Young HK chefs scoop top awards

February 3, 2019

Plate up:

Team members (from left) Agnes Lee, Zoe Yip and Cloris Choy ensure their dishes look as good as they taste.

Female empowerment:

Zoe Yip says female chefs can shine alongside their male counterparts by demonstrating their professionalism and passion.

Stylish dish:

In keeping with the team’s vintage Jiangnan theme, the team’s dessert of a deep-fried purple sweet potato puff is shaped like an antique Chinese vase.

Shining moment:

Team members Melody Tang (left) and Victoria Yau’s dishes won them silver and gold medals.

Team spirit:

Chinese Culinary Institute Programme Manager (Chinese Catering & Operations) Pierre Lau says the young women worked well together in the competition.

Champion chefs:

International Culinary Institute graduates Henry Lee (left) and Wu Kwong-hoi won gold in the Two at Tango category at the Ningbo International Young Chefs Challenge in October 2018.

Download Video| Transcript

Voiceover:
The Chinese Culinary Institute sent its first-ever female chef team to the 2018 Asian Culinary Exchange in Shanghai last October.

They were up against some tough competition, but their three hot dishes, an appetizer and a dessert wowed the judges, and the team came home from the competition with three golds and two silvers.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Zoe Yip (Translation):
My dish consists of two parts. One is deep-fried eggplant with pickled cherry blossom sauce. Covered with a glaze, the eggplant tastes sweet and crispy.

The other part is stuffed bamboo fungus rolls with eggplant and quinoa, with Sichuan spicy sesame sauce. It’s a hot dish but it’s like a cold appetizer.

The most challenging part of the dish is whisking the glaze, as the steps are complicated.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Melody Tang (Translation):
My dish is steamed crab with egg white and Chinese yellow wine, with deep-fried crab claws wrapped in salted egg yolk.

I have to pay extra attention to the ratio of egg white to water, so the steamed egg white will taste smooth.

The meat has to be removed from the claws while the crab is still raw, to avoid the meat becoming chewy. So I need to use the right amount of strength to break the claws. Otherwise, the meat will fall apart.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Cloris Choy (Translation):
I added some Thai spices to my dish to bring out the exotic flavours.

I think the most difficult part is deboning two chickens within the time limit, as it’s time-consuming.

The pan-fried glutinous rice chicken roll is also not easy. Because if it’s not rolled tightly, it will fall apart when sliced and affect the look of the dish.

Voiceover:
The team chose “The Misty Rain of Jiangnan” as the theme for their five dishes which won them the Distinguished Styling Award.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Agnes Lee (Translation):
The competition was held in Shanghai. Suzhou and Hangzhou are around Shanghai. These places have spectacular scenery. So we set our theme as “The Misty Rain of Jiangnan” to create an artistic concept. Each of the five dishes has a beautiful Chinese name. We also plate them in an elegant way.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Victoria Yau (Translation):
My dish is the dessert part of “The Misty Rain of Jiangnan”. It’s a deep-fried purple sweet potato puff which looks like a vase. In keeping with our vintage Jiangnan theme, I shape my puff to look like an antique Chinese vase.

Voiceover:
The team’s success at the competition was not only a proud moment for Hong Kong, but for the chefs themselves.

Chinese Culinary Institute graduate Zoe Yip (Translation):
It’s the first time for the institute to send a female team to join an international culinary competition. This is recognition for Chinese female chefs.

Chinese kitchens are traditionally dominated by men. But I believe female chefs can also shine with our professionalism and passion.

Chinese Culinary Institute Programme Manager (Chinese Catering & Operations) Pierre Lau (Translation):
The five girls get along well and showed good team work in the competition. This is what the industry really needs and this is what pleased me the most.

The institute is passing on many cooking techniques to a new generation. We hope to establish the institute as Asia’s systematic culinary training base.

Voiceover:
Hong Kong’s Western cuisine chefs are doing equally well at culinary competitions.

International Culinary Institute graduate Henry Lee bagged two golds at the Ningbo International Young Chefs Challenge in October.

International Culinary Institute graduate Henry Lee (Translation):
The competition requires us to cook a beef tenderloin at medium rare. I set the oven at 180 degrees Celsius, while the cooking time depends on the size of the tenderloin.

When I take out the meat, I use a thermometer to measure its internal temperature. If it’s 50 degrees Celsius, then I meet the competition’s requirements.

Voiceover:
To broaden students’ horizons, the International Culinary Institute organises exchange activities for them and invites master chefs from all over the world to host cooking demonstrations here. The students are also encouraged to take part in world-class culinary competitions.

International Culinary Institute Chief Instructor (Food Preparation - Western) Boris Leung:
As a teacher, I’m glad to see my students winning at international culinary competitions. For them, it’s recognition. To the industry, it’s inspirational.

Hong Kong’s Western cuisine industry is developing vigorously and is attracting master chefs from all over the world to come and open their restaurants here. This creates a lot of room for development for our Western cuisine chefs.

Voiceover:
Apart from cooking tips, Henry also shared the secrets of his success.

International Culinary Institute graduate Henry Lee (Translation):
I like long-distance running. It requires patience and perseverance. I need to practise every day and continue correcting my mistakes. This is what I have learnt from running, which I apply to my cooking.

In the male-dominated culinary industry, five young women have set their sights on forging careers as Chinese cuisine chefs. They were brought together by the Chinese Culinary Institute to form its first-ever female chef team to compete in the 2018 Asian Culinary Exchange in Shanghai last October.

Cloris Choy, Agnes Lee, Melody Tang, Victoria Yau and Zoe Yip are Chinese Culinary Institute graduates. They were up against some tough competition, cooking against chefs from places including Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia and Shanghai.

Their three hot dishes, an appetizer and a dessert impressed the judges, and the team came home from the competition with three golds and two silvers.

Creative dishes

The team chose “The Misty Rain of Jiangnan” as the theme for their five dishes which won them the Distinguished Styling Award.

“The competition was held in Shanghai. Suzhou and Hangzhou are around Shanghai. These places have spectacular scenery. So we set our theme as ‘The Misty Rain of Jiangnan’ to create an artistic concept. Each of the five dishes has a beautiful Chinese name. We also plate them in an elegant way,” Ms Lee explained.

Every detail of each dish is meticulously thought out, including the dessert.

“It is a deep-fried purple sweet potato puff which looks like a vase. In keeping with our vintage Jiangnan theme, I shape my puff to look like an antique Chinese vase,” noted Ms Yau.

Girl power

The team’s success at the competition was not only a proud moment for Hong Kong, but for the chefs themselves.

“This is recognition for Chinese female chefs,” Ms Yip said.

“Chinese kitchens are traditionally dominated by men. But I believe female chefs can also shine with our professionalism and passion.”

Chinese Culinary Institute Programme Manager (Chinese Catering & Operations) Pierre Lau formed the team. He said the young women did not know each other before the competition, but were put together as they had all performed well in other local competitions.

“The five girls get along well and showed good team work in the competition. This is what the industry really needs and this is what pleased me the most.”

Broadening horizons

Hong Kong’s Western cuisine chefs have been doing equally well at culinary competitions.

International Culinary Institute graduate Henry Lee bagged two golds at the Ningbo International Young Chefs Challenge in October.

To broaden students’ horizons, the International Culinary Institute organises exchange activities for them and invites master chefs from all over the world to host cooking demonstrations here.

International Culinary Institute Chief Instructor (Food Preparation - Western) Boris Leung said the students are encouraged to take part in world-class culinary competitions.

“As a teacher, I am glad to see my students winning at international culinary competitions. For them, it is recognition. To the industry, it is inspirational.”