Traditional dishes of Ha Noi, such as La Vong fish paste, stewed snails with green banana and tofu, and young sweet-rice cake were carefully taken care with passion and then they all wore new suits on party table of The Golden Spoon Contest 2016.
1. Many judges paid attention to watch chef Hoang Van Duong
(lead of team 96, from Duong’s Restaurant) grinding stewed snails, green
banana, and tofu. Visitors and other competitors stared at team 96 with
curiosity. A judge double-checked whether the dish was stewed snails with green
banana and tofu – or not. Chef Duong confirmed, half-joking, “We are making stewed snails with green
banana and tofu, but in form of soup.”
“Is it no longer
traditional?” asked someone. Just see how they made it!
Chef Hoang Van Duong (in the middle), Nguyen Van Hung, and Nguyen Cong Quyen.
The mustard-like bowl of soup was the main while another
bowl of origin stewed snails, green banana, and tofu was nicely placed aside. One
of judges gave compliment, “So creative!”
Making a personalized variation of the traditional dish was a risky decision of
chef Hoang Van Duong. It showed the flexibility and dainty choices of the chef
who seriously followed The Golden Spoon contest’s rules. “I love traditional food and this is a good chance to introduce them to
diners as many dishes as I can. It requires a 4-course menu but I decided to
bring 7. To balance with and without broth dishes, I transformed the original
stewed snails with green banana and tofu into soup form. It was a way to renew
the tradition to fit in integrative period”, said chef Duong. The cooking
method and ingredients (green banana, tofu, snails, sautéed belly pork) were
maintained but the form was changed. When displaying on party table, both the
modernized soup and the original dish were vividly visual.
La Vong fish paste – Stewed snails with green banana and tofu.
To be fluttering at the beauty of traditional ingredients
and spices, 32 years old with 14 years seniority chef adhered to the principle
“modern style for traditional food” when making shrimps on tropical fruits
salad. Avocados’ flesh and agar powder were blended, brought to a boil,
filtered, poured into a dish then cool down to make jelly. This jelly was
pedestal for the salad. In the meantime, shrimps were being boiled in a mixture
of lemongrass, hot pepper, and water until 70% cooked. Then these shrimps and
sautéed scallops would be mixed with Doan Hung pomelo, which has mild sweet
taste, and a red part of dragon fruit’s skin. The salad was served with sweet
and sour fish sauce in a hint of minced cilantro seeds. Star fruit flowers and
yellow mustard flowers were garnished on the dish of salad to make it more elegant yet homely cozy.
Seafood and shrimps on tropical fruit salad.
With the same principle, La Vong fish paste was also
“pushed” up to modern style. Chef Duong’s fish paste was different from other
famous fish paste on Cha Ca or Duong Thanh street because of the sauce. Besides
galangal, fermented rice, shrimp paste, hot pepper, and turmeric, chef Duong
add roasted peanuts in the sauce to increase rich and buttery taste. Unique
dishes had help Duong’s team to seize a ticket to the semi-final round.
2. “My name is Hoang Duong. My journey into
culinary world began since I was a village boy. My passion for cooking was carved
in my mind when looking at my father preparing for family’s meals. My father is
a master in kitchen. His philosophy penetrated in my mind that we mush
understand the importance of fresh ingredients”, said chef Duong in
self-introductory clip on his website.
Cool appearance of chef Duong, lead of Duong’s Restaurant team, when focusing on his work.
Hoang Van Duong admitted that he chose this career because
of his father’s influence through his childhood, like seeing his father cooking
and cooking parties with his father. Smells of smoke and fine food in his
father’s love forged him to become a chef. His father passed away when he was
16 and he determined to continue his father’s step. Duong was in culinary
school in Nam Dinh for a while then he decided to learn from real experiences.
After 2 years working in Sapa, he went to Ha Noi and Ha Long
to seek new experiences. During the time of learning magical aspects of this
career, Duong had worked in many 5 star hotels, learning more expertized skills
and understanding more about value of a chef. The most important thing is that
he has discovered the beauty of Vietnamese cuisine and the beautiful world of
ingredients and spices, which need a right key to unlock. With chef Duong, the
happiest time was when he met chef Alain Nguyen and chef Didier Corlou, who
inspired and encouraged his creation, opened his eyes to have a new look at
Vietnamese cuisine.
Four course menu and delicate decoration impressed the judges.
Together with 2 assistants, Nguyen Van Hung and Nguyen Cong
Quyen, chef Duong passed his message onto the delicate menu in The Golden Spoon
semi-final round 2016. Aspiring to raise Vietnamese cuisine to the peerage,
they created and renovated traditional food, researched on regional ingredients
and spices in order to educe new formulas for sublimated harmonic dishes.
Ha Noi young sweet-rice cake (Banh Com) with fresher taste.
Northwest Highland slaver of meat (preliminary round) was
one of his inspirations. Skeptics thought that he was too greedy while
supporters said that he was too passionate because of his mighty menu, which
need to race with time to get finished. This menu included 3 dishes: BBQ beef
rolled on pork fat with Moc Mat seeds, BBQ pork with Mac Khen seeds, and duck
pate. Chef Duong laughed, “Those are
particular dishes I learned in the time I was in Sapa. They are ingenious
combinations of fine ingredients and special spices. I must put them on my menu
as a way to thank for the fateful meeting that day.”
Northwest Highlands slaver of meat.
3. Chef Duong was so quiet when cooking. His serious face
scares people away but actually that’s just the way he is. He always 100%
focuses on the food. In the other hand, chef Duong is extremely friendly when
he’s off duty. Moreover, he is willing to share and guide whoever wants to
practice his dishes, not only for Vietnamese but also foreigners. “To pass joy of this career on others is an
honor. To promote fine Vietnamese cuisine to the world is an obligation”,
said chef Duong.
For years travelling all over the country and dedicating to
many firms that is the reason that Hoang Van Duong decided to berth at Duong’s
Restaurant. He admitted that he just had a small share even though the
restaurant was named after him. It’s not so important since he has an open
space to work on his culinary philosophy, renovating traditional food and
practicing French cuisine. Being rated 5-star by Trip Advisor’s users is a
proof of diners’ satisfaction at Duong’s Restaurant.
Unit: Duong’s
Restaurant
Add: 27 Ngo Huyen, Hang Trong ward, Hoan Kiem district, Ha
Noi
Phone no.: +84 3636 4567
Email:
info@duongsrestaurant.com
Website:
http://duongsrestaurant.com