DBS Masterclass with Chef Yong Bing Ngen

Maureen
Maureen
September 21, 2011
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I clearly remembered the first time I met Chef Yong. It was in the beginning of 2008, when I was doing a Chinese New Year feature with five top chefs in Singapore.
I asked him what was his most memorable Chinese New Year snacks when he was young. He said it was Nian Gao. I was quite surprised though, because Nian Gao isn’t that popular among people now. Chef Yong said he had been helping out in his family-run restaurant serving local Chinese food since young. During Chinese New Year, they would make their own Nian Gao where he had to help stir a huge tin of glutinous rice and brown sugar mixture for a long period of time. When the batter was finally steamed and could be eaten, he treasured every pieces on his hand.
It was a memorable interview because the Nian Gao that we ate now are all made from factories, hence we don’t appreciate them as much as they do. Furthermore, I was a young reporter back then, the thought of interviewing big chefs made me very nervous. But Chef Yong was so amiable that I felt like I was talking to a friend.

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Three years later, I finally get to meet him again during the DBS Masterclass at AFC Studio. Still as humorous as before, but definitely grew to become a very experienced chef over the years.
Chef Yong’s illustrious career has seen him hold positions at major hotel restaurants throughout Southeast Asia such as Toh Yuen at Kuching Hilton, Malaysia and Lok Wah Hin at Novotel Bangkok, Thailand, as well as in local establishments like the Fullerton Hotel’s Jade restaurant, Raffles Hotel Singapore’s Empress Room and Doc Cheng’s, Jiang Nan Chun at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, and Pan Pacific Hotel’s Hai Tien Lo. He is now the chef/owner of the Majestic Restaurant and Jing.
At this masterclass,Chef Yong prepared three signature dishes using traditional Chinese cooking techniques. They are Chilled Sake Infused Crabmeat Salad, Pan Seared Foie Gras with Watermelon and Organic Greens and Stewed Boston Lobster Noodles with Ginger and Spring Onion.

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Chilled Sake Infused Crabmeat Salad (serves 3)
Ingredients
1 Sri Lanka Crab
20g fresh bamboo shoot, shredded
20f black fungus, shredded
10g ginger
2 chinese parsley, cut into 2cm strips
Seasoning
50g sake
50g mirin
50g soa sauce
50g sugar
35g white vinegar
100g whipping cream
1/2tsp sesame oil
pinch of salt
Method
1. Boil the whole crab for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool crab.
2. Remove flesh from the shell. Set aside for later. 
3. Blanch the shredded bamboo shoot and black fungus in boiling water for 1 minute first. Remove and place into a bowl of water with ice cubes for 1 minute. Remove. 
4. Dry the shredded bamboo shoot and black fungus with a clean cloth and place into a mixing bowl. Add Chinese Parsley, shredded ginger, a pinch of salt, half teaspoon of sesame oil and mix well. Set aside. 
5. Prepare a clean martini glass. Place the salad at the bottom of the glass and topped with crab meat. 
6. Mix all the seasonings in a small bowl and ensure that you dissolve the sugar. 
7. Drizzle seasoning over crab meat and salad. Serve.

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Chef Yong believes that as a Chinese chef, one must have a good foundation of basics and yet be exposed to different ingredients to adapt to various flavours and cooking techniques. He prefers using Chinese cooking techniques, pllying them with new ingredients and a more up-to-date presentation. If you think that’s fusion, no it’s not. It’s called Modern Chinese.
Let me share a secret with you. In Chef Yong’s kitchen, only chopsticks are allowed. If he sees tongs lying around, off it goes to the rubbish bin.
A chef not only has to be a good cook, he must be good in food styling as well. Look how meticulous chef was while he was preparing for the next dish. The essence of this dish is Chef’s secret homemade barbecue sauce which is only available at his restaurants. The foie gras is very well covered which is savoury and sweet.

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Pan Seared Foie Gras with Watermelon and Organic Greens (serve 3)

Ingredients
3 pieces of Foie Gras, 40g each
Watermelon, 3 round pieces of 2cm height (use cookie cutter)

Seasoning for Foie Gras
Ichimi Togarashi
Potato Flour

Salad
40g Garden Greens
1 tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp of Vegetable Cooking Oil
Chef’s Secret Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Method
1. Place garden greens in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and olive oil, mix well and set aside.

