Close
Exit
In their confessionals, all the judges agreed that Ahong was in their top two list and should continue to strive in all his future endeavors

In their confessionals, all the judges agreed that Ahong was in their top two list and should continue to strive in all his future endeavors

MOUTHS were drooling last Saturday at the R.AGE Food Fight finale, where the five finalists presented their recipes and cooking show style in front of bright lights, multiple cameras, and a live audience.

The finalists were judged by a panel of industry professionals – Chef Wan, Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia master chef Rodolphe Onno, restaurateur Darren Chin, performing artiste Tan Chun Liang, and top food blogger KY Speaks – on their personality, food knowledge, and culinary skills.

If there was one running theme throughout the entire competition, it was the usage of locally inspired flavours, from Food Fight’s featured ingredient – palm oil – to the contestants’ choices of recipes.

Penang-based chef Nurilkarim Razha, dished out a succulent baked fish with prawn otak-otak, ulam pesto and paku salad, which he served to the judges and the live audience at Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia.

file6mpvg88mhh4155yy1d2n

Razha’s dish was a succulent baked cod with prawn otak-otak and ulam pesto.

“I feel like even though I’m using some imported ingredients, they’re there to make the local ingredients shine,” Nurilkarim said during his presentation. “Our local ingredients don’t get the spotlight as often as they deserve.”

It was an insanely close match between Nurilkarim and first runner-up, Ahong Yeang, who served up a plate of roast chicken in coconut gravy with a fancy-as-hell chicken skin crisp.

RAGE Food Fight champion's at sunway

RAGE Food Fight champion’s at sunway

Yeang’s show was non-stop laughter as he captivated the crowd with his dry humour and big personality.

“You really could be a stand-up comedian!” said Chef Wan to Yeang during the feedback and tasting session. Chin added that his hearty dish was a perfect representation of Yeang’s larger-than-life personality.

Third place went to home baker and food stylist Li-Anne Kuek, who stole the judges’ hearts from the get-go with her bubbly personality. Her dish was a pumpkin loaf with white chocolate ganache, milk crumble and honeycomb. Although the judges did comment on her lack of local ingredients compared to Yeang and Nurilkarim’s recipes, she did a very good job of presenting the benefits of palm oil and incorporating it into her recipe.

Li-Anne's pumpkin loaf with pumpkin ganache and sorbet

Li-Anne’s pumpkin loaf with pumpkin ganache and sorbet

Nevertheless, Chef Wan said he was impressed by Nurilkarim’s knowledge of local ingredients and cooking styles, and that no one was better suited to be the face of Malaysian cuisine.

“He is the whole package,” he said.

Fellow finalist Ashley Pan, a tax consultant and home baker from Sarawak, agreed.

“Nuril knows so much about local ingredients,” she said. “He’s got such great talent, but at the same time he’s really humble.”

Nurilkarim, who will now be a food columnist and video host for R.AGE, said he already has plans for what he will be talking about, and yes, it will have a lot to do with promoting Malaysia’s local flavours for the new generation. Frankly, we can’t wait.

Tell us what you think!

BTW…

Championing children’s education

Education director-general Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim speaks on the importance of empathy-based education, the challenges of adapting education policies in light of the Covid-19 situation, and her “dream” education system.

Read more Like this post3

I lost my mother to the Japanese war

 Whenever Allied planes bombed Sandakan town as part of its campaign to liberate Borneo, Daniel Chin Tung Foh’s grandfather would rush the whole family into a bomb shelter behind their house.  During its heyday, the British North Borneo Company had developed Sandakan into a major commercial and trading hub for timber, as well as […]

Read more Like this post1

A witness to the Double Tenth revolt

 Chua Hock Yong was born in Singapore, but his grandfather moved the family to British North Borneo (now Sabah) to establish their business in 1939 when he was a year old.  The Japanese invaded Borneo shortly after, but the family continued living in their shophouse in Gaya Street, Jesselton, now known as Kota Kinabalu.  […]

Read more Like this post5

An encounter with victims of the Sandakan Death Marches

 When the Second World War came to Borneo, Pelabiu Akai’s mother moved the family back to their village in Nalapak, Ranau.  Although the Japanese were known to be ruthless and brutal conquerors, they left the villagers to their own devices and Pelabiu had a largely uneventful life – until she came across gaunt-looking Allied […]

Read more Like this post4

Sarawak’s only living child prisoner of war

 Jeli Abdullah’s mother died from labour complications after giving birth to him and his twin brother. To his Bisaya tribe, this was seen as a bad omen, and his father did not know what to do with the twins.  Fortunately, an Australian missionary couple decided to adopt the newborns. But misfortunate fell upon the […]

Read more Like this post3

Lest we forget

AFIO Rudi, 21, had never thought much about his grandfather Jeli Abdullah’s life story until an Australian TV programme interviewed the 79-year-old about being Sarawak’s last surviving World War II child prisoner of war (POW). The engineering student then realised that despite living in Sarawak all his life, he also didn’t know very much of […]

Read more Like this post7
Go top