Week 3 Term 1 -9 February 2026

Why methods?

We teach techniques, not recipes – because techniques are the building blocks of great cooking.  All our chefs are either trade qualified or Le Cordon Bleu trained, and we teach the way we were taught – using a ‘see it, do it’ model.  This means that for most classes our chef instructors use ‘running demos’ where they show you the skill and then you copy it – with assistance from your instructor as needed.   And in our express classes you will cook at the same time as the chef, following their lead.   We will give you an ingredients list and a method for each class, but you do not have to use it.

Our chefs will explain patiently and walk you through each class.   And if your dish doesn’t work out, that is OK – we run most classes 3 or 4 times a week so you can always come and try again!  Failure is part of learning.

Use these methods below to practice at home.

This dish requires a bit of speed with a knife.  Beginners will be able to do it – be prepared to focus 😊 and ask for help if you need it.

1 x 650ml container

Equipment

  • Cutting board with paper towel under it
  • Knife
  • Cooktop
  • Frypan
  • Spatula
  • Fork
  • Tongs
  • Small bowl
  • Small container/dariole mould
  • Foil

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 3 tsp gochujang
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp water
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • ½ clove garlic

Bowl ingredients

  • 40g lean beef mince (v – 40g tofu and 40 g pumpkin)
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • ½ clove garlic
  • 40g baby spinach
  • 60g bean sprouts
  • 60g corn kernels
  • ½ carrot
  • 1 shiitake mushroom
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ green onion (scallion/shallot)
  • 2 tsp neutral vegetable oil
  • 1 cup cooked shortgrain rice (chef to provide)
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Marinate meat (v – tofu and pumpkin): Add the following to a bowl and mix:
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • 1 tsp sesame oil
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • ½ clove garlic (mince)
    • Beef mince (v – grate tofu and pumpkin into the bowl using a coarse grater).
  3. Mix sauce: Mix all sauce ingredients in a dariole/small container and set aside.
  4. Prepare vegetables:
    • Peel and grate (or julienne) carrot
    • Slice mushrooms about 5mm thick
    • Slice green onion on the diagonal (green and white part together is fine)
  5. Cook vegetables:
    • Blanch spinach and beansprouts in salted water for 30 seconds each. Rinse frypan.
    • Fry carrots in frypan in a little oil for about 2 minutes until cooked
    • Fry mushrooms in frypan in a little oil for about 2 minutes until cooked
    • Cover all with foil to keep warm.
  6. Fry egg sunny side up in a little oil. Cover with foil to keep warm.
  7. Cook beef (v – tofu and pumpkin): fry in a little oil with all marinating sauce.
  8. Plate
    • Put rice in bowl/container.
    • Top with beef (v – tofu and pumpkin) and vegies.
    • Pour over sauce.
    • Put egg on top.
    • Sprinkle over sliced green onions.
  9. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

In Korea, this comfort food dish is often made with leftover Korean fried chicken.  This recipe uses poached chicken breast, but you could also use leftover roasted or fried chicken.   

1 x 650ml container

Equipment

  • Cutting board with paper towel under it
  • Knife
  • Cooktop
  • Frypan
  • Spatula
  • Small bowl
  • Fork

 Ingredients

  •  80g poached chicken breast (or leftover roast or fried chicken, does not have to be breast) (v – 80g tofu, 30g carrot, 30g green veg eg broccoli)
  • 2 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ onion
  • 1 tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp white sugar
  • 1 tbsp sake (or matsul, if you can find it – matsul is Korean cooking wine)
  • 90ml water
  • Neutral vegetable oil
  • ¼ green onion (scallion/shallot)
  • 1 bowl cooked shortgrain rice (chef to provide)
  • Salt and pepper

