29 June was a delicious night as chefs from Singapore and around the world converge for the MICHELIN guide Singapore Star event. On the menu: exquisite dishes from our very own Chef Cheung Siu Kong, Jason Tan, as well as Tam Kwok Fung from Jade Dragon and Chicago’s Grace restaurant. These plates revolve around the theme of classic dishes, or its reinterpretation and took months of planning.
Here, the chefs explain how they put the flavours together and tell us what makes it a classic.
Chef Leong Chee Yeng prepared three canapés prepared for the night, namely Crispy Roasted Pork Belly, Jade Dumplings and Golden Crab Pearl. "To me, classics are like a good song that has lasting quality. You never get tired of it," he says.
Chef Tam Kwok Fung of Jade Dragon in Macau created a double-boiled dendrobium, yellow squash soup with Brittany lobster and pork shank. These carefully selected ingredients are left to simmer over hours to extract and infuse the flavours and essence into the clear tasty broth.
‘Classic’ is a term that’s often bandied about without much thought but for chef Jason Tan of one starred Corner House, it’s all about paying homage to his past. He up his smoked Patagonian toothfish with celeriac remoulade, black truffles and French bacon, a reinterpretation of the recipes he learnt very early on in his career.
Chef Cheung Siu Kong of Summer Pavillion served up a dessert of crispy almond shortbread, almond black sesame pudding and black sesame roll presented in a monochrome theme. "Classics are able to endure the test of time, yet able to maintain individuality and evolve constantly," he says.
