Beef stew helps Vietnamese chefs shine on the international stage

From the familiar ingredient of beef stew, two young Vietnamese chefs have created impressive works, winning high prizes at the Culinaire Malaysia 2025 competition, contributing to affirming the position of Vietnamese cuisine.

Vietnamese cuisine continues to make a strong mark on the world culinary map when the Vietnamese chef team won many awards at the Culinaire Malaysia 2025 competition. Among them, the familiar Vietnamese beef stew dish became the inspiration to help the contestants shine and conquer the international jury.

According to the Saigon Professional Chefs Association (Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association), the team brought home 1 Gold Medal, 1 Individual Cup, 6 Silver Medals and 8 Bronze Medals. In particular, the Gold Medal victory helped Vietnam qualify for the Global Chef 2026 finals in Wales (UK), which gathers the best chefs in the world.

The gold medal helped Vietnam qualify for the Global Chef 2026 finals in Wales (UK).

Chef Trinh Tuan Dung impressed with his presentation of Saigon Jazz, with a menu including fish cake bread as an appetizer, beef stew as a main course and mango milk tea as a dessert. Inspired by the improvisation in music , Saigon Jazz both honors Vietnamese flavors and has a modern feel, helping him to be selected to participate in the Global Chef finals. He shared: "I hope that through the competition, Vietnamese cuisine will be known to more international friends, and at the same time become a bridge to attract tourists to our country."

The judges enjoyed the Vietnamese chef's performance.

Not only that, chef Nguyen Minh Nhi also made his mark with the Beef Stew and Beef Lap Xuong pizza. This is a unique combination of fresh Western pizza crust and beef stew flavor, along with An Giang Cham specialty beef sausage. This creation brought him the Top 3 Cup in the pizza category, impressing the judges with the harmony between Eastern and Western cuisines.

Ms. Tran Thi Hien Minh, Vice President of the Saigon Professional Chefs Association, commented: "The awards not only affirm the talent of young chefs, but also show the aspiration to bring the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to the world. From rustic ingredients such as beef stew, through creativity and delicate craftsmanship, the chefs have written a new story for Vietnamese cuisine."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mon-bo-kho-giup-dau-bep-viet-toa-sang-tren-san-choi-quoc-te-185250930213118104.htm