Discipline, Passion Equals Success, Says Malaysian Chef

By M. Saraswathi NEW DELHI (India), Nov 3 (Bernama) -- A great passion in gastronomy, peppered with continuous effort to learn and re-learn have turned Malaysian chef, Chua Kong Ngiap into one hot, expatriate chef at a Michelin starred restaurant in India. Having been in the industry for over two decades, he said discipline and passion were the ingredients for those wanting to cook their way to success. "I loved cooking ever since I was in school. I joined the industry as an apprentice when I was 20," said the 45-year-old, who is of Baba-Nyonya descendent from Melaka state of Malaysia. "I stayed focused, knew this is what I wanted to do and that took me to where I am today," he told Bernama in an interview recently. Recalling his apprentice days, Chua said: "The first thing you learned was to wash the pots. Take care of the utensils. Working hours were between 10-11 hours a day." Graduating from the 'school of hard-knocks', he said one of his most unforgettable memories during his apprentice days was a fish hurled at his face. "I was asked to cut a fish. I made a mistake in the way it should be done and actually, injured myself in the process. The whole fish was thrown at my face. Until today, I remember the mistake I made," he said. Chua has worked in various five-star hotels in Malaysia before venturing into India. "I worked at several hotels in Malaysia before coming to India. My longest service was at the Equatorial Hotel. I was attached to the hotel for 13 years," he said. In India, he is attached to Yauatcha, which serves authentic Chinese cuisine. The restaurant gained a Michelin star rating in 2005, which it has retained, to date. "I was first attached to Yauatcha in Mumbai for a year and was brought to New Delhi when its branch here was opened," said the father of three. In his 25 years of experience, Chua has served numerous high-profile customers and won the Chinese Culinary Award 2006 in Malaysia. "In Mumbai I have met and served well known Bollywood stars," he said. Asked if it was difficult to adjust his cooking style to suit the local palate, he said there were not much difference. "The only thing is that here, they prefer the food to be a lot more spicy. We just need to change a little on that and the spices we use." On his future plans, Chua said he wanted to learn different kinds of cuisine, especially fusion. "The current trend in the industry is fusion. I am keen to learn and try out fusion of European, Italian flavor with Chinese food," he said. "The only way to survive in today's challenging and competitive world is to continuously push ourselves to new frontiers," he noted. --BERNAMA