Teen to battle chefs at world meet

JOHOR BARU: A 14-year-old aspiring to be a pastry chef will join 1,500 other competitors vying for top awards at the World Chefs Championship here.

The competition will run until tomorrow.

Age is no barrier for Shih Yun Chen from Taiwan as she looks to show off her skills at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre where the championship, entering its second year, is held.

Soft-spoken Yun Chen is not new to the culinary world, having grown up in her family’s restaurant back in Nantou county.

“My father has been a chef for 20 years, so I practically grew up in my family’s restaurant.

“Although my interest is in pastry-making – completely different from my father’s, which is traditional Taiwanese cuisine – my family has been supportive.

“It is my first time taking part in a cooking competition overseas and my mum even gave me ideas and suggestions while I prepared for the last six months,” she said.

Yun Chen, who is still in school while attending a part-time course at a culinary and art institute in Taiwan, cited Remy – a cooking rat from the 2007 animated film Ratatouille – as her inspiration.

“I made the character of Nezha, a Chinese child deity, out of fondant which had been baked to retain its shape.

“I chose Nezha because the deity has a fiery temper, like me.

“My only concern is for my design to retain its shape throughout the three-day competition as the weather in Taiwan and Malaysia are different,” she said, adding that she hoped to make her family proud.

As for Kolej Kemahiran Johor pastry student Nuqman Md Edi, 16, the competition was a chance for him to learn from senior chefs.

“It is inspiring to see international chefs making fruit carvings, Sarawak laksa and mooncakes. I hope to become like them and open my own cafe,” he added.

Participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, India, the United States and Canada will be vying for trophies and certificates.

The competition has nine umbrella categories including pastries, cold dishes, hot dishes, dim sum and traditional kuih, which are divided into 19 sub-categories, which are then further broken into 152 categories.

Organising chairman Michael Ooi said it was the second time the competition was held after its inaugural event in Alor Setar in 2019.

“It was delayed a few times due to Covid-19 and the committee is thankful for the Johor government and Tourism Johor’s support for making the event possible,” he said.

Ooi said the creations would be judged by a panel of local and international senior chefs who would rank the participants based on accumulated points.

Meanwhile, state tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar, who launched the competition, said the event would be a unique experience for visitors.

“We usually watch cooking competitions on television, so this is a good chance for the people to see one in real life.

“I also encourage participants to explore the cuisines in our state. They might get ideas for their next dish,” he added.

The competition runs from 11am to 11pm and the entry fee per visitor is RM150.

Taiwanese Shih Yun Chen, 14, showing off her creation Nezha, a Chinese child deity, made entirely out of fondant which had been baked to retain its shape. She was among the participants in the second World Chefs Championship held in the Persada International Convention Centre in Johor Baru from May 18 until May 20, 2023.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *