Chinese and Custards

Tuesday was another full day at Palate.

Whatever the relationship between the Chinese and Indian governments, it must be said that at least on the surface of it, Indians have embraced Chinese food with gusto. They not only have embraced it, they have also adapted it to suit their own tastebuds and created a whole genre of cuisine called Desi Chinese or Indo-Chinese.

So if you are looking for Malaysian style Chinese food, forget it. This is more spiced up with a spicy tomatoey sauce called Szechwan sauce holding centre court. While it would be easy to compare this to Sichuan cuisine per se, it is not quite it-think more tangy, more sweet. They also much prefer using Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) to Tofu.

Today’s morning culinary class with Chef Griffith was all about Basic Indian Chinese cuising. So we learnt how to make a Manchow Soup, 2 styles of Noodles (what they call as Hakka and Szechwan), fried rice, Paneer in Chilly Sauce, Veg fried rice and Egg fried rice and finally a Chicken in Oyster Sauce Dish.

While the preparation of the chicken for the chicken dish was hard to sit through (thankfully I was spared any contact with the Chicken), watching how it was made was useful as I could replicate it in future replacing the chicken with mushrooms or mock chicken that is easily available at home.

Interesting to learn about the basic spices at play in this cuisine much like how it is in other cuisines.

Afternoon class was all about custard desserts-making Creme Brulee, Creme Caramel and Bread and Butter Pudding. More fun with my complicated friend-Eggs:)

Only realised yesterday that the Bread and Butter Pudding is not a pudding actually but another application for the custard made for the Brulee.

Had a hankering for Veg Burgers and decided to try ordering from a local burger place-Flippin Good Burgers. It was a Bean Burger.

Verdict? It was a little too mushy for my liking and too much Mayo Sauce-a tomato relish I feel would have been better to go with it. More like a 5/10.

Learnt yesterday that our exams are intense 4 hour affairs Master Chef style where we have to prepare a pre-determined menu from scratch without any recipes on hand! So better start some serious revisions!! Gulp!

Went for Yoga in the evening and wrapped a long and productive day!