An Evening With Susur Lee With Video

Ever since Pauline and I saw Susur Lee on Top Chef Masters, we were rooting for him all the way until the finals, which unfortunately, he lost by the narrowest of margins.

So, when I was graciously invited by DBS Indulge and HungryGoWhere to attend a master class, jointly organised by DBS and the Asian Food Channel, I had no hesitation in saying Yes!

I had been to Orchard Central many times and had walked past the AFC Studio just as often, just that I hardly ventured inside it. This was also a great opportunity to take a look at the immaculate studio itself.

For the night itself, Susur was going through 3 of his favorite dishes and watching the man himself engaging the audience with his culinary prowess and his charismatic charm was absolutely entertaning and delightful.

The Man Himself

Each and every dish was carefully explained and demonstrated to a packed audience. Everyone was listening intently on every syllable that came from the legend himself. With equal doses of informational tips and humor, Susur clearly had the audience hooked and enraptured.

Minced Chicken and Foie Gras Dumplings

The first dish of the night was this delectable minced chicken and foie gras dumplings, which also had a side portion of a pan seared foie gras as well. This was typical of his signature style of mixing east and west which he has been doing for many years now and it is nothing but perfect.

Char Siew Duck Breast in Rice Flour Pancake

A different take on Peking Duck, he used duck breast which he had marinated overnight. While it was not as innovative as the foie gras dumpling, it was still a very delicious and flavorful dish which is really very simple to make even at home.

Apple Filo Pastry

The last dish was a dessert and it was a apple filo pastry. The fresh slices of apple on top of the crispy and flaky baked pastry was just the perfect balance of flavors, and adding a touch of Bacardi only brought out the flavors even stronger.

All in all, this was a night to remember, and once the master class was concluded, there were ample of photo opportunities with the Man himself, and not surprisingly, everyone lapped up the chance to have their pictures taken with Susur.

It was a great event and was really well organised. Every attendee was well taken care of from the moment they sat down, with unending drinks and food to go around. And the place itself really lended itself to events like this, and despite the packed crowd, everything went off like clockwork.

Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.

Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 in Quiznos.

No foie gras dumpling was harmed in the shooting of this video.

"A Little Less Conversation" performed by Lee DeWyze.

A Silver Valentine - Valentine's Day 2011

Although we have been together for many years, we have always celebrated Valentine's Day one way or another. And in our younger, more gullible years, we have always gone out to restaurants on this day.

In recent years, perhaps due to work, and also due to the realisation that V-Day can be very commercialised, we have veered towards simpler meals to celebrate.

After all, some people would say that every day is a V-Day if two persons are really in love, and while that may be true, there is always something about 14th February that elicits an additional thought and emotion.

It is perhaps a day that we remind ourselves that we are celebrating the need to cherish the ones that mean the most to you, not just the romantic ones, but also family and close friends.

As for me, I always like to make the extra effort to surprise Pauline whenever this occasion arises, and up till now, she has always been caught off guard. And I thought, hmmm, how was I going to pull this one off this year?

A Silver Valentine Rose

So I thought of a Silver themed Valentine's for 2011, and appropriate since I started my alter ego as the Silver Chef and finding immense joy in writing and maintaining this blog.

And what better way to celebrate silver than to actually buy silver for her. You see, she has always bugged me to bring her to Tiffany's for the longest time, and for some reason, we never did. Well, the time has come to bring some Tiffany love to her.

So my plan was to surprise her with a Tiffany's heart shaped pendant and place it on our bed with a rose when she comes back from work. In the meantime, I decided on tonight's menu. A mushroom cappuccino for appetiser and for the main event, crispy salmon with butter poached apples and chive hollandaise.

Valentine's Dinner

 
Granted, all these were from my previous repertoire, but it has been awhile since I did these, and these were her favorites and she had not have them for quite some time. This would be the ideal time to revisit these recipes.

