Second Prize: Hotel Majestic

Thứ năm, 16/07/2015 08:57

Wallago hotpot is the favorite dish of team 25’s captain.

Cooks: Cuong Le Nguyen (team captain), Quan Le, Quan Trung Nguyen.

As the chef in charge of Western cuisines at the 5-star Hotel Majestic, Mr. Cuong Le Nguyen (46) is equipped with 25 years of experience in the field. Originally from Hanoi, Mr. Cuong Le followed his family to Southern Vietnam to start a new life and chose cooking to be his career path.

After finishing high school, he began studying to be a Kitchen Manager at Saigon Tourist Hospitality College. After graduation, he had opportunities to work, practice and improve his specialized skills in many professional environments, such as top hotels in HCMC before joining Majestic Hotel.

Dishes for the Contest: To attend the 2015 Golden Spoon contest, the cooks from Majestic Hotel prepared four dishes: Seaweed and Sweet Snail Salad; Wallago Hot pot; Duck Breast Wrapped in Fried Sticky Rice; Bamboo Shoot Jelly.

Within the above dishes, wallago hotpot is team 25 captain’s favorite. According to Mr. Cuong Le, it’s a dish from his memories. It used to be made by his aunt at family get-togethers. Ingredients for the dish include wallago, lemongrass, Indian borage/Mexican mint and mẻ (a fermented ingredient typically made of cooked rice or bún – a type of Vietnamese-style noodles).

Wallago is a type of catfish most commonly found in Biển Hồ but can also be caught by fishermen in big rivers in the Mekong Delta. With creativity, the cooks have transformed the dish into a recipe worthy of a 5-star rank.

According to one of the judges, culinary artisan Anh Thị Hoang Ho, she immediately paid much attention to and anticipated the taste of this dish when she saw the cooks preparing it at the kitchen skills round. “Fish hotpots are nutritious and mouth-watering”, that’s her comment for team 25’s dish.

Unit: Majestic Hotel

Address: No. 1 Đồng Khởi Street, District 1, HCMC

Tel.: (08) 3829 5517 - Fax: (08) 3822 9744

Email: majestic@majesticsaigon.com.vn

Website: http://www.majesticsaigon.com.vn/.

Majestic Saigon Hotel or Majestic Hotel is a 5-star hotel with French architecture located near Bạch Đằng Wharf and at the beginning of Đồng Khởi Street (the center of HCMC). It is one of the historic and renowned hotels in Saigon. Having existed for nearly a century (1925-2012), Majestic Hotel is a symbol of the luxury and splendor of old Saigonese.

That architectural beauty is still preserved to date. At present, Saigontourist is the company in charge of this hotel. Majestic Hotel’s restaurants and bars include: Cyclo Restaurant, Catinat Lounge, Breeze Sky Bar, Serenade Restaurant, M.Bar, Prima Ballroom, Merry Pool Bar & Fitness Center...