Cooking Class: Siew Mai Dumpling

Previously on Cooking Class, you can read about my first experience here and my first recipe here.

This second recipe has been pre-made by Chef Joel as it’s time-consuming… it requires at least 2 hours prior to prepare. Since we have limited time, we continued from the filling portion. As such, this will be a short post since we missed the preparation of the mixture.

Chef Joel demonstrating the right way to fill in the wanton skin with the siew mai mixture. He deftly pushed the mixture in without tearing the skin :-)

Me struggling to fill in the mixture. I did accidentally tore 1 wanton skin :p

Ta daa!!! Our golden treasure ;-)

Just fill the pot with water and place the dumplings on top of the steamer tray. Both pot and steamer tray thingy actually comes with the Samsung Microwave Convection Oven, unfortunately forgotten to snap it :-) Set for steaming in the Samsung Microwave Convection Oven for 10 mins. Yes, this oven can steam, baby! Just select the Steam function, dial 10 mins and press Start. Easy peasy! Now I am secretly wishing that Samsung will give me one *grinning widely*

The finished product: Siew Mai Dumpling. Taste very delicious too! You can see the steamer tray here… nice and solid.

For the full recipe, you can view it here. Stay tune for the last post of Cooking Class next week ^.^

Cooking Class: Red Bean Bun

I have not baked a cake nor bread in my life! I have helped mom before but just simple tasks such as filling in the tarts, cut the cookies, etc. No kneading, no baking :p So this would be a first in getting my hands dirrrty!

To continue from where I have left off, you can read the previous post here, our first recipe was Red Bean Bun. You can also get the recipe here :-)

Some of our ingredients to be whisked in a Kitchen Aid Mixer – flour, sugar, butter, bread improver, salt and yeast.

All poured into the mixer but do ensure salt and yeast do not touch as it will have a chemical reaction. After mixing midway, pour in the egg.

Waiting patiently for the dough to form perfectly. When it is done, the dough actually felt very soft like a fluffy pillow! If it’s too wet, add more flour. Do note that butter is the last one in the mixer.

Me kneading first time :-) See Foong Yee’s expression, my partner in crime, worried that I would break the dough LOL!

Chef Joel checking the gluten. Once you have kneaded enough, it will form a nice gluten.

Gluten: a tenacious elastic protein substance especially of wheat flour that gives cohesiveness to dough (from www.merriam-webster.com)

Set aside in room temperature to let it rest for 5 mins. You can cover it with a clean towel.

Once dough has rested, portion it into 60 gm each, ‘whisk’ it in your palm until it forms a nice ball and let it rest another 5 mins. The whisking takes time to learn… you need to form your hand into the alphabet ‘C’ and then roll the dough inside the palm clock-wise. You can see us struggling here :-)

Our beautifully-formed 60 gm dough resting for another 5 mins. Do cover it with a clean towel, under room temperature.

 

Once rested, roll the dough flat with a pin and ensure the trapped air has been flatten. Wrap the bean paste in the centre and roll the dough flat again. You can create any designs you desire. You can also use a different filling instead of red bean i.e. sausage :p

 

Set the dough aside for proving around 15 to 20 mins before baking. Egg wash the dough and set it to bake in the Samsung Microwave Convection Oven. Just preheat the oven at 250’C. Once preheated, check the temperature is at 220’C. Place the dough in, select Convection button, dial the timer to 13 mins and press Start button. Easy peasy!

Do note that the tray is slightly heat-resistant around the tip as it’s been covered with a rubberized material. Of course, you should use a glove when removing it from the hot oven but it’s slip-free due to the rubber material :-) Cool right? The tray is one of the equipment provided together with this oven.

 

10! 10! 10! My first ever Red Bean Bun! Yummylicious! Baking made easy with Samsung Microwave Convection Oven!

My 1st Ever Cooking Class Sponsored by Samsung

Thanks to Samsung, I was invited to attend a special cooking class yesterday as a part of Everyone Can Cook Campaign. Samsung is hosting this campaign to demonstrate the hassle-free and time-saving benefits of using the Samsung Microwave Convection Oven first-hand. It was held at Cilantro Culinary Academy, according to the email invite from 10am to 12.30pm.

Sounds easy right? Hmmm… for someone as blur as me (cooking sense lah). In fact, this is a first for me as I have not used an oven before to cook nor bake! Errr… sad to say… *cringe* I only have a small oven toaster *hiding my face*  

It was a wet Saturday morning when we reached Cilantro. Hubby was kind enough to accompany me and be my photographer ^.^ After registration, we waited a while for the rest to arrive. We were given a disposable apron and hat with a list of recipes which we were supposed to cook. I noticed it was different from the original list given in the email invite. The original list was Pan Sealed Blacken Spice Chicken Roulade, Sausage Bun and Crystal Prawns Dumpling. Hmmm… probably to save time as the organizer, Li Ling, was saying that some recipes tend to take a longer time to complete. Well, it was a free class so no complaints here :-)

Once ready, we were ushered into the kitchen… I was in awe with all the cool equipments, wished mine was as cool ;-) The other attendees were a mixture of bloggers and guests… there were 10 of us :-)

Joel Kau, Senior Chef at Cilantro Culinary Academy, was our teacher for the day… teaching us how to make three sumptuous recipes – Red Bean Bun, Siew Mai Dumpling and Herb Crusted Sea Bass with Garden Stew.

Me in my ‘amateur’ chef’s gear :-)

The one and only Samsung Microwave Convection Oven! All 3 recipes do require the oven’s help to complete. We need to bake both Red Bean Bun and Herb Crusted Sea Bass in this oven. We also need to steam the Siew Mai Dumpling in it. Yes, we can steam food in this fantastic oven! Ok ok… me jakunlah… didn’t know ovens can be so damn cool! I’m still in the ancient world… thinking that ovens can be used for baking only =.= The Samsung Microwave Convection Oven can multi-tasks and is user-friendly. I mean, at first I was blur… after 3 minutes, I got the hang of it. Yes, it’s that easy to use! Just need to select the functions required, dial the time and press start. Easy peasy! The only set back for me was not enough clear labels for each symbols/ functions on the oven. Well, even the start button doesn’t have the word ‘start’ on it! I was looking high and low for the button leh… pai seh!

The cooking class was a breeze… it actually ended at 3pm! I learnt a lot of new things, new techniques, new everything! I know I know… thanks to a great teacher too… Chef Joel was friendly, patient and of course, knowledgeable! I really had fun… would definitely recommend it to my friends. Cilantro offers a wide range of leisure cooking programs such as dim sum, Indian specialty, Italian favourite, nyonya kuih delight and bread & cakes. There is also a DIY Christmas special from October to December only. All programs priced from RM150 to RM195, except for DIY Christmas, which is totally reasonable as it comprises of at least 2 recipes. To know more, you can:

Log onto: www. cilantro.edu.my

Call: 03-8023 0555

Visit: Cilantro Culinary Academy, No.4-1, Jln USJ Sentral 3, USJ Sentral, 47600 Subang Jaya

With a Cilantro staff (geez! forgot her name, apparently she blogs too!), Li Ling (organizer) and Chef Joel Kau

I will share the recipes in another post. If not, this will be a very, very long winded one!

Again, thanks to Samsung, I had a wonderful time attending a superb cooking class at Cilantro! I also had the opportunity to get to know Samsung Microwave Convection Oven first-hand! I am in the midst of oven-hunting so rest assured it had been short-listed!

Cilantro: 8 thumbs up out of 10

Samsung: 8 thumbs up out of 10