I've watched my fair share of cooking competitions, from Culinary Class Wars to MasterChef, but never did I expect to be participating in one.

Even if it was just a friendly cook-off.

My opponent for the day? None other than Shahrizal Salleh, better known as Chef Bob, an established name in the local culinary scene.

For the uninitiated, Chef Bob had stints at luxury hotels like Grand Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton. He also began his own ventures like The Landmark, a halal buffet in Bugis, and Bobmi, which specialises in Indonesian Bakmie.

On Wednesday (May 28), at a media preview for his latest collaboration with Halal restaurant Good Old Days in Sentosa, I had the chance to sample his three new dishes: Nasi Lemak Goreng, Assam Pedas Pasta and Ginger Fish Horfun.

These dishes will available on Good Old Days' menu for the next seven months.

Being a self-proclaimed foodie, I was naturally excited to have a first taste of these creative inventions.

That enthusiasm would soon morph into mild panic when I found out I'd be cooking alongside Chef Bob during the event.

Behind the kitchen counter

To be fair, I willingly accepted the offer to step into the kitchen with Chef Bob.

Regardless, that sense of dread was genuine.

The cook-off was simple enough in-theory. I had to mirror Chef Bob in whipping up his new Assam Pedas Pasta. Once plated, our dishes would be put through a blind taste test to decide the winner.

Ingredients included fresh prawns, Thai asparagus, laksa leaves, onion, asam pedas, evaporated milk and pappardelle pasta.

Mix it all up in a pan and there's the dish. Sounds easy enough, I thought.

In practice? Not quite.

Chef Bob's knife skills had me trailing behind from the very start.

As he sauteed his onions like a seasoned pro, I was already left sweating (both figuratively and literally) just trying to keep up.

Despite the early wobbles, I managed to complete cooking the dish and both our Assam Pedas Pasta was done and sent off to plating.

The blind taste test was a wipeout, with every participant picking the "cylinder" instead of the "sampan" option.

Imagine the surprised, and slightly suspicious, look on my face when it was announced that I cooked the winning dish!

The cook-off was all in good fun and once that was done, I had the chance to dive into all of Chef Bob's latest creations.

Verdict on new dishes

Right off the bat, I'll admit that I've never been particularly fond of assam pedas.

So there was a slight hesitance on my end on whether I'd appreciate his Assam Pedas Pasta ($12.80).

But having won the cook-out, I thought: "Why not go in with an open mind?"

I took a bite and was pleasantly surprised.

The tangy and lightly spiced sauce was a winner for me, and it paired well with the choice of pasta.

Fresh prawns and crunchy Thai asparagus also added texture to the dish.

Did the dish completely win me over when it comes to a classic assam pedas? Probably not.

But would I order it again at Good Old Days? Highly likely.

Then came the Ginger Fish Horfun ($10.80).

Fans of Chef Bob will be glad to see this classic menu item return from his earlier culinary career 

A comforting dish featuring rice noodles, dark soy sauce, egg gravy and fish slices, this is a solid pick if you're a hor fun lover.

But my suggestion would be to save space for a plate of Nasi Lemak Goreng ($12.80) instead.

Rich, aromatic and so addictive.

Coconut rice is wok-fried and plated with Chef Bob's signature crispy turmeric chicken, a sunny-side up egg and a variety of sides such as cucumber slices, sambal, ikan bilis and peanuts.

Simple in appearance but deceptively tricky to execute.

Chef Bob explained that due to the rice's high fat content, a different level of skill was required to fry it right.

We got a sampler portion that left me wishing for a full-sized plate.

After the tastings, I sat down with Chef Bob to talk about the collaboration.

He told AsiaOne that he'd long been a patron of Good Old Days.

When asked about the creation of his three new dishes, Chef Bob replied: "I came up with [these dishes] to complement whatever Good Old Days already has. 

"Because their menu is already extensive."

He also noted that bringing new ideas to the table is often an arduous process, especially when it comes to menu planning.

According to Chef Bob, the R&D process can take six months as it involves numerous tweaks and iterations before the final dish is finally presented to the public.

Take the Assam Pedas Pasta, for example. I learnt that the choice of pappardelle was intentional.

"Pappardelle is very wide so when you cook it with a sauce, it'll hug the pasta. When you eat each strand, you can get all the flavours as well," Chef Bob explained.

And having tasted and cooked the dish myself, I can certainly vouch for that.

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amierul@asiaone.com

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