The self-taught Singaporean chef who has mastered the art of Italian pasta-making
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Remarkable Living
The self-taught Singaporean chef who has mastered the fine art of Italian pasta-making
At his private dining outfit Ben Fatto 95, Lee Yum Hwa showcases the art of traditional pasta such as the technically complex Sardinian pasta, su filindeu.
Self-taught chef Lee Yum Hwa meticulously hand-makes every pasta with an centre to form, texture and tradition. (Photo: Freestate Productions)
02 Dec 2022 06:32AM (Updated: 02 Dec 2022 06:42AM)
Singaporean Lee Yum Hwa is obsessed with creating the perfect pasta.
At his private diner Ben Fatto 95, which means well-made in Italian and references Lee'southward childhood home where sumptuous family unit dinners used to be held, he serves his guests four to 5 pasta dishes at each omakase-style repast.
The self-taught chef meticulously hand-makes every pasta with an eye to form, texture and tradition. "I cook but small portions of pasta, and every bite is at its superlative," emphasised Lee.
"I'thou there explaining how the pasta is fabricated, where it'south from, why it'due south fabricated this manner with a fiddling bit of history. I volition go people to come up and have an interactive experience where they bear upon the pasta dough and they try to make it every bit well."
In Lee's opinion, technique is everything in pasta-making, even though he feels that his profession as a pastaio – pasta chef – is not best-selling in the eyes of most people, "because to them a chef is a chef".
He said: "Technique is something that you lot build through a lot of hard practice. Yous got to use every part of your trunk depending on what kind of pasta you're making. Y'all need to know the nuances of how to form or shape a detail pasta. When you get into that level, there's besides a differentiation between good technique and bad technique."
He finds that each pasta-making experience is different and creates a roller coaster of emotions. His focus is on traditional pastas such every bit the ring-shaped tortellini ("picayune ears" of orecchiette), and unusual shapes like the cresc'tajat, which is from the Italian coastal region of Marche.
"There are peradventure five to six hundred documented shapes. That is actually a good matter because I become bored easily," Lee said, chuckling. Inspired by pasta with double fillings, he has even invented his ain shape called the tortelli doppio, which looks like two AA batteries lined upwardly side-by-side and has crevices to grab the sauce.
His greatest achievement, however, is being one of the few chefs in the world to main the fine art of making su filindeu, a Sardinian delicacy that has been called "the food of the gods" because of its circuitous form. This pasta, which consists of gossamer pasta threads set on each other to course a lattice pattern that looks similar woven cloth, is delicate so it is traditionally served in a broth.
Lee's wife of four years, Xu Xue Ting, said: "He took a few months to chief it. He has this dearest-hate human relationship with su filindeu. On some days where he sees progression, he'll exist very happy about it. But on the other days, he'll exist so frustrated that he will say he hates it, but he will still exist working on information technology the next hour. He is that obsessed and patient."
Lee'due south interest in food was adult by his grandmother, but it was British chef Jamie Oliver who opened his world to Italian food. "He was my hero 15 years agone. His take on Italian food was not snooty, it was very ingredient-based, produce-driven, so very natural and very new at that time," shared Lee.
He as well recalls dinners at his friend'south home, where his father would cook delicious meals and assemble everyone at the table. "This conviviality of having people at the table and bonding over food, the wine flows and conversations flow, and that got me very interested in hosting dinners."
A former tax consultant, Lee enjoyed cooking and creating new dishes. Seeing how unhappy he was in his professional job, Xu encouraged him to outset Ben Fatto. Lee worked at his good friend Bjorn Shen's Artichoke eating house for a year before taking the plunge.
He was then slap-up on deepening his pasta-making knowledge that the couple spent their honeymoon in Italy, where he forced himself to swallow five meals a day to maximise the amount of food he could try.
When they returned, he tried to replicate what he had experienced and persevered in perfecting the technique even though it was initially disastrous. Today, Xu is proud that her husband is a recognised pasta maestro in Singapore who is respected even by the international pasta makers that he looks up to.
Lee is minor almost his achievements. He said: "As an artisan, what I do is to keep true to tradition. A pasta dish is non just the chef'due south effort, merely it's a confluence of both the pasta maker as a craftsman and a professional chef in the kitchen that executes the dish itself."
Adjusted from the series Remarkable Living (Season 4). Lookout man full episodes on CNA, every Sun at 8.30pm.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/remarkable-living/pasta-chef-lee-yum-hwa-ben-fatto-95-singapore-290226
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