For Chinese Top Chef’s “modesty is a virtue”, this is a high-minded and  a traditional behavior in Chinese societies. Celebrities Chefs who gained fame in the West through cooking tv shows are Ken Hom, Martin Yan, Kylie Kwong and Ching He Huang. And let’s not forget the productive and outstanding Chinese cookbook author; Deh Ta Hsiung just to name a few. But when readers are asked to name present Chinese Top Chefs in China, or a Chinese Top Chef nearby not much is known initially. With the aid of foodies culture, international awards and worldwide acknowledgements of International famous peers, public awareness is growing.

A wind of change is cooking up a storm of transformation with new Top Chinese Chefs gaining recognition and they are turning heads with creativity, combination of East meets West, high skills and innovation. In The Netherlands, The Hague well known Chef Han of Restaurant Hanting in BeiJing Chef Executive Chef Da Zhenxiang of famous Da Dong Restaurants two names and places on opposite sides of the globe.

“You cannot learn about Sichuan food in Beijing because it tastes different,” he says. “You have to go to Sichuan to taste the authentic food. This period was very tough because I only earned 19 kuai [a colloquial term for the yuan] each day and had to work hard to clean the kitchen, and buy presents for the sifu [master], hoping they would teach me something.”

While chefs such as Heston Blumenthal come to his restaurant to learn how to make Peking duck, Dong also spends time in other kitchens to pick up new skills and ideas. He spent a year learning French cooking techniques at the Maxim’s de Paris restaurant in Beijing.

In August, he went to Mongolia in search of wild mushrooms for new dishes. “The mushrooms naturally grow in circles in the grass, so I was inspired to also present them this way on the plate with flowers,” he says.” This article was first published in the South China Morning Post, to read more click on the linked article(s).

via Top Chinese chefs shun the spotlight | South China Morning Post.