“Master Chef” Pham Tuan Hai: Culinary breakthrough to promote tourism development

"King of Chefs" Pham Tuan Hai.

Over 30 years of working as a chef at large hotels and restaurants and participating in many culinary programs, notably as a judge on the MasterChef Vietnam program in the first seasons (starting in 2013), brought him closer to the public and he was called the "MasterChef" in Vietnam.

Sharing his views on how to preserve and promote the values of Vietnamese culinary culture, “King of Chefs” PHAM TUAN HAI said: The chef profession always requires creativity but must preserve the essence of the dish. Therefore, when a chef prepares a dish from a region or country, he needs to preserve the flavor and style of each locality, region as well as customs and practices in culinary preparation.

Sir, you have been a judge on many culinary programs, contributing to training professional and successful chefs who are known as "Master Chefs". What do you think about this?

- One of the programs that I participated in that left the most impression and was known to many people was MasterChef Vietnam. Through MasterChef Vietnam, many chefs were trained and became professional chefs, many of whom became famous and successful in their culinary career. It was a memorable journey in my life, bringing me the unforgettable title of "MasterChef".

It can be said that the MasterChef Vietnam program not only brings me closer and more friendly to the people but also provides an opportunity to help many chefs to be trained and coached to become famous chefs. The chefs participating in the program experience many challenges, from cooking according to regional, national and ethnic cultural styles to choosing ingredients... The program not only helps improve the skills of domestic chefs but also international chefs.

According to you, what factors make a dish memorable?

- When participating as judges on programs, what we always require of chefs when making a dish is that it must be completely new and must follow the criteria of the topic. For example, when asking a chef to cook a dish from the subsidy period, the chef himself must understand the taste and ingredients of the subsidy period dish. Or when asking to cook an Asian dish, he must understand the characteristics of the ingredients and spices used for that dish...

With the requirement of creativity and the ability to convey stories when preparing dishes, I think that chefs must research and learn, especially dishes from different regions and countries. Chefs must understand cultural identity, customs and traditions as well as the target audience to have appropriate recipes, shelf life and product preservation.

How do you rate Dong Nai cuisine?

- I have been to Dong Nai many times. When enjoying Dong Nai dishes, I realize that Dong Nai cuisine, like Southern cuisine, has a very “open” culture. That means everyone can accept new things and dishes require real sophistication, along with their own cultural identities to be able to exist sustainably.

Recently, there have been many very "hot" dishes that only existed for a short time and did not leave an impression on diners, such as spicy noodles, mixed vermicelli... The reason is that these dishes do not carry the identity of the country, ethnicity or locality, so they cannot last long in the culinary market.

In Dong Nai, I was quite impressed with the famous fried sticky rice dish. I think this dish will be preserved for a long time and passed down to future generations, because it carries the local cultural identity. In addition to fried sticky rice, Dong Nai also has delicious dishes such as Tan Trieu grapefruit salad and delicious grapefruit dishes, made with the main ingredient being Tan Trieu grapefruit, famous in Dong Nai for hundreds of years.

According to you, how do chefs work in Dong Nai?

- I highly appreciate the solidarity and cooperation in the association activities of the chefs of Dong Nai province. They are professional chefs, passionate about their profession, and love to learn. The chefs are not afraid of conflicts, always have a high spirit of exchange and learning. This is an opportunity for the chefs to learn and share experiences in their activities, and have the opportunity to promote local specialties to the public.

For a long time, many chefs still keep their own "secret recipes" and are satisfied with the products they create. However, when I met the Dong Nai Province Chefs Association, what impressed me about the association's activities was its openness and high spirit of learning. I hope that there will be many chefs associations in localities across the country promoting the spirit of creativity, exchange, and sharing experiences in the process of working.

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vu Xuan Truong presented flowers to "Master Chef" Pham Tuan Hai at the Dong Nai Food Festival 2025.

In the current context of international integration, what should Dong Nai chefs do to develop local cuisine, sir?

- Dong Nai cuisine has many delicious dishes such as: Tan Trieu grapefruit salad, fried sticky rice, dishes made from Dong Nai's specialty fruits... Exploiting the value of specialty dishes will contribute to promoting local tourism development. In my opinion, in the coming time, Dong Nai cuisine needs to be more diverse, more market-based, contributing to helping Dong Nai's tourism industry attract more tourists. Therefore, chefs need to increase market-based reality when preparing dishes.

Currently, most of Dong Nai's typical dishes are just traditional dishes, not showing any breakthrough, must build attractive stories for each dish.

According to common psychology, when customers travel to remote places, they often learn about local cuisine and specialties. Therefore, the more impressive the dishes are, the more attractive they are to tourists.

A chef must be creative, adaptable to the market and the needs and culinary trends of each period. Only with these qualities can a chef be considered practical and professional.
“King of Chefs” Pham Tuan Hai

For example, fried sticky rice with cashew nuts has long been known as a specialty of Dong Nai with sticky rice, cooking oil and sugar. However, when hearing about the chefs making the record for the largest fried sticky rice with cashew nuts in Vietnam, the public was interested and came to Dong Nai to witness the event. From the fried sticky rice with cashew nuts event, it shows that specialty dishes will be one of the "strings" that hold tourists' feet.

Thank you!

Ngoc Lien (performed)

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202509/vua-dau-bep-pham-tuan-haibut-pha-am-thuc-de-thuc-dayphat-trien-du-lich-0d92b62/