In this episode 14, the Top 5 best chefs voted by the audience have the opportunity to return and win the last ticket to the final night of Top Chef Vietnam 2023. The returning chefs are: Truong Giang, Ngoc Tam, Tran Vinh, Thai Minh, Phi Yen.
Hoi An Cao Lau Reimagined with Carabineros Red Shrimp and Caviar Satay
As one of the "heavyweight warriors" of this round, Chef Truong Giang chose Hoi An's specialty - Cao Lau for his challenge.
Chef Giang uses soy sauce, seaweed seasoning and shiitake mushrooms to make the thick sauce, combined with Carabineros red shrimp. The highlight of this dish is that the male chef has applied skillful techniques to create a satay caviar that stimulates the taste buds.
This fresh and clever innovation received praise from judge Luke Nguyen: "This is the most modern and creative cao lau I've ever tasted. And the little bit of satay and caviar is very stimulating to the taste buds, very delicious."
Chef Truong Giang chose Hoi An specialty - Cao Lau for his challenge.
Judge Alain Nguyen also highly appreciated Chef Giang's meticulousness and investment in detail for this dish: "This Carabineros shrimp is very light, it makes the sauce mild, feels like it has both meat and seafood, balancing the soy sauce flavor. The dish you present here, Alain finds luxurious, I see from the way you roll, then you slice, then you make it very elaborate, there is investment but it does not destroy the smell of the sauce, the chewiness of the noodles.''
Unique onion ice cream served with beef noodle soup
"Queen of Sauces" Lieu Phi Yen has returned and made a very familiar dish to Vietnamese people, which is Hue beef noodle soup.
This dish is presented by Chef Yen as a set menu and the broth is contained in Bau Truc pottery - an intangible heritage of Vietnam that was recently recognized by UNESCO in 2022.
The female chef decided not to use imported beef but to use Tay Ninh beef for her dish.
Chef Yen took the tenderloin of the young beef and a little bit of marrow to add fat and richness.
For the accompanying topping, Chef Yen took the tenderloin of young beef and a little bit of seasoned marrow to increase the fattiness and richness. Although this creation was not highly appreciated by judge Alain Nguyen because it created a "disjointed feeling" and was not standard for Hue beef noodle soup, Chef Yen's set of dishes helped honor the Bau Truc pottery heritage.
Meanwhile, judge Luke Nguyen was extremely excited about the female chef's accompanying onion ice cream: "I really like this ice cream. I've never had onion ice cream before, I think it's very creative."
Bringing ethnic minority culture to the world table
As a child of the Central Highlands, Chef Tam had a rather impressive presentation about the dishes from her village. The female chef wore ethnic costumes and opened with a very special spiritual drink of the children of the mountains, which is wine fermented from ginger and handmade rice, combined with purple sticky rice.
For his performance, Chef Tam brought a very important, traditional dish of the ethnic people, which is grilled chicken with bamboo rice served with ginseng soup named Bazan Flavor.
The chicken is selected from ginseng-fed chicken in Mang Den, then rolled with Iberico pork, wild mushrooms, a little ginseng leaves and cooked sous vide to create a soft, sweet texture. This dish is served with a tropical sauce using fruits from Da Lat to create a slightly sour and spicy taste, refreshing in the aftertaste.
Chef Tam makes the dish.
The accompanying ginseng soup is also a traditional dish used on special occasions to welcome distinguished guests of the Central Highlands people. Chef Tam used Iberico pork combined with sea tiger prawns to make a meatball, when eaten, you will feel the softness and sweetness in your mouth and the broth is made from chicken bones.
Through the Bazan Flavor dish, the female chef wants to send a very meaningful message: to preserve the cultural identity of the ethnic people and to more clearly introduce the specialties of the Central Highlands people to international friends.
Chef Tam's meticulousness and dedication to this dish completely won over the judges. ''I give you 10 points for your presentation and story, as well as the fact that you brought Alain and I to your hometown and ethnic culture. I really like it. And I think we should bring the culture of ethnic minorities to the world more. And today you did it. You have excellent taste. You can easily play with the taste buds of the users", judge Luke Nguyen shared.
Chef Minh "is not convinced and wants to challenge the winner"
This time, Chef Minh made a familiar dish of coastal people, which is banh khot. With the desire to honor Vietnamese fish sauce, the male chef had an impressive "performance" about fish sauce.
As for the accompanying espuma, Chef Minh created it from fish sauce, cream, chili powder, and garlic powder to get the same taste as fish sauce. The male chef also cleverly created a piece of "beeswax" to trick the eye to eat with the banh khot, which feels like honey but is actually fish sauce. This dish is combined with Salsa pickled cabbage, Dalat sweet peppers, and chocolate tomatoes, topped with a layer of fish sauce cream.
Inspired by the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine, Chef Minh shared that he loves and is determined to honor Vietnamese fish sauce and "no matter where I am, as long as I am still working, I will still choose this path, that is my color", Chef Minh expressed.
Chef Minh makes a familiar dish of coastal people, which is banh khot.
Although highly appreciated for the taste of fish sauce and banh khot, Chef Minh did not win this round. The male chef shared that he "was not convinced and wanted to fight with the winner".
Faced with this reaction, judge Luke Nguyen gave a convincing argument: “Your idea is very good, I really like banh khot, but it is not at the premium level that we want. Chef Tam's dish has met the requirements, in terms of presentation, history, and her origin story, she did very well.'' After receiving comments and sharing from the judges, Chef Minh felt more understanding and agreed with the decision of the winner in this round.
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