Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner 2018

A Soiree of Amazing Norwegian Seafood Feast

The Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner 2018, hosted by Her Excellency Gunn Jorid Roset, Norway’s Ambassador to Malaysia, celebrated milestones of 50 years of bilateral relations between Norway and Malaysia as well as 25 years of the annual grand event of Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner.

*photo credit to the original owner

Held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, the most anticipated event of the year continues to outdo each year with much sumptuous notes than before. A soiree attended by many VIPs and elites of the society, this year Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner 2018 was also honored with the attendance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah.

Heartfelt thanks to the invite from Royal Norwegian Embassy and Scribe Media Link, it was truly a priceless experience at this 25^th Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner for me. Right from the moment one walks into the grand ballroom of the gala dinner, the majestic sight of the ice sculpture of a Viking ship stood as the main backdrop for King Neptune’s ransom of Norwegian seafood. From monstrous monkfish to king crab, highly-prized turbot, salmon, Norwegian shrimp, langoustine and more, Norwegian Chef Frank Naesheim and his culinary team from Norway, has gone all out with an amazing kaleidoscope of seafood feast for the gala dinner.

More amazing ice art of Norwegian seafood can be seen through the spread of the feast!

For this year Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner, Head Chef and CEO of Snorre Food Pte in Singapore, Chef Naesheim has gathered special award-winning chefs such as Geir Skeie, Kenneth Loke, Markus Dybwad and Anderson Ho with him to create an unforgettable menu featuring all the guest chefs signature dishes at the live stations.

*photo credit to the original owner

Chef Frank Naesheim

The feast of the evening highlights every imaginable Norwegian seafood flown in from Norway. Chef Naesheim and culinary team features international flavours as well as local flavours utilizing Norway’s bountiful seafood produce.

*photo credit to the original owner

Clockwise from top left: Chef Anderson Ho, Chef Geir Skeie, Chef Kenneth Loke and Chef Markus Dybwad  

The evening’s best bit had to be the Guest Chefs live stations. Simply not to be missed, the award-winning chefs are personally whipping up their signatures in pretty mini versions of deliciousness. Each dish prepared with creative interplay of textures and flavours and fine cooking to enhance the beautiful Norwegian produce from the sea.

Chef Geir Skete

Pan Fried Langoustine with Celery in Langoustine Soup

Raw Salmon Salad ‘Pink Fish’ with Apple & Fennel.

Chef Kenneth Loke

Smoked Norwegian Mackarel Mousse with Horseradish, Yuba Chips & Raw Sweet Snap Peas

Pan Fried Norwegian Langoustine with Hay Infused Coconut Milk, Tumeric Tapioca Puffed & Pandan Oil

Slow cooked Norwegian Fjord Trout & Roe with Cep Brown Butter, Crispy Bulgur, Capers & Pickled Cucumber.

Chef Markus Dybwad

Varanger King Crab with Red Cabbage, Chipotle Mayo & Pickled Jalapeno

Sterling White Halibut with Cucumber, Black Olives, Feta & Basil Leaf

Norwegian Mackerel Escabeche with Anchovies Cream

Chef Anderson Ho

Cold Water Shrimps with Ebiko Cream & Squid Ink Sago Crisp

Norwegian King Crab with Granny Smith Apple & Basil

Salmon takes limelight with various preparation from smoked, poached and pickled to marinated, cured and raw Sashimi style. Tuck into Chermoulas Cold Smoked Salmon, Hot Smoked Salmon with Gochujang, Hot Smoked Salmon with Sambal, Szechuan Salmon Trout, Double Smoked Salmon Alaska Style, Lemon Pepper Salmon, Salmon Tartar, Gravlax Tartar and more.

There is also Dill Herring with Pickled Carrot & Pumpkin, Curry Herring with Apple & Mango, Marinated Herring with Asian Salsa and Sweet & Sour Salmon. These dishes are practically flavour bombs of pleasure!

