An Afternoon With a Guest Chef in Culinology Kitchens
Amanda Paine
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Variety
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Chef Danhi gave two presentations to the public and students of SMSU based on Southeast Asian flavor and cuisine.
His first presentation focused on the product and development of the product. He explained how to take a food concept from one cuisine and apply it to another type of cuisine. One of the examples he used to demonstrate this concept was to take the basis of a Thai Hot and Sour Soup and turn it into a dumpling, essentially making a liquid soup filled dumpling.
Product development can be applied to any food concept. R & D (Research & Development) teams are constantly coming up with new concepts and ideas. Most of these food concepts are based on what the customer wants and what they are looking for. R & D is one aspect of Chef Danhi's consulting firm, Chef Danhi & Co.
Chef Danhi's second presentation was a cooking demonstration using a recipe from his cookbook, Southeast Asian Flavors. He explained more about the "culinary identity of each region" and how the foods and flavors differ from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. Peanut sauce is not generic. Each region has a different flavor. Thai peanut sauce is coconut milk based with finely ground peanuts and curry powder. Malaysian peanut sauce is water based that is simmered for hours. Vietnamese peanut sauce uses courser ground peanuts and a little bit of hoisin sauce. He said, "it would be like saying it was soup."
For more information about Chef Danhi and Southeast Asian flavored cuisine, check out his website at www.chefdanhi.com. His cookbook is available for purchase on his website: http://southeastasianflavors.com.
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