How Executive Chef Eric Turned Squid Ink Risotto Into A Singaporean Comfort Food

In this episode, we have the privilege of witnessing Chef Eric’s culinary alchemy as he transforms a beloved local dish into a cross-cultural masterpiece: Seafood Squid Ink Bee Hoon. Drawing inspiration from his upbringing in a traditional family and his extensive culinary background, Chef Eric seamlessly melds Asian and European influences to create a dish that is both familiar and refreshingly unique.

But more importantly, this dish tells a story—a story of Chef Eric’s deep-rooted connection to Singaporean hawker culture, his passion for quality ingredients, and his dedication to pushing the boundaries of traditional cuisine. Through his innovative use of squid ink, typically reserved for Italian fare, Chef Eric invites us to reimagine familiar flavours and embrace the beauty of cultural exchange.

Shot and edited by ZYRUP Media

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voila it’s
[Music]
nice hi everyone I’m Chef Eric not the
Theo not the ne but Cham I’m from Shan
Tower Singapore uh today the special dis
that are coming to show it to Y is the
seafood SC in Fright beon a Asian disch
with a western twist I started uh my
career when I attend a culinary school
uh during my after my NS my mother is
one of my inspiration on being a chef
she asked me giving me another
opportunity to sponsor me for a
skill-based education so from there
actually my Academy in the school is not
that good The Turning Point is when one
of the mentor told me that if you are
out of this hotel do not tell anyone
that I am your Chef because you can’t
even toast a break properly and from
that point I already back up and start
to really put my passion my commitment
into culinary uh industry on that the
first step that I want to do is I want
to cut this leg into 1 to 1 cm
size some
garlic to sprit the fish can into
half corander Leaf PL it off cut the
calaman SE crack the 2
egg when I start to work in a Italian
restaurant uh we Chef t t to do stuff
meal we have Western ingredient so but
we we tends to cook Chinese style food
if we want to have a fried rice it will
be either spring onion then Dy Char or
bronze to get a color in a Italian
restaurant you don’t have chash don’t so
you get bell pepper di the bell pepper
to have color instead of white pepper
powder we use black pepper powder so it
tends to mix and match ingredient try to
represent as close as possible to the
local cuisine on that so first we need
the pan with some oil and then we add in
the liak and slow we sweat the eting
okay the inspiration that uh I come out
this this is that uh during my younger
days I went to work in Italian F dining
we have this qu in Roto instead of using
Roto I Chang it to behon because Roto is
a comfort food in Italian way and then
uh beun in Asian way in local market is
very comforting The Next Step I will add
in the oyster sauce lower down the fire
do not add any water then the next one
we will add in the squ in you can get it
from the Market the sque in that came in
a small sache of course we need some
flavor enhancer we can use some uh some
chicken powder on that we do not need
any salt because we have the enhancer
and then the screen is a bit more on the
salty side and then we let it simmer for
a few moment by now the sauce is ready
let me check the
seasoning voila it’s nice as a
Singaporean our culture is Hawker food
you know and you just pop in you like
Fred Quil you like H me or you like b h
me you can get it just in the same uh
Food Market you can’t find in Europe
there street food is totally different
Pizza sandwiches that one piece you are
full but in Asia different you tends to
have a few dishes you get to try and
then you will have a bit more bonding
than uh than the Western what I’m going
to do is season the reverse cambi so Sal
you can see is really smoking hot and
then be careful put the fresh down
onward remember not to overcook it as
you can see the prawn is red so we start
to add in the sauce just enough to cover
the
cambies voila very nice black light all
fully graced with the squid in in order
to get a Chinese Taste we need the walk
to be super hot oil a bit of oil then we
just put in the cep
flour very nice bright yellow color
garlic so uh we get the beon
in I’m going to add the squ in lightly
one and a half tablespoon to get the
coating of the squ in so you have to
stir the
behon the next one I will add in the
Chinese chai I add some fish cake now
because I don’t want the fish Kake to
get it too bright on
that what I use here here I use yellow
wine Western Cuisine wines when we do
with seafood we tend to degras with
white wine Asian way Chinese wine the
flavor of the H when you degrad it is
totally different from what you degrad
using a biano white wine when the dish
serve to you when you get the smell you
will know that wow this is part of the
traditional Chinese
food so now we have complete the dish
now I’m finishing by squeezing some
calamansi to give the Umami s in a hints
of acidity on that so uh this is my
version of the seafood SC in fried
beun wow like in heaven you know the
feeling of that the current Trend that
uh a lot of youngster startup they have
to innovate it’s like what I create
today it open up the door to two
different kind of work for local is a
with the Western twist for the Westerner
is a Asian dis with a western twist it
give us a good opportunity to bring the
food to a bigger stage rather than
attract Singaporean but Foreigner on
that