Munirah Aisyah Binti Ibrahim and Chef Loke Hoi Weng at the 9th Nestlé Professional Culinary Arts Awards competition.

KUALA LUMPUR: UCSI University’s (UCSI) culinary arts student recently chopped her way to win the 2nd runner-up prize in the 9th Nestlé Professional Culinary Arts Awards competition. 

The prestigious competition held over three days at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) was participated by 11 culinary arts students, each representing one university across the country. 

The competition featured a black box concept on day three where participants were required to use the mystery ingredients provided by Nestlé to create their dishes within six hours. 

Munirah Aisyah Binti Ibrahim, who currently reads the Diploma in Culinary Arts programme managed to wow the judges with a unique three-course meal. Her main dish saw her taking a popular Malaysian ‘percik’ roast chicken recipe and modifying it for a roasted lamb loin. 

The 'percik' lamb loin was accompanied by sautéed vegetables, broccoli puree and Asian fusion couscous. 

Prior to the main course, Munirah impressed the judges with her appetizer – the crunchy Nestum-crusted salmon accompanied with an exquisite dab of curried hollandaise alongside an assorted salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. 

As for the dessert, the budding culinarian whipped up a decadent dark chocolate lava cake topped with milk chocolate mousse. It was served with an orange flavoured crepe dabbed with a rich taste of white chocolate Chantilly cream. Salted caramel sauce drizzled over the whole concoction gave the finishing touches. 

Munirah was the only student from UCSI’s Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management (FHTM) who entered the competition. She said that the three-day competition was definitely an eye-opener because she gained invaluable skills through the experience on top of the prize. 

“The black box challenge really brought out the creative side of me. It takes a lot of practice to really understand the ingredients and how they complement each other to create an unforgettable dish,” said Munirah. 

She added that although she was nervous and made mistakes, she pulled through in the end. 

“The most challenging part for me was plating. After the food is prepared and cooked, it all comes down to the presentation. Nervous, I burnt the pumpkin twice and even spilled the couscous during plating in front of the judges,” she chuckled. 

Despite the challenges that she faced during the competition, the 19-year old who hopes to open her own bakery one day was elated by the win. 

“I’m very honoured and happy with this win. I was nervous in the beginning but as the competition progressed, everything fell into place,” she said. 

Munirah credited her mother and her lecturer Chef Loke Hoi Weng for her win. She also commented on the benefits of the competition.

According to Chef Loke who guided Munirah in preparing for the competition, the student has indeed proved herself and did exceptionally well to compete against other talented future chefs to bring home the prize. 

"Those six hours was the most precious six hours in her career. Munirah was very disciplined and used the time given wisely. Her dishes showed an amazing understanding of cooking and they were brilliantly presented. I’m happy for her win.” 

He also hopes that her win would encourage other aspiring chefs to pursue their dreams in the industry. 

“This competition definitely built her confidence and helped her improve her techniques. I hope she will continue to grow and continue to inspire young chefs out there,” he said.