Friday, December 21, 2012

Lunchtime Demo Class with Celebrity Chef Sam Leong

It's really my pleasure to have this opportunity to up-close and personal with celebrity Chef Sam Leong and his wife Chef Forest Leong at Forest 森 @ ResortsWorld Sentosa. This lunchtime demo class is organized by The National Population and Talent Division and I'm one of the invited one.


The culinary maestro - Chef Sam Leong, the well-known Singapore celebrity chef who has 26 years of culinary expertise and innovation. And no. This guy is not your traditional chinese chef. He's much much more than that. I remembered how my mother adore Sam's way of steaming fish after she watched the cooking show on the TV last time.

Max supposed to go with me. But he couldn't make it. So, I brought Henny along instead. She 's very happy when I asked her to join. Hahaha..


They serves lovely Canapés, plated in Western-style. They doesn't looks plain lovely, but yummy too!
The spread of the Canapés are decent, and for the ingredients used, it's on the pricey side.


This is one of my favorite, baby ice cream cone with a scoop of tuna tartare. And I think there are mango and avocado in there.


This pickled cherry tomatoes preserved with juice plum I assume, it taste really nice and refreshing!


My saliva dripping when I saw this, and then, I took this picture of it. And when I wanna eat, the demo starting. So, I didn't get to taste this! Sigh! :(


Forest Restaurant has super high ceiling that provides ample space for it's centerpiece. This place serves chinese fusion cuisine. You don't expect to see so much of a greens in the restaurant, although the restaurant's name is "Forest". You have to walk out of it in order to see the greens. It's pretty spacious and cozy. I think it's really nice.


An open kitchen is a rarity in a Chinese restaurant. For Chinese restaurant, this is the first time I see open concept kitchen. Which gives me the first impression that, "I think Sam Leong's menu might avoid hard core wok hei cooking." Hahaha...


Chef Sam and Chef Forest cookbook displayed in the restaurant :)


This is the lunch that Forest Restaurant prepared for us. MaPo Tofu with short grain rice, and Ee Fu noodles. When the food is served, it smells really good!


The food is indeed delicious and I promise, this definitely won't let you down. And this is the proof... Look at Henny, she's happy holding her bowl of food. Hahahha..



The first thought I had when I saw the Ee fu noodles, I was thinking, okay, I love this! Does this involves dramatic big fire cooking? But it's open concept kitchen. How? Hahaha... But when I tasted it, I knew this Culinary Maestro is indeed has his ways of pleasing the palate. Yes, you won't miss the wok hei! And I realized that this taste really really close to the one I had in Hong Kong. The unique taste that I'd never taste it somewhere else. For instance, I thought it's something like toasted ground peanut or something. The aroma is just indescribable. Out of curiosity, I asked chef Forest, she said that it is Bian Yu. The ingredient that only Hong Kong chef will use. You can't find it else-where, unless you fly to Hong Kong.


The MaPo tofu taste really good. Minced meat spicy beancurd, cooked in excellent gravy that goes well with rice. And then it makes me feel even happier when I saw lots of chives on top. Hahaha... It taste pretty mild, not too hot. Although I prefer it to be hotter, but well, it must suit the general taste-bud. Some people can't take too spicy food. This might be something simple, but I'd assure you, this is really satisfying!


After we enjoyed our lunch, chef Sam demonstrate his signature dish - Black Pepper Prawn. It supposed to be black pepper crab, one of the most welcoming way to cook crabs in Singapore. But he substitute with prawn, as prawn is easier for a demo class :)


And it's done! It's pretty simple actually. This scrumptious dish consist of black pepper, butter, ketchup, HP sauce and others. Easy!


This piece of black beauty really makes me wanna eat more. Too addictive!


After attended his demo class, I think he is not as fierce as what we usually see on the TV. He is quite friendly and approachable actually. He and his wife is there ready to answer to all our questions. And this guy crack really good jokes too! Hahaha...


I really have to thank chef Sam and chef Forest for their hospitality. It is such a wonderful experience. We had good food, nice environment, awesome people, and great time!


If I had a chance, I would definitely revisit Forest Restaurant again :)

1 comment:

  1. Wah..me dreaming only....Next time quickly eat after shoot photo :)

    ReplyDelete