Method 

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Prepare vegetables:
    a. Finely slice green onion on the diagonal (white and green part)
    b. Finely slice onion
  3. Make scrambled egg topping:
    a. Whisk eggs in small bowl using a fork and add and mix in a pinch of salt.
    b. Fry in frypan with a little oil until just set.
    c. Set aside.
  4. Prepare chicken – shred using your fingers or a fork, or just slice with a knife (if using leftover fried chicken, heat in the oven or an airfryer until crispy). Set aside. (v – grate tofu, coarsely chop vegetables and fry both in a little oil in the frypan until lightly browned)
  5. Cook onions:
    a. Add to frypan with a little oil.
    b. Saute until translucent.
    c. Add water, soy sauce, sugar, and sake.
    d. Simmer until sauce is reduced to a slightly syrupy consistency.
  6. Plate:
    a. Put rice in bowl/container.
    b. Top with onions, then eggs, then chicken (v – tofu and vegies).
    c. Drizzle mayonnaise over the top.
    d. Garnish with green onions.
  7. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

1 x 650ml container

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • Chef’s knife
  • Cooktop
  • Small saucepan with a lid
  • Frypan
  • Tongs
  • Spatula

Ingredients

  • 1 piece chicken (preferable bone in, skin on chicken thigh cutlet) (v – extra 3 mushrooms and 100g mixed seasonal vegies)
  • ½ onion
  • 2 Swiss Brown mushrooms
  • Sprig parsley
  • 40g frozen peas
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 100g (1/4 tin) chopped diced tomato
  • 240ml chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • 60g medium grain white rice

Method 

  1. Gather equipment and ingredients.
  2. Prepare vegies:
    a. Mince garlic
    b. Pick and chop parsley
    c. Slice mushrooms
    d. Slice onion
    e. (v – roughly chop seasonal vegies into approx. 1 cm pieces)
  3. Cook the rice:
    a. Add tomato, parsley, rice and stock to the saucepan.
    b. Cover and bring to boil.
    c. Cook until liquid has been absorbed, then turn off and leave for 10 minutes.
    d. Add peas.
    e. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
  4. Brown the chicken, onion, garlic and mushrooms (v – brown seasonal veg):
    a. Place chicken skin side down in cold pan and turn on heat (v – fry veg in a little EVOO until browned).
    b. Render out fat from under the skin until chicken is browned. Turn over to brown other side.
    c. Add onion and mushroom and cook until onion is translucent and mushrooms are browned.
    d. Add garlic and fry gently until fragrant.
  5. Plate:
    a. Place rice on plate.
    b. Top with chicken and vegetables.
    c. Pour over sauce from chicken pot.
  6. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

Sally learned to make this in Korea.  This version uses a bit less kimchi than she was taught in deference to more ‘Western’ palates 😉.  But if you like it spicier and more traditional, double the kimchi and add a good tablespoon of the juice to the rice.

1 x 650ml container

Equipment

  • Cutting board w paper towel
  • Chef’s knife
  • Cooktop
  • Wok or frypan
  • Wok shovel or spatula

Ingredients

  • 40g thinly sliced beef strips (v – 40 g mushrooms)
  • 2 tbsp kimchi (preferably old – this is a way to use up leftover kimchi)
  • ¼ capsicum
  • ¼ shallot
  • ½ clove garlic
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
  • 1 cup cooked white shortgrain rice (chef to provide)
  • Salt and pepper

 Method

  1. Get ingredients and equipment.
  2. Prepare vegetables:
    a. Dice shallot finely
    b. Mince garlic
    c. Chop kimchi finely
    d. Slice or dice capsicum
    e. (v – slice mushrooms into 3 mm slices)
  3. Fry egg:
    a. Add a little oil to the wok/frypan and heat to medium.
    b. Fry egg sunny side up until it is done to your liking.
    c. Set aside.
  4. Stirfry vegetables and meat:
    a. Strifry onion, capsicum and kimchi over high heat for about 2 minutes.
    b. When onion is translucent, add butter, garlic and soy sauce and toss to combine.
    c. Add beef (v – mushrooms) and stir fry until cooked through.
    d. Add rice and toss to combine.
  5. Plate:
    a. Put rice in bowl/container.
    b. Top with egg and sesame seeds.
  6. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

There is no vegetarian option in the recipe for this intermediate class, but we can make one – just let us know.

