Showing posts with label Journey of a chef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journey of a chef. Show all posts
6 May 2014
Manning The Egg Station - Eggs Eggs Eggs
Have you stayed at any hotel which serve breakfast buffets before? Be it complimentary or not?
If yes, there would be a high chance that the hotel would have a station where you could 'order' your eggs anyway you like. Of course I meant the standard ones and not the sous vide to whatever degrees celsius kind or eggs benedict. Those half boiled, soft boiled and hard boiled eggs can be requested and were done in the kitchen of course.
Anyway, I got the chance to mend the egg station for breakfast before and it was my virgin experience preparing those eggs ala minute for people. At first, it was really nerve wrecking for a newbie like me. But then, practice makes perfect and I focused on whipping up perfect omelettes and fried eggs for costumers instead of rushing through the cooking process. Speed of course was another issue depending on the crowd.
There are many ways to cook an egg but I shall just list down the common types of specification in which people would want their eggs to be cooked.
'Fried' — eggs are fried on both sides with the yolks broken until set or hard.
'Over well', also called 'over hard' or 'hard' — cooked on both sides until the yolk has solidified.
'Over medium' — cooked on both sides; the yolk is of medium consistency and the egg white is thoroughly cooked.
'Over easy', also called 'runny' — cooked on both sides; the yolk is a thin liquid, while the egg white is partially cooked.
'Sunny side up' — cooked only on one side; yolk is liquid. The egg white is often still rather runny as well.
Omelet — very lightly scrambled in the fry pan, but cooked flat and rolled up.
Not to forget, Chinese people would normally say 荷包蛋 (he bao dan) which means 'pocket eggs' in translation. It is just fried eggs that are folded and fried to a desired consistency.
There are strange people with unique requests, even when 'ordering' eggs.
I came across a person who requested an omelet with 5 big spoonful of diced onions, capsicums and tomatoes each. He mentioned that he loved vegetables and he requested the same serving for the following 3 days. I felt like I was making a vegetable roll instead of an omelet for him.
There are also health conscious people who requested no oil on the pan. The moment I heard the word no oil, I was like 'O shit'....high chance the egg (especially the omelet) would stick to the pan!
Some would request only egg white omelet. An evil though just came in mind - I should request that in future to bring inconvenience to the cook who prepares it for me! (Nah!)
Since I am still a newbie, I have experienced a few embarrassing moments before. Care to know what?
Firstly, I busted yolks while flipping the egg over. People may wonder why this chef can't flip an egg properly.
A couple of times, annoying people would just request their orders and walk away. This really can confuse the order especially when a few people does that at once. People! Please queue up... because some people
actually took others' order and left the explanation part to me.
Once, the kitchen serviette tissue that was used to wrap around the handle of my pan caught fire from the stove's flames. (The kitchen serviette tissue is to prevent the heat that transmitted upwards from burning my hand.) I quickly removed it and put out the flames by hand within a few seconds and threw it into the bin beneath me.
Beside that, I really love it when people gave me compliments about my nicely done omelet or fried eggs!
No harm praising the chef who did your eggs in future right? It will make his day happier too!
2 Apr 2014
Graduated from At-Sunrice! Spice Odyssey 2014
This 18 months was like a whirlwind to me. I enrolled into At-sunrice and started my course almost 4 months after my army days. Even the pictures I am about to post felt like an aftermath of the whirlwind since I am at a loss of what sequence should I start my story line with!
My team that comprises of 3 pastry and 3 culinary students. With kampung theme, we dress kampung style! |
A selfie playing with a paper kite that day. Although badly taken but no choice as this was the only picture my friend sent to me.... |
My Orh Nee Roll which is my own rendition of the popular Teochew dessert. Shall post the recipe next time. Really survival looking right? |
I know it looked quite cheapo in plastic bags but it is Kampung style! Each group was only given $100 to spend on whatever props and stuffs we need for our presentation. |
My classmates! We all dressed accordingly to our theme that day. My dressing is definitely the most 'CUI'! LOL! |
My close cliquey of friends! |
Guys only shot! One of them went for smoke break I think... |
Back at Sats, thank you chef for loaning me some of the equipment for my presentation! |
This is just a brief post and I did not have time to try my friends' food or to take pictures of other teams' layout/food. We all knew we did what we could and to happily graduate from our course, no matter whether we would want to continue this profession in future.
16 Mar 2014
Taking the path of a chef - 10 factors you need to consider before accepting the job as a chef
SingaporeanAlumni of At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy (Diploma in Pastry and Bakery Arts)
Date entered : 24th Sep 2012
Date graduated : 7th Mar 2014
My days of being a trainee has ended and my job as a full time chef has commenced. This blog would be my space to blog about my experiences and journey to be a chef since I have decided to stray away from my design diploma and pick this challenging career after attaining my 2nd diploma.
Being a trainee for a year at any apprenticeship site has its peaks as trainees are just considered as a helping hand (and we hardly get screwed). I was allocated to this not-my-choice company by the school's administration and the feeling definitely, seriously sucks big time. I was constantly relocated to different stations where I get to learn the basics of production line and also where manpower is required. Since the company focused on mass production, I got used to producing huge quantity instead of quality food. Worst still, the travelling distance from my house to my workplace can add up to one and a half hours long. How I dreaded stoning in the Mrt and bus, reading from my bought-for-that-purpose Ipad mini and yawning from time to time.
Just merely a year of apprenticeship, I felt that my story could go on and on. Dwelling about the past would be useless as right now, I should be focusing on the present.
