I have always been scared of the kitchen and insecure about my cooking skills. Yesterday, the world’s noodle king, Chef Liu Zheng Hsiung of the Lao Dong restaurant chain in Taiwan, taught me how to cut cooked beef strips like a pro and I am happy to report that I survived! 

The charming Chef Liu is in Manila on a 5-day visit to train Chowking chefs in making greater tasting beef noodles, his specialty. (Chowking entered into a joint venture with Lao Dong three months ago as part of the Jollibee Group’s global expansion strategy.)

Chef Liu deftly handed me an ominous-looking chopping knife and made me hold the handle as if my life depended on it! It was a little bit ouchy, but I got the message, even though he spoke only Mandarin. Then lo and behold, before a hungry group of media people and food bloggers, I cut my teeth into the cooking industry.

Obviously, I will never be a chef, but I learned a few tricks about money-smart cooking from my brush with the noodle king.

He says great-tasting food does not have to be expensive. The secret is in the preparation and the freshness of the ingredients.

For the cooking demonstration, Chef Liu himself chose the huge slabs of beef from the Farmer’s Market in Cubao, Quezon City yesterday morning. I first thought the cut would be one of the first secrets, but I was mistaken. He said the cut doesn’t matter; you don’t need to buy the most expensive part of the beef.

For the recipe we were using, he used the chest part of the beef and cooked it with beef bones and Chinese seasoning for 24 hours under very low heat. This brings out all the flavors and makes the meat extremely tender so that it almost melts in the mouth. I was already computing how much gas will be consumed when boiling meat for 24 hours! I therefore conclude that I need a different way of cooking the meat, perhaps using coal?

Going back to the cooking demonstration, he sliced the meat across the grain into very thin strips and arranged them on top of oodles of white noodles, along with thinly sliced leeks. Then he poured on the clear beef soup, for which he is famous.

One food writer called it “heaven in a bowl.” The noodle king was pleased. So will Chowking customers who will soon be tasting more of these beef noodles.

Chowking President Erwin M. Elechicon pointed out that high-end restaurant goers in the Philippines shift to fast food when budgets are strained. I’ve also observed the same trend, and I suppose so do stock market analysts who always recommend Jollibee as a good stock to buy during economic downturns.

Agree or disagree?