Executive Chef Kerry Hieber from the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago prepared a unique Singaporean cuisine luncheon for the Prime Minister of Singapore and 150 attendees.
Chef Hieber emphasizes her culinary flare and brings her creations with an authentic meal from scratch for an event the Overseas Singaporean Club hosted on April 16, 2010 for Singaporean business executives, students and the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ho Ching. Prime Minister Lee spoke to some 150 Singaporeans who are studying and working in Chicago. In addressing the group, Prime Minister Lee expressed hope that Singaporeans based overseas will realise the country's developments and economic growth particularly after the financial crisis and return home soon. Mr. Lee told Singaporeans in Chicago that Singapore is on a stable platform to transform itself, illustrating that with a slideshow of the country's latest additions such as Ion Orchard and The Pinnacle@Duxton.
Chef Hieber was excited about the opportunity to explore a new cuisine and relied on her network of culinary resources such as Greg Teft from Le Cordon Bleu, an instructor of International Cuisine, and chefs from Millennium’s headquarters in London, UK. She also visited Chicago area restaurants and spoke to local Malaysian and Singaporean-born Chefs skilled in the art of Singaporean preparation. Chef Hieber was able to gain valuable insight on how the dishes are authentically prepared in order to successfully prepare the luncheon for 150 high profile guests.
“For most chefs, it’s better to taste the food rather then read about it. If I taste someone’s food, I can almost always duplicate it. I looked at it as a challenge and was very excited for the opportunity to prepare the meal for this group and the honorable Prime Minister,” said Chef Hieber, who is hoping to prepare more Singaporean dishes for future groups who come to the hotel.
Some of the main dishes prepared by Chef Hieber were Laksa- a spicy coconut soup with rice noodles, seafood, chicken, fish balls, fried bean curd and a spicy blend that consisted of laksa leaf, laos, and galangal root; Hainanese Chicken Rice - chicken rubbed in kosher salt, dark soy and sesame oil then stuffed with galangal root and scallions, slow poached and served with chicken flavored rice; accompaniments that complimented the dishes such as sriracha hot sauce blended with ginger garlic, lime juice and chicken broth. Other items on the menu included Hokkien Mee, Sambal Prawns, Ho Jen, Chinese Vegetables and Chendol with Fruit Salad.
Chef Hieber graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1999 and has years of experience in various culinary management rolls in the hospitality industry in Philadelphia and Chicago. She recently joined the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel as the Executive Chef where she has created all new menus for Nix Restaurant and the hotel’s catering department focusing on local, organic and free range products.
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