Download "NTDTV International Chinese Culinary Competition" (PDF, 62 KB) Mission The International Chinese Culinary Competition is one of a series of international cultural artistic competition sponsored by New Tang Dynasty Television. Its purposes are to promote authentic Chinese culinary techniques, revive traditional Chinese culinary methods as well as carry forward the exquisite traditional Chinese culinary culture and disseminate the orthodox Chinese culinary philosophy. Through demonstration and exchange of culinary skills, the Competition is to help people around the world gain further insight into the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and treasure Chinese culinary culture. Organizer The International Chinese Culinary Competition is hosted by New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) and will be televised around the world by NTDTV. Forms of Competition The Competition consists of two rounds: preliminary and final. Dates and Locations Preliminaries:

• The preliminaries will be held in the Asia Pacific (Taiwan) and North America (USA) respectively. The organizer of each preliminary may accept applications from any regions, but an applicant can only choose to participate in the preliminary in one region.
• The Asia Pacific preliminary will be held on September 20-21, 2008 at the National Kaohsiung Hospitality College, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• The North America preliminary will be held on November 17, 2008 at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10003, USA.

Finals:

• The Finals will be held on November 18, 2008 at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10003, USA.

Rules and Regulations

1. Categories of Competition: The categories of the Competition include Sichuan cuisine, Shandung cuisine, Cantonese Cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine and Northeast cuisine (Heilongjiang province, Jilin province and Liaoning province).
2. Eligibilities Contestants should have enough knowledge about the origin and development of the cuisine they picked, and fully understand how to prepare the cuisine with good skills and techniques. There is no nationality restriction for contestants.
3. Registration Fee
4. Registration procedures and deadline 

1). The preliminary in the Asia Pacific Region (Taiwan): 


• Applicants should fill out and submit the registration form for the International Chinese Culinary Competition by August 20, 2008. The Panel of Judges will review applicants’ submission and qualification as soon as possible, and the Organization Committee should send an invitation to qualified applicants by August 30, 2008. Qualified applicants should make payment of the registration fee by September 5, 2008 (validated by postmark date) to complete the registration procedures.
• Payments should be made into the “Taiwan New Tang Dynasty TV International Cultural Association’s” account with the Taiwan Postal Office, and its account number is 50038619.
• Registration information shall be mailed, via registered mail, to No. 347, Baotai Rd., Qianzhen District, Kaohsiung City 80660, Taiwan
• Contact information: Contact person: Ms. Huang Email: cook@ap.ntdtv.com Telephone: +886 800-281-182 or +886 933 436 890 (M) 

2). The preliminary in North America Area (USA):


• Methods of Registration Internet: http://culinary.ntdtv.com Email: culinary@globalcompetition.org Hotline: 1-646-736-2969 ( English ), 1-646-736-2988 (Chinese) Fax: 1-212-918-3479 Mail: NTDTV International Chinese Culinary Competition, P.O. Box 1434, Secaucus, NJ 07096-1434, U.S.A.  
• The registration fee can be paid by cash, traveler’s check or money order.  Applicants should make their checks payable to the New Tang Dynasty Television. 
5. No applicants are allowed to change competition category within two weeks before the Competition.
6. To facilitate US visa application, the Organization Committee can provide an invitation to the International Chinese Culinary Competition at request.

Competition Procedure

1. Preliminaries: Each contestant is required to prepare one dish of their choice and one assigned dish based on their cuisine category in the prep kitchen. The winners will qualify for the final. 
2. Final: Each contestant is required to prepare two dishes assigned by the Competition Committee and one dish of their choice in the prep kitchen based on their cuisine category. The presented products should be different from those in the preliminaries. Then the Panel of Judges will evaluate the completed plates based on the rules.
3. Cuisine Regulations: 1) Dish of choice: Culinary skills are unrestricted. Each contestant may bring all ingredients necessary to prepare the food, while the Competition Committee will offer basic sauces and condiments (like salt, oyster sauce, sugar, wine, rice vinegar, and oil.) Each contestant is free to use sauces and condiments in accordance with their food preparation. 2) Assigned Dish: The contestant is required to employ traditional culinary skills. All the ingredients, sauces, and condiments are offered by the Committee. The assigned dish embodies distinguishable features of certain areas, and bear geographic distinction. The dishes falls into the following categories: 
   
