LAV@NUS

Chào các cô! Chào các bạn!

Last weekend we had to wake up very early in the morning to prepare for our Vietnamese cooking project. Our group chose to cook the delicious Vietnamese green bean soup known as Chè Đậu Xanh.

Chúng ta đến nhà thầy Minh lúc tám giờ sáng. When we arrived, there were already two groups using the stoves. As there were limited stoves, we had to wait for our turn. While waiting, we started working on our decoration using recycled materials.

Here are the ingredients used:

500g of Skinless Green Beans (Mung Beans)
Rock Sugar
Coconut Milk
Pandan Leaves
Sago Pearls
Sweet Potatoes
Portable Water

Steps involved:

1. Skinless green beans were soaked overnight a day before the actual cooking session

2. Boil the water

3. Add in skinless green beans, sweet potatoes and pandan leaves

4. Constant stir until the green beans is cook.

5. Add in rock sugar and coconut milk into the soup.

Add in sago pearls while the soup is hot enough.

Reduce the heat once the pearls get translucent.
Ready to serve!!!!

When it was finally our turn to cook, the kitchen was filled with people and it was very chaotic. We began boiling our green beans and also our sago pearls while the other group is working on their green bean soup at the same time. As we were too engrossed in our green bean soup, we also forgot about our sago pearls, that was when Cô Bich walked in and said we were cooking glue instead of boiling sago pearls.

Other than that, Cô Bich also taught us how to prepare garnish with tomatoes and chilli.

After much work, our group was finally able to complete our green bean soup and continued down to the function room for a our long waited food tasting session. Even though we were tired after a long day of work, các em rất mệt nhưng rất vui!

Personal Reflections:

Peng Chong (Phong): It was a fun and enjoyable experience as very seldom do you see a module having cooking as their assignments. I learnt alot of things that day as Cô Bích was sharing her culinary skills generously to the class. I would definitely remember this memorable day for the rest of my life!

Elless (Thu): This cooking project is very fun and interesting. It is the best way for everyone to bond and have fun together. I really enjoyed myself and had a good time interacting with teachers and classmates. It is a good opportunity for us to learn about the Vietnamese culture, their delicacy etc in an interesting way. Looking forward for the next project (:

Lydia: On last Saturday, we went to Thay Minh’s house for cooking project. I lived in Hougang but I reached the earliest. We cooked green bean soup. Our green bean soup is sweet and delicious. I leant how to cook Vietnamese dishes and decorate the food. I met many new students from other Vietnamese classes and spoke with my Vientnamese teachers. I also met the family of Thay Minh. His son is very cute. I was very happy last Saturday.

Kok Hong: It was fun and lovely Saturday! I do enjoy myself a lot during the entire cooking session. This event is enriching and fruitful as we all managed to learn about Vietnamese’s culture during the preparation of food. Besides, it also gives me a great opportunity to bond myself with each and every of my classmates. Most importantly, I LOVE LAV1201 !!

Michelle (Anh): I am enthusiastic about the Vietnamese cooking lesson at thầy Minh's house last Saturday. Cô Bich was teaching us cooking and decorations. Cô Quỳnh taste food. Cô Lê taught us how to gamble. Cô Quỳnh say that if bankrupt in gambling, love will be lucky. thầy Minh’s son is very cute and follows Cô Bich around. Cô Bich say that Teacher’s Minh’s son is her mới bạn trai.

That day, Kok Hong is our chef, we decorate the food. On that day, the food we cook is green bean soup. Our green bean soup is very delicious because there is extra ingredient- sweet potatoes.

Cô Bich is very strict in judging and likes sweet. We are very nervous but all students had fun tasting everybody’s food. I love chicken pho!