FOOD connects people. As families come together during Chinese New Year (CNY), they will feast on a variety of heritage dishes that transcend generational differences in taste.
These dishes will require many hours of painstaking preparation, with many households preferring to order from specialist caterers for certain difficult-to-make delicacies.
This includes roast duck – a dish especially popular during the
festive period.
Jorden Lee, 29, is a chef recently highlighted by Maggi. He recounted how he and his family used to roast ducks in Malacca under the tutelage of his Cantonese master chef father – the late Lee Yong Huat.
Like father, like son
Apart from roast duck, Yong Huat sold roast chicken and roast pork. He also ran a catering business in Kota Laksamana.
Yong Huat, who started cooking at the mere age of 12, had accumulated four decades of experience working in bustling kitchens the world over, including in China (Shanghai and Macau)
and Australia.
Upon his return to Malaysia, Yong Huat established a hugely popular roast duck business.
He along with Jorden and his elder sister worked tirelessly around the clock to complete orders in the kitchen. This meant they did not have a chance to hold their own family reunion dinner.
Instead of a lavish dinner, they marked the occasion together with a simple lunch before they started cooking dishes to meet the
festive demand.
“We usually buy all the ingredients a day or two before CNY Eve and start preparing in advance as many shops close during this period,” explained Jorden.
Taste of memory
Though the senior Lee passed away in 2021 at age 56, Jorden keeps his father’s legacy alive by preserving the art of roasting duck, but with his own twist.
However, he humbly admitted he could never fully replicate the same delicious taste.
“Perhaps 60% to 70% of his dish,” confessed Jorden.
“My father always advises, if you cook food, do not follow the method step-by-step,” said Jorden, now a professional chef and member of the Kusu Association of Malaysia.
“It is like an art. You can get creative by adding herbs or seasoning or sauce to invent your own recipe,” said Jorden, quoting
his father.
“As competition was very high, our dish had to stand out and make a difference in terms of taste. We needed to be creative to enhance or add secret seasoning for taste,” added Jorden.
Since his father’s passing, Jorden, who also learned the culinary arts in Macau, has been cooking a variety of dishes – including the signature roast duck – in his own style, as advised by his father.
“I have improved it. My father’s roast duck was unique because he incorporated traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as angelica (dang gui), cloves and star anise into the seasoning.
“For my version, I refined the process by blending all the ingredients into a paste before applying it to the duck for marination and air-drying. Paying attention to small details makes a significant difference, ensuring
that the roast duck turns out flavourful and visually appealing,” Jorden said.
Family-favourite ingredients
Jorden has plenty of memories cooking with his father and shared how he was taught to make
the sauce.
He said his father was very strict in the kitchen and had once used a ladle to tap on his hands when he made a mistake while cooking.
The senior Lee’s favourite seasonings were vegetable ones. Jorden said his father’s tip was to add vegetable stock instead of a chicken one to any meat dish, as this results in a fresh and balanced taste. Chicken stock, on the other hand, can be overpowering.
His father gave many similar tips, but the most precious thing that Jorden received from his father was a handwritten recipe book. It contains 150 recipes noted down by his father.
“I found this book during the lockdown and I took it back to Kuala Lumpur. For three months, my father called me every day just to ask me to give back the book,” he said.
Cooking for loved ones
The one person whose advice or tips Jorden cherishes is missing in his life. Nevertheless, whenever he remembers his father, he will prepare and place a small bowl of food in front of the senior Lee’s photo as a gesture of love
and respect.
As the family no longer sells roast duck in his hometown, Jorden was able to cook for his family this year.
He hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and open a restaurant within the next two years.
