Day 7:
Look at tracking schedule and be aware of all prep that needs to be done ahead for Day 8. Once we're on track with that I have some cool stuff to play with:
Hamachi Kama - what's that? Look it up, it's delicious! We can have it for family meal Day 7 if it's grilled before 10:30 and finished in the oven by 11:00. Talk to me about prep + condiments.
Tomago - Japanese sweet "omelet" used for certain sushi applications. I'll bring recipe and pan to cook it in
Finish prepping Pork Butts and Bellies for Vietnamese menu - if it's done on Day 7 we have porky goodness on Friday
If you have any questions, ask here.
I'll check in at 8:00 and again at 9:00 because I was out-of-town.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Japan days 6+7 December 13-14
OK, on to Japan:
Sous Chefs:
The only things coming off of the steam table today will be the steamed white rice and the Braised beef, You only need to use 1 steam table.
Making Sushi Rice is key. Watch the video and be prepared to start the process as soon as you come in at 7:00 am.
- Rinse and drain rice until water is clear - the more clear the water, the better the rice. Anticipate spending 15 minutes or so washing rice.
- Soak rice for 1 hour in fresh, cool water
- Drain and Air Dry rice on lined sheet tray from 30 minutes
- prepare vinegar solution while rice dries
- Steam rice - while rice is steaming, fill hangiri with cool water, when rice is finished cooking and while it's resting, dump water from hangiri, towel excess water out and then put rested rice into hangiri and add vinegar solution while "cutting" and fanning. Ask me for additional demo on this if you're not clear.
- When rice is cool to the point that it's no longer steaming, stop "cutting" and divide rice into 3 1/3 hotel pans - one pan for each type of sushi. Cover rice with damp towels to keep from forming a crust and hold at room temp - don't refrigerate it.
Once the sushi stations are set up, I'll demo each type of sushi to get you started - if you're set up for demos by 10:00 am you can make all of the sushi slightly ahead of family meal and hold it. It works best to set up all 3 sushi stations on the same table so you can share ingredients. I usually use stations 1 and 2 (because they should be finished their other prep by 10). When the sushi is made and the garnishes (from station 6) are all together, you can plate on small plates and hold for service on the shelves under station 5.
Sushi Plate:
Sushi Station Set ups
Maki Station:
Nigiri Station:
Inari Station:
Make the Dashi for Miso soup in a stainless steel pot,not a wok, the wok makes it dark and muddy tasting. You should anticipate making about 3 gallons dashi all together so that other stations can draw from it, the exception will be for Station 6 - they need a Vegan dashi and will make their own. Save the solids when you strain the dashi, they can be used on Tuesday to make a "second dashi"
The sunomono salad is supposed to be placed on the sushi sampler plate as a garnish - small pile, about 1 TBSP. per plate. The sunomono can be made early and dressed close to service.
The steamed white rice should be made the same way as the rice for the Chinese menu.
Station 2:
The braise is pretty self explanatory. Choose a small rondo - you don't want too much surface area or your braise will burn. When finished, hold it hot in a deep 1/2 hotel pan in the steam table. See photo in recipe for plate prez.
Station 3:
Pork Cutlet is also self explanatory. You should anticipate plating directly from the fry station, so draw a detailed diagram of how the station will look. If you want to see great detail, talk to Aaron - his plan for today was great. The only thing you won't have near the fryer is the steamed white rice - once everything else is plated, pass it to the steam table for rice. The sauce should be in 1 oz. ramekins, the cabbage salad should be dressed just before service, and the cutlets fried to order - if they are pounded thin enough they take less than 1 minute to fry. You'll need a cutting board and knife on your station to slice pork before plating - everything in Japanese service is cut to "bite size" before plating because there are typically no knives at the table.
Station 4:
Be ready to produce both the steamed fish AND the Udon Noodles. Watch the video for making the cabbage/spinach rolls and check out the plate presentation for the fish. You may be able to get the fish early - try picking it up around 7:30. I can show you how to fabricate it and set up the plates, you will cook them as needed in a wok steamer and serve them in shallow casserole dishes set on oval plates with white rice and miso pickles - the miso pickles are VERY salty right out of the container, so soak them in cool water for at least 3 hours before service, then drain. Then concentrate on setting up the Udon noodle station. Set up the station using the 4 burners on the right side of the range. The 2 left burners will be for station 5 to saute their vegetables. Have one large pot of boiling water with a china cap in it to refresh your noodles ala minute and then have 3 small pots with lids that you can use to make small 1-2 portion batches as needed throughout service. There should be a video for making the "spinach/cabbage" rolls, that's what you want to use. I prefer to cook this dish a few at a time during service so that everything is fresh. It's best to make a couple of portions starting at 10:30 for family meal, just for practice. When you get back from Family meal, immediately start 2 portions - 1 for demo and one for the first order. When they are done, hold one for the first order and then start another 2. It takes about 7-10 minutes for each batch, so if you fire the portions about 5 minutes apart, no one has to wait more than a few minutes. If you get hit with a lot of orders all at once you can fire 2-3 in the same pot and have the expediter explain that there's a short wait.
Station 5:
Beef Teriyaki - Make sure you watch the demo on cleaning skirt steak. Cut and portion into 5 oz. portions. Marinate steaks and prep vegetables. You will cook and plate from your station, so Draw a detailed diagram of how the grill will be set up - Grill cloth, oil, grill brush, resting pan with rack, cutting board to slice meat, slicing knife, tongs. Also, you will be sauteing the veg (snow peas, bean sprouts, mushrooms) in small batches on the range. Set your station up so that you are "self contained". Grill set up - saute/veg set up- plates on shelf above saute line- cutting board on end of table closest to grill- chaffing dish set up with two 1/2 hotel pans in it , one for rice and one to hold your veg batches as they cook. Again - if you draw a detailed diagram of your entire station and label all of the items you'll need, setting up will be much easier on Tuesday morning and you'll look like a rock star. Hint - Beef teriyaki is very popular. You're going to get hit hard as soon as the doors open. Have 5 steaks grilled and resting(not cold,just resting) at 11:30 and have 1/3 of your vegetables already sauteed and in the chaffing dish ready to go. As you get an order for one steak, fire another. Skirt steak should be cooked to medium doneness. Medium rare is too chewy.
