Thailand Menu January 15+16

EVERYONE - This is a rough draft - I think I've covered everything, but if there is confusing or contradictory information here, please ask questions that I can answer at 8:00 from home. I need to leave earlier than usual for a Doctors appt.Although there are only 14 of you, read the assignments for Students 15 + 16 -the recipes are intersting if anyone wants to pick one up in addition to their regular assignment.

If you're making Jasmine Rice, measure and rinse like Chinese Rice. For Day 10 we need 12 cups total and 20 cups for Day 11.  on full steam, covered. HAVE CHEF CHECK WATER LEVEL AND PLACEMENT OF PANS IN STEAMER BEFORE COOKING.


Sous Chefs -
As always, Sous Chefs will need to make sure we have the food picked up from Store room, Fish room, Meat room - delegate as needed to make sure the food is at the kitchen by 7:00 AM.  Also sanitation supplies, supplemental, china storage. Also, on Day10+11 set up a street food table similar to the Vietnamese one. Draw a diagram and present to chef early each day for approval. Also responsible for demo table set up for service on Day 11. We will need to set up chaffing dishes for Street Food on Day 10 (for demo/practice/family meal and 11 for service.) It will   include Hot: Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce-  Fried Fish Cakes and  Cool/Room Temp: Seafood Yam, Green Papaya Salad and Cucumber Salad - on Day 11 we will add some long grained sticky rice to the street food plate, but it mees to be soaked over night on Tuesday for Wednesday; in the center of each street food plate will be a 1 oz. ramekin containing a small amount Nam Prik Pow - Station #4 should be making that 1st thing on Day 10 for the rest of the class. Think about how to set up the service table with chaffing dishes and small containers for other components.Your diagram should show all of these and any items needed for service.

Student #1 - On Day 10 work with the other "Steam/Poach" stations to prepare the 12 cups of Steamed Jasmine Rice as described above. Also, on Day 10 prepare 2 liters of Hot and Sour Soup and on Day 11 8 liters of Chicken - Galangal Soup; hold both hot for service. See video on how to poach shrimp in soup broth here:

Student #2 - Massuman Beef Curry is a straight forward braise. Prepare a recipe using 1/2 kg Beef for Day 10 + 1 kg on Day 11. Discuss with Chef how we will plate a "Curry Sampler Plate" for Day 11 and be ready to compose a trial demo plate by 10:30 on Day 10. Any braises should go to the steam table in 1/3 hotel pans. Since it will be part of a Curry Sampler Plate with the other curries being prepared, you should at least look at those recipes so you are familiar with how your dish will be plated. Curry Stations are #2, #8, #14, #16.

Student #3 - Fried Fish Cakes and Deep Fried Eggs. For the fish cakes we will use some of the halibut in the cooler, be sure to hand mince fish and slice long beans PAPER THIN - this is really important. On Day 10 follow recipe for 500g fish, Day 11 1 kg fish. These are fried just ahead of  service on day 11. See video for shaping the cakes here



For the Deep Fried Eggs -10 eggs both days. The directions are pretty straight forward, but it's a technique not common in western cooking so let me help you get started. The eggs can be fried in the same oil used for the Noodles on station #9, any time after the noodles are done, and held at warm room temperature for service in a 1/2 hotel pan lined with clean paper towels. It's very common in SE Asia to see already- fried eggs on street carts, waiting to be used as accompaniments to other dishes. Yours will be used to accompany the curries.

Student #4 - Green Papaya Salad/Cucumber Salad/Nam Prik Pow
Make 1/2 each salad on Day 10 and a full batch of each on Day 11. Make 3x the recipe for Nam Prik Pow on Day 10 and reserve most for Day 11 - PLEASE CHECK with me about the process of frying each item separately so you get it right - this is a common problem area. The salads are not very complex, but there is a lot of chopping - so start early and move quickly. It's fine for them to sit and marinate until service. To see a unique method for shredding papaya, see this video
 

Student #4 - Nam Prik Pow - read the recipe and MAKE SURE you understand before you begin the process. This is a labor intense preparation which occasionally gets ruined by students who don't follow the instructions properly. Check with the chef before you begin. You'll be making enough for family meal and soup production on Days 10 + 11 as well as having some to use as a dip on the street food plates. - see chef for this as well.  Lastly, on Day 11 you will be making Yogurt for Days 12,13,14. Find Recipe in the Indian section of the old Website and speak with chef before beginning.


 Student #5 - Pad Thai Noodles - prep for 5 portions on Day 10 and 12 portions on day 11. Be ready for cooking demo at 9:30 with the Chef and a plating demo at 10:30 on Day 10. On Day 11 you will fire your service food at 11:20 and put it on the steam table with tongs. It will be served in a deep noodle bowl.  Soaking the noodles properly is important - soak them for 5 minutes ONLY in hot tap water, drain and hold for service. Have your garnishes on the line and be sure to instruct line servers on how to plate properly on Day 11.

