Taiwanese Halal Food Cooking Contest UPM Students’ Takes the Crown with Fusion Culinary Skills

Kuala Lumpur: The 2nd Taiwanese Halal Food Cooking Contest has concluded and the team from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Department of Food Service and Management managed to win the judges over with their creative fusion cooking technique that cleverly injects Taiwanese flavours and Asian-style cooking into their Western creation.

The winners’ seafood tacos and halibut dish won over the tastebuds of Chef Jo and Chef Riz, and they took home RM 1,000 in cash prize.

Peggy Lin, Deputy Executive Director of Strategic Marketing Department of TAITRA (left 5)，Remee Yaakub, the Director of Halal, Food & amp; Beverages and Agro-based Section of MATRADE(right 5), Lim Chia-Yi, Deputy Director of Taiwan Halal Center (left 4) and celebrity chef judge Chef Jo (left 5) joined the guests and participants for a group photo.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was commissioned by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade to hold the 2nd Taiwanese Halal Food Cooking Contest on the 26th of August in conjunction to Taiwan Expo 2023 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) Faculty of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness; and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Department of Food Service and Management each sent out two teams of student contestants for the competition, and their youthful innovation was on full display as they brought to the competition many creative cooking methods that best showcase the advantages of Taiwanese ingredients and create a series of tantalizing flavours.

The participants made the best use of the 25 halal ingredients from ten Taiwanese brands to cook their required two dishes.

The UMK’s FHPK has participated in the Taiwan Halal Culinary Competition for two consecutive years, considering its involvement in the competition as akin to an international halal food exchange feast.

In light of this, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Roslizawati binti Che Aziz, has extended a special invitation to the Taiwan Halal Center to become a strategic partner of the Faculty at UMK.

Taiwan Halal Center is recognised as strategic partner of the Faculty of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). Deputy Executive Director of Strategic Marketing Department of TAITRA Peggy Lin (left) received the certificate from Prof. Dr. Roslizawati binti Che Aziz, Dean Faculty of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness of UKM.

All four groups chose to compete with seafood dishes and made the best use of the 25 halal ingredients from ten Taiwanese brands to cook their required two dishes.

Amongst them include the seafood ingredients from YENS and Huikun, vegetable-based ingredients from No Meating, rice cracker from Dong Yuan, sweet potato chips from K.K. Orchard, premium honey from Dudujia Honey, as well as numerous sauces and condiments from Pao Chung, S&G and Jofont.

The ability of the students to combine these diverse range of ingredients into tantalizing Eastern and Western cuisines are nothing short of spectacular and truly highlight the versatility of Taiwan halal ingredients.

The first place went to Muhammad Haikal Hazim bin Mohd Lazim and Nur Farhani binti Fadrul Hisham.

The duo exclaimed that each of the amazing ingredients provided is already a dish by itself and they quickly realized that the best way to treat the delicious Taiwanese halal ingredients is to avoid over-seasoning.

Instead, the key is to balance the flavours and to bring out the most amazing flavour of each ingredient.

According to Peggy Lin, Deputy Executive Director of Strategic Marketing Department of TAITRA, more than a thousand companies in Taiwan have obtained halal certification to date, and Malaysia is the biggest export market for the products which shows that Taiwan’s high-quality halal products is recognised and accepted by Malaysians.

Last year’s inaugural Taiwanese Halal Cooking Contest featured plant-based meat which was very well received.

This year’s ingredients are even more diverse and shows the endless possibilities of Taiwanese halal food.

Remee Yaakub, the Director of Halal, Food & Beverages and Agro-based Section of MATRADE, praised TAITRA’s effort to promote Taiwan’s halal products and is heartened by the economic and trade progress between Malaysia and Taiwan.

Similar to last year’s competition, this year’s event once again showed the level of variety and flavours possible.

The two celebrity chef judges, Chef Jo and Chef Riz, are very pleased to see how well the students have rose up to the challenge to whip out these wonderful dishes.

They also agreed that this type of competition can not only inspire students but lead to more innovation through the continuous cultural exchanges.

The judges hope to see more such competitions in the future.

As the exciting competition unfolded onstage, the audience was treated to a delicious Taiwanese beverage – the globally bestselling winter-melon tea from Forever Sweety.

There were also giveaways, including sample packs of the renowned Shih Chen 3:15pm milk tea, lotus root almond drink from King Kung, and Biozyme enzyme drink.

For more information about the Taiwanese halal food, please contact the Taiwan Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur at 03-2031 2388 or email: [email protected]

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