Station 6:
Your big job is getting all of the sushi garnishes prepped and collected. Each sushi plate will need
- 1 oz ramekin soy sauce
- 1 shiso leaf
- small amount of drained pickled ginger - house made on Friday, ask Tim
- wasabi for the plate and wasabi for the sushi production - see below
- sunomono salad - get from sous chefs
- blanched soy beans (make sure you get the ones IN the pods - the store room usually messes up the order and sends the ones out of the pods)
Get all of this stuff together early. The soy sauce in ramekins - about 50 ramekins - and all of the other stuff together on a sheet tray so you can bring it to the sushi production area when they need it (hopefully by 10:00 am). Communication with the other teams and sous is important. You can see a picture of the finished plate with all of the garnishes in the Maki recipe on the Web Page.
When you make the wasabi paste, follow the recipe, but add the water slowly while stirring. When it gets to the consistency of play dough, good for shaping into balls or cubes for garnish, take half out of the bowl and set it aside. Continue adding cool water and stirring until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency - like toothpaste. This should go into a brown plastic cup for the sushi production stations.
Vegetable harvest is simple. Once all the vegetables are prepped, you can arrange everything EXCEPT the tofu and cucumbers in deep bowls. Keep a perforated hotel pan in the steamer. When you get an order, ladle dashi over vegetables, place the whole bowl in the steamer to reheat everything for 2 minutes, remove bowl from steamer and finish with Tofu cubes, cucumber slices, miso sauce and scallions. When you make your vegetarian dashi, you can save the kombu seaweed, chiffonade it, and use some of that as garnish as well
Sous Chefs:
The only things coming off of the steam table today will be the steamed white rice and the Braised beef, You only need to use 1 steam table.
Making Sushi Rice is key. Watch the video and be prepared to start the process as soon as you come in at 7:00 am.
- Rinse and drain rice until water is clear - the more clear the water, the better the rice. Anticipate spending 15 minutes or so washing rice.
- Soak rice for 1 hour in fresh, cool water
- Drain and Air Dry rice on lined sheet tray from 30 minutes
- prepare vinegar solution while rice dries
- Steam rice - while rice is steaming, fill hangiri with cool water, when rice is finished cooking and while it's resting, dump water from hangiri, towel excess water out and then put rested rice into hangiri and add vinegar solution while "cutting" and fanning. Ask me for additional demo on this if you're not clear.
- When rice is cool to the point that it's no longer steaming, stop "cutting" and divide rice into 3 1/3 hotel pans - one pan for each type of sushi. Cover rice with damp towels to keep from forming a crust and hold at room temp - don't refrigerate it.
Once the sushi stations are set up, I'll demo each type of sushi to get you started - if you're set up for demos by 10:00 am you can make all of the sushi slightly ahead of family meal and hold it. It works best to set up all 3 sushi stations on the same table so you can share ingredients. I usually use stations 1 and 2 (because they should be finished their other prep by 10). When the sushi is made and the garnishes (from station 6) are all together, you can plate on small plates and hold for service on the shelves under station 5.
Sushi Plate:
 |
| From Japanese Plate Presentations |
Sushi Station Set ups
Maki Station:
 |
| From Japanese Plate Presentations |
Nigiri Station:
 |
| From Japanese Plate Presentations |
Inari Station:
 |
| From Japanese Plate Presentations |
The sunomono salad is supposed to be placed on the sushi sampler plate as a garnish - small pile, about 1 TBSP. per plate. The sunomono can be made early and dressed close to service.
The steamed white rice should be made the same way as the rice for the Chinese menu.
Station 2:
The braise is pretty self explanatory. Choose a small rondo - you don't want too much surface area or your braise will burn. When finished, hold it hot in a deep 1/2 hotel pan in the steam table. See photo in recipe for plate prez.
Station 3:
Pork Cutlet is also self explanatory. You should anticipate plating directly from the fry station, so draw a detailed diagram of how the station will look. If you want to see great detail, talk to Aaron - his plan for today was great. The only thing you won't have near the fryer is the steamed white rice - once everything else is plated, pass it to the steam table for rice. The sauce should be in 1 oz. ramekins, the cabbage salad should be dressed just before service, and the cutlets fried to order - if they are pounded thin enough they take less than 1 minute to fry. You'll need a cutting board and knife on your station to slice pork before plating - everything in Japanese service is cut to "bite size" before plating because there are typically no knives at the table.
Station 4:
Be ready to produce both the steamed fish AND the Udon Noodles. Watch the video for making the cabbage/spinach rolls and check out the plate presentation for the fish. You may be able to get the fish early - try picking it up around 7:30. I can show you how to fabricate it and set up the plates, you will cook them as needed in a wok steamer and serve them in shallow casserole dishes set on oval plates with white rice and miso pickles - the miso pickles are VERY salty right out of the container, so soak them in cool water for at least 3 hours before service, then drain. Then concentrate on setting up the Udon noodle station. Set up the station using the 4 burners on the right side of the range. The 2 left burners will be for station 5 to saute their vegetables. Have one large pot of boiling water with a china cap in it to refresh your noodles ala minute and then have 3 small pots with lids that you can use to make small 1-2 portion batches as needed throughout service. There should be a video for making the "spinach/cabbage" rolls, that's what you want to use. I prefer to cook this dish a few at a time during service so that everything is fresh. It's best to make a couple of portions starting at 10:30 for family meal, just for practice. When you get back from Family meal, immediately start 2 portions - 1 for demo and one for the first order. When they are done, hold one for the first order and then start another 2. It takes about 7-10 minutes for each batch, so if you fire the portions about 5 minutes apart, no one has to wait more than a few minutes. If you get hit with a lot of orders all at once you can fire 2-3 in the same pot and have the expediter explain that there's a short wait.
