Team from Hong Kong wins Final Round of United Tastes of America - Asia Chef Challenge @ Taipei International  Food Show 

The final round of the United Tastes of America - Asian Chef Challenge at the Taipei International Food Show’s USA Pavilion, which was jointly organized by the U.S. Meat Export Federation and ATO Taipei on June 27, was a huge success. The grand champion award went to Chefs Eyck Zimmer and Yiu Sing Lau from Hong Kong Jockey Club's Derby Restaurant. The first runner-up went to Tokyo’s Kenzo Estate Winery. Taipei's Bite 2 Eat received the prizes of the second runner-up and the third runner-up went to Shanghai’s Le Domaine du Lac. 

This international chef competition that was co-sponsored by around 18 U.S. agricultural producer groups included culinary talents from Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Taipei to compete for Asia's top chefs' title.  Throughout the entire final competition that lasted for three hours, the chefs had to utilize twenty high-quality U.S. ingredients to create an appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert. The Hong Kong team managed the ingredients with adept execution, winning the championship. Two judges from Napa Valley's Culinary Institute of America provided expert assistance to the judges panel and provided great guidance to the teams after the event.  The Hong Kong team will be flown to California later this year to participate in a one week long training program as the grand prize.

At the final competition, the list of mandatory ingredients from the United States included Alaskan salmon, Pacific cod, Cornish game hen,  pork bone-in loin, Prime strip-loin beef, Parmesan cheese, California Mozzarella, California golden raisins, California dried figs, California broccoli, California iceberg lettuce, sweet rice, medium grain rice, California walnuts, Sunkist oranges, Sunkist lemons, fresh blueberries, Wisconsin ginseng, Idaho's dehydrated mashed potatoes, and dried cranberries.   

For pictures of the event, please click:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94450663@N04/sets/    http://www.flickr.com/photos/usdachina/sets/72157634357572853/