NEW YORK—In the heart of dazzling Times Square, the best of dozens of competing chefs rejoined on Friday for the final round in a world-class cook-off challenge, competing for the title of Best Chinese Chef.
Chef Chen Yichun won the Gold place in NTD Television’s Fifth International Chinese Culinary Competition, held in New York City.
Upon winning, Chef Chen said the most important thing for him was not the award itself, but learning new things and, in the process, discovering any shortcomings. He said, “It was not just an opportunity to advance one’s skills, but also one’s character and attitude.
“If one wants to cook good food, one first has to be a good person.”
Chef Chen specializes in Sichuan cuisine, one of the five cuisines of China included in the competition. The other four cuisines are Shandong, Cantonese, Huaiyang, and Northeastern.
Alongside the Times Square competition, NTD also hosted The Emperor’s Banquet on Thursday night. Funds raised by the banquet went to a joint scholarship with the James Beard Foundation, which benefits underprivileged students interested in Chinese culinary arts.
Although many have eaten Chinese food, authentic Chinese culinary food arts and techniques from the various regions are not as familiar.
On that, one of the three bronze winners, Chef Alex Zhong, who’s been cooking Northeastern China cuisine since 1984 said, “As Chinese, it is our duty to introduce our culture to the world. As for me, I want to introduce Northeastern Chinese cuisine to the world.”
