GEORGE TOWN: Martin Yan, a Chinese-born Hong Kong-American chef and food writer has recognised Penang as one of the global capital for street food.
Martin, who was in the state for Battle of the Chefs 2018, praised the local chefs for continuing to preserve street food cooking for over a hundred years.
“Over 175 years they are still cooking street food. That is great. One can only do that if one cooks with passion.
“Penang chefs cook with passion. They cook the dishes fresh and serve to their customers,” he said after the closing ceremony of the event held at Setia Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SPICE) here today.
Asked if customers should be worried about the cleanliness of the street food, he said that the onus was on the street food operator.
“Thailand and Singapore also have street food. Even at restaurants there are issues with cleanliness but people do not see it.
“For street food, the speciality is that people can see the food prepared in front of them. It is unique and some restaurants are also starting to adopt open kitchen concept,” he said.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow hoped that Penang Chefs Association could learn from Martin about culinary arts in order to boost food tourism further.
“I hope the association can benefit from it with collaborations in the future,” he said.
Responding to that, Martin said that he was honoured to be flying all the way from San Francisco for the event today and would come more often in the future.
The three-day Battle of the Chefs 2018 held today was the 17th edition of the competition. The next one is expected to be held in 2020.