Thanks to its racial diversity, Singapore has become a country filled with unique culinary cultures and world class restaurants. Chef Pung Lu Tin is one of Singapore’s top chefs and he has a famous Chinese restaurant, Tasty Court, that whips up dishes such as Crispy Fried Prawn Dumpling, Braised Baby Abalone with Charcoal Tofu, Traditional Hainanese Pork Belly and Fried Rice with Prawn and Silver Anchovies that are highly appraised on TripAdvisor. Now, he wants to share how he developed his skills and passion for cooking on his trip through Vietnam!
A culinary master in the making
Chef Pung became Singapore’s youngest Master Chef at only 23 years old, and has gone on to achieve many successes over his 40-year career. These achievements include MediaCorp Singapore Gourmet Hunt Honour Award (Best Chef, 2004), China Golden Chef Award (2005), and The International Master Chef of Chinese Cuisine Award of World Association of Chinese Cuisine (2006).
A passion for success
Ever since he was a young boy, Chef Pung Lu Tin wanted to be a chef, a choice that his father fully supported. So when most of his friends were out playing football, Pung was getting to know knives, cutting boards and cooking ingredients.
His passion grew over the years as he experimented in the family kitchen. The internet wasn’t around back then, so young Pung Lu Tin spent most of his free time in the library, poring over cooking tips from the previous masters and taking every opportunity to meet and consult them directly.
Chef Pung's culinary philosophy of always pushing for perfectionism
According to Chef Pung, every chef needs to constantly nurture his passion and commitment to become a good chef. His belief is that passion will make chefs increasingly love their work, and commitment is the key to becoming more creative and honing crucial skills.
"Caring is the most important thing. Care for your customer and it will help you to cook the most delicious dishes. When you truly understand your customers, every dish you make will become a masterpiece." - Chef Pung
With over 40 years of experience in the industry, Chef Pung believes that a chef’s skills can improve every day if he meets and talks to his diners. By being confident enough to step out of the kitchen and listen to all the feedback from their customers—both compliments and complaints—a chef’s skills can improve rapidly.
On 26 and 28 March 2019, Chef Pung will be visiting Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi to share the valuable experience he’s accumulated over his career to other chefs through various classes events.
