Local chef takes national title
Calgary chef Jinhee Lee was crowned the culinary queen Saturday after claiming gold at this year’s Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna.
The executive chef at Calgary’s newest pan-Asian restaurant, Foreign Concept, Lee took along restaurant owner Duncan Ly as her sous chef for the competition. Not only was Lee the first Calgary chef to win the culinary battle since 2006, she is also the second female ever to take first place.
“I felt really gratified. A lot of hard work was put into this,” Lee said in on her way home from Kelowna.
John Gilchrist, Calgary restaurant reviewer and judge at this year’s competition, said Lee gave an outstanding performance, winning all three challenges and rightfully named People’s Choice winner.
“What stands out with her cooking is the way she can balance flavours and textures, and bring so much out of a plate of food,” he said. “She plates so cleanly, so precisely. When you look at the plate, it’s a work of art.”
Facing off against 11 top chefs from across Canada, Lee’s finale dish — Cha Ca La Vong, showcasing turmeric fish with dill — blew away the 600 people in attendance and the judges.
“This dish is about my travelling experience in Asia, and specifically my visit to Hanoi,” Lee said. “I found a restaurant that served this one dish, and I fell in love with it and its flavours. I tried to make a different version of that dish.”
Gilchrist said Lee really set herself apart during the black box challenge — a task requiring each chef to compose a dish incorporating seven pre-picked ingredients in 50 minutes.
“One ingredient was salt cod, which is very difficult to deal with,” Gilchrist said. “A lot of chefs couldn’t tame the amount of salt to make it edible, but she handled it in such an elegant way. I could see the look on all the judges faces saying, ‘This is the one.’”
Lee walked away with a two-year lease on a 2017 BMW 430i xDrive Gran Coupe.