HTM 3532

L1.Appendix.Cooking
July 2012
Lecture 1: Introduction
Appendix: Cookery
Cooking: Recipe
Butter Cake
Amy Beh
Source: http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=2514
Ingredients
o 250g butter
o 210g castor sugar
o 4 eggs
o 1 tsp vanilla essence
o 200g self-raising flour, sifted with 1/2 tsp salt
o 4 tbsp fresh UHT milk
Method
Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with greased greaseproof paper. Preheat oven to 170°C.
Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
addition until mixture is light and fluffy. Add essence.
Fold in sifted flour gradually to mix. Finally stir in milk. Mix until well combined.
Turn out mixture into prepared tin. Level out mixture at the sides but allow a shallow well in the
centre. This is to enable the cake to level up evenly during baking.
Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Cooking: Roundup
What are the seven main types of icing
Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-seven-main-types-of-icing.htm

Many types of cake, cookie, cupcake and dessert are covered with icing. It can be used to decorate a
variety of pastries and baked goods, and adds flavor and texture, as well as enabling a chef to
decorate her creation so that it is a treat for the eyes as well as the palate. There are seven basic
types of icing: buttercream, flat, foam, fondant, fudge, royal, and glazes.
Buttercream icing is one of the most popular types for cakes. It is easy to spread, has a sweet flavor
and a soft, smooth texture and is simple to make. Buttercream is made with a type of fat, often
butter, and sugar. It can also contain eggs or milk to change the texture and thickness. Most icing
found in the supermarket in the cake mix section is basic buttercream.
Flat icing is one of the most simple types. The basic ingredients are powdered sugar and water.
Simple flat icings form the glaze on rolls, danishes and other pastries and can be flavored with fruit
or spices to add a new taste to the pastry.
Foam icing comes in a variety of flavors and has a soft, fluffy appearance. A meringue is made of
whipped egg whites with a flavored syrup added. Marshmallow foam is a common variety, but other
flavors such as chocolate or vanilla can also be added to the meringue.
Fondant gives a cake or pastry an elegant appearance and is popular for wedding cakes and other
show pieces. This type is simply sugar and water, with either glucose or cream of tartar used to
produce the proper crystallization to give it a smooth, almost porcelain look.

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Fudge icing is thick and rich with a strong chocolate flavor. Other flavors, such as almond, peanut
butter or mint, are often added. Using both butter and shortening, corn syrup, sugar and a variety of
other ingredients, this type can be somewhat time consuming to prepare, but the finished product is
stable and can be refrigerated and used at a later time.
Royal icing is similar to the flat variety, but adds egg whites to produce a thicker product which
hardens to a brittle texture. It can be used to make beautiful, artistic decorations because it hardens
when dried, but the same property makes it less enjoyable to eat. Royal icing is used primarily for
decorative additions to cakes and for show work such as sugar sculptures.
Glazes are thin, watery icings which form a hard, crisp shell when poured or brushed over cakes and
pastries. They are usually made with a fruit flavor, although other flavors, such as chocolate or
coffee, are sometimes popular as well. Like flat, glazes can be used on sweet breakfast pastries like
coffee cakes. They add flavor, and also help keep the pastry moist and improve its shelf life.
With seven basic types to choose from, and myriad possibilities within each type, pastry chefs have a
great variety of options when topping their creations. By using one of these varieties, an
experienced chef can produce countless delicious creations.

Cooking: Information
Cooking Pasta Properly
by Shirley Corriher
Source: http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cooking-pasta-properly.aspx

