We See, We Sense and We Evaluate (1)

See, Sense and Evaluate Part 1 :

♥ 디저트 ♥ : .desserts.

todays dessert menu:

PatbingSu

Have you heard of Patbingsu before?

It is a famous korean dessert loved by all koreans. :))

I have being searching for it high and low in Singapore since I tried it in Korea.

It is very very similar to ice kachang in Singapore, the difference lies in the ingredients used and in PatbingSu, the ingredients used are: ice shavings, mangoes, red beans, korean rice cakes, mangoes, ice cream and chocolate rice.

doesnt it sounds appealing ?:))

Wondering where to get it?

BBQ chicken korean fast food restaurant sells them !

I managed to chance upon it while scanning through the menu.
Went in and tried to revive the days where I tried Patbingsu in Korea :)

Here are some pictures of the Patbingsu I ordered:

 

 Though the ingredients used were the same as the PatbingSu i tried in korea, the layout is a little different.

 PatbingSu in korea Lotteworld

whats your say on the decoration of this?

The overall taste was awesome, you should really try it out one day :)

 What attracted me to try out Patbingsu?

1.  The variety of ingredients used

2. The attractive colourful appearance attracted my attention

3. The soothing, icy coarse appeal that attracts one with a sweet tooth

What made me to like Patbingsu?

1. The smooth yet chewy texture of the rice cakes in Patbingsu

2. The smooth and icy mouthfeel of the shaved ice and ice cream

3. The mixture of sweet (red bean, ice cream, chocolate sticks) and tart     (mango) flavour from the unique bend of ingredients

4. The fruity sweet aroma of Patbingsu

 Let me show you some beautiful plating techniques of Patbingsu J

J Learning Point:
Such international desserts could be implemented in practical sessions to engage and equip students with the various non-local desserts and at the same time broaden their creativity in dessert plating.

And so J what’s your say on Patbingsu?

Do leave comments/queries on PATBINGSU.

Do leave down comments and share what you know about Patbingsu too J

Many many thanks. 

♥ Angela insights of Home Economics

STAY TUNED TO PART 2 of  See, Sense and Evaluate.

The 2nd Mircoteaching on Meat.:

todays microteaching menu 13 OCtober 2010:
And so the mircoteaching done by Miss Sini, Miss Jit, Miss Nurul, Miss Li, Miss Lee and Miss Priscilla begins :)

1.      Baked Chicken Sambal
2.     Chachouka

3.     Mutton Masala

Baked Chicken Sambal
J Technique : Cubing of meat
J Key Ingredients: Meat, Sambal Chilli
J Learning Points: Making of Sambal
J Thumbs up number: 5 / 5

As the name implies, baked chicken sambal involves using sambal chilli :)
However, due to time constraint, instant chicken sambal was given to us instead.
Miss Jit demonstrated on how sambal is made and it was a great exposure for all of us, especially those who dont have prior knowledge in making of sambal.

I love chicken sambal in general, but cooking it yourself makes the taste more engaging to yourself as you are the creator of the dish.
On whole, the chicken sambal was fabulous.
Spices chosen to marinate the chicken enhances the bulk of the chicken flavour, making this dish a suitable main dish when accompanied with rice or noodles. :))

J Learning Point:
Use homemade sambal instead of commercial ones to reduce overall fat, sodium and preservatives consumption.


Chachouka
J Technique : Cutting of vegetables and meat
J Key Ingredients: Meat, mixture of vegetables
J Learning Points: Making of chachouka
J Thumbs up number: 5 / 5

What is Chachouka?
Yes, that was the question I held in my head throughout the whole pratical session. 

If you love salsa, highly likely, you would like Chachouka as well.
It is similar to salsa, just that meat and egg were the additional highlights of this dish.
Chachouka is a balanced one dish meal that one could prepare as a snack or a accompaniment dish. It is usually consumed together with toasted bread.
Chachouka is generally healthy with simmering/stir-frying cooking methods employed in the preparation of the dish.

J Learning Point:
Chachouka has well-balanced quantity of vegetables to meat, making it a suitable dish to teach students in the future.

Mutton Masala
J Technique : making of masala
J Key Ingredients: Meat (Mutton)
J Learning Points: Cubing of Meat across the grain for tenderness
J Thumbs up number: 4 / 5

Mutton was used in place of chicken/fish.
Personally, I would recommend this dish for non-mutton lovers.
Yes, non-mutton lovers. WHY?? you may wonder.
Personally, I am not a mutton-lover due to the strong smell.

