Original subtitles

Everyone, stop for a while.

We'll have a five-minute briefing.

Let's discuss tonight's menu.

First up, the suckling pig.

Hong, you have to make sure that it's crispy.

Next, for the dessert

make sure you have the lids on properly, Man.

You know our customers

might take photos and post them online.

Next up is the deep-fried marble goby.

We ordered two 1.6kg marble gobies.

Is the fish here, Loy?

It is? OK, that's all. Thanks, guys.

Today, I'll be teaching you how we prepare

our signature dish, the cigar roll.

For our ingredients, we have foie gras

breadcrumbs mixed with charcoal powder.

We also have snow crab meat

and prawn mousse with a little bit of truffle.

And this is the "cigar" skin.

It's actually made from the recipe

for Peking duck pancakes

but we added cocoa and coffee powder to this

to give it a more cigar-like look.

When it's almost done

it will get lighter and float up.

I had never thought I'd become a chef.

I mean, I couldn't even cook.

Back in Malaysia when I was younger

I didn't like studying

and I was very mischievous.

My parents were worried that

I would be led astray

so they sent me here to Singapore.

I had an uncle who was a chef over here.

He got me a job in a hotel kitchen.

I stayed and worked.

And here I am now, 19 years later

the executive chef of a restaurant.

I wanted to let more people know that

Chinese food can be very different

from what it used to be.

It can be interesting

have beautiful plating

and taste good

while retaining its authenticity.

Now, let me introduce the next dish.

Marble goby fillet with crispy scales

in homemade organic pineapple sauce.

The sauce for this dish

is inspired by a dish from a restaurant

my parents brought me to when I was a kid.

After becoming an executive chef

I went back to that restaurant

and asked the chef for the recipe.

I came back to my kitchen

added different elements to the recipe

and came up with this sauce.

For my choice of fish, I used marble goby

which is often used in Chinese cuisine.

It's a freshwater fish.

We douse the unscaled fish in hot oil

to give it its crispiness.

The flower used in this dish

is called ulam raja.

It has a distinct mango flavour

which complements this dish perfectly.

There was this incident

that had a profound effect on me.

It happened on one of our busy nights.

I remember I had a tray laden with food

that was going into the oven.

When I took the tray out of the oven

I accidentally dropped it on the floor.

I got burnt

and my hands were covered in blisters.

A part of me was thinking

maybe my senior colleagues

would come over and make sure I'm OK.

"Don't worry. Why don't you take a break?

Dip your hands in ice water

or put some ointment on those burns."

But what happened was the complete opposite.

They came over and told me

"If you can't take the heat

stay out of the kitchen.

I don't think you're cut out to be a chef.

You don't have the talent for it.

If I were you, I would quit this job."

I remember that night very clearly.

I was the last to leave the kitchen.

After I had everything cleaned up

I went into the chiller and closed the door.

I stayed in there...

I don't know why

but I just started crying.

I think I was in there for, like, 20 minutes

but I didn't feel cold at all.

I was just crying in there.

Because of what my senior colleague said.

"You're not cut out to be a chef."

What he said

impelled me to hang in there

and made me adamant about not quitting.

So I told myself

I'd stay and learn for one more month.

Strangely enough, in that one month

I started getting the hang of things.

Slowly but surely, I got better at my tasks.

My senior colleagues and the chefs

who used to scold me

took me under their wings.

So, in the 19 years

that I have worked as a chef

whenever I encounter any difficulties

and feel like giving up

or when I'm under immense stress

I will think back on that night.

How crushed I felt then

and how I got to where I am today

because I persevered and did not give up.

This is crab roe

and this is fresh Sri Lankan crab claw.

These are vinegar pearls.

Our clientele is getting younger.

Nowadays, we see people in their twenties

eating at Michelin-starred restaurants

and fine dining establishments.

So my team and I have to

constantly change and innovate.

As Singapore's fine dining scene grew

Chinese cuisine started

losing its shine and prestige.

This is why we want to

revolutionise Chinese cuisine

and show young diners that

Chinese food can also be fun.

It, too, can look good

taste great

make use of interesting ingredients

and be different.

But all our innovation aside

my greatest wish is that

the customers who dined at our restaurant

get to experience authentic Chinese cuisine

and the soul of Chinese cuisine.

How did you prepare the roasted chicken?

There's a hint of smokiness.

Did your grandparents come from Hainan?

How old were you

when you first started helping out here?