Singapore is No. 2 in Asia-Pacific leg of prestigious Bocuse d'Or cooking competition

Team Singapore at the Bocuse d'Or Asia-Pacific Selections: (from left) Commis chef Choo Hyunjun, team coach Michael Muller, honorary president Jerome Bocuse, chef Yew Eng Tong and judge Justin Quek. PHOTO: BOCUSE D'OR ASIA-PACIFIC SELECTIONS

Singapore has come in second at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or Asia-Pacific Selection.

Japan clinched first place and Australia third at the biennial competition that was held at Singapore Expo today and yesterday .

All three will go on to compete in the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, France, often dubbed the culinary World Cup. It will be held during the food and beverage trade show Sirha in January next year.

Singapore's winning team consists of Chef Yew Eng Tong and Chef Choo Hyunjun of Ocean Restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa, and coach Michael Muller, executive sous chef of Facebook.

Chef Yew is no stranger to the competition - he was part of the team representing Singapore last year, which also took second place in 2014, and the team in 2012 that clinched the top spot.

This is Japan's second time winning the Asia-Pacific leg of the competition. They last won in 2014.

China and South Korea came in fourth and fifth respectively, and they will also take part in the famed chef championships in Lyon.

Nine national teams participated in the culinary battle that took five hours and 35 minutes. They had to work with the same produce, which included Angus beef tenderloin, foie gras, and Patagonian toothfish from the Kerguelen Islands in the South Indian Ocean.

The tasting panel included renowned chefs such as Tetsuya Wakuda of Waku Ghin, president of Bocuse d'Or Singapore Academy Bruno Menard, as well as presidents of honour Jerome Bocuse, son of the competition's founder Paul Bocuse, and chef Otto Weibel.

This the first time Singapore is the host country for the selections, which was held in conjunction with the 20th edition of the annual Food & Hotel Asia 2016 event at the Singapore Expo.

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