Yours truly with the legendary Jacques Pepin
The best way to beat egg whites
How to debone a chicken from within its own skin
Can't wait till his new book comes out in the fall. I hope he'll come back to have another demo then! I'll be sure to get him to sign the book. I must be more prepared for Jacques Torres' demo next week! So excited!!
Meanwhile, there was also a demo on how to break down a fish for sashimi, and the 2 different ways to cut sashimi. Very Interesting! Learnt alot actually~
Where to cut and how to clean out a fish. Here we had a seabream
Make a slit down the middle of the bottom of the fish and first remove the guts and the blood. All this has to be removed and the insides washed clean to prevent contamination from the innards and blood onto the flesh
Remove the head. There are 4 areas that it can be cut into and used for various different things depending on the amount of flesh is on it and the dish intended
What a beautiful shot.
Fillet the fish by sliding the knife against the bones
Cut around the pin bones and remove them
Remove the skin by cutting off a piece of the tail end of the fillet and sliding the knife between the skin and the flesh, flat against the cutting board. If you don't see a silvery sheen to the skin removed, sad to say, but you have removed too much flesh along with the skin my friend.
Fresh wasabi root from the base of Mt. Fuji, ground on a sharkskin grater
Don't you just hate the paste stuff? Fresh wasabi root is so much sweeter and has such a different flavour. I ate the rest of it on my plate just as it was. A 6 inch root costs about US$30 we were told~ I believe it is about $100 a pound!
Another way to prepare the fillets for sashimi is to pour hot water on the skin side of the fish. Be sure to have a slotted tray to let the water drain out, as well as a sheet of parchment on top to keep the water from cooking the flesh of the fish.
Immediately dunk the fish in ice water to stop any further cooking, the key is just to heat up the skin enough to ensure that it is not chewy and rubbery when consumed
Sashimi can then be thinly sliced on a bias or straight cut down in thicker slices, depending on the texture desired
Plated skin and skinless sashimi
Our little sample plates being plated :) a small dollop of fresh wasabi and a light brushing of good dark soy
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