Tung Lok Bloggers' Cooking Party with Star Chef of The Year@ My Humble House

I attended an exclusive cooking party organised by Tung Lok.

Tung Lok

I just got to know about this Modern Chinese restaurant empire until I came for this food tasting event. Sure enough, it was embarrassing not to know of such a large restaurant group which comprises of more than 40 over restaurants and representing over 15 brands in Singapore, China, India, Japan and Indonesia!

My Humble House

This cooking party was held at My Humble House which is also one of the restaurants under Tung Lok group. It’s located at level 2 of Esplanade and the restaurant itself has offered a spectacular view of the city’s skyline.

Hmm… how could I not know about this award-winning restaurant at Esplanade? This is one hidden gem.

Did you know that Tung Lok Group was also the first to introduce modern Chinese cuisine to Singapore in 1997? They play a part in shaping Singapore’s food and cultural scene too!

Tapas

Tapas served for that evening for the media are Siew Mai, Vietnamese Spring Roll and Hainanese Chicken Rice. They are mostly Asian oriental food that comes in small bite sizes.

I love the Siew Mai! It’s chewy and … bouncy! Stuffed with all the fresh mincemeat and topped with a tiny bit of chilli… There’s just one word in this world to describe it. “Shiok!” That’s one Singlish word which I, till today, can’t find an equivalent word for it.

The Cooking Party

Then, the cooking party begins!

Thank goodness that we don’t have to actually cook any of the dishes here! ( Even though I don’t mind getting my hands dirty and learn how to cook from a Star chef!)

All we need to do is to just assemble the cooked ingredients prepared for us and we’re free to present the dish in any way we want.

But before all the fun begins, we were treated to a live cooking demonstration by the restaurant’s in-house chefs! There are two dishes prepared for us that night.

1) Pan-seared Maotai Wine-marinated Chicken stuffed with Foie Gras wrapped in Black Sesame Crepe

2) Soft Red Bean Banana Ball coated in Shredded Coconut served on Chilled Tropical Fruits with Crushed Coconut-flavored Ice with Gula Malaka

Wondering why the chopping boards are of a distinct colour? The chopping boards are actually colour-coded! The green one is for cutting vegetables and the red one is for cutting meat. How cool is that?

Pan-seared Maotai Wine-marinated Chicken Stuffed with Foie Gras

This Pan-seared Maotai Wine-marinated Chicken stuffed with Foie Gras is making me very hungry. I was quite tempted to pop a slice of it into my mouth just as the chef was preparing it.

That’s Chef’s masterpiece!

Each blogger has their own set of ingredients to play with. That cooking session was like some de-stress ‘spa session’ for me. For once, I get to tap on my right brain and to do something creative.

My Creation

I wrapped all the ingredients with the homemake sesame pancake!

That’s my creation! Inspired by the architecture of the outdoor theatre which stood just right outside Esplanade. It looks rather strange and quirky though. Like something out of outer space?

Let’s move on to the next dish!

Soft Red Bean Banana Ball on Chilled Tropical Fruits with Crushed Coconut-flavored Ice

Chef David Liew removed the coconut husk so that it’s easier to scrap out the coconut flesh.

That’s a lot of Gula Melaka…drizzled all over the coconut ice-cream… Chef David Liew looks really serious when he’s preparing the dish. It’s a lot of hard work! And I guess that the beauty of cooking when a lot of love, care, effort and attention is invested in whipping out a dish. That’s why it’s really heartwarming to know that someone has specially cooked something for you to fill your stomach. Don’t we all love good food cooked by loving hands?

Ooo…all those dry ice!

The coconut ice-cream is quite incredible and it’s really easy to make! All you simply need to do it to boil coconut juice and coconut milk (1:1 in proportion) together with some pandan leaf and sugar til it bubbles. Refrigerate the mixture for 8 hours and voila! You very own tropical coconut ice-cream!

The coconut ice cream goes well with the champagne.