That’s right! For any dish, in addition to the beauty after decoration (in professional kitchen terminology called garnish), the impact of spices and processing methods, the quality of raw materials is also extremely important. The influence of this source of raw materials is like the roots of a giant tree, the “healthier”, fresher, more quintessential the roots are, the more excellent the finished dish is like the “tips - branches - trunk - leaves”.
If the raw ingredients are delicious enough, then even the simplest processing methods can produce delicious finished products. Moreover, if that initial raw deliciousness is combined with the chef's talent and skill through the combination of ingredients and spices, the deliciousness of the finished dish will make people admire even more.
Back to today's story, we invite readers to get to know chef Long Cuong. He is a young chef born in 1995. He used to work at Esta Saigon, now he has retired to his own personal projects. Long Cuong is a professional chef with many years of experience in the profession and has won many prestigious culinary awards such as Michelin Selected 2024, Top 2 Rising Star Chef 2023 (BAR Awards) and several other awards.
Chef Long Cuong
Talking to this humble and passionate chef, Travellive imagined how he slowly exploits ingredients and creates them for contemporary dishes in the midst of the fast-paced F&B industry. It turns out that calmly and patiently exploiting the beauty of each ingredient and food when combining them is also a way to honor unique cuisine.
How do you feel about our country's raw materials?
Vietnam has a long coastline and a distinctive climate that varies from North to South, providing a diverse and abundant source of food. I focus on exploiting the original beauty of seasonal ingredients right at the local area, from those regions. To me, those ingredients may be rough, rustic, and dusty on the outside, but inside they contain the deliciousness and uniqueness that nature has bestowed upon the Vietnamese people. Processing raw ingredients is a difficult thing. They depend a lot on the experience and time the chef spends on the ingredients.
To me, those ingredients may be rough, rustic, and dusty on the outside, but inside they contain the deliciousness and uniqueness that nature has bestowed upon the Vietnamese people.
In your opinion, what is the best way for a new chef to access the abundant raw materials available everywhere?
For a chef, at first, most people will focus on learning kitchen techniques, instead of having time to learn about ingredients. Learning about raw materials requires process, patience and time. I have matured in my career through learning about the origin, seasons, characteristics of each ingredient and how it grows, how it is cared for greatly affects its quality. This requires slowness and a lot of observation to understand and see the essence of many ingredients, from there applying them to dishes. A chef who understands and appreciates ingredients is extremely good.
This requires slowness and a lot of observation to understand and see the essence of many ingredients, and then apply them to dishes.
During my work, I have noticed that many good quality restaurants are very strict in researching ingredients. They shared with me that they research very carefully. They invest a lot of time, effort, and concentration to create new menus. Each dish is like that. Because they understand and appreciate food sources. They spend a lot of time developing research and finding local ingredients. Local vegetables, meat, and fish are more concerned to support local farmers and help develop the local agricultural sector of this country.
This is completely reasonable and has been a habit of many old generation chefs. In the old days, when life did not have the convenience of services or transporting goods between countries like now, chefs used only local ingredients. Therefore, if a chef wants to be good at cooking traditional food, they must focus on researching local ingredients, researching deeply into the origin and crops that form the ingredients to create unique delicious dishes.
Going deeper into the story of local food under the philosophy of "eating in season" and how many food lovers prioritize food sources close to our lives, can you share more about this for readers to know?
For me personally, the best ingredients will be in that season. For example, winter-spring has strawberries, or summer has plums, lychees, mulberries... All have regional and seasonal characteristics. I have never prioritized using canned ingredients. If I need an ingredient that I can find in our country, I will not prioritize imported ones. Perhaps, the fact that I trust food from farmers who have knowledge and experience about crops and seasons is also a way to contribute to the overall development of the local agricultural sector.
Let me tell you a little bit about the ingredients that are available all year round like carrots, cabbage, eggplants… At this point, I will focus on the taste, how they are cultivated, not on the seasonality. Speaking of cultivation methods, believe it or not, sometimes just a small change in the crop care regime can change the quality of the ingredients. I will try to use the example of strawberries, which may be sweeter than the previous season even though the weather is not too different. At these times, I will try to work with the suppliers to try to maintain the quality of the ingredients instead of trying to reuse the fruit that is not of good quality.
Sometimes just a small change in plant care can change the quality of the raw materials.
