Cooking Video links for China's Audience

1. 视频: How to cook beef rendang 如何烹饪马来西亚仁当牛肉

v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY3MzYxNDMwNA==.html?from=s1.8-1-1.2

LAUGHTER IN A POACHING CAULDRON

Life’s just like going to movies in a chef school kitchen

END POINT ASSESSMENT

There was a group of cats who learned the art of mice catching from some masters. After months and months of hard work and training, the day of the end point assessment arrived. The trainee cats had to catch five mice to show their masters in order to pass the exam.

   “Huh!” meowed the young tom cat to an older puss. “End point assessment? It merely got my paws wet!”

     “Great!” The older cat meowed. “Finally, I have a chance to sharpen my claws by climbing a tree.”

OFF TOPIC

 “Pal, why would you need to climb a tree?” young Tom asked.

 “I don’t want to just catch some mice,” was the reply. “I’d get bored soon. I also want to catch some birds to show our masters.”

     “Aren’t you doing a little too much? Our masters only told us to catch five mice. You may be going off topic! Look at me - I’ll merely get my paws wet. Our masters won’t care if the mice I catch are white or black, big or small. As long as I show them FIVE MICE I’ll pass my exam!”

   So the older cat went to consult Master S.

  “Come on meow, huh, you want to sharpen your claws? You might fall but I‘ll let you do what you want as you are an older and should be a wiser cat as well!” Master S said.

  Then the older cat went to ask Master B's advice.

  “Come on, meow. Keep it simple, and just go catch the five mice. Don’t try to catch the birds. You’ll be off topic and you might fall badly!”

   But the older cat really wanted to sharpen its claws, so it visited Grand Master A.

  Master A asked, “Aren’t you afraid to fall from a tree?”

  

  The older cat replied, “No! I love challenge, and tree climbing is in my blood!”

   “Okay then!” Master A said, “In that case, why don’t you climb up to the top of the tree, and practice jumping at the same time? Let me tell you a secret - there is a family of more than a dozen big fat mice staying in the attic bellow the roof next to the tall tree!”

  

WHAT IS PEAR SABLE?

Pear sable is neither Mister Sable nor Miss Pear. They are Mr. and Mrs. Pear Sable, and the praline cream is their children.

How do you know if the Pear Sable family is a happy family?
(1) Don't split them: Don’t leave one of them in France, one of them in America and few of them in New Zealand!
(2) Make sure they are close to each other and complement each other.
(3) Make sure Mister Sable is able to protect his family well but at the same time make sure that his wife Mrs. Sable can shine like a phoenix or peacock.
(4) If any of their strawberry friends visit them, they should witness as an outsider how happy the Pear Sable Family is!

This Pear Sable connotes a Happy Family described as above

Does this dominating pear sitting on top of the sable remind you of a female prime minister and her family? Now I know why I subconsciously prefer this Pear Sable though most men subconsciously wouldn’t like this plating style!

Now interpret the subconscious mind of the person who did this plating of the Pear Sable Family!

NO TALKING DURING END POINT ASSESSMENT

   Tommy the cat got sick often, so his doctor gave him a prescription: “You are a cat, a nocturnal animal, thus what you need is a cat nap during the day to cure your sickness.”

   When the end point assessment started at 8 in the early morning, nobody could find Tommy the cat. His older puss pal was getting nervous, so she called 10 times to wake up Tommy.   

   When Tommy reached the kitchen, he was still having his mid-sleep cat nap dream. Normally people would experience a memory slip when they got nervous, but Tommy cat would experience an English slip when he got nervous. Suddenly, he didn’t know how to catch Mr. Sable, the big fat mouse.

   So when Tommy saw his pal, they began to talk in Greek.

   

   But Master H stopped them immediately, “No talking during the assessment!”

   Five minutes later, the kitchen door opened suddenly. The older cat came in and kindly gave Tommy the young cat a cup of water, making all his classmates jealous. As Tommy finished drinking his water, he also finished reading the Greek words written on the cup that he was familiar with!

YOU SHOULD CONCENTRATE DURING ASSESSMENT!

   When Tommy received a cup with Greek word written on it, a British Shorthair saw it. 

   So it protested to Master S that Tommy was cheating and he should not deserve a pass.

   Its master looked at her sternly and questioned her, “If you ask me to fail Tommy should I fail you as well? Your white mouse escaped and I was the one who taught you how to put more cheese in your bait to lure it back again, right? You should concentrate during assessment, while your rowing eyes wondered around, your own mouse escaped!"

