Thailand Cooking Course

A while ago, i joined 1 day Thailand Cooking Course at one of the best culinary academy in town. Well, at least that's what i think because there's not much culinary academy here.

The cooking course start at 2pm, but i arrive early. I use this opportunity to ask about the programs, tuition fee, etc2. They even let me to look around in each class. One of the class is making chocolate and the tutor chef even offer me some of the chocolates. Cool!

At 2.15pm the course begin. I forgot the Chef's name, but he's a chef from Shangrilla Hotel. There was about 4 other girls who also joined this cooking course.

Today we'll be making 4 recipes: Tom Yam Goong, Pad Thai (Thailand's Fried Noodle), Chicken in Pandan Leaves and also Thailand's Crabmeat & Beef Bacon/Chicken Roll. I forgot to bring my digital camera, so i can't take pictures at that time.

What makes me a bit disappointed is the fact that it's more like a cooking demo than a cooking course. We only watch the chef cooking while asking some questions sometime. Not exactly what i imagined. I thought i will have my own table with all the ingredients and we'll cook together. But i still enjoyed it and getting to know new friends.

After about 2 hours in heat (there's no air conditioner in the kitchen) the whole course is over. I take some time to ask some questions to the chef about his job. He told me that if i wanted to become a chef i have to deals with heat like this everyday. Being a chef means LOTS of working hours, even in holiday. Hmm....that doesn't sounds good. But that's the facts i need to hear.

Anyway, i got home with some of the cooked results and take some pictures of it. I must say that the Tom Yam Goong wasn't so good. I've tasted better at Kuningan Restaurant. I 'll try to make this spicy soup later and try to find a better recipe.

The Pad Thai was OK, but not my favourite also. But the Chicken in Pandan Leaves and Thailand's Crabmeat & Beef Bacon/Chicken Roll was great! They're simple and easy to make. I'll try to make it another time and post the recipe.

Test Recipe: Braised Daikon

As i promised, i'll post one of my test recipe few weeks ago. I got this recipe from Periplus Mini Cookbooks Series: Japanese Favourites.

Actually, i got this beautiful white carrot-like vegetables accidentally while i was looking for vegetables for salad recipe. In my country, they called it lobak. Here's some explanation about daikon (from the recipe book):

"Daikon is a large white radish widely used in Japanese cooking. It may be eaten raw or cooked and is often pickled or grated. Used mainly in soups and stir-fries, it is sold in supermarket."

So bought some and when i got home...i realized i have no idea what should i do with this daikon. I eat it raw...it's crisps, juicy, and there's slightly bitter aftertaste. So i search trough my recipe books and i found this simple recipe. I have no other clue, so i'll just go with this recipe.

INGRDIENTS:
500 g (1 lb) daikon
1 teaspoon dashi powder dissolved in 1 liter (4 cups) water or 1 liter (4 cups) Dashi Stock (i don't have dashi powder, so i used instant 1/2 cubed instant chicken stock)
2 teaspoons sugar ( i make it 3 because i like it sweet)
2 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce (don't use the thick soy sauce, because the flavour will be too salty)
4 tablespoon sake
3 tablespoons mirin
black sesame seeds (goma shio)

01 Remove skin and thick outer layer and slice the daikon into eight thick pieces. Cut a thin strip on an angle from the top and bottom edge of each piece. Cut a shallow cross into the top on one side.

02 Place the daikon slices in a saucepan with dashi mixture or Dashi Stock, sugar, soy sauce and sake. Bring to the boil, removing any impurities from the surface with a spoon. Boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat and simmer covered for 2.5 hours or until daikon is tender and lightly browned.

03 Gently stir in the mirin. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving in small plate with little of the cooking liquid. Springkle some black sesame seeds and serve.

Well, it tasted OK. i can't say that this is my fave, because i found that the bitter aftertaste is still there. But i love how beautiful this dish can become. Do you agree?

Another time, i'll try to add the sake and maybe make it 3 hours to cooked. If you have any suggestion on how to cooked this daikon right, i'd be very happy to know it.

Busy Days

After 2 weeks bed rest (i got rubella last month), there's a lot of work to be done. I have to contact my personal clients & my boss to tell them that their project has been postponed due to my illness. I'm glad they understand. 2 weeks is not a short time right? So, right after i'm recovered...there's a huge pile of work to be done. But hey... i love being busy :)

After i finish most of the projects, my boss give me bonu$ as an appreciation of my hard works....i'm so happy for this!

Then there's my oldest sister wedding day this month. You know how a wedding can become an issue for the whole family. I'll ask her permission to post some of her wedding photo in this blog. Congrats sis! Hope you'll be having a baby soon!

Now i still got some projects to be done, but not as hectic as last month. The wedding is over and my sister is having her honeymoon right now.

I know i haven't posted anything for a long time and i feel sad because it's like i've abandoned this blog. But actually, i'm still here and got lots of food picture to post. I try some different recipes lately, but i haven't got time to posted it here.

I'll be back!