Tuesday Nov 04, 2025
Tuesday Nov 04, 2025
Friday, 18 July 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Chef Yang’s journey in culinary began after he completed high school. He enrolled in a culinary school and earned his Diploma after two years. He then joined the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Beijing where he worked from 1983-1999. In 1995 he also headed the team which opened the Chinese Restaurant at the Bahrain Sheraton Hotel. Chef Yang then travelled to India where he worked for the next 15 years as a Chinese Master Chef.
During his time in India Chef Yang had worked for three hotels under the ITC hotel chain namely ITC Hotel Chola Sheraton, ITC Hotel Windsor Sheraton and Towers, and The ITC Grand Central Hotel. Chef Yang was responsible in setting up the finest Chinese Restaurant ‘Shanghai Club’ in Chennai at the ITC Hotel Chola Sheraton in 1999. He then continued to develop the ‘Shanghai Club’ chain of restaurants within the ITC Hotel Group until 2013.
Before joining Cinnamon Lakeside, Chef Yang had worked at the Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts for one year and achieved the award of ‘Best Oriental Food’ presented by the Times Food Awards in 2013.
According to Chef Yang he visited Sri Lanka in 2012 when his daughter was studying here and had visited Kandy and Galle. He said that he is looking forward to travel to Jaffna.
Chef Yang also stated that he specialises in all styles of cooking in Chinese cuisine; “With the influence of the internet many chefs now share their recipes online. It helps us to expand our knowledge in cooking a variety of dishes.”
Chef Yang had prepared three dishes representing three styles:
Gongbao potatoes
Ingredients: 250g Potato, 30g Bell Pepper, 5g chopped Ginger, 10g Chopped Garlic, 10g Diced Leeks, 3g Sichuan Pepper, 5g Diced Dried Chilli, 30g Fried Cashew Nuts, 15ml Soy Sauce, 10ml Vinegar, 15g Sugar, 3g Salt, 1g Pepper Powder, 1l Oil, 30ml Corn Flour Liquid, 100ml Vegetable Stock
Method: 
Peel the potatoes and cut them in to 1.5cm cubes and dice bell pepper as well
Heat the wok adding oil in to it and let the oil heat to 150 C. Fry the potatoes till cooked and golden colour and strain them out from the wok.
Leave 10ml of oil in the wok and remove the rest. Add Sichuan pepper and Chilli and temper them till they turn brown. Add Bell Pepper, chopped ginger, garlic, leeks, soy sauce, vinegar, vegetable stock, salt, sugar and pepper powder and stir fry for 2 minutes.
Add corn flour liquid till the sauce gets thick. Add the cashew nuts and fried potatoes and mix well. Serve hot.
Fried shredded chicken 
with coriander
Ingredients: 180g Shredded chicken breast, 50g Coriander, 5g Ginger, 5g Garlic, 10g Spring Onions, 1 Egg White, 5ml Rice Wine, 15g Corn Flour, 50ml Chicken Stock, 3g Pepper powder, 2g Chicken powder, 3g Salt, 5ml White vinegar, 20ml Corn flour liquid, 1l Oil
Method:
Put the chicken in the steel bowl and add 2ml rice wine, 1g salt, egg white and mix well. Then add corn flour and mix well.
Wash and cut the coriander into 1 inch pieces, shred the ginger and spring onions, and slice garlic.
Heat the wok adding the oil in to it. Let the oil heat to 150 C. Fry the chicken and stir till the chicken separate and turn to white colour. Strain out the chicken and keep it a side.
Leave 10ml of oil in the wok and remove the rest. Add the chicken, the remaining rice wine, remaining salt, chicken stock, chicken powder, vinegar and stir fry for a minute. Thicken the sauce with Corn Flour liquid. Finally add coriander and stir for 2 seconds. Serve Hot.
Macau cheese butter
sautéed lobster
Ingredients: 800g lobster, 10g bell pepper, 10g celery, 10g carrot, 10g onion, 10g coconut milk powder, 10ml butter, 3g salt, 5ml Chinese rice wine, 5g each of chopped garlic and ginger, 20g corn flour, 1 egg white, 1l oil, 50ml milk, 100ml chicken stock, 40g mozzarella cheese, 2g chicken powder
Method:
Cut the lobster and remove the meat from the shell. Cut the lobster meat into 1.5cm cubes. Put it into a steel bowl and marinate with rice wine, egg white and corn flour and keep a side.
Chop all the vegetables into small dices and keep a side.
Heat the wok and add 1l oil and fry the lobster until it is cooked. Strain out the lobster meat from the wok when it is cooked.
Empty the oil from the wok and add the butter in to it. Add the chopped ingredients and stir fry for a minute. Add coconut milk powder, milk, chicken stock, sugar, salt, chicken powder and lobster, and baste for a minute.
For the sauce add the cheese, corn flour till sauce thickens. Place in a platter and serve hot.
Pix by Upul Abayasekara
Mediterranean Chef Blas
Serrano Martinez
Helping out his parents in their family restaurant in Barcelona, Catalonia Chef Blas was exposed to the world of culinary at an early age. He has experience of over 20 years. As a child he never had the ambition to become a chef. “After moving out from the family business I worked at hotels and started off as a kitchen porter. The work was quite stressful and I found the work to be very monotonous. While working for some of the big hotels I made friends with a Chef who was really passionate about cooking. He inspired me to become a Chef.”
