Lesson video

Hello, thanks for joining me today.

My name's Mr. Ballem, and I'm really pleased you've picked this lesson, making yakisoba noodles.

It's a delicious dish that we're gonna make together.

And I'm sure you're gonna really enjoy it and make it again in the future.

So let's first of all have a look at what we're going to learn.

So the key thing today is that you're gonna use a variety of different types of food skills to make yakisoba noodles.

And I think you're gonna really enjoy making this dish.

Let's have a look at some keywords for this lesson.

So the first one is yakisoba, the name of the dish.

And it's a Japanese dish of fried noodles, vegetables, and sometimes meat and fish are also added.

The second keyword today is food poisoning.

And this is an illness caused by eating something that's been contaminated with bacteria.

And the last word is sensory evaluation.

And this is where we use our senses to assess a food or drink.

And we might assess the food for whether we like or dislike it or perhaps the intensity of a sensation.

So, for example, how crunchy something is or perhaps how sour it tastes too.

So that's sensory evaluation.

So the first part of the lesson is we're going to be looking at cooking hygienically, which is what we should always do when we're preparing and cooking food.

So yakisoba noodles are a dish which is made up of fried noodles and vegetables, and sometimes fish or meat are also added.

It's a great dish.

You can see by the photo here.

And the dish actually originated in China, but actually it's a really popular Japanese dish now.

It's a really popular street food.

Now, you may think about Japan and you may actually think, well, you've heard of sushi and, you know, that's probably only the main thing that they eat, but that's not true.

But like any cuisine around the world, there are lots of different types of dishes.

So let's have a little think about other popular Japanese dishes.

Can you name any?

Well, for example, here's a couple.

One is tempura, which is often pieces of vegetable cooked in a light batter, fried, or it could be a teriyaki, which is a sauce perhaps around salmon or chicken, for example.

So there's more to Japanese cuisine than just sushi, and we're going to be making yakisoba noodles just to show you.

Now, yakisoba is an interesting word.

The first part of it, yaki, actually means to cook over heat in Japanese.

And the soba part means noodles.

So when you put the two together, it's cooking over heat noodles, which kind of makes sense.

Now, yakisoba noodles is actually made from wheat, but there are lots of other different types of noodles that you can buy.

And wheat is a plant.

And it's a plant that we mill for the flour to make the noodles.

Yakisoba noodles are fried over heat.

And the noodles are made from wheat, but you can also get noodles which are made from buckwheat and rice also.

So let's see if you've been listening.

So which of these best describes yakisoba?

Is it a, b, or c?

Yes, that's right, it's b, isn't it?

It's noodles fried over heat.

So yakisoba, to fry over heat and noodles.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, when we prepare and cook food, we always need to do this hygienically.

And the main reason for this is the risk of food poisoning.

And food poisoning can happen when we eat food that's been contaminated with bacteria.

So therefore, good food hygiene is essential if we want to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

And personal hygiene is key in keeping ourselves clean.

It's a really important part of cooking hygienically.

And food hygiene is about keeping the food safe, cleaning the kitchen, and storing food, and putting it in the right place.

When we think about personal hygiene, there's a number of things that we need to consider.

And you may know some of these already.

So, for example, we should remove jewelry and any jumpers, we should tie back long hair, we should wash and dry our hands thoroughly, and we should wear a clean apron.

We need to remember to wash our hands before and after cooking and also if we've touched raw food.

So what does food hygiene involve?

Well, there are a number of factors, but it means things like storing food in the right place.

So that might be the cupboard, or the fridge, or the freezer.

It's checking date marks to see whether they're in date.

It's about washing fruits and vegetables to get rid of any dirt or bacteria on the surface.

It's about wiping surfaces, so our work surfaces where we work.

It's also about washing up so that we can use the equipment again, so it's clean and safe.

And it's also important that cooked food doesn't touch raw food, reducing the risk of any contamination with bacteria.

So let's have another quick check, shall we?

So what would help to reduce the risk of food poisoning?

Is it a, b, or c?

Yes, it's b and c.

So it's checking the date marks.

That's really important.

But also wearing a clean apron too.

Well done if you got that one correct.

Here's a task for you.

I want you to have a little think about what we've been talking about about cooking hygienically and safely.

Here, Lucas is making a toasted cheese, tomato, and onion sandwich.

Now what could he do to reduce the risk of food poisoning?

You might want to pause the video now.

Good luck.

Okay, so how did you get on?

Let's look at some sample answers, shall we?

So before cooking, he could have checked the date marks, and also, he could get ready to cook.

So tying back any long hair, washing hands, putting on an apron, and so forth.

So that's before cooking.

During cooking, well, he could have washed the tomato.

As we said, that's a good top tip.

He could wash his hands and also wipe up any spills or crumbs that are on the work surfaces.

So really cooking really cleanly as he goes along.

