FAB LIVE
Ready, steady, cook!
As the fragrant scent of jasmine, chilli and coconut milk filled the air, guests sat back and relaxed for the final session of the day while renowned chefs Diana Chan and Pitaya Phanphensophon held a jovial cook-off live on stage.
In a light-hearted competition, organised by COCA & Mango Tree Restaurants Worldwide, the pair had 20 minutes to cook and serve their version of laksa, a spicy noodle broth popular in Southeast Asia.
Multi-tasking with the clock ticking, they deftly spoke to audience members as they cooked, adding ingredients as they talked guests through their live cooking demonstration.
Phanphensophon explained that his twist on the classic spicy laksa soup was to use blue crab with fish balls, while Chan’s chef touch was to add a garnish of pungent mustard greens, or Kai Choi, a type of peppery dark leafy vegetable.
It’s all fun and games, even in the heat of the kitchen for a MasterChef pro like Diana Chan
The session was led by COCA & Mango Tree Restaurants Worldwide Director Walter Lee, with a helping hand from The Moodie Davitt Report FAB Editor-In-Chief Elişa Roche. Lee was keen to showcase the surge in global appetite for Asian cuisine and to demonstrate just how easily some of these dishes and dramatic flavours could be translated into airport settings.
As guests watched overhead screens showing steaming noodles and phenomenal chopping skills at each station, they sipped from coconuts garnished with flowers.
“So there are two different noodles being used here, one is the egg noodle that Diana is using and the other is this white noodle, which is rice-based,” said Lee. “It’s pure comfort food and as a traveller that’s what I always like to have,” he added, before calling time on the ticking clock at 20 minutes flat and, diplomatically, declaring the live cook-off a tie as both chefs reigned supreme.
Pitaya Phanphensophon, not fazed by a waft of steaming-hot chilli flakes
Delegates prepared for a night of networking with a refreshing coconut beverage courtesy of COCA/Mango Tree
FAB eZine
January 2024
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