A gorgeous King Crab Club Sandwich with Tomatoes and Avocado was not only a sight to behold but deliciously crafted with oceanic sweetness of king crab meat paired with fruity and creamy notes.

Another glorious piece of succulent crustaceans took form in Norwegian Coldwater Shrimp Tower!

The effort that goes into preparing the Whole Cold Poached Salmon & Medallions are truly worthy in every bite. The richness of the omega-rich salmon tasted sublime in chilled form. Savor this with some toasty baguette for extra crunch factor…

Cooked King Crab Legs that needed nothing else except a gentle squeeze of lemon for that luscious crab sweetness.

If only all salads are like Seared Pepper Salmon Nicoise with Quail Egg, Potato & Green Beans, Norwegian Shrimp Salad with Eggs & Asparagus and Potato & Smoked Mackerel Salad! Each one uniquely tasty with Norwegian seafood prepared poached, seared and smoked.

Smoked Haddock with Fennel & Onion Slaw Citrus Plum Sauce

There is the obligatory visit to the Gravlax Carving Station featuring Cold Smoked Salmon with Chive-Scrambled Eggs as well as the bountiful chilled bowls filled with Salmon Roe, Black Lumpfish Caviar and Red Lumpfish Caviar to be savored with buck wheat blinis and condiments

Chef Naesheim sneaked in the classic Japanese Sushi and Sashimi with Mackerel, Salmon, Salmon Trout and Halibut as well knowing how Malaysians enjoy the cuisine of Japanese very much.

The rows of hot buffet warmers are filled with seafood injected with international and local flavours from all the contributing chefs. From Western to Chinese, Malay, Indian and Thai, there are plenty of dishes to please even the discerning foodies.

A delectable Baked Whole Turbot with Langoustine Coulis & Vegetable Primeurs!

Tuck into Western dishes such as Seared Norway Langoustines with Grand Vegetable Mirepoix, Grilled Norwegian King Crab Legs with Blood Orange & Butter Sauce, Hot Smoked Wolfish with Egg, Capers, Hazelnut Butter & Pickled Red Onion and Fried Crab Cake with Tartare Sauce. The Fried Crab Cakes are crispy with a creamy filling of sweet crab meat that goes so well with sauce. The langoustines and King crab legs are not to be missed as well.

Thai flavours of savory, sweet, sour and spicy from Steamed Halibut with Chili & Lime Juice and Baked Whole Norwegian Salmon with Fresh Herbs and Red Curry Gravy are highlighted through the seafood.

The Chinese always seem to master the art of cooking seafood with minimalist and flavouring them well to enhance the freshness of the seafood. The team did a fantastic job this year in creating dishes like Steamed Monkfish with Superior Soy Sauce, Braised Sea Cucumber with Basil Leaf in Szechuan Paste, Fried Salmon with Spicy Szechuan Sauce and Steamed Lobster with Garlic.

Guests also savored Malay dishes like Steamed Halibut with Kalio Sauce and Oven Baked Cod with Green Chili Paste & Tamarind Skin as well as Indian dishes such as Kashmiri Salmon Tikka Masala and Wolfish Masala.

The evening ended with luscious sweet notes of international dessert buffet with highlights on Swedish and Norwegian desserts such as Princess Cake, Traditional Ring Cake, Norwegian Sweet Soup, Riskrem, Vannbakkels Blotkake, Norwegian Baked Prune Custard and more.

Besides Norwegian sweets, there are also live station serving Cloudberry Espuma and Semi Frozen, Vafler Station with Sour Cream & Berries Compote and house made ice creams. There are also other international and local desserts available.

*photo credit to the original owner

On another hand, a Congratulatory note to Jon Erik Stenslid, Director, Southeast Asia, Norwegian Seafood Council who won the Malaysia-Norway Business Council’s Special Recognition Award for his endless dedication in creating awareness of the benefits of Norwegian Salmon!