And then after cooking, he needs to make sure he cleans all the work surfaces, he wash and dries his hands again, he wraps up and stores the cheese properly, and he puts all the clean equipment away once he's washed it up.

I'm sure there's a number of other things that you've put down too.

Well done.

Let's move on to the next part of the lesson, which is all about making and evaluating your very own yakisoba noodles.

Now, to make the yakisoba noodles, we're gonna be using a range of different food skills.

So we're going to be using a measuring jug and measuring spoons today to make our noodle dish.

And we need to make sure that we measure accurately.

And the key reason for this is so the recipe turns out the same each time we make it.

Another food skill we're going to be using today is peeling.

We're going to be peeling the carrots.

And we need to practice these food skills in order to become more confident and more independent as we go on.

Let's have a quick look at peeling in action.

Hold the carrots in one hand, resting the other end on the chopping board.

Starting about halfway down the carrot, run the peeler away from yourself.

Remember that the peeler is sharp.

Be careful not to hurt yourself.

Twist the carrot around and continue until you've peeled away all the skin.

Remove the peelings from the chopping board.

That can be used for compost.

Then turn the carrot around and peel the other end in the same way.

Let's see that again using a different peeler.

Hold the potato in one hand, using your thumb as a support.

Run the peeler over the potato, remembering that the peeler is sharp.

Turn the potato around and carry on until you've peeled away all the skin.

Remember to use a chopping board.

If it moves while cutting, place the cloth or paper towel underneath.

Other food skills we're going to use are cutting.

And there are two main techniques of cutting we're going to use.

The first one is the bridge hold and the second one is the claw grip.

Now, we need to do this and we need to practice these skills so that when we cut the vegetables, particularly for this, that they're the same size, and therefore that ensures even cooking.

Now let's have a look at these cutting techniques in more detail.

First of all, let's have a look at the bridge hold.

It's important to be very careful when using a knife so you don't get hurt.

Place the food on a chopping board on it's flatter aside.

This stops it rolling about.

Create a bridge over the food with your hand.

The finger should be on one side and your thumb on the other.

Guide the knife under the bridge and cut the food by pressing down and pulling it out of the bridge.

The bridge hold is a safe cutting technique to cut foods in half, quarters, or chunks.

If the chopping board moves while cutting, place a cloth or paper towel underneath.

The bridge hold is important when preparing an onion.

First, we use it to half the onion, then cut it into strips, just like we've seen here.

Then you use the claw grip to dice.

Remember, place the food flat side down, make a bridge over the food, and guide the knife under the bridge and cut carefully.

The other technique is the claw grip.

It's important to be very careful when using a knife so you don't cut yourself.

On the food, make a claw-like grip by tucking your thumb under the palm of your hand and curling your fingertips.

This help you to guide the knife safely and decide how thick the slices need to be.

Tilt the knife and slice the cucumber, using your fingers as a guide.

Slide your fingers back, keeping your grip on the cucumber.

If the chopping ball moves while cutting, place a cloth or paper towel underneath.

To make the yakisoba noodles, we're going to use the hob.

The hob is part of a cooker.

We're going to stir-fry the vegetables and noodles in a frying pan or wok.

And now, a wok, if you haven't seen one before, is a very deep bowl-shaped pan that's used for stir-frying, which is used a lot in Japanese and also Chinese cooking.

And sometimes, as you can see in the photo here, chopsticks are used to stir the food in the wok.

Like its name, stir-frying means we're going to stir or mix the vegetables and noodles together over a high heat.

So the heat is first of all transferred from the hob to the frying pan or the wok, and then from the frying pan or the wok to the vegetables and the noodles.

And this is known as conduction.

It's a type of heat transfer.

So if we have a look here, you can see the heat starts all from the hob, it then transfers to the wok, and then that transfers to the noodles and the vegetables.

So that's conduction.

So let's see if you were listening to that.

So how is the heat transferred from the hob to the noodles?

Is it a, b, or c?

Yes, that's right, it's b.

It's conduction.

The heat is transferred via conduction from the hob to the noodles.

Well done, that's quite a tricky one.

Now, we talked about sensory evaluation at the very beginning, the keyword.

Do you remember?

And sensory evaluation is the use of our senses to assess a food or drink.

For example, it might be about just as simple as saying whether we like or dislike food.

Now, our five senses are sight, so we're judging the appearance of the food, hearing, 'cause sometimes the sound of the food is quite amazing.

And if you think about it, if you eat a really crispy apple, you can hear the apple as you crunch through.

And it looks pretty good.

So it might be a really bright red or green apple.

So they're the first two senses.

Now, what sounds of foods do you like when you're eating?

Perhaps it's the slurping of noodles when you're having those or perhaps it's the crunchiness of an apple.

Everybody probably likes something different.

Another sense is smell, which detects odor.

Another is the taste, which we detect using our tongue.

But also, there's touch.

