Toronto Night Market's Power Chefs
Battle Tofu contestants duke it out for the glory and top dog prize!
Chalk up another first for me. I can now officially add ‘cooking competition judge’ to my food-based c.v. I was one of four judges at the Toronto Night Market 2007’s Power Chef Competition- Battle Tofu no less. And while I was the only non-Asian, non-Cantonese or Mandarin speaker up on the podium, I held my own with some very distinguished judges. I was sitting beside Executive Chef Joseph Ho of the Hilton Suite’s Empire Court restaurant in Markham, along with George Brown College’s Cantonese food instructor Chef Kathleen Chim as well as the venerable Bill Wong who used to head the program at the college.
Two teams of two cooked al fresco in front of hundreds of delighted night market attendees, using tofu as the key ingredient in preparing three distinct dishes with a “nostalgia” theme running through them. MC’s Jennifer Leung from Fairchild TV and Joe kept the crowd animated in their native tongues while I depended on my fellow judges to kindly translate, especially when the crowd began to whoop and holler near the end.
Team #1 consisted of two sister-in-laws who prepared a lovely clear broth with what looked like lotus seed pods studded with green peas, deep fried tofu with a spicy sauce and soft tofu squares with delicious steamed shrimp and grated Chinese ham on top. Team #2 consisted of a brother and sister who prepared an eight “treasure” vegetable and tofu dish with spicy minced pork, a steamed tofu cake with a soy sauce dressing and a lovely egg tofu dessert dressed up with fresh blueberries and maple syrup.
Under a star-filled sky, we walked around the cooking “stadium,” as the teams frantically raced against the clock (they had exactly one hour to prepare three dishes), cooked, commented for the MC’s and tried to stay cool. Every now and then a waft of the infamous Stinky Tofu (yes, it’s really called that) would blow in unannounced on a breeze from the market stalls near by and almost knock me out. I was amazed, no stunned actually, to see line ups 50 deep waiting to get their hands on their very own cubes of deep fried stinky tofu. Folks, if you’ve never smelled this before, I warn you, you have to like the smell of freshly distributed manure on a pasture to appreciate the bounty that is this particular brand of tofu (I’m being NICE here folks- for a more “colourful” description that had me laughing out loud, click here).
Intrigued by this special fermented variety, I asked my Asian pals if perhaps my overly-western olfactory sense made me a veritable wuss. Most responded that while this tofu does reek, their parents really like it and that I was not alone, they couldn’t stand the smell either. It’s an “acquired taste” as well as scent apparently. One of my pal's moms told me that "since we Chinese don't eat cheese, this delicacy is like our blue cheese." Limburger maybe? 'Nuff said!
Suffice it say that no, I couldn’t bring myself to sample some of this delicacy, and luckily for me, none of the contestants worked with the product either (cue choir of angels). The food was delicious- especially since these dishes were prepared by home cooks and not restaurant pros. Team #2’s egg tofu dessert was like a sublime crème brûlée and the added touch of Canadian maple syrup and blueberries was a nice ode their new multicultural surroundings- very ingenious (I wish I could get my hands on that recipe!). Team #1 however, was a more cohesive unit, working together like two dancers on stage- well choreographed and their dishes looked divine. The two sister-in-laws took away the $500 prize, a set of knives and bragging rights. Irene and Connie as they’re called are this year’s Toronto Night Market Power Chefs, and I’m the richer for having spent one star-dusted, stinky-tofu enriched night in both teams’ presence!
