done. I guess it is easier for virgin chefs like me as I have nothing to unlearn. I can't cut an ingredient my own way 'cos I don't know how to cut it in the first place, LOL.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the day did eventually turn out well as you can see in my earlier posting. The sambal roast chicken was extremely succulent!

The beauty of this episode is it generated many other classroom stories from my children when I shared it with them. You ask them, How's your day in school? And you get a nonchalant, Ya, ok. But hearing my story sparked off a chain of contributions, with everyone clamouring to get more air time to talk. Make time for your children, and watch them make your day.

What practical exams look like for the diploma students

A die-die-must-try recipe: Sambal Roasted Chicken

Sambal Roasted Chicken: already half-cooked using dry, direct heat and now
second half to be roasted in the oven for half an hour at 180C. 

Lesson on dry heat continues today with Malay cuisine. Today's 2 dishes are Sambal Roasted Chicken and Sambal Ayam Bunga Kantan (Spicy Chicken with Ginger Flower). I wasn't super thrilled hearing the recipe and dragged my feet on preparing the mise en place but when the sambal (spice paste) started simmering in the pot, it had my full, undivided attention. The aroma filled the entire school! Our class of 15 agreed unanimously this is by far the best recipe we have tasted since joining this course, and I strongly recommend for you to try it. It's worth your every calorie count.

Here are pictures of most of the ingredients we used.

Galangal, also known as blue ginger or lengkuas.
It's stronger than ginger.

Candlenut or Buah Keras. Looks like macademia. It has no
flavour and is used as a natural thickening agent.

Kaffir lime leaves, also commonly found in Thai cuisine

Dried chilli. Soak in water and boil to soften.

Fresh red chilli

Fresh Garlic

Belachan or dried shrimp paste. Pungent and very salty but will add another layer of flavor to your food.
1 tsp for every 300g chicken

Fresh Shallots

Coriander seeds. We pounded this on the mortar to get coriander powder. I strongly recommend that you buy the powder!

Gula melaka or palm sugar, ie, hard sugar from coconut palm.
Good ingredient to add if your paste gets too salty.

Ginger flower or bunga kantan, also used in local rojak and laksa.
Slice diagonally and thinly. 

Turmeric powder

Top tips for a good spice paste in Malay cuisine from Chef:

1. You must have enough oil to cover all the paste when in pot. This is important in Malay cuisine. Don't be afraid of using too much oil!

2. Heat must be medium to low so as not to burn the paste.

3. Don't stir too often. Stir and let rest. The paste needs time to simmer and release the oil for aroma and taste.

4. Every part of the paste must be sizzling.

Paste is all covered in oil. 

There is a shine in the paste, meaning, oil is released. A good sign.

Don't be afraid to see oil. It gives out good aroma and flavour. " Fat gives flavour, " Julia Child.

I abandoned all notions of healthy eating for this culinary adventure.

It's worth every calorie count.

When half done, we popped it in the oven to roast for another half hour at 180C. It should look somewhat charred and "dried up" after 30 minutes.

It was supposed to be food tasting but there was nothing left after 10 minutes. The class loved this dish!

Moist inside.

I tried to plate it while others were attacking the food savagely.
On the left is sambal roast chicken, right is spicy chicken with ginger flower.

So finally, here's the recipe for both dishes. Perfect for Hari Raya next week. Ingredients are similar but the taste is distinctly different and yummilicious!

A. Sambal Roast Chicken

Ingredient:

One whole chicken cut into half. Use kampung or free range chicken.

2 inches galangal slices

4 lime leaves

2 stalks lemongrass, bruised

200ml coconut milk (or santan)

3-6 Tbsp cooking oil

1 Tbsp gula melaka or palm sugar

1.5tsp salt

Spice paste:

8 dried red chillies, seeded and soaked to soften

6 shallots

3 garlic cloves

1.5 inch ginger

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin 

Method:

1. Roast coriander and cumin to release oil and aroma.

2. Pound all spice paste ingredients together to a fine paste. Set aside.

3. Heat oil in pan. Stir-fry spice paste until fragrant, about 10 min. 

4. Add coconut milk, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, salt and gula melaka. Stir well. Add chicken and cook for about 15-20 min over simmering heat, turning a few times until it's half-cooked. (Skin will blister and separate from meat).