Station 5:
Beef Teriyaki - Make sure you watch the demo on cleaning skirt steak. Cut and portion into 5 oz. portions. Marinate steaks and prep vegetables. You will cook and plate from your station, so Draw a detailed diagram of how the grill will be set up - Grill cloth, oil, grill brush, resting pan with rack, cutting board to slice meat, slicing knife, tongs. Also, you will be sauteing the veg (snow peas, bean sprouts, mushrooms) in small batches on the range. Set your station up so that you are "self contained". Grill set up - saute/veg set up- plates on shelf above saute line- cutting board on end of table closest to grill- chaffing dish set up with two 1/2 hotel pans in it , one for rice and one to hold your veg batches as they cook. Again - if you draw a detailed diagram of your entire station and label all of the items you'll need, setting up will be much easier on Tuesday morning and you'll look like a rock star. Hint - Beef teriyaki is very popular. You're going to get hit hard as soon as the doors open. Have 5 steaks grilled and resting(not cold,just resting) at 11:30 and have 1/3 of your vegetables already sauteed and in the chaffing dish ready to go. As you get an order for one steak, fire another. Skirt steak should be cooked to medium doneness. Medium rare is too chewy.
Station 6:
Your big job is getting all of the sushi garnishes prepped and collected. Each sushi plate will need
- 1 oz ramekin soy sauce
- 1 shiso leaf
- small amount of drained pickled ginger - house made on Friday, ask Tim
- wasabi for the plate and wasabi for the sushi production - see below
- sunomono salad - get from sous chefs
- blanched soy beans (make sure you get the ones IN the pods - the store room usually messes up the order and sends the ones out of the pods)
Get all of this stuff together early. The soy sauce in ramekins - about 50 ramekins - and all of the other stuff together on a sheet tray so you can bring it to the sushi production area when they need it (hopefully by 10:00 am). Communication with the other teams and sous is important. You can see a picture of the finished plate with all of the garnishes in the Maki recipe on the Web Page.
When you make the wasabi paste, follow the recipe, but add the water slowly while stirring. When it gets to the consistency of play dough, good for shaping into balls or cubes for garnish, take half out of the bowl and set it aside. Continue adding cool water and stirring until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency - like toothpaste. This should go into a brown plastic cup for the sushi production stations.
Vegetable harvest is simple. Once all the vegetables are prepped, you can arrange everything EXCEPT the tofu and cucumbers in deep bowls. Keep a perforated hotel pan in the steamer. When you get an order, ladle dashi over vegetables, place the whole bowl in the steamer to reheat everything for 2 minutes, remove bowl from steamer and finish with Tofu cubes, cucumber slices, miso sauce and scallions. When you make your vegetarian dashi, you can save the kombu seaweed, chiffonade it, and use some of that as garnish as well
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Parking spot for Day 5 questions Dec. 9
Leave any remaining Korean Menu Questions here.
Make sure that you review the KimChi recipes and watch the video closely ( all kimchi are made the same way, just change the vegetable).
May 6 is probably the most difficult of the cycle. Look ahead with your partners and group mates to see what you can do ahead. Ask me if there's any doubt about prepping ahead, and make a list of Day 6 questions for me to answer for you on Friday. If you wait until Sunday night, it will be harder for you to "get it".
As with the Korean menu, the Japanese menu is less focused on the steam table and much more "station" specific. Think ahead, draw DETAILED station diagrams and ask questions of me during class on Friday. It will make Monday a lot easier.
Make sure that you review the KimChi recipes and watch the video closely ( all kimchi are made the same way, just change the vegetable).
May 6 is probably the most difficult of the cycle. Look ahead with your partners and group mates to see what you can do ahead. Ask me if there's any doubt about prepping ahead, and make a list of Day 6 questions for me to answer for you on Friday. If you wait until Sunday night, it will be harder for you to "get it".
As with the Korean menu, the Japanese menu is less focused on the steam table and much more "station" specific. Think ahead, draw DETAILED station diagrams and ask questions of me during class on Friday. It will make Monday a lot easier.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day 4 +5 Korea December 9
Hi, everyone. Here's the heads up for typical questions and common problems for the first day of the Korean menu. Read all of the recipes, watch all of the videos, make a bunch of notes, distill them down into a few questions and post them here. PLEASE feel free to try to help each other answer questions and give advice. If it's inaccurate, I'll chime in between 8-9 and let you know.
Please try to consolidate your questions into 1 post. I understand that there will always be times when you need to add something on later, but receiving 4 or 5 separate posts from the same person takes a lot of my time and does not display organization on your parts. Here are some photos that might help you visualize things.
Sous chefs:
Set up on Sation 5 for a "Kim Chi and Panchan Sampler Plate" Similar to the dim sum plate today, but all room-temp items, so they can actually be plated ahead and held on sheet trays if you have the time. The set up should look like this:
and the finished plate should look like this:
Sous chefs will only need to draw a diagram for the salad/kimchi station and the steam table. The steam table set up will be minimal - only the Rice, the Stir Fried Noodles, and the Braised Short Ribs will go there. All other items will be plated from the stations producing them. Steam table looks like this:
Spicy Beef Soup - broth is already made and you can add white beef stock to it if you need to, and beef is already cooked. Make sure we have enough for 2 days - we make the same soup both days this menu, talk to me if you don't have enough broth or meat on Day 4 so we can order more for Day 5.
Rice - Medium Grain rice. The tracking schedule says to make 12 cups, but you should make 16. Teams 4 + 6 will need rice, they will use some of the stuff that you soak.This needs to be soaked for one hour before cooking, other wise, treat it like the Chinese rice. The result will be a lot more sticky than the Chinese rice - so don't freak out when you see it. You still have to fluff it and rest it.