Avoid dense, stuck-together dishes by knowing the hows and whys of cooking pasta
Pasta dishes can be so wonderful—incredibly light, unbelievably flavorful—but they can also be
dense, stuck-together disappointments. You can help your pasta dish be its best—whether it's a
baked lasagne, a pasta salad, or a slap-dash plate of spaghetti and pesto—by knowing a few of the
hows and whys of cooking the pasta itself.
When you drop pasta into a pot of boiling water, the starch granules on the surface of the pasta
instantly swell up to their maximum volume and then pop. The starch rushes out and, for a brief
time, the pasta's surface is sticky with this exuded starch. Eventually, most of this surface starch
dissolves in the water and washes away, and the pasta surface becomes a soft solid.
Stir at the start
Many pasta recipes begin like this: "Bring a large pot of water, 4 to 5 quarts, to a rapid boil." Do you
really need this much water? Well, if you're only boiling a small amount of pasta (less than half a
pound), you don't need so much, but a generous pot of rapidly boiling water is helpful for several
reasons: it comes back to a boil faster when you add the pasta; it makes it easier to submerge long,
rigid pastas like spaghetti; and it helps to reduce sticking slightly by quickly washing away the
exuding starch from the pasta surface.
To keep pasta from sticking, stir during the first minute or two of cooking. This is the crucial time
when the pasta surface is coated with sticky, glue-like starch. If you don't stir, pieces of pasta that
are touching one another literally cook together.
Add salt, but not oil
You may have heard that you can avoid sticky pasta by adding oil to the pasta water. This can
prevent sticking, but at a great price. Pasta that's cooked in oily water will become oily itself and, as a
result, the sauce slides off, doesn't get absorbed, and you have flavorless pasta.
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Adding oil may keep the pasta water from bubbling up and boiling over the rim, but this can also be
achieved by making sure you use a large pot and also by reducing the heat a little (but still
maintaining a boil). This is a much better solution than greasing your pasta and sacrificing flavor.
Salted water flavors the pasta. A generous amount of salt in the water seasons the pasta internally
as it absorbs liquid and swells. The pasta dish may even require less salt overall. For a more complex,
interesting flavor, I add 1 to 2 tablespoons sea salt to a large pot of rapidly boiling water. By the way,
the claim that salted water cooks food faster (because of its higher boiling temperature) is
exaggerated; you're not adding enough salt to raise the temperature more than about 1°F.
For more flavorful pasta, drain it thoroughly yet quickly (so it doesn't cool) and toss it immediately
with a hot sauce. Stir at the start

Cooking: Technique
Four Ways to Cook Steak
http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/Four-Ways-to-Cook-Steak, Aug 10, 2009

DEEP-FRYING: Pat dry 1 1⁄2"-thick strip steaks with paper towels. Fill a large, deep pot with vegetable
oil, and heat over medium heat to 375°. (A toothpick dropped in oil will quickly turn dark brown when
oil is ready.) Carefully lower steaks, 1 or 2 at a time, into oil. For medium rare, cook until brown, 5–7
minutes. Remove, drain, and season with salt and pepper.
PAN-GRILLING: Pat dry 1 1⁄2"-thick sirloin steaks with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
Lightly grease a cast-iron grill pan or skillet with vegetable oil, then heat over medium-high heat until
very hot. Add steaks. For medium rare, sear 2 minutes per side, then reduce heat to medium and
cook 3 minutes per side. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
OUTDOOR GRILLING: Pat dry 1 1⁄2"-thick T-bone steaks with paper towels. Rub with a little olive oil
and season with salt and pepper. Heat gas grill over medium-high heat, or prepare and light coals for
a charcoal grill. When grill is very hot, add steaks. For medium rare, cook 10–12 minutes, turning once.
Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
BROILING: This is one technique we don't suggest for home cooks. Broiling may seem like the next
best thing to cooking over a flame, but most broilers in the typical home kitchen cannot generate the
intense heat needed to sear a steak (restaurant grills and salamanders can reach 800°). Gas stoves
usually get hotter than electric ones, but they tend to diffuse the heat, and fat, if not properly
drained, can catch on fire.

Cooking: Expert advice

How To Choose A Frying Pan
Source http://www.professionalrecipes.com/frying-pan-cookware.html. June 14th, 2008
Fed up with buying cheap frying pans where the non-stick comes off and you have to buy a new one
every year? If this is you it's worth giving a bit of thought to what you really need and investing in a
small selection of frying pans that will last for years and make cooking a pleasure.
Firstly you probably want a general purpose pan with a high quality non-stick surface - they're easy to
clean and enable you to cut down on (or even eliminate) the fat. It may be worth having a couple of
these - one for family cooking and the other for a solitary fry up or one person meals - trying to cook
a small quantity of food in a large pan means the juices are spread too thinly and the food starts to
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dry up. Think also about the depth of the pan. If you go in for a lot of omelettes you'll need shallow
sides to enable the food to slide out easily. If you want a pan to start off a dish and then perhaps add
a sauce, you'll need higher sides, perhaps even a sauté pan. Whatever size or shape of pan you
choose it should have a good heavy base. Non-stick pans come in a wide variety of materials,
aluminium, stainless steel, titaniu, diamond reinforced or ceramic reinforced but remember with non-
stick you really do get what you pay for.
Stainless steel frying pans score well on looks but will not conduct heat well unless they include a
sandwich of aluminium or copper in the base. You will also need to pay attention whilst cooking
otherwise things can tend to stick and burn. A small amount of this may not be a bad thing though if
you like mixing those lovely browned pieces into a delicious sauce - just don't overdo it!
A small cast iron frying pan can also be a very handy thing to have. It heats up slowly but holds its
temperature once it has done so and conducts heat very evenly. If you like Eastern food and dry fry
spices this could be the ideal pan. Be careful of buying a large cast iron pan though - they can be
extremely heavy.
Finally, a very traditional alternative to non-stick would be untreated mild steel or 'blue steel' as it is
sometimes known. These pans are inexpensive, give excellent results, really will last forever and can
be used with metal utensils. The downside is that they do demand some care. You will need to
season your pan carefully before you use it. To do this first wash the pan in soapy water, then dry it
and heat it. Use a heatproof brush to coat it with groundnut oil or corn oil. Do not use sunflower oil
or olive oil as they will make the frying pan sticky. Heat the pan until the oil is smoking then allow it
to cool, wipe it clean and repeat the process at least three times. After the final heating, cool it, wipe
it clean and it can then be stored until you are ready to use it. Never wash the pan - just wipe clean
each time you use it, re-season occasionally and over time it will build up a wonderful non stick
patina. If you don't do this I'm afraid it will just go rusty!