   • Sichuan cuisine: Braised Chicken with Three Types of Pepper (preliminary); Sauté Shredded Pork Sichuan Style (final), Poached Sliced Beef in Hot Chili Oil (final).
   • Shandung cuisine: Braised Pork with Scallion (preliminary), Pickled Sliced Fish (final)
   • Cantonese cuisine: Sweet and Sour Pork (preliminary), Beef Oyster Sauce (final)
   • Huaiyang cuisine: Stewed Bean Curd Sheets and Pork in Soy Sauce (preliminary), Preserved Cabbage with Soy Bean and Bean Curd (final)
   • Northeast China cuisine: Shreded Pork with Sheet Jelly (preliminary), Hot Pepper and Bean-curd Sheet with Pork (final).

   3) Each contestant can only apply to one category of cuisine.

4. Competition Rules: Preliminaries & Finals: An assigned dish and a dish of their choice, including preparation, cooking, and delivering the finished plates to the judges, must be completed in a 60-minute time period.
5. Concrete Requirements: 1) It is required that the dishes in preliminaries should differ from those in the final in main ingredients, garnishes, cooking methods, and tastes. Points gained in the preliminaries plus points gained in the final will be the final score. 2) The finished products must be able to present knife skills, cooking methods employed by the contestant, and to reflect culinary heritages. The finished products should contain green vegetables and nutrition, be sanitary, and present distinguishable tastes. 3) Prior preparation of ingredients is allowed; for instance, the ingredients can be washed, preserved, or heated in advance. Yet all chemicals are forbidden in the food processing. But the knife skills portion, the addition of spices and the final preparation must be completed in the prep kitchen during the preparation period. 4) If the dish can not be finished within the limited time, the contestant should apply for the permission for prior preparation and make advance preparation if allowed. And the advance preparation should be limited. 5) All the ingredients should be examined by the Panel of Judges before the competition. Points will be deducted in case of violation. 6) All garnishes must be eatable and cause no harm to human bodies. Only after the garnishes are examined can they be brought into the preparation area. And they must be put in plates. 7) The suggested serving size for each entr?e is 10 servings, and preparation of each entr?e should be done just for once.

Judging Rules

1. Evaluation Criteria: The perfect score is 100. Judging will be scored accordingly in the following categories: Taste, Texture, Appearance, and Nutrition and Sanitation. 1) Taste—30 points: Importance will be put on proper seasoning, authentic taste, distinguishable major taste, and no loss of taste (caused by being uncooked or burned.) A deduction ranging from 1 to 15 points will be made if requirements are not met. The finished product will not be scored in case of spoiled ingredients, improperly seasoned food, or uneatable food. 2) Texture—30 points: Food should be properly heated, given exclusive texture, and be crispy, tender and soft. A deduction ranging from 1 to 15 points will be made if requirements are not met. 3) Appearance—20 points: Major ingredients and garnishes should be in proportion; delicacy and exactness of knife skills, a natural shade, presentation of the dish, and compatibility of plate and food will be evaluated. A deduction ranging from 1 to 15 points will be made if requirements are not met.    4) Nutrition and Sanitation—20 points: Raw and cooked ingredients should be separated; green vegetables should be included; color additives, artificial preservatives or any uneatable substance are banned; all the garnishes and carved objects on the plate must be eatable. Sanitation of utensils and plates, and personal hygiene must be seriously emphasized. A deduction ranging from 1 to 15 will be made if requirements are not met.
2. Evaluation of Food Preparation: 1) Points will be deducted in case of violation; reasons for deductions of points will be detailed. 2) Scores marked by all judges will be put together and divided. The average score is the final score of a contestant. 3) Deductions will be made to the average score for the following infractions:
   
   • All contestants should present a uniform appearance by wearing appropriate apparel. A deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made if the contestant does not wear a chef coat and hat.
   • A deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made for being late.
   • If the finished products or the apparel reveal his/her name or working unit, a deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made.
   • The use of illegal spices or harmful additives will lead to a deduction of 15 points.
   • Secretly bringing along prepared or semi-prepared stuff will lead to a deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points.
   • A deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made due to: mixture of raw and cooked ingredients, lack of appliances, littering of left ingredients, failure to keep the working area sanitary.
   • A deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made for using others’ ingredients and stock.
   • A deduction ranging from 1 to 5 points will be made for advance practice of cuts.
   • One point will be deducted for a delay of less than 5 minutes; two points for a delay of less than 10 minutes, and so on.
   • Mistakes committed during the preparation time will be recorded by the examiners present; then a deduction will be made by the general examiner.
   • Deductions for serious infractions can be suggested by the general examiner, while permission for deductions is granted by head of the Panel of Judges.

