marvin lowe photography

Jazzfoodie: Terrified of making a complete fool of myself while planning this ambitious dinner (9 courses for 10 people), I struggled with the menu for days, even weeks, tweaking the menu right up to the very last moment. I would do diligent research on the internet and go through my cookbooks so many times that the crisp new pages would look ‘koyak’ by the time I’m done.

I try to cook dishes with the particular group of diners in mind, and would do ‘preliminary testing’ on my parents with new dishes, which they would be so “kind” about. I always have this panic thingy going whenever I cook a special meal a week or so before the event, thinking “I can’t do this”, “this is too ambitious”. I almost had a heart attack on the day of the dinner itself when Marv called from Mediya supermarket that they have no Swordfish Sashimi in stock (bought on the day itself for freshness), so Maguro (tuna) it was for the amuse bouche. To organise things, I wrote (and re-wrote) every single recipe needed on an A5 piece of paper and stuck it onto the fridge for easy reference, and started preparations the day before. Thankfully in the end, with lots of prayer, I managed to pull it off eventually (or so I think)..

Vinny: Well, before all of you had the chance of enjoying this meal, Mich did indeed put in alot of hard work in fine-tuning the menu. Countless test sessions were conducted and countless guinea pigs sacrificed. I was one of the few survivors. Cooking has always been in Mich’s blood but she has always been in denial of it. I remember the time before she left for Perth, when she was insisting that she will never cook. Now, she’s cooking up a feast for everyone to eat.

VinnytheMarv: Well, put your hands up if you love our Shuying….and so Joseph’s hands goes up instantly. This was a meal done specially for Shuying by Mich just before Shuying left for studies overseas.

J: The last time I cooked for my girlfriends was more than 2 years ago, and I’ve been wanting to bless them since (especially since I’ve not really been around for the past 4 years, missing out on their birthday celebrations and presents). So Marv and I decided to host this special going-away dinner party for Shuying.

It was definitely a great night of catching up- I was so glad everyone had a great time eating, laughing and ’spilling secrets’ over food and wine (half the guests brought wine, so we had a lot; thanks bets and jasmine for getting soft drinks!). And I decided that Taboo:Singapore edition might as well be renamed Truth or Dare:Spill your friends’ secrets. Such great bonding indeed, wahahah.. They were at my place for 7.5 hours, but it was a truely great time!

Tuna Tataki on Cold Soba in Matsuhisa Dressing

J: The partially seared tuna cubes in this dish was inspired by a similar dish I had many years ago at One-Ninety Restaurant. The half cooked tuna gave it an ‘aburi feel’, almost, (but minus the blowtorch); the quick searing allows the flavour of the tuna to intensify a little. The dressing is from the great recipe book Nobu West by Nobu Matsuhisa that Ber and Shuying got me last Christmas. I love this dish and would even serve it as a main course in the future; the fragrant and ‘earthy’ dressing with accents of mustard to spice things up a little, went well with the fresh tuna. For fans of non-raw food, poached prawns were used instead.

V: The first dish of the night! When Jaime and Janice arrived, I was still arranging this dish, proving that I did help out for the dinner. I really enjoyed twirling the noodles and making them look pretty. I loved the freshness of this dish, the taste was bright and refreshing. The sesame oil made it really fragrant and went well with the tuna and soba noodles. The noodles were chilled before being served and this made it a more dynamic dish.

Tuna, Oyster Mushrooms and Tunghoon Patties in Ginger and Sweet-soy Dressing

J: I am rather proud of this dish, created after feeling indignant over the overpriced and ok tasting crab cakes from Food by Christopher Hiller (see review on separate post). This should be something simple that everyone can make themselves, using whatever ingredients they so desire.
V: I thought it would have been better if crab meat was used. I felt that it was a tuna overkill, with the last dish being a tuna one as well. Nonetheless, it was pretty tasty. I liked the crisp and crunchy feel it had while the dressing enhanced the flavours of this dish.

Makes 24 (depending on size of patties)

Tuna Patties
3 (375g) cans   Tuna chunks
1 small bundle   Tanghoon (palmsized), softened in hot water
1 pkt                Fresh Oyster Mushrooms, shredded
7 tb                 Self-Raising Flour
3 pc                 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp                Minced garlic, sauteed briefly
5 tb                 Soy sauce
3                     Eggs, beaten
                       Cooking Oil

Ginger & Sweet-soy Dressing
2 tb         Ginger juice
1 tb         Honey
1 tb         Soy Sauce
5 tb         Sweet Sauce
3 tb         Olive Oil

1. Mix all the tuna patty ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour.
2. Combine all the ingredients of the dressing, stirring while you
    add each new ingredient.
3. Shape the chilled tuna mixture into round patties and
    fry the individual patties.
4. Serve the freshly-fried patties with drizzled dressing.

