Thank You Singapore

Yesterday I had a cooking class in a Japanese home. 2 ladies of leisure contacted my Assistant and decided on a menu they wanted to learn. So A and I found our way to their humble home in River Valley Road area.

They wanted to learn to cook the following local favourites:

Hainanese Chicken, Chicken Rice and chilli sauce
Paper wrapped chicken
Egg Tofu with Sugar peas
Fried Hokkien Mee
Mango Pudding
Ah Balling



And soon we found out why..as one of the ladies will be leaving Singapore soon. Her husband has been posted to Thailand for 2 years and she worries that she cannot find her best loved hawker fare. Decided that once and for all, she had to learn to cook it herself.

She has stayed in Singapore for 3 years now, with her family and have grown to love Singapore, the people, the sights and sounds and most of all, the food.

Some of the dishes/recipes have been modified to suit the Japanese palates. Especially anything that has extra spiciness.
I have also modified the paper wrapped chicken recipe so its less oily. Its pan fried instead of deep fried.

What is not shown in the dining table are the chicken rice, and desserts as it was in the fridge for chilling. The Ah Balling was still bubbling in the pot. As we have to leave soon, as A has to fetch her kids from school, we left them with much appreciation and I was truly inspired by them. They gave me a chance to impart my culinary heritage to them. The way my mom used to teach me the right way to cook ah Gong's Hainanese chicken rice.

With that, the ladies say "Thank you Singapore" and to me "Thank you, for your inspiration"



Here's my Paper wrapped chicken recipe:

Serves 2
Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, cut into 4 sections each
1 stalk of spring onions, chopped

50ml corn oil(or any cooking oil)

Baking paper, cut into 15cm squares

Marinating sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp fine sugar

Method:
1. Marinate chicken pieces with sauce for 30 minutes
2. Place a piece of chicken on one end of the paper.
3. Sprinkle a teaspoon of spring onions on top.
4. Fold and wrap to seal the packet.
5. Heat up a frying pan with oil
6. Place each chicken packet and cook for 15 minutes. Turn over every 3 minutes.
7. Serve hot. Discard paper when serving.