'Chopsticks & Beyond' Chinese cooking competition held in Beijing
- By Zhang Lulu
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 3, 2013
A Chinese cooking competition for foreigners, combining Chinese and foreign cooking elements, was held by China Radio International (CRI) in Beijing August 31.
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The four dishes are presented after a two-hour busy cooking. [Photo: China.org.cn/Zhang Lulu] |
Smashing a packet of cashew nuts with a bottle of white vinegar may not be the best way to crush them -- but time was short for Bobby Brill from the U.S. who had just minutes left to produce his Chinese-style prawn taco sauce.
He has competed against his rivals in the exciting "Chopsticks & Beyond" cooking competition held by China Radio International (CRI) in Beijing August 31.
The competition is the third leg of the series of Chinese cooking competition, in which foreign cooking enthusiasts are asked to prepare a dish combining elements from Chinese cooking and their home country's cuisine. The four contestants this week were encouraged to make Shandong-style dishes, a province famous for its seafood. And as the show is approaching China's Mid-Autumn Festival, there were also extra points for slipping in some seasonal ingredients that the Chinese use around this time of year, including cashew nuts and red bean paste.
After cooking for two hours and answering questions on Chinese culture thrown at them by the hosts, the contestants finally presented their dishes. Besides Bobby Brill's prawn taco creation, Angela Grananiello from Italy produced her "Blooming Flower Prawns" which included mini farfalle pasta mixed with pesto sauce made on the spot., Max Wengawenga from Malawi in Africa made his self-styled "Autumn Fillings" which was a mix of rice, pumpkin and peppers, while Jannatul Ferdaous from Bangladesh made use of curry – which her home country is famous for -- to cook a fried pumpkin with a bean paste.
The dishes were then tasted by the judges -- a professional food judge and some popular food enthusiasts recruited from Weibo, China's Twitter -- before they chose their favorites.
Finally Bobby's prawn tacos and cashew nut garlic dip persuaded both the judge and the guests. "It was a little scary from the beginning, all the way to the end because it went so fast," Bobby said after receiving his award. "With 10 minutes left I had to clean the shrimp, heat up the oil, batter the shrimp and cook them... I am very, very surprised and excited to win the grand prize because I didn't think what I made was so acceptable to Chinese tastes. But I'm really happy."
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