Salads/Kimchi - This will be a 6" round plate like we used for the Dim Sum, with small portions of each item on the plate - a "sampler".
Sous Chefs should make the daikon salad and delegate the spinach salad and soy bean sprout salad to teams 2+4, 1x the recipe for each salad. Team 5 should make the scallion salad - 3x the recipe for that with the expectation that 1/2 will go on the salad/kimchi plate and the other 1/2 will be served with their grilled beef.
The Kimchi is already made and in the cooler. Last class made it for you and you'll make it for the next class. There should be cucumber, radish, and cabbage kimchi in the cooler. The teams assigned to "set" the kimchi will take some out, allow me to show them how to cut/prep it for service/ All salads and Kimchis should be in individual 1/6th pans, together on one sheet tray, ready to plate by 10:30. They can be plated ahead and held at room temperature without suffering in quality.
Station 2 - Half of the short ribs coming from the meat room are for you and the other half for team 5. Let T5 have the most meaty ones. the recipe on this dish works well, all you need from me is a demo on how to cut them - it varies from week to week, depending on the ribs, so ask first thing in the morning. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early.
Miso pickles - the recipe is in the Japanese section, if you don't have time on Day 4, it can be done on Day 5 - BUT IT MUST BE DONE.
Station 3 - Be prepared to make both the trout and the glass noodles. A solid time line, ingredient list, and equipment list will be an important part of your job., you have two different entrees to set up stations and coordinate service for. You take care of ALL MEP for the trout and Glass noodles. Be ready to plate fish from the fry area, cooking the fish ala minute during service. Make sure to watch the video on fish fabrication and to draw a complete and detailed physical diagram of how your fry station will be set up. Show where everything will be in place and label each item. The trout is served on an oval plate, make sure you have them on the fry station. The noodles served from the steam table in a deep noodle bowl, have a separate diagram for how your noodle mise en place will look when you begin to stir fry. What ingredients will you need? tools? Remember that the noodles are Stir Fired - that means dividing MEP into 4 batches for firing for family meal and through-out service.
Station 4 - You will get 6 small Cornish hens. Make your liquid early, make sure it's very flavorful. choose the right sized pan to cook them in - a rondo just big enough to fit the hens. Hens must be poached between 165-180F - no boiling! Get rice to stuff your hens from the sous chefs, they will rinse and soak it, you need to par-cook it. Make the your poaching liquid,par cook the rice, cool and mix with other ingredients, stuff and truss hens, start cooking them by 9:30. While hens are cooking, make poached garlic heads and other garnishes. It works best to poach the hens on top of the regular range and, when they hit 165F internal temp, hold them in a water bath in a wok of hot water. You can set up your plates, utensils, and garnishes next to that wok and plate from there. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early. Pickled ginger recipe is in the Japanese section. Make it on either Day 4 OR Day 5 - but make sure it gets made.
Station 5- You will be sharing the grill with Station 6, space will be tight. You will be grilling thin pieces of marinated beef and plating them ala minute onto 12" round plates with rice, a small ramekin of Korean pepper sauce, scallion salad, and placing 3 pieces of beef onto leaves of cabbage lined with shiso leaves. Since you'll be plating from the grill station, set up a chaffing dish to hold your rice. You can share this chaffing dish with station 6 -1/2 hotel pan for your rice - 1/2 hotel pan for their "mixed grains". I don't have a good photo of your plate yet, draw a diagram of what your station will look like - where everything will be - and a picture of what you imagine the plate will look like so I can help you adjust in the morning. Be as detailed as possible with your drawing - label everything so I can see how you think. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early.
Station 6 - You will be plating from your station. the recipes are all pretty detailed and the videos are accurate, except, when making the pancakes, you will use a flat griddle set over the left side of the grill instead of the cast iron pan shown in the video. Since you'll be plating from your station, set up a chaffing dish to hold your "mixed grains". The rice you need for this will come from the sous chefs, they are soaking enough for everyone. . You can share this chaffing dish with station 5 -1/2 hotel pan for your grains - 1/2 hotel pan for their rice.
Recipe Change for Station 6 - Kim Chi Pancakes - I want to try this, measure everything out but keep separate and we can mix together:
250 grams All Purpose Flour
250 grams Rice flour
500 grams kimchi juice (drained from kimchi)
Water as needed to adjust.
the amount of kimchi, the method and set up will be the same. Let me know when you're ready to mix and have a hot griddle ready so we can test it out. The earlier, the better.
Please try to consolidate your questions into 1 post. I understand that there will always be times when you need to add something on later, but receiving 4 or 5 separate posts from the same person takes a lot of my time and does not display organization on your parts. Here are some photos that might help you visualize things.
Sous chefs:
Set up on Sation 5 for a "Kim Chi and Panchan Sampler Plate" Similar to the dim sum plate today, but all room-temp items, so they can actually be plated ahead and held on sheet trays if you have the time. The set up should look like this:
 |
| From Korean Menu Day 4 |
and the finished plate should look like this:
 |
| From Korean Menu Day 4 |
Sous chefs will only need to draw a diagram for the salad/kimchi station and the steam table. The steam table set up will be minimal - only the Rice, the Stir Fried Noodles, and the Braised Short Ribs will go there. All other items will be plated from the stations producing them. Steam table looks like this:
 |
| From Korean Menu Day 4 |
Spicy Beef Soup - broth is already made and you can add white beef stock to it if you need to, and beef is already cooked. Make sure we have enough for 2 days - we make the same soup both days this menu, talk to me if you don't have enough broth or meat on Day 4 so we can order more for Day 5.
Rice - Medium Grain rice. The tracking schedule says to make 12 cups, but you should make 16. Teams 4 + 6 will need rice, they will use some of the stuff that you soak.This needs to be soaked for one hour before cooking, other wise, treat it like the Chinese rice. The result will be a lot more sticky than the Chinese rice - so don't freak out when you see it. You still have to fluff it and rest it.
