Work and lifeCooking

Gilles–Alexandre Salansy takes freshly bakedbaguettes out of the oven to compliment his French hare stew, cherry tomato and avacado salad with crab and grapefruit, and pig trotter pâte (see opposite page).

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Proficiency in the kitchen is just as important as it is at work for some professionals. Julian Hwang talks to Institute members to uncover the secrets behind their culinary fruitionPhotography by Anthony Tung

CERTIFIED TOCOOK

Proficiency in the kitchen is just as important as it is at work for some professionals. Julian Hwang talks to Institute members to uncover the secrets behind their culinary fruition

A pot of homemade stock gently simmers over the stove as Gilles-Alexandre Salansy pre-

pares his hare stew. “I use the bones for the stock so there won’t be any waste,” he explains, “I cook hare for my fam-ily very regularly, but the process for making most French stews is often the same.” The stock is then drained and put aside as the meat is browned in a sepa-rate pot. Once the meat is semi-cooked, it is quickly taken out and replaced with shallots and a cup of white wine.

As the alcohol evaporates, the pre-made stock, flour and a big dollop of but-ter is added. “French cooking right?” he says with a wink, “I prefer using butter than oil.” The cooked hare meat is then reintroduced to the pot along with fresh mushrooms, a pinch of salt and pepper and left to simmer and reduce.

Salansy, Director of Outsourcing Services at Mazars and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs, like several other members, finds that cooking provides an exciting change of pace from his usual packed duties at work.

When Salansy was studying for his Master’s degree in Engineering, he had to move away from his parents’ home. As a full-time student focused on his studies, Salansy soon realized how costly it was to eat out all the time.

He decided to minimize his spendings by trying his hand at cooking. “My parents always cooked at home,” he says, “so I chose to emulate them when I left.”

He formed a cooking club with several like-minded engineering stu-dents. Together, they cooked at events to show others that it was possible to cook for a lot of people with a limited budget. “When you do something that you like and people like it too, it makes you happy,” he says.

In addition to his prowess for traditional French cooking, Salansy is also a skilled baker and pastry chef. Instead of purchasing bread from outside bakeries like most families, Salansy chooses to bake his own for his family every weekend. “I’d say flour is my most used ingredient. It’s used for bread, waffles and pancakes for breakfast, and even in my sauces. I use it in absolutely everything,” Salansy explains.

The weekends are a time for

“ When you do some-thing that you like and people like it too, it makes you happy.”

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Work and lifeCooking

Salansy to change his family’s usual Asian diet, and also serve as a means to express himself through cuisine. “I can only cook during the weekends, so I’ll organize my work schedule for only the weekdays, even if it means working longer hours,” he says.

Patience, together with the determination to improve, will always yield positive results. “Having success with a dish made for the first time can be difficult, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” he advises.

To Salansy, the gathering of family around the dining table is sacred. “Cooking is about sharing and spending more time together with family and friends,” he explains. “You share a passion, an experience and a culture, but it’s also about having a good time.”

Healthy foundationWinnie Leung, Principal of Audit and Assurance Services at RSM Hong Kong and an Institute member, found her

calling to cook when a routine body check detected marginal cholesterol levels.

“Eating at cha chaan tengs is quite common for office workers like me,” she says, “but the food is usually very oily and not the most health-conscious choice.”

Leung was motivated to cut down the number of meals eaten outside for dinner and instead, opt to make her own meals at home. “Cooking and eating at home lets me control the intake levels of oil, salt and sugar for my family,” she says.

When Leung was young, her mother would often invite her into the kitchen. Through keen observation and memory, Leung still remembers her tips despite not

having to cook until more recently. “My mother once showed me how to prepare a live crab. The first thing you’ve got to do is chop off the claws,” she recalls with a laugh.

As Leung became more confident in cooking, she delved into more complicated recipes with advanced cookware – from homemade pizzas to salt and pepper crab.

When preparing her special Dutch baby, a type of popover pancake, she does so with a smile. “It’s actually quite simple, as long as you have the right flour type and the proper consistency,” she says, “I’m using cake flour because it has a low protein content.”

Using the right type of flour is critical when baking. “The low levels of protein in cake flour helps keep the pancake soft and fluffy.”

After carefully sifting her dry ingre-dients and whisking them together with milk and eggs, she pours the mixture into a greased baking pan and pops it into the oven. As the timer ticks, the heavenly smell of rich butter permeates the kitchen.

“ Cooking and eating at home lets me con-trol the intake levels of oil, salt and sugar for my family.”

