This blog entry has been a long time in the making and I've been conceptualising it for quite a while, even before I started work.  In fact I'm quite excited about introducing everyone to a special breed of chefs - the naval chef.  And on no other ship in the Singapore Navy can you find a better chef than one on the LST.  If restaurant chefs aspire to work in establishments like Raffles Hotel or El Bulli, then naval chefs aspire to get posted to LSTs and more recently, the frigate. 

A naval chef is indeed special, more so onboard an LST; he not only has to possess skills to cook a sit-down dinner for 15 but also skills to feed a ravenous 150.  He needs to work in a team in a setting of strict military hierarchy.  He needs to master additional non-cooking skills needed onboard a ship during wartime. He has to cook no matter whether he's seasick or not.  And quite simply, the entire operational readiness and morale of the ship is dependent on whether that chicken curry he was in-charge of was thoroughly enough to destroy the salmonella bacteria (the thing that gives food poisoning)

A typical routine might involve something pictured on the left here, preparation of some finger food for a visit by VIPs onboard the ship.

A naval chef has to work within certain limitations of course.  Other than those mentioned above, no open flame is allowed i n the galley (the ship's kitchen).  The SAF doesn't exactly supply an exciting array of exotic ingredients either.  Neither is beef allowed onboard.  But onboard the LST, the chef has one hell of a kitchen to play with.  Commercial-grade blixers, grillers, steamers, rack ovens, deep-fryers and giant rice cooker that I could probably curl up in.  Featured in this picture is First Sergeant Willard at work at the deep fryer.  The naval chef is also well-protected in his playground - carbon dioxide and wet chemical fire fighting systems abound.

I'm sure you've heard of "head chef" or "executive chef" but onboard every ship the towkay (big boss) chef is known as the Chief Chef.  I've taken a liking to that alliterated title.  Everyone onboard says "sheeve shef".  And the chief chef onboard Republic of Singapore Ship Resolution is Staff Sergeant Siva.  You see him here working the uber deadly can-opener: 

Siva and I go back quite some time.  I got to know him this time last year when I was posted onboard Resolution.  He has helped me quite a bit.  I remember doing bread and butter pudding for 200+ persons during an exercise last year and Siva helped me in securing some vital ingredients like bread, milk and custard powder.  More importantly, he gave me time and space in his galley.  So this time round in return, I'll give him time and space on my blog!  I managed to catch up with him in the last few days to do a short interview:

Me: So chief, tell me how you became a chef in the navy?

Siva: Well I was a chef in the army from 1993-1995.  Then I became a forklift driver from 1995-1999.  In 1999, to be a chef, you had to go through a 7-week cookery course at Sembawang Camp.  Following that, I was posted onboard a mine countermeasure vessel until 2005 when I came onboard Reso.

Me: What kind of training did you have to go through?

Siva: Following the 7-week course, I had to attend a basic course at SHATEC called NITEC 2 (National ITE Certificate) which taught some basic cookery skills.  Two years later, I attended NITEC 3, a more advanced course and more catered to the navy.  At NTC 3, I was taught how to manage a kitchen, organise formal cocktail events [cocktails events are important for the LST since foreign port visits and hosting of foreign naval personnel onboard are frequent].  Basic things like not serving curry at a cocktail since most navy uniforms are white.  Currently, I'm waiting to go for my next course which is a management diploma.

Me: What are the most popular food items onboard?

Siva: Beer and ice-cream lah! Beer is only available when the ship travels overseas and is a much-welcome change to the normal "coloured-water".  Ice-cream will always be ice-cream, hot and tired sailors will always welcome it.

Me: So how is a ship galley run?

Siva: In harbour, each chef is responsible for a dish.  At sea, we run duty teams.  For cocktails, which are major events, everyone is involved.  The preparation can take up to 9 hours!  When we need to cook or hundreds of people, the main concern is not so much food quality or quantity but ensuring everyone gets a fair share of food.  For big numbers, it will usually be 2-meat, 1 vege meals.  On overseas trips, the ship is usually given a makan fund which allows us to get special items like seafood not normally provided by the SAF.

Me: Your favourite port so far?

Siva: Jakarta! Aiyah, sir, Malaysia is damn boring, no pubs! But for my trip to Jakarta, I had to endure the equator crossing ceremony. [probably made it memorable :p]

And of course, the piece de la resistance, Chief Chef's own recipe for Ginger Chicken:

Serves 6

2 larged onions, sliced

2 pieces of ginger, size of thumb, skinned and sliced

1 green capsicum

500g chicken, any cut, with or without bone

Light and dark soya sauce

Sugar

Stock cubes

Corn flour

-Heat up oil in a pot or pan and sautee the onions till fragrant

-Add in a chicken cube and dissolve it.  Add in the capsicum and ginger and sautee till fragrant again

-Add the meat and stir

-Add light soya sauce to taste.  Stir

-Add water to taste then cover and simmer for 15 mins

-Open and add the dark soya sauce, taste again.  Add the sugar to taste

-Dissolve corn flour in cold water and slowly add in till the desired consistency is achived.

-Garnish with spring onions if desired

Voila! Basic ingredients, basic methods and a bit of "gang hu" (skill) go a long way.  There are rarely complaints about the standard of the food onboard the LST.  And I've never seen a recipe book in the galley before, so its a mish mash of what one can remember and a bit of creativity.  Well, the naval chefs: a special breed of men.

(Tender Loving Care: Siva and his junior chef, Jason: jolly good men!)