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
*********
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.