2. Sprinkle a little Ichimi Togarashi on both sides of the foie gras then coat with potato flour.

3. Heat frying pan with 1 tbsp of vegetable cooking oil over high fire. Place the foie gras onto pan and reduce to low fire. Pan sear for 1 minute on each side. Remove when golden brown.

4. Decorate round palte with the homemade barbecue sauce.

5. Place garden greens in the centre of the plate. Arrange the 3 pieces of watermelons. Place a piece of pan-seared foie gras on top of each watermelon. Serve.

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Besides knowing how to cook and style, a chef must also have some basic knowledge of the ingredients used. Do you know why is the fried chinese noodles called E-fu Noodle (or Yi Mian)?
Chef Yong explained, E-fu Noodle is actually a creation of Scholar Yi Bingshou’s chef. He deep-fried some noodles so he could keep them longer and boiled the noodles in water later before serving.
If you have been to Majestic Restaurant, I am sure you would totally agree with me that Chef Yong’s lobster noodles are simply out of the world! It is light yet full of flavour and the lobster meat is always soft and tender. So it got me really excited when I knew that chef will be sharing a revised version of his popular lobster noodles.
Chef Yong actually taught us how to achieve E-fu noodles from the normal wanton noodles (picture above) we had. You can also replace the noodles with vermicelli if you like. To peel the lobsters more easily, put them in hot water for a few seconds, and transfer to ice water before peeling. You can also replace the lobsters with crabs or live prawns.

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Stewed Boston Lobster Noodles with Ginger and Spring Onion (serves 3)

Ingredients
1 whole Lobster (approx 700g)
E-fu noodles
10 slices Ginger
1 stalk Spring Onion, sliced
1 Shallots, sliced
200ml Chicken Stock

Seasoning
Oyster Sauce
Soya Sauce
White Pepper Powder
Salt
Potato Flour

Method
1. Chop the lobster into half. Wash thoroughly.

2. Scald the e-fu noodles in hot water to soften.

3. Dap potato flour on meat of lobster and fry in high heat (about 250 degrees celcius) for about 40 seconds and remove.

4. Heat wok with oil and fr sliced ginger, spring onion and sliced shallots till frgrant.

5. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.

6. Add lobster, cover and simmer for 1 minute.

7. Check if lobster is cooked. Remove lobster and keep some sauce aside.

8. Add noodles and oyster sauce, soya sauce and white pepper powder to the remaining sauce and doa quick fry till noodles has absorbed sauce.

9. Plate the noodles.

10. Heat pana dn place lobster and sauce kept aside earlier into the pan and add in a little starch to thicken sauce.

11. Remove and place the lobster on top of the noodles.

12. Garnish with spring onion. Ready to serve.

Tips:
Do not overcooked the lobster otherwise meat will be too tough. Once you notice that the lobster flesh leaves a little gap from the shell, it means it’s cooked.

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To complement the dishes, a glass of Maetierra Libalis Rose and Snowy Cheek Chenin Blanc were served. Happy smiles all around, food bellies nicely concealed under roomy dresses and a slight reluctance to leave AFC Studio.

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With complements from Majestic Restaurant, we enjoyed specially concocted welcome drinks, wines, Perrier water as well as a spread of delectable desserts such as custard buns and mango pamelo.

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Chef Yong and me
The DBS Masterclass with Chef Yong was an insightful workshop. These recipes are easy to follow and Chef Yong gave many tips during the cooking process. I am really keen to try the Crab Salad recipe at home, perhaps after my cheerleading competition.
This is the 2nd last episode in the DBS Indulge Masterclass series. The session will be on 19th October 2011 from 7.30pm – 9.30pm with Chef Tomonori Danzaki, the brains behind the three star michelin restaurant Joel Robuchon Restaurant in MGM Grand, Las Vegas, USA.
DBS and POSB Cardmembers will be entitled to a discounted price of $120 per person. Non cardmembers pricing is $140 per person. 5 Dishes will be featured and Perrier water plus Vinum wines will be served. If you are interested to see what the michelin chef is coming up, CLICK HERE to find out more!

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Asian Food Channel is having WEEKLY DRAW for all AFC fans. Share the AFC Facebook Page and you will stand a chance to win an iPod Shuffle! What’s more, the iPad 2 special draw will take place at their 40,000 fans mark. HURRY! CLICK HERE to join!

*This is an invited tasting*