On December 11, the second "Taste Foshan -2023 Cantonese Chef Competition" was held at the Culinary Institute of Shunde Vacational School. The competition aims to promote and publicize the Cantonese cuisine culture, and further improve the high-quality development of the "Cantonese Master" project.

The competition focuses on Cantonese cuisine, including three main categories, Guangfu Cuisine, Teochew Cuisine, Hakka cuisine and other special ones. Contestants have to impress the judges with one self-selected and one prescribed dish, and receive the scores for final qualification in response. Furthermore, participants have to make a dish within one hour, which is a big challenge to both cooking skills and creativity.

Huang Jiahong, a Foshan local professional chef, innovatively created a dish namely "Coffee steamed Chicken". He slowly smoked chicken with the aroma of coffee, so that the chicken is full of strong coffee flavor. "Coffee is very popular among young people. This dish integrates new elements and new flavors, hoping to attract more young people to try new Cantonese cuisine". He said that the competition provides a good platform for chefs to show their skills and inherit Cantonese cuisine.

As the only female chef in the competition, Wu Jiaoxia made a steamed chicken with four different kinds of mushrooms. At the same time, she used lotus seeds, ginkgo, red dates, scallops and other ingredients to enhance the freshness, making the dish warm and delicious. "Women will pay more attention to health, so I specially prepared this dish for the competition. I did nearly 10 tests in the early stage, and finally adjusted the most appropriate combo."

Since the competition was officially launched in May this year, a total of 50 famous chefs from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macao, and other cities have gathered in Foshan. 15 judges said that the cuisine quality is exceptional, perfectly combined with both traditional and innovative features.

This year, the competition has cooperated with TikTok, and invited internet celebrities to advertise and promote consumption. The event aims to cultivate new highlights of Foshan's "food + tourism" integration. Consumers can taste those dishes in stores at discounted prices by purchasing coupons online. The event will run until June 30, 2024.

The 10 preliminary winners then will compete for the grand prize of 100,000 yuan in the final competition on December 12!

List of Preliminary Winners (without ranking)：

Guangzhou: Yan Hongfa, Wu Yexin, Zhang Xiangyang, Zheng Zhe, Zhai Binlin

Dongguan: Su Runlin, Su Zhuojun

Foshan: Wu Rongkai, Feng bingsen, Lin Juncai

Reporter丨Rouly

Revisor丨Eddie, Lynn

Photo | Foshan News and Media Center