National Pingtung University of Science and Technology student Jhai Yu-fan (翟宇凡) this month won two gold medals at the Battle of the Chefs in Penang, Malaysia.
The event, held at the Spice Convention Center from Oct. 5 to Oct. 7, had contestants from the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China.
Jhai on Thursday said that one of his award-winning dishes was based on the Japanese and Chinese legend of the nine-tailed fox, while the other was a cake decorated with forest and animal motifs, which was a team effort with Taipei Yu Da Vocational High School student Lin Hsin-ping (林欣平).
Photo courtesy of Jhai Yu-fan
He was worried that he had underperformed when the judges described several flaws in his work, Jhai said, adding that while he was happy to have won two gold medals, he would take the criticism and use it to improve his work.
The cake was covered in fondant icing, which Jhai said he learned to use from school teacher Lee Mu-hsuan (李沐璇) and her husband, Mick Song (宋應欣).
“They truly treated me like their own,” Jhai said.
However, he had to travel between Pingtung, where he studied, and his workshop in Taipei.
Jhai this year applied for a workshop at an artisan community in Pingtung City.
Pingtung Division of Labor Director Lin Te-hui (林德輝) said he had contacted Jhai to encourage him to become an artisan after seeing Jhai’s performance at the San Diego Cake Show, where he won the Professional Grand Prize in March.
The county government subsidized Jhai’s travel to Penang, Lin Te-hui said, adding that in return, Jhai taught six free public lessons on how to make fondant icing over the summer vacation.
The artisan community, which is to open next month, is looking for young artisans to set up shop to help them start their own businesses, Lin Te-hui said.
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