Cooking class

3 October 2018

After yoga and a light lunch of Vietnamese sandwiches, we rested before starting a cooking class at a nearby restaurant.

We were taught to make things the old fashioned way with a cobek (grinding stone) and lesong (mortar/pestle  –  stone mortar and long wooden pestle used standing up, as opposed to the Malaysian one used squatting down).

The menu comprised:

  • Chicken meatball soup.
  • Blanched vegetables in peanut sauce.
  • Minced chicken in banana leaves.
  • Fish in banana leaves.
  • Pork in sweet soya sauce.
  • Mi goreng (was meant to be nasi goreng at first).
  • Pandan crepes filled with grated coconut and coconut sugar.

Even though, there was much I already knew (since it is largely the same cuisine), I did learn a few things:

  • the aromatic ginger is another ginger variety which is different from galanga
  • while I fry my sambal after grinding it, it is possible to fry the ingredients before grinding it (different texture)
  • the candlenut (similar to macadamia) is something I don’t bother with but it lends a creamy texture to food, especially if prepared as a vegetarian option.

The afternoon with a Canadian couple was very enjoyable.  The food was delicious but in some ways, not as tasty as what I would make at home since I go heavier on all the tasty ingredients.  I loved having a go with the cobek (grinding stone) since it is an alternative to the lesong (mortar and pestle) which I’m familiar with.

 

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