This is one of those rare event where I bother to make a post mortem post even though I wasn’t physically there.

I’m not a hardcore foodie the way most Singaporeans are with their food and I’m not one who will be bothered to queue or travel all the way to some strange location just to eat a certain dish that people are raving about. That said, it doesn’t mean I don’t know my food well.

Still, as a big fan of Gordon Ramsay and food, this Hawker Heroes Challenge definitely is a major highlight and buzz point in the activities going on in Singapore.

I really want to give kudos to Gordon Ramsay for daring to take up this challenge. To put things into context, it wasn’t a very fair challenge anyway to begin with (it was really a publicity stunt more than anything else really). The odds were totally not in Gordon Ramsay’s favour at all.

Firstly, Gordon Ramsay was pitted against 3 eateries. And each eateries has an average of at least 20 years of experience each in making their dish.

Also, if you had watched the live stream or was following what happened at the cook-off at Newton Hawker Centre, you’ll know that each eatery had to prepare 1,000 portions for the public to vote on. Gordon Ramsay had to cook 3 dishes and hence prepare 3,000 portions in all. Gordon brought his own team along but still…

In the end, Gordon Ramsay won the Chilli Crab category, Tian Tian Chicken Rice won the Chicken Rice category (DUH) and 328 Katong Laksa won the Laksa category (double DUH).

From the beginning, I knew that Gordon Ramsay was going to lose with the laksa because using coconut milk in a main dish is not something one who doesn’t cook much Asian food can do well. Heck even a lot Asians who cook a lot can’t do it properly.

I was actually speculating that Gordon would be able to handle the chicken but he would be eliminated by the rice. Haha. It really is not easy to cook the oily/fragrant rice. Chilli crab was a 50-50..

So when they announced that Gordon had won the Chilli Crab category, I was honestly very surprised given how he doesn’t really know how to deal with the Asian ingredients and style of cooking at all. No doubt the mark of a brilliant chef! Totally deserving of all the Michelin stars he earned.

Furthermore, you need to give it to Gordon due kudos and credit for managing to win a category given how he only had 48 hours to learn how to make the dish!

So yeah, I would have LOVED to be one of the tasters and voters at the Hawker Heroes Challenge but unfortunately, Super Show 5 Singapore the night before destroyed me so I didn’t head down early enough to get a tag.

Anyone managed to taste Gordon’s version of the food? What was it like vis-a-vis the Hawker’s version? Share in the comments please! 🙂

In any case, here’s an interview of Gordon Ramsay after the cook-off and his thoughts on things. Really love that dude. So gracious and sweet.

That said, I’ll post along any more videos/information to watch more about the Hawker Heroes Challenge here when if I find anything more.