October 2016 Cooking and Baking Classes

 

Japanese Bread

Sunday October 2^nd 2 to 5 pm

This will always be my most favorite bread class.  Hard work but it always pays off in the end.  You will learn;

1. Japanese Soft Bread
2. Cheese and Onion Scrolls
3. Bread Loaf
4. Sausage Bread

Price Per Person: $110 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

Fruit Cakes for Diwali

Monday October 3^rd 2.30 to 5 pm

 

Learn to bake these other old fashion fruit cakes.  You will learn to bake;

Chunky Fruit Cake

1. Sri Lankan Fruit Cake
2. Rich Chunky Fruit Cake

Price Per Person: $120 (Class will commence once there are 5 students)

Chequered Cake

Sunday October 9^th   10.30 to 1.30

I made this Chequered cake for a private class a few months ago.  It is fun and easy and somehow it makes everyone excited when you cut it.  So we will bake and decorate;

1. Orange Cake
2. Rich Chocolate Butter Cake
3. Chocolate Butter Cream
4. Chocolate Orange Butter Cream

Price Per Person: $120 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

Pineapple Tart Class

Saturday October 15^th 10 to 1 pm

A favorite of every festive in Malaysia. Learn to make two types of pineapple tarts.

You will learn two types of pastries and the jam of course.

1. Old Fashion Pineapple Tart – Opened Tarts
2. Rolled Pineapple Tart
3. Pineapple Jam

This is a hands on class, please bring containers to take home your cookies

Price Per Person: $110 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

 

Murukus and Sweet Spicy Cornflake Class

Saturday October 15th 2.30 to 4.30 pm

A lot of people have been grumbling about the prices of Murukku. So I think we should learn it.

1. Butter Murukku
2. Potato Murukku
3. Cornflake Mix

This is a fully hands on session.  Please bring 3 containers.

Price Per Person: $100 (class will commence once there are 5 students)

 

Puff Pastry Class

October 16^th 2.30 to 5.30 pm

Learn to make puff pastry from scratch.  You will learn;

1. Puff Pastry
2. Sausage Rolls – The real thing
3. Spinach and Cheese Puffs
4. Spicy Tuna Puffs

Price Per Person: $120 (class will commence once there are six students)  Class will commence once there are 5 students. Maximum 6 students per class.

 

Curry Curry for Diwali!

Saturday 22^nd 2.30 to 5 pm

1. Kerala Fish Curry
2. South Indian Prawn Curry
3. Mutton Devil Curry

Price Per Person: $150 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

Class has to be booked and fully paid up by the 17^th as I need to order the fish and prawns.

Please like my Facebook page – Cooking with Nicholas

 

Classes will be held at 70 Road 14/24 Petaling Jaya.  Please call 016 6827465 or email cookingwithnicholas@gmail.com to book and to make any enquiries. 

Please follow my blog www.nicholaspillai.wordpress.com

 

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Mei Wei Little Kitchen – 619, Jalan 17/10, Seksyen 17, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

I’ve been going to Mei Wei Little Kitchen a few years now right from the time they first opened.  I remember when it first opened and it was quite a struggle as being located in a not so affluent or crowded area in Petaling Jaya, it might have had many things going against it.

But now after all these years, Mei Wei Little Kitchen has come a long way. This is a no pretense place serving very nice Homey Chinese food in a not so exciting ambiance I have to say, but the crowds just throng the place like it’s food is going out of fashion.  Mei Wei would be something you see in little outer suburbs if you lived overseas, only things is, Mei Wei serves wonderful food.

So here we are celebrating Poh Leng’s birthday and it was last minute because the gang was traveling and timing always meant someone would be missing so this little impromptu last minute plan ended up in my favorite place.   It might have been a hint to the Birthday Girl so I got my way.

I was first to be at the restaurant and only about 5 tables were taken.  Please note, you better book your table if you want to go there at any given night and  especially the weekends.  As usual, Chik the owner, boss, waitress and everything was fluttering from table to table as she always does taking orders and advising what we should eat so that our order complements each other. She does such a good job that years later, she still does it because none of the staff can do it the way she does.  And I might safely say, not many service people in this country can do it the way she does..everything with that bit of a personal touch.

