Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee

Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee

We I have to say this was great fun. Back in June, Mary bought me a gift card, and today I honoured it having a Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee. I decided on this course because it was Thai Cuisine, and very good cuisine it was too. 3 other budding cooks were in the class. We ended up making 4 dishes in total; Homemade green curry, Thai olive fried rice, Thai fish and prawn Otah mousse, and Thai steamed sponge boat.

Great work Chef Julie, I really enjoyed myself today thanks.

If you are in to your cooking, you should try one of these courses. It really was very good. I had great fun doing my Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee. Chef Julie is 1/2 Peranakan, and like me she used to cook with her grandmother. This time though for commercial sales of Peranakan pastries.  She has also written a rather good cookbook, Peranakan snacks, and desserts. Have a look at Chef Julie on Facebook, or come to have a cooking lesson with here at TOTT. TOTT is located at 896 Dunearn Road in the Sime Derby building.

How did it go;

• I learnt a lot on this one, especially the making of the Rempah Spice (curry paste). Blend things separately, and then combine, don’t blitz all together. Cook in  quite a lot of oil, but NOT Olive oil. You could leave it to cool and keep it in the fridge. The oil will rise to the top, so you can skim that off to get to the good stuff.

We used chicken, potato, egg plant in this. It cam out absolutely pucker. Great work Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee. The green paste was incredible so here is the recipe for that;

• 15 Green spur chili;
• 8 Green bird’s eye chili (Malaysian);
• 1 tablespoon of;
  • lemon grass;
  • galangal;
  • Kaffir lime leaf;
• 4 tablespoons of shallot;
• 2 tablespoons of garlic;
• 2 tablespoons of coriander root;
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric;
• 1/2 teaspoon of;
  • roasted coriander seeds;
  • roasted cumin seeds;
  • roasted cracked black pepper; and
• 5 tablespoons of cooking oil (NOT Olive oil).

Firm white fish like mackerel or yellow tail, peeled prawns, red curry paste, a beaten egg, coconut cream, chopped Kaffir lime leaves, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Roughly chop the fish and prawns, and then get everything in a bowl and mix it like buggery until sticky and airy. On those oiled banana leaves, fold and bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes – BOOM!

Fry two beaten eggs with cracked black pepper and fish sauce, and set aside. Then the rice with some fish sauce. And finally the garlic, shallot, and Kai lan until wilted. In with some prawns and sliced chicken and fry until cooked. The in go sliced mushroom and olives. Add in some sugar, fish sauce and soya sauce. Hey presto – some absolutely bloody brilliant fried rice.

I have to say that really was great fun. Come on all you budding cooks/Chefs have a go. I think you really will enjoy yourself and learn a few things too. My Cooking Class @ TOTT, with Chef Julie Yee was excellent, people were lovely, food was delicious – ENJOY!!!

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Brian Kennett

Father of 3. All my kids are mixed, with English-Japanese, and English-Filipino - a recipe in the making there. I have been cooking since a small lad, as guided by my Nan and my Mum - gradually that morphed through exposure to Thai cooking from a lovely lady called Da in Margate. I used to hang out in her restaurant and watch the techniques. So the 1+1= greater than 2 occurred - Mum/Nan/Da - off I went in to the world of Asian cuisine. Moving to Asia in early 2000's clearly has brought that on somewhat - we travel continually, and eat locally and therefore have exposure to more and more new things. I have lived my dream and written a cook book whilst here, an amazing experience and all for a good cause too as I raised a lot of money for charity. My blog is now hopefully turning in to book number 2. Watch this space. I hope you enjoy my passion.