The Miele Guide

The Miele Guide Culinary Scholarship Programme was established last year to promote formal culinary education and encourage the continual growth and development of the restaurant industry in Asia. Two talented young Asians, Malcolm Lee Seow Meng and Lai Kit Yee, were awarded scholarships. We last spoke to them in November 2008 just before they commenced their school term at the At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy. More recently, we caught up with them at respected chef Julien Bompard’s classic French restaurant, Le Saint Julien, where they were training as apprentices.

Singapore Management University (SMU) business graduate Malcolm Lee has found the coursework exhilarating. Earlier in the year, when he was an apprentice at chef Bompard’s La Fromagerie, he was occasionally given the opportunity to helm dinner service alone, even on busy nights. “I once had to serve 20 guests at once,” he says. “It was crazy, but I thrive on this kind of challenges.” At the bistro at La Fromagerie, Malcolm prepared hot items like stocks, sauces, stews and braised items.

“Every little thing adds up to the whole experience, whether is it a new technique, a new dish or a new organizational skill I pick up. They have all helped me to become a better person,” Malcolm concludes. Even minor culinary catastrophes become lessons learnt. “Once, a customer ordered eggs Benedict and my hollandaise sauce split,” he confesses. “I had no more clarified butter and was running out of time. I decided to use cold cubes of regular butter and mixed them with a slightly warmer egg yolk base. Thankfully, it worked!”

Hong Kong scholar, Kit Yee is also absorbing as much as she can even as she deals with sudden pangs of homesickness. “I am learning a lot of things that I feel are good for my future. It is important to broaden my horizons and being here has also taught me to be more independent,” she says. At a recent class challenge, she was given $10 to buy ingredients from the market and prepare a dish of her choice using them. Her unusual creation was well received and demonstrated her creativity as a chef. She stuffed chicken wings with chopped apples, pears and ham and finished them with a honey glaze. Her mentor was impressed by the combination, as were her classmates.

The exemplary young apprentice held the position of chef de garde-manger (the person who oversees the cold dishes) at Le Saint Julien under the guidance of chef de cuisine Stephane Browne. “Prior to my six-month stint at Le Saint Julien, I knew little about French cuisine,” Kit Yee admits. “I have learnt quite a few things here, like how to speak a little French. I’m also happy that chef Stephane trusts me enough to leave an entire section in my care.”

Both Malcolm and Kit Yee will start their second apprenticeships in July. Malcolm will complete his at the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) kitchens while Kit Yee will complete hers at award-winning contemporary Cantonese chef Yong Bing Ngen’s Majestic restaurant. Both will graduate in December this year. We wish them all the best.

Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, is home to ninety-nine percent of the nation’s restaurants. While the majority cater to the Mongolian population, there is a growing clientele of both locals and expatriates looking for food from other nations. A French bistro and café, a German café, numerous Korean restaurants, and two American diners are examples of the expanding eating scene that has blossomed since Mongolia became a democracy.

For all those looking to experience Mongol fare, the diet consists largely of lamb and lamb fat mixed into a noodle dish (tsuivan), a dumpling (buuz), a soup (kjostsupa), or a fried pastry (huushuur). Mongolian tea, suutei tsai or milk tea, is a salty beverage made from green tea leaves, milk and sometimes butter (horse, yak, reindeer, cow) to which is added salt. The initial taste is somewhat unusual, but it’s the type of food you begin to enjoy and understand after a few cups. Reindeer milk tea is the most unusual form of suutei tsai and is highest in fat content, but it’s so tasty it’s hard not to overload on the drink.

For all those who wish to enjoy the capital city’s imported food scene, there is plenty to choose from. And these are not limited to the confines of a restaurant: a beautifully brewed pilsner, a man who creates divine mozzarella, a German bakery that specialises in recreating the best in German pastries, a cheap and tasty Malay diner, and then there are those Korean restaurants.

Numerous ethnicities are represented in the capital city’s dining establishments such as Thai, Chinese, French, Italian, and Korean, including one of the few North Korean restaurants found outside of North Korea; an extremely satisfying and diligent dining experience reputedly owned and run by the North Korean embassy.

If on holiday, the trick is to ask around. If you plan on living there for any length of time, then you will probably dine at most of the restaurants at least twice before you leave, so be prepared for some weird and wonderful eating experiences. You are, of course, in Mongolia, one of the most far-flung and under-developed nations in the world. Anything and everything is possible, and that is no slight exaggeration.

Kirril Shields is a shortlist panellist for Mongolia for the 2009/2010 edition of The Miele Guide. As a food critic at UB Post, Mongolia’s English language newspaper, Kirril is very familiar with the restaurant scene. He is also the English editor of the newspaper.

