Microteaching session 6

Hello...

Microteaching has resumed this week, after a 2-week lecture by MOE HQ personel. Presenting to you dishes by Hilyah, Shuen and Siew Feng!

Topic:

Seafood is a very popular in many cultures and is now a common feature in our local diet. Make a study of the nutritional contribution of seafood and show how you could provide a balanced diet that includes an interesting selection of seafood dishes.

We were greeted with a "kampong" theme setting in the beginning of the lesson. *Slurp!*

Laksa in a coconut!

The all-time favourite dish among most Singaporeans.

Last but not least, otah with pomelo salad!

The microteaching session commenced with a introduction to various spices we could obtain from the Southeast Asian region. We were also taught the difference between herbs and spices.

The first dish we learnt was the making of curry laksa. It was said that the origins of laksa were unknown, but it was suggested that the name of this dish could have originated from the word lakhshah , which is a type of vermicelli. Another theory suggests that it could have come from "la sha", meaning "spicy sand", due to the presence of ground dried prawns which make the gravy taste "sandy".

The next dish we learnt was otah. This name of this dish could have originated from the word "otak", meaning "brains" in malay. Since otah is soft and squishy, it resembles "brains", thus its name.

The final dish, which was the most challenging among all dishes prepared today, was chilli crab. We were taught how to kill a live crab swiftly with just 1 wooden chopstick.

Anatomy of a yummy crab

All that was needed was to invert the crab (of course, with its pincers already secured tightly with raffia), remove the abdomen, position the chopstick at its middle region and pierce the chopstick into the crab after moving ur chopstick a little to the left hand side.

Leave the chopstick pierced in the crab and let it struggle for a while. Remove the raffia strings only after ensuring that the crab has turned lifeless. If it still shows signs of life, pierce with the chopstick into another region of the crab near the centre one more time.

Preparation for this dish was satisfying, especially after experiencing for ourselves how easy it is to kill it. Eat frozen crabs no more! Boiling them alive is no longer necessary also.

Both Esther and I enjoyed all 3 dishes prepared in this session. Laksa was topped with generous amounts of ingredients - taupok, fish cake, beansprouts. Wrapping the otah with blanched banana leaves was fun too, and the ratio of various spices used was just right for me. It was also satisfying to enjoy eating otak made entirely from fish meat! As for the crab, on top of the satisfaction gained from killing the crab, the gravy was sedap! It went perfectly with the steamed chinese buns.