Chilled Vichyssoise with Ham

J: This is quite the traditional potato and leek soup- boiled, pureed and chilled. Pieces of ham and spring onions were used as garnish and for a slight meaty/crunchy flavour.

V: I love potato and leek soup, especially cold/chilled ones! This was pretty well done. It was thick and creamy. The subtle sweetness of the leek can be tasted throughout the soup which made it even better.

Trio of Chicken: Roast Chicken Wrap,
Steamed Thai Pandan Chicken &
Breaded Salt, Chili Chicken

J: My moist and juicy roast chicken wrap (see recipe in separate post) has been rehashed many times before, unfortunately, this was not its finest outing. Having been prepared and wrapped slightly earlier, it was heated in the oven a tad too long, resulting in a dry and sad popiah.

The steamed pandan chicken, paired with a reduced sweet and spicy vinegar dipping sauce, came out fine. This dish is based on the lovely deep-fried pandan wrapped chicken bites, but I modified it by steaming the chicken with the marinating mix and omitting the deep-frying bit. I like the resulting blend of flavours from the marinade of coconut milk, fish sauce and oyster sauce, and the sweet, sour and fiery dip. 

The salt, chili chicken (see deep-fried salt, chili prawn recipe) here was ok, and was crispier than normal as I used Panko breadcrumbs instead of a regular flour batter.

V: nuff said. I don’t think there’s much to add. I tasted better wraps from her. Between the other two, I prefered the Pandan chicken.

Steamed Thai Pandan Chicken (serves 10)

500g   Chicken thigh, cut into cubes
2 tb    Garlic, minced
2 tb    Coconut Milk
2 tb    Oyster sauce
1 tb    Fish sauce
1 tb    Sesame Oil
1 tb    Ginger, sliced
          Pandan leaves, shredded
          White pepper

Dipping Sauce

15 tb  Rice Vinegar
  6 tb  Brown Sugar
  6 pc  Chili Padi, sliced

1. Marinade the chicken pieces with all the ingredients
    listed, and chill for at least 2 hours.
2. Line the plate used for steaming with some fresh pandan leaves,
    placing the chicken with the marinade for steaming.
3. Combine the vinegar and sugar, bring to boil,
    then reduce to half its volume.
4. Add the chili padi into the dip, and serve with the steamed chicken.

Beef and Enoki Roll with Sweet Potato and Galangal Mash

J: Having tasted this dish in various places, from a simple and tasty version from Sushi Tei to a deliciously luxe Wagyu version from Akane (blogpost coming soon!), I wanted to re-create the same meltingly tender sensation on the tongue. However, the beef, which was pan-seared, was slightly overcooked and tough when reheated in the oven. The time lapse allowed the beef to be (more than) well-rested, but the juicyness was glaringly absent- quite disappointing. 

The sweet potato and galangal mash was inspired by my Perth housemate Xinyi, (who’s a great, and VERY precise baker) who once wanted to try a sweet potato pie online recipe. We ran out of ginger at that time and I suggested using galangal (same rhizome family as the ginger), which she hesitated at 1st, but only a small bit was needed, so she decided to try it. The result was astonishing (for me at least). The simple pie now had greater depth because of the flavour of the galangal. I’ve yet to find back that recipe, so I came up with my own for this dish, assimilating ingredients and steps used by Stef (an earlier Perth housemate in Perth) who loved making baked mash potatoes (this was the carbs that made me put on weight!!!) Ok, I’m digressing majorly; thankfully, I’m quite pleased with the end result of the mash, although I think not everyone took to it!

V: The mash really took most of the attention away from the beef. As mentioned, the beef was overdone and over-stuffed with enoki mushroom. It was darn chewy and hard to eat. I thought the mash was outstanding though.

J: It was not THAT bad lah!! Just not perfect what!

Sweet Potato and Galangal Mash (Serves 10; Side dish portion)

4         Sweet Potatoes (medium-sized), peeled, boiled and mashed
2 tsp    Minced Galangal
2 tb     Minced Garlic
2 tb     Chopped Chives
3 tb     Honey
3 tb     Unsalted Butter
1/4cup Evaporated Milk
           Freshly ground Black Pepper
           Salt

1. Saute the galangal and garlic in some butter briefly.
2. Mix all the ingredients together with the sweet potatoes.
3. Do add more of any ingredients you like to suit your tastebuds:
    more milk to make it creamier, more salt for some. You may substitute
    spring onions for chives, or brown sugar for honey if you wish.

