Chef Anton aspires to be a Food Hero
His boyish grin and matinee idol looks could easily pass him for an artista but Chef Anton Amoncio is getting his fair share of the spotlight for his culinary skills. In fact, his chicken recipes — Chicken Tinola and Fried Chicken Adobo sa Gata — have earned for him a spot as one of the Top 4 finalists in Food Hero 2016, a cooking competition held by Asian Food Channel in an aim to determine Asia’s best home cooks and food presenters.
It was his friend, Chef Anton shared, who suggested him to join in the contest by sending a video, through the show’s app, showing him whipping up his entry dish. Without any expectations, the 27-year-old chef submitted his version of Chicken Tinola wherein he used native chicken, malunggay leaves and slices of watermelon (replacing papaya) as ingredients. His entry was chosen among the hundreds of entries during the first round. Only 10 contestants succeeded to compete in the second round. He then sent another recipe, Fried Chicken Adobo sa Gata, that landed him in the Top 4. Chef Anton will be competing with two Malaysians and one Thai in the final cook-off challenge on Oct. 20 in Singapore. The finalists are set to cook one signature dish for the audience and the winner will be determined through voting. “I don’t have any idea on what to cook yet since the ingredients will be provided on the actual contest. So, on the spot talaga,” he said.
Good thing, Chef Anton is used to cooking under pressure since he graduated at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in 2009. He was 25 when he put up his own restaurant called Antojos Manila in San Juan “which I had to close down because most of our clients often cancel their reservations due to heavy traffic in the area. We will open a new one in the Makati area.” He has also worked at Purple Feet. “I also worked at Lolo Dad’s under the tutelage of Chef Ariel Manuel.” On TV, Chef Anton had a stint with UFC on Mornings@ANC in 2009. He also appeared on GMA 7’s Unang Hirit for its segment Kitchen Hirit and other shows like Pinoy M.D. and Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho. How did you become a chef?
“I started cooking when I was eight. I’m the only kid so I spent most of my afternoons with my grandmother who looks after me since my mom was working in Singapore. Although I would rather be playing outside, I watched my grandma cooking for the entire family then eventually I started helping her out then I began to develop my love for food. But growing up, it kinda got repressed because back when I was in high school sa Greece, I wanted to take up cooking but in school, they said it’s for girls only. So, I pursued my love for music and enrolled at (De La Salle) St. Benilde to take up music production. Before I finished it I told myself, I could do music on the side naman so I decided to enroll at CCA.” What is your first food memory?
“My grandmother making me Tinola because when I was a kid, you know being malikot, I rode a bike, fell off and hit a metal bar so I was rushed to the hospital for a six-inch stitches and my grandma started making me Tinola for me to recover. Every day Tinola yan, native chicken gamit n’ya with malunggay so that’s my very first food memory, my comfort food and that was the first dish I made as a food entry for theF ood Hero contest.”
Since you love music, is there music playing in the background while you’re cooking in the kitchen? “I encourage that inside the kitchen except Sundays kasi sobrang dami ng tao at di na kami magkarinigan. Music in the kitchen depends on the mood like we play R&B, OPM, Hip-Hop and at home, I listen to Josh Groban and Michael Bublé to relax myself.”
Who are your favorite chefs?
“I like Anthony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsay, Ferran Adrea and Bobby Flay. They are the people I want to emulate, hopefully.” Is there a requirement in the kitchen or cooking skills difficult to master?
“Not necessarily but I would say it’s more on character. I would say one has to develop the value of hard work and I tell my staff that and all my contemporaries because we share stories and best practices. I always tell them that if you don’t have the value of hard work, even in any other field, it would be hard to succeed. I remember when I started (in culinary) school, I was one of the youngest in the batch. Most have kids and some have taken up HRM or worked in cruise lines so they have the experience to back their education up so medyo ahead na sila so I have to overcompensate through studying; I hit the books really hard, nag-e- experiment and I practiced really hard.” What is one kitchen tool you can never live without?
“My kitchen knife. It’s like an extension of myself and it’s one of the first skills that I’ve worked on. The first dish that I made was
Bagoong Rice and then rule ng mom ko before was it’s OK for me to cook but don’t hold a knife. My mom taught me two lessons not to waste food and pasarapin mo yung pagkain.” What is your favorite quick meal to prepare at home? “Sopas. We have this particular way of making sopas with sausages. It’s a quick meal so if I’m really tired, I make sopas but I seldom cook for myself. I don’t cook at home kung ako lang magisa.” What are your favorite ingredients?
“Onions, garlic and tomatoes. With those three, I could make different types of dishes na; they’re like my Holy Trinity inside the kitchen.” Best tip you can give to a newbie chef?
“Love what you’re doing and work hard. Learning is constant. Being a chef is not all glitz and glamour. Those (chefs) who are on TV, they’ve already paid their dues or earned their stripes that’s why they are famous.” What is your edge over your competition in Asian Food Hero?
“I love playing with food because ever since growing up I don’t see cooking as cooking. And maybe since I’m a Filipino, (our cooking) it’s a hodgepodge of different types of culture hopefully I’ll be able to inject that into the dish that I’ll be bringing out to the audience.”
(Asian Food Channel, a part of Scripps Network Interactive, is Singapore’s leading food-focused channel that celebrates the unique Asian culinary experience with the added touch of global flavor. It is available in more than 10 countries in Asia Pacific.)