Secrets from Singapore's master chef Sam Leong

You can call me a veteran cooking demo enthusiast. I’ve been to so many that I know the routine so well. Still, no two cooking demos are the same. And the great differentiator is always the one who’s teaching—the chef’s credentials, his/her depth of experience, and how willing he/she is to share with the participants, not just recipes but more importantly, kitchen secrets.

 

From the cooking demos I’ve joined, three are most memorable. The ones where I left with my recipe handouts crammed with tips I wouldn’t have known if I just surfed the Internet or tried a recipe at home.

 

The cooking lesson with Singapore’s Master Chef Sam Leong hosted by Makati Shangri-La Hotel at the Shang Palace last May 24 is one of those memorable classes. The recipes he shared were actually simple: Double Boiled Morel Mushroom and Chicken Soup, Baked Honey Cod Fish, and Braised “E-fu” Noodle with Mushroom.  

While I could have just gotten these recipes from the Internet or his book, why pay extra for some face time with the chef? How do you get the most out of a demo by no less than a Master Chef with 27 years of culinary experience, one of Singapore’s most celebrated chefs with several cookbooks (“A Wok Through Time” and “A Taste of Home”), cooking shows (Star Chefs 1 and 2) and awards (Asian Cuisine Chef of the Year, 2009 World Gourmet Summit, among others) to his credit?

 

Rule No.1 when attending cooking demos is: Never be too shy to ask questions (no matter how silly your question may be). This is what you’re really paying for. You won’t learn much by just watching the chef go through the recipes. Asking questions is expected so never pass up the chance to clarify something like substitutes for certain ingredients or where to source an ingredient.

 

Kitchen secrets

 

It was good that plenty of ladies in the room fearlessly asked Chef Sam the questions the rest of us were too shy to ask. Thanks to them, I walked away with these kitchen secrets from the Master Chef.  

•       To make a decent Chinese chicken soup such as that needed for the double-boiled mushroom recipe, use the right ingredients: one whole chicken (cut up), one kilo of lean pork (sliced the size of a dollar coin), some Yunan ham (100 grams), and chicken feet (10 pieces). He also revealed that the secret of good Chinese restaurants for making chicken broth that’s clear instead of “cloudy” is that the ingredients are steamed rather than boiled and simmered.

 

•       For the Baked Honey Cod, instead of marinating just a few pieces of fillets for two to three people, you can actually marinate more so you don’t waste the marinade and you can keep that in the chiller for three to five days. When you want to cook more later, just get the fish to room temperature before baking.

 

•       Whenever you can, choose fresh over frozen chicken. Why? Because frozen chicken loses 20 percent of its moisture and won’t give you as much flavor in your dishes as a fresh chicken would.

 

•       After seasoning your chicken soup with salt, follow through with a little bit of sugar. I’ve seen this done by chefs so many times but never asked why. Chef Sam said that the soup, with some salt added to it, is still bland. The sugar will perk up the broth and jolt it out of blandness. If it’s still lacking in flavor after adding sugar, then add a bit more salt. Season with less then add more as you go to achieve the right flavor.  

These were just some tips we got from the Master Chef. We were lucky that Chef Sam came to Manila and that he now devotes his time to teaching in his cooking school, Forest Cooking School, that he set up with his Thai wife and fellow chef, Forest. 

 

He says that in teaching, he gets a kind of fulfillment that’s different from simply getting compliments from customers in the hotels where he used to work (the Fullerton Hotel and the Four Seasons in Singapore). He feels happier when a student goes home and cooks for his family and texts him, “Sam, my son never ate salmon before but I went home and cooked your salmon dish for them today and wow, my son ate two bowls of rice!”

 

This is one of the reasons why he set up a school instead of a restaurant. And also so he could spend more time with his family. 

 

Doing cooking demos also brings the chef and his wife all over the world. He has been to Manila twice through the Makati Shangri-la Hotel’s events. 

 

But on traveling all over the world, he shares yet another secret. “Whenever I travel I don’t go to a hotel or restaurant to eat, unless the hotel is famous and I want to learn from them. I go to those ‘corner-corner’ places where the people eat. Like last year when I was in Manila, I went out and tried adobo in a food court. I like to see what the people are doing, I see the food and the different cultures. And I learn how to appreciate life more,” says Chef Sam.  

Passion, hard work

 

There is one last tip from Chef Sam that those who go to these cooking demos must heed. Cooking is a passion. And it’s hard work. You don’t learn by trying the recipe once or twice at home. One must constantly cook. Yes, the secret to being a good cook is to go into the kitchen and do it many times over. No matter how many cooking classes one goes to, practice is still the only key to perfection.

 

Of course, the best part of joining a cooking class is sampling the dishes after the demo. We had servings of the hot double boiled mushroom morel and chicken soup and we appreciated how, indeed, the soup was clear the way he said it would turn out, using the restaurant secrets he shared. The noodles were cooked al dente and not oily as Chinese noodle dishes often are. With just a few ingredients, the noodles came out flavorful yet very light. 

 

The baked honey cod fish tasted very much like a teriyaki dish, sweet with a hint of soy and wine but not gingery. And it was so soft to the bite. It was simple yet elegant. I vowed to try this one at home. –KG, GMA News