One of the things I love about being a recipe developer and food blogger is that there is always one more dish to cook; I will never, ever be done in the kitchen and that makes me happy.
Still, there are times when inspiration can flag and it’s then I look outside for stimulation. So a couple of weeks ago I was excited to be invited to attend an Electrolux cooking class for media with legendary Sydney chef Tetsuya Wakuda at Sticky Rice Cooking School in the Adelaide Hills.
Here’s what happened.
A Tête-à-Tête with Tetsuya
I’ve attended a great Thai seafood banquet cooking class at Sticky Rice before in its main building but today we are shown to one of the three, new luxury villas built behind the main building. Each villa is outfitted with striking Electrolux appliances including induction cook tops, fridges, and ovens. I never knew an induction stove top could be so sexy.
For the first dish, Tetsuya stuffed a Barramundi with fennel, aniseed and garlic, and then sprinkled over salt, pepper and EVOO. Wrapped in tinfoil the fish was placed into a hot oven (200 degrees Celsius) to cook.
Next, he fried two amazing looking pieces of wagyu steak in white sesame oil and then put them in the oven at a low temperature (120 degrees Celsius) to finish.
Tetsuya then prepared a lovely crab dish with sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, garlic ginger, soy sauce, coriander stalks, Thai basil leaves, kaffir lime leaves, coriander and coconut milk. You could do a version of this Thai-inspired dish at home using prawns or firm white fish if you didn’t have crab.
The crab dish was plated up and served to us at the table by two friendly staff members.
Next Tetsuya demonstrated his recipe for scrambled eggs.
Cooked over the lowest heat possible and constantly stirred, this pan of eggs took around 10 minutes to cook. Unlike gas cooking, induction cooking heats evenly so you don’t need to keeping dragging the cooked edges of egg into the middle of the pan.
Tetsuya’s scrambled eggs were marvellous – just set, delicately flavoured and with a wonderful creamy texture. The secret ingredient? Creamed sweet corn! It may sound a little odd but the sweetness of the creamed corn goes really well with the eggs, parmesan and ricotta. Wanna try it yourself? Here’s the recipe.
It was then time to unwrap the barramundi.
Tetsuya sprinkled fresh herbs and his signature Truffle Salt on the fish and the room was filled with the most incredible fragrance. This was such a simple but special dish – I am definitely making this at home.
Next up, it was time to plate up the wagyu steak with some oven roasted field mushrooms he’d prepared earlier.
I can’t tell you how good this was. But I’m a writer so let me try… I’m not saying it was better than the days I had my kids but it’s definitely hovering in the vicinity. Imagine Christmas Day times about ten. Or the feeling you’d get as a 30-something when you discover you can still fit into your high school formal outfit.
Buttery, tender, perfectly cooked wagyu steak. Fleshy, roasted mushrooms topped with a garlic, ginger, parsley, chicken stock and soy sauce that made my heart skip a beat. It was this dish that prompted me to blurt out, ‘Tetsuya, are you married?’ to much laughter from my fellow guest.
Next up, Tetsuya prepared a dish with ocean trout. I’ve eaten a few memorable dishes with ocean trout in restaurants lately but this one was simply stunning.
First, the raw ocean trout was fanned out on a plate. Then he topped the ocean trout with a soy, ginger, dried black bean, sesame oil and mirin dressing, grated orange zest and a crisp spring onions nest.
Tetsuya then poured hot grape seed oil on the top of the spring onions, effectively cooking them and infusing the flavours of the onions throughout the dish.
Micro herbs and salad leaves and finely shredded leek followed to create a dish as pretty as a picture and a highlight of the day.
Next up, Tetsuya prepared a quick tagine with chicken, eggplant, olives, capsicum and preserved lemon. Usually this Middle Eastern inspired dish would take at least a couple of hours to cook in a proper tagine vessel but Tetsuya’s recipe was designed to be cooked in a large fry pan and took only 20+ minutes from start to finish.
Throughout the afternoon, Tetsuya was affable and relaxed, happily answering questions and sharing humorous anecdotes about his life.
“Cooking is very personal,” he says at one point. “It’s about giving.”
It’s true. By the end of the day I feel like the cat that has got the cream.
Address Book
- Sticky Rice Cooking School: 96 Old Mount Baker Road, Stirling, SA. Tel: +618 8339 1314 or email: admin@stickyricecookingschool.com.au.
- Tetsuyas: 529 Kent Street, Sydney. The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday to Friday, and on Saturday for both lunch and dinner .Bookings can be made by phoning: +61 2 9267 2900.
Disclosure
I attended the class as a guest of Electrolux and Sticky Rice Cooking School. As always, all opinions are my own.
More posts on food classes
- Arabian Nights Cooking Class at Chapel Hill Winery, McLaren Vale
- Thai Seafood Banquet Class at Sticky Rice Cooking School, Adelaide Hills
- The Smelly Cheese Shop’s Cheese Appreciation Class
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