Friday was AsiaMalls, Food On Parade, cooking grand finals, and at stake was $2,000 worth of AsiaMalls shopping vouchers. Gathered at Liang Court atrium were 6 teams of contestants, each from Hougang Mall, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Century Square, Tampines 1, Liang Court and White Sands, and they were there with only one mission in mind - impressed the panel of judges - Miss Stephanie Ho, GM of AsiaMalls, Celebrity Chef Eric Teo and Chef Chang of Shin Yeh Restaurant.



Crowds were gathering the stage by the time the mystery ingredients were revealed – and if one had been following the events that led up to the final cook-off, you probably knew that 1 mystery ingredient had been used in the contestants’ dishes. However to up the ante several notches for the finals, not 1 but 6 mystery ingredients were announced, of which 3 had to be included in any 2 dishes, and they are Sambal Prawn Chilli (Malaysia), X.O. Sauce (Hong Kong), Hsin Chu Rice Vermicelli (Taiwan), Rice Cake Slices (Korea), Miso Paste (Japan) and Tamarind Paste (Thai).





There were moments of anxiety (most were back at their stations within 25 minutes after their groceries shopping) when team 5 from Liang Court was nowhere in sight – for if they so much as miss by half a minute, they would have to pack their bags and leave the contest!!! Fortunately, the mother-in-law and son-in-law combo rushed back on the dot. Phew! While there were some really creative dishes from the teams, Team 4 of Tampines 1 and Team 6 of White Sands whom HFB covered earlier here and here, did brilliantly with their repertoire of dishes.







The young husband and wife team had choosen Sambal Chilli, XO Sauce and Miso Paste for their dishes of mushroom soup, aptly named Mushroomlicious, and a meat dish cooked 3-style (Miso Chicken, Sambal Chilli Pork wrapped with Cabbage, and XO Chicken) that they coined it “Fantastic Trail”.





Although the judges weren’t thrilled with their really thick mushroom soup, Chef Eric was really impressed with the 2nd dish, especially the Miso Chicken! What an accolade!



The mother and daughter team selected Sambal Chilli, Vermicelli, and Miso Paste as their secret ingredients and for starter, they created a Thai Vermicelli Prawn dish, while doing Chicken Maki as their main. While judges were mixed with their opinions, Chef Eric reckon it’s a good job done overall considering the situation and environment at the shopping mall – as it wasn’t an easy job whipping up two dishes within the time frame.



While judges deliberated, the crowd was treated to a special Taiko Drums performance. The thunderous music of Taiko (Japanese drum) displays a medley of traditional and modern rhythms and moves, usually performed in an ensemble.





So who won? It was the husband and wife team from Tampines 1 that HFB covered. Yay!!





HFB had a great time covering this month’s AsiaMalls Food on Parade events. Till the next time, stay tuned!