Three chefs, two countries, two dinners to celebrate Malaysia and Singapore's diversity brought to you by Eat and Cook, and Singapore's PATH
KUALA LUMPUR, August 2 — Whenever the subject matter is food, swords are often crossed between Malaysians and Singaporeans for their differences and even similarities.
In the case of Eat and Cook, they saw it as a good opportunity to spin these differences into dishes that celebrate the two countries' heritage.
This has led to two collaboration dinners with PATH Singapore to be held in Singapore and Malaysia this month.
As the dinners are held on the countries' respective national days, it's also the best way to commemorate that special day with what we all love... food!
Eat and Cook is led by the dynamic duo of Lee Zhe Xi and Soh Yong Zhi. The culinary storytellers serve thoughtful plates woven from childhood memories and the use of local sourced produce.
It was awarded the American Express One to Watch by Asia's Best 50 in 2022. The restaurant located in Bukit Jalil is also listed on the Michelin Selection.
In Singapore, Marvas Ng heads PATH where familiar East Asian flavours are reimagined using French culinary approaches.
There's also a strong personal style from Ng who grew up in a kampung located in Sembawang and polished his skills in Hong Kong and China kitchens.
"The fact that the quirks and nuances separate these two countries and cultures are inevitable; but these neighbourly differences are seen as opportunities to get together to exchange, to learn and to celebrate," Lee explained.
The team-up will showcase Chinese cuisine. Diners will resonate with the dishes that are familiar to them like Teochew steamed pomfret, Penang oyster omelette, roast duck and more. It will be reimagined in ways not seen before by the trio of chefs.
Start the meal with the 'yum cha' inspired canapes from both restaurants
Lee shared that preparations started as far back as four months to plan and conceptualise the dishes.
Discussions revolved around the ingredients, diverse food culture and history of the diners in Malaysia and Singapore. Lee added, "Food culture is the most important thing for chefs to learn before cooking as it helps them to cook and season the dish."
The three chefs are bound together as they have an open philosophy and a keen belief in exploring to evolve as chefs. In addition, they heavily draw their inspiration from personal experiences.
Diners will start with canapes that feature the theme "yum cha", a family tradition that Ng enjoys. Lee is also a fan of dim sum, whether it's for morning get-togethers with his family or even with his team of chefs after work. This will feature chicken feet, refined for dinner.
One interesting dish is PATH's Oita Farmed Hamachi served in Singapore, inspired by Ng's yearning for chicken rice when he worked abroad. For the Malaysia dinner, this will be switched to Local Aged Tilapia, which will showcase local produce.
"The use of fish is actually a delightful story. It all began as a beautiful 'accident' during a meal preparation. We had prepared chicken rice and I decided to experiment by dipping sashimi fish trimmings with the leftover marinade meant for the chicken," said Ng.
He added, "The combination was absolutely delicious and it inspired the creation of a brand new dish based on this chance encounter."
Rather than rice for this dish, Ng swapped it for the wholesome and more nutritious quinoa. The marinade uses an array of herbs like lemongrass, lime leaf, ginger, onion and galangal to infuse the dish with a fragrance.
For some dishes, some ingredients have been swapped to reflect the country's food culture. Lee elaborated that in Singapore, the team from Eat and Cook will present duck rice using roast duck. For the Malaysia dinner, they swapped it to claypot rice as a nod towards what locals prefer.
The three chefs will also pick up unique local ingredients for Ng to work with, giving rise to a different perspective to the dish.
Ng explained that the tilapia fish will be used. "The tilapia from Malaysia is delicate and light with a tender texture that blends seamlessly with a wide range of sauces to enhance its taste. It is the perfect blank canvas that can be creatively transformed into a unique dish."
The collaboration will kick off on August 7 and 8, in conjunction with Singapore's National Day. There will be an eight-course dinner with all three chefs on deck at PATH.
Later on August 31 and September 1, it's Malaysia's turn when Eat and Cook will host PATH in their Bukit Jalil premises.
The Oita Farmed Hamachi by Marvas Ng was an unexpected dish that saw them pairing fish with a chicken rice marinade. In Malaysia, they will swap the fish with local aged tilapia fish (left). Eat and Cook swapped out and replaced it with roast duck, judging from their preferences (right).
For Eat and Cook, these dinners are part of their "Friend Series", started early this year to build a stronger community of chefs.
"It is a programme to exchange ideas and opinions on ingredients, techniques and communication between chefs," said Lee.
Lee is working hard to bring Malaysian cooking to the international stage and hopes there will be more collaboration dinners later.
For full details on the collaboration dinner, visit Eat and Cook's website, https://eatandcook.asia/eat-and-cook-menu/
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