Mushroom Cappuccino

The mushroom cappuccino came out perfectly, and she came home just in time to help me strain the blended mixture. And all this while, she was apparently oblivious to the Tiffany's surprise laid out on our bed, even whilst she was changing inside!

I had myself rush home from a last minute meeting with a client, and had barely time to shop for groceries and managed to come home just under an hour before she got back, so it was indeed quite a rush to get everything chopped and prepped in time for cooking.

Crispy Salmon With Butter Poached Apples
and Chive Hollandaise

The crispy salmon came out just right too, not too overcooked, and just nicely pink in the center. Pauline adored it as she devoured every mouthful. The mashed potatoes did get an assist from her and I myself added a chive hollandaise on top this time as I had felt it was rather dry in my original recipe.

All in all, dinner was a success as judging from her satisfied look. We had a nice Chardonnay from Australia to go with the meal and the wine was paired beautifully with the salmon. Personally, I would rather do this food at home on V-Day than to go out these days. It means so much more when you can cook for your loved one.

Calvin Klein Bracelet

Pauline herself pulled out her Valentine gift for me, and it was a beautiful silver CK bracelet. Silver, wow, she read my mind! This certainly went very well with my silver planned theme for the night, and yet, she had no idea of her own surprise, as she had thought my gift for the night was the dinner I cooked.

The Tiffany Surprise

I decided that I had to initiate something, or else we would go through the entire evening and she would not even come close to her surprise. So I decided to take my shower and asked her to keep me company in the bedroom in an attempt to get her closer to our bed.

I went in the bathroom, and pretended to take my time in the bathroom. Oh dear, she still had no clue. And even complained about the weather! And then finally, she had a glance to the bed, and in a flash, she moved like a leopard and was on the bed in an instant! She beamed from cheek to cheek as she unraveled her surprise and read the card.

The Heart Pendant

She had no idea this was coming, and after months of prodding me to go Tiffany's, Pauline finally had a Tiffany's of her own. And what better way to celebrate a Silver Valentine, than to receive a silver pendant from the Silver Chef on Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's to all the lovers in the world! :)

Bobcat PhD, Persistent Hawker Detective

Today, I am taking a break from the usual food posts, and would really like to acknowledge someone who has been very influential to this blog.

And that person is none other than Bobcat, who is really one of the best resources for hawker food in Singapore.

Futhermore, he is also someone who has a great palette and has a great affinity with people.

Bob is retired, and enjoys passions in food, car audio and photography. But it is his selfless pursuit for the most obscure of hawker food gems that has made my search so much easier. And fun!

I am extremely thankful for his generous time in not only sourcing out gems like Jiang Ji and Uncle Kun, but also his efforts in organising the food sessions and explaining to the hawkers what we food bloggers do to put them very much at ease.

Beyond that, Bob takes the extra mile to print out our blogs and even cuts CDs for the hawkers' consumption. For this, the Silver Chef is both grateful and thankful for all his assistance and it has always been a great pleasure to sit down with Bob and one of his recommendations.

Speaking of recommendations, I am always rest assured that his choices are always spot on. I have discovered the likes of Ri Yi Beef Noodles and the aforementioned Jiang Ji through Bob.

And his unrelenting pursuit to bring the bigger food community to some of these unknown gems is admirable to say the least. Not only that, he himself has so much to share when having a meal with him that it is always a joy to eat with him. And he has a wonderful and lovely wife as well by his side, too!

For this and many other reasons, the Silver Chef is proud to bestow our first ever PhD (Persistent Hawker Detective) Title to Bobcat, who can detect the best of hawker food better than anyone we know, both in Singapore and Malaysia.

Happy Hunting Bob!

Sweeter One - Pavilion Kuala Lumpur At Bukit Bintang With Video

In movies, sequels rarely match up to the original, but I am hoping that my follow up to my original video of my sweet Pauline doing her shopping adventures will be even better.

We had the chance to be in Kuala Lumpur over the past weekend for a friend's wedding, and we certainly did not want to miss the opportunity to shop and shoot at the same time.

