Merdeka Birthday Dinner @ home

2 distinctive soyu
the small bottle with red label is from Japan...aged for 27 years...the taste was so sublime and stunning. Now I totally believe in aged soyu.........Totally grand cru stuffs

the huge bottle soyu is from China and has been aged for about 8 years. So I would say that's premier cru...U can't really visualise Chef JS's face when he has such beautiful ingredients to work with. Thank you to Dr. Epicurean for supplying this amazing soyu.

JS got his artisan supplier to import a whole crate of tomatoes ripened on its vine from France. It's so beautiful and much smaller than the usual ones that u see at the supermarket. So good to be consumed on its own with a burst of "umami-ness" each and every bite. Such wholesome sweetness that I'll never forget. The last time I had such good quality tomatoes was in Europe.


Monkey stealing some cakes to eat hehehehe
JS: "Wat are u doing??? no stealing!!!! quick go and decorate Adam's cake!!!"

I guess it's not called stealing when I BAKED cake!!! Must say it was pretty yummy cake and my very first chocolate cake...Devil's Food Cake :))))))) recipe by Thomas Keller. Will bake this again and make it my 2013 Resolutions project :))))

Later JS joined Monkey in "stealing" the cake...
silence ensued...
JS: "hmmmm it's very good....extremely good!! Well done Monkey :)))"

Chef JS looked pretty stressed coz he was semi-working that day....pressuring and tekan-ing "volumes" to close for another bang for the month of August 2013. Nevertheless there wasn't much stress in the household bcoz all the ferocious energy was transformed into creating some yummy food in the kitchen. :P



Tuna belly served with:
a lil bit of konbu
a lil bit of finely chopped leeks
yeah I know his mis-en-place preparation were so so so fine....
So u see, not that I didn't wanna help him...I just don't qualify...not even chopping nor slicing. Sigh.
T_T


Since it's gonna be Adam's Bday, all food served would be his favourite too. Well wat does a Boy expect to have when he arrives at the "Ham House"

Adam: "Mommy when are we goin over to Ham House?"
yes our house is lovingly known as the Ham House...oink oink oink. Lurve that title, gonna find a signage and hang it outside my door....or if JS ever gonna open a restaurant, it's gonna be called Ham House...bahahahahahaha.

Iberico pork and char-grilled canned capsicum from Spain. I can't remember how much of canned food we brought back from Spain :P

Once all the guinea pig guests have settled down.....it's time to feed them :)))) hehehehehe
Tomato Consomme, prepared with loads of love and efforts...for it required delicate "dripping" to obtain the clear jus and essence outta those petit tomates.

Such simple pleasure but pretty complex. Consisted of multiple ingredients and micro ingredients to achieve this balance sweet acid taste profile.

and Monkey failed at her first job as Chef JS's sous chef at plating. I was asked to help out at plating and instead of chives, she sprinkled shitloads of spring onions to the horror of the chef.

"WAT??? U can't differentiate chives and spring onions???"
errrr they were all green and looked almost identical to me :P Sowwy Chef.....


Peakie D and Lyndon
one of the highlight was this special olive oil bought from Granada during our trip there last year. Such excellent apple green olive oil to be eaten pure on its own.

Risotto....cooked all the way fr scratch....with homemade chicken stock with only the best grains. Chef is really particular about his ingredients. So risotto needs stirring to release the starch. Slowly ladle after ladle of chicken stocks were added until all were absorbed by the grains. So the process requires a lot of time and patience.

The end product - Squid Ink Risotto
fresh squid ink were added towards the end. Topped with sauteed fresh squid and spring onions on the side...yes this time around I got the mis-en-place correct.....:P if I don't chef will whack me with his ladle.

such a pretty and delicious dish.
the grains were fat and juicy with some bite in the middle. That's how a risotto should be.
yummy!!! excellent!!!!

the entire nite, tomatoes were used in each and every dish....directly or indirectly. There's actually tomato sauce in this risotto as well. Left all the guests amazed with the profile of this squid ink risotto. I guess it takes a lot of guts to cook this dish, coz to begin with, it isn't one of the prettiest looking rice ever...black rice...hahahaha. Hence Monkey had to pre-warned the guests of wat's coming and whether or not the kids would wanna have it. Soon it was the kids asking for second helpings :P

Razor Clams Cappelini with skinless tomatoes.
wasn't enuff to pass around the table...everyone said it was so so so delicious and yummy....Monkey didn't have any...coz she's bored with this....it's like our usual dinner fare...I know. I'm lucky..full stop. no complaint.

Master Kobe Beef
The meat was Sous vide and finally charred on the pan for a bit before serving. Eaten on its own, with such good beef u dun need anything else.

I like it medium like this
but most of the guests love it PINK and RARE!!!
so Mr. JS u need to work on this...PINK and RARE...and for someone it has to be BLUE with loads of blood!!!!

the remaining beef fats were fried and served with japanese rice
not just any rice but Koshihikari grains from the Hiinata perfecture. It's round and cute and fluffy. Drizzle some beef fats...topped with more crispy fried beef fats and chives..and if it's isn't enuff, slice and dice some beef on top.

Simple pleasure :)))))

and finally dessert with an A for ADAM
Devil's Food Chocolate Cake

JS said I need to learn how to deco cakes now....
-_-"
I.Will.

Nevertheless Birthday Boy Adam was really happy with his simple cake.
Happy Birthday Adam!!!!!

Adam is such an intelligent boy, we were watching Ice Age 3 and he educated lil Monkey that Dinosaurs did not exist during the ice age and the cartoon didn't make sense at all. Adam then gave me the exact scientific names for each and every animal in the show.

O.o
either I should go back to school or watch more Ice Age :P

Chef JS gave a lil something to Intelligent Adam. It's a baking set in his favourite color!!!

"May ur cooking skills improve by the day....and one day you will become greater than Morimoto-san"!!!!

I don't know who's happier....the receiver or giver? :P
coz in Adam's cute world, Chef JS is the greatest chef in the world...and better than Iron Chef Morimoto-san.

-_-"
children do say the darndest thing huh?

home-aged cheese served with almonds and dried apricots from Uzbekistan
Peakie D finally made a pit stop in Msia after all the travels from Bhutan then Uzb...and next few days Hokkaido again...so U don't live in Msia...it's just a pit stop.

Chef JS and Dr. Epicurean
TQ for all the goodies of soyu, wines and cheese...he actually have a mini-bar fridge at home, just for aging cheeses!!!!

I want a pic too!!!!! all pretty tipsy by then


but can't be tipsier than this fella....who took my "tipsy drunk" mask from Venice
-_-"
sigh....

I know it's past midnite...but we were still energetic...
and attempted a few duets together under the watchful eyes of Dr. Epicurean.

Yeayyyy!!!! we can sooooo NOT do duets anymore...coz it's horrible :P
my poor guests and neighbours had to endure the noise polution past midnite.

It's so stressed to play for ppl like them, who likes to scrutinized u.
but Peakie D is one tough laydee!! showmanship is nothing :))))

Lyndon with my 2 super tipsy guests
Thank you for being our guinea pigs..

the wines lineup....superb!!!
9 bottles for 7 adults is pretty mild....

Thank you once again for all the yummy goodies, produce from all over the world and your travel, beautiful flowers but most of all ur laughters and company.

Happy Birthday to Adam and hope he had the best-est time of all...though the adults actually used his birthday to pop more champagnes and wines. BAHAHAHAHAHA.