With his Singaporean Restaurant André on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, and his newest Taipei-based Raw on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant list, André Chiang has a widening platform for his signature work around balance, invention and plant-forward, flavor discovery. Raw leverages the greater availability of locally sourced ingredients, and it’s mission statement says it all: “to bring the ‘New interpretations of Taiwanese Flavor’ to your table by highlighting beautiful, seasonal Taiwanese produce.”

André Chiang was worked in various Michelin-starred establishments, with some of the world’s top French restaurants including the masters of “Nouvelle Cuisine”, ultimately returning to Asia to open Restaurant André in Singapore. His focus remains on using fresh ingredients, whether it is from his two-hectare farm in Tainan dedicated to growing produce that follow the 24 micro-seasons, or from the artisanal produce he receives to create culinary art that reflect his roots in southern French Nouvelle cuisine. Restaurant André was recently ranked number 14 World’s 50 Best Restaurant, number 2 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant, Best Restaurant in Singapore, and has been on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list since 2010.

Ocean Trout, Olive Oil Sorbet, Wild Vegetables

120 minutes cook/prep

Olive Oil Sorbet
300 ml chicken stock
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
100 g mashed potato
3 g xanthan gum
Salt and pepper to taste

Ocean Trout Confit
500 g caster (superfine) sugar
500 g salt
5 strips orange zest
5 strips lemon zest
5 strips lime zest
500 g ocean trout fillets, skinned
150 ml extra-virgin olive oil

Beetroot
10 small mixed color beetroot (beets), cleaned
Caster (superfine) sugar, to taste
Salt, to taste

Yellow Carrots
2 yellow carrots
100 ml orange juice

Salt-Baked Vitelottes
100 g rock salt
200 g fine salt
1 sprig thyme, leaves stripped
3 cardamom pods
3 star anise
15 g egg white
3 purple potatoes (vitelottes)

Fiddleheads, Cauliflower and Romanesco
10 fiddleheads, well cleaned
1 l chicken stock
1 yellow cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 romanesco, cut into small florets

Red Cabbage Purée
1 red cabbage, cut into small pieces
80 ml red wine vinegar
10 g salt
60 g unsalted butter
50 g caster (superfine) sugar

Ocean Trout, Olive Oil Sorbet, Wild Vegetables

Olive oil sorbet

Combine all the ingredients in a Vitamix and blend to a purée. 2) Freeze in a pacojet canister. Pacotize when required.
Ocean trout confit

Mix the sugar, salt and citrus zests together.

Pack onto the ocean trout fillets and leave for 45 minutes to cure.

Rinse the curing mix off the fish, reserving the zests.

Vacuum pack the fish, zests and olive oil, and cook at 40°C/105°F for 30 minutes.

Leave to cool, then serve at room temperature.
Beetroot

Vacuum pack the beetroot (beets) with the salt and sugar and steam at 100°C/210°F for 15 minutes.

Peel the beetroot and cut into quarters.
Yellow carrots

Vacuum pack the carrots with the orange juice and cook at 90°C/195°F for 20 minutes.

Cool in an ice bath, then remove from the bag and pat dry.

Cut in half lengthwise, then into 2 cm/¾ inch Slices.
Salt-baked vitelottes

First mix the two salts together and stir in the thyme and spices.

Whip the egg white to medium peaks then brush onto the potatoes.

Roll them in the spiced salt to coat completely.

Bake in the oven at 160°C/315°F for 30 minutes.
Fiddleheads, cauliflower and romanesco

Cook the fiddleheads in the chicken stock for 3 minutes.

Blanch the cauliflower and romanesco florets separately in boiling water for 1 minute.
Red cabbage purée

Combine the cabbage, vinegar and salt in a pan and cook until soft.

Stir in the butter and sugar, and poor it into a Vitamix while its warm. Blitz into a smooth purée.
ASSEMBLE

To serve, smear some of the olive oil purée over each serving plate. Add a small quenelle of red cabbage purée. Cut the ocean trout into cubes and add to each plate. Arrange the vegetables attractively on and around the purée. Garnish with wild herbs and flowers.

His approach
The Octaphilosophy has been the heart of all the cooking at Restaurant André, a culinary principle André Chiang developed based on eight primary characteristics: unique, texture, memory, pure, terroir, salt, south and artisan. Every day they receive quality, seasonal produce from their artisanal producers from all over the world, and have the luxury to work with the best of many different seasons at once, allowing nature to dictate our cuisine. Restaurant André draws inspiration from the produce to design a menu that combines technical precision with produce-driven seasonality. For example, they always have a Pure dish, which draws out the ingredients’ flavours with minimum intervention through seasoning or cooking, to bring nature to the table and give proper attention to the ingredient itself.: What seasonal vegetable or vegetable variety is currently most captivating you, the cooks in your kitchen, and your diners? 
We have an enchanting “17 Légumes du moment” dish offered to our guests at Restaurant ANDRÉ, showcasing the seasonal vegetables received from our farm in Tainan and from our artisanal producers. It is a radiant display of our vegetable medley that we prepare conscientiously and with integrity: Leeks Purple Cauliflower Sorrel Kale Powder Nasturtium Daikon Red Endive Green Daikon Black Radish Agretti Pickled Butternut Manegi Baby Radish Rainbