A cherished reunion at Madame Fan’s four-hands chef collaboration

Pak Chee Yit packed his bags and left the comfortable security of his family’s restaurant in Johor, to move to Singapore and start at the bottom rung at Humble House in 2008. His goal was to work as much as possible with his idol Leong, who was then corporate chef of Tung Lok Group’s Chinese restaurants. 

The bright, hardworking young chef indeed caught Leong’s attention, who began taking Pak under his wing, exposing him to overseas guest shifts and introducing him to close friends like Ferran Adria and Wolfgang Puck. Leong shares that there was something in Pak that reminded him of himself as a young chef. They continued to work together when Leong opened Forest at Resorts World Sentosa, this time with Pak coming onboard “shoulder to shoulder” with his shifu, a description from Leong that touched Pak deeply. Their bond remains strong today, as evinced at the special preview Tatler attended.

The meal begins with canapes of some of Leong’s iconic dishes, including the incomparable Crispy Wasabi Prawns, with the perfect crunch and juicy texture of the prawn. The first appetiser is a classic Cantonese egg white dish, refined as a souffle served with mushroom broth, accompanied by caviar, sea urchin and Iberico jamon. Leong can claim to be among the first to individually portion Chinese cuisine and turn it into an art form, as easily evinced in this plating. Pak follows with an exacting Cantonese soup, elevated in form and precision, using New Zealand wild black gold abalone and stuffed bamboo pith in the pure drip chicken essence course. Each bowl of soup comprises the essence of a whole chicken, with no water added.   

Each dish demonstrates the skill and craftsmanship that both chefs have picked up over the years, bridging classic Cantonese with the impetus to update and improve the original without losing its soul. The pearl barley porridge with flower crab meat and Hokkaido dried scallop stays true to its origins, but with added nuttiness from barley and sweetness from the tender crab. This is a dish that has been served as comfort food for both Lee Kuan Yew and Queen Elizabeth II, with Leong describing how these two guests relished the porridge in particular.

Two surprise dishes are not indicated on the menu, and we should not spoil the full surprise. One of them involves a memory of Leong eating in the walk-in chiller after a hot day running about. Pak cheekily recalls his kitchen brigade copying Leong’s experience by eating in the chiller themselves. The other is dubbed “Ah Sam’s Mee Sua”, which occasions another memory of Leong’s travels and inspiration. 

It’s not often that a chef is able to invite his culinary mentor to return for a collaboration, much less one of Leong’s stature. It is even rarer for the guest to not just savour these dishes, but to also hear the stories of how each were created, during this intersection of their careers, one at his peak and the other inheriting the mantle of excellence. Leong is a fulltime grandfather of five now and has retired from the kitchen, so it is even more special to celebrate his legacy, knowing that there are generations to come that will look up to these two storied craftsmen. 

For more information on this special four-hands dining experience at Madame Fan, visit madamefan.sg.

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