Salads/Kimchi - This will be a 6" round plate like we used for the Dim Sum, with small portions of each item on the plate - a "sampler".
Sous Chefs should make the daikon salad and delegate the spinach salad and soy bean sprout salad to teams 2+4, 1x the recipe for each salad. Team 5 should make the scallion salad - 3x the recipe for that with the expectation that 1/2 will go on the salad/kimchi plate and the other 1/2 will be served with their grilled beef.
The Kimchi is already made and in the cooler. Last class made it for you and you'll make it for the next class. There should be cucumber, radish, and cabbage kimchi in the cooler. The teams assigned to "set" the kimchi will take some out, allow me to show them how to cut/prep it for service/ All salads and Kimchis should be in individual 1/6th pans, together on one sheet tray, ready to plate by 10:30. They can be plated ahead and held at room temperature without suffering in quality.
Station 2 - Half of the short ribs coming from the meat room are for you and the other half for team 5. Let T5 have the most meaty ones. the recipe on this dish works well, all you need from me is a demo on how to cut them - it varies from week to week, depending on the ribs, so ask first thing in the morning. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early.
Miso pickles - the recipe is in the Japanese section, if you don't have time on Day 4, it can be done on Day 5 - BUT IT MUST BE DONE.
Station 3 - Be prepared to make both the trout and the glass noodles. A solid time line, ingredient list, and equipment list will be an important part of your job., you have two different entrees to set up stations and coordinate service for. You take care of ALL MEP for the trout and Glass noodles. Be ready to plate fish from the fry area, cooking the fish ala minute during service. Make sure to watch the video on fish fabrication and to draw a complete and detailed physical diagram of how your fry station will be set up. Show where everything will be in place and label each item. The trout is served on an oval plate, make sure you have them on the fry station. The noodles served from the steam table in a deep noodle bowl, have a separate diagram for how your noodle mise en place will look when you begin to stir fry. What ingredients will you need? tools? Remember that the noodles are Stir Fired - that means dividing MEP into 4 batches for firing for family meal and through-out service.
Station 4 - You will get 6 small Cornish hens. Make your liquid early, make sure it's very flavorful. choose the right sized pan to cook them in - a rondo just big enough to fit the hens. Hens must be poached between 165-180F - no boiling! Get rice to stuff your hens from the sous chefs, they will rinse and soak it, you need to par-cook it. Make the your poaching liquid,par cook the rice, cool and mix with other ingredients, stuff and truss hens, start cooking them by 9:30. While hens are cooking, make poached garlic heads and other garnishes. It works best to poach the hens on top of the regular range and, when they hit 165F internal temp, hold them in a water bath in a wok of hot water. You can set up your plates, utensils, and garnishes next to that wok and plate from there. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early. Pickled ginger recipe is in the Japanese section. Make it on either Day 4 OR Day 5 - but make sure it gets made.
Station 5- You will be sharing the grill with Station 6, space will be tight. You will be grilling thin pieces of marinated beef and plating them ala minute onto 12" round plates with rice, a small ramekin of Korean pepper sauce, scallion salad, and placing 3 pieces of beef onto leaves of cabbage lined with shiso leaves. Since you'll be plating from the grill station, set up a chaffing dish to hold your rice. You can share this chaffing dish with station 6 -1/2 hotel pan for your rice - 1/2 hotel pan for their "mixed grains". I don't have a good photo of your plate yet, draw a diagram of what your station will look like - where everything will be - and a picture of what you imagine the plate will look like so I can help you adjust in the morning. Be as detailed as possible with your drawing - label everything so I can see how you think. "Set KimChi" just means that you take the kimchi out of the cooler, get a knife, board, gloves, and 1/6th pan and ask me what to do. Do this early.
Station 6 - You will be plating from your station. the recipes are all pretty detailed and the videos are accurate, except, when making the pancakes, you will use a flat griddle set over the left side of the grill instead of the cast iron pan shown in the video. Since you'll be plating from your station, set up a chaffing dish to hold your "mixed grains". The rice you need for this will come from the sous chefs, they are soaking enough for everyone. . You can share this chaffing dish with station 5 -1/2 hotel pan for your grains - 1/2 hotel pan for their rice.
Recipe Change for Station 6 - Kim Chi Pancakes - I want to try this, measure everything out but keep separate and we can mix together:
250 grams All Purpose Flour
250 grams Rice flour
500 grams kimchi juice (drained from kimchi)
Water as needed to adjust.
the amount of kimchi, the method and set up will be the same. Let me know when you're ready to mix and have a hot griddle ready so we can test it out. The earlier, the better.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Day 3 Dec 8 -
Hey everyone - Station 3 (Andrew) and Station 4 (Tory) are going to need some help. I'll pitch in, but if you can coordinate with them to see what you can do to help, that would be best. If everyone can roll 5 spring rolls for Tory, that would be a good start. If everyone really hustles, maybe we'll have time to make Lo Mein with Black Beans and Shrimp for Family meal.....
Prepping for Day 3 means being comfortable enough with the regular menu items that you can step up and add an extra item to your routine and still be on time. Everything must be ready by 10:45.
Sous Chefs - You'll need to have a new service diagram for the Dim Sum. We don't have space on the steam table, so we usually set up two chaffing dishes with sterno on table 5. Think about how you would lay it out. Two chaffing dishes with three 1/3 pans in each. You'll need a pan for the steamed dumplings, the pan-fried dumplings, the spring rolls, the ribs, and the stuffed peppers. Everyone who comes to K1 will get a Dim Sum plate on Day 3. Presentation will be on 6" round plates with a ramekin of ginger-soy dipping sauce in the center. The five dim sum items will be positioned around the dipping sauce and a dab of spicy mustard will go on the plate next to the spring roll. Make sure that you know who will be doing what during service- figure it out ahead of time and tell the people involved what their duties are well before service, everyone will need to multi-task and hustle.