About 2 months before my graduation, I have already started researching and hunting for my ideal job as a chef. Come to think of it, 2 months before is way too early and I think about 2 weeks before would be great.
As I mentioned, there are many factors which contributes to the meaning of ideal job and these are some of the common factors that you could refer to. (Provided that you also want to be a chef.)
10 factors you need to consider before accepting the job as a chef
1. Cuisine of Specialty
Pastry, Bakery, Western, Chinese, Japanese, or even more exotic cuisines such as Mediterranean are different and special in their own ways. They could differ in preparation methods and the ingredients used. I am not the right person to describe in details since I am not specialized in anyone of them yet. The best if you could continue that particular cuisine and master it.
2. Location
I consider this quite an important factor since I have to travel to work 5 or 6 days a week in future. One worst case scenario would be travelling from my house to my apprenticeship site which required me to change from red line to circle line, to green line and taking a bus again to reach my destination. Another reason is that if you are late for work, you actually pay lesser for your cab fares due to the shorter journey. With shorter distance, you would not feel that demoralizing going to work and enduring the overcrowding transport system.
3. Pay
Money makes the world go round. For fresh graduates like me, with or without culinary experience or certificates, $1500 is already considered decent to start with. Some places' salary could be as low as $1200 and after deducting your CPF, you get peanuts (<$1000). Unless you want to consider migrating to neighboring countries with exchange rates twice of Singapore's currency. For some places, you do get tips as extra pocket money!
4. Working hours / Shifts
It is either a straight shift, split shift or even a midnight shift. (You get roughly about $200 more from a split/midnight shift.) Even if yours is a straight shift, it could be morning this week and afternoon the following week. There could also be plenty of OT (overtime pay) when it gets busy during festive seasons or during the holidays period.
5. Brand
The same reasons why people go for Gucci or Louis Vuitton, I also picked a quite-new 4 stars hotel to work in. I felt that it is more of a satisfaction issue if the name of the establishment is of a certain popularity and class. Sounds better for resume purpose too.
6. Company Benefits
Different companies may have slightly different benefits. From what I have heard, hotels normally have more perks than restaurants. Up to you to find out.
7. Laundry Services
For lazy people like me, I would prefer laundry services to be provided. At least there is one less thing to fret about - ironing my own clothes.
8. Excitement Factor
This sounds rather random. It could be helping out with some banquet, the restaurant importing some rare seasonal products from other countries or even an ultra hot lady keeps coming into the restaurant just to see you. LOL
9. Learning Opportunities
A wide array of options from a menu that changes from time to time would mean more learning opportunities. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect!
10. Advancement Opportunities
I definitely would want to advance in my career and not stay stagnant. The chance to exhibit your skill is important, to prove your worth and not stay within 4 walls peeling potato for years. Promotion also means more responsibilities too.
Anyway, these points are just my personal opinion. Feel free to list anything I happened to miss out.
I can't guarantee I am able to stay in this industry throughout my career. Who knows? ...
8 Feb 2014
Helping out at a VIP Event @ Marina Bay Cruise Centre!
Some of the lovely desserts available! |
Colorful background lighting as well as sculpture decorations to enhance the overall presentation of the buffet line. |
More desserts! Too bad I did not get a chance to try most of them... I could if I wanted to, just that I did not want such high amount of sugar intake in a single day. |
Refreshing fresh cream with fruits! |
Different types of cheese, dried fruits, grapes and plain crackers. |
21 Aug 2013
A kelong kitchen at Batam
I would prefer to directly go into my main point as I don't think I would want a 'travel' section in my blog. More pictures can be found in my facebook album here, which I had already change the settings to allow public viewing. By the way, this was the jetty to my kelong stay! |
After about a 15 mins rocky boat ride, the destination that came into view! I was like OMG....so cui r? |
Bye boat, see you tomorrow! |
Went to take a peep at my lodging and I went Omg again... |
The place was rather beautiful and I tried hard to enjoy the nature and the fresh constant gentle breeze as much as I could. |
My first time enjoying and swinging in a hammock! It was so uncomfortable and my butt hurts after that. I don't quite understand why everyone else enjoyed it. |
Another panoramic view. It looked like 2 parallel corridors but actually it was just a straight line! |
The orangey hue which was caused by the setting sun. Such a beautiful scenery that I stared at blankly for a long long time. |
Time to introduce you the kitchen! No fancy stoves or good storage place. Lucky no hygiene check or els sure fail. You would not want to see the amount of houseflies hovering in here too. |
The red container - Where fresh food were stored, chilled by ice for up to 2 days only. |
Other ingredients... |
I am no minions from despicable me but I never say no to snacks! Banana for... |
Since this cute little fish was not confirmed to be edible and it was still alive, we quickly tossed it back into the sea to resume its life. |
Some of the simple yet delicious dishes I had for lunch and dinner! Flower crabs that were fresh but little meat. |
Gong Gong shellfish which I tried for the first time. |
Pulled the flesh out to savour and it was slimy! Ewwww, I really do not know how to appreciate such stuff. |
Curry chicken with potatoes. The curry was quite good I must say! |
Simple vegetable were crunchy and fresh. |
Fish fried to perfection! Slightly crispy exterior and super moist interior! |
Prawns in tomato sauce! |
Another fresh vegetable dish! |
Chicken drumlets and wings fried with sweet sauce resulting in a little charred surface. |
A shot with aunty! Thanks for allowing me to help although I am a visitor on holiday! |
Last but not least, a camwhore shot of myself in one of the many new shirts which I bought! |