Left to right: Jennifer, Alice, Puan Sri Betty Saw, Marian

Left to right: Marian, Esther, Alice, Jennifer, Choy Peng

A big applause to the incredible team from Royal Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian Seafood Council as well as the culinary team led by Chef Naesheim and special guest chefs for making the Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner 2018 an unforgettable event of the year.

An amazing soiree that truly epitomized the gorgeous produce from the waters of Norway!

Norwegian Fjord Trout Workshop @ KDU University College

Cooking with Norwegian Ford Trout by Norwegian Seafood Council

We enjoy salmon so often and yet, we know nothing about trout. In fact, trout has often been labeled as salmon trout in the consumer market to latch on to its more popular family member, the Salmon.

A recent invite to the Norwegian Fjord Trout workshop was such an interesting event. Thanks to the Norwegian Seafood Council, members of the media and bloggers were treated to a hands-on cooking workshop showcasing the versatility of cooking with Norwegian Fjord Trout with Chef Jimmy Chok at the KDU University College in Shah Alam.

The workshop kicked off with video presentation of where Norwegian Fjord trout was farmed, followed by some interesting facts about the Norwegian Seafood Council and Fjord trout by Jon Erik Steenslid, Director, Southeast Asia, Norwegian Seafood Council.

The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) was established in 1991 and has approximately 60 employees globally. Owned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, the council monitors the seafood export for Norway. Norway is the second largest exporter of seafood in the world and also the world’s largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon. With a staggering number 2.45 million metric tonnes of seafood exported to over 146 countries in 2016, seafood is one of Norway’s most important export commodity. Farmed Fjord trout and Atlantic salmon are fed special NON GMO pellets made from vegetable and marine ingredients, ensuring safe and nutritious consumption of the fishes.

Jon Erik also highlighted that Norway has the perfect living conditions for Fjord trout, being surrounded by ice-cold waters with fjords stretching deep into its coastline. Farmed in the ocean, in the pure cold Norwegian fjords where seawater meets fresh meltwater from the glaciers and snow, consumers are assured that seafood from Norway, especially Fjord trout, are being farmed in excellent conditions best suited to them.

The event was also graced by the presence of Her Excellency Gunn Jorid Roset, the Norwegian Ambassador to Malaysia. An avid trout lover herself, Her Excellency expressed her enjoyment for trout just as much as salmon and is happy to be able to enjoy Norwegian trout and salmon while living in Malaysia.

Norwegian Fjord Trout has indeed become a popular choice with Malaysian consumers unknowingly, simply because of its similar appearance to salmon although it is a whole different species from salmon. Chef Chok proceeded to give us a lesson on how to differentiate between salmon and trout.

The Fjord trout grows to a weight of 2 to 5 kilos which is generally a bit smaller than salmon. The appearance of both fishes is easily identifiable when placed together. The salmon head is more pointed while the trout head is more round. The skin of the Fjord trout is quite similar to salmon as they both have lustrous and silvery colour. The body of the salmon is more slender compared to the trout which has a rounded and thickset body when compared to the salmon. The tail is also relatively different with the salmon being more forked while the trout is rather squared.

Once filleted, the colour of the salmon and the trout is also easily identifiable. The colour of the trout has an appealing deep red-orange colour with white marbling that gives the fillet a luxurious feel while the salmon has a lesser sheen with the same red-orange colour. Fjord trout has a remarkably rich flavour with a pure aftertaste. They say once you’ve had a taste of Fjord trout, one might actually be converted to a full-fledge trout fan than a salmon one.

Chef Chok procced to showcase on how to cook Fjord trout for his dish of Seared Fjord Trout with Mango Pomelo Salad & Thai Chili-Sesame Dressing. Trout fillet are best cooked with skin on and on low heat. First, cook the fillet of trout skin side down. The low heat will allow the natural oils of the trout to ooze out and this will help to eliminate the fishy aroma that comes from the oil. It will also help to extract the amount of oil from the trout which Chef Chok poured away from the pan and continue to cook the trout till medium doneness.

Depending on the size and thickness of the fillet of the trout, the best way to feel the doneness is with one’s finger as advised by Chef Chok. Gently prod the side of the trout flesh and if its feels a delicate but lightly firm texture, the trout should be cooked to medium doneness. Should one opt to have their trout cooked to their liking of doneness, do proceed but the trout is best served medium doneness for optimized flavours and textures according to Chef Chok.

Chef Chok’s perfectly medium cooked Fjord trout with crispy skin and soft moist medium doneness flesh looked gorgeously enticing at sight!

Chef Chok’s dish is relatively easy to whip up with a few basic cooking steps. He makes cooking easier with the readily available sauces on the market and uses the Thai sweet chili sauce on this dish. The mango and pomelo salsa is also easy to prepare and takes only a few minutes of chopping and mixing.

While there are rules in cooking, assembling the dish allows one to get creative. Chef Chok’s presentation was simple and really lovely. This final dish looked gorgeous and artsy elevating the gorgeous colours of the Fjord trout beautifully. The finishing touches of briny trout roes enhanced the moreish flavours of the dish.

Chef Jimmy Chok, Her Excellency Gunn Jorid Roset, Jon Erik Stenslid, Director, Southeast Asia, Norwegian Seafood Council

Chef Jimmy Chok and his dish of Seared Fjord Trout with Mango Pomelo Salad & Thai Chili-Sesame Dressing

Sashimi time! Generous platters of sashimi of salmon and Fjord trout as well as smoked salmon and smoked trout was amazing. The flavours of the Fjord trout was sublime with delicate creamy and rich with a clean aftertaste. Salmon was delicious too but the trout flavours had a gorgeous richness that most of us enjoyed very much.

*photo courtesy of JomMakan

Time to cook! My partner-in-crime was Alice from JomMakan as we paired up to reproduce the dish that Chef Chok showed us earlier.

*photo courtesy of JomMakan

The ingredients are easily available and the dish was really easy to cook as it took us less than half hour to prepare and cook. We enjoyed the experience so much so that we even added some of our own touches on the presentation of the dish.

Our final dishes of Seared Fjord Trout with Mango Pomelo Salad & Thai Chili-Sesame Dressing

Her Excellency commented that my stroke of Thai Chili-Sesame Dressing on my dish resembled the shape of Norway, much to my surprise though it wasn’t intentional...

It was also an honor as Alice and me had a photo taken with Her Excellency and Jon Erik with our dishes.

Indeed a very memorable workshop on Norwegian Fjord Trout with Norwegian Seafood Council. Coupled with the information of the origin of seafood from Norway, how it was produced and how it was managed in a sustainable manner, the quality of Norwegian seafood is assured of nothingg short but premium quality always. After this workshop, I truly concur with Norwegian Seafood Council: Origin matters

For more information, please visit their website: https://en.seafood.no/ or Facebook: www.facebook.com/seafoodfromnorway/

SEARED FJORD TROUT with MANGO POMELO SALAD &

THAI CHILI-SESAME DRESSING

Ingredients

200g fjord trout

Salt & pepper to taste

120g diced mango

80g pomelo

½ red onion, chopped

1 kaffir lime leaf, chopped

1 stalk spring onion, chopped

Juice from 1 lime 

100ml Thai chilli sauce

½ red onion, chopped

½ tsp sesame oil

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Juice from 1 lime 

Garnishing: trout roe, micro herbs and cherry tomato

Method

Season trout with salt & pepper. Sear over medium heat until fish fillet is medium rare. Allow to rest.

Mix mango salad ingredients together. Stir well and season to taste.

Mix dressing items evenly and set aside.

To plate, spoon a heap of mango salad onto plate.

Remove skin from trout and use your hands to flake the trout. Place on top of mango salad.

Fry trout skin until crisp. Cut into triangular shards and place on top of trout fillet.

Garnish the plate with trout roe, cherry tomatoes (cut into halves) and micro herbs.

Swirl dressing around the trout using a spoon then sprinkle sesame seeds around it to serve.