
Tony Le, Executive Chef, White Cliffs CC
When Tony Le, CEC, Executive Chef of White Cliffs Country Club (Plymouth, Mass.), was selected to compete in the ACF Regionals Chef of the Year Competition, he was tasked with showcasing a six-bone pork rack.
“I wanted to represent the flavors from my culture (Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian) in an arena where French flavor combinations were king,” says Le.
Le’s duo of pork dish is packed with umami and acidity, utilizing shiitake-mushroom-infused soy sauce, fish sauce and a large amount of Asian aromatics, as well as a variety of texture.
“The dish’s individual components were inspired by traditional dishes I’ve eaten at a young age,” he adds. “The pork had the flavors of char sui, the dumplings had the flavors of thịt nướng, and the squash was glazed with a nước chấm.”
Le says he’s most proud of the fact that this dish won gold with flavors that do not normally get represented on a national level.
“I believe that this dish is successful because it stood out compared to the other competitors” says Le. “[It] howcased many different skills, from fabrication, sausage-making, dumpling production, sauce production and layering of flavors. … I hope chefs will use this dish as a platform to show and represent their cultures, [while also] focusing on French techniques.”