Fire Up the Wok challenge crowns Northeastern Chinese culinary artist
Created: September 30, 2012 Last Updated: September 30, 2012
Celebrity chefs, judges, host and contestants stand among a large group of spectators after the preliminary round of NTD's International Chinese Culinary Competition held in Times Square. (Bin Dai/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK?In the heart of dazzling Times Square, the best of dozens of competing chefs rejoined for the final round in the Fire Up the Wok challenge, competing for the title of best Chinese chef, on Friday.
Winning the title is Chef Chen Yichun, crowned top winner of NTD Television?s Fifth International Chinese Culinary Competition, held in New York City.
On winning, Chef Chen said the most important thing for him was not the award but learning new things and in the process discovering any shortcomings. He said, ?It was not just an opportunity to advance one?s skills, but also one?s character and attitude.
?If one wants to cook good food, one first has to be a good person.?
Chef Chen specializes in Sichuan cuisine, one of the five cuisines of China included in the competition. The other four cuisines are Shandong, Cantonese, Huaiyang and Northeastern.
Top Winners
Gold: Chen Yichun
Silver: Hsieh Wen-Chang, Zhao Kefeng
Bronze: Alex Zhong, Masayuki Kanda, Huang Yuyang
Chef Chen Yichun in the final round, before the big win. (Bin Dai/The Epoch Times)
Along with Chef, 16 other chefs won awards and honorary mentions.
Most of the contestants have dozens of years of experience; accordingly the judging process was done very carefully. Given the difficulty of judging and the high level of competitors, the competition?s host Dan Chen said he didn?t wish to be on the judges? panel ?because it?s so hard to decide who will win.?
Head judge Chef Qu Yuqiang said that while cooking in the competition, contestants should not be in a hurry, but instead be calm and prudent. ?If a chef cooks so well he can bring the dish alive, there is certainly something beyond the techniques. It is a mentality of wisdom.?
\>");The Famed Wok
The cooking vessels used in the competitions are round-bottomed, deep ones made of iron; the kind that professional Chinese chefs use. The wok, which is the Cantonese word for cooking pots, is used in a variety of techniques, including deep frying, stir frying, poaching, searing stewing and many more styles.
To be able to use just one vessel for many cooking styles, chefs have to master many skills and techniques; one of them is the ?non-sticky iron wok? style.
?Usually a chef lets the wok heat up while cutting the ingredients, sometimes for as long as five minutes. Then cold oil is poured in. The point of putting cold oil into a very hot wok is so that the food will not stick onto the surface of the wok,? said Dan Chen.
The culinary competition, hosted by independent Chinese-language TV network New Tang Dynasty, is one of a series of different competitions designed to bring back traditional Chinese culture, something that was once almost destroyed by the communist party in China.
Prior to the final round of Friday?s culinary competition, two preliminary rounds were held. One took place a day before, in Times Square specifically for contestants in North America, and the other one in Taipei, Taiwan, that was held in August.
One of Chef Chen?s winning pieces, Dry Roasted Fish. (Bin Dai/The Epoch Times)
NTD also hosted?alongside the Times Square competition? The Emperor?s Banquet on Thursday night. Funds raised by the banquet went to a joint scholarship with the James Beard Foundation that benefits underprivileged students interested in Chinese culinary arts.
Although many have eaten Chinese food, authentic Chinese culinary food arts and techniques from various regions are not as familiar.
On that, one of the three bronze winners, Chef Alex Zhong, who?s been cooking Northeastern China cuisine since 1984 said, ?As Chinese, it is our duty to introduce our culture to the world. As for me, I want to introduce Northeastern Chinese cuisine to the world.?
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Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/nyc-culinary-competition-crowns-best-chinese-chef-298076.html
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