Chinese New Year Cooking Demo ToTT by Chef Eric Low

Last Sunday, I was invited by OpenRice (Singapore) to attend their first cooking demo class with ToTT (Tools of the Trade) on the Chinese New Year Workshop - Good Fortune, conducted by Chef Eric Low. Despite of the gloomy and raining weather, all participants were still very excited about the class and everyone were also eager to pick up some tips and cooking skill from Chef Eric.

The three hours cooking class was indeed a fun and fruitful one with Chef Eric whom is humorous and knowledgeable with his answers during the class. Although there was no hands-on but Chef Eric makes every little details visible thru two big TV screen in front of the class where we could get a good view of the ingredients plus steps during cooking process.

TOTT BISTRO

During that day, all OpenRice members who signed up for the cooking class were entitled to a complimentary lunch at ToTT Bistro before the class. And during Chinese Lunar New Year period they also offers New Year menu starting from S$7.90 each.

For appetizer: Chicken Wing And Mushroom Medley Spring Roll

Main Course: Pan Fried Dory With Sauteed Mushrooms, Vegetables and Spicy Tomato Sauce

Main Course: Chicken Chop With Mushroom Sauce, Fries and Coleslaw

Dessert: Tempura Durian and Lemongrass Jelly

Before the demo class, Chef Eric Low gives a brief introduction of himself plus a description of the three dishes that he is sharing during the class.

There is also a cozy beverage corner at the back of the class for participants to enjoy complimentary coffee/tea during the break or class.

CRISPY FISH FILLET WITH CARAMELIZED
SHALLOTS AND BASIL LEAVES

The first dish that Chef Eric starts with was "Crispy Fish Fillet with Caramelized Shallots and Basil Leaves". It was something simple and yet full of flavour where you get a nice aromatic taste from the Thai Basil used.

Chef Eric also shared with us that if Thai Basil is not available, the next closer herbs to replace would be "curry leave". And if you wish to get a nice golden crispy crust on the fish, add in some egg whites to marinate the fillet together with ground pepper and salt before dusting it with corn starch and deep-fried.

Recipe by Chef Eric Low | Serves: 4

Ingredients:
420g Fish Fillets (Sea Bass / Dory Fish)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Potato Starch for dusting
Oil for Deep-frying

Sauce:
3 Tablespoons Extra Oil
40g Whole Garlic, thickly sliced
100g Whole Shallots
20g Ginger
5g Dried Chilies
15g Sugar
4 Tablespoons Water
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soya Sauce
10g Thai Basil Leaves

Directions:-
1. Dust sea bass fillet with potato starch and deep-fry in hot oil till crispy

2. Heat oil in pan and saute garlic and shallots till golden brown. Add ginger, dried chilies and sugar. Cook till aromatic and sugar caramelizes slightly.

3. Pour in oyster sauce, two soya sauces and add fish fillets and basil. Toss evenly and transfer to heated claypot and serve.

STEAM GINGER MARINATED CHICKEN WITH
JIN HUA HAM AND MUSHROOMS

Dish 2 had two of my favourite ingredients such as Chicken Leg and Mushrooms that sandwich in between a slice of "Jin Hua Ham (金华火腿)" which is the most famous dry-cured meat product in Asian ingredients. Jin Hua Ham can be very salty but on the other hand it has an unique flavour that helps to enhance the dish. If you cant find Jin Hua Ham (which most properly available only during Chinese New Year) the next alternative replacement would be the Italian Parma Ham.

My mum suggested since she is not a fan of any "ham" products, she would replicate this dish using Chinese Perserved Sausage (腊肠) instead of Jin Hua Ham.

Recipe by Chef Eric Low | Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soya Sauce
12 Slices Ginger, finely sliced
400g Boneless Chicken Leg, cut into 4cm dices
1/2 Teaspoon Coarse Ground Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

For Assembly:
12 Pieces Jin Hua Ham (金华火腿), sliced
12 Pieces Chinese Dried Mushrooms, soaked and stalks trimmed
Dried Lotus Leaves, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes

For Garnishing:
Dash of Shaoxing Huatiao Wine (花雕酒)
Coriander Leaves (芫荽)

Directions:-
1. Marinate chicken with the rest of ingredients for an hour.

2. Arrange chicken on a steaming plate lined with lotus leaves. Alternate each piece of chicken with a slice of ham and a piece of mushroom.

3. Steam chicken for 20 minutes. Serve chicken with a dash of wine and coriander leaves over rice.

LONGEVITY NOODLES WITH SUPERIOR
STOCK AND QUAIL EGGS

Longevity Noodles is one of my favourite noodle dish during Chinese New Year or Lunar Birthday (recipe) where we cook it in sweet version and served together with hardboiled eggs. Here Chef Erics Longevity Noodles with Superior stock and Quail Eggs is something different from how we usually cooked it at home. He actually cooks the sauce and noodles separately which makes it a great ideas to serve this dish during Chinese New Year where most of  guests would arrive in different timing. In this way, the accompany sauce would not dry up easily and also the noodles wont get soggy too.

Mum and I already bookmark this recipe to cook for our guest during Chinese New Year but instead of Longevity Noodles, we replace it with Ee Fu Noodles for majority preference.

Recipe by Chef Eric Low | Serves: 4

Ingredients:
400g Longevity Noodles
6 Tablespoons Oil For Cooking
1 Teaspoon Chopped Garlic
200g Pork Loin/Fillet, sliced
30g Dried Shitake Mushrooms, sliced
100g Chinese Yellow Chives (韭黃), cut into 2cm lengths
1 Litre Water
3 Tablespoons Concentrated Chicken Or Scallop Stock
2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
12 Pieces Prawns, peeled
200g Bean Sprouts
Cornstarch for Thickening
12 Pieces Quail Eggs, hard boiled and peeled

Directions:-
1. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch noodles for 5 - 10 minutes until tender. Refresh in cold water and set aside.

2. Heat oil in wok, saute garlic till fragrant. Add pre-marinated pork slices (marinate with dash of MAGGI Seasoning Sauce and 1 tablespoon cornstarch) and cook briefly. Stir in mushrooms and Chinese Chives and saute for 2 minutes.

3. Pour in water and bring to boil. Season with concentrated stock and oyster sauce. Add prawns and bean sprouts. Thicken sauce slightly with some cornstarch.

4. Return noodles and quail eggs to boiling for a quick blanch. Transfer to serving plate and pour sauce over noodles.

ToTT Store
896 Dunearn Road #01-01A,
Singapore 589472
Telephone: (65)6219 7077
Website: www.tottstore.com

Operation Hours:
11.00am - 9.00pm (Monday - Friday)
10.00am - 9.00pm (Weekends And Public Holidays)


Lastly I would like to thank Estelle from OpenRice (Singapore) and ToTT for the demo cooking invitation. For more cooking class and discount through OpenRice Members, you could take a look at their website here. Or you could also browse through ToTT cooking class schedules at their website here.

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BREAKING NEWS Food Wishes Has Been Acquired by Allrecipes!

It is with tremendous pride and gratitude that I announce Food Wishes has been acquired by Allrecipes.com. Not only is this tremendously good news on a personal level, but it also means joining forces with the worlds number one digital food brand.

While I’ve done a decent job of growing the brand, I’m very much looking forward to having our content in front of a new, significantly larger audience, and that’s exactly what this makes possible.

If you’re worried this move is going to result in fewer, or differently formatted videos, relax. If anything, this move allows me the freedom to produce more content than ever before, and this was one of the main reasons I decided to take the deal.

A million thanks for all your amazing support and generosity. This would not, could not, have happened without you. Stay tuned!

Click here to read the official company press release!

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Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant At Gardens By The Bay

Located below the Flower Dome (gardens by the bay), Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant is a newest venture for Chef Yong Bing Ngen. The 110 seater restaurant offers a spacious layout for both family and group dining as well as a private room that can occupy up to 14 guests. With its must try Signature Bays Kopi Crab and Baked Rice and Assorted Seafood in Chef’s Recipe Sauce, below are some of the dishes that we have tried two weeks ago.

For starter, we get to try 3 selections of Dim Sum items from their menu which are Seared Chilli Crab Meat Bun, Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork and Steamed Siew Mai Dumpling. The Chilli Crab Meat Bun was good with a crispy outer skin and nutty flavour from the sesame seeds. When bite, it burst with a spicy sweet chilli crab sauce which makes you having no intention to share the rest of the bun with those sitting at your table.

On the other hand, the Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork is surprisingly good with a thin layer of outer skin wrapping the meat filling and tasty soup broth.

Seared Chilli Crab Meat Bun - 辣椒蟹生煎包 (S$4.50 for 3 pcs)

Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork - 上海小笼包 (S$4.20 for 3 pcs)

Steamed Siew Mai Dumpling - 香菇蒸烧卖 (S$4.50 for 4 pcs)

Being a Cantonese styled restaurant, Majestic Bay offers quite a range of soup menu from Soup Of The Day - 瓦煲老火汤 (S$18.00 for 2-4 pax, S$27.00 for 5-8 pax) to Chicken soup with cordyceps flower, conpoy and chinese ham or Bird nest with abalone and assorted seafood treasure soup and etc. And as as soup lover, I definitely love their double-boiled soup which was boiled over low heat till thick and flavorsome. 