Our hotel was located next to the exquisite Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, in the heart of Bukit Bintang, which is kind of like our Orchard Road here.

In sheer size, it dwarfs almost all our most trendy shopping malls, and it houses all the luxury brands as well as some of the best fine dining outlets found in KL. Pauline was certainly impressed.

The Majestic Pavilion

Unlike our malls here, the Pavilion is huge and spacious and seemingly unending. It was certainly a very enjoyable experience shopping here and on the uppermost level, it houses many eating establishments.

I will be posting the individual reviews and videos of some of these restaurants in the coming weeks. For now, I leave you with the second, and hopefully, superior video of Pauline doing her shopping in this spectacular mall.

Filmed on location at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang



Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silver Bed Productions.
Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 and at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.
No Nine West shoe was harmed in the shooting of this video.
"Vanilla Twilight" performed by Owl City.

The Heart of Melbourne Video

You may have noticed I have not posted for the last couple of weeks, and the reason is very simple. Pauline and I were away on our annual vacation in Melbourne.

And what a wonderful city it is! Filled with a metropolis of skyscrapers yet it retained a natural beauty of greenery and scenery that embodies the spirit of Australian people.

Australians are naturally friendly and warm, and this warmth is greatly reflected within the city of Melbourne.

We were there for an entire week, and the highlights of the city and around the city were unending. So unending, that we decided to let our video tell the story instead.

But just to mention a few, we would highly recommend Twelve Apostles, a truly majestic and breathtaking sight. And the Yarra wine country, where the landscape and the fresh air perfectly complemented the beautiful wine and cheese that was served there.

And of course, this is a food blog, and there were lots of great food in Melbourne. From the Asian flavors in their Chinatown area, to the rustic yet authentic (and delicious!) Italian fare along Lygon Street.

And our own personal fave, the Hopetoun Tea Room, situated in the Block Arcade along Collins Street. It is a throwback to the great English tradition, but yet it was the food and flavors that etched a long lasting memory for us.

And right at the end of our adventure, near the Nobbies, we were fortunate to discover the perfect rainbow that was beautifully captured on film.

Enough said. We give you, the Heart of Melbourne video.



Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silver Bed Productions.
Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4 and 10,000m above the ground on SQ 228.
No koala was harmed in the shooting of this video.
"Flower Child" performed by Lee Dewyze.

Malacca and Jonker Food Blogging Trip With Video

On Deepavali Day, I went with bowlingball (of course) and my fellow food blogger, wine kaki on a drive up the causeway to the town of Malacca, Malaysia.

The purpose was obviously to savor the culinary delights of this famous place where it is most well known for it's chicken rice balls and iced chendol.

At the same time, we also wanted to document this trip on video, as we felt it would be more immersive to show you more than just static photos.

Throughout this day trip, we visited a number of well-known establishments, chief among them is the legendary Chung Wah Chicken Rice Ball place, which as expected, meant a queue of at least half an hour before we could get a table.

The video below will also show some of the other places we visited, including Jonker Street and Walk, and we also went to this basement megamall where we discovered a very delightful doughnut and coffee cafe called Big Apple Doughnuts and Coffee.

Famosa Chicken

We also visited Famosa Chicken and found a chendol that surpassed anything we have here in Singapore (and yes, better than my previous post on Jonker's Nyonya Deli in Thomson Plaza). And had more rice balls there too!

We tried to go to Nancy's Kitchen as recommended by The Dirty Stall, but unfortunately we went a bit late as we were not allowed in. Funny enough, maybe because of that, we found a roadside nyonya stall that served up a delightful po piah, rojak and nyonya laksa combo that pleased us no end!

San Su Gong

Opposite Chung Wah was also a well-furnished retail shop called San Su Gong, which is fully decked out with local delicacies and snacks like lau po bing and biscuit kai chai etc. 

In the coming week or so, I will be posting individual blogs on all these wonderful eateries, but for now, I will leave you with a video we shot and compiled for the entire trip, so enjoy! Hope it will whet your taste buds for what is to come ...

