Executive Chef at the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, Nguyen Cong Chung (centre) receives the Asia’s Chef Hotelier of the Year at The Hotelier Awards held in December 2017 in Macau. Photo by the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel
Nguyen
Cong Chung, Executive Chef at the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, who has just been the
first Vietnamese chef to win the Asia’s Chef Hotelier of the Year after beating
hundreds of chefs from 70 hoteliers in 14 countries at The Hotelier Awards held
last December in Macau has 22 years of experience in cuisine and is confident
about realising his wish.
Despite
advancing fast in his career as being the first Vietnamese person to take the
position of executive chef at an international five-star hotel so far, the
42-year-old Hanoian said that he stepped in the food industry quite by chance.
"My
dream was to become a pilot but I was not qualified enough," Chung shared.
"Then I had to choose a vocational course to take and a relative who was
teaching at a cooking school advised me to apply and I followed his
advice."
Chung
said that 20 years ago the cuisine industry was still new in Vietnam but as he
studied he found that it had great potential.
"Gradually
I'd developed a love for it as I learned about it from books and the
internet," he continued. "After graduation, I worked at an Indian
restaurant and the Metropole Hanoi Hotel before arriving at the Sheraton Hanoi
Hotel when it opened in 2004."
Chung sets up the New Year Brunch at the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel on December 31, 2017. Photo by Lan Hieu
The
chef revealed that working at a luxurious international hotel brand brings him
a good chance to learn about the foods of different countries which provided
inspiration, but he always had a special love for traditional Vietnamese
cuisine, especially Hanoi dishes.
"I
was more encouraged that when we served US President George W. Bush at the
hotel during the APEC 2006 he asked us to introduce more Vietnamese
foods," Chung said. "People usually think that local food served at
luxury hotels doesn’t taste authentic compared to street-side stalls, but this
is not always true. I always tell my team that we are Vietnamese so if we can’t
cook Vietnamese food well, how can we cook food from other countries. And I am
confident that pho, spring rolls, or bun cha at our hotel all have a truly
Vietnamese taste."
Bringing
international standards to Vietnamese dishes
Vietnamese dishes served at the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel for the New Year Brunch on December 31, 2017. Photo by Lan Hieu
Chung
admitted that he often faces difficulties finding sources of high-quality
ingredients for some Vietnamese dishes.
"Vietnamese
beef or fish or even pork usually fail to compete with products from Japan or
Australia in terms of flavour due to poor farming and preservation
techniques," he explained. "So I've decided to use Japanese or
Australian beef for pho. While we keep the same cooking method, better ingredients
are sure to bring better taste. And we've received good comments from
guests."
The
chef said that he's thinking about putting lobster in the spring rolls and some
other high-quality imported ingredients in other traditional dishes.
In
winning the Hotelier Awards, Chung represents a milestone for Vietnamese
cuisine as the first Vietnamese to be recognised at prestigious international
awards, which can act as bridge for Vietnamese cuisine to win new converts.
By DTI News