Get Cookyn with NTUC Fairprice Finest

15th June 2011. Written by Xin Li and Vinleon.
Food is like an orchestra of ingredients performing a symphony. The joy of cooking is the process of putting these pieces together. This begins with a trip to the market where you would start nit-picking for the best the ingredients and start hunting for the weird ingredient that your cookbook mentioned.

Belgian Endive? Artichoke? Crème Fraiche? Proscuitto or how about some Japanese kabocha? Maybe you can make trip down to the only Marketplace 360 in Orchard ION or Jacob’s Marketplace in the city area or your Cold Storage and hope to find it (at higher prices). But now, NTUC Fairprice has made things easier for us who stay in the heartlands. They introduced NTUC Fairprice Finest which aims to bring the fine life closer to shoppers at fair prices.

I was so glad to that they had one at Thomson Plaza and they even sold pots of fresh herb plants if freshly cut ones doesn’t satisfy you. You can also find an array of cosmopolitan gourmet products as well as wines from around the world. At the same time, there are the household items that we could get without paying a premium for them.

With the ingredients within our reach, who says fine dining must be expensive? Not if you do it yourself, the preparation doesn’t necessarily have to be tedious and complicated in order to qualify the meal as ‘fine dining’.

That was what the event that was hosted by FairPrice Finest, in conjunction with Cookyn Inc, is promoting - cooking at home can be simple, fun, tasty yet healthy.

For this event we found ourselves in a special kitchen set up to not only learn cooking but to engage and interact with each other as we prepare the food.

This social kitchen is located in the elegant and refurbished Kay Siang Nursery, (a Special Mention in the 3rd SIA Singapore Architectural Design Awards, 1991) that is tucked away from the bustle and hustle of the city.

A pleasant garden is part of the package whenever you book a session with Cookyn Inc.

Cookyn Inc aims to bring fun into cooking hosts corporate evens, cooking (or Cookyn) parties and hands-on cooking sessions where you could learning about cooking and have fun at the same time.

The recipes are simple and the group size per event can be from 10-80 offering you some exclusivity.

Besides having a herb garden, they have at least 3 well equipped kitchens with hi-tech kitchen appliances and equipment such as Sub-Zero fridges and Wolf ovens.

This Sub-Zero fridge consumes less energy than the light bulbs in the room.

The room for your ideal cook off session, dinner party, birthday….

Cookyn Inc. does more than just cooking, here the chef Ming Tan shares with us his observations of two differently priced short-grain rice that gives different results when used for risotto.

For today's event, Chef Ming Tan (from JAM ,a private dining outfit) and his partner, Jonathan, to prepare a simple 3-course Italian dinner using ingredients from Fairprice Finest.

For appetizer, we had Tomato Bruschetta. Simply Mix extra virgin olive oil, fresh cubed mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes and chopped basil. Then, Top the mixture on toasted ciabatta. (Can be kept for at least 2 days)

Chef Ming Tan’s Tip : Use ciabatta for this Italian dish instead of baguette!

Voila!

The next dish was a Grilled Slipper Lobster with Mornay Sauce which starts off with preparing a roux (a mixture of melted butter, flour and full cream milk)

Add a little chicken stock and salt to taste. Once it coats the wooden spoon (used to stir the mixture) thickly, turn off heat and add cheese (the one used here was Emborg Shredded Pasta Cheese which is a combination of various cheeses) and Stir.

Chef's Tip: whenever you’re adding liquid (no matter full cream milk or stock), make sure it’s not cold. Otherwise it will splatter too much and bring down the temperature of the contents in the pot/pan more than desired.

Half slipper lobsters, Top roux and more cheese on each half.

Bake on 180 degree celsius for about 15 minutes and you’re Done!

Tip: to choose fresh slipper lobsters (or any other crustaceans for that matter), smell it. It should smell like the sea, not fishy or pungent.

Boun Appetito!

The last item was a Lime-Leaf Mussels with Linguine and a White Wine Sauce, a delectable, clean but flavorful pasta dish with the broth which was a concoction of resh thyme, bay leaves, chopped yellow onions, garlic, diluted chicken stock, chopped lime leaves and generous amounts of Chardonnay.

Tip: almost any white wine will do (yes, that includes cheap wines), but Chardonnay works best in terms of cooking food (in the Chef’s opinion). Also, it doesn’t make sense to be using expensive wines for cooking as they are meant to be enjoyed on its own!

Add the mussels when the liquid is boiling, stir rapidly, then replace lid. Once mussels are cooked, remove from heat, stir in a pat of butter, serve on spaghetti.

I don't enjoy mussels, but this was really good. I had several shots of the mussel broth.

And there you have it some simple recipes that you could prepare at home to impress your friends and families. There is an ongoing promotion on Fairprice Finest's International Selections featuring OMEGA New Zealand Gourmet Shell Mussels as well as PASAR Slipper Lobsters. More promotions can be found here.

A communal session such as this was really rewarding as we warm up to each other stories of food and travel with the company of fine wines and good home-style food.

Slipper Lobster and Mussels for us to attempt cooking them at home!

Thank You Joelle Kang from Siren-Communication for the invitation and the awesome hospitality. Thank you Chef Ming Tan and Jonathan for preparing the meal and sharing loads of tips with us.

NTUC Fairprice Finest
Various Outlets

Cookyn Inc.
60 Jalan Penjara,
Garden Hub, Block O, Singapore 149375.