Station 2 - Braises PLUS Steamed dumplings (Shao Mai) - make sure to remember that each dim sum plate gets a 1 oz ramekin of the ginger soy dipping sauce (only fill each ramekin 1/2 way).
The dumplings can be steamed ahead using the wok steamer and then re-heated as needed during service. They are brought to the service line in 1/3 hotel pans.
Station 3 - Moo Shu PLUS Pan Fried Dumplings. The dough must be kept cold. As soon as it's rolled and cut, it should be stacked in single layers- with parchment paper between each layer - in a 1/2 hotel pan, covered and kept in the cooler. After they are shaped and filled, they should be held in similar fashion. When brought to the cooking line, the pan containing the dumplings shod be nested on another pan of ice. If these dumplings become warm before cooking they stick like crazy and are very difficult to work with.
Station 4- Spring rolls - filling should be made and cooked on Day 2, rolls filled on Day 3. There are two recipes for filling - we can do the stir fried pork and vegetables or the raw vegetable one with the BBQ pork and Shrimp - or both, ask Chef if you want to do that. Once they are rolled, they should be kept cold - layered between parchment paper sheets in a 1/2 hotel pan. Set up a proper fry station and fry them in batches as needed for service. Remember - you're responsible for the spicy mustard that's served with them.
Station 5- Ribs may be put in Chinese oven with the Roasts early in the day. When they are cooked through you can cut them and hot-hold them, covered, until service. Bring them to the line in a deep 1/3 pan.
Station 6- In addition to the Grandmother's bean curd, you'll need to fill, cook, and finish the stuffed peppers. They can all be steamed ahead and held at room temp - covered - for service. At service they should be sauteed in small batches as needed, 15-20 at a time, and brought to the service line in a 1/3 pan.
Prepping for Day 3 means being comfortable enough with the regular menu items that you can step up and add an extra item to your routine and still be on time. Everything must be ready by 10:45.
Sous Chefs - You'll need to have a new service diagram for the Dim Sum. We don't have space on the steam table, so we usually set up two chaffing dishes with sterno on table 5. Think about how you would lay it out. Two chaffing dishes with three 1/3 pans in each. You'll need a pan for the steamed dumplings, the pan-fried dumplings, the spring rolls, the ribs, and the stuffed peppers. Everyone who comes to K1 will get a Dim Sum plate on Day 3. Presentation will be on 6" round plates with a ramekin of ginger-soy dipping sauce in the center. The five dim sum items will be positioned around the dipping sauce and a dab of spicy mustard will go on the plate next to the spring roll. Make sure that you know who will be doing what during service- figure it out ahead of time and tell the people involved what their duties are well before service, everyone will need to multi-task and hustle.
Station 2 - Braises PLUS Steamed dumplings (Shao Mai) - make sure to remember that each dim sum plate gets a 1 oz ramekin of the ginger soy dipping sauce (only fill each ramekin 1/2 way).
The dumplings can be steamed ahead using the wok steamer and then re-heated as needed during service. They are brought to the service line in 1/3 hotel pans.
Station 3 - Moo Shu PLUS Pan Fried Dumplings. The dough must be kept cold. As soon as it's rolled and cut, it should be stacked in single layers- with parchment paper between each layer - in a 1/2 hotel pan, covered and kept in the cooler. After they are shaped and filled, they should be held in similar fashion. When brought to the cooking line, the pan containing the dumplings shod be nested on another pan of ice. If these dumplings become warm before cooking they stick like crazy and are very difficult to work with.
Station 4- Spring rolls - filling should be made and cooked on Day 2, rolls filled on Day 3. There are two recipes for filling - we can do the stir fried pork and vegetables or the raw vegetable one with the BBQ pork and Shrimp - or both, ask Chef if you want to do that. Once they are rolled, they should be kept cold - layered between parchment paper sheets in a 1/2 hotel pan. Set up a proper fry station and fry them in batches as needed for service. Remember - you're responsible for the spicy mustard that's served with them.
Station 5- Ribs may be put in Chinese oven with the Roasts early in the day. When they are cooked through you can cut them and hot-hold them, covered, until service. Bring them to the line in a deep 1/3 pan.
Station 6- In addition to the Grandmother's bean curd, you'll need to fill, cook, and finish the stuffed peppers. They can all be steamed ahead and held at room temp - covered - for service. At service they should be sauteed in small batches as needed, 15-20 at a time, and brought to the service line in a 1/3 pan.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day 2 Decemeber 7th
Day 2 requires that you know the Day 1 menu and set up PLUS add new items to the line and prep for Day 3. Please be sure to go over your successes and mistakes from Day 1,learn and move ahead, and to use what you learned today to prep for Days 2 + 3 with better planning and more confidence.
Sous Chefs: Remeber that the diagram for Day2 will different from the one I gave you for Day 1 and that it's up to you to design a layout that makes sense. Give it your best effort and show me the results first thing in the morning so I can help you figure out mistakes before it's too close to service.
Class Tasting: Team 6- Here's a photo of what the tasting tray for Day 2 should look like if you follow the sheet. 17 items in all, whole pieces of things that would be cut up or re-hydrated for tasting (just so you can see both forms). Chef should walk you through each item, giving a short explanation and allowing you time to taste each one. If you clean up fast - before 12:45 - it can be done in the kitchen, otherwise, take it upstairs to Lecture room 455. Make 1 tray for each 4-5 students. If you have 12 students, make 3 identical trays for them to share.
When tasting is done, please cover and wrap remains - as in second photo - and store in AM cooler. We can use this to review for tests later in the cycle.
Everybody else: Make sure you know what you're supposed to be prepping ahead for Day 3 and that IT ALL GETS DONE. The reason it was assigned as prep a day ahead is because you will be in the weeds on Day 3 if you have to start from scratch. Let me know if you need clarification on any points.
Sous Chefs: Remeber that the diagram for Day2 will different from the one I gave you for Day 1 and that it's up to you to design a layout that makes sense. Give it your best effort and show me the results first thing in the morning so I can help you figure out mistakes before it's too close to service.
