The promotion contest of the East China Division of “Pursuing Freshness · WEI DA MEI Young Chef Contest” was ended successfully

On December 4, the promotion contest of the South China Division of “Pursuing Freshness · WEI DA MEI Young Chef Contest” was ended successfully in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. After a series of fierce competitions in Shandong Division, Sichuan-Chongqing Division, Northern Division and Central Plains Division, the last offline promotion contest in the five major divisions of the whole country was kicked off. 20 of the more than 600 chefs nationwide from the preliminary contest participated in the promotion contest, where they tried their best to exert their talents and skills based on the designated ingredients. In the end, 3 contestants stood out thanks to their precise and sensitive control over freshness and outstanding cooking skills, and were included in the national final, where they would compete with other contestants for the honor of “Shinho Star Chef”. The five “freshness”-focused contests covering the whole China were ended with a great success.

This contest stimulates infinite possibilities with multiple interactions, sets a professional benchmark with authoritative evaluation, and publicizes the values of chefs through global communication. The contest is also a platform for young chefs for realizing self-growth. The activity embodies not only the practice of WEI DA MEI Catering Brand’s commitment but also its solemn declaration of boosting industry innovation and further development.

The promotion contest of the East China Division was jointly sponsored by the WFCCI and WEI DA MEI Catering Service Brand, co-sponsored by Jiangsu Catering Association, and reported by the convergence media such as [MINGCHU], JSTV and Nanjing Morning Post. The authoritative jury composed of the culinary masters of China and national judges of the F&B industry were invited to the site. “Such a strong cooperation can create a fair, just and professional competitive platform for young chefs.” Li Xin, the Brand Director of WEI DA MEI Catering Service Business Unit of Shinho Group, said in his speech, “WEI DA MEI always shoulders the holy mission of empowering restaurants to improve their operational efficiency and food value, and chefs to exert their creativity and realize their dreams. Our cooperation with the association has supported the contest to have a deep insight into the future and to lead transformations.” As emphasized by Li, although the promotion contest of the “WEI DA MEI Young Chef Contest” was ended in Nanjing, WEI DA MEI will organize more and diverse contests and integrate resources more precisely as always by the full link design of “selection – training – empowerment - output” and focusing on the national final, to offer all-round support for young chefs from skill improvement to value realization, and help them realize great-leap-forward development in their careers.

Wang Zhaohui, the China’s Cooking Master and the Secretary General of WFCCI China Service Committee, served as the supervisor in the contest and delivered a speech. She said, “Skilled young talents could further popularize and develop our Chinese cuisines. At present, the F&B industry is undergoing upgrading both in quality and health. The creativity and persistence of young chefs are the new quality productivity for the high-quality development of Chinese food industry. ‘Pursuing Freshness · WEI DA MEI Young Chef Contest’ bears the holy mission of “promoting cooking skills through contests, prospering the industry with cooking skills”. WFCCI will work with WEI DA MEI, our closed partner in the industry continuously to build a broader display platform for young chefs, so that more young talents could display their cooking skills and promote the classic Chinese cuisine culture to the whole world.”

Yu Xuerong, the chief referee of the East China Division, read out the rules of the contest for contestants and delivered a speech: “We will comprehensively evaluate the contestants from many aspects, such as professionalism, expression and operation, to ensure that the contest is fair, just and open. Young chefs should have not only solid basic skills, but also stage expression and innovative thinking. I hope that every contestant can seize the opportunity to demonstrate your talents and skills.”

Eel plays a special role in the diet of people from East China. The history of eel-related dishes is derived from the tradition of the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, which connotes the taste philosophy of “freshness of land and water” and the health wisdom of food supplement. The well-prepared delicious eel dishes from East China takes prevalence among the noble and ordinary people, fully manifesting the exquisite, flexible and eclectic cultural character of the south of the Yangtze River.

To enable more audience to watch the contest in real time, the promotion contest was live simultaneously through the WeChat Video Channel of “WEI DA MEI Catering Service”, attracting tens of thousands of netizens. Meanwhile, the contest was reported by the special columns, including the Finding Delicious Food of JSTV, News 360 of CCTV New Channel and Nanjing Morning Post, as well as the celebrity chef APP, Shanghai Hotline, Media Convergence Zhejiang, Jiangnan Times, China.com, China Food and other media, thus realizing integration of online and offline integrated exposure, and the total exposure exceeded 10 million, which greatly enhanced the influence and brand volume of the event.

The contestant completed the creative dish themed with “Monopterus albus” together with the self-selected dish within 90min. The contestants were faced with rigorous test from the standardized supervision of cooking in the back kitchen and food safety to the professional and logical expression of concept of dishes in the stage area. In the end, three contestants won the TOP3 in the Central Plains Division and successfully advanced to the national final.

-TOP1 (special gold award): Li Zhenhao From: Changzhou, Jiangsu Province Restaurant: Songyun Villa Post: Head Chef Score of the entry: 92.10 Awards: Qualification for the final + RMB 5,000 in cash + individual award certificate & medal jointly issued by the WFCCI and WEI DA MEI Catering Service + WEI DA MEI Xianfeng Zhenwei Restaurant Plaque + Qualification of Michelin Kitchen Training Camp worth RMB 10,000. Themed dish: Golden Braised Crispy Eels By innovating the classic crispy eel cooking method prevailing in South China, the chef used Italian black vinegar as the base of sweet and sour sauce, and fried ginger to enhance the flavor. First, press the eels with knife to remove the bones, marinate it with allium mongolicum regel, ginger, yellow wine and salt to remove fishy smell and enhance fragrance, and then fry it until it becomes crisp. Heat the sauce containing Italian black vinegar, LIU YUE XIAN premium soy sauce and sugar at a low heat until it is thick. Spray the sauce onto the eels to reflect the sour, sweet and fresh flavor. Loosen the ginger first with knife back but do not cut it into part, marinate with sugar and then dry it. Through this special cooking method, the inherent spicy taste of ginger becomes less while the taste becomes crisper, forming a rich layer of fresh, sour, sweet and crisp.

