This is me - 12 years old and the first time I was entrusted with cooking without burning the house down.
My kampung is Subang Jaya. Not an interesting place to learn about culinary traditions and culture, I do say. But I spent a good part of my childhood with this man who loves food and cooks well - my grandfather aka Kung Kung. However, he was a newsman, not a cook!
I could still imagine the taste of his fluffy salted fish mee hoon with bits of char siew, prawns and crispy bits of salted fish topped off with fresh shredded lettuce
Kung Kung lives in Ipoh and when he’s not cooking up a storm in the kitchen he would be taking me to his favourite stalls to slurp up plates of smooth and slippery chee cheong fun and of course the equally silky smooth tau fu fah (Beancurd).
Growing up I was also exposed to simple kampung Indonesian and Filipino cooking, for obvious reasons that we had helpers from there, and it further inspired me to explore those ingredients.
Like any family, we (my brother and I) were entrusted with keeping traditions by learning to cook the dishes that graced the dining table during the Chinese New Year. So, first, we had to learn how to handle the pestle and mortar before we could graduate to the wok and ladle.
Fast forward five years. Yup, it was time to decide on what course to pursue in college. Being able to pursue a course in culinary arts was like a reward for having survived and passed the SPM exams.
Culinary school was one of the best parts of my journey to becoming a chef. Academics was never my strongest point but I met many lifelong friends who pushed me along to obtain my diploma - they made me realise a basic qualification is a firm base to kickstart a career.
A month after graduation I couldn’t wait to jump straight into the culinary world that was defined by all the celebrity chef shows that I used to watch on Astro. I packed my bags and went across the causeway for my first job as a line cook at Everything With Fries (kind of upmarket fast food outlet). This is it. Time to put on my big boy pants and go into the real world to make a killing as a ‘Chef’. My dreams took a shortcut. I forgot to factor in working in a small kitchen that was HOT and poorly ventilated. The heat can get very intense with the four hobs on and heat from the chiller and freezer compressors.
There wasn't much that they had taught me specifically but what I did pick up were lessons from the head chef’s mistakes and terrible management. I kept telling myself then that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
After that, I landed a job with Cedele, a franchise eatery. All this opened my eyes and mind to how I would have more respect for my clients when I have my own business and have more control over the kitchen by serving them food that I would put my heart into preparing.
A year later, I had the biggest break, or so I thought when I got hired as a Commis chef at DB Bistro by Daniel Boulud in Marina Bay Sands. Wow! I knew I had to grab it. I even took a pay cut of SGD400. After watching him on Astro, I really wanted to work in that kind of kitchen - A brigade.
On the first day of work I reported to the then executive chef, Chef Stephane Istel, who to this day I would regard as a mentor and a chef who taught me to navigate reality in the world of gastronome.
Three years later, it was time to come home. I was a more mature person with a more realistic perspective about a career in this industry. One of my realities is there are just so many resources to explore and learn from that we seem to have taken for granted.
I wanted to do much more than just work around restaurants. So I huddled up with my friends from college and we started doing pop-ups, and catering events. I ventured into TexMex food selling burritos out of my red proton saga! Ghetto, but humbling and was the beginning of getting the Chef Jay name out there.
It was short-lived and I went back to working at restaurants around KL. I needed more experience, more time and opportunities to grow. I landed a Chef de Partie position at a well-established Italian restaurant Zenzero, smack in the heart of KL.
There, I was fortunate to be mentored by 2 others namely Chef Paolo, for his ability to cook amazing plates of food from unconventional ingredients and Roberto, the kind of boss I would want to become, one day. He was compassionate and smart.
It was here that my passion for pasta-making sprouted. Right from the moment, I saw the velvet-like dough being rolled out of the machine, to being boiled and subsequently cooked in a rich Pomodoro sauce, it got me hooked. It kept growing over the years and by working in different restaurants around KL, it slowly became an art that I have almost mastered. My canvas was the various kinds of pasta that I churned out and created unique dishes with.
My last job before strutting out on my own was as a sous chef at Rare The Food Company. It is an over-the-top, exotic and delicious food place where I had the opportunity to put on the menu the kinds of pasta that I had learnt to make over the years. Looking at the expressions of bliss and appreciation from the customers who ate the pasta, I knew God had blessed me with this gift of creating good food from my kitchen. And that’s what I intend to continue doing, a dish at a time!
Dai ka sek fan! Sila makan! Bon Appetit !
