Originally published at thenanyan.com
On June 11, 2019, the Campus Service Office and Logistics Committee held the first ever campus culinary competition for students and staff. The Taste of Nanyan Cooking Competition took place in front of PKU Canteen 1. Judges and students congregated to watch the culinary magic and ultimately discover who would take home the title of our top campus chef.
10 teams of no more than 3 people each competed in the competition. The competitors had the freedom to make any dish of their choice and the organizers provided essential cooking items and ingredients.
Their works were scored by the judging panel selected from dozens of campus applicants. Praise and high scores from the judges would earn the competitors great prizes! The first prize was 600rmb plus the opportunity for your dish to be featured in the future at the school canteen. The second prize winners received 400RMB and third prize winners received 200RMB. But everyone who competed was rewarded! Those who did not earn cash prizes got to take home a PKU umbrella.
To earn one of the cash prizes, the team had to show great skills. They each had only 40 minutes to create their special dish. Limited space and cooking materials were other factors to overcome as well. Once the clock started each team was in a frantic race against time to fully execute their vision.
Spectators could also take part in the other festivities. Being just two days before the Dragon Boat Festival, the organizers arranged zongzi making. While the competitors were busy cooking, everyone else was busy stuffing the large sticky rice dumplings traditionally eaten during the festival. Don’t know how to make a zongzi? No worries. It’s easy and there were canteen crew teaching you step by step.
As expected, the 40 minutes of cooking flew by! Nevertheless, all 10 teams successfully presented their food to the judges. Let’s take a look at some of the creations!
Top prize went to the winning team 雨雪飞 (Yu Xuefei) from the School of Electronic and Computer Engineering who presented the judges with fried weever fish.
There was even one more great culinary surprise. PKU Canteen 1, Canteen 2, and the University Café presented 12 brand new dishes in all to the event attendants. Everyone had the chance to try them out and vote for the top 3 favorites. Each of the dishes that earned a place in the top three will now also be available to eat every day on campus!
Written by Chen Yingying