Self-selected dish: Braised Gluten with Pickle and Golden Turtle With inspiration from the Henan stewed noodles, Li Zhenhao prepared the paste with flour, starch and egg white, as it is hard to find the North China flour with high strength here; then the chef put the paste into a pastry bag and squeezed the paste in the bag into slender strips; boiled it in boiling water to produce the flexible and chewy original “gluten” noodles. The corresponding soup contains the homemade sour beans, ginger, pickled peppers and WEI DA MEI sour soup paste, reflecting a combination of sour, fragrant and fresh flavors. The soup complements the rich gum of turtle, reflecting a unique and agreeable sour and fresh flavor.

-TOP2 (gold award): Chen Penghui From: Changzhou, Jiangsu Province Restaurant: Jintan Marriott Position: Chef Supervisor of the Chinese Kitchen Score of the entry: 89.18 Awards: Qualification for the final + RMB 3,000 in cash + individual award certificate & medal jointly issued by the WFCCI and WEI DA MEI Catering Service + WEI DA MEI Xianfeng Zhenwei Restaurant Plaque + Qualification of Michelin Kitchen Training Camp worth RMB 10,000. Themed dish: Kung Pao Eel Back Inspired by the Wuxi Liangxi crispy eel, the chef reinterprets the freshness of eel backs with Sichuan style Kung Pao sauce. First, remove the bones of fresh eels, marinate them in the sauce containing onion ginger, WEI DA MEI SHANGPIN cooking wine and a small amount of salt for 15min, blanch them in hot water at about 80℃ to remove the sticky liquid on their body, and then fry them until they become crispy outside and tender inside. Then formulate the Kung Pao sauce, which contains pepper, allium mongolicum regel, ginger and garlic, as well as WEI DA MEI light rice vinegar and white sugar, until the sauce has bubbles. After spraying the sweet, sour and a little bit spicy sauce onto the eels, a special dish combining Sichuan style and Jiangnan cuisine is served.

Self-selected dish: Huaiyang Old-styled Stewed Pork with Straw Following the Huaiyang old-styled pork binding process, the chef bound the pork with straw, added WEI DA MEI Premium Soy Sauce and rocky candy dark soy sauce, and then stewed it slowly and at a low heat. The pork is intact and attached with a unique fragrance from straw. The secret of the old-styled braised pork includes “relatively long braising time, less water and proper heat degree”. The pork becomes soft and glutinous after being stewed for a long proper time. In addition, half an apple is added in the braised pork to soften the fiber, enhance the pork flavor, and bring a subtle fruity sweetness. As a result, the braised pork is richer in taste and more attractive in appearance.

-TOP3 (gold award): He Zhihuai From: Quanzhou, Fujian Province Restaurant: Hilton Quanshang Hotel · Hometown Chinese Restaurant Post: Head chef of Chinese Restaurant Score of the entry: 89.02 Awards: Qualification for the final + RMB 3,000 in cash + individual award certificate & medal jointly issued by the WFCCI and WEI DA MEI Catering Service + WEI DA MEI Xianfeng Zhenwei Restaurant Plaque + Qualification of Michelin Kitchen Training Camp worth RMB 10,000. Themed dish: Lava Hot and Sour Eel Balls Inspired by the “Five-spice Roll”, the classic Fujian snack, and by referring to the technique of Huaiyang Stewed Meatball, the chef chopped the eel and pork, and then marinated them with WEI DA MEI spicy fresh sauce and WEI DA MEI sour soup paste for 15min, to remove the fishy smell and enrich the spicy and sour taste; then mix them with sweet potato powder, water chestnut and allium mongolicum regel, smash them into stuffing, and fry them with egg liquid, starch and black bread crumbs until becoming crisp. After a bite, you will find it is crisp outside but tender inside, and the umami flavor bursts out in the slightly sour and spicy aftertaste. The addition of the spicy fresh sauce makes the original taste of eel richer.

Self-selected dish: Local Braised Mindong Yellow Croaker The chef cooked the yellow croaker following the cooking method of “soy sauce fish” from south Fujian region. Cooking method: Remove the bones of the large yellow croakers, use the bones for stewing soup, add WEI DA MEI Premium Soy Sauce, LIU YUE XIAN premium soy sauce, WEI DA MEI SHANGPIN cooking wine as well as the soy sauce water with sugar to improve the slight sweet and freshness taste of the croakers. Sprinkle the yellow croaker floss made of leftovers on the surface to add the salty flavor and unique seafood taste, thus enhancing the dish’s overall flavor. The stewed fish with soy sauce water and floss are the most common dish in south Fujian and are unforgettable flavor for the local people.

Jia Xiaojin, the general manager of WEI DA MEI Catering Service Business Unit, Li Xin, the Brand Director of WEI DA MEI Catering Service Business Unit of Shinho Group and Yu Xuerong, the Chief Referee of the North China Division, presented awards to the winners.

Along with the successful ending of the 5 divisions nationwide (Shandong Division, Sichuan – Chongqing Division, North China Division, Central Plains Division and East China Division) in succession, the 15 young "fresh" chefs representing the future of China’s F&B industry will participate in the “Shinho Chef Training Camp" together, receive professional training from CieCAS and have face-to-face exchange with chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants, to get prepared for the national final next year. In the future, WEI DA MEI will promote the inheritance and innovation of the Chinese food culture continuously, and help more young chefs break through the professional bottleneck and play a “dominant” role in the Chinese food industry by taking the events as a very platform.