Woking his way to the top
> Penang-born Lee Che Liang has gone from kitchen helper to the man in charge of a kitchen staff of 65 at the fine-dining Park Chinois restaurant in Mayfair, London
Where did you master your skills as a chef? “I’d say that it wasn’t until I was 21 that I really mastered my profession. I was at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore.
“At that time, it was the best hotel in the region and I learned incredible amounts about quality, service and hospitality.
“I met Allan Yau (founder of Wagamama and co-founder of Hakkasan), and he moved me to London to open the first Hakkasan restaurant in 2001.
“Since then, I’ve gone on to open Hakkasans all over the world from New York to Moscow, Abu Dhabi and Miami.
“I learned a lot during that time about different cultures and techniques.”
How did you conceptualise the menu at Park Chinois? “The cuisine represents the 52 provinces of China, but the techniques that we use are from all over the world.
“For instance, we have a carbonara dish, The Park Carbonara, on the menu. The dish is Italian in its inspiration but it’s created using the finest Chinese ingredients, Inaniwa udon, sea urchin and an organic egg cooked perfectly at 65°C.
“We take a similar approach with our dim sum; they have this really long history within Chinese cooking and mean ‘from the heart’.
“Dim sum are delicate so we treat them with respect. We use the best of seasonal ingredients to create something that is from our heart, so that we’re respecting their place in culinary history.”
What is comfort food to you? “When I’m at home with my family (he has two sons, aged 10 and 12), I eat really simply. I spend all day testing and tasting so when I’m at the house, I love to have a simple congee that my wife prepares for me.”
What is your advice to young cooks in Malaysia who wish to follow in your footsteps? “Just get out there and try something. There are only so many things that you can learn from a book. It is important to experiment, to practise and master your craft by doing the hard graft.
“You also have to try and move forward every day and to ask yourself, how can I keep on getting better?
“I’ve got a big team in the kitchen, there are over 60 chefs in there and I could just stand back and oversee everything, but it is important for me to be in there working alongside them, to gain their respect by working hard with them.”