Chef Richard Ekkebus – Emphasizes the Importance of Fresh Ingredients

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Chef Richard Ekkebus is the head chef of the famous French restaurant, Amber, of The Mandarin Oriental Landmark Hotel. He is in charge of one of the best fine-dining restaurants in Hong Kong, and true to his culinary skill, Amber has two Michelin stars under its belt and has also been named by San Pellegrino as the 90th best restaurant in the globe.

Chef Ekkebus was born in Holland, and he has had a very colorful and very rewarding culinary career. He first began his career as a chef in his native homeland where he became an apprentice to some of the best restaurants of the country. He worked at Michelin-starred restaurants and got to train under some of the best chefs in the Netherlands like Chef Hans Snijders as well as Chef Robert Kranenborg. During his time in the Netherlands, he was named as the Young Chef of the Year by the very prestigious and very illustrious Golden Chef’s Hat.

This award only pushed him to do more, so he traveled to France, sought work at the finest dining hotspots of the country, and found work in the kitchens of the best chefs of France. In 1990, he worked as a pastry chef at the L’Aperge where he got to work with the famous French chef, Chef Alain Passard. The next year, he became the chef de partie of Restaurant Guy Savoy in Paris where he received training from Chef Guy Savoy himself. In 1992, he found a job as a chef in St. Etienne’s Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire, working for the famous Chef Pierre Gagnaire.

From Paris, he then traveled to Grand Bay, Mauritius in 1995 where he became the head chef of its Royal Palm Hotel. He stayed here for eight years before moving on to St. James, Barbados where he found work as the head chef of its Sandy Lane.

After his stint in the Caribbean, he then traveled to Hong Kong and became the head chef of Mandarin Oriental Landmark Hotel’s restaurant, Amber. He has been the head chef of Amber since 2005. His fresh cuisine and very innovative ideas soon gained the attention and praise of its diners, especially the food critics. He has created his own distinctive traditional French cuisine with a contemporary twist, highlighting the natural flavors of fresh produce taken from the land.

Chef Ekkebus remains loyal to what he has learned during his apprenticeship and training, that it will take superb quality and very fresh ingredients and products to create a cuisine that is unforgettable. In fact, he emphasizes the importance of fresh ingredients, stating that the quality of the cuisine should never be compromised. He also emphasizes the need for being creative in presenting the dishes. There should be a harmony between all the flavors in a dish and the different textures, and the entirety of the dish should also be represented well in the way the food is arranged on a plate.

All his efforts in creating an unforgettable French cuisine paid off when, in 2008, it received two Michelin stars and, this year, it became the 90th restaurant of the world.

Chef Richard Ekkebus’ “Grand Cru Manjari” Chocolate and Coconut Bounty

“Sacher” Biscuit:

Ingredients:

215 g Almond paste 50%
65 g Icing sugar
75 g Whole eggs
105 g Egg yolks
125 g Egg whites
65 g Granulated sugar
50 g T 55 (or equivalent) flour
25 g Valrhona Cocoa Powder
50 g Valrhona Cocoa Paste
150 g Elle & Vire Butter

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Mix the almond paste with icing sugar and gradually beat in the egg yolks and whole eggs. Sift and beat in the cocoa powder and flour. Melt the cocoa paste and butter. Beat the egg whites with the sugar. Gradually add the cocoa/butter mixture and mix until smooth and light. Add this preparation to almond paste/icing sugar mixture. Fold in the cocoa powder and flour. Pour into a mould and bake for 5 to 7 minutes.

Coconut Success:

Ingredients:

125 g Caster sugar
210 g Egg whites
125 g Icing sugar
125 g Grated Coconut
35 g Flour

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Beat the egg whites with the sugar. Sift together the icing sugar and flour. Add the grated coconut and stir. Fold this mixture into the beaten egg whites. Spread on greaseproof paper and sprinkle with extra icing sugar before baking at 200°C for 4-5 minutes. When baked, the “success” sheets should be 5 mm thick.

Manjari Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients:

6 Eggs
180 g Granulated Sugar
75 g Water
3 Gelatine sheets
470 g Valrhona Manjari Chocolate
35 g Valrhona Cocoa Powder
95 g Softened butter
95 g Elle & Vire Whipping Cream, whipped

Directions: Put the egg yolks into a mixing bowl. Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Pour this syrup over the yolks and whisk. Strain the mixture trough a fine strainer and pour into a microwave-safe dish. Cook at 90°C, removing the bowl from time to time to whisk. Remove from the microwave, put the bowl into a tub of ice and whisk to cool. Pour the contents into a mixer bowl and beat at the second lowest setting for 4 to 5 minutes. Dissolve the gelatine in iced water. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, add the butter and cocoa powder and whisk well. Fold in the gelatine and half of the cooled egg mixture, and mix well. Gently fold in the remaining egg mixture with a spatula.

Coconut Mousse:

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg Sanetane dried coconut
175 ml Coconut milk
35 g Granulated sugar
2 Gelatine sheets
250 g Elle & Vire Whipping Cream, whipped
50 g Sweetened, beaten egg whites

Directions: Beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff. Pour the coconut milk, sugar and Sanetane in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then turn off the heat. Dissolve the gelatine in iced water. Remove the pan from the stove and add the dissolved gelatine to the hot coconut milk. Strain through a fine strainer into a container set in a tub of ice and cool to 35° to 30°C. Gently fold in the whipped cream and egg white mixture with a spatula.

Assembling the “Bounty”: Place a rectangular mould of about 28 cm. X 38 cm x 2 cm on greaseproof paper. Place a 5 mm thick Sacher biscuit in the bottom of the mould. Add a 5 mm thick layer of Manjari Chocolate Mousse, followed by a 5 mm thick layer of Coconut Success and finish with a 5 mm layer of Coconut Mousse. Cut into 9 cm x 3 cm “bars” and freeze. Defrost “bars” in the refrigerator and cover with the chocolate rectangles.

Plating: Place the “Bounty” on a square glass plate with a scoop of coconut ice cream on the side.

Servings: Makes 25 portions.

Image Credit: archive.prestigehk.com

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