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Sandy Tang

MasterChef Finalist
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Hey there!
I’m Sandy.

An inspiring menu developer as seen on the current series of MasterChef 2020 on BBC1

About me

MasterChef: ‘Never seen that!’John and Gregg stunned as chef commits BBC first

sandytangst

Sandy ้„งๅ–„ๅฉท | MasterChef
๐‚๐š๐ญ๐œ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐“๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‹๐จ๐ง๐๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐‰๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ! ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ฆ ๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—ž๐—˜๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐—š๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—”๐—ช๐—”๐—ฌ ๐ŸŽ‰

Hiya! I'm super thrilled to announce that I will be running the food chalet of Journey to the West @journey.to.the.west.uk this upcoming month at @tasteoflondon ! From the 15th-19th June, we will be giving out dumplings for you to try out so don't be shy and come say hi if you are around ๐Ÿฅฐ It's a first for the company so I'm super excited to meet everyone ๐Ÿคฉ

As a small token of appreciation, I have reserved a pair of tickets for you guys to join us for the day! ๐ŸŽ‰

To enter the ticket draw, you will need to:

1. Follow @journey.to.the.west.uk and me  @sandytangst 
2. Tag a friend in each comment. Max. 5 entries for each account. 

End on 29th May 2022 midnight, the lucky winner will be announced the next day. Look out for my DMs!
Weekend trip to @denbies_wine_estate and @alburyvi Weekend trip to @denbies_wine_estate and @alburyvineyard. Lots of wine! ๐Ÿท Very happy Sandy ๐Ÿค—
One of my recent favourite eats โ€“
๐Ž๐ฑ๐ž๐ฒ๐ž, ๐•๐š๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ก๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ by @svenhansonchef

Me and my friends found ourselves at the foot of the Embassy Gardens on a clement Wednesday night. Yes โ€“ thatโ€™s where the heated swimming pool in the sky you must have seen on Instagram.

While waiting for our lost friend to find her way there, mini-snacks were served to us including Cornish yarg churros with Moorhayes cheddar dip.

Before entering the main dining space, the ingredients for the night were presented to us in a still-life style arrangement. (itโ€™s always nice to know the source of the ingredients and what they look like ๐Ÿ‘)

You could probably tell this place is a big advocate of English sparkling by seeing their Hambledon and Nyetimer collection at the bar area, so I opted-in for the short wine pairing. Despite my distaste of English sparkling, I knew that was a right choice when they paired my favourite dish Donabe with a dark-chocolaty porter from London.

The dish consisted of Charleston gold rice from South Carolina, a species that has only been recently brought back to commercial cultivation, steamed in sake alongside with peas and smoked eel, served with a chargrilled swede consumme. The creaminess from the rice, sweetness from the peas, earthy tones from the eels and the smokiness from the consommรฉ came together beautifully, and all washed down by the porter.

A sweet tooth like myself was extremely pleased with the mignardise made by @kaeshibata_ and @cartografiechocolate at the end. I think I got this Christmasโ€™s chocolate sourcing sorted ๐Ÿ˜Š

#londonfood
Next week will mark my first year living in London Next week will mark my first year living in London! ๐Ÿ˜Š
Whilst I met new friends and rekindled with the old ones, we shared new experiences together. I was truly grateful for how our relationships have fostered. They show me the love and support when things have been tough.

And this is my way to show mine ๐Ÿฅฐ:
- Pao de queijo, charcuterie 
- Maldon oysters
- Peixinhos da Horta (green beans tempura)
- King scallops in parsley butter
- Lulas Recheadas (stuffed squid) with Saffron rice
- Batata cake with olive ice cream

Photo credit: @arieldailylife @elyse_li

#dinnerparty
Throwback to my Lisbon trip last month! I had the Throwback to my Lisbon trip last month!

I had the pleasure to visit Feitoria @restaurantefeitoria ๐ŸŒŸ located on the banks of the River Tagus, nestled between the historic Tower of Belรฉm and the Discoveries Monument.

Chef Joรฃo Rodrigue @jmgrodrigues nods his hat  towards the great Portuguese explorers of the past as he takes diners on a journey across land and sea.

Exotic spices from far-flung places combine with traditional Portuguese ingredients and flavours on the short tasting and ร  la carte menus. An extensive wine list is expertly paired with dishes like sheep's butter and chives, and Arouquesa beef, pigeons, seasonal mushrooms and truffles.
Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas time and reco Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas time and recovering well from the food coma yesterday! ๐ŸŽ„โค๏ธ

Ps I completely forgot about my pigs and blankets in the fridge, guess we can have them with the bubble and squeak later... 

