Eric Chong, the first-ever winner from , and his mentor Alvin Leung have opened their first restaurant together in Toronto's Chinatown and share a couple of their signature dishes.
Chop Suey - Diced Vegetables, Smoked Plum Sauce
- Blanched Corn (In Sugar Water for 20 seconds)
- Blanched Sugar Snap Peas (With Skin, Cut on a bias) (In Sugar Water for 15 seconds)
- Steamed Golden Beetroot (Olive Oil, Salt, Sugar until tender) then diced
- Green Apple, Julienne (Lemon Juice)
- Jicama, Cube RAW
- Red Pepper, Julienne (whites removed) RAW
- Carrot, Brunoise RAW
- Celeriac, Brunoise, RAW
- Bean Sprouts RAW
- Crispy Noodles
- Butter Lettuce
Smoked Plum Sauce:
- 200g Picked Smoked Plum Flesh + 900g Hot Water
- Equal Parts Smoked Plum Water & House Plum Sauce
House Plum Sauce:
- 500g Honey
- 50g Rice Vinegar
- 10g Finely Minced Thai Chilies
- 20g Minced Garlic
- 20g Minced Ginger
- 5g Chinese Five Spice
-
Season with Salt to taste
- To Extract Smoked Plum: Boil Smoked Plum with Hot Water until soft then push through a chinois to remove seeds and extract flesh.
- Toss all vegetables excluding butter lettuce together with smoked plum sauce
- Top with crispy noodles
-
Fill butter lettuce with filling and enjoy!
Chow Mein - Wok Fried Lobster & Chittara Noodles
Chittara Egg Noodles:
- 2.5 Cup AP Flour
- 9 Eggs (3 Whole, 6 Yolks)
- 1.5 tbs Olive Oil
- Touch of Water if needed
-
Pinch of Salt
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, create a well in the middle
- Add eggs and oil into the well
- Beat eggs and oil in the well, while slowly incorporating the flour by pulling it in from the sides
- Knead the dough until smooth, approximately 10 minutes
- Rest dough for an hour
- Roll out to 5mm thick, and dust with semolina
- Cut with a Chittara
- Boil till done
Lobster Sauce:
- 4 Lobster Heads & Shells
- 5 Green Cardamom Pods (Crushed & Toasted)
- 125g Shallot
- 30g Garlic
- 50g Ginger
- 180g Shao Hsing
- 40g Tomato Paste
- 540g Tomatoes
- 100g Lemongrass
- 5g Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 35g Green Onion
- 800mL Coconut Milk
- 20g Palm Sugar
-
5g Deseeded Red Thai Chili
- Roast or Sauté Lobster heads until golden brown and caramelized
- Add Shallots, Garlic, Ginger and sweat
- Deglaze with Shao Hsing Cooking Wine
- Add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a boil
- Simmer for 1 hour
- Salt to taste
- Strain through a chinois
Lobster:
- Remove lobster tail from body by skewering the tail to make sure it doesn't curl and blanching lobster in boiling water for ~30 seconds then shocking it in an ice bath
- Vacuum pack lobster tail with chunks of cold butter
- Sous-Vide lobster tail for 15 minutes at 59.5°C
- Remove and shock in ice bath
- Heat Wok on high heat
- Add Canola oil
- Sauté some shallots and garlic
- Add blanched noodles
- Add cut up lobster
- Stir fry then finish with sauce and some beansprouts
- Top with lime segments and finely minced green onion
Left to right: Eric Chong, the first-ever winner from MasterChef Canada, Alvin Leung, three-star Michelin chef and executive chef Nelson Tsai of R & D Restaurant