Singapore Junior Chefs Take 2nd place at the First Asian Junior Chef Challenge

Singapore Junior Chefs Take 2nd place at the

First Asian Junior Chef Challenge

At the recently concluded inaugural Junior Chefs Challenge which is part of the Indonesian Salon Culinaire held in Jakarta, a young junior team of aspiring chefs from Singapore emerge as first runners up, losing out only to the Malaysian team who took first place. Our boys, Elvin Chew, Xu Tian Mu and Terrence Chuah had been training under the watchful eyes of coach mentor Chef Tong Khoo, whom by himself is also an accolade laden competition veteran.

The team has been rehearsing for the last 3 months and being young means requiring a lot of energy on learning to be able to put everything together like a seasoned pro in order to be able to stand out as a top contender. The team was expected to crack a 3 course menu from a mystery box of ingredients within 2 hours. The suspense and time restrictions add on to the challenge of the event and it takes all the past rehearsals prior to the actual competition to see the boys through. While they have given their best shot during the competition, Chef Tony feels the team can still go much further with better team work and going through a few round more of such intense competitions to make them battle hardened to take on the pros in a few years time from now.

All over the experience gained for the juniors during this formative time of their career is invaluable and it helps them to prepare for the future challenges ahead. The team would like to express their appreciation to the organizing committee of the Salaon Culinaire Indonesia, the Association of Culinary Professionals for logistic assistance and hosting establishments for their hospitality.

Appetiser

Main Course

Dessert

Eric Low

Mushroom Farm

MyCo Farm Visit

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Shitake! Enoki! Shimeji! Oyster!

Much more mushrooms are appearing in the market these days. Are mushrooms here imported or grown locally? If they are grown here, how many farms does Singapore have and where are they located?

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Recently, the Singapore Junior Chefs Club had the privilege to visit MyCo Farm, a mushroom farm which houses more than 10 varieties of mushrooms.

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17 members from SJCC were excited to have a tour at the mushroom farm near Jalan kayu. "When I first saw the farm, I thought to myself it doesn't look huge, but when we went inside I saw around 12 wooden houses for individual mushroom species and each wooden house could be used for a bedroom plus a living room enough to put up a television and sofa!", commented a member.

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We were briefed that mushrooms require a certain temperature in order to grow well, mostly 18 degrees celsius and below.

The mushrooms there are well taken care of and professionally groomed. Never in my life have I ate mushrooms raw but I did it. Fresh mushrooms have health benefits and they have an even better quality than imported mushrooms.

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Towards the end of the tour, we were given a mushroom cooking demo by the friendly staff there. The taste is just so pure when it is only sauteed with olive oil, garlic and seasoned with pinch of salt. Simply delicious! MyCo Farm also produces their own brand of frozen mushroom soup, a variety of mushroom products (eg. cookbooks and mushroom guidebooks) and fresh mushrooms for sale. The trip gave me a clearer understanding on how mushrooms are grown.

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With Culinary Spirits

Athejo Chia

Memberships

SJCC Committee

WA OceanaFest Experience

WA OceanaFest Experience

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Hi, all Culinarians

I’m Tianmu. Previously a Shatec student, now I’m part of the SJCC committee under Memberships.

About a month ago, Elvin Chew and I managed to win the Nestle Professional Junior Chef of the Year Competition 2009. For the winners, we were given the opportunity to assist the National Team for their WA Oceanfest culinary competition in Perth.

For this trip, it was a very good learning experience. The National Team consists of Captain Douglas Tay (Sous Chef, Equinox Complex, Fairmont Hotel Singapore), and members Jeffery Siew (Executive Sous Chef, Marina Mandarin Singapore), Kong Kok Kiang (Senior Sous Chef, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel), Nicole Wong (Pastry Chef, Swissotel The Stamford, Fairmont Hotel Singapore) and Yew Eng Tong (Sous Chef, The Cannery).

During the preparation, I was allocated to assist Chef Nicole with the Desserts. Working with her, I came to understand how tough it is to prepare dessert for competition. Her chocolate is really fine and unique.

For the results, Singapore was awarded Gold. The Overall Champion went to Hong Kong.

Elvin and I would like to thank the sponsor: Nestle Professional for creating this opportunity for us learn from the National Team

Best Culinary Spirits

Xu Tianmu