And that detects the texture of food.

And that happens inside the mouth.

So different parts of the mouth, including the tongue, detect the different textures.

And lastly, odor and taste work together to give us flavor.

So using sensory evaluation allows us to give us opinions about food in a structured way.

So which senses detect flavor?

Is it a, b, c, or d?

That's right, it's d.

It's smell and taste.

Smell and taste detect flavor together.

Well done.

Okay, so now we're going to be making our yakisoba noodles.

So I want you to follow the recipe carefully to make your noodles.

And before you cook, you need to make sure you're ready to cook.

So you need to make sure that you've done things like tying back any long hair, you've washed your hands, or wearing a clean apron.

You also need to make sure you've got your ingredients and equipment ready too.

And while you're cooking, I want you to think about being safe and hygienic, and about using your food skills, and focus on precise cutting.

So really think about your cutting techniques and making the ingredients the same size for that even cooking.

So here's the recipe.

Here's the ingredients that you need, as well as the different equipment.

So you need to make sure you've got this ready.

And here's the method.

So Part 1 of the method and then Part 2.

So what I want you to do now is to make your yakisoba noodles.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready.

Good luck and I'll see you very soon.

So how did you get on?

How are your noodles?

I bet they smell and look amazing.

Have you tasted them yet?

I bet some of you probably have, haven't you?

That's fine.

So let's look at following the recipe.

So how did you do?

So the first one was about placing the noodles in hot water.

And that's to hydrate them because the noodles were dried.

So we're adding water to them.

And it's a simple way of rehydrating the noodles, or adding water back to the noodles.

Then we're going to peel and we cut the carrot into strips.

We peel and slice the onion.

We then sliced the cabbage and then also sliced the mushrooms.

So we did a lot of preparation for cooking in advance.

Then we went to the hob, and we heated the oil, either in a frying pan or a wok, and then we added the vegetables, and then we stir-fried those for about five to eight minutes, moving the vegetables around so that they cooked evenly around the pan.

We then drained the noodles in a colander over the sink, making sure water didn't get on the floor.

And then we added the noodles into the vegetables and stirred those all the way through.

Then we added the sauces and we cooked that through to get nice and hot for about two to three minutes.

And lastly, you may have decorated it with some pickled ginger, just to make it a bit more authentic.

And I really hope you enjoyed making your yakisoba noodles.

And perhaps you'll make them again.

You might try different types of vegetables or add a little bit of meat or fish to it.

It's really up to you.

So now we're going to evaluate our yakisoba noodles and we're going to use sensory evaluation.

So we're going to judge the appearance, the odor, the taste, and the texture of the noodles.

So what I want you to do is to think about those four different areas, and either under the unhappy face, the neutral face, or the happy face, put a tick.

So if you were really pleased the way it looked, you pick the smiley face.

And then try and put some comments in about why you put that tick in that certain position.

And also, I want you to try and describe your opinion about the dish overall.

Okay, pause the video and we'll be back very shortly.

So how did you get on?

Let's look at an example, shall we?

So here's an example that somebody's filled in.

And you can see the first one, appearance, it's not got a very good rating, has it?

It's got an unhappy face.

But the next two have two smiley faces, but the texture is somewhat in the middle.

And let's read their comments that they put, shall we?

So the appearance, it didn't look good.

I'll add more colorful vegetables next time.

So that kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

But however, the odor, it smelled really good.

And the noodles and the sauces working well together.

The taste, they said it worked really well.

And some great descriptions here.

And then the texture, they decided that the noodles weren't really cooked very well, so they need to make sure they're thoroughly cooked next time.

And lastly, their overall opinion, where you can see here that they thought it tasted great, and it had a lovely smell, and they really liked the sauce, but they would use some different vegetables next time, like peppers and sweet corn, to make it more colorful.

That's a really good idea.

And perhaps trying out other flavorings, for example, like fresh garlic.

I'm sure you've got lots of different answers here, but it's your opinion because it's about your senses and you undertaking sensory valuation.

Well done making your yakisoba noodles.

We've gone through so much today, haven't we?

We've been looking at hygiene and safety, how the heat is transferred, the food skills needed to make the yakisoba noodles, and also sensory evaluation.

There's a lot there.

Let's have a quick summary.

So yakisoba noodles are fried noodles with vegetables.

Food poisoning can be caused by eating a food that's contaminated with bacteria.

So we need to make sure that we've got good food hygiene in practice.

It's absolutely essential to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

And sensory evaluation, about using our senses to give an opinion about a food or drink.

Well, congratulations.

I really hope you enjoyed making this terrific Japanese dish.

And I'm sure if you made it again, you might use some different types of vegetables and perhaps some different types of flavorings, as well as noodles too.

I hope you choose another cooking and nutrition lesson very soon and we can cook together and learn more about food.

Thanks ever so much.

And I'll see you soon.

Bye.