Chef Jereme Leung, considered as one of the most influential movers in the modern Chinese culinary scene, is marking his 40th anniversary in the kitchen this year.
Leung, who began working as a dishwasher when he was 13 years old in 1983, has come a long way – making a name for himself in Hong Kong, Singapore and China and expanding to other countries, including the Philippines, with his innovative take on traditional Chinese dishes.
He’s back in the country for a six-day exclusive engagement at Conrad Manila’s China Blue, headlining the Flavors of the Orient leg of the hotel’s Legendary Chef Series.
Four decades since he rolled up his sleeves to work in the kitchen, this master chef says he is “still excited” to look for unique ingredients, pair flavor profiles, and serve dishes that have been likened to culinary works of art.
China Blue at Conrad Manila, in particular, is a source not just of excitement but of personal satisfaction too, Leung told Manila Standard Cravings during a preview of his multi-course set menu with select members of the press.
“Seven years down the road since we opened China Blue, this place is packed, lunch and dinner. And 95 percent of our customers are local people,” he said.
“That to me is what is really satisfying because then we have conceived a concept that works with the local people. In every market, that is the most important because the worst thing is for you to create a for-tourist-only where everybody else thinks you’re good but literally the local people don’t support you because they don’t like it,” Leung added.
Leung’s dishes are playful and bold and unafraid to be different without the aftertaste of overthinking.
He paired his marinated lobster and coriander lime jelly dressing with crispy bean curd sheet, while his deep-fried kataifi seafood (cuttlefish) skewered in lemongrass was given an Asian twist with otak-otak or fish custard.
He brought merry fruit from China and double-boiled it with peach gum, sea cucumber, black chicken dumpling, dried moon clam and matsutake mushroom for a deep-flavored clear soup.
For his main course, Leung prepared steamed dry-aged sea garoupa with sun-dried ginger, red chili, black bean paste and superior chicken stock as well as slow-cooked beef with green pepper and barbecue sauce.
Serving fried rice last was perhaps the most stark reminder that these elevated dishes are all rooted in traditional Chinese cuisine, but even then, it was black sesame fried rice with dried scallop, shrimp, spring onion and egg white.
His dessert was at once intriguing and familiar – Hawthorn ice cream (the same flavor as the Haw flakes of one’s childhood) with Chinese sweet vinegar caramel and traditional onion pancake on the side.
The menu was a testament to how Chinese cuisine has evolved throughout the years, Leung said.
Chinese cuisine, he once said in an interview, is “strong enough to stand on its own. By adjusting the cuisine, the status of the cuisine was elevated.”
“We are now using ingredients and preparations that were not seen at all if you look back at Chinese cuisine 20 years ago. White truffles are now used widely. We now age our meat, we age our poultry, and in one course [the steamed garoupa] we aged fish, too,” he said.
“It is becoming more complex, more refined, at par with international standards,” Leung added.
(Indulge in Chef Jereme Leung’s culinary masterpiece at Conrad Manila at P6,588 nett per person for a five-course meal until July 23, 2023. Conrad Manila’s Legendary Chefs Series will continue with Chef Valerio Pierantonelli from Basilico, Conrad Singapore Orchard’s highly sought-after Italian restaurant, bringing the soulful flavors of Italy to Manila from August 2 to 15.)