US-Vietnamese chef wins culinary award

Duong Huy Khai, an American-Vietnamese chef, outcooked 200 other leading chefs from 30 countries and territories to win the gold medal at the International Beijing Culinary Competition, which ended last week. 

American-Vietnamese chef Duong Huy Khai

Igor Tumarkin, from Russia, and Thai chef Thanaphat Buapijit won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Khai prepared bird's nest soup emanating from the coastal province of Khanh Hoa, his native land. The dish was highly regarded because the chef combined Asian and European styles, judges said.

Khai made the sauce from tomatoes, carrots, lemongrass, turnips, onion and ginkgo, which judges said brought out the delicate flavours of the soup made from the nest of the salangane (Asian swift).

In the past, bird's nest soup was served only to royalty.

The chef is currently a judge on the Iron Chef game show on VTV3 channel.