So one by one they traipsed in and by now EVERY table was filled up and there was a crowd outside.  Poh Leng and Chik were colleagues a few years ago before Mei Wei opened, and the transformation  of Chik from an office person to a Restaurateur is beyond what you can imagine.  Poh Leng and I placed the orders while Chen Ming and “Harry” came in and we asked them if they wanted to add anything and then Chia Chen comes in and looks astonished at the crowd. The crowd was getting louder and louder.

So our food arrived.

First was the Seafood and Home Made Bean Curd Soup.  This is just a light soup with an assortment of seafood like prawns, sea bass and I believe some squid.  Soup was not so strong with the seafood, as I really do not like that, so it sat fine on my palate and for everyone else as well.  Vegetables were still crunchy and green as you can see.  NO touch ups were done to the photos.  Now the Home Made Tofu is the clincher that always makes me order this.  It has a nice bite and not so strong in the tofu flavor that puts off a lot of people.  In fact, if Mei Wei sold their Tofu, I would buy it.  It’s that good.

The next dish was the Glutinous Rice Wine Kampung Chicken (Free Range Chicken). I’m a ginger person, I just love anything ginger be it foods and biscuits up to cocktails.  This soup had the right amount of heat as it went down your gullet, you know that burning yet tasty sensation with the rice wine giving that most wonderful flavor.   Chia Chen reckoned it was for Post Natal Mothers, but We all loved it.  I did find the chicken bony whenever someone poured the soup into my bowl but that is the thing about Free Range Chickens but the most important part of this soup was the soup itself and the wonderful flavor, not really the chicken at all.    The flavor of the Moo Er or Wood Fungus with all the flavors trapped in it takes it to another level.  The usual tasteless wood fungus was filled with the ginger and wine taste.  The spiciness of the ginger is just a wonderful feeling… quite orgasmic so to speak.

The Dish of the night and almost every night that we have been there is the Vietnamese Seafood Curry.  I still wonder if there is such a thing from Vietnam but this dish is always the best.  I took my friend over there last year, a real fussy pot he is too and I was just hoping everything would go well or not I would never hear the end of it, and so would Chik, and you should have seen his face when he took the first mouthful… Eyes brows raised and all.

Now I am not a fan of curry more so seafood, but I always make it a point to have it when I am there.  Again this is seafood and Mei Wei has actually changed my view on seafood in a big way.  Now the curry will come with glass noodles on it and it is still simmering and you have to mix everything up.  This can be a one meal dish as it has proteins, vegetables and Carbs all in that clay pot.  I drink it like a noodle soup.  All the flavors are well blended and nothing in that clay pot is over powering the other.  I could have taken more photos but I was more preoccupied with the food in front of me to bother.  I did try to take a video while Chen Ming was mixing everything but somehow it didn’t work.  This is a must order.

The Stir Fried Macadamia with Mixed Vegetable was just to please Poh Leng because she was watching what she ate.  Everything was cooked well and there was enough nuts to go around.  I remember as a child how little nuts Chinese restaurants put into their dishes.  Not anymore though.  Everything on that plate had a distinct taste, vegetables were crunchy and the mushrooms seem to have soaked in the flavors well although it looks like it is uncooked and just thrown in at the last moment.  This could have been a vegetarians delight.

Golden Oatmeal Mantis Shrimp was next.  Don’t get ideas that the word Oatmeal in the name means it is healthy.  It is not!  But it is so Nice and one just indulges.  This is a other dish I always order.  It is a nice picky picky dish while talking.  The mantis prawns were fresh and crisp not because it was fried, but it was crisp with freshness.  The curry leaves added a nice hint of curry fragrance.  This is a dish you don’t get fed up with.  There are other styles I have had here before like the Marmite Mantis.  Hmm might have to ask her for that when I am there next.

Mei Wei Special Beancurd has always been my favorite.  It is like a seafood tofu of sorts but unlike the bought nonsense, this one has a good amount of seafood in it without taking away the homemade tofu taste.  This was another good appetiser picky picky dish.  The next time I am there, I might just order all Mei Wei’s Homemade Tofu dishes just for tasting purposes.

While Mei Wei has room for a lot of growth not in improving food and all but more so to become bigger in size and get more recognition but I feel the owner Chik just likes it the way it is.  The appeal of the place is obvious.  It is not the most comfortable place to be, but when it’s good food, who really cares.  We’re Malaysians!

I have this craving to go there again in the next few days.  I hope I can muster a few people to go with me.

