L1 Home economics - Chop Suey

The task: This period of Home Eco we prepared and cooked Chop Suey. Ingredients we used were Orange Peppers, Beef, spring onion, carrot, onion, soy sauce, Lemon and crushed garlic, frozen corn, and peas as well as vermicelli.

The Process: As we enter the room we do the usual routine of washing our hands with warm soapy water to remove germs, tie our hair up and put our apron on followed by spraying our workspace with anti-bacterial spray to get rid of the bacteria around. We discussed our plan on who has what job and we split and begun. I was in charge of prepping the vegetables, so I went to the trolley with tongs and a plate and collected the carrots, onion, peppers and spring onion. But not all at once or else I would have lost some of the ingredients. I took them back to the table and washed them all with cold water, removing all the bacteria and chemicals which could have been on the vegetables. Placing the vegetables on the correct green board with the green knife, I chopped them up by either cutting them into strips or dicing. I got the sauces and frozen vegetables by taking them back to my table and collecting the correct amount I needed. My teammates were preparing the vermicelli by leaving the noodles in a bowl of water for 15 minutes then draining and leaving out waiting for the beef to be cooked. When my teammate handled the beef she used the red board with the red knife and cut it into long strips keeping it separated from the green board and its content on it. We cooked our meats to the correct temperature (75 degrees or if handling beef till the outside is dark brown.) Adding all the ingredients together with the beef, I took over cooking while the others started the dishes. They washed the dishes with warm water mixed with dish soap to create an unliveable environment that bacteria could not live on. Drying the dishes is a process which removes most of the needs for bacteria, They removed the moisture, food, changed the pH level and changed the temperature of the equipment. As the foods were cooked and our environment was tidy I dished it into our container evenly making sure it was spread flat instead of piled up in on big pile not allowing it to cool.

During yesterday's practical, we ensured that we limited the chance of contamination by.. Separating our boards, Raw meats from vegetables. Washing our vegetables. Making sure no food particles were on our equipment.

Why did I do this: Washing my vegetables. Washing the vegetables was an important part because we had to remove all the chemicals, bacteria and dirt that could have been left on the vegetables which could make us ill.

Why did we do this: Separate our foods. We separated our foods e.g Meats from vegetables keeping them on their own boards not too close to each other so we don't transfer any bacteria from the raw meat which could make us sick. We also made sure after we handled the raw ingredients we washed our hands if we were to be interacting with the vegetables.

Why did we do this: Cooking our foods to the right temperature. We cooked our food to the appropriate temperature (above 75 degrees) to make sure the bacteria have died off.