German chef loves the many uses of palm oil

“My colleagues called it ‘vegetable oil’, but they didn’t tell me exactly what it was made of. I used it and found it was an easy oil to use for everything. No smell, no taste – a good oil,” says Kern.

 

“Only later did I learn that it was palm oil, which I had never used before then,” says the chef, originally from Braunschweig, Germany.

 

“By that time, I had already fallen in love with its versatility.”

 

That was 16 years ago, and Kern still uses palm oil today.

 

“I use it for everything,” he says. “You cannot escape from using palm oil when living in a country that produces it. But the good news is, it is not difficult to use, and is very versatile.”

 

He loves red palm oil in particular, for the silky reddish-orange hue it adds to salad dressings. And its rich components of pro-Vitamin A carotenoids and Vitamin E, of course.

 

“You can even consume a tablespoon of red palm oil every day to improve your health. That’s how good it is,” says the masterchef.

 

Kern, like many other chefs, uses golden palm oil for deep-frying, as the oil has a high smoke point. When oil is heated past its smoke point, the fat molecules break down, oxidise and release free radicals and a substance called acrolein – the chemical that gives burnt foods their acrid flavour and aroma.

 

With a smoke point of 235°C, palm oil can withstand high temperatures and deliver the desired crisp result.

 

Besides using palm oil for his home cooking, Kern also uses it at the School of Culinary Arts at Berjaya University College of Hospitality in Kuala Lumpur, where he is the director. “We use palm oil for all hot cooking,” he says.

 

On top of the red and golden palm oil, Kern also use palm kernel fat at the culinary school. Palm kernel fat is extracted from the nut of the oil palm fruit. It is cholestrol-free and is high in Vitamin K.

 

“Traditionally, pork lard is used to make sausages, as it holds the meat together and gives it a juicier taste. But at Berjaya, we use palm kernel fat instead and so all of our sausages are halal.”

 

Palm kernel fat is semi-solid at room temperature. It also has a high smoke point and can be stored longer than other vegetable oils.

 

“Palm kernel fat has the same consistency as lard. It is tasteless and has all the classic advantages of oil. It is also easy to use for emulsions. I use it in the stuffing for my dolma (stuffed cabbage leaves), and it holds the meat together real well,” says Kern.

 

Here, he shares some of his favourite dishes made using palm oil. One of these is the Smoked Tilapia Fillet with Paku Shoots and Red Palm Oil Aioli.

 

The chef has a crucial tip for anyone using the freshwater tilapia. “I strongly suggest that you use live fish for this, it will taste much better. And if you do, don’t forget to let the tilapia swim in clear water for about four days before you prepare it,” says Kern. “This is to remove the muddy taste that freshwater fish can have sometimes.”

 

For those who don’t fancy dealing with live fish and prefer to get theirs prepared at supermarkets, Kern says that you can replace the tilapia with any other type of fish.

 

“I’m just using tilapia to support the use of local fish,” he says. “But you can use any fish that you want, such as salmon or tuna.”