Our heartiest congratulations go out to illustrious Singaporean restaurateur and sommelier Ignatius Chan. His five-year-old eponymous restaurant has been awarded the 45th position in this year’s S. Pellegrino World’s Best 50 Restaurants list, 32 places up from last year.

Voted by the public as Asia’s Number One restaurant in last year’s edition of The Miele Guide, Iggy’s is one of the only two restaurants from Asia that made it into the top 50 in the annual list organised by UK’s Restaurant Magazine.

Chan was ecstatic the morning after the grand celebratory dinner that was held at London’s Freemason Hall on Monday night (20 April). The modest, soft-spoken epicure revealed that he did not expect it. “It was an exuberating moment! It was a really fantastic surprise,” said Chan. “I want to take this opportunity to thank every person who has supported Iggy’s since day one,” he added.

Clearly overwhelmed with pride and joy, Chan did not fail to mention how much he is looking forward to returning to Singapore to celebrate with the rest of his culinary team. “They have put in a lot of effort,” said Chan.

Recognising how spectacular it is to be placed alongside restaurants from countries that have tremendous agricultural support like Spain, Italy and France, the unassuming restaurateur thinks that it is a great honour to be among the top 50 in the world. He is happy to be able to “represent little Singapore, a city with little or no farms, in a global competition like this.”

Chan was happy to say that he is confident that his restaurant’s new ranking is partly due to “the buzz generated from The Miele Guide. The guide has done much to boost Asia’s restaurant scene.”

Voting for The Miele Guide 2009/2010 edition is underway and will run through to 24 May 2009. We urge you to vote for your favourite restaurants in Asia. Every vote counts. Do vote now.

We want to take this opportunity to congratulate eight other restaurants from The Miele Guide that made it into the S. Pellegrino list (51st to 100th position), namely Zuma (China), L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (China), Les Amis (Singapore), Bukhara (India), RyuGin (Japan), Caprice (China), Mozaic (Bali) and Bo Innovation (China).

The second edition of The Miele Guide, due to launch in October later this year, promises to be even bigger and better. Following the success of The Miele Guide’s inaugural 2008/2009 edition, the team has added new features, making the guide more useful to food lovers dining around the region.

Aimed at providing a richer overview of restaurants in Asia, these features include an additional listing of the top five restaurants in each featured country on top of the overall ranking of Asia’s top 20 restaurants. This provides a stronger showcase for each country’s top chefs and restaurateurs.

Each featured country chapter will be accompanied by a country introduction providing an insider’s perspective of the current highlights of that country’s dining scene. These introductions will be written by our shortlist panelists who are also top restaurant critics and food writers in their respective home countries.

In order to broaden the guide’s representation in the region, Mongolia and Nepal have also been added to the list of countries being evaluated. Together with Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, it brings the total number of countries evaluated to 18. The 2009/2010 edition will also feature 400 restaurants across Asia (80 more than the previous edition’s list of 320).

This year, in order to reach out to a wider pool of voters across the region, The Miele Guide website is not only available in English but also in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

The online voting process has also been revamped to offer voters more convenience. You only need an email address to register and vote. Our unique email verification system helps to safeguard against voter abuse.

Voting for The Miele Guide 2009/2010 edition is underway and will run through to 24 May 2009. Voters also stand a chance to win one of three beautiful sets of Zwiesel 1872 crystal glassware each worth up to US$2,100. Each set of crystal glassware sponsored by Zwiesel 1872, the official crystal partner of The Miele Guide, is different. Voters will get the opportunity to choose the set they wish to be eligible to win. All sets are from the elegant and timeless Zwiesel 1872 Living Collection.

We urge you to cast your votes if you haven’t already done so. This is your chance to make a difference in Asia’s culinary scene. Click here to vote now.

We are thrilled to announce that The Miele Guide 2008/2009 is now available at Stanfords, a leading travel specialist bookstore in the United Kingdom that offers not just travel books and guides but also maps and travel accessories. Those residing in the United Kingdom can purchase The Miele Guide at these two Stanfords locations:

• 12-14 Long Acre
  Covent Garden
  London WC2E 9LP
  Tel: +44 20 7836 1321

  Open Monday 9am-7.30pm, Tuesday 9.30am-7.30pm, Wednesday 9am-7.30pm, Thursday 9am-8pm, Friday 9am-7.30pm, Saturday 10am-8pm, Sunday 12noon-6pm, Bank holiday Mondays 12noon-6pm

• 29 Corn Street
  Bristol BS1 1HT
  Tel: +44 117 929 9966

  Open Monday 9am-6pm, Tuesday 9.30am-6pm, Wed-Sat 9am-6pm, Sunday closed, Bank holiday Mondays closed.

Alternatively, you can purchase the guide from Stanfords’ online store or our online shop.