However, when I sample this dish, there wasnt any trace of mutton smell and to add on, the mutton texture was not tough and fibrous, it was relavtively tender.
Reasons:
The mutton smell was eliminated as it is being masked by the herbs used such as:
ginger juice, garlic, shallots, Masala curry powder, coconut milk, yoghurt, lemon juice and red chillis.

J Learning Point:
Mutton Masala is a suitable dish to prepare for non-mutton lovers or curry lovers.

And so J what’s your say on this post?

Do leave comments/queries .

Do leave down comments and share what you know about relevant skills/tecniques too J

Many many thanks. 



♥ Angela insights of Home Economics

Its Microteaching Time

The 1st Mircoteaching on Rice and Alt.:

todays microteaching menu 29 September 2010:
And so the first mircoteaching done by Miss Hidayah, Miss Farah, Mr Jay, Miss Mavi, Miss Kee and Miss Azimah begins :)

1.      Tuna Fish Quiche

2.     Holiday cous cous

3.     Penne pasta with chicken grills

Tuna Fish Quiche  
J Technique : Rubbing-in
J Key Ingredients: Butter, flour and tuna
J Learning Points: Blind Baking, Even rolling of dough method
J Thumbs up number: 4 / 5

Tuna Fish Quiche was the first dish to be taught by Miss Hidayah and Miss Farah. 
Quiche is usually prepared using chicken or potato, its my first time preparing Quiche with tuna as the main ingredient.


I love the overall outcome of the dish, the crust has the right moisture level, not too dry or wet, it has a crumbly melt-in-the mouth texture too. AWESOME job :)

As a result of the uneven thickness:

1.       Overall mouthfeel of the crust was affected

2.      some ingredients seep through thin dough during baking as well

The key in ensuring even thickness is by placing a pair of chopsticks on the side of the dough and roll the dough using the rolling pin across the chopsticks.

I also learnt the art of blind baking through placing broad beans on the empty aligned dough.
GREATTTT Tips isnt it :)

Holiday cous cous
J Technique/skills : Boiling, de-shelling and cleaning of prawns
J Key Ingredients: Prawns, crabsticks, pistachios, instant cous cous
J Learning Points: De-shelling and cleaning of prawns, making of cou cous
J Thumbs up number: 3.5 / 5

 

Holiday cous cous was the second dish to be taught by Mr Jay and Miss Mavi. 

Cous cous is actually similar to rice, just that its source derieves from semolina flour.


It is my first time preparing cous cous and actually tasting them too. I had not idea what cous cous was about. 
I love the overall outcome of the dish, except for the moist texture of the cous cous.
Reason for the moistness: 
I left the cous cous in the pot for more than 5 minutes, resulting in a moist and paste-like texture of the cous cous grains.

Overall, cous cous is a great dish which I can introduce to my students in the future, especially if students are preparing a meal with theme based on morocco and northern Algeria. 



Penne Pasta with Chicken Grills
J Technique : Cutting of vegetables, grating
J Key Ingredients: Pasta, Chickem Breasts and Vegetables
J Learning Points: Sweating of onions
J Thumbs up number: 4 / 5

Penne pasta was the last dish to be taught by Miss Azimah and Miss Kee. 

I love penne pasta, especially wiht cream based sauce such as carbonara or bacon/ham.
This dish is a healthier pasta choice due to the use of chicken breast instead of other more fatty parts of the chicken.

I love the overall outcome of the dish, pasta were cooked to al dente,  with chicken breast well marinated and baked.  AWESOME job :)

I love the rich flavourful aroma given off by the rosemary leaves, thyme and black pepper, as well as the pasta sauce.

I had learnt several tips from this mircoteaching.
I learnt that sweating of onions require the use of a cover over a saucepan. However, due to the lack of covers for saucepan, it is replaced with just sauteing of onions.

Neverthless, this step made me google why sweating is important and tips in doing it:

Tips & Warnings

• Sweating onions is called for when you want to make onions in a recipe taste milder, sweeter or have a softer texture.
• Adding salt to the onions in the pan will help the onions release their moisture and sweat more quickly.
• Do not let the onions brown while cooking.
• Do not use too much butter or oil when sweating onions, or they won't sweat properly and will be too oily.