Class Tasting: Team 6- Here's a photo of what the tasting tray for Day 2 should look like if you follow the sheet. 17 items in all, whole pieces of things that would be cut up or re-hydrated for tasting (just so you can see both forms). Chef should walk you through each item, giving a short explanation and allowing you time to taste each one. If you clean up fast - before 12:45 - it can be done in the kitchen, otherwise, take it upstairs to Lecture room 455. Make 1 tray for each 4-5 students. If you have 12 students, make 3 identical trays for them to share.
When tasting is done, please cover and wrap remains - as in second photo - and store in AM cooler. We can use this to review for tests later in the cycle.
Everybody else: Make sure you know what you're supposed to be prepping ahead for Day 3 and that IT ALL GETS DONE. The reason it was assigned as prep a day ahead is because you will be in the weeds on Day 3 if you have to start from scratch. Let me know if you need clarification on any points.
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| From Day 1 K1 China |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Prepping for Day 1 December 6th
Hi, This is where you should look each day for information about the course in general and instructions specific to your class and station. It's VERY important that you read and analyze your recipes, watch all videos AND read the daily information posted here. A significant part of your grade hinges on being prepared for class and these are the tools to prepare with.Day 1 begins at 7:00 AM on Monday December 6 , Please be prepared as instructed in advance.
Heads up - The most common mistakes made on Day 1, class wide, are:
Not having a complete and detailed time line in the correct format
Not analyzing recipes fully
Not researching terms, ingredients, technique that you are unfamiliar with
Not knowing how to set up a basic work station
Not knowing basic cooking fundamentals covered in Skills such as - how much starch do you need in a slurry to thicken a set amount of liquid "How much corn starch thickens one cup of soup?"
Not knowing basic measurements - how many pints in a gallon?, etc...
Heads up - The most common mistakes made on Day 1, class wide, are:
Not having a complete and detailed time line in the correct format
Not analyzing recipes fully
Not researching terms, ingredients, technique that you are unfamiliar with
Not knowing how to set up a basic work station
Not knowing basic cooking fundamentals covered in Skills such as - how much starch do you need in a slurry to thicken a set amount of liquid "How much corn starch thickens one cup of soup?"
Not knowing basic measurements - how many pints in a gallon?, etc...
Sous Chefs:
All China and dish ware must be stored (hot or cold) as soon as you come in and the carts taken back to the dish room. This is standard every day. A supplemental sheet should be started on a clean sheet of paper. The supplemental will list Item, Quantity, and Station ordering the item. Usually the supplemental is due to me no later than 7:30 AM, but on day one 8:00 AM is acceptable.
Rice should be prepared according to the video demo and ready to put into the steamer by 9:30.
The soup Mise en place should be assembled on a sheet tray and set near a large wok so that I can help you start it no later than 9:00.
The Bean Starch Sheets for the salad should be rehydrated early, cut, and the salad assembled by 9:30 as well.
Sous Chef's Paper Work, each day you receive a clip board with these papers. It's your responsibility to know how to use them and do so. If not sure - ask in advance.
Sous Chef's Paper Work, each day you receive a clip board with these papers. It's your responsibility to know how to use them and do so. If not sure - ask in advance.
Early Morning Supplemental. Note "Item-Quantity-Station Requesting"
Sanitation Supply Ordering Sheet, based on par-stock system. Amount we SHOULD have on hand is listed, order what we need to get UP to that amount. If we have enough already, fill in blank with an "X"
Flip Side of the Sanitation Sheet. This is the end-of-the-day cleaning check list to make sure everything is left clean and orderly
Daily inventory sheet. While the rest of the group cleans, the sous chefs inventory what we have for the following day's menu.This allows me to order more if we are short, or back something out of the next morning's order if we are over stocked. Important to do this accurately - it shortens early morning supplementals and keeps our cooler from getting over crowded. Sous Chefs should fill in ONLY the "On Hand" column. Chef will fill in the "Order Column" as he needs to.
Station #2:
You should plan to start the lamb braise no later than 8:30 and the cabbage no later than 9:30, they need to be finished, hot held, and the woks clean before other teams can step in to stir fry at 10:45. Analyze your recipes and let me know if you have questions. Common mistakes are : Not knowing how much cornstarch is used to thicken a set amount of liquid, cutting ALL MEP and garnish for the lamb BEFORE braising begins(you should start the lamb cooking and THEN start working on the vegetables and garnish) and not asking for help with unfamiliar ingredients or appliances.
Station #3:
You should plan to prep the vegetables and other MEP for the Moo Shu as quickly as possible - watch the Vegetable prep video and work in a clean, organized fashion. As you prep, break the MEP for the stir fry into 4 batches so that we can fire them as needed during service. The sauce should be made and pre-portioned into 15+ 1 oz. white china ramekins, these will be held on the side to accompany each plate. The Pancakes need to be rolled out as early as possible - the prep table under the spice rack near the prep sink is a good place to work on that. Ask me to help you get started, but see if you can walk yourself through the procedure and get all of the necessary equipment in place before you ask me for a demo. Remember to pre heat the cast-iron skillets while you prep the pancakes so that the skillets are hot when the pancakes are ready to cook. The dough for Day 2 needs to be made as well, but leave that until last - it's no use being prepared for Day 2 if you can't be ready for 11:00 on day 1. Common mistakes - not cleaning bean sprouts properly or cutting vegetables properly, pre heating the cast iron skillets too hot and burning the first batch of pancakes, not watching videos closely enough to understand the procedures.
