Sous Chefs:
The good news is you don't have to set up the steam table today, everything comes off of it's own station.
Fisherman's soup - recipe is easy, watch demo of how to cook shrimp in the soup. You can make soup early and hot hold - keep cooked shrimp on the side until service, put them in cups and ladle soup over them.
Green mango salad - mangoes should be green and firm, if not - talk to me. The salad goes on the street food plate, so you don't need a lot per portion - about 1 TBSP.
Sticky Rice (Sweet Rice) - is soaking over night. You need to drain it, put it into a perforated hotel pan lined with moist cheese cloth and steam it for 15 minutes. Do this early, it's usually served at room temperature, so it doesn't matter if it's not hot at service. Keep it for the street food station in a 1/3 hotel pan, covered with a moist towel.
Your primary responsibility besides soup/salad/sticky rice will be to set up the Street Food Station. This should be done on Station 5 using one chaffing dish with three 1/3 hotel pans in it to hold the hot food - like the dimsum set up. The street food plate will go to every customer with an entree, so we need to be prepared for 50-60. Each small (6") plate will contain a 1oz. ramekin of nuoc cham (made by station 6), a small portion of green mango salad, about a TBSP. of sticky rice, one rib, one Beef in La-Lot portion, one salad Roll, one shrimp on sugar cane. It should look like this
EXCEPT there will be a small lump of sticky rice next to the mango salad:
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| From K1 Menu Photos |
Draw a great diagram of how this will look on Station 5. Where will everything be? Plates? Ramekins of sauce? Chaffing dish with each compartment labeled, Where's the rice? The salad rolls, and mango salad? Don't use utensils to plate- use gloved hands - faster that way.
BTW - All of the nouc cham for the class will be made by Station 6 and distributed or portioned as needed. Station 6 should portion 50 small ramekins of the nouc cham for the street food plates - about 1/2 full each ramekin. The rest will be used by Team 4 to dress their noodles for the fish.
Station 2:
Salad Roll set up is deceptive. It looks and sounds simple, but until you've made a few, it's awkward. For that reason, have all your MEP set up to start rolling by 9:00 AM - we'll get everyone to practice rolling a few, I'll help, and it will be easy. Watch the video - ask me for the towels as soon as I walk in. These go on the street food plate, so don't worry about the nouc cham dip - station 6 will make and portion that for you
Pho - You will have 2 types of beef to add to this - boiled beef (already done) and thin slices of raw sirloin. Plan to go to the meat room for about 30 minutes and slice the semi frozen meat down there at about 7:30, be sure to talk to me before you go .Plan to set up Station 2 table and a tray stand with sheet tray for Pho pick -up during service. The broth has been made for 2 days, so only heat 1/2 on Day 8. Heat it in a stainless pot on the range ,use one of the station 2 woks, filled with simmering water, as a hot water bath to hold the stainless pot of broth. The wok next to the broth should have simmering water and a china cap - this is to heat and refresh the noodles in.Draw a diagram of how you are going to set everything up. Noodles should be portioned ahead and held in cups - where will they be on the station? The Herbs? The raw beef?Where are your bowls kept? Under liner plates for Table Salad, Sambal, and Lime? All of this should be mapped out before you get to class. Check with chef before service if you have any doubts about the efficiency of your plan. You will pick up ala minute from Station 2.
Station 3
Shrimp on Sugar cane - the shrimp "mousse" for this got made today, Talk to the sous chefs about who will do the finishing grill work on these - probably we only have one person to grill both your shrimp and team 5's Beef in La Lot skewers. Watch the video on how to shape and form and also on how to work with sugar cane. Chef can help.
Fried Fish - catfish fillets coming in, cut into large bite-sized pieces and divide into 6 oz portions. You will set up most of your mise en place on your station, the fish portions and seasoned flour mix on a tray stand next to the wok, and one of the large woks directly across from your station will be filled with 6" deep of fry oil and act as your deep fryer - just like down town Saigon on the side walk. Let chef turn on and adjust the temp on the oil - if you get it wrong, it's a BIG fire - very scary. Draw a diagram of where everything will be and label everything, it will make your life soooo much easier. You will be frying ala minute - order-fire-pickup as the orders are called. Served in the wide, shallow bowls.
Station 4- Making the table salad is labor intensive and time consuming, you're making them for everyone, so start early. Watch the video on handling herbs and table salad and then set up a production assembly line so you can knock them out fairly fast. Keep completely covered with moist towels at all times and, if there are any left over, they can be wrapped and used on Day 9 - you won't have to make as many.
The Chicken salad is very straight forward - follow the recipe and serve at room temp. You are responsible for your own Jasmine rice and making enough to share with Station 5. Hold it hot in a chaffing dish on your station.
Station 5- Beef in la lot leaves is time consuming. set it up "production style", meaning don't make one at a time, lay out all of the leaves, fill them all , roll, them, then put them on skewers. Have a conversation with Station 3 and the Sous Chefs about who will work the grill for both your product and the shrimp on sugar cane during service. They will both be cooked in batches and brought to the street food station in 1/3 hotel pans.
Crepes- Do only 1 times the recipe for the batter (sorry if I told you other wise earlier - old habit from before I fixed the recipe). Make batter early and consult chef when you are toasting the mung beans and then again when you are straining the batter. Make and fill crepes ahead, hold at room temp and reheat in a non stick pan ala minute.
