Above: Goz's menu plan for the debut supperclub
What fun, and what an utter thrill. I won't say too much more about Plusixfive's debut dinner, except that we couldn't have asked for a better group of opening night guests. As for how the evening went, better you read the writeups and see the photos from the evening's guests, compiled at the end of this post, than have me blabber on.
I just wanted to share some glances from the afternoon's final prep session.
It was pretty calm in Goz's characterful flat when I got there. The tables had already been set, and all the major dishes had been cooked and prepped.
All except the surprise appetiser, kuih pie tee, a thin and crispy pastry tart shell filled with a spicy, sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns. A dish much loved by the Straits Chinese.
To make these delicate crispy batter shells from scratch is a heartbreaking, backbreaking, treacherous art, prone to breaking and burning and chipping and deflating at all points along the way. I couldn't believe Goz was going to attempt this at his very first supperclub. Ok who am I kidding, of course I can believe Goz would this for his first supperclub. The topic had been brought up in conversation with one of the evening's diners, and had become a point of bonding. There was no way Goz was not going to make kuih pie tee, really.
Goz's kuih pie tee recipe on the day was from Cooking for the President by Wee Eng Hwa, a recently-published monumental body of work that took 2 decades to compile, covering Singapore's culinary history and the stories of Ms Wee's own storied family. (I need to write more about this book in a separate post.) I reckon the book will serve Goz well for many supperclubs to come.
The key step to master (it seems to me) is coaxing the batter shell off the mould without breaking it. A question of minute timing and exacting technique.
Goz finds his groove.
And then we wait.
But not for long.
The buzzer sounds. People are early. In fact, the latest guests arrive bang on time. These people really want their Singapore food!
And so it begins.
Here's what they saw / ate / said:
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Disclosure: I'm the founder of Edible Experiences, and I run marketing and bookings for Plusixfive.