Cooking: Useful information

How to freeze and thaw foods
Source: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/freezertips
How to Freeze:
You can freeze myriad foods: cake, cheese, bacon, berries, and other fruit. Sauces, broth, and pureed
baby food can be stored in ice-cube trays and frozen. Here are some tips on how to ensure your
foods don't end up tasting of freezer burn.
 Slice breads before you freeze for easier removal.
 Freeze in small portions, so you can just defrost a serving fast and easily.
 Wrap well. Use containers and plastic wraps that were designed specifically for the freezer.
Make sure there is no excess air in bags and wraps. If you are storing sauce or soup, keep
room at the top of the container for expansion of the liquid.
 Be sure to label the package with the name of the item and the date of preparation and
storage.
 Place newer things in the back of the freezer and older items in front.

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How to Thaw:
Overnight thawing in the fridge is best, but if time is of the essence, you can immerse foods in cold
water—bag or container and its contents—and keep changing the water until it reaches room
temperature. Transfer soups, sauces or stews to a saucepan and heat slowly, covered, until the
mixture comes to a boil—be sure to stir often. For other individual portions, defrost uncovered in
the microwave and cook and serve as soon as possible.

Cooking: In-depth
Lemang
Posted on October 2, 2008 by cleffairy
Source: http://cleffairy.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/lemang/

