Canton Wok

Chef Ang Song Kang

Another round of applause please!

A local chef has just been recognized as the sixth Singaporean to be accorded membership in the Chinese Cuisine category of the prestigious Les Amis D’ Escoffier Society. It’s one of those grand old fuddy-duddy French makan clubs where they wear these huge gold medallions around their necks and promote the profession and enjoyment of eating around the world. It boasts a stellar list of top western and Asian chefs in its folds.

And Ang Song Kang of Canton Wok Restaurant, or Chef Kang, as he is more casually called, now join the ranks. Only five other chefs from Singapore had ever been awarded this prestigious membership since the inception of the society which was founded by French royalty chef Auguste Escoffier in the last century.

As a chef, Chef Kang has already received the ultimate people’s award for his culinary craft, that is, loads of customers and regulars returning regularly for the award winning offerings in his menu. Chef Kang already has a portfolio of regional culinary awards throughout his very colorful career that took him to Indonesia and Hong Kong but this chef is one who loves challenges and innovation. Industry recognition spurs him on.

So in October this year, he headed for Hong Kong and took on some 2000 contestants vying to secure membership in the society’s cooking contest. To be accorded membership, you have to cook ala Iron Chef style for a panel of distinguished international judges that hail from France, Australia and China among others..

“ I had no idea what was expected when I arrived at 12 noon for my 2pm session.”, said Chef Kang, who spent that morning strolling around the competition grounds at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. He just needed to psyche himself into accepting failure. And a few minutes before his turn, they made him reach into an opaque box of random clues and instructions.

He pulled out a piece of paper that read : “Lamb and Tofu. One and a half hours for two dishes.” His mind raced for all of one minute and he jumped into action.

With deft knife skills, he sliced and made medallions with the lamb loin, witnessed by about 30 judges pacing about behind him and breathing down his neck. Then he scored, slapped and tenderized the meat. He chose sliced lotus root as an accompanying ingredient where he battered and deep fried it. He then lightly pan fried the medallions and sat one each atop a sliced crispy lotus root fritter. The winning edge was when he christened it with a gorgeous honey peppercorn sauce. He presented this Lamb and Lotus Fritter with Honey Peppercorn sauce very simply with a off white and cream coloured platter adorned with Chinese parsley and a sprig of orchid flower.

The judges yanked it away and it was the last he saw of it. He realized that only half an hour was all he had for his last tofu dish.

He introduced the sweet flesh and roe from a half kilogram crab to the smooth Japanese tofu. This Crab and Roe Tofu turned golden orange as he simmered them together with some chicken stock. He topped it with deep fried tiny baby Japanese crabs. The dish had all the classic hallmarks of a winning Chinese dish… colour, fragrance and flavour.

That same evening, over a grand dinner, it took Chef Kang a few moments before he registered the fact that his name was called on stage to receive the award. “ Sure, I was confident of what I was cooking, but not enough to win it. The chap next to me in the contest from Macau had a better looking dish, he even brought his own fancy plates. But I think mine tasted better!” beamed Chef Kang.

When I sampled the creations, the lamb dish had a strangely comfortable mouthfeel to it. The fritter was crispy and refreshing counter to the soft albeit heavy tasting lamb whose pungent flavour was overwhelmed by the honey peppercorn sauce. The Crab and Roe Tofu slid in so agreeably. I could taste the roe, the sweet crab meat and the silky tofu and there was no call to differentiate them.

So if you are salivating for his creations, contain your gluttony for a while. Chef Kang is currently introducing them into his kitchen and it will be available from the mid November, with a couple of very practical changes…he will use the softer and less pungent venison loin instead of lamb and mini fish fritters instead of baby crabs.

But if the these award winning creations doesn’t score with you, then order their fail safe signatures. They steam a whole Sri Lanka crab over fried glutinous rice with chopped garlic and serve it in a dim sum steamer. This dish is the restaurant’s piece d’ resistance and almost every table of diners order it. Another not to miss dish is the pork ribs done two styles, in fruit and coffee sauce. And all the above go well with their stewed seafood beehoon, done very soft and with bits of seafood simmered in flavourful stock.