Feast like a king with a minimal-waste party and a hawker-themed do – for under $100 per person. Two chefs tell us how to prepare this festive blowout.
Kausmo’s take on a festive spread: Homemade Flatbread and Slow-roasted Wagyu Beef D-Rump. These mains come with condiments like Blackbean Chilli and Chimichurri.
Minimal-waste Party
Co-founders Lisa Tang (left) and Kuah Chiew Shian of Kausmo believe in planning and repurposing ingredients. $75 per person for a six-course meal.
Their culinary ethos is to zero-out food waste. Kausmo is Singapore’s only minimal-waste eatery that buys produce directly from importers.
The menu is seasonal as they pick the edible, however aesthetically displeasing, produce from importers weekly. The dishes, combining European techniques with Asian influences, are also created from fresh secondary cuts of meat that are often overlooked in favour of prime cuts. While not everyone can buy produce from importers, the duo provides a guide for the festive season, where the half-eaten turkey, cold slabs of roast beef and uneaten blue cheese are often thrown into the bin.
Start by planning the spread, beginning with the ingredients. Fully utilise them, portion-plan, and later, repurpose the leftovers or how your food can be stored in order to reduce wastage.
At #03-07, 1 Scotts Road.
1. Never judge a fruit by its peel. Bruised fruits are used to make juices or incorporated into the dishes. For example, the persimmons are charred in beef fat and added to a refreshing salad of mandarin oranges and fennel.
2. Whatever supermarkets don’t want, Kausmo takes. These fresh mushrooms would have been thrown out due to overstocking.
3. Don’t know what to do with fruit peels? Put them in jars and conduct fermentation experiments – part of the restaurant’s “Wholesome Product Utilisation” practice. This is how Kausmo makes its in-house kombucha.
4. The herbs in Kausmo’s dishes, like ulam rajah and ginseng java, are sourced from local organic farms.
Ban Mian Party
Chef Joy Neo of Yue Lai Xiang Delights shows us how a hawker-themed party will get us all warm and nostalgic this season. Under $20 per person.
A chef ladling piping hot noodle soup isn’t a party staple, and that’s exactly why a hawker-themed home party is a novelty that will surprise even the most seasoned partygoers. Apart from savouring the delicious noodles, they can try their hand at making their own ban mian, creating different shapes using a portable noodle machine. Or guests can do it by hand, rolling the dough and shaping the noodles.
The popular Yue Lai Xiang Delights hawker stall at Sin Ming’s industrial estate specialises in handmade multi-coloured noodles that are affordable and look as good as they taste. Chef Joy Neo’s noodles, which are soaked in a rich flavoured broth, are coloured with natural ingredients such as blue pea, pumpkin, spinach and beetroot juice.
You can also customise and pre-order additional garnish and toppings like prawns, ikan bilis, eggs and pork.
At #01-224, 22 Sin Ming Road.
TEXT HAYLEY TAI PHOTOGRAPHY FRENCHESCAR LIM & TAN WEI TE CREATIVE DIRECTOR SHAN & ALICE PIN