Station 6 - Weigh out ingredients for dough and get started on it as soon as you come in. While dough rises, prep and set out all other sandwich ingredients and make chips. The pate and the roasted pork were both made today and should be sliced thin ahead for service. 1/2 of the pate is for Day 8 and 1/2 is for Day 9, DONT use it all up on Day 8. The rolls should be ready to bake by 10:00, so that they have time to cool before cutting for service Chips can be made as far ahead as you want - just not a day before. You are also making all of the nouc cham for the rest of the class. Most will go into ramekins for street food, about 2 cups will go to station 3 for their noodles.
Questions answered between 8-9 tonight. I may answer late ones if I can, but try to have questions submitted by 8:00 - that's the deadline.
Good evening Chef,
ReplyDeleteStation 2- For the shrimp in the salad rolls, we should be skewering them like we have been for the nigiri the last two days? Also, The frozen raw sirlon, is it coming in for 2 days tomorrow, and if so can we slice all the meat for both tomorrow and wednesday?
Thank you
-Sarah
Chef, Station 4,
ReplyDeleteA couple of questions
1.) For the Jasmine Rice, it says to make * cups on the Tracking Schedule, and 10 Cups on the recipe. I also understand that we are also making the Rice for Table 5, I just wanted to make sure. Also is the process for Jasmine Rice the same as Medium Grain rice, or does it need to be soaked before hand?
2.) When would you be available to do the demos for the cucumber and for the crispy shallots?
3.) The tracking schedule says to do the chicken salad and the table salad for 50 portions, but the recipes are for 16 and 10. Are we supposed to scale up either of the recipes, or serve smaller portions?
4.) For the boiled chickens, are we going to try and Simmer them all in one pot, or do it in separate smaller pots?
Thank you Chef, Brian and Chris
Sarah - No need to skewer the shrimp unless you need to keep it straight - and we don't need to, save the skewers.Frozen sirloin - when you come in tomorrow, remind me right away to call the meat room. They'll stat to partially defrost it and you'll go down about 30 minutes later and slice it.There will be enough for both tomorrow and Wednesday. Make sure to talk to me before you go to the meat room so that I can give you some details you'll need to know.
ReplyDeleteBrian and Chris-
1.) Rice - Team 4 is making the jasmine rice, yo don;t have to worry about it
2.) When would you be available to do the demos for the cucumber and for the crispy shallots?
I can demo anything when ever you're ready. Please give me a context for the cucumbers - we're using them all over the menu, I don;t know which application you're talking about. The crispy shallots - have them ready to fry by 9:30, set up a wok as a deep fryer BUT DO NOT TURN ON THE HEAT unless I'm with you. When you're all set up, I'll start you off. The earlier, the better. The wok you use should be directly across from Table 3 - when you;re done with your shallots, they will use the same wok.oil to fry their fish.
3.) The tracking schedule says to do the chicken salad and the table salad for 50 portions, but the recipes are for 16 and 10. Are we supposed to scale up either of the recipes, or serve smaller portions?
Table salads - watch the video on table salads and herbs, you'll make 50 individual table salads - 10 for each station. Make sure to follow the instructions and take care of everything so that, if there are any left over at the end of service, you can wrap them well and use them on Wednesday. They're a pain to make, so you'll appreciate not having to make more than you need to.
Chicken salad, you'll get 3 whole chickens, it usually makes about 12 portions or so, don;t worry about portions, just scale the recipe to fit 3 whole birds.
4.) For the boiled chickens, are we going to try and Simmer them all in one pot, or do it in separate smaller pots?
All in one - more efficient
Chef,
ReplyDeleteStation 6, looking at the picture of the plate, it looks like the chips are taro and lotus root. How think are we to cut them and can we use a mandolin? Also, do we need to make more pork for the next day, or do you think we have enough to get through two days? Also, which oven are we going to be using, because I may be blind, but I do not remember seeing an oven in K1?
David
Chef,
ReplyDeleteChris is finishing a demo on campus, so I wanted to follow up on the question we had in case you checked this once more before class.
Regarding the rice, we are team 4 for the day and therefore have to make for ourselves and team 5.
Regarding the cucumber, we were referring to the wrapping for the table salad. The demo video has you using a mandolin, but the recipe says to "ask chef" about the cutting method. We just wanted to confirm that we would be doing it as in the demo (with just a few different herbs, of course) instead of any other method.
Thank you,
Brian and Chris
David, you'll find all of the individual recipes by looking at the bottom of the main menu page for Vietnam and click on the link that takes you to all of the recipes, you need to make the chips,the bread,slice the pate and roast pork, and set up the rest of the sandwich fixings. Remember that the rolls will be griddle to order using the cast iron griddle on the corner of the grill.
ReplyDeleteThe cucumbers are sliced length wise on a mandolin into thin ribbons. Set up everything else for the table salads as shown in the video and I'll show you all how to make them. Maybe if you set up all the MEP I can get every team to actually assemble their own tray of 10 salads
Thank you Chef, we will try to get them done as early as possible to facilitate the teams contributing if able.
ReplyDeleteAlso, regarding the rice, Chris had asked if "the process for Jasmine Rice the same as Medium Grain rice, or does it need to be soaked before hand?" and I think the question was overlooked due to the confusion of teams. We are preparing it tomorrow and just want to double check the method.
Brian and Chris - Don't rely on me checking the blog and responding after 8:00. Jasmine rice is prepared the same way that we prepared the long grained white rice in China
ReplyDelete