Tamarind Café (27 Sukhumvit Soi 20), a popular restaurant in Bangkok renowned for its innovative all-vegetarian menu, has shut its doors. Owners Sylvie Bruzeau and Luka Wong have revealed that they intend to reopen Tamarind Cafe at a new location at a later date. In the mean time, they have created a new Vietnamese eatery called Little Hanoi by Tamarind Café which serves healthy contemporary Vietnamese cuisine. Classic dishes on the menu include pho (rice noodles with sliced meat in beef broth), cha ca (grilled fish), and bun cha (barbecued pork). They have also included an enticing selection of vegetarian dishes such as vegetarian pho prepared with pure vegetable stock and served with fresh vegetables and pumpkin tempura, and banh mi (a Vietnamese-style sandwich) stuffed with grilled vegetables, tofu and pickles.

Through Little Hanoi, co-owner Ms Wong aims to give diners in Thailand the chance to taste healthy and authentic Hanoi cuisine. She has even found a Vietnamese chef to train her Thai chefs at Little Hanoi. The combination of vegetarian and non-vegetarian items on the menu also gives diners greater choice. “There’s something for everyone!” Ms Wong point out.

Open daily from 10am to 10pm, Little Hanoi by Tamarind Café is located on the fifth floor of Emporium Shopping Complex (Sukhumvit Soi 24, Klongton, Klongtoey, Bangkok).

For more information, please visit www.tamarind-cafe.com

Celebrity chef Bobby Chinn’s eponymous restaurant, which is featured in The Miele Guide 2008/2009, has ceased operations at its 1 Ba Trieu Street location in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District.

Restaurant Bobby Chinn is slated to reopen at a new location yet to be confirmed. In the mean time, the team behind the contemporary French-Vietnamese restaurant is planning to establish a new deli concept which will also be able to provide catering services for weddings, birthday parties and other events.

The new eatery, called Restaurant Bobby Chinn Home (Tel: +844 3719 2460), will open on 11 February this year at 77 Xuan Dieu Street, Tay Ho, Hanoi. Family-style lunches and dinners, including Bobby Chinn’s signature creations, will be served from 10.30am till late. Customers can also opt to purchase take away meals from the deli.

In our attempts to showcase Asia’s dining scene, we feel that it is important to feature unique Asian food and drink producers, especially those who still use artisanal methods. Though we have come to appreciate the small and fabulous creations by European, American and Australian producers, not much has been said about Asia’s artisanal products. Most of these artisanal food producers in Asia still use traditional and generations-old processes and each of them deserve due recognition. In the first part of the series, we featured three kakanin (a native Filipino rice dessert) producers in the Philippines.

For the second part of our Asian artisanal food producer series, we speak with Rahul Verma, a noted food critic in India who writes restaurant reviews for The Hindu, India’s national daily English language newspaper. We asked him to introduce an artisanal product from India that he is most excited and passionate about. Rahul, who is also one of the members on The Miele Guide’s shortlist panel, reveals his affection for sweets when he tells us that he is most excited about the khurchan from Hazari Lal Jain, in Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk in the north central part of Delhi.

Khurchan is a sweet prepared with milk. The word khurchan is a Hindi word that translates to ‘scraping’, which is the essentially the technique used to make this sweet. “The most interesting bit about the khurchan is the way it is cooked,” says Rahul who then explains how the popular khurchan is slowly becoming a rarity because fewer people are willing to go through the labourious process of preparing it which can take hours to complete.

This process begins by boiling down milk into solids which are then scraped off. To get one kilogram of khurchan, the halwai (sweet maker) has to boil five litres of creamy milk for about an hour. Throughout the duration of the production process, the halwai does not leave his kadhai (wok). He has to watch as the milk boils and forms the malai (the top layer of thickened cream). Rahul says that the halwai will then use a long twig to carefully pull the malai out of the boiling milk and put it aside on a flat-bottomed platter. This process is repeated until no milk remains. “When the platter is full of the many layers of cream, the halwai will sprinkle some sugar on it. The sugar cannot be added earlier because it would make the cream runny,” Rahul adds as he explains how khurchan is served.

According to Rahul, Hazari Lal Jain’s khurchan is the best because of the high quality, full-cream milk that they use, yielding the best tasting layers of cream. Hazari Lal Jain’s khurchan is apparently so good that the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee once bought some as a gift for Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“The halwai at this shop is never in a hurry, so the sweet takes its own sweet time, if you'll pardon the pun, to set,” Rahul reveals. He attributes the slow pace to the shop’s historical location at Chandni Chowk, the main street of the walled city of old Delhi. “This is not a sweet for those in a hurry,” Rahul points out. “But when you eat it, you do so in a matter of seconds!”

(Hazari Lal Jain is located at 2225, Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, India, Tel: +91 11 2325 3992)