A Day Off with Chuck Hughes Iron Chef America

A Day Off with Chuck Hughes Iron Chef America

If you follow the TV series of Chuck’s Day Off, you will love him. If you have not, you will admire him when you meet him for the first time. Rachel is a big fan of his as she watched his show on Asian Food Channel. It is an honour to meet him in person in Kuala Lumpur courtesy of Asian Food Channel and AMEX American Express.

Celebrity Chef Chuck Hughes is a Canadian from Quebec. He shot up to fame when he walked into Iron Chef’s Kitchen Stadium in New York City and become the youngest Canadian chef to win the popular show, Iron Chef America. With his delicious lobster recipes, he became the only Canadian chef to beat the legendary Chef Bobby Flay.

Chef Hughes will play host in Malaysia for the Celebrity Chef Series presented by American Express and Asian Food Channel and we were humbled to be invited for his cooking demo in Ritz Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. This is his first time in Asia and for him to pit stop first in Malaysia is a unique experience to him especially his love and hate with durians.

Hosting the cooking demo on the afternoon was no other than chirpy celebrity Xandria Ooi.

He started off with Popcorn Rock Shrimp with Spicy Honey. He worked with a helper from the hotel by the name of Ricky and the cooking demo was fun and enjoyable.

The rock shrimp was fresh with crunchy coating and it compliments well with the spicy honey. We sampled a few but we wished we could ask for more.

Next we have the Pan seared Beef Carpaccio with Potato Chips. He created the mayonnaise on the spot and also talked how he loved the celery leaves. Hence, he shared his life experience as a cook since boy and how his mother taught him from young.

As we enjoyed the story, the Pan seared Beef Carpaccio was as lovely as his tales. The homemade potato chips did resemble the Chinese New Year’s chips we loved in Malaysia.

Lastly, we had Chocolate Rice Arancini for desserts. It was supposed to be tapioca for the Arancini but they change it to rice. Thus, it was my first time having a chocolate rice arancini and I loved it for its thick chocolate sauce and the crunchy rice arancini.

Simple three dishes but the cooking demo was memorable. Chef Hughes might have tattoos all over his body but those are food tattoos. From seafood tattoos to chicken and oyster tattoos, the tough guy wannabe is a natural born chef who deserves the Iron Chef title.

With Chuck Hughes and other celebrity food bloggers.

Once again, we would like to thank Asian Food Channel for the invitation.

Wilson Ng