Satay Ayam Goreng (Violet Oon's Cooking Class)

This past weekend, through the recommendation of a friend, I was privileged to attend a cooking class at The Private Pantry. Thank you to The Private Pantry for the invitation to attend Violet Oon's Nonya cooking session. The Private Pantry also organises cooking demonstrations and hands-on classes in Singapore by many other renowned chefs teaching different types of cuisines such as Thai, Italian, French and Spanish. Check out other classes by The Private Pantry here. 

Violet Oon doesn't need much of an introduction for Singaporeans. She has been a household name in Singapore for the many decades and I have heard much about her Nonya Food specialty which made me really excited about going to this class to pick up some tips. For those who do not know her, Violet Oon is one of Singapore's leading food gurus and considered a leading authority on Asian cuisine. 

During the class, she demonstrated three mouth-watering Nonya specialties: Satay Ayam Goreng, Garam Assam Fish and Sambal Belacan and also gave the class many valuable tips on preparing the spice mix required in Nonya cooking. 

Garam Assam Fish cooking away on the stove: Ikan Tenggiri or Garoupa fish steaks are cooked in a spicy and tangy curry with tomatoes, pineapples, laksa leaves and ginger flowers.  One can also add other vegetables such as brinjal or ladies fingers or use other kinds of seafood for this dish.

My tasting portion of Garam Assam Fish: According to Violet, a strong tasting fish is used with this curry so that it compliments the richness of the sauce. The firm fleshed fish goes well with the sauce and the tomatoes and pineapples adds a sharp edge to the Assam sauce which makes it extra refreshing. 

Sambal Belachan: Shrimp paste is pounded with fresh cut chillies in a pestal. This salty and spicy concoction is made perfect with a few drops of fresh lime juice. This can also be made in a food processor but the effect won't be the same as that using the traditional motar and pestal method, said Violet. 

Satay Ayam Goreng stewing away on the stove: This has to be my favourite dish among the three (recipe below). In this dish, pieces of chicken are stewed till tender in a spicy and aromatic coconut sauce. And one doesn't need to fry the spice mix ahead which means it doesn't require oil and is therefore much healthier. 

The sauce of the Satay Ayam Goreng being thickened: After the chicken pieces are done, they are removed and the sauce is slowly reduced further till it is thick and rich. 

My tasting portion of Satay Ayam Goreng: The succulent pieces of chicken covered with an aromatic and spicy sauce. The sauce will be delicious with bread or rice.

Satay Ayam Goreng

Recipe by Violet Oon

Ingredients

• 1 chicken cut into pieces of 1.2 kg of cut up thighs and breast of a chicken
• 3 cups of thick coconut cream or freshly squeezed coconut cream from 2 coconuts
• 1 - 1.5 tsp salt
• 2 - 4 tsp sugar
• 1 stalk lemongrass smashed, to allow flavours to infuse curry
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, broken up, to allow flavours to infuse the gravy
• 1 tbsp coriander powder*

Spice Mixture

• 5 dried chillies or 1 tbsp dried chilli paste
• 5 candlenuts, washed and drained
• 3 red chillies, sliced roughly
• 150 g shallots, peeled, sliced roughly
• 1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste)

*Dry fry coriander seeds in frying pan till light fragrant. Grind in a coffee grinder and sieve to get dine powder. Discard the rough bits. Alternatively, buy ready-made coriander powder. 

Method

1. Wash dried chillies, soak in hot water for about 1 to 2 hours till softened. Cut the stalks off and cut the chillies into small pieces.

2. Pound the candlenuts till semi-fine. Add the fresh chillies and pound till semi-fine. Add the dried chillies and pound for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shrimp paste and pound well. The last ingredient to add is shallots. Pound till the mixture is very fine. Alternatively, you can grind the ingredients in a food processor till you get a smooth paste. Grind all the other ingredients first before adding the shallots for further grinding.

3. Mix all the ingredients (spice mix, coconut milk, lemongrass, lime leaves, chicken) in the sauce pan and bring to boil. Sprinkle the coriander powder into the pan and then add salt and sugar to taste. Simmer till the liquid is reduced and the gravy is thick. 

4. If the chicken is cooked (45 mins to 1 hour) and can be easily pierced with a fork, remove the chicken and further thicken the gravy till desired consistency.

5. Serve with rice, first removing the lemongrass and lime leaves.

DBS Masterclass with Chef Mario Caramella

Thank you to Asian Food Channel for extending me an invitation to attend the DBS Masterclass with veteran Italian Chef Mario Caramella. As much as I love Italian food, I've never cooked anything traditionally Italian except for the occasional pasta which probably isn't authentic. 

