Celebrity Chef Waki Yutoshi Visits Taiwan – Water-Free “Centrifugal Tofu” More Silky Than Eggs

▲ New-generation food god Waki Yutoshi (left) and Sheraton Taipei’s Yi Garden Chinese Restaurant head chef Gao Ganghui (right).

Reported and photographed by Xiao Wan-Ning / Taipei

Waki Yutoshi, who defeated Chinese Iron Chef Chen Jianyi in a Japanese Iron Chef competition with Chinese cuisine and was praised as the “new generation of food god” by Chen, is serving as a guest chef at the Sheraton Taipei Hotel from now until April 14, collaborating with Chinese restaurant head chef Gao Ganghui to develop innovative dishes. Waki Yutoshi said the newly created dishes are based on traditional Shanghai cuisine and alsofeature delicate centrifugal tofu, combined with French truffles and Japanese snow crab roe to make the “Thunderball Aromatic Steamed Egg,” enhancing the dish’s layers.

▲ Thunderball Aromatic Steamed Egg (left), Wudang East-West Showdown (right).

Sheraton Taipei’s Yi Garden Chinese Restaurant head chef Gao Ganghui said that the ingredients selected for this menu are predominantly Japanese, such as Japanese kelp and abalone, offering not only a rich variety of dishes but also a sweeter and fresher taste.The dishes include Shark Fin Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Fresh Crab Jadeite, Beef Liver Mushroom Crispy Duck with Duck Liver, and Lingyun Sea Cucumber Fish Maw Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, with a daily limit of 40 servings, each set starting from NT$2,800.。

▲ Nine Heavens Delight Platter (left), Fresh Crab Jadeite (right).

Since 1998, the Sheraton Taipei has invited Michelin-starred chefs from around the world to serve as guest chefs in Taiwan. It has hosted Japanese three-star chef Kazuyuki Sugita and French three-star twin chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel. Recently, in addition to Waki Yutoshi, the hotel plans to invite another Italian three-star chef to Taiwan. At the same time, the Sheraton Taipei is collaborating with Marriott International,with the first hotel under the “Marriott Hotels” brand expected to open in Dazhi in the fourth quarter of this year. The venue will feature a convention and exhibition center in Taiwan capable of accommodating 3,000 to 5,000 people.