Click here for the YouTube link.

Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.
No vegetarian Guo Tie was harmed during the shooting of this video.
Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4.

PS. Be sure to also check out winekaki's own wine and food blog at The Wine Kaki.

A Sneak Peek to our Malacca Jonker Road Trip

We decided to spend our Deepavali holiday by taking a road trip to Jonker, Malacca with my trusted silver kakis, bowlingball aka Pauline and winekaki aka Ken.

We also decided to try our hand doing a video travelogue and we are the first to admit, we are rank amateurs in this area, so please forgive the jerky camera work and somewhat bad audio.

As this is a sneak preview, we decided to make a very simple and short trailer just to give you an idea of what is to come.

At the same time, we will be doing more video reviews to accompany our standard static reviews and also if we have the chance, to try to capture some cooking and recipes on video as well. This is a new and exciting medium for us and we hope you will enjoy it too, cos we sure had fun making it.

So, here is the trailer ... something about the possibility of a vegetarian Guo Tie (Pot Stickers or Pork and Chive Chinese Pastries).

Click here for the YouTube link.

Written, filmed, edited and directed by Silverchef Productions.
Shot and edited entirely on Apple's Iphone 4.

My first published article on Technorati

This morning I woke up to an email from Technorati. It was to tell me that they have published my submission for a piece of writing I came up with yesterday.

To see it, just follow the link below. Admittedly, it is very exciting to see this being posted on a major site and quite a first for me!

The article basically is a little more backstory on myself and on food blogging, kind of an extended piece on my original introduction here. Go check it out.

Article first published as From Blackberries to Strawberries on Technorati.

Project Food Blog 2010

If you have noticed on the right sidebar, there's an image of me participating in the 1st Annual Project Food Blog, hosted by Foodbuzz.

The aim is to find the best food blogger out there as voted by a panel of judges, which includes Food and Wine's editor-in-chief, Dana Cowin.

Dana has been most recently involved in the latest season of Top Chef as one of the guest judges and has a very significant repute in the food and culinary industry.

The competition involves a series of challenges starting from September 20th and the competitors will be whittled down over the course of the next 12 weeks to find an eventual winner.

Yours truly has also taken part, not with any serious intention to win the thing, but more for the fun and experience of food blogging as I see this as more of a friendly competition than anything serious, though there is a cash prize and a special feature on the Foodbuzz site for the winner.

Nevertheless, I appreciate any support and votes from this Monday. Thanks in advance! In the meantime, I would be very glad for you to click on the right sidebar and view my Project Food Blog profile under See My Profile.

Keeping fingers crossed for the Silver Chef.

Introducing the Silver Chef

The Silver Chef in Queenstown, NZ

My name is Ian Low and I hail from the island of Singapore, a food mecca of sorts where the east has already met the west and is now moving on to new ground.

It is this new ground that my humble self, a self-taught chef in the age of the Internet has dubbed myself the Silver Chef.

Why silver? Well, my hair has grown progressively from black to grey .... and now it seems to be silverish, so heck, the Silver Chef is thus born!

Hopefully this will be the first of many Singapore food blogs that I will contribute and hopefully, many will enjoy reading this and perhaps, even attempt at some of the dishes that will be featured on this blog.

I am trained in IT engineering, so it is a great stretch, and more than a few worlds apart from the culinary world, but it is this passion for food and all things culinary that has fueled my weekends for the past few years (that and golf!)

So why this blog? To be frank, I was partly inspired by the movie Julie and Julia where Julie, in her own self-taught way decided to go through the cookbook of the great Julia Childs. As for me, I am not going through anyone's cookbook, but instead, using this blog as a document of my culinary adventures and experiments (many failed I assure you!)

Some bio on me, I am 41 this year, married, no kids, love movies and music and enjoys the finest moments in life whenever life permits (and my bank account's permission too).

So enough about me and the introduction ... off we go on our first culinary adventure ...