Recognizing New Talents at the King Chef Challenge 2019
King Chef continues to recognize and discover new talents as it held the King Chef Challenge 2019 last November 19, 2019 at Ayala Malls Manila Bay. This food tasting event featured several dishes prepared on the spot by King Chef’s talented roster. What made it more special what that the winning group and dish was voted and judged by the guests and audiences themselves.
King Chef Challenge 2019 was hosted by Ms. Valerie Tan and KTG’s (Kain Tulog Gang) very own Spanky Enriquez. The event was held at the Activity Center of the brand new Ayala Malls Manila Bay which is almost as big as the Mall of Asia.
Executive Chef Joel Aroy welcomed the guests and challenged the participating chefs to prepare their best dishes. Chef Joey has been with King Chef since it began and was the grand winner during the first edition of this challenge. Now on its 7th year, the annual King Chef Challenge continues to discover and promote its chefs, especially as it has now expanded to 8 branches in Metro Manila.
There will be three groups consisting of one pair of chefs who will be featuring their special dishes for everyone to enjoy. Each group is given 30 minutes to prepare two dishes, after which the guests will be given samples to taste and vote on.
The cooking was done just outside the activity center but it was broadcast live on the screens so we could see how each dish was prepared.
Group 1 started with the Fisherman’s Prawn Ball since they mentioned that both their parents worked as fishermen. This lovely dish uses Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce and Lee Kum Kee Sesame Oil to create this elegant presentation. Unlike other versions of prawn balls, this one uses fish roe as its coating.
An early crowd favorite was the Golden Tower with Plum Glazed Chicken, both for its presentation and texture. This dish uses a combination of Lee Kum Kee Japanese style soy sauce, oyster sauce, plum sauce, hoisin sauce, chicken marinade, and liquid seasoning.
Group 2 showcased their Cheezy Breaded Prawns using Lee Kum Kee Plum Sauce and Liquid seasoning. I liked this dish a lot because of the crispy breading while the cheese and prawn combination also worked wonders.
Another dish prepared by the group was the Meatball Crepe in Milk Tea Sauce which uses oyster sauce, plum sauce, and liquid seasoning. This was a unique dish served in a very interesting manner.
For the third and last group, they presented their Prawns Soya Cake with 4 Treasures Sauce using a variety of Lee Kum Kee products. What I liked about this dish was the huge piece of crunchy prawn lying on top of the soya cake.
Lastly, the Chinese Chicken Roulade with 3 Kinds of Mushroom uses Lee Kum Kee Chicken Marinade, Hoisin Sauce, and Oyster Sauce. All three teams seemed to offer their specialty dishes, so now it is time for us to judge which one is the best.
Each guest was given a small token which they would drop on the dish that they think best represents the King Chef Challenge. I had a tough time choosing between two dishes, but I eventually decided to vote for the Prawns Soya Cake.
King Chef owners Michael Chan-Ang and Marites Apiado-Ang awarded the eventual winners who turned out to be Group 1. The Golden Tower with Plum Glazed Chicken also ended up being the winning dish. Each group got to bring home special prizes with the grand winners bringing home P40,000 in cash. Congratulation to all the participants of the King Chef Challenge 2019 and see you again next year!
Congrats to the winners and runners up of King Chef Challenge 2019. Video here >>> https://youtu.be/LP7bo48j6TU #wheresRR #kingchef #kingchefchallenge #kingchefchallenge2019 (at Ayala Malls Manila Bay) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5IjRD_nmCB/?igshid=3shnjqmjb5ab
