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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NOYA Traditional Chinese New Year Cookies

Every year about a moth before Chinese New Year you would be able to see a lot of these so-called Chinese New Year cookies at bakeries, supermarkets and etc. This year we are delighted to receive some early New Year goodies from NOYA (Tai Sun (Lim Kee) Food Industries) which we could try out some of their products that are on sales at major local supermarkets such as Cold Storage, FairPrice, Giant and etc. 

Traditional Pineapple Tarts (380g | S$10.80/jar) with good balance of base and golden pineapple jam on top. We love the taste of the pineapple jam which is not too sweet and without those commercial artificial taste.

Rolled Pineapple Tarts (380g | S$10.80/jar) with good proportion of pastry to fillings and each is coated with golden glazed layer to enhance the buttery taste of the tarts. If to make a choice between the two types of Pineapple Tarts, my vote would goes to the one with pineapple jam on top of the pastry as I felt it taste much better compared to the rolled type.

Personally I love those round Almond cookies from Hong Kong or certain pastry shop whereby the cookie will melt in your mouth when eaten. But this Almond Delights (300g, | S$10.80/jar) from NOYA was rather special with a after taste of sweet and salty mixture that makes you crave for more. And for your information this is also one of NOYA bestselling signature cookies which made from Tai Suns premium USA Almond.

This Macadamia Delights (300g | S$11.80/jar) has a slight crunch on the outside and a lovely creamy texture inside which made from top-quality of macadamias nuts from Australia. Furthermore the few of us who had tried all comes to a conclusion that this cookie has a very special taste which is quite similar to Horlicks .

The Kueh Bangkek (250g | S$6.50/jar) on the other hand was rather a bit disappointed for my taste as I was expecting something more fragrance with those melt-in-mouth texture. Although it has a light pandan fragrant but I think the taste could be better in order to bring out that traditional taste.

Traditional Jade Delights (300g | S$8.90/jar)  are actually green peas cookies in pale green colour which resembles Jade. I love the nutty and buttery flavour which comes with hint of salty taste lingering in your mouth.

Ah-Ma Love Letters (400g | S$11.80/tin) comes in those old school tin can and each piece of the Love Letters are made with traditional recipe using cane sugar. Although they are light and flake but to us we think it still lack of some coconut fragrance.

Lastly I would like to thank Esther from Tai Sun who sent us these lovely NOYA traditional Chinese New Year Cookies.

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Celebrate Luna New Year With Tai Sun Nuts and Goodies

With Chinese Luna New Year getting closer, I believe everyone is busying with a list of  "must buy" ingredients, goodies, tidbits and etc in order to prepare and feed the guests who are coming over for new year house visiting.  This year, thanks to Tai Sun and 20twentypr for the early New Year goodies which definitely come in handy for us due to its wide selections of snacks for our guests.

The snacks are packed neatly inside this traditional bamboo basket which resemble those olden day (60s) food carrier or sort of like our modern picnic basket. And this unique basket is sure a keeper for me as my kid already hint for a picnic date with it soon on one of the weekend.

Macadamia Delight @ S$11.80 per jar (300g)
Rolled Pineapple Tarts @ S$10.80 per jar (380g)

Inside the bamboo basket, there are two tubs of Chinese New Year cookies from NOYA (under Tai Sun (Lim Kee) Food Industries too) such as Macadamia Delight and Rolled Pineapple Tarts which you can read more about them at my review post on NOYA products HERE.

Apart from the NOYA Chinese New Year cookies, there are also Roasted Cashew Nuts and Hei Bee Hiam Spring Rolls which are two of the popular snacks among guests.

On top of that, there are also some varieties of broad beans (satay and wasabi flavour) which are a great source of dietary fibre that helps to promote a healthy digestive system. For your information:- 100g of broad beans give you more fibre than eating 4 apples or 10 carrots.

Other than broad beans, Tai Sun also have other nuts products like roasted peanuts, cashew, almond and etc for your to select too. 

But if you are looking for something more towards nature flavour, perhaps Natures Wonders which has a premium range of nuts and dried fruits might suits your preference. Their products comes with good source of dietary fibre as well as rich in protein. Furthermore Natures Wonders products are naturally trans fat free with no added salt which makes it a healthy and high energy snack that helps you on the go!

