Upon "My kitchen rules"

About new recipes, food materials, cooking styles and principles, the strict nature of a contest, and food styling, this TV programme has been intriguing me to move to the world of culinary art. Above all of the stuffs I learn from My kitchen rules, food styling stays longest and leaves the deepest footprint in my cooking learning world.

I am not learning to be a food stylist at the moment, nor is it my intention. It is culture, belief, and human life behind food styling that provokes my thinking and inspires me.


Preparing this dish has been the first time I executed food styling, with which I was pretty unsure if my dish could be labelled, but at least because I was having these two exotic words in my mind when preparing the dish and photographing it. After several looks at the photo, I believe it is not any attractive to those who are fans of thịt xíu (the caramelised belly pork), simply because caramelised pork is not normally served this way in our culture! That is my first lesson of food styling.


This photo came into being with an obsession of food styling. I deliberately use these two exotic words over and over again because I am obsessed by them. If it is, this photo can only look attractive because of its colours. Again, this is not a popular way of serving spring rolls in its motherland. I did not intend to translate our culture, particularly that of serving this kind of food through this photo, but I failed.

I decided to put action to my food, in the view to make it more inviting and lively. This kumara sweet soup is not lying untouched on the table. Layers of the soup reveal its texture, aroma, and real perception of its taste. What will hit your tastebud is a combination of solid and liquid, chunks and bits, sweetness and fattiness, and a multilayer of sweetness. With those, this photo speaks much to its viewer, the way an action speaks. I began to realise something...



When my thinking has grown, I began to ponder how to build a connection with food through the photograph. A food looking inviting also means a food in company, a food going hand in hand with you through some kind of exploration, and a food coming in some form of cherishment. Again, it is the translation of culture, customs and habits, and the life style.

Eventually, it is something about a healthy and balanced life when it comes to why food is born. If it is raising us, cultivating us, and beautifying our life, I believe food should be reproduced the way it will reveal multiple layers of meaning, which is my keen desire.