Through that story, we understand that maintaining the quality of seasonal food sources is also an extremely difficult challenge for chefs and farmers. The stability is not too high, the output cannot be compared with industrial food and many other limitations have caused many people working in the F&B industry to... give up before this source of raw materials. On the other hand, this is a fertile area for many chefs to choose to exploit.
In your opinion, is there more than one way for a chef to approach food?
In my opinion, there are two ways chefs approach food: those who prioritize ingredients they love and use regularly, and those who prioritize and respect the customer experience, so no ingredients are prioritized. I belong to the second group (laughs).
Can you name a few special ingredients that you like in your kitchen?
I like tomatoes, Moc Chau strawberries and basil from Tra Que vegetable village (laughs).
Can you share the most impressive story on your journey to discover the diverse, rich and unique indigenous resources of Vietnam?
I had an impression that changed my perspective on my career and the way I think about cooking, that was the time I received a Grouper fish caught from Phan Thiet sea.
My friend is a fisherman who fishes offshore, often fishing all night. One day, at dawn, right after the storm when the sea had calmed down, he called me to say he had just caught a rare 21 kg grouper and asked if I wanted to buy it, because if I didn't buy it right away, someone else would take it. I agreed to buy it immediately. You know, this fish is a wild fish, it cannot be farmed, it is very rare and usually only black grouper and star grouper can be farmed. This grouper has very soft meat, almost every part of it can be used, from the fillet to the bones, cheeks and even the eyes. How did I make the most of the fish? To catch such rare fish, fishermen have to put in a lot of effort, from diving in the rain and wind, to pulling in the 21 kg fish, it is really a challenge. Catching it is not only dangerous and hard, but also lucky. So I really appreciate that effort. It's almost like gratitude (he emotionally shared).
Can you share more about the challenges in your career with readers?
Sometimes in the profession, chefs have to go through many ups and downs. And I know many of my friends and colleagues do too. Maybe it's because we're too focused when cooking. A chef always thinks about food, even when sleeping he can dream about food, maybe because he's too focused when cooking or he's very focused on a new menu.
A chef is always thinking about food, and may even dream about food when he sleeps, perhaps because he is too focused while cooking or he is very focused on a new menu.
So is becoming a professional chef really that difficult?
Yes. I understand the importance of being a professional chef. I think this profession requires not only culinary knowledge but also scientific knowledge, how things react with each other biochemically and physically, and compliance with food safety and hygiene factors (HACCP) is also important in the profession. Moreover, everything is just the beginning. Every chef also needs great patience and time to practice, research deeply and even overcome discouragement when being in the same kitchen day after day.
And are all professional chefs creative, sir?
There are many moments when a chef is under pressure to be creative, but sometimes there are ingredients that we don't need to be creative with, the ingredients themselves are already perfect, well-rounded and pure, we just need to serve them in the simplest way.
Sometimes there are ingredients that we don't need to be creative with, the ingredients themselves are already perfect, well-rounded and pure, we just need to serve them in the simplest way.
Can you share some cooking tips/methods that you use regularly?
I love charcoal grilling, this is a very old technique, a basic and traditional technique. If we choose good enough ingredients, we just need to grill them under a big flame, high temperature, the finished product will be delicious enough. This is the way I reveal the beauty of the ingredients in the most authentic way. Restaurants around the world also prioritize charcoal grilling technique. The interaction between smoke, protein of meat, fish combined with "juice" (water secreted from food) will create a very different characteristic flavor.
Grilling technique can be said to be one of the oldest and most ancient techniques when humans prepare food. Since ancient times when fire was discovered, humans grilled the meat of each animal under a large flame, the first flavor from the rising smoke has been deeply imprinted in the minds of humans through many generations, forming a permanent mark of love for grilled dishes that lasts until today. Not boiled dishes in water, not stewed dishes for many hours, it is grilled dishes and the way humans conquer the fire that is the premise of the great culinary industry as it is today.
With his talent, humility and gentleness in the way he gets acquainted and approaches the ingredients, Chef Long Cuong shared his professional stories and culinary stories that are extremely simple, delicate but contain many valuable depths. It seems that his greatest joy in becoming a chef comes from the fact that he has found a way to exploit the beauty hidden in the simplest ingredients and honor them in his own way.
