FOODS TRAINEE 5

BLACK BUN SESAME SEED BURGER

         A hamburger, beefburger or burger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat, usually beef, placed inside a sliced bread roll or bun. The patty may be pan fried, barbecued, or flame broiled. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon, onion, pickles, or chiles; condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, or "special sauce"; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
          The term "burger" can also be applied to the meat patty on its own, especially in the UK where the term "patty" is rarely used, or the term can even refer simply to ground beef. The term may be prefixed with the type of meat or meat substitute used, as in "turkey burger", "bison burger", or "veggie burger".
          Hamburgers are sold at fast-food restaurants, diners, and specialty and high-end restaurants (where burgers may sell for several times the cost of a fast-food burger, but may be one of the cheaper options on the menu). There are many international and regional variations of the hamburger.

          Hamburgers are usually a feature of fast food restaurants. The hamburgers served in major fast food establishments are usually mass-produced in factories and frozen for delivery to the site. These hamburgers are thin and of uniform thickness, differing from the traditional American hamburger prepared in homes and conventional restaurants, which is thicker and prepared by hand from ground beef. Most American hamburgers are round, but some fast-food chains, such as Wendy's, sell square-cut hamburgers. Hamburgers in fast food restaurants are usually grilled on a flat-top, but some firms, such as Burger King, use a gas flame grilling process. At conventional American restaurants, hamburgers may be ordered "rare", but normally are served medium-well or well-done for food safety reasons. Fast food restaurants do not usually offer this option.

CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP

          Cream of mushroom soup is a simple type of soup where a basic roux is thinned with cream or milk and then mushrooms and/or mushroom broth are added. It is well known in North America as a common type of condensed canned soup. Cream of mushroom soup is often used as a base ingredient in casseroles and comfort foods. This use is similar to that of a mushroom flavored gravy.

         Soups made with cream and mushrooms are much older than the canned variety. Ancient Italian (Salsa colla) and French (Béchamel) cream sauces, and soups based on them have been made for many hundreds of years. In America, the Campbell Soup Company began producing its well-known "Cream of Mushroom Soup" in 1934, the same year that it introduced "Chicken with Noodles".

         Canned cream of mushroom soup has been described as "America's béchamel". In Minnesota, the ingredient is often called "Lutheran binder," in reference to its thickening properties and its prominence in hotdish recipes, especially in Lutheran church cookbooks.

TOM YAM SOUP

          Tom yum or tom yam is a type of hot and sour Thai soup, usually cooked with shrimp (prawn). Tom yum has its origin in Thailand. In recent years, tom yam has been popularised around the world.
          The words "tom yam" are derived from two Thai words. Tom refers to the boiling process, while yam refers to a Thai spicy and sour salad. Indeed, tom yum is characterised by its distinct hot and sour flavours, with fragrant spices and herbs generously used in the broth. The basic broth is made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed chili peppers.
         Commercial tom yum paste is made by crushing all the herb ingredients and stir frying in oil. Seasoning and other preservative ingredients are then added. The paste is bottled or packaged and sold around the world. Tom yum flavored with the paste may have different characteristics from that made with fresh herb ingredients. The soup often includes meats such as chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp.

           The taste of Tom yum is based on the sour and spicy tastes. A paste called Nam prik pao is prepared as a base of the soup, to which water and other herbs and meat are added. The Nam prik pao is made from roasted chilies, shallots, and garlic and the ingredients are best grilled on charcoal fire.
          The basic ingredient of Tom yum is shrimp or pork. If shrimp is the base ingredient, put it in soup after the soup boils. If pork is the base ingredient, put it in the soup before it boils. The most popular Tom yum base is river shrimp called “Tom yum Goong”.
          The essential ingredients of Tom yum are herbs such as lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves. Other ingredients are also important especially Thai chilies, mushroom, coriander leaf (cilantro), tomatoes, sweet white onions, lime juice, sugar, and fish sauce. “Tom yum nam khon” is a variety with coconut milk or evaporated milk.