Steamed, Live Prawns, Minced Garlic - 金银蒜蒸开边生虾 (Market price) uses fresh live prawns that are being shelled and butterfly in order to reduce the cooking time as well as making it easier for guests to enjoy the dish without dirtying the fingers to shell the prawns. Overall the prawns were sweet and fresh but the minced garlic taste was a bit strong towards my liking.

The Bay’s Signature “Kopi” Sauce Live Crab - 冠华咖啡焗肉蟹 (market price) used Sri Lankan Mud Crab which was prepared using 3 different types of coffee beans such as Arabica, Brazilian and White Coffee together with Apple Jam, Butter and Shaoxing wine to achieve a caramelized taste. When the crab was presented on the table,  the serving staff will pour Shaoxing wine and coffee liquor over it and light up the crab to creating a "Fire Crab" effect sending coffee aroma into the air.

But although I am a coffee lover I still prefer salted egg crab as compared to this.

{MUST TRY} Baked Rice, Assorted Seafood, Chef’s Recipe Sauce - 海鲜大烩焗饭 (S$68.00 for 4-6 pax, S$88.00 for 7-12 pax) is definitely the HIT for that night with the 7 of us all agreed and raising our hands crowing it the best dish fellow by their signature Bays Kopi Sauce Crab.

According to Janice, this dish was inspired by one of the popular Portuguese dish Chef Yong sampled in Macau and he adapted the recipe for local palate. The plate of seafood baked rice was indeed filled with treasures such as baby abalone, scallops, mussels, prawns and etc that topped with spiced cream sauce and generous amount of mozzarella cheese. Overall the dish reminded us of Paella but with a hint of spicy Japanese Curry taste that blend well with the sauce and make the whole dish very addicting.

{MUST TRY} Pan-fried Radish Cake With Prawns and XO Chilli Sauce - 极品酱鲜虾萝卜糕 (S$20.00; S$30.00) was one of the highlight for that night. Although this dish might be pricey as compared to those served in foodcourts or dim sum restaurants but with generous amount of shelled prawns and chunks of homemade radish cake that pair with their in-house XO chilli sauce. I am sure you wont want to give this a miss.

Sweet’s temptation (S$20.00) which suitable for 4 person includes Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Fresh Cream Stuffing; Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam Paste Stuffing (coated with shredded coconut); Steamed Custard Bun with Salted Egg Yolk and Bay’s Chinese Pancake with Red Bean Paste.

Although their Salted Egg Custard Bun taste great with soft outer skin and savory filling but my personal preference goes to their Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam Paste Stuffing and Bay’s Chinese Pancake with Red Bean Paste. Love the crispy outer skin of the Chinese Pancake which is not too oily and it goes well with the fragrance and smooth red bean paste.

Live Seafood (at market price) available for customers to view and select before cooking.

MAJESTIC BAY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Gardens By The Bay
Flower Dome, #01-10
Singapore 018953
Reservation: (65) 6604 6604
Website: http://majesticbay.sg/

OPERATING HOURS:
Lunch
Monday - Friday: 11:45am - 2:30pm
Saturday, Sunday And PH: 11.30am - 2:30pm

Dinner
5:45pm - 9:30pm


Lastly I would like to thank Majestic Bay and Janice and Sherman from foodnews for the invite tasting.

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Italian Rice Croquettes aka Rice Balls aka Arancini – Back by Popular Demand… Aunt Angela and Uncle Bill D’Arduini!

I just flew back from New York, and boy, are my jokes tired (as you’ll hear). So is everything else, and there’s no rest for the weary as I pack for a quick trip to see the team at Allrecipes.com in Seattle. So, time is short, and I’m posting this incredibly delicious Italian rice croquette recipe, sans extra wordy article.

There isn’t much to add anyway; what you see is what you get. This great appetizer was filmed at a recent family dinner at my Aunt Angela and Uncle Billy D’Arduini’s, and if they sound familiar, they should! They’ve been featured on the blog numerous times; in such smash hit recipes as, Cabbage Rolls, Chicken D’Arduini, and Homemade Pasta.

You can definitely do this recipe completely vegetarian, by skipping the giblets, or switch those out for almost any other cooked meat. Sausage, prosciutto, or ham are just a few of the many options.

When it comes to the rice, we used a standard long rain, and went with a 2 parts water to 1 part rice ratio. You want fully hydrated and completely cooked grain. Al dente rice is not going to work here. Slightly overcooked is not a problem.

Anyway, Id like to thank Aunt Angela and Uncle Bill for sharing their recipe, and I hope you can give it a try soon. It would be a great addition to any party menu. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

*Sorry, I never found out how many this makes, but I’m guessing about 70-80

2 pounds cooked chicken giblets (gizzards and hearts)

2 cups rice cooked in 4 cups salted water

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp parsley, optional

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 large eggs

1/2 cup marinara sauce

salt and pepper to taste

plain breadcrumbs, as needed

vegetable oil for frying

lemon wedges

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