Station 4:
Set up the wok steamer and stake out the large wok next to it as "yours" for Bok Choy. The fish is fairly simple, I can demo how to cut it. Make sure to know all of your ingredients and how the steaming process works. All of the Bok Choy we receive tomorrow is for you to prep - cut as directed, cleaned, blanched in heavily salted water, shocked, gently squeezed dry, divided into 4 batches for service. Garlic should be sliced into thin "chips". Please ask me to help you with the first batch of Bok Choy - the garlic can burn very easily if you don't control the wok heat. The prep for Fried Rice must be done, but don't get bogged down on prep for Day 2 until Day 1 is well in hand. You should cook the rice, cool it and store it and you may cut the vegetables, etc and store them for use on Day 2. On Day 2 be completely ready to start the fried rice by 10:00 AM in the same large wok you will later use for Bok Choy - you'll need to be finished with the fried rice by 10:30. Common mistakes are - not understanding how the fish is cut or garnished, not knowing what type of ham to use, burning the garlic for the bok choy.
Station #5:
Put 2 pork butts in the Chinese roasting oven at 325F as early as possible. Make sure you know how to use the oven, if you do not - ASK. Once that's started, begin prepping the chicken. Cut and clean the chicken thighs and get them into the marinade, preheat the fryer,make the sauce in a small wok, and cut all of the vegetables, fry the chicken pieces ahead of service - Make sure you understand what type of frying you are doing and how to best accomplish it. All of the MEP for the chicken should be divided into 4 batches for firing as needed during service except the sauce. Sauce can be held in a bain marie with a ladle on your wok station. You are also responsible for setting up a pork carving station for service on the end of Station #5 near the oven. The pork should be held in the conventional oven at 200F on a sheet tray with a rack. When you get an order, the steam table line will pass you a plate with rice and cabbage on it - you will take a pork butt from the oven, slice a portion, plate it, and put the pork butt back in the oven to keep it warm. Common mistakes are - not knowing how to fry battered items properly or how to set up a fry station efficiently, not knowing how to use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, not following directions and getting flustered as service approaches.
Station #6:
Follow the recipes, divide the MEP into 4 batches to be fired as needed during service, assist the sous chefs through out the day - Early in the morning you should assist/delegate the putting away of plates, etc and return the carts to the dish room/store room, complete sanitation supplemental supply order, be involved and aware of the Sous Chef duties - you will be sous chefs in the next menu. On Day 2 you will be responsible for setting up the class tasting, please talk to me about this before the end of class on Day 1 so you understand what you need to do.
OK, I expect lots of posts from you between now and Sunday 8 PM. Prep well.
Station #3:
You should plan to prep the vegetables and other MEP for the Moo Shu as quickly as possible - watch the Vegetable prep video and work in a clean, organized fashion. As you prep, break the MEP for the stir fry into 4 batches so that we can fire them as needed during service. The sauce should be made and pre-portioned into 15+ 1 oz. white china ramekins, these will be held on the side to accompany each plate. The Pancakes need to be rolled out as early as possible - the prep table under the spice rack near the prep sink is a good place to work on that. Ask me to help you get started, but see if you can walk yourself through the procedure and get all of the necessary equipment in place before you ask me for a demo. Remember to pre heat the cast-iron skillets while you prep the pancakes so that the skillets are hot when the pancakes are ready to cook. The dough for Day 2 needs to be made as well, but leave that until last - it's no use being prepared for Day 2 if you can't be ready for 11:00 on day 1. Common mistakes - not cleaning bean sprouts properly or cutting vegetables properly, pre heating the cast iron skillets too hot and burning the first batch of pancakes, not watching videos closely enough to understand the procedures.
Station 4:
Set up the wok steamer and stake out the large wok next to it as "yours" for Bok Choy. The fish is fairly simple, I can demo how to cut it. Make sure to know all of your ingredients and how the steaming process works. All of the Bok Choy we receive tomorrow is for you to prep - cut as directed, cleaned, blanched in heavily salted water, shocked, gently squeezed dry, divided into 4 batches for service. Garlic should be sliced into thin "chips". Please ask me to help you with the first batch of Bok Choy - the garlic can burn very easily if you don't control the wok heat. The prep for Fried Rice must be done, but don't get bogged down on prep for Day 2 until Day 1 is well in hand. You should cook the rice, cool it and store it and you may cut the vegetables, etc and store them for use on Day 2. On Day 2 be completely ready to start the fried rice by 10:00 AM in the same large wok you will later use for Bok Choy - you'll need to be finished with the fried rice by 10:30. Common mistakes are - not understanding how the fish is cut or garnished, not knowing what type of ham to use, burning the garlic for the bok choy.
Station #5:
Put 2 pork butts in the Chinese roasting oven at 325F as early as possible. Make sure you know how to use the oven, if you do not - ASK. Once that's started, begin prepping the chicken. Cut and clean the chicken thighs and get them into the marinade, preheat the fryer,make the sauce in a small wok, and cut all of the vegetables, fry the chicken pieces ahead of service - Make sure you understand what type of frying you are doing and how to best accomplish it. All of the MEP for the chicken should be divided into 4 batches for firing as needed during service except the sauce. Sauce can be held in a bain marie with a ladle on your wok station. You are also responsible for setting up a pork carving station for service on the end of Station #5 near the oven. The pork should be held in the conventional oven at 200F on a sheet tray with a rack. When you get an order, the steam table line will pass you a plate with rice and cabbage on it - you will take a pork butt from the oven, slice a portion, plate it, and put the pork butt back in the oven to keep it warm. Common mistakes are - not knowing how to fry battered items properly or how to set up a fry station efficiently, not knowing how to use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, not following directions and getting flustered as service approaches.
Station #6:
Follow the recipes, divide the MEP into 4 batches to be fired as needed during service, assist the sous chefs through out the day - Early in the morning you should assist/delegate the putting away of plates, etc and return the carts to the dish room/store room, complete sanitation supplemental supply order, be involved and aware of the Sous Chef duties - you will be sous chefs in the next menu. On Day 2 you will be responsible for setting up the class tasting, please talk to me about this before the end of class on Day 1 so you understand what you need to do.
OK, I expect lots of posts from you between now and Sunday 8 PM. Prep well.
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