Even though main ingredients of Binh Quoi team were not new, the harmony and creation of spices and delicate decoration surprised all the judges.
Despite the fact that he had been lead of Binh Quoi team
many times, Le Vo Anh Duy still brought the same excitement and enthusiasm to
The Golden Spoon Contest 2016. Last season, Anh Duy and his team got
double-prize, taking the 1st place in both Northern preliminary and semi-final
round but this young proactive chef did not meet the good luck in final. That
was the reason Anh Duy kept joining the 2016 contest in order to conquer the
most notable prize.
Team No. 16: Le Vo Anh Duy (leader), Nguyen Minh Tri, Le Thi Vi.
Binh Quoi 1’s master chef is super-chef of The Next Iron
Chef. Studying in Law school but he picked his debut as a kitchen helper and
became a famous chef when attending cooking shows on TV, such as Sang phuong
Nam (Morning in the South), Kheo tay hay lam (Head cook and Bottle-washer), So
tay noi tro (Housewife’s note)… Besides, he is teaching culinary in Ho Chi Minh
city.
Chef Le Vo Anh Duy and his dishes in Southern preliminary.
“Each time being in The Golden Spoon Contest is a new
challenge of creating, finding new spices, and trying to make a new harmony
among dishes. I’m not afraid of the number of times being in this contest
because competitions help me understand my drawbacks and improve skills to go
further in this career. You have to learn and find new paths everyday”, Anh Duy
said.
1st prized menu of Binh Quoi 1 Resort.
Last year, Anh Duy had to find his new rare ingredients –
chay fruits, so cho fruits, e leave, mit dat seeds - in the middle provinces in
order to perform impressive dishes. This morale has been improved in this
contest. Binh Quoi 1’s menu shows many regional leaves from all over Vietnam,
such as bui, gai sung, lim kim, sam, may, sam, dit leaves…
To research new spices is to help the team understanding the
diversity of the Nature and Vietnamese culinary. Dit leaves (also known as wild
giang leaves) in Phu Yen province are yellowish-green, sour, and aromatic.
Quang Nam highlands have “tram” fruits, which goes along our childhood. This
fruit gets ripe with dark purple color during rainy season and turns sweet.
Tram fruits are full of vitamin C.
Mantis Shrimp in sung sauce, served with lim kim leaves and young coconut top salad.
Lim kim leaves are specialty of the South with sweet and
sour taste.
Moreover, the team also combined chicken and may fruits. May
fruits have a thorny coat but rich taste and jasmine-like smell.
Chicken with sam leaves and may fruits, served with fresh rice noddle.
The decoration was very fussy: grounded sung leaves sauce in
unique adorable cup made from chuc fruit. David Thai, specialized judge, had to
acknowledge, “The decoration is wonderful! The dishes link to each other as a
music sheet. Each dish has distinguishing spices.”
Rice noodle, veal, and ha thao roll, served with tram fruits and pepper sauce. Queen Snails wrapped in bui leaves, served with lemongrass fish sauce.
The way Binh Quoi 1 team used new wild leaves and fruits and
combined them with main ingredients sublimated their dishes and subdued the
judges. Although their main ingredients are common, such as veal, rice noodles,
and mantis shrimps, the combination were so great that all judges got thrilled.
Binh Quoi 1 team won the 1st prize in Ho Chi Minh city preliminary.
Fairy wing taro cake filled lotus seed and durian paste.
By The Golden Spoon Award