“At 18, I had no clue what to do with my life. My friend owned a restaurant. He said, ‘Since you have nothing to do, at least come and help me in my restaurant’.  I joined him and never looked back,” narrates Yu Wenjing, the new chef at the Memories of China of Taj Residency. From merely cleaning fish at the friend’s restaurant to dishing out some of the most exclusive crab and salmon curries today - Chef Yu has come a long way. 

Hailing from Zhenjiang province in Mainland China, Chef Yu comes from a peasants’ family. His friend introduced him to one of the most prominent professions in China - cooking. And true to his genetic make-up, Chef Yu mastered cooking in just six months. However, he still felt the need to earn a degree. “I worked as a professional cook for four years at various restaurants in my city. But I wanted to learn more. I did a course at Zhenjiang School in 1994. I studied subjects like nutrition. It’s important for every cook to have a degree,” asserts Yu, who went on to serve many bureaucrats at five-star hotels in Doha and Dubai in the following years, including the Sultan of Oman.

This is Yu’s first visit to India with Bangalore as his destination. He has been here for 50 days but has quite an insight on the City. “I knew about India only from TV. I asked my Indian friends in Dubai about Bangalore and they said it’s beautiful. It’s the garden city. But Bangalore is no where close to the impression I had. The traffic is impossible. The city shuts at 11:30 pm. We finish work around midnight. I feel like going to a pub to have a drink. But everything comes to a standstill then. My city is not at all like this,” says the father of two, apologetically.

However, the chef adds that the Indian cuisine is quite an attraction. He has tasted the Indian flavours, including the desi Chinese! Yu quips, “I have tried the Indian Chinese food. There is little difference. For instance, we would never use tomato ketchup and lemon juice in Szechwan styles. I serve only the authentic flavours at Memories of China and people have loved it. Indian dishes like chicken tikka, tandoori chicken and mutton curry are delicious. Chicken Tikka comes very close to our chicken kebabs in Zhenjiang.” So, what does the chef want to learn to cook in India? “Curry. I want to learn how the make the Indian curry,” says he, who’s personal favourite is Huaiyang, a cuisine unique to Zhenjiang. Huaiyang involves a lot of carving techniques to create dragon, peacock, phoenix and flowers and predominantly uses fresh-water fish and vegetables, owing to the city’s strategic location by the river-bed.

But what does it take to be a good Chinese chef? “He must be able to make nice carvings, cook good dimsums and must have a knowledge of all the 12 kinds of Chinese cuisines. I know only four,” laughs Yu, who has mastered Szechwan, Cantonese, Shanghainese and Huaiyang styles.

Chef Yu wants to see the Taj Mahal with his family, who will join him soon. Yu’s wife is from another province in China, which predominantly eats spicy food. To battle this dilemma, Yu’s dinner table is usually quite lavish. He explains, “She likes spicy. I don’t mind spice. But my parents eat only bland food. So, the dinner is usually split. For instance, we buy two pieces of fish. One is cooked spicy and the other bland to suit everyone’s tastebuds.” So does he want his children to take on his profession too? Pat comes the reply. “No. There is no holiday for a chef. On public holidays, we have more work. My wife constantly complains,” he whines jokingly.

Chef Yu continues to explore Bangalore and its various facets. And before we depart, chef capitalises on the opportunity of interacting with a local. “What are those designs or patterns outside every house?” he enquires, referring to a rangoli. While our quest for an authentic Chinese fair is over, looks like that the Indian quest is on for Chef Yu.