Here’s wishing all Muslim and non- Muslim readers of Over A Cuppa Tea Eid Mubarak and
happy holidays. Eid, or better known by locals in Malaysia as Aidilfitri, is celebrated after a
whole month of fasting during Ramadan. Eid signify the celebration and triumph of good
over evil after one whole month of fasting and doing good deeds. During Eid, people too
would seek forgiveness from one another and turn a new leaf in their lives.
Malaysia, being a country that practices Islam as it’s national religion usually celebrate Eid
merrily with joy and laughter. And if one talk about Eid in Malaysia, it will always be
associated with open house and various traditional delicacies. Among all of those traditional
delicacies, there’s one in particular that has always been my favourite and a must eat during
Eid season which is lemang.
I’ve never been quite a fan of sweet delicacies such as modern or traditional cookies, but I
have always been a fan of savoury food. So lemang has always been on the thing that I hunt
for during Eid. Lemang is a traditional Malay delicacy made from glutinous rice and cooked in
a stick of bamboo in a well watched open fire outdoors and usually eaten with rendang or
curries.
The process of making traditional lemang can keep one’s hand full, as it is not easy to make a
good lemang. I bought a bamboo of lemang last night, and was given the chance to see how
it’s done step by step. I have to say, the whole process of making lemang is very tedious.
Firstly, to make a good lemang, one would need to choose a good bamboo that is dry and
not cracked. Then after the bamboo is cut to a length considered reasonable by the cook, a
roll of banana leaf would be inserted in the bamboo stick to cover the inside of the bamboo
stick. Then, an amount of uncooked glutinous rice will be measured and filled in the bamboo
stick along with a cup of diluted coconut milk and salt.
The process of choosing and cleaning the bamboo as well as filling the bamboo with
uncooked glutinous rice as well as coconut milk and salt is actually the easy part in the whole
process of lemang making. The hard part is actually cooking the lemang to perfection. After
filling in the bamboo with necessary ingredients, the lemang will then be sent to a large
open fire that is set up earlier by using loads of coals and firewood.
To avoid the lemang from being burnt, one would need to constantly take care of the fire
and constantly rotate the lemang so that it will be evenly cooked.
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When I went to buy the lemang, even the people who are cooking and selling the lemang
was in a jovial mood, and they did not even seems to mind me snapping their pictures. The
lady who was cooking the rendang even told me the tale on how lemang actually originates.
She told me that once, there was a wise traveller who constantly needs to spend the night in
the woods. Fearing that his precious rice would be stolen by wild animal, he cut down some
bamboo and store the rice in the bamboo stick so that it won’t be destroyed or stolen by
any hungry wild animals. As time goes by, he got tired of taking out the grains that he kept
in the bamboo to cook it inside the pot that he brought along with him in his travel. Out of
laziness and mere convenience, he then started to pour water into the bamboo that kept his
rice and cook it over his nightly campfire. The traveller then learn that the rice that’s cooked
in the bamboo also last longer.
It is also convenient for him to store cooked rice to eat along the way in his journey. So, the
man continue to practice cooking rice this way and teaches the people he met on how to
cook rice in a bamboo stick, and slowly, the people whom he taught how to cook rice by
using bamboo as a cooking utensil started to improvise his recipe and replace normal rice
grain with glutinuos rice to make a savoury delicacy. Since the whole process of cooking by
using bamboo is quite tedious and not so convenient for non-travellers, they decided to
cook it only during special occasion, and so, ladies and gentleman, that is how lemang
originates.
To me, the whole process of preparing and cooking lemang is not just to make a special
delicacy to be eaten once a year during Eid or any other occasion, but it’s actually
to strenghten ties with one another as the whole lemang-making process encourage friends
and families to help each other in various tedious task in order to sucessfully cook lemang to
perfection. Lemang, is actually a hard labour of love.
Lemang
Ingredients
 3 pieces, cut bamboo about 16" long each
 young banana leaves (Puchok daun pisang)
 600 g pulut rice
 1 coconut
Method:
1. Soak pulut in water overnight. Drain and mix with first-pressing coconut milk and a bit of salt.
2. Insert the banana leaves into bamboo and fill the bamboo with the pulut. Do not compact
the pulut.
3. Tie banana leaves round open end of bamboo to seal it, and then cook the pulut by placing
bamboo horizontally over a slow charcoal fire.
4. After about 1/2 hour remove banana leaves round the open end of bamboo and, using the
stem of the banana leaf, sprinkle more coconut milk.
5. Re-cover open end and continue cooking the pulot over the charcoal fire until cooked.
Cooking time takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
6. Remove cooked Lemang Rice by knocking the bamboo on a table. The Lemang Rice will fall
out by itself. If does not come out by itself split bamboo open.

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Cooking: Information Round-up
Malay Spices
Source: http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/malay-spices.html

Malay spices found in typical Malaysian cooking do not vary much compared to Indonesian or Indian
spices.
On this page, I will talk about the categories of spices: wet and dry. Examples of wet spices in daily
Malay cooking will be discussed. This is followed by detailed description of four types of dry Malay
spices.
Basically, spices are categorized into dry spices and wet spices. First, dry spices: there are four types.
The spices are well known as "rempah empat beradik" meaning the four siblings i.e. star anise(bunga
lawang), cinnamon or cassia (kulit kayu manis), cardamom (pelaga) and clove (bunga cengkih) that
are always found in Malay food.
In soups and curries these four kinds of spices always appear without fail. They are normally used
whole but some spice manufacturers blend these four spices, together with others in powder form
for a convenient mix.
The mixed combinations are labeled accordingly as spices for seafood curry, for meat curry, for
making soup or just plain masala. One of the most popular brands for Malay spices is the company
Adabi. Other brands popular in Malaysia are Alagappa and Baba's.
Housewives in Malaysia also grind their own spices, or buy ready-made freshly ground spices from
the wet market. They are supposed to taste better than powdered spices sold in the plastic packets,
mass produced in factories. One of the most commonly used ground spices is "cili boh". It is a paste
of dried chili. We use it a lot to make sambal and also for stir fries like fried noodles or fried rice.
Commercially produced cili boh used some chemicals to make it last longer. It makes the paste sour. I
recommend you blend your own cili boh using your home blender. It is very simple, cut the dried
chilies with scissors, soak in very hot water for about ten minutes, drain the seeds and water. Blend
to a fine paste. To make it last longer, add in a bit of cooking oil. Otherwise, a white film will form on
the paste that will spoil it, even after refrigeration.
For blends of dried spices, each blend is unique and also quite impossible to duplicate. The secret
blend will not be revealed outside the family or company.
There is also a combination of whole spices tied up inside a piece of small square muslin (gauze-like
cotton) like bouquet garni. This is called "sup bunjut".
Bouquet garni uses fresh western herbs for example in making chicken soup but our "sup bunjut"
uses dried spices instead to make chicken soup with Malay spices or the very popular oxtail soup. If
you look at the pictures below, you can see that nowadays "sup bunjut" is conveniently packed.
Inside the muslin wrapping, exact amount of spices are already measured for specific amount of
meat or chicken.
Together with the four siblings, the following are also used in Malay cooking: turmeric, chili powder,
cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, black pepper, anise, fennel, candlenut and fenugreek. The spices
mentioned before, are hugely influenced by Indian cooking.
Those spices mentioned above are considered as dry spices because they are either processed and
dried before usage.