Read more: How to Sweat Onions | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2083641_sweat-onions.html#ixzz136l6EcJQ

And so J what’s your say on this post?

Do leave comments/queries .

Do leave down comments and share what you know about relevant skills/tecniques too J

Many many thanks. 




♥ Angela insights of Home Economics

Its Sensing Time

Sensory Evaluation:

What is it?

In today's practical lesson (22 September 2010) for the teaching of Food and Nutrition, the practical lesson was conducted in the form of different stations of sensory evaluation.

Some highlights of the 6 stations of today's Sensory Evaluation :

1. Pepsi Challenge
2. I smell a rat
3. Let them eat cake
4. There's a spy among us
5. Smell Check Point
6. Who moved my Cheese?

Pepsi Challenge:
The aim for conducting this station (Pepsi challenge) is to determine if the respondent's preference and taste perception of coke/pepsi correlates with each other.
Repondents were given 2 cups; one cup filled with coke, while the other filled with pepsi.
NO product information on the drink were given.
Respondents were then write down their preference between coke and pepsi and then conduct the sensory evaluation test and state which cup of drink they prefer.
Interesitng Fact:
I found out that some of my classmates prefer coke in reality, however, from the sensory evlaution, they actually evaluate pepsi as their preferred choice.
Interesting isn't it:)
People's perception really changes.
This evaluation method for Pepsi Challenge: Paired Comparison Test
Here's a picture on the layout of Pepsi Challenge Sensory Evaluation:

I Smell a Rat:
In my perception, I enjoyed and loved this station's sensory evaluation the most.
Why?
This station is so interesting in that sense that repondents were given 5 - 6 testtubes to smell, with each testube consisting of different spices/herbs/seasonings and we were required to evaluate the food item which we had just smelt.
NO product information on the items in the test-tube were given.
Interesitng Fact:
Most of my classmates had different perceptions through their sense of smell, as a result, there were many types of intersting food items being listed down.
E.g. irish cream, green tea, beetroot and many more ...
And when the actual food item is being revealed, we tend to link it back to what we smelt before and wonder at our own perception, like how we could evaluate the food item so far from the actual one.
People's perception really changes.
Here's a picture on the layout of I Smelt a Rat Sensory Evaluation:

Let them eat Cake :
This station was a appetitie stimulating station.
Chocolate cakes were served as the items for sensory evaluation.
Ckaes of 2 different brands were laid out on the table, and us as respondents were suppose to evaluate our sensory preferences with regards to the 2 samples of cake provided on the table.
NO product information on the items in the test-tube were given.
Interesitng Fact:
Most of my classmates, including myself, were linking each cake sample to a familiar brand which we had tasted before and evalute the cake sample of our preference with regards to the sensory factors we would expect from a chocolate cake.
This evaluation method for Let them eat Cake: Triangle Test; Star Diagram

There's a spy among us :
This station was a taste-bud functioning station.
Cups filled with sugar solution of varying concentrations were served to respondents.
We were then have to evaluate the odd-sugar solution amongst the others.
Criteria for being the odd-sugar solution includes:
Weird taste, degree/concentration/intensity of sweetness level, smell and aftertaste.
Interesitng Fact:
Personally, I had the same tastebud perception towards all the sugar solutions.
I had to redo this station twice in order to evaluate my choice.
Most of my classmates, including myself, were having different perceptions in our choice of the odd-one-out sugar solution.
This evaluation method for There's a spy among us: Classic Triangle Test
Here's a picture on the layout of There's a spy among us:

Smell Checkpoint:
This station was a trick station.
Baby food of varying colours were given to respondents to evaluate the flavour of the different samples of baby food.
The criteria for this station was that all respondents were required to wear a nose clip during sensory evaluation of each sample.
Interesitng Fact:
Personally, for all the baby food samples, I evaluated different flavours for each one.
Ranging from: Banana, Strawberry, Melon, Apple and Orange.
HOWEVER, in actual fact, all the baby food samples had the same flavour, the strawberry flavour.
I was tricked.
This station reveals the importance of our sense of smell.
It shows that taste buds alone does not bring out the full taste. It is only through the sense of taste together with the sense of smell that one is able to achieve the full taste of the food product.
It is also proven that taste with taste buds alone without sense of smell
(netronasal perception), is accurate to a small extent. This is so as the human taste buds would connect to a familiar taste which one had tasted before, hence, giving a minimal chance that a respondent choice of flavour could be evaluated correctly.
Here's a picture on the layout of Smell Checkpoint:

Who moved my Cheese:

This sensory evaluation station is a station managed by my group.

