Asian master chefs nail mouth-watering Chinese dishes in competition

By Chung Joo-won

SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- Master chefs of Chinese cuisine from across Asia fascinated crowds with the latest nouveau-fusion dishes at a competition on Tuesday, exploring new potentials of Asian plates in the global market.

Three hundred chefs -- 100 culinary students and 200 professionals -- participated in the second round of the annual "Asian Master Chefs Competition in Korea" in central Seoul.

"Our goal is to show South Korea's capacity to host a globally recognized competition for Asian chefs of Chinese cuisine," said Chiu Kuang Hsin, the chief of Korea Chinese Food Association and organizer of the event.

The Asian cooking event ultimately aims to help South Korea host the "World Championship of Chinese Cuisine (WCCC)," or the so-called "Olympic Games of master chiefs of Chinese cuisine." Chiu will attend this year's WCCC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Sept. 28. There, he will push to host the quadrennial global event in South Korea.

"We are seeing an increasing number of young talent with surprisingly creative ideas," Chiu continued.

The competition had four sections -- professional and culinary students, and were then team challengers and individual contestants.

In the team competition, the challengers competed on teams of four. Each team whipped up four servings of a full course, consisting of hot or cold appetizers, main meat dishes, main seafood or poultry dishes, an Asian dish of the chef's creation, and dessert. Decorative vegetable carvings were allowed, according to the organizer.

The judges looked into four factors in evaluating the dishes: the course organization, the level of technical intricacy and creativity, the practicality and marketability, and professionalism in cooking procedures.

The individual challenge required two main dishes per participant: one meat dish and a seafood or poultry dish of two servings. The same grading factors applied to the individual competition.

The exhibition hall bustled with judges from South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, who silently roamed the exhibition hall with evaluation sheets. South Korean judges were largely college professors from culinary departments. Those from Taiwan and Japan were mostly chiefs of the countries' Chinese culinary associations.

"This year's competition seems fiercer than the one from last year," said Choi Song-san, one of the competition's judges and the naturalized ethnic Korean professor of Hyejeon College in South Chungcheong Province.

"We are putting a stronger emphasis on the application of novel ingredients and the harmony of each dish in a full course," he continued as he finished analyzing the submitted works.

The recipes of the participants' work, which had to be turned in beforehand, are meant to inspire other professionals at the exhibition. Excellent dishes may lead to a business partnership with local food companies as well, according to Choi.

Indeed, novel dishes appeared on the tables at the exhibition hall, including Korean kimchi made of tomato and cilantro instead of the usual ingredient, cabbage.

Expensive ingredients, such as abalones, ginseng and caviar, and regional specialties, such as crocodile, dragon fruit and cricket, abounded in the hall, all coated with thin layers of gelatin to prolong the dishes' fresh looks.

The participants were allowed to freely decorate the table settings and bring lighting that best matched their china. After the morning session ended, some chefs complained to their teammates, regretting that they should have cared more about the table setting.

In the intermission sessions, the exhibition hall swarmed with hundreds of Korean and international chefs with cameras in hand.

"I should have done better -- these works (of other competitors) are incredible," said Shin Jae-in, a 22-year-old culinary student who aspires to become "a master chef with prominence and authority."

"I'd come back for next year's competition if I have the chance," he added.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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