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Winnie Leung, whisks her ingredients for her Dutch baby (see opposite page)

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Work and lifeCooking

“If time permits, cooking should never be a chore,” she says while topping off the freshly baked popover with plump berries and icing sugar. “If you are new to cooking or don’t have a lot of time to cook, try using pre-packed soup packs or marinating your meats over the weekend. This really cuts down on prep time and you can cook everything within 30 min-utes for a healthier dining option.”

Interest turned passionMian Wong’s first time cooking for a crowd was in 1995 at the summer camp kitchen in New Jersey for the Camp in America programme. As the current Advisory Director at Grant Thornton Hong Kong and an Institute member, Wong has been curious about cooking since an early age and worked as a kitchen helper at the camp while studying at a univer-sity in the United Kingdom.

“The head chef at the summer camp taught us how to make an au-thentic American-sized sandwich,” she recalled. “It was stuffed with so much meat that it was huge by Hong Kong standards!”

“We had to prepare and serve food for the camp,” says Wong. “It was my first time working in a large-scale kitchen under a head chef where I learned many practical techniques.” Cooking for so many people was new to her, but every moment created valu-able memories.

Like most distinguished chefs, Wong was brought into the culinary

world by her mother. “My first memory of us cooking together was when we went to the market to buy vegetables for my mother’s Hakka stuffed tofu dish,” she says. “It was around Tuen Ng Festival and it was really hot, so we didn’t have much of an appetite, but just watching her cook and work the ingredients was simply awe-inspiring.”

Wong remembers her mother digging out a hole in the tofu care-fully with chopsticks and stuffing it with a salted fish and meat filling, which was then promptly fried to a golden yellow. “The salted fish and seasoning just lifted the dish, and we instantly got our appetite back once we tasted it.”

Following her mother’s footsteps, Wong still uses the same nimble chopstick technique and takes great care to lower the tofu into the boiling oil gently, thereby recreating her mother’s dish perfectly.

Today, Wong excels at making Chinese soups. “Prevention is better than the cure,” she says. Expertly mixing in a combination of both standard and herbal ingredients, she is able to concoct a variety of nourishing soups for almost every occasion.

However, cooking skills alone will not make you a great chef. The key to becoming a successful cook is to first care about those who will be eating your food, especially your family, she urges. “Seeing them happily eating

Mian Wong sprinkles chopped scallions onto her Hakka stuffed tofu

“ The salted fish and seasoning just lifted the dish, and we instantly got our appetite back once we tasted it.”

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food that is both non-processed and good for their health is my motiva-tion to continue cooking.”

Practise makes perfectFrank Wong’s interest in cooking also arose because of his mother, but rather than teaching him how to cook, she taught him how to appreciate eating. Cooking has al-ways been an integral part of the EY Financial Services Partner’s childhood for as long as he can remember.

“My mother didn’t know how to cook, but she really liked to eat,” says Wong, a member of the Institute, “so my father did most of the cooking.” As an only child of 12 years old, he was eager to try cooking for his mother as well, so his father began teaching him the fundamentals of home cooking.

Even after the passing of his mother, Wong remained pas-sionate towards cooking and the culinary arts. “Apart from cooking for my father and his family, I also cook regularly for my colleagues,” he says.

Cantonese cuisine, as a result, became his preferred cooking style. “It’s the most versatile form of Chinese cooking, and it’s easy to accommodate the tastes of different ethnicities.” Dishes like Wong’s signature hand-shredded chicken became an instant hit among his colleagues.

“I use high quality Kamei

chickens ordered from the Tsuen Wan Market,” says Wong. “They are free-range and raised listen-ing to music, so the meat is much leaner compared to standard chickens.”

Wong marinates the whole chicken with coarse sea salt for 30 minutes before steaming it for another 30 minutes. “The dish is meant to be eaten cold, so I douse the steamed chicken in ice water to make the skin really crisp.”

The drippings from the chicken during steaming are not wasted, and are reserved for the dipping sauce. The combination of wok-fried shredded ginger and scallions mixed with light soy sauce and the chicken drippings creates a wonderful marriage of flavours. “The type of soy sauce you use matters too,” he says. “I like using the ones without mono-sodium glutamate [MSG] for a better flavour.”

“Cooking is an experiment and it’s all about trial and error,” Wong adds. Along with perseverance, setting high standards is just as important to him. When making a steamed pork patty, for example, adequate practice can transform it from being leathery and dry to delightfully springy and supple.

“From sourcing the ingredients to the prep work that you do, every step along the way is im-portant and should never be done casually,” he says.

“ Cantonese Cuisine is the most versatile form of Chinese cooking, and it’s easy to accommodate different ethnicities.”

Frank Wong hand shreds the Kamei chicken and carefully reassembles it

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