Beef Rendang by Professionally Trained Chef Born in Sarawak, Malaysia

Adapted Malaysian Recipe by ChefSarawak based on chefs' request

Although Beef Rendang originates from Indonesia, these days it has become one of the most popular stews in her neighboring countries. Visitors to Singapore and Malaysia can find it anywhere from hawker stalls to five star hotels.

  Western style stews are usually flavored and thickened by root vegetables, but Beef Rendang is flavored and thickened by indigenous herbs, spices, and coconut cream, all of which are available locally in Malaysia.

   Beef Rendang is commonly served along vegetables and plain rice. It is also popularly accompanied by Nasi Lemak (coconut rice served with samba, fried peanut and anchovy) or rice cake cubes (ketupak) during times such as festivals, parties, or the Malay New Year. 

  If stewed with an old cow’s shin or skirt, it may take four hours or even up to a day, but when using quality beef and adapted cooking techniques and methods, Beef Rendang may only require roughly an hour’s cooking time. Beef rending always tastes better after sitting overnight and after reheating.

  This version of Beef Rendang is a professionally trained chef’s approach to stewing/braising Malaysian Beef Rending, which as mentioned before, incorporates the best of western cooking techniques for preparing Beef Rendang with ease, saving time, and achieving a better texture and consistency.

  I hope you all enjoy this approach to cooking an easier but tastier version of Beef Rendang. 

  Bon appetite!

Ingredients:

Dried herbs and spices

(1)    1 tsp. chili flakes

(2)    1 tsp. ground coriander seed

(3)    1 tsp. ground turmeric or 2 tsp grated fresh turmeric

(4)    1 tsp.  ground black pepper corns (plus 1/2 for seasoning beef cubes)

(5)   4 dried Sarawak indigenous bunkang leaves/ daum salam (Alternatively, use bay leaves)

(6)    2 tablespoons of palm sugar (Optional or TT)

Wet herbs and spices

1. 3 large shallots or onions (Chop roughly)

2. 5 cloves garlic (Chop roughly)

3. 4 red chilies (TT. Deseed and chop roughly)

4. 1 tbsp grated ginger

5. 1.5 tsp grated galangal

6. 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate

7.  2 stalks lemongrass or 2 strips lime zest (shredded)

8. 3 kaffir lime leaves

9. 3 tbsp. kirisi/Coconut comfit

Other

1. 350ml coconut cream

2.  2 tbsp butter

3. Salt TT

4. Flour for dusting

5. 1kg beef topside, shin, skirt, thick flank, brisket or rump steak

6. Oil for sealing beef cubes

Methods:

Preparation

1. Roughly chop the onions/shallots, garlic, and chili.

2. Cut beef into stew size cubes, season with salt and pepper, and dust very lightly with flour.

3. Shred the lemon grass roughly.

4. Prepare a piece of parchment paper for cartouche.

Step 1

In a blender, add the roughly chopped shallots or onions, garlic, chilies, ginger, galangal, and 100ml of coconut cream, and blend. Sieve to separate liquid and sediment.

Step 2

In a pot, heat the butter; add the shredded lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and ½ tsp. of salt, and sauté. Add the sieved sediment; continue to sauté until light brown. Then add all the dry ingredients; continue to fry until a fragrance is release. Deglaze the pot using the sieved liquid. Simmer.

Step 3

In a frying pan, heat up the oil until it is smoking, then quickly seal the seasoned and lightly dusted beef cubes until evenly brown. Discard excess oil in the frying pan. You may add brown sugar and kerisi now.

Step 4

Deglaze the frying pan with simmering liquid. Add the rest of the coconut cream, tamarind, kerisi, brown sugar (optional) and salt to season it lightly. Add browned beef cubes to the simmering liquid, stir. Give it a quick boil. Transfer everything to a pot. Cover with cartouche and place the pot into an oven, and bake it at 160-180C for an hour. When the stew is done, give it a final season. Discard the lemon grass, kaffir and bay leaves.

Notes:

1. Check the stew after 30 minutes as some ovens’ temperatures may vary.

2. If the oven temperature exceeds 200C, some pots will suffer damage.

3. If the accompanying salad is very sweet, it is unnecessary to add palm sugar/ brown sugar /sugar to the Rendang.

4. The liquid for braising should be around ¾ to the beef

5. If it bubbles too much, lower the temperature

6. if it dries too fast, add a bit more coconut cream, mix well lower the temperature, and continue to braise it.