Please call to book your table.  If not you are going to be lining up outside or worst still, you might be there sitting at your table and watching everyone else get their food.

Lunch time is good, and less crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2016 Cooking and Baking Classes

Nutty Old Fashioned Carrot Cake

Saturday September 10^th 10 to 1 pm

You will learn: Learn to make one of my favorite cakes

Carrot and Cranberry Cake with Italian Butter Cream and  Coconut

1. Nutty Carrot and Cranberry cake
2. Italian Butter Cream
3. Assemble the cake as in the photo

Price Per Person: $100 (Class will commence once there are three students)

 

Portioned Cheesecakes

September 11^th  Sunday 2.30 to 5.30

Portioned Cheesecakes are easier to handle then a whole cheesecake.  You will learn to prepare;

1. Mini Cheesecake Brulee
2. Pumpkin Cheesecake
3. Mini Salty Sweet Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Price Per Person: $120 (Classes will commence once there are 5 students)

 

Kluang Moon Cake

September 12^th Monday 10.30  to  2 pm

You will learn;

1. Kluang Moon Cake Pastry
2. Kluang Moon Cake Pandan Pastry
3. Home Made Lotus Paste
4. Different Filling Using Lotus

Price Per Person: $125 (Class will commence once there are 5 students)

This is a fully hands on class

 

 Children’s Holiday Class

September 14^th  Wednesday 10 to 12.30 pm

Let’s Make Chocolate Cup Cakes and Decorate them

It’s been a while since I had a class for non grown ups.  We will be baking and decorating

1. Chocolate Cupcakes
2. Chocolate Ganache
3. Chocolate Cream
4. Chocolate Icing

Price Per Non Grown Up: $95 (Class will commence once there are 5 Non Grown Ups)

Each person will get 8 cupcakes to take home

 

French Macarons

September 16^th Friday 10 to 1 pm

Learn to make these little morsels that everyone seems to either hate or love.  You will learn the fundamentals of making;

1. French Macarons
2. Cheesy Sambal Filling
3. Salty Green Tea Filling

Price Per Person: $100 (Class will commence once there are 3 students)

 

Japanese Kasutera Cake

September 16^th   Friday 2.30 to 5.30

As much as I love buttery cakes, this very old cake from Japan seems to be the rage in a few hotels and top notch bakeries around town.  Let’s make the;

 

1. Nagasaki Castella Cake – a cake from the Portuguese that entered into Japan hundreds of years ago
2. Matcha Castella Cake

Both have no butter or oil.

Price Per Person: $100 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

 

Murukus and Sweet Spicy Cornflake Class

September 17^th Saturday 2 to 4.30 pm

A lot of people have been grumbling about the prices of Murukku some paid RM80 a tin and some pain RM100 a tin. So I think you should learn it.

1. Butter Murukku
2. Potato Murukku
3. Cornflake Mix

This is a fully hands on session.  Please bring 3 containers.

Price Per Person: $100

 

 Hawker Favorites

September 18^th Sunday 2 to 5 pm

These are some of my favorite Hawker foods.

1. Lor Mai Fun
2. Lor Bak – Chicken
3. Woo Tau Koh (Yam Kuih)

Price Per Person: $100 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

 

Eggless Cakes

September 24^th Saturday 11 to 1.30

 

I used to think Eggless cakes were a pain in the neck, so now I have created some easy ones that will always come out without much fear. You will learn to make;

 

1. Eggless Red Velvet Cupcakes
2. Date and Walnut Cake
3. Dulce de Leche Topping

Price Per Person: $100 (Class will commence once there are 6 students)

 

 

Vegetarian Beriani Class

September 25^th Sunday 2 to 4.30 pm

Let’s do two Beriani’s this Diwali.  You will learn;

 

1. Green Beriani
2. Mutton Beriani

Price Per Person: $90

Class will commence once there are 5 students

 

 

Please like my Facebook page, Cooking with Nicholas

 

Classes will be held at 70 Road 14/24 Petaling Jaya.  Please call 016 6827465 or email cookingwithnicholas@gmail.com to book and to make any enquiries. 

Please check my blog www.nicholaspillai.wordpress.com

                                                       

Fees are to be paid once you make a booking, if a class is canceled you will be refunded.  If fees are not paid, your name will be not be placed on the list.