So for this coming Chinese New Year if you are looking for some nuts or snacks to stock up for your guests perhaps you could take look at Tai Sun, NOYA or Natures Wonders range in leading supermarkets too.

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With Recipes Lunar New Year Lunch Gathering With Relatives

This year mum and I decided to do a combined New Year lunch gathering to invite our relatives over for a festive lunch. We hope to take this opportunity to get touch and mingle with everyone since we seldom get a chance to eat together as a big group during normal days of the year.

{Chinese New Year Gathering} Our Big Family! Photo Credit to Alvin @ http://mralvinlyt.tumblr.com/

As this was my first time cooking for 30 pax, I was pretty excited about the whole gathering and I also spent quite some time drafting the menu to cater for festive feel plus majority preference.  And thanks God, everything went on smooth with surplus of food and everyone has a wonderful family bonding time together too.

Gift For Our Neighbour

Beside the family gathering, every year we also prepared something as a token of appreciation for our neighbours. Being staying around my area for more than 10 years and we have two families of wonderful neighbours whom we always joke and chit chat whenever we see each other. And every year during Lunar New Year, Malay Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas season, we would exchange gifts and food together to soak in the festive atmosphere as well as appreciate each others culture and friendships.

FAMILY LUNCH GATHERING DURING
DAY 2 OF CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR

Above is my draft lunch menu which we also added a few last minute dishes in order to feed a group of 30 persons. And below are some foodporn of the dishes that we had during the lunch gathering.......

APPETIZER

{Appetizer} Spicy Top Shell

Since I dont really fancy top shell, I have limited ideas on how to create a dish using this. But mum on the other hand loves to use this as side dish (Chinese Salad) together with some onion, cucumber and spicy sauce. And to enhance the taste, mum also added in some small chilli (diced) and crashed roasted peanut which makes it taste similar to Thai-style salad.

(Preparation: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
3 Cans of Top Shell
2 Japanese Cucumber, skin removed
6 Calamansi (酸柑), halved and juice
6 Shallot, thinly sliced
1 Small Chilli, chopped
2 Tablespoons of Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, optional
Some Roasted Peanuts (optional), roughly chopped

Method:-
1. Rinse and drain the top shell, thinly sliced and set aside.

2. Cut the cucumber into halve, lengthwise then sliced 0.5cm thick diagonally.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix together top shell, cucumber, shallot, chilli, calamansi juice, chilli sauce and some freshly ground black pepper together.

4. Season the taste with more calamansi juice/chilli sauce, top it with some crashed peanuts before serving.

{Appetizer} Yogurt With Mixed Fruit Salad

For kids and those who dont like the Spicy Top Shell, I have prepared some Yogurt With Mixed Fruit Salad as alternative choice. This is a quick appetizer which you could easily whipped it up at home using assorted fruits of your choice like:- dragon fruit, apple, pear, avocado, orange, strawberry and etc. Mix the cut fruits with either flavoured yogurt or Greek yogurt for a thick and creamy texture. 

MAIN DISH

{Main} Mini Buddha Jumps Over The Wall

Buddha Jumps Over The Wall (佛跳牆) is made from numerous delicacies with more than 10 ingredients such as bamboo shoots, scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, mushrooms and etc. These ingredients are then simmered over low heat for many hours with just the right amount of heat to achieve the irresistible taste of this traditional dish.

But on our end, instead of making this soup dish from scratch we shorten the cooking process by using ready bought "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall" soup broth. On top of it, we add in extra ingredients like abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, scallops, chicken broth and etc to create our quick and easy Mini Buddha Jumps Over The Wall (迷你佛跳牆).

{Main} Longevity Noodles With Superior Broth

You might find this "noodle dish" familiar because I have shared the recipe in my previous post on the Chinese Cooking Demo by Chef Eric Low.  

For our version instead of using the traditional Longevity Noodles, we replaced it with Ee Fu Noodles and also add in Chinese Cabbage (Napa Cabbage) for extra sweetness.

{Main} Braised Pork Belly With Mushroom

To pair with the steamed white rice, mum specially prepared this pot of Braised Pork Belly With Mushrooms which is well received and gone within minutes too.

{Main} Stir-fry Sweet Peas with Leek And Carrot

A very "green veggie" dish that mum and I come up with using Sweet Peas, Celery, Chinese Leek, Mushrooms, Carrot, Wolfberries, Lily Buds and Chinese Preserved Sausage for extra seasoning flavour. Before serving, I also scattered some roasted cashew nuts on top for extra crunch too.  