1 x 650ml container

Equipment

  • Cutting board with paper towel
  • Chef’s knife
  • Cooktop
  • Small saucepan
  • Frypan
  • Small bowl/container of iced water for refreshing
  • Small bowl
  • Tongs
  • Whisk
  • Fine wire strainer
  • 20cm piece of foil

Ingredients

  • 1 duck breast
  • 1 handful seasonal greens
  • 1 shallot
  • 7-8 blueberries
  • 30g white sugar
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Splash of port wine or sherry
  • 80ml beef stock
  • 50g butter
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Gather equipment and ingredients.
  2. Prepare vegetables:
    a. Trim vegetables.
    b. Blanch in saucepan and refresh in iced water.
    c. Drain, season and set aside with 1/3 of the butter.
  3. Prepare duck breast:
    a. Trim breast, removing extra fat.
    b. Score the fat on the duck breast in a cross hatch pattern (do not cut through to the flesh).
  4. Make gastrique:
    a. In saucepan, cook sugar with sherry vinegar until it caramelises.
    b. Add remaining vinegar immediately to halt cooking.
    c. Cook over medium low heat until syrupy.
    d. Add blueberries and mash into the liquid.
    e. Set aside.
    f. Rinse saucepan.
    g. Sweat shallots in butter.
    h. Deglaze with wine and reduce.
    i. Add caramelised vinegar and stock.
    j. Cook at medium heat until a sauce consistency is reached.
    k. Strain into small bowl and pour back into rinsed saucepan.
    l. Check and adjust seasoning.
    m. Set aside in saucepan.
  5. Cook duck breast:
    a. Put skin side down into a cold pan.
    b. Render fat from skin.
    c. When skin is crispy, turn and brown other side.
    d. Remove to rest under foil at 57C.
    e. Wipe out frypan.
  6. Clean down as much as possible, leaving cutting board, knife, saucepan, bowl of greens and frypan on bench.
  7. Plate:
    a. Reheat sauce.
    b. Monte beans in butter.
    c. Slice duck breast.
    d. Pour sauce onto plate.
    e. Place greens on plate.
    f. Gently place sliced duck breast over.
  8. Final clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

2 x 350ml containers

Velouté

Equipment

  • Cooktop
  • Saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Jug

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 350ml chicken stock (v – vegetable stock)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Fat pinch white pepper

Method

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Heat stock to just below boiling in saucepan then transfer to jug. Wash out saucepan.
  3. Make roux:
    a. Melt butter in saucepan.
    b. Add flour and combine.
    c. Cook until flour smells a bit toasted but is not browned (about 2 minutes).
  4. Add stock:
    a. Whisk in half the stock quickly, off the heat. Whisk until the sauce is smooth.
    b. Return to med heat and gradually whisk in the rest of the stock.
    c. Bring just to the boil, stirring constantly.
    d. When stock begins to boil, reduce heat and keep whisking for 2 minutes.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Put in container, if not using immediately cover top with baking paper to prevent a skin from forming.
  7. Clean down quickly and set up for next dish.

 

Note – From velouté, you can create many other sauces including sauce supreme (with cream) or sauce vin blanc (with white wine and shallots).  By adding a liaison (egg yolk and cream) you can thicken the sauce and make a velvety base for soup.  For seafood dishes, use a fish stock.

Hollandaise

 Equipment

  • Cooktop
  • Saucepan
  • Cutting board w paper towel
  • Chef’s knife
  • 2 small bowls
  • Extra teatowel
  • Whisk
  • Strainer

Ingredients

  • 100g butter
  • ¼ shallot
  • 2 peppercorns
  • 20 ml white wine vinegar
  • 10 ml water
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Salt
  • ¼ Lemon

Method

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Clarify butter in a bowl over bain marie.
  3. Brunoise shallot.
  4. Put vinegar, shallot, peppercorns and water into saucepan, reduce to approximately 5ml (1 tsp), strain and cool.
  5. Put egg yolk and cooled reduced vinegar into bowl, whisk on teatowel over bain marie.
  6. Add clarified butter very slowly indeed whisking constantly (spoon at start).
  7. Adjust with hot water if needed, finish with lemon juice, season and taste for seasoning.
  8. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.