#xmas #roastdinner #christmas2021
๐•๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐œ๐จ๐š ๐•๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐œ๐จ๐š ๐–๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐’๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ƒ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐„๐ ๐  ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ ๐’๐š๐ฎ๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿ‚

Fourth attempt and I concluded that maybe venison (minced) is overrated, nevertheless I still like a good venison fillet. I added beef dripping, nutmeg, cinnamon and even coffee infused beef stock when emulsifying the filling mix. Still it's too lean to be a dumpling mince! Perhaps I just have this irrational obsession of having my wonton juicy. Just like I found ravioli out there sometimes being too dry, filling being too solid. Well, lessons learnt. 

Salted duck egg butternut is a hit. They are destined to be Thermomix companion for life. It's creamy, sweet, a bit savoury. It smells like autumn when yellow leaves of the same colour falling off from the twigs. The bitterness from the cocoa wrappers, winter spices in the filling actually balances wonderfully with the sweetness and creaminess of the sauce. 

Maybe a different type of game? Wild boar you reckon? 

#dumplings #wontons #venisom #foodies #foodlover
๐•๐ž๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ข, ๐“๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐ก, ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐’๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ž๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‚๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฆ

It's almost an unusual twist of how Russian pelmenis are served. The tomato broth is made from the puree I made the night before for our hotpot, along with beef stock ๐Ÿ˜‚ I was thinking to filter it to make it a clear tomato consomme, only concern is the debris will be a waste, so let's park that idea away.

Needless to say the grilled spring onion adds a really nice touch to the sour cream, a scoop of that balances the acidity from the tomato broth perfectly.

#pelmeni #dumplings #food #foodies #foodlover #f52 #f52gram
Throwback to my corn-fed chicken noodle in a cream Throwback to my corn-fed chicken noodle in a creamy coconut broth last week ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฅฅ๐Ÿœ

ๆคฐๅญ้›ž - it's a dish originated in the Hainan province of China, a tropical place indeed full of palm trees and coconuts. Then, obviously the dish got popularised when it's adapted into the form of hotpot in Guangdong. 

The super high level of potassium in coconut water acts perfectly as a hypotonic solution. During cooking, it helps the chicken to stay moist and I personally find it difficult to overcook chicken (even breast cuts) in this lovely broth. You only need minimal seasoning when preping the chicken, pinch of salt and pepper does the job.

#coconutchicken #hotpot #broth #chickennoodles
Sunday lunch ๐ŸŒž Lamb Chops in Rosemary Panko wi Sunday lunch ๐ŸŒž

Lamb Chops in Rosemary Panko
with a Mustard Honey sauce ๐Ÿฏ

#lambchops #foodies #foodblog
Seems to be the season for crab, so thought I woul Seems to be the season for crab, so thought I would knock up one of my favs - Curry Crab.

Along with some okras in garlic, chilli sauce, sort of Sichuan style. As well as fried oyster mushrooms Typhoon style (lots of fried shallots, garlic ๐Ÿ˜‹).

Paired with an ice cold bottle of beer. Very happy Sandy โ˜บ๏ธ
Corn & Parsley & Sea Salt Ice Cream ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฆ Chic Corn & Parsley & Sea Salt Ice Cream ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿฆ

Chicken Cornmeal Taco ๐ŸŒฎ

Corn and Butter Crumble ๐ŸŒฝ

Inspired by the sweetcorn choux I had last week @daterrarestaurant ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ

Just love the natural sweetness from corn, and its distinctive flavours that melts into your mouth.

#f52 #f52gram #icecrean #foodies #foodlover #dessert  #freitaglover #chicken #freitager  #comfortfood #foodblog  #nomnom
Wonderful meal at @daterrarestaurant earlier this Wonderful meal at @daterrarestaurant earlier this week. Walking around the hotel and the restaurant brings back the memory of my MasterChef experience. I still remembered an almost sleepless night in one of their hotel suite the night before our final cook-off. Lots of dreams  and also uncertainties that we just couldn't foresee at the time.

Thank you @rafacagali @kooze and the team for taking me onto this splendid sensory journey. โค๏ธ
Still thinking about the weekend Shanghainese feas Still thinking about the weekend Shanghainese feast by @jason888li ๐Ÿคค with great companions who shared the same passion for food โค๏ธ

Starter we had.... And the list shall go on ๐Ÿ˜‹:

ๅ››ๅ–œไบ”้ฆ™็ƒค้บธ
Shanghainese Braised Gluten, Shiitake Mushrooms, Black Ear Fungus
็ง˜ๅˆถ้ฆ™้ป„้†‰้ธก
Chicken in Fermented Rice Brine and Goji Berries
ๅ‡‰ๆ‹Œๆœ‰ๆœบๆœจ่€ณ
Cold Dressed Organic Black Ear Fungus
ๆก‚่Šฑ็ณฏ็ฑณ่Žฒ่—•
Lotus Root stuffed with Glutinous Rice in an Osmanthus Flower Glaze
ๅ—ไบฌ็›ๆฐดๅค้ธญ
Nanjing Brined Duck

