Singapore, Aug. 7, 2018 – Every traditional recipe has a secret ingredient that transforms the taste and flavour of a dish. From yellow fermented beans from Pu Ning (普宁) in Chao Shan province of China, to fresh red mushrooms that turn a bowl of soup into “liquid gold", the Singapore Chefs’ Association (SCA) National Culinary Team works in collaboration with chefs from SATS to create exciting new menus using secret ingredients handed down over generations.
The team has created more than 70 recipes that reflect Singapore’s rich cultural tapestry and heritage. Drawing inspiration from their heirloom recipes, they created culinary gems from Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka and Teochew dialect groups and Peranakan culture. Dishes such as Cantonese Braised Beef Short Rib and Tendon with Radish, Hainanese Duck with Pineapple and Bamboo Shoots, Hakka Red Mushroom with Pork Rib Soup, Peranakan Spicy Prawn with Sataw Beans, and Teochew-style Twice Cooked Garoupa, will get travelers nostalgic about grandma’s cooking.
Said Eric Low, Chef of SCA who created the Teochew dish, “The yellow fermented beans from Pu Ning in Chao Shan, China enhance my dish’s simple seasoning and make a great difference to my recipe. The water in Chao Shan is pristine, and the area is famous for its fermented beans. My forefathers came from that region in China, and it has been a family tradition to use only fermented beans from Chao Shan.”
Pastry Chef Ben Goh who has won many accolades for his creations, said, “I grew up in Malaysia where gula melaka is regularly used to sweeten a dessert. I created a gula melaka ice cream to go with the warm pisang mas crumble in my dessert, giving it the right balance of flavours.”
Rick Stephen, Director of Kitchens at SATS, said “Travelers are familiar with typical Singaporean dishes like Laksa and Chicken Rice, but there are more home-grown Singaporean dishes that are less well known. We want to create greater awareness for such traditional family food to add more variety to the local culinary experience. Our collaboration with the SCA National Culinary Team will allow more travelers to taste these culinary treasures.”
SATS has a long-standing relationship with the National Culinary Team from SCA. Chefs at SATS coach and mentor chefs from the national team to compete in the world-renowned Culinary Olympics. Held every four years, more than 2,500 gourmet chefs from around the world will compete over two days to cook an elaborate list of hot and cold dishes in glass kitchens. Singapore won the top accolade in the 2016 edition, beating participants from 30 other countries. SATS is the first aviation caterer in the world to form a team of in-house culinary consultants. The team of 52 chefs from SATS has developed their signature Singaporean cuisines such as Laksa and Chicken Rice, which have become all-time favorites among passengers. Also, they work alongside celebrity chefs from China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea to create authentically Asian and international dishes for its airline customers.