Chef Blas has come a long way in his carrier and says that he became a Chef by learning on the job. Starting his carrier at the Hotel Meliá Sitges in 1994 he worked there till 2002. When he joined the hotel he was a Kitchen Porter and in two years he became a Kitchen Assistant. Learning on the job Chef Blas then became a Commis Chef and served in that position from 1998-2002.
In August 2002 he joined Hotel Estela Barcelona hoping to learn different kitchen techniques in the capacity of Commis Chef. After working there for a year chef Blas got the opportunity to travel to UK to join the Hilton Worldwide hotel chain. For two years he served as a Commis Chef at London Hilton on Park Lane where he was exposed to a team of cooks from different parts of the world and in 2004 he became the Chef de Partie.
In 2005 Chef Blas returned to his hometown and joined Restaurant El Blau in the capacity of Chef de Partie where he specialised in the traditional seaworthy kitchen. A year later he joined Restaurant l’Ogancuit as a Sous Chef where he specialised in preparing pasta and traditional pizza. During his tenure at Restaurant El Nino Chef Blas served as Chef de Cuisine for a year.
Chef Blas became a Bar Tender in 2008 at The Shamrock Irish Pub since there was a lack of opportunity in the Chef career. He worked at the Pub for a year and was promoted as the Manager. He then joined as Chef de Partie at Hotel W Barcelona in 2010.
Taking a step forward in his career Chef Blas joined Hotel Mandarin Barcelona in 2011 as Chef de Partie and began to work as a  Breakfast Chef. Before joining Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, Chef Blas worked at Hotel Le Meridien Ra for a year as Chef de Partie where he specialised in preparing fresh a la cart selection of the best seafood in town.
Asked what single dish he specialises in, Chef Blas said it would be paella. He also explained that Mediterranean dishes are about the freshness of the ingredients and being able to taste the ingredients that are used in cooking the dish and not using too many spices to override the tastes.
The Chef also shared three recipes.
Rolled sole fish and king
prawns on a bed of sautéed spinach Catalonian style
and mushroom ragout
Ingredients: 1 Sole Fish Fillet, 1 King Prawn, 250g Abalone Mushroom, 300ml Double Cream, 100ml Demi Glace Sauce, 1 Small Onion, 300g Fresh Spinach, 35g Cashew Nuts, 35g Dried Prunes, 30g Butter, Salt to taste and Crushed black pepper
Method:
Cut the sole fish fillet in a long straight cuts about 1cm thick. Place a small piece of prawn just in the middle and roll it with the sole, use a wood stick to hold it together.
Stir fry fresh spinach in a hot pan with some butter, roasted cashew nuts and chopped dried prunes. Add some seasoning and heat it.
Pan-fry chopped onion and abalone mushrooms with the rest of the butter. Add the Demi Glace Sauce and double cream. Let it reduce till it gets creamy.
Grill the sole fish both sides and finish them inside the oven at 190 for 4 minutes.
Roasted beef fillet tenderloin with potato parmentier and bag of vegetables and pork belly
Ingredients: 280g Beef Fillet Tenderloin,1 Big Potato, 150ml Double Cream, 30g Butter, 1 teaspoon Black truffle, 1 leaf Swiss Chard, 1 leaf Cabbage, 1 Small Carrot, ½ Green and Yellow Zucchini, 4 Young Garlic, 150g Pork Belly, 50ml Olive Oil, Salt to taste and Crushed Black Pepper
Method:
Wash the potato and boil until it is completely cooked. Peel it and bring it to boil again with the double cream and butter until all ingredients are mixed up together. Blend it, add the black truffle and season.
Bring a big pot of water to boil, wash and blanch all the leaves. Cut in sticks and blanch all vegetables ‘al dente’. Add some seasoning and roll them in the leaves as if they were cannelloni.
Pan-fry the chopped pork belly with some olive oil and season.
Seal in a grill the Beef tenderloin and finish it in the oven at 190 as demanding cooking.
Red bell pepper, potato and poached quail egg with black fungus vinaigrette 
Ingredients: 2 Red Bell Peppers, 1 Big Potato, 4 Quail Eggs, 1 Black Fungus, 3 Garlic Cloves, 50ml Virgin Olive Oil, ¼ Cup White Vinegar, Chives
Method:
Burn, roast and peel the red bell peppers. Let them cool down. Pan-fry on a hot pan the red bell peppers with some of the olive oil and two sliced cloves of garlic. Add a pinch of salt and crushed black pepper. Put a side.
Separately wash the potato, boil it completely, let it cool down, peel it and pass it with a potato masher. Add the rest of the oil and the chopped herbs, season it.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the vinegar till you can smell it. Using a spoon, stir boiling water to create a swirling motion and carefully add eggs to water. Cook until whites are just set for about a minute. Drain and transfer eggs to ice-water bath to cool.
Chop the black fungus really small, pan fry, add salt and mix it with some chopped chives. |
