Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel wins second prize

Thứ ba, 29/09/2015 09:28

The young chefs have shown their personality and experimentations in food preparation through a menu that is adjusted using common ingredients and spices.

Chef: Cong Thuong Tran (Captain), Cong Thanh Le and Hung Tan Bui.



Hilton Hanoi Opera is a familiar team in the Golden Spoon contest; they have excelled and entered the top 15 finalists last year. However, this season all the contestants are young and it was new faces appeared for the Hilton Hanoi Opera. Captain Cong Thuong Tran was born in 1988 in Hanoi and studied at the School of Engineering Kitchen Dining and Services Hanoi. He has worked for Hilton Hanoi Opera hotel since 2010.

Menu for the contest: Salad with beef and morning glory; a dish called Swimming in rivers; bacon rolled with vegetables and “Bánh nhót” – sticky rice cakes with sugar and coconut soup.



The young chefs have shown their personality and experimentations in food preparation through a menu that is adjusted using common ingredients and spices. For appetizers, chefs use morning glory which is sometimes called “rau tiến vua” and means vegetables only given to the King to make salad with beef and other herbs. Captain Cong Thuong Tran said that he would use beef to make salad, though many people had advised him against it, as the beef could be tough if the dish couldn’t be served and eaten immediately. Alternatively, he could use pineapple juice to marinate and tenderize the beef. But the young chefs convinced everyone by using the technique of slicing the beef into small, thin slices then stir-frying it before mixing with the morning glory. The dish should be served and eaten quickly to keep the beef fresh and tendor. The dish is beautifully decorated with a lettuce background and Radicchio Salad (red cabbage), herbs and grilled rice-paper cut in the round shape. This dish served with mint sauce.



“Swimming in rivers” is a name that makes people curious. It is a seafood soup with a broth made of tofu. Soya milk is still used as a nutritious drink now, so why not modify it to make it become a dish. That is the question that these young chefs asked themselves before cooking this unique soup. After adding the soya milk they put in lemongrass, galangal root, lemon leaves, spices and all kinds of seafood for example: squid, prawns and seasoned snakefish. This is then quickly stir-fried and returned to the broth. This is a truly unique seafood soup.



Bacon rolls with colorful vegetables is also a novel alternative, it contains mushrooms, tomato, celery, carrot green pepper and bacon. Pork is sliced and sautéed. and the vegetables are stir-fried. Next, the pork and vegetables are rolled up and it can either be sautéed or grilled to become a dish with many flavors. There is the sour flavor of tomato, the aroma of celery, sweetness of carrots, the spice of peppers, the texture of mushrooms and the fat of the meat .





In addition to the unique variations of dishes mentioned above, the dessert, sticky rice cake with five colors, also brought many surprises to the judge. Its origin comes from Tra Khuc village (Ha Tay). This local dish was introduced by assistant chef Le Thanh Cong. Its name describes the look, The chefs covered it in a layer of natural coloring, pandan leaf gave them the green, beetroot the purple, yellow from pumpkin and red from carrots. The mixture inside is made ​​of peanuts, sesame, and ginger, and is added after coating dyed sticky rice dough. This sticky rice dumpling is be boiled in fresh coconut water with added sugar and pandan leaves to increase the flavor.

Reviewed highlights of the Hilton Hanoi Opera team in the preliminary round of the Golden Spoon Contest 2015 in the Hanoi and Red river delta region.
Member of team number 107 started the competition with a high concentration
Chef Cong Thanh Le and Chef Hung Tan Bui were decorating the salad with beef and glory-morning vegetable
Captain Cong Thuong Ttran was cooking dishes in the contest


Chef Thanh Cong was decorating the party table

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Contestant team: 5 starts hotel- Hilton Hanoi Opera

Address: 1 Le Thanh Tong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Tel: 84-4-39330500;

Website: www3.hilton.com

Located in the heart of Hanoi, the Hilton Hanoi Opera has 269 luxurious rooms and suites with first-class furniture. Customers can choose to dine at the restaurant, the cafe of the hotel with a lot of foods in the world and authentic Vietnam foods, or relac in the Sports bar, outdoor swimming pool or gym. Specifically, Ba Mien Restaurant combines traditional style with modern, with fresh sweet taste of northern cuisine or tasty dishes of Central region and rich flavor of Southern cuisine; Lobby Lounge - serves special coffees, cocktails and snacks; Chez Manon-interesting meeting point to enjoy a snack, dinner, lunch, and Western dishes; Sports- JJs Bar offers daily discounts; Café Opera - is selling coffee and pastries to take away, including different types of bread.