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Other spices which you will always find in Malay cooking are the wet or fresh spices like fresh chilies,
fresh ginger, onion, shallots and garlic. Ginger is normally used for dishes involving meat and chicken.
Gelanggal (or lengkuas in Malay language) is also used but only for certain dishes like beef rendang.
In fish dishes, turmeric is the spice you can never do without in Malay style of cooking. Powdered
turmeric is normally used but fresh turmeric, when it is pounded finely, smells much better in aroma
and also looks brighter in color. By the way, turmeric stains on your fingers takes ages to come off.
Clever cooks use spoon, or better still, use surgical rubber gloves when they have to handle turmeric.
The Malay spices mentioned above give a lot of character to Malaysian dishes. Cooks use them in
large quantities. Subtle flavor is not part of Malay cuisine. Malay food is full, and I mean, really full of
flavor. Malay cuisine would never be the same without these spices.
Nyonya cuisine, which is influenced a lot by Malay food, uses these spices to make rempah.

Cookbook
Onions
Hopkinson, S. (2006) Roast Chicken & Other Stories

I have sometimes thought that the phrase “take one onion” would be a good name for a recipe
book. How many savory recipes are there that do not use onions? Their harmonious flavor pulls
together good stews, rich and satisfying soups; roasted around a joint of meat, they lend their
essential flavor to a fine gravy. Cooked whole on their own with seasoning, a pinch of sugar and a
little stock, then roasted in the oven, they produce one of the great kitchen smells of all time.
Sometimes the skins are left on, sometimes not. Although the skin insulates the flavor within, taking
off the skin produces a gooey and scorched inside. And who doesn’t love the aroma of burnt onion?
Thinly sliced onions, braised slowly in copious amounts of butter, a splash of white wine and
wine vinegar, with cream added at the end, in my idea of a perfect winter accompaniment to a roast
leg of lamb. Alternatively, the mixture can be puréed to produce the classic sauce soubise.
A recently discovered method of cooking onions (along with other vegetables) is to slice them
thickly and grill them on a cast-iron ribbed infrared grill. Once again, that slightly burnt smell,
produced by the onion’s natural sugar content is intoxicating. With this method, the onion slices
need no oiling, nor does the grill. They produce their own natural crust, but you have to be patient,
as lifting them too early in the cooking process spells disaster. (This applies to all grilling.) Red onions
are the best variety for this. They look good with their black stripes and just need to be thrown into a
bowl, seasoned and dressed with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and finished off with a
handful of chopped parsley.
Almost guiltily, I have a real craving for deep-fried onion rings from time to time, even frozen
from a package if desperate. But they are very easy to prepare. Simply dip the rings in flour, beaten
egg and breadcrumbs, or in a batter, and drop them into deep hot fat until they turn crisp and
golden brown. They are absolutely fabulous with steak tartare.

GRILLED RED ONION RELISH

This recipe is inspired by a Californian idea rooted in spicy Mexican dishes like salsa. It was only a few
years ago that I discovered salsa. It has certainly broadened our culinary horizons and should not be
dismissed as a passing fashion. After all, the Mexicans have been making it and eating for years.
A good basic salsa can be made with chopped red onion, tomatoes, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and
chillies.

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4 large red onions, peeled and thickly sliced
Salt
1 tsp sugar
2 large green chillies, seeded and chopped
2 tbspn roughly chopped cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
3 tbspn olive oil
Grill the onion slices on a ribbed infrared grill until scorched with black stripes on both sides. Transfer
to a bowl, season with salt, and add all the other ingredients. Mix together with your hands,
separating the rings of onions as you do so. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour before using.
Excellent with barbecued steak or pork chops.