Michael’s Man Drawer – No noodles in Singapore

Posted On March 6, 2018
March 06, 2018

`We Chinese eat anything with 4 legs…except the kitchen tables and chairs`

Lesson number 1 learnt on my Christmas present, a mornings cookery course deep in the heart of Singapore`s Chinatown and I remembered these words of wisdom amidst the bustle in one of the busiest food markets in Asia as we were instructed how to choose the ingredients for fish head stew.

We were also introduced to the Durian fruit, notorious for being so pungent that it is banned from Singapore`s public transport system yet throughout this part of Asia you can find it in sweets, cakes and ice cream.

Back to the classroom and I was paired with Jamie from Seattle and our first task was to trim and fold pandan leaves to make 1 inch square containers for our puddings, a creamy concoction of thickened coconut milk and sweetcorn.

Jamie soon mastered the folding leaving me to chop and shred the filling for our spring rolls, a mix of garlic, carrot, cabbage and a type of turnip, all cooked together in a dash of veg oil before our instructor Helen added her trade secret sauce which turned out to be equal quantities of oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil.

After cooling and draining I learnt that less is best when it comes to filling spring rolls as my first batch exploded dramatically.

Meanwhile, Jamie had been pounding a dozen ingredients together in a pestle and mortar to make the paste for our laksa, a spicy broth with noodles and coconut milk.

`Helen` I asked ` Are these the same noodles you use in Singapore noodles ?

`Ah Michael` she replied ` you will find Singapore noodles all over the world but not in Singapore.

And now you know.

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