Judges from the World Association of Master Chefs judge cooking competition for Vietnamese students

Tran Truong Giang prepares ingredients for his team's food decoration - Photo: TRONG NHAN

On the evening of December 18, Saigon Tourism College coordinated with the United States Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) to organize a culinary competition. Notably, the competition had judges from the World Master Chef Association.

Learn from "chef mom" how to make pan-fried chicken

From the main ingredient of chicken, 12 teams, each consisting of 2 students, will create dishes within 60 minutes to conquer 3 judges who are famous chefs from home and abroad.

The time allotted by the organizers is only 60 minutes. Each team will have to “race” to complete all the steps from preparation to cooking, and presentation within this time, but still have to maintain the quality of the dish according to some standards of a “5-star” dish.

According to the organizers, the pressure on the contestants is to transform a familiar ingredient, chicken, into a dish that is not only delicious but also shows their team's unique style.

Always busy throughout, student Tran Truong Giang, majoring in Culinary Arts, said his team brought to the competition a dish called black pepper chicken rolls.

Compared to other types of meat, rolling and shaping chicken is the most difficult. However, if you can do this technique, your group's dish will definitely get high marks. "So I spend a lot of time rolling and shaping the chicken in many layers before cooking," Giang said.

Finished product of black pepper chicken rolls by student Truong Giang and his teammates - Photo: TRONG NHAN

Meanwhile, contestant Nguyen Truong Duy and his teammates chose to make pan-fried chicken. Duy said this was a dish his mother used to make for him when he was a child.

Before entering the contest, you go home and consult your mother's "secret". So your mother reminds Duy to remember to add a little coconut milk right after turning off the stove to make the dish more flavorful and fragrant.

“My family once advised me not to go to culinary school and wanted me to go to teaching school. At that time, it took a lot of effort to convince them. Now my family has seen and accepted my passion,” Duy said.

Student groups have 60 minutes to complete their dishes – Photo: TRONG NHAN

Student Nguyen Thi Hue Tran and her teammate Nguyen Tan Thien made a Northwestern-style pan-fried chicken dish, served with sticky rice and passion fruit sauce. To prepare this dish, Tran had to order mac khen seeds from the North.

Because according to you, this is the most important ingredient to give the dish the distinctive flavor of the Northwest region of Vietnam. “I really want to be able to bring the cuisine of many regions of Vietnam to the world in the future,” Tran said.

Hue Tran and Duc Thien's dishes were awarded first prize. They will participate in the national competition, competing with students from other regions, which will be held in Da Nang in the near future.

Pan-fried chicken with Northwest flavor, served with sticky rice and passion fruit sauce won first prize in the contest - Photo: TRONG NHAN

The judges were surprised.

Chef Norbert Ehrbar, a member of the World Master Chef Association, said he was extremely surprised by the quality of the Vietnamese students in the competition.

You have very good cooking techniques, master the principles and ways to combine ingredients.

“In particular, Vietnamese students are very good at creating dishes, combining Western ingredients such as American chicken with ingredients available in Vietnam's regions to create new and unique dishes,” said Mr. Norbert Ehrbar.

Chef Norbert Ehrbar (left) – member of the World Master Chef Association – grades the test papers of Vietnamese students – Photo: TRONG NHAN

Mr. Norbert Ehrbar said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, many hotels and restaurants around the world are recording a shortage of human resources in the service industry in general and the kitchen department in particular. Therefore, the opportunity for Vietnamese students to work for leading corporations is huge.

According to him, Vietnamese students in the culinary industry are highly appreciated for their diligence and hard work. However, he advises that to go far in their career, they should never stop learning. Learning is never enough and every day they must think about new creations.

“Remember that school only gives you the basics. The day you graduate is not the day you finish your studies, but the day you begin a new, long and important learning journey,” said Norbert Ehrbar.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giam-khao-tu-hiep-hoi-sieu-dau-bep-the-gioi-cham-thi-nau-an-cho-sinh-vien-viet-20241219113759021.htm