Panel of Judges

1. The panel of judges will be composed of international-level experts, scholars and celebrities in the fields of Chinese culinary arts, gourmet food and nutrition, etc.
2. The Panel of Judges shall be responsible to the Competition and at all times maintain impartiality and display exemplary fairness as well.
3. The Panel of Judges will assign supervisor base on the number of participants to oversee the competition site.
4. All the judges should arrive at the venue by the time required for the contestants, and then proceed to check materials and judgment matters.
5. The judges shall score according to the recipes submitted by the contestants at registration.
6. The judges should specify the reasons for the deduction of points and sign accordingly if any adjustment is made.
7. The Judges for a certain category of the Competition may deduct one to five points from the score according to the violation situation recorded by the supervisors.
8. The Panel of Judges should announce the details of the Competition to contestants 20 minutes prior to the Competition, and the Panel of Judges shall conduct an evaluation session within 60 minutes after the preliminary or final concludes.

Announcement of Results The results of the Competition shall be publicized within 90 minutes after the preliminary, and the wining contestants should be given a final registration form at the check-in area. Awards Presentation:

• All contestants will be given a certificate of participation.
• All award winners of the preliminaries in the Asia Pacific region will be eligible to attend the award presentation ceremony and dinner, and will be presented a certificate of recognition.
• All winners of the preliminaries in the North American region will be notifies for entry into the finals.
• All finalists will be eligible to attend the Award Ceremony Banquet.

Miscellaneous

1. All contestants must attend the orientation seminar on the contest day and complete the lot drawing session to determine the competition orders.
2. Check-in time: All contestants should arrive at the venue 60 minutes before the competition, and present all the materials, garnish items and utensils to be used in the competition for examination, so as to complete the check-in procedures.
3. Contestant Lounge: Fruit or snacks will be provided in the lounge.

Prizes

1. Asia Pacific Region:
   
   • All the winning contestants of the preliminary in the Asia Pacific region will be eligible to participate in the final in New York, and will be entitled to participate in the "Demonstration Match."
   • The organizer will arrange for the winning contestants to participate in public welfare activities in Taiwan within a year and to be interviewed by mass media as soon as possible.
   • The organizer will arrange for the winners of the top three places in the final in New York to participate in international public welfare activities within a year and to be interviewed by mass media as soon as possible.
2. The categories of personal awards for the final in the North America region are as follows: 1). Sichuan Cuisine: One first place, one second place, one third place and five commendable awards; 2). Shandong Cuisine: One first place, one second place, one third place and five commendable awards; 3). Guangdong Cuisine: One first place, one second place, one third place and five commendable awards; 4). Huaiyang Cuisine: One first place, one second place, one third place and five commendable awards; 5.) Northeastern Cuisine: One first place, one second place, one third place and five commendable awards;
   
   • First Place: $10,000, a trophy and a certificate
   • Second Place: $3,000, a trophy and a certificate
   • Third Place: $1,000 a trophy and a certificate
   • Commendable Awards: a certificate
3. The organizer reserves the right to possess all the entries' photos, videos and recipes as well as the contestants' Curriculum Vitae and their portraits in chef uniforms, which may be used in exclusive publications, DVDs, NTDTV’s feature programs and various Websites.

Miscellaneous

1. Once registered, the contestant shall abide by all the rules and regulations of the competition.
2. All the contestants should comply with the arrangements made by the Organization Committee. The Organization Committee is entitled to revoke the eligibility of the contestant's participation and the prizes awarded. 
3. The decision of the panel of judges is final, and no appeals shall be taken.
4. The Competition Organization Committee is the ultimate authority to interpret the rules of the competition and has the right to make changes in the Rules and Regulations of the Competition.

~ Written by The Organization Committee of NTDTV International Chinese Culinary Competition Updated on October 11, 2008