5. Preheat oven to 180C

6. Transfer chicken to a roasting pan and pour sauce over it.

7. Roast for 30 min or until browned. Ready to serve.

B. Spicy Chicken with Ginger Flower (Sambal Ayam Bunga Kantan)

Ingredients:

600g boneless chicken legs cut into bite-sized pieces

10 shallots thinly sliced

8 dried chillis soaked in warm water, seeded

6 fresh chilli

8 garlic cloves

5 candlenut

5 lime leaves

4-6 Tbsp cooking oil

2 Tbsp water

2 tsp belachan (dried shrimp paste)

2 stalks ginger flower, thinly sliced

0.5 tsp turmeric powder

0.5 cup tamarind juice (or assam) - for colour, taste and texture. 

0.5 tsp coriander powder

Method:

1. Pound candlenut, chilli, shallots, red onion and shrimp paste in a mortar to fine paste

2. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat, stirring regularly so as not to burn, and until fragrant. Add tamarind juice to fluff up the paste

3. Add chicken and lime leaves. Continue cooking, stirring regularly until chicken is done, about 10 mins. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Lastly, add the sliced ginger flower, cook for 5 mins.

4. Transfer to serving plate. Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy and Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri!

Achieving my "wok-hei"

Can you sense my "wok-hei"? Chef said I achieved some wok-hei but I cooked the rice too long and it's a bit too dry.

Anyone can do a Yangzhou Chao Fan (Chinese Fried Rice), right? Wrong. Not if you want to get it perfect anyway. Just like the omelette, this is one of those easy-to-make, hard-to-master dishes. 

A perfect Chao Fan must have the following:

1. Rice is moist but do not stick. 

2. Each grain is a whole grain, not broken, and not lumped together.

3. You can taste the white pepper.

4. It must have "wok-hei"!

Literally translated from Cantonese, it means "the wok's air", or as I personally like to express as - the breath of the wok. Hei in Hebrew means air or smell and in the bible, it means the breath of God. God breathed "Hei" into Abram and his name became Abraham. 

Wok-hei is the flavour, taste and essence imparted by a hot wok on food during stir-frying. It is particularly important for Chinese dishes requiring high heat for fragrances such as Char Kway Teow (fried rice sticks) and fried rice.

To impart wok hei, the food must be cooked in a wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly. For this reason it requires cooking over an open flame. In practical terms, the flavour imparted by chemical compounds results from caramelization and the partial combustion of oil that come from charring and searing of the food at very high heat in excess of 200 °C (392 °F). Aside from flavour, there is also the texture of the cooked items and smell involved that describes wok hei. (source: Wikipedia)

So the key words here are "high flame" and "toss quickly". Chef from Hunan gave us a demo and I tried to catch it on pictures here but she was too fast for me. See these for what they're worth.

This woman is incredibly strong, to lift and toss that giant of a wok, and with her weaker hand!

Her rice seemed to be in the air more than on the wok. Frequent flyer rice!

She even taught us how to fold the piece of cloth in her hand for maximum protection and leverage. 

It was such a treat to watch her. The ooos and aahhs stopped when she said, OK, now your turn. Gulp!

This is Chef's wok-hei fried rice. 

Loose grains each standing on its own.

To achieve wok-hei fried rice, here are the top tips from Chef:

1. Use overnight rice. Chill it. Cold rice is less sticky.

2. Boil rice in pot rather than use a rice cooker. Rice from rice cooker tends to be wet at the bottom and dry at the top.

3. Ensure rice is gently loosened before going into the wok. "Don't kill the rice" is what she kept yelling, meaning, don't use a sharp ladle to cut the grains. That will release the starch and make them sticky. Instead, use back of ladle to press gently.

4. Wok must be hot before the oil goes in, and oil must be hot before the rice goes in.

5. Toss quickly and fully. 

I want to run off to Chen Fu Ji to taste their $25 fried rice now!