In a cooking contest organised by SoShiok.com, two new Singaporean dishes were born - the River Prawn Noodle Soup and Spicy Singapore Pie.
IN A cooking contest organised by SoShiok.com, new Singaporean dishes were born.
The Singapore Press Holdings' AsiaOne interactive food website, which was launched last Friday, asked for entries that would best represent the diverse cultures of Singapore.
Out of thousands, a birthday boy emerged tops in the professional category. Mr Raymund Lim Boon Yeow, who turned 28 last Saturday, was crowned the winner in the Search For The New Singapore Dish cooking contest. His fusion dish, River Prawn Noodle Soup, combined river prawns with a spicy gravy served with noodles.
It won the judges over with its rich flavours and well-balanced ingredients. Mr Lim beat four other finalists in the professional category.
Other dishes for consideration in the category included claypot chicken stuffed with glutinous
rice, fried prawns with salted egg yolk paste, and wok-fried beef ribs with flat noodles served with a pepperoni-cum-curry sauce.
The contest, held at Jurong Point Shopping Centre, was officiated by judges including The Straits Times food critic Wong Ah Yoke and Mr Daniel Koh, an executive chef at the Holiday Inn Atrium and a representative of the Singapore Chefs Association.
Although the aim of the contest was to find one dish that best reflects the Singaporean palate, there are plans to compile all the recipes, from both professional and amateur categories, into a book.
An elated Mr Lim said of his win: "I'm very shocked I won, but it is a pleasant surprise."
The chef from the Royal Plaza on Scotts said his dish was inspired by Penang laksa and prawn noodles. He said: "The regular prawn noodles sold in shops here use normal sea prawns, which are smaller and not as tasty as the river prawns, which I got from a supplier."
Mr Lim added: "I wanted to create something different and so I made a laksa-inspired gravy with noodles to go with the prawns."
Another unique dish which came out tops for the amateur category was the Spicy Singapore Pie.
Created by Haryani Borhan, 29, the innovative entry beat other dishes in the category, which saw a thosai stuffed with fillings usually found in Chinese dishes, and a spicy chicken dish.
The student chef at At-Sunrice Global-Chef Academy, a culinary institute located at Fort Canning Park, impressed the judges with her creativity in using simple ingredients in her dish – a chicken rendang and tofu combination topped with vermicelli, all within a crust made from a mixture of potatoes and sweet potatoes.
She had to juggle creating the dish while preparing for her school practical examinations in the week leading up to the finals of the competition, but that did not deter her from pursuing her passion – cooking.
She said: "I'm glad to have this chance to do something I really love and to win at it."
She added; "I wanted to create something different and new. I'm just glad people liked it."
Both Mr Lim and Ms Haryani won $1,000 each. When asked how they intended to spend the money, Ms Haryani said she would spilt it with her partner, who helped her during the cooking process at Jurong Point and ensured that everything ran smoothly during the preparation of the dish.
Similarly, Mr Lim added: "I had so many people helping me in the contest and since I won, it's time to treat them to a meal."
This article was first published in My Paper on May 12, 2008.