Main dishes:
ๆขฆไธŠๆตท็”Ÿ็…Ž้ฆ’ๅคด
Meng Shanghai Shengjian Baos
ๅ’ธ่›‹้ป„็ƒงๅ–
Salted Duck Egg Siu Mai garnished with Black Truffle
่ฑ†่…ไธ‰ๆ–‡้ฑผๆฑค
Tofu Salmon Soup
็บข็ƒงๅคงๆŽ’็…ฎๅค่›‹
Red Braised Pork and Egg
้…ธ่œ้ฑผ
Fish in Pickled Greens with Bean Sprouts
ๆฏ›่ฑ†็‚’่Šฑ่Ÿน
Stir Fried Blue Crab with Edamame Beans
ๆพๆฑŸๆœ‰ๆœบ็™ฝ็ฑณ้ฅญ
Songjiang Organic White Rice

Dessert:
ๅ…ป็”Ÿ่Žฒๅฟƒ็บข่ฑ†ๆฒ™
Red Bean Sweet Soup, Lotus Seeds
My heart stays with you, just not my mooncakes thi My heart stays with you, just not my mooncakes this festival... But perhaps something else?

@journey.to.the.west.uk
Cardamom, Pistachio, Rose Water Gelato [no churn] Cardamom, Pistachio, Rose Water Gelato [no churn]

To the almost over English summer ๐ŸŒนโ˜” Inspired by the gelato I had at @cookingwithmarla, she served it with pink peppercorn shortbread as well...it was a delightful treat
Shrimp Paste Fried Chicken Lollipop with Butter Pa Shrimp Paste Fried Chicken Lollipop with Butter Parsnip Puree, Fried Shallots
่ฆ้†ฌ้›ž | ๆญ้˜ฒ้ขจ่˜ฟ่””ๆณฅ๏ฝœ็‚ธ่”ฅ้ ญ

Origin:  Singapore & Malaysia (if someone can tell me where about exactly much appreciated), parsnips obviously from the UK!

Hmm shrimp paste. Something I loved but worried that if I cook full on with it, the neighbours might call the police thinking that someone dig out a corpse. Literally it is soooo fermented that the smell can be off putting for many. With that being said, it becomes a lot more subtle after cooking. I marinated the deboned wings with shrimp paste, ground coriander, ground turmeric and ground black pepper overnight. Deep fried it with a chili flour coat on, taste bomb๐Ÿ‘Œ๐Ÿ’ฅ
Blossom Beef in Chicken Consomme ็ฆๅปบ็‰›่‚‰็พน Blossom Beef in Chicken Consomme ็ฆๅปบ็‰›่‚‰็พน

Origin: Fujian, China

As ordinary as it seems, this is another interesting technique to prepare beef apart from 'velveting' , by mixing the meat cutlets with lye water (sodium hydroxide) and a mixture of tapioca flour plus water. This gives you a very tender and bouncy texture of beef. Lye water basically breaks down the muscle tissue, while the excessive mixing with tapioca flour (I used my kitchenaid at low speed for 15 minutes) which acts like a roux glue the tissue back together again.
Throw back to couple weeks ago, preparing a tastin Throw back to couple weeks ago, preparing a tasting panel for a Canadian ready meal company.

We used a 5 point score system to ask our guests to rate the food  based on appearance, texture, taste and smell.

People often ask what product development is...? Well, very similar to your new version of Instagram updates, a team behind needs to decide on the product features. And in food terms, flavour profile, ingredients, ways to be consumed and so much more!

I was so glad that @geoffrey.edmund offers to help out on the day, a trained chef and also a consultant!

#newproductdevelopment #whatsonthemenu
แดกสœแด แด…แดแด‡๊œฑษด'แด› สŸษชแด‹แด‡ ส™แดœส™ส™สŸ แดกสœแด แด…แดแด‡๊œฑษด'แด› สŸษชแด‹แด‡ ส™แดœส™ส™สŸแด‡ แด›แด‡แด€?โœจ
 Earlier this week, I was invited to @mooboo_uk 's newly open store at Knightsbridge, London! ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง [pr invite] 

I tried out one of their specials - Creme Brulee with tapioca and Matcha with jelly ball. Speaking of toppings, my rule of thumb is always pairing fruity toppings with fruit based tea and tapioca/pudding with milk based tea. Just ask for the staff's recommendation if you're not sure!

Not London based? They also have 40 stores around the UK nationwide, just check out their website to find the nearest one to you if you would love to try them out ๐Ÿ˜‰

#bubbletea #london #drinks
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