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| Miso marinated Black Cod |
We continued our 'trip' in Asia. This week we started with Korean cuisine. Then we moved to Japan and finished in Vietnam. It seems the class in general is not well organized. Our production is consistently low. We have too much time to prepare these dishes, and our class is only 13 people. The sister group is 20 people, what they are going to do is a big question.
Monday
There were new menu and new teams. I was not a team sous chef anymore. Our menu was:
Kim Chee Soup
Sliced Daikon Salad
Bindae Duk
Korean Roasted Fish
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Perilla Kim Chi
I had Roasted fish to cook. Literally, the recipe could be done in 30 minutes - 10 minutes for preparation and 20 minutes for cooking. So I asked the chef for a side project and I got to cook potato dish used as an appetizer in Korea. The idea is to use small potatoes and simmer it in a mixture of soy sauce, water, corn syrup. When it is almost done, you sprinkle it with mixture of red and black pepper and garlic, and cook till done. Then you toss it with sauce (the cooking liquid which was reduced during the cooking potatoes) and serve.
Fish was prepared for the roasting, rubbed with salt and roasted for about 8 minutes. Then it was covered with the sauce made with soy sauce, oyster sauce, red pepper flakes and roasted for another 7 minutes. The last step was to put it under broiler for 1 minute to get some colour, and that was it.
Tuesday
We cooked Korean menu for the second day. The menu was the same. My dish was Bindae Duk which is a pancake made with legumes (mung dhal) and shrimps mixed in the batter. As this dish was not able to keep me busy for even a full hour, I got a 'special' project - Korean Chicken Wings with a sauce.
Pancakes were really easy. The dhal was soaked overnight, all I needed to do is to blend it with water to a very fine pure, add a bunch of ingredients, try to fry one pancake and see if it is seasoned properly.
Chicken wings were more collaborative. They were salted, then pat dried and dredged in potato starch. Then they were deep fried twice. The first time at 325F (about 5 minutes to golden colour) and the second time at 375F (about 5 minutes to golden-brown colour). The chef was suspicious that they were not cooked, but they were. Then the wings were mixed with some sauce and places in the oven to get some caramelization. I left them there for 4 minutes and it seemed it was too much, as the oven was really hot (450F). They got an 'extra' colour. They were not burned, but a bit dark. I should remember that that temperature browns food very quickly.
Wednesday
We started a Japanese menu. Comparing to the Chinese and Korean cuisine I would say Japanese cuisine is cleaner and less spicier.
For our team the menu was:
Miso Soup
Thursday
Was the second day for Japanese menu. Instead of sashimi we had sushi on the menu, all other dishes were the same. I cooked Chawan Mushi. Basically it was a savoury custard with filling (cooked shiitaki mushrooms, combu sliced thinly, and green onions). Mark made this dish on Wednesday and I used his advice to start with small cup to bake Chawan Mushi. It was really smart, as we do not have enough these cups even for one class. So I had small cups, perfect size. The dish was really simple - cut all fillings, prepare custard mixture, assemble and bake in water bath. It was ready just before service (good timing, however I was worried to be late).
Friday
We started Vietnamese menu. The flavor of dishes in general was clean, but more spicier as to compare with Japan.
Our team menu was:
Sizzling Rice Crepes
Sliced Daikon Salad
Bindae Duk
Korean Roasted Fish
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Perilla Kim Chi
I had Roasted fish to cook. Literally, the recipe could be done in 30 minutes - 10 minutes for preparation and 20 minutes for cooking. So I asked the chef for a side project and I got to cook potato dish used as an appetizer in Korea. The idea is to use small potatoes and simmer it in a mixture of soy sauce, water, corn syrup. When it is almost done, you sprinkle it with mixture of red and black pepper and garlic, and cook till done. Then you toss it with sauce (the cooking liquid which was reduced during the cooking potatoes) and serve.
Fish was prepared for the roasting, rubbed with salt and roasted for about 8 minutes. Then it was covered with the sauce made with soy sauce, oyster sauce, red pepper flakes and roasted for another 7 minutes. The last step was to put it under broiler for 1 minute to get some colour, and that was it.
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| Bindae Duk |
We cooked Korean menu for the second day. The menu was the same. My dish was Bindae Duk which is a pancake made with legumes (mung dhal) and shrimps mixed in the batter. As this dish was not able to keep me busy for even a full hour, I got a 'special' project - Korean Chicken Wings with a sauce.
Pancakes were really easy. The dhal was soaked overnight, all I needed to do is to blend it with water to a very fine pure, add a bunch of ingredients, try to fry one pancake and see if it is seasoned properly.