Originally from Milan, veteran Italian Chef Mario Caramella (pictured below) has cooked in many prestigious kitchens around the world before setting up his casual, fine-dining restaurant inITALY Bar Ristorante along Singapore's Craig Road. 

It was an enjoyable evening filled with laughter as Chef Mario shared his culinary experiences and offered cooking tips stemming from his wealth of experience. What I took away from the evening is that the best cooking is not about following a recipe strictly but done from the heart based on your instinct. 

Chef Mario demonstrated three dishes which were all wonderful. The one I liked best was the Risotto Al Dente with Lobster, Tomatoes and Marjoram (recipe below). You'll notice from the recipe that Chef Mario did not give exact amount of ingredients. That's because he would instinctively adjust the amount while cooking through observing and tasting the food. 

Coming up close to an Italian chef has led me to understand why so Italian chefs are among the finest cooks in the culinary world - not only do they only use the very best ingredients, they are truly passionate in their pursuit of culinary excellence and proud of their traditions. For more information on DBS Masterclasses, please go to AFC's website.

Here's a run down of the evening:

We started off with the Crudo di pesce - a platter which combines several types of fresh raw seafood such as red prawns, Mediterranean sea bass, oysters, Sicilian tuna and scallops. The seafood is marinated in extra virgin olive oil, oregano and passion fruit coulis and served with toast.

I don't eat raw food normally but the sauce made of passionfruit juice, dry oregano, fresh coriander, lemon juice and cayenne pepper provided such a refreshing and aromatic touch to the seafood that I cleaned up the plate. 

The second course of the evening was the Risotto Al Dente with Lobster, Tomatoes and Marjoram. Here is a perfectly cooked risotto where you can taste the delightful fragrance of marjoram, tangy tomatoes and spicy chilli in every bite. The risotto derives it creaminess from the rice starch that is broken down during the cooking process which explains why its important to choose a good quality rice with a high start content. The chef's advice: risotto is meant to be eaten with a fork from the outside in so that the heat is retained even at the last bite. I saved the succulent pieces of lobster for my very last bite. 

Chef Mario and his assistant chef Felix in action at the AFC Studio.

The evening's dessert was Zabaglione with Moscato - a feather light custard made of whisked egg yolks and Moscato mixture is served over a scoop of Peach Sorbet along with a cherry compote and orange zest. 

In celebration of International Day of Italian Cuisine, Italian chefs around the world were serving Tiramisu to their guests and Chef Mario surprised us with his version of the dessert. I've had too many Tiramisus which were either too heavily laden with alcohol and coffee or too soggy. This Tiramisu was perfect - the cream was light and it had just the right amount of everything without being overpowering. Chef Mario's advise is that Tiramisu is meant to taste good and not look good, so we shouldn't worry too much about how its plated when we serve it at home.

We rounded up the meal with a lovely glass of Moscato wine specially selected by and bottled for Chef Mario and only available at his restaurant.

Thank you Asian Food Channel for a lovely evening!

Risotto Al Dente with Lobster, Tomatoes and Marjoram (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 piece of Live Lobster*
• 160 g of Carnaroli Rice
• Chopped Onion (A handful)
• 1 Garlic Clove
• White Wine (Use good quality Chardonnay)
• Tomato Concasse, chopped (Or best quality tomatoes you can find)
• Tomato Sauce, a couple of laddles 
• Majoram (A handful)
• Chicken Stock (Good quality, low sodium)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Italian)
• Fresh chilli, chopped

Method

• Pan sear the lobster meat till it can be removed from the shell easily. Remove from the shell, and cut into small pieces. 
• Place onion and garlic with some olive oil in a thick base casserole.
• Slowly cook until translucent and add in the rice.
• Toast the rice at low flame and pour in some wine and cook till its dry.
• Add in a laddle of hot, boiling chicken stock and stir continuously with a wooden spoon. When the stock is almost gone, add in another laddle of chicken stock. Add in more stock till the risotto is creamy and Al Dente (firm to the bite but not hard - you'll need to keep testing it).
• Add 2 laddles of tomato sauce, a handful of chopped tomatoes and some chopped chilli in between the laddles of chicken stock.
• When the risotto is Al Dente, add the lobster pieces and remove from the fire.
• Add the majoram and season to taste.
• Finish with a sprinkle of olive oil.
• Place on hot plates and serve.

* You can substitute with prawns. There is no need to sear the prawns. Prawns should be cleaned and put into pot when the Risotto is almost Al Dente.