Singapore Food Fest Day 2

cookclassmontage
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I have always been a big fan of the multi-faceted food of Singapore, so I was quite lucky that Chef Gina Choong was able to accomodate my request for a private cooking lesson at her home on Day 2 of my trip to Sg. Having read about other students raving over Chef Gina's cooking lessons at the Kitchen Capers forum, I knew that it was something I wanted to experience for myself if I ever visited Singapore again. Since I requested for a whole day private lesson I was able to decide on what 6-7 dishes I wanted her to teach me. Naturally on the top of my list was Black Pepper Crab & Laksa followed by Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh & Prawns w/Salted Egg , the Char Kway Teow was suggested by Gina. I arrived at Ginas place bright and early & after a little getting to know you chit chat, we immediately started on my lessons. Since Hainanese Chicken & Laksa took longer to cook, these 2 dishes were the first ones we tackled. The biggest discovery for me that day was the fact that Laksa was named after the Laksa leaf, a key ingredient in making this special Malay dish. Cooking Laksa without laksa leaf is a grave sin for serious laksa eaters. Time quickly passed and by lunch time we had already cooked up the Hainanese Chicken, Bak Kut Teh, Char Kway Teow & Black Pepper Crab. Lunch was a proverbial feast. I was so full I was already thinking about how I could manage to eat the rest of the other dishes which we were still cooking. The dishes that really stood out for me that day was the Laksa which was I think as authentic as you can get, and the Bak Kut Teh which despite the simple ingredients was soo delicious & flavorful and the Prawns with salted egg.