Chicken wings were more collaborative. They were salted, then pat dried and dredged in potato starch. Then they were deep fried twice. The first time at 325F (about 5 minutes to golden colour) and the second time at 375F (about 5 minutes to golden-brown colour). The chef was suspicious that they were not cooked, but they were. Then the wings were mixed with some sauce and places in the oven to get some caramelization. I left them there for 4 minutes and it seemed it was too much, as the oven was really hot (450F). They got an 'extra' colour. They were not burned, but a bit dark. I should remember that that temperature browns food very quickly.
Wednesday
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| Soba noodles |
For our team the menu was:
Miso Soup
Sashimi Presentation
Chawan Mushi
Chawan Mushi
Fried Pork Cutlet and Cabbage Salad
Black Cod in Saikyo Miso
Buckwheat Noodles with Dipping Sauce
I cooked the last two dishes on the menu.
Buckwheat noodles was super simple - boil noodles till cooked, drain and rinse them to remove outer layer of starch. Prepare dipping sauce. Combine all together. Done!
Black cod was a bit difficult from the beginning. First I had to pin-bone it and it did not work at all. My chef said that there is no way to pin-bone black cod as salmon. The only way is to cut off these bones, being careful not to cut too much and do not destroy the fish. Then it was marinated in a mixture of white miso paste, mirin, and sake. Before service it was baked in the oven. I baked it for about 8 minutes at 450F, then add another minute and removed it. By touch it was undercooked, temperature wise at was at 135F which is perfect for fish. To get an extra colour outside the fish was blowtorched. As per the chef it was a bit undercooked. It seems I have to check my thermometer, not sure if it is correct.
Black Cod in Saikyo Miso
Buckwheat Noodles with Dipping Sauce
I cooked the last two dishes on the menu.
Buckwheat noodles was super simple - boil noodles till cooked, drain and rinse them to remove outer layer of starch. Prepare dipping sauce. Combine all together. Done!
Black cod was a bit difficult from the beginning. First I had to pin-bone it and it did not work at all. My chef said that there is no way to pin-bone black cod as salmon. The only way is to cut off these bones, being careful not to cut too much and do not destroy the fish. Then it was marinated in a mixture of white miso paste, mirin, and sake. Before service it was baked in the oven. I baked it for about 8 minutes at 450F, then add another minute and removed it. By touch it was undercooked, temperature wise at was at 135F which is perfect for fish. To get an extra colour outside the fish was blowtorched. As per the chef it was a bit undercooked. It seems I have to check my thermometer, not sure if it is correct.
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| Chawan Mushi (baked custard) |
Was the second day for Japanese menu. Instead of sashimi we had sushi on the menu, all other dishes were the same. I cooked Chawan Mushi. Basically it was a savoury custard with filling (cooked shiitaki mushrooms, combu sliced thinly, and green onions). Mark made this dish on Wednesday and I used his advice to start with small cup to bake Chawan Mushi. It was really smart, as we do not have enough these cups even for one class. So I had small cups, perfect size. The dish was really simple - cut all fillings, prepare custard mixture, assemble and bake in water bath. It was ready just before service (good timing, however I was worried to be late).
Friday
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| Hanoi Rice Noodles with grilled pork |
Our team menu was:
Sizzling Rice Crepes
Rice Paper-Wrapped Salad Rolls
Hanoi Rice Noodles with Grilled Pork
Catfish Clay Pot.
My dish was Hanoi Rice noodles with grilled pork. It was quite simple salad: noodles were cooked, rinsed, and mixed with cucumber, bean sprouts, thai basil and mint leaves after cooling. Pork used for the salad had two textures: ground and whole tenderloin thinly sliced. Pork was marinated and grilled as thin strips (tenderloin) and patties (ground). For the service it was assembled - lettuce leaves on the bottom, then noodles, pork around, and lastly it was sprinkled with toasted and chopped peanuts.
Hanoi Rice Noodles with Grilled Pork
Catfish Clay Pot.
My dish was Hanoi Rice noodles with grilled pork. It was quite simple salad: noodles were cooked, rinsed, and mixed with cucumber, bean sprouts, thai basil and mint leaves after cooling. Pork used for the salad had two textures: ground and whole tenderloin thinly sliced. Pork was marinated and grilled as thin strips (tenderloin) and patties (ground). For the service it was assembled - lettuce leaves on the bottom, then noodles, pork around, and lastly it was sprinkled with toasted and chopped peanuts.
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