Culinary Class Wars Star Choi Hyun-Seok In Singapore For Restaurant Collab With The Black Pearl
The celebrity chef tells 8days.sg that he was invited to return for a third season of Culinary Class Wars, but turned it down. Why?
South Korean celebrity chef Choi Hyun-seok is currently in Singapore for a two-day collaboration, from Jun 30 to Jul 1, with Cantonese restaurant The Black Pearl.
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Choi, 53, is the owner of the acclaimed Seoul fine dining restaurant Choi Dot, and is known to worldwide audiences for starring in the hit Netflix cooking competition series Culinary Class Wars and the variety show Chef & My Fridge.
How the collab came about
The collaboration sees Choi and Dee Chan, executive chef of The Black Pearl, working on an eight-course menu comprising both Korean and Cantonese fare.
According to Choi, the collaboration came about after Chan visited his restaurant in Seoul.
"Chef Dee came to find me at my restaurant, and I realised that his dishes were very unique, so I felt that it would be an interesting collaboration," he said.
According to guests who attended the session on Jun 30, some of the items served included Hanwoo beef tartare, seven-day-aged roasted duck breast and wild mushroom gukbap.
Chan revealed that one of the most challenging dishes to create was The Black Pearl's Dou Jiang You Tiao, which incorporates soybean products in multiple forms, including tofu and soy milk ice cream, soy milk foam and tofu skin. Meanwhile, Choi shared that his Hanwoo beef tartare features gochujang transformed into an ice cream and a delicate sugar sphere filled with gochujang vinaigrette.
Choi also visited the brand-new F&B concept Milli that's co-founded by Labyrinth’s Han Liguang. Han, who also goes by LG Han, previously competed against Choi in an episode of Chef & My Fridge.
Visited chef LG Han’s Milli
During his visit to Milli, Choi ate Han's "Korean rendition of chilli crab" and a strawberry bingsu, amongst other things.
According to Han, Choi "approved" of his chilli crab dish, which led to Han jokingly stating that "it was time for a rematch".
Choi also tells 8days.sg that he received a casting offer to return for a third season of Culinary Class Wars, but turned it down. "I don't want any more stress. I just want to enjoy cooking and have fun, so I won't be going on [the show] anymore," he says.
The Black Pearl is located at 333 North Bridge Rd, #07-11/12 Odeon 333, S188721. More info via Instagram.
Source: CNA/hq
The original version of this story first appeared in CNA Lifestyle.
For more CNA Lifestyle stories, visit https://www.cnalifestyle.com.
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