Double Meal Prep

This class involves you preparing 2 meals to be finished on the oven or stovetop or reheated in the oven at home.  Please bring:

  1. 1 x 1 l container (2 l container if making 4 serves/meal) for the rice.
  2. 1 x deep baking tray with lid for the chicken – small (2 litre capacity) if you are cooking 2 serves per meal, or medium (3-4 litre capacity) if you are cooking 4 serves per meal.
  3. 1 x deep baking tray with lid for the beef – small (2 litre capacity) if you are cooking 2 serves per meal, or medium (3-4 litre capacity) if you are cooking 4 serves per meal.

Otherwise, you can buy ‘containers’ packs on our website for a couple of dollars each. 

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken (v – mushroom and seasonal vegies)

Don’t let the name scare you – as this is a 2 person dish, we will only use 13 cloves of garlic.  And the garlic cooks for so long that it becomes sweet and flavourful and loses the harsh bite of raw garlic.

Equipment

  • Cooktop
  • Large frypan
  • Spatula
  • Cutting board with paper towel
  • Chef’s knife
  • Medium bowl
  • Casserole dish/baking tray

 Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 bone in skin on chicken thighs
  • 1 tbsp EVOO
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 sprig tarragon
  • 13 cloves of garlic (40 cloves is used when making 6 portions)
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • ¼ cup chicken stock
  • 150g baby potatoes
  • 1 large carrot
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Prepare vegetables:
    a. Scrub potatoes and halve if large.
    b. Peel and cut carrots into chunks.
    c. Toss in EVOO and season.
    d. Put in casserole dish.
    e. Top with herbs.
  3. Cook chicken and garlic:
    a. Season
    b. Heat half the butter and remaining EVOO in frypan over medium heat.
    c. Fry chicken thighs until golden brown.
    d. Lower heat and cook garlic until softened.
    e. Nestle chicken into vegetables in casserole dish and pour over garlic.
  4. Deglaze pan:
    a. Add white wine and scrape to lift any food on the bottom of the pan.
    b. Simmer until reduced by half.
  5. Finish sauce:
    a. Add stock and remaining butter.
    b. Heat and stir briskly until emulsified.
    c. Pour over chicken.
  6. Wrap in foil, label per instructions below.
  7. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.
  8. At home, roast at 200 degrees, uncovered, for about 40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and vegetables can be easily pierced with a fork.
  9. Serve with crusty bread and steamed greens or salad.

Galbi Jjim (Korean Braised Short Ribs) (v – firm tofu and sweet potato)

Equipment

  • Cooktop
  • Large saucepan with a lid
  • Spatula
  • Cutting board with paper towel
  • Chef’s knife
  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 750g bone in beef short ribs
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 carrot
  • 100g sweet potato
  • 100g potato
  • 4 dried jujube berries
  • 1 nashi fruit or red apple
  • ¼ small onion
  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Cracked black pepper
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 cups short grain rice (chef to provide)

Method

  1. Get all ingredients and equipment.
  2. Put rice into your takeaway container.
  3. Soak beef ribs in cold water for 10 minutes (in class, the chef will do this for you).
  4. Prepare sauce:
    a. Finely dice onion and nashi fruit/apple.
    b. Put in blender along with:
  • 1 nashi fruit or red apple
  • ¼ small onion
  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Cracked black pepper
    c. Blend until smooth
  1. Prepare vegetables:
    a. Peel carrot, potato and sweet potato.
    b. Cut into chunks about 2 cm square.
    c. Halve jujube berries.
  2. Prepare beef:
    a. Bring water to a rolling boil.
    b. Boil ribs for 7 minutes.
    c. Cut off excess fat (use scissors if easier).
  3. Assemble:
    a. Put ribs in casserole dish.
    b. Add water and sauce and stir to coat beef.
    c. Add vegetables and jujube berries.
    d. Cover with foil.
    e. Label with cooking instructions.
  4. Clean down, including sweeping floor, wiping and sanitising cooktop and benches, washing and drying up, and cleaning and sanitising knives.
  5. At home, cook in a 150 degree oven for 3 hours and serve with rice (sprinkle rice with water and cover with a damp paper towel before reheating). 
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