Another delightful day at Bayan Indah

After that first one, we wanted another one!

I’m talking about Cooking with Rohani Jelani at Bayan Indah. Hehe… yeah, a bunch of us had tremendous fun in our 1st session with Rohani a couple of months ago and we wanted more!

So that was how a 2nd session was planned and we were at Bayan Indah again last weekend. This time we had a few more new friends joining us. Just like the first time, entering through the white gates of Bayan Indah, that remarkable place never fails to take my breath away, with its serene idyllic almost-ethereal beauty.

As I walked up the steps into the building, the immaculate dining table, all decked and set up was a sight to behold…

Rohani always uses the natural materials found in her garden to decorate not only her table, but also for the food we cooked. This time, the theme was “Local Malaysian Fruits!”…

Before class started, there’s always some yummy refreshments for us. This time it was Cucur Udang Jagung... piping hot from the kuali – so divine, really!

You better pay attention when Rohani is giving her briefing… her tips are all very useful when you start on the actual process of cooking! You don’t want to be sent to the corner for “detention” (like someone did!) for not doing the right thing, hehe!

So what did we cook this time?

We worked in teams and cooked a combination of yummy yummy dishes like ….

Nasi Dagang with Kari Ikan Tongkol (Tuna Curry)… served also with this tangy Acar Timun (cucumber salad)…

Different ways of presenting your food – from tips by Sifu Rohani and my cook mates’ amazing creativity…

Stop salivating, ok! 😛

We did Mee Rebus too…

We learned how to curl the noodles into balls like these – it certainly looks more elegant and refined this way, don’t you agree?

Everything was prepared from scratch … from boiling the chicken/beef stock, pounding the spices, frying the prawn fritters, shredding/slicing the other condiments for the Mee Rebus …

Next was Soto Ayam… we served this with Glass Noodles instead of Nasi Himpit…

A few teams cooked Chicken Rendang…

I heard they had great fun frying the “kerisik” (coconut shavings) for this traditional well-loved dish…

Desserts – 2 choices: the ever-popular Kuih Talam and Kuih Bengka...

The lovely green colour of the Kuih Talam came from pure pandan juice from the pandan plants which grow in such lovely fertile abundance in Rohani’s garden!

When all is done and with droplets of perspiration still trickling down our happy hungry faces, we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labour…

Can you blame us if we want more of this?? There’s just something very nice and fulfilling to enjoy a great meal prepared lovingly (albeit with lotsa “fun-poking” & “friendly insults”!) by a group of food-loving fun-loving people :-))

I have a feeling we are going to do this all over, again, soon.

To all who were there – you know who you are – and to Rohani, of course – thanks for the laughs, the camaraderie and the fun for that lovely session!