{Main} Baked Honey Chicken With Rosemary

Instead of deep-fried chicken wings, I bought 2 kg of mid-joints to make 2 different recipes to cater for two groups of guests. First we had this Baked Honey Chicken With Rosemary which was savory and yet with hint of sweetness from the caramelized honey. Recipe can be found here. 

{Main} Korean Spicy Chicken Wings

Next for my cousins and aunties who are fans of Korean food and drama. I specially made this Korean Spicy Chicken Wings for them. Although mine were not as spicy and fiery as compared to those from Nene Chicken, but majority of them love my combi of using Gochujang paste, sesame seeds, grated ginger and etc which you could find my recipe here at one of my Korean Cooking Project post.

{Main} Hakka Style Rice Wine Chicken

Traditional Hakka Style Rice Wine Chicken (黄酒鸡 ) (my recipe) made by my mother-in-law who is a typical Hakka lady whom is good in culinary skill. She has a lot good traditional recipe on Hakka delicacy such as Abacus Seeds (recipe),  Steamed Pork Belly with Mui Choy (recipe), Soon Kueh and etc which I still learning and try to make it simple to share the recipes in my website with those who are keen in trying those dishes.

{Main} Homemade Assorted Mini Pizza

Everyone loves pizza especially those with lot of cheese and pipping hot ones that are just out from the oven. In order to speed the preparation and serve it hot, we used ready bought Pita Bread (thick crust) and Wholemeal Wraps (thin crust) from supermarket to use as the pizza base.

Its so fun creating our own pizza using ready bought pizza base (put in the fan-force oven for about 3 minutes till slightly crisp before use), pizza sauce (I used tomato base spaghetti sauce) , sausage, pineapples, capsicums, shredded mozzarella cheese, prawns, tomato, mayo tuna and etc as the toppings.
 

{Main} Assorted Finger Food

Party cannot do without fingers food like nuggets, chicken gyoza, fish balls, sotong balls, hotdog, sausages and etc as these are the all time favourite for both kids and adults.

DESSERT

Assorted Drinks

{Dessert} Osmanthus And Chestnut Koi Jelly

I love dessert so for this New Year gathering, I made some Koi and Ingot Jelly using Konnyaku Jelly Powder plus Osmanthus Flower and Water Chestnut. You can read more on how to make this auspicious jelly at the recipe post here.

{Dessert} Longan And Cranberry Yogurt Cake

For cake I also made two different flavour to cater for the group of old and young. And since it was the 2nd day of Lunar New Year, I decided to bake my new inspiration which was the Longan And Cranberry Yougrt Cake. I really love this new flavour which is moist, fluffy and full of flavour from the dried longan, cranberry, cointreau and chia seeds. Give this a try if you love orange flavour cake with dried fruits in it.

Recipe is available at this link here.

{Dessert} Double Chocolate Yogurt Cake

Chocolate lover would love this because I use 70% dark chocolate plus chocolate chips and Valrhona Dutch Process Cocoa Powder to make this moist and rice chocolate cake. To enhance the texture of the cake, Greek yogurt and fresh orange juice were also added into it.

Ingredients: (makes 2 small loaf tins, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
175g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
200g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs, 60g each
200g Self Raising Flour
45g Valrhona Cocoa Powder
100g Mini Chocolate Chips
40ml Orange Juice
200g Greek Yogurt

Method:-
1. Please refer to here for steps on making.

{Dessert} Baked Cheesy Nian Gao With Prata

Apart from the cakes and jelly I also made this addicting snacks for the guests and they really enjoy it, especially for those kids who do not know how to appreciate "Nian Gao (年糕)" on its own. With this fusion method of wrapping traditional nian gao with shredded cheese using ready bought prata skin I am sure it would make a great snack for your visiting guests.

If you could not find prata skin, replace it with either puff pastry or spring roll wrapper (deep-fry the end product instead of bake) . But remember do not over-filled the wrapper with Nian Gao or else the parcel would burst during baking or cooking.  Related recipe could be found at my recipe link here.

Lastly I would like to wish everyone a Prosperous and Happy Lunar New Year! 

祝大家新年快乐，万事如意，蛇年行大运! 发发发!!!

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