In this station, respondents were required to determine the cheese sample with the higher fat content from the 2 cheese samples provided.
The brand of the cheese samples provided comes fro KRAFT
Interesitng Fact:
Interestingly, the cheese with the higher fat content had a lighter shade of yellow as compared to the cheese sample with the lower fat content.
This is a decieving sensory factor in this station.
And results obtained showed that many of the respondents made the wrong cheese sample as their final evaluation.
In conclusion, colour perception to consumers play a large role in constructing their mentality.
E.g. Darker shade of yellow must be the cheese sample with higher fat content, since fat gives a yellow shade to food items.
This evaluation method for Who moved my Cheese: Paired Comparison Test
Here's a picture on the layout of Who moved my Cheese:

WHAT I CAN DO with what I learnt through today lesson?

These stations of sensory evaluation are interactive ideas where I am able to incorporate into my teaching of Sensory Evaluation Lessons in the future.

E.g. The use of Nose Clip is a fun teaching tool to engage the students' interest in learning.
It brings the importance of the sense of smell to a higher level. In addition, students are exposed to the usage of a non-common item (nose clip), building up their awareness to new products through providing such exposure.

Improvisions to conducting this sensory evaluation such as using blindfold/change the environment settings could make learning more interesting and sustaining in students.

 What's your take on these different stations of Sensory Evaluation?

Do leave your comments/questions.

Many many thanks. 

♥ Angela insights of Home Economics

Little Projects that make a whole impact

The Teaching of Clothing and Textiles (Making a Drawstring Bag)

Drawstring Bag:

What is it?

Before I start off blogging about what the first hands-on project of sewing lesson, lets start with the picture shown above, live and learn, the stories i could tell.

During sewing lesson on thursday, this quote pop up in my head whilst I was sewing my drawstring bag.

Flashback all the way to Thursday 23rd September 2010:

We were taught how to make a drawstring bag today.

Not just a simple drawstring bag which just involve straight stitches and a simple cord for the drawstring, like these pictures of drawstring bags below:

But a drawstring bag that allows a wider input of creativity, such as sewing techniques, colour contrast and co-ordination as well as the selection of different embriodery stitches.

This drawstring bag project allows the application of creativity as well as the sewing skills and techniques which all of us had acquired from Temasek Polytechnic.

During the planning and sewing of my drwatring back, the different sewing techniques begin to refresh in my head and creativity started to kick inside me again.

And so, I went to look on how I can make a drawstring bag which I can make during my free time

 here are some pretty drawstring bag designs which inspired me:

Instead of an ordinary drawstring bag that is commonly seen, Dr Mok taught us how to incorporate quilting technique into the drawstring bag.

Quilting is commonly used in the making of cushion covers, quilts, mats and in bags.

Little which I expect that quilting can be incorporated into a drawstring bag.

This technique brings the overall look of the drawstring bag to a higher level.

Lets look at the quilting design using a cross-embriodery machine stitch which i had accomplished :)

How is the look :D

This quilting desgin may look simple and easy. However, it comes with precision and focus. 

One difficulty which i encountered during the making of this quilting design is the embriodery stitch. During the sewing of the                and cloth, i wasnt alert of the stitch length and width. Instead of 2.0 to 3.0 cm, my stitch was accidentally altered to 1.5 to 3.0 cm. Resulting in a short and compact cross-stitch.

And so, the result of this was: Unpicking. Unpicking such a small and compact cross-stitch is definitely not an easy task, thankfully justine came to my rescue as she saw me struggling to unpick the whole stitch line.

During this making process, it made me reflect.

My focus during sewing of the quilting design was fast in completion, not on alertness.

Unpicking was a good learning process for me, and so, live and to learn.

This is one story which I could tell from just this sewing lesson,

"life process is like sewing a product, it requires one to make mistakes, but moulding and improving the product during difficulty, like unpicking, it gives a extraordinary satisfaction and learning point at the end of it."

Nonetheless, I am halfway through completion of my drawstring project.
Look at the 3/4 Completed drawstring bag.

Do leave comments and all queries are warmly welcomed :).

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates on the completion of drawstring bag.
Thanks.

♥ Angela insights of Home Economics