Student #6 - Stir Fried Squid with Basil- Prepare 1/2 recipe for Day 10 and 1 full recipe for Day 11. Be ready to do a cooking demo with Chef at 9:30 and a plating demo at 10:30. The ingredients are stir fried in 3 batches to avoid losing temp in the wok and sweating the squid, you can mix the Oyster Sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and chicken stock together before service. Watch the video, it's pretty easy. I want to do the first batch with you. Squid will be served from the steam table in a 1/2 hotel pan into an oval casserole sitting on an oval plate with Jasmine rice on the side. The squid should be kept very cold throughout the prep process, but not allowed to submerge or soak in water - it soaks up water like a sponge and makes the dish more of a soup than a stir fry. Pat the squid as dry as you can before cooking. Here's a demo of the technique, although this is a bit wet

Student #7 - Sea food Yam and Streamed Jasmine Rice. On Day 10 work with the other Steam/Poach stations to prep jasmine rice for family meal as described above. On Day 11 please prepare 8 cups on your own for service. On Day 10 prepare 1x the Seafood Yam Recipe, on Day 11 prepare 2x. You should watch the video "Ouch Hot Water" for how to poach the shrimp and squid

The Seafood Yam is served at cool room temperature on the street food plate. Have it ready by 10:00 on Day 10 for setting up the plating station demo and on Day 11 have it ready for putting in position no later than 10:30

Student #8 - Pork with Green Curry - On Day 10 prepare 1/2 recipe, on Day 11 prepare 1.5x. 
Since it's a braise, it's important to start early, so hustle. Use a small rondos or large sauce pot with cover, remember to keep it covered until the meat is tender to avoid drying out and burning by evaporation. Also remember that you can braise in the oven - the range will get crowded later in the morning, if you don't have room on top of the stove, you can finish in the oven. Discuss with Chef how we will plate a "Curry Sampler Plate" for Day 11 and be ready to compose a trial demo plate by 10:30 on Day 10. Any braises should go to the steam table in 1/3 hotel pans. Since it will be part of a Curry Sampler Plate with the other curries being prepared, you should at least look at those recipes so you are familiar with how your dish will be plated. Curry Stations are #2, #8, #14, #16.

Student #9 - Fried and boiled Noodles. There are a few typos in this recipe which I can't correct and upload from home, but they're not too difficult to work around. Basically you are going to make an egg pasta dough (adjust with a small amount of water if needed), cut noodles by hand, set up a wok as a deep fryer (let me help you with that), deep fry the raw noodles and then boil them to soften before using as a garnish with the curries. After frying the noodles, Station #3 can use the same oil to fry eggs, so work with Chef to set up and fry noodles and then let Station #3 know when the oil is free. Also - For days 13+14 - you are assigned to the Pork Vindaloo - read the recipe for that and prepare the Spice paste and marinade on Days 10 + 11 as indicated so they are ready when you need them.

Student #10 - Pickled Mustard Greens and Pickled Shallots. Ideally, these have been started last block or earlier in this one and ready for service now, you will start another batch of each for use NEXT block.  Read the recipes and talk to Chef about any adjustments. This may be too light a load for you, if so, let's discuss additional recipes to work on. If you think you'll have time, look at the recipe for Jungle Curry 1x, it would be a different style of curry than the others are making and a nice contrast.


Student #11 - Pork Laarb - Prepare 1x the recipe on Day 10 and 2x on Day 11. be ready to fire a demo portion with the chef at 10:00 on Day 10 and do a plating demo at 10:30. On Day 11 be ready to fire 1 recipe for family meal at 10:30 and one recipe for Service at about 11:45. Discuss this timing with Chef on Day 11 - it may change. Also, we may have extra fish or poultry in the cooler to use up. If you have extra time, we could try variations of the Pork Laarb by substituting a different protein.


Student #12 - Grilled Issan Chicken - the chickens marinating from Day 9 should be taken out of the cooler by 9:00 and allowed to come to room temperature while the grill heats. Be SURE to have the grill station set up properly -  zone the grill, have all proper grill ling and grill cleaning tools. On Day 10 fire the chickens for Family meal at 10:00 with the chef's assistance. When cooked to an internal temperature of 70C degrees, remove from grill and allow to rest and carry over cook before cutting and serving. Be prepared with a cutting board, knife and pan for a cutting and plating demo with the Chef on Day 10. On Day 11 begin grilling chickens for service at 11:15 and have ready to serve from the line - from a 1/2 hotel pan - by 11:30. Be sure to have an accurate, calibrated thermometer


Student #13 - Ground Meat Steamed in Banana Leaves. Although beef is listed, we also have other options available in the cooler, so lets look at all of them before you start to prep. Make 1x recipe on Day 10 and then lets assess for Day 11. You will need a wok steamer to cook the packets, see the Video at the beginning of the course if you;re not sue how to use this. Be prepared to start cooking at 10:00 for family meal on Day 10 and at 11:15 for service on Day 11. Leave the packets at room temperature for at least one hour before steaming to assure consistency of cooking.


Student #14 - Duck Red Curry. The duck has marinated over the weekend, we can prepare 16 pieces for Family meal today and the rest for Day 11. Talk to the chef about timing and portion on this as soon as we come in. The ducks were fabricated on Friday, but if you want to see how it's done Here's the 1st of a 3 part series on how to break down a whole duck, you can follow the link from there to see the rest of the series.

Here's an video to give you an idea of how to make the curry itself
 Student #15- Tum Yum Krob - Read the recipe so you know what's involved, gather the mise en place,and then work with the chef to follow each step. This is an easy recipe once you understand it, but it's very different from western snack food. Make 1x this recipe fro Day 10 and then discuss with Chef how much to produce for Day 11.


Student #16 -Yellow Shrimp Curry 1x for Day 10 and 2x for Day 11. Very straight forward recipe, be sure not to cook the shrimp in the sauce before you need it - if the sauce is hot, on Day 10 you should only need to poach the shrimp in the sauce for 3-5 minutes before family meal.
Discuss with Chef how we will plate a "Curry Sampler Plate" for Day 11 and be ready to compose a trial demo plate by 10:30 on Day 10. Any curries should go to the steam table in 1/3 hotel pans. Since it will be part of a Curry Sampler Plate with the other curries being prepared, you should at least look at those recipes so you are familiar with how your dish will be plated. Curry Stations are #2, #8, #14, #16.This dish is fairly simple. If you think you will have extra time, bring a copy of the Pork Adobo Recipe and have enough familiarity with it to start it early enough to serve for family meal as well. This is not mandatory, but it would fit well into the menu.