Chef Classic

Chef Classic

Chefs Classic CUISINART Stainless NIB 51 2 Quart Multi Purpose Pot Pan w Lid
Paypal

US $39.99

Cuisinart Chefs Classic™ Non Stick Hard Anodized 10 new in box
Paypal

US $10.45

Chef Direct White Double Breasted Classic Chefs Jacket Unisex Large
Paypal

US $9.99

Cuisinart Chefs Classic Stainless Steel 5 ½ Quart Saute Pan with Cover
Paypal

US $59.99

NEW PAMPERED CHEF SCRAPER SET 2 WHITE CLASSIC SKINNY
Paypal

US $17.99

Cuisinart Professional Chefs Classic Stainless Steel 10 Piece Cookware Set
Paypal

US $145.17

Vietnamese Cuisine at Intercontinental The LaLiT Mumbai

As I slowly turn the spoon in a bowl full of hot black fungus and shitake mushroom soup, I hear Intercontinental The Lalit’s Vietnamese chef, Tong Hoang Gia, say, “There, in your bowl, is the reason why I am thin. You guys,” he coolly points at me and my friend, “are like this after years of eating oil-laden curries and gravy-based vegetables. Health is inseparable from Vietnamese cuisine.”

I raise my eyebrows and look at my friend who grins and shrugs as if to say, “Well, you know, he may be blunt but he’s right.”

Health first

The four ingredients Vietnamese cuisine cannot do without are nuoc mam (fish sauce), soy sauce, vinegar and lemon (make sure you ask them to leave out the fish sauce if you are vegetarian). But unlike other Oriental cuisines like, say, Thai Food which is dominated by the taste of coconut, Japanese with its overpowering soy sauce taste and Chinese food with its oils and spices, the Vietnamese do not let any one of the four ingredients stand out in their food. In addition to this balance of taste, no Vietnamese meal is complete without a generous portion of fruits, salad greens, cucumbers, bean threads, slices of hot pepper, sprigs of basil, coriander, mint and other herbs.

Noodles (in dishes and soups), rice and spring rolls are signature dishes of the Vietnamese cuisine. Gia reveals how spring rolls were discovered by accident in Vietnam. “The story goes like this: A young boy was trying to make a dish with flour batter in a pan but ended up spreading it all over, and it formed a thin layer. When he told his mother about it, she asked him to wrap some vegetables in the pancake-like layer so it wouldn’t be wasted. That’s how spring rolls were discovered.”

After the amuse bouche of salad greens dipped in vinegar and soy sauce, and another one with fish, we try the banana flower salad with chicken and sweet onion and quick deep fried silken tofu salad with soya sauce (we warned you, you can’t escape from the health fixation, not that you’d want to anyway). Next, the double boiled chicken soup has a mellow, sweet taste thanks to the dried apple, lily flower and Gia’s secret herb ingredient. “It’s my favourite soup,” says Gia. “That lingering taste doesn’t come from simply mixing the dried apple with the herb and chicken. The chicken and lily flower are left to steam with water till the water reduces to a quarter. Boiling just merges all the individual tastes of the ingredients. Steaming is what retains them even as they come together.” Gia keeps the best for the last — he reveals that the soup contains no additional herbs, no MSG, not even salt.

Eat with your eyes

Gia says he notices that every Oriental cuisine has had to ‘Indianise’ itself to be palatable to the locals here. “You don’t need to do that with Vietnamese food. This is exactly how we eat back home.” Never ask Gia to fuse a Vietnamese dish with an Indian curry or add the good old garam masala — he says he has no qualms telling the guests that he isn’t here to serve what they get in their kitchens anyway.

The only thing Gia has changed in the dishes is their presentation. “At home, we serve the same dishes, but pile them into bowls or plates. But I believe that food isn’t just ‘eaten’ — the first sight, the smell, that initial taste you experience before you get down to actually eating the dish are important touch points. I take care to ensure that these senses are satisfied, too.”

In the main course, the very first bite of the stir fried spicy prawn with garlic and satay sauce had my friend interested in the goings on of the dish. The Vietnamese stir fry their ingredients but only just. Digest this: The sweetness of the pomegranate seeds, the nutty taste of the satay sauce, the soft, only slightly spicy prawns — and garlic somewhere in between. Going by my friend’s expression, it seems like a recipe for bliss. The subtle slightly sweet taste of the vegetarian jasmine rice infused with wood ear makes you notice, and appreciate, the herbs in the mushroom gravy and green salad.

Dessert with rajma

We aren’t quite sure whether we really see them. The double take at one dessert confirms that the maroon floating in coconut milk is, indeed, rajma. We look at Gia, and by now, he needn’t explain that the Vietnamese, even in their desserts, don’t overlook health benefits. I try the coconut milk first, without the rajma, and find that the soaked beans have lent it a fresh, strong taste. The second dessert has sago beans (sabudana) with cream and fruits and the third was duet tapioca laced with coconut cream and fresh fruits.

'“And you’d think an overdose of health couldn’t make for great food,” says Gia in his characteristic plainspoken tone, as we polish it all off.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_you-will-love-the-smell-of-fish-sauce-in-the-morning_1524797

Classic Capture - South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (Dreamcast)