Watermelon, Lime and Mint Granita

J: Simple and refreshing. I combined ingredients from various recipes found online. Really great as a palate cleanser, which I loved serving it in my mum’s teacups.

V: I love granitas. It was sweet and a tad tart which made it perfect.

Spicy Asian Seafood Bolognaise with Farfelle

J: Shuying loves chiili crab, but I wanted to add my own twist on the dish, so I added a can of tomato juice, and 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes to tone down the spiciness and for better pairing with the pasta. I made the rempah from scratch though, chopping and blending the shallots, ginger, garlic, chilies etc, and I added a little chicken stock. I was quite pleased with this dish, although depending on whether you’re a conservative pasta lover or strict Chili Crab supporter, you might find the taste too ‘fusion-ised’. Nobody finished this dish though; it was too large a main course especially after being stuffed with 7 (albeit bite-sized) courses before this.

V: I felt that the test version of this was better. In the test version, there was egg and the sauce tasted more like the chilli crab sauce, which was what I liked. This sauce was more watery rather than thick. It tasted different from the test version which had a stronger Chilli Crab taste. I didn’t like it as much as I liked the test version.

Spicy Seafood Pasta (Serves 10)
1 pkt        Pasta
800g        Prawns
500g        Crabmeat
15           Shallots, sliced
1 inch      Ginger, sliced
6             Garlic cloves, sliced
8 pc        Chilies, chopped
10g         Dried Chilies, chopped
750ml      Stock (chicken or prawn is fine, I used a mixture)
3 tb         Ketchup
3 tb         Soy sauce
2 tb         Oyster sauce
2 tb         Fish sauce 
2 tb         Sugar
1 tb         Sweet chili sauce
3 tb         Rice Vinegar
1 can       Whole peeled tomatoes
1 can       Tomato juice
               Cooking oil
2             Eggs, beaten (optional)

1. Process the shallots, ginger, garlic and chilies in a blender.
2. Fry the rempah paste in a little oil, and add the sauces. 
3. Add the juice and whole peeled tomatoes,
    while mashing the tomatoes.
4. Add the stock bit by bit until desired consistency (some
    people prefer it thicker, some more soup-like).
5. Add the prawns and crabmeat.
6. To make it more ‘chili-crab’ sauce-like, add the beaten eggs
    while stirring the boiling sauce; if you prefer it more
    pasta sauce-like, omit the eggs.
7. Boil the pasta till al dente, and serve with the sauce.

If the rempah is not blended to a fine puree, you may choose to strain the sauce before step 3. You may also add chili flakes if you wish to have a spicier sauce.

*There was also a side of salad consisting of butterhead lettuce, red cabbage, raisins, almonds and apple cubes, with a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil and fresh cracked pepper. This is not pictured due to Marv’s contempt for anything less than meat.

V: Salad sucks!

Pear Strudel with Creme Anglaise and Chestnut Cream

J: This was the main source of terror. I have never made desserts, (being less inclined towards sweet stuff), let alone from scratch. The exceptions (attempted in Perth) would be lava chocolate cake, which I messed up when water entered the bowl in which I was melting the chocs in; and lime sorbet, which was pulpy and never set, so we never got to eat it. So you see, savory food is my security blanket- it’s what I (think I) know. But my girlfriends loved desserts, so I thought I’ll venture into the unknown.

And silly, ambitious me flipped through my French Laundry by Thomas Keller cookbook and thought, “This looks nice”. However, it has sooo many steps, and because sometimes I cook by feel, and baking is so precise, the recipe intimidated yet intrigued me.

To summarise, I had to make the Creme anglaise, wine-poached pears (more like stewed) and Chestnut Cream a day in advance as instructed by the cookbook, and I assembled it all on the day of the dinner. (Marv ’sugared’ the puff pastry and assembled the pastry and pears!!) Of course I cheated by buying shelled, roasted chestnuts (I don’t have the vat to roast the ‘gao-luck’ myself!), and substituted expensive Vanilla pods with Vanilla essence. Thankfully, my fretting had not gone to nought, most of them liked it. But I’m definitely not attempting it again anytime soon.

V: Yes, I assembled this desert.muahaha. It took me quite a while to get it right. The pastry skins were frozen at first, but as it started to condense, the pastry dough got really gooey and a little disgusting. I felt the dessert went well with the sauce. The pear was well poached, absorbing all the essence of the wine too.

J: To all who came and made my day: Thanks, you were great guests! (Now, who’s the next to host us?! haha..)