Chef Talk

Tan Ban Khim

Executive Sous Chef, Park Hyatt Beijing

      Chef Tan began his cooking career in his native Singapore in 1993. He joined the Hyatt group more than a decade ago, but remained in Singapore before moving to Beijing in mid-2007. Among the many awards and achievements he has accumulated are the Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat Award Singapore and the Manager of the Year at the Grand Hyatt Singapore in 2002.

 

Who is your hero in the kitchen, and why?

      My auntie is my hero: when I was young, I followed my auntie a lot, going to different food shops and sometimes helping her to cook. She enjoyed food a lot and always ordered a lot of food. Looking at her, you could see her feeling for good food. I hope my guests will give me that look, too. When choosing a school, I chose to study food and beverage management and food preparation. I liked eating and wanted to [learn] more. I’m very happy with my choice to study food preparation; it’s important to like what you do.

 

Do you cook at home?

      At home I don’t do western: more Singapore and Malaysian. During my days off I like to cook at home for my friends from Singapore and Hong Kong. Maybe I do something special with ingredients brought from Singapore. This makes me feel special and happy, because my friends enjoy my cooking.

 

How do you feel about food in Beijing?

      I tried Beijing jiaozi, even asked for the recipe, but I don’t really like the skin, it’s too thick. For the first three months, I felt like going home. Then local friends took me to one place, Xiao Changcheng Lu Zhu; they had lots of braised items, especially tripe, which I enjoyed a lot. I also like [the restaurant] Jin Ding Xuan and their zhajiangmian. For the first three months I always went for shuizhuyu, but then I tired of it. Now if I’m looking for lunch, I avoid local food. I eat a lot of Subway.

      Have you been influenced by Beijing’s cooking traditions since you arrived?

When I came to Beijing I did my Singapore style [curry], and people said, “This is not right.” Sometimes I feel that the Singapore chefs who came here before me changed things to suit local tastes. I stick to my real Singapore style. I have to stick to authentic tastes even though I’m in Beijing. If I can’t find the right ingredients, I won’t do the dish.

 

What’s the best market for meat/vegetables in Beijing?

      In Xinyuanli I can find whatever I want: for example, wet spring-roll skins. I can get lots of Asian ingredients there. Beijing has good resources for western ingredients: try Shin Kong Place, the supermarket at Pacific Century Place [next to the Zhaolong Hotel near Sanlitun] or the Market Place at Solana.

 

Can you give us a recipe, please?

 

Singapore Chicken Rice

      First prepare the chicken. Hang a 1.8 kilogramme whole chicken on a metal hook, and then bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Immerse the chicken with the hook hung on the side of the pot. Turn heat to low, close lid and simmer for 8–10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it for 25–30 minutes more, then remove the chicken and immerse it in a basin of ice-cold water for 10 minutes. Then remove the chicken and hang it up to let excess water drip away; afterward, brush it with a combination of sesame oil and light soya sauce before cutting into bite-sized pieces and serving over fragrant rice.

 

For the fragrant rice, first prepare the following:

600 grams long grain rice (changlimi)

620 millilitres chicken stock (jitang)

300 millilitres chicken fat (jiyou)

20 grams garlic (suan)

30 grams shallots (cong)

50 grams ginger (jiang)

2 stalks lemongrass (xiangmao)

1 young ginger (zijiang) (to taste)

3 leaves pandan leaf (banlanye)

2 tablespoons salt (yan)

1 tablespoon sesame oil (zhimayou)

2 tablespoons light soy sauce (shengchou)

1 ½ tablespoon sugar (tang)

 

Wash rice and drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Heat up chicken fat in a wok and stir fry garlic, shallot, lemongrass and young ginger. Continue frying till fragrant. Add rice and then transfer to an electric rice cooker. Add 620 millilitres chicken stock, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar. After the “cook” button jumps to “warm,” use a pair of chopsticks to toss the rice. Leave it on the “warm” position for 25 minutes more.

 

Chilli Sauce

65 grams freshly ground chilli (xianmo lajiao)

20 grams ginger paste (jiangjiang) 

3 tablespoons garlic paste (suanjiang)

2 ½ tablespoons sugar (tang)

1 ½ tablespoon salt (yan)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar (micu)

4 tablespoons chicken fat (jiyou)

 

Grind all the ingredients, except for the chicken fat, to a paste; adjust seasoning with salt and sugar, then heat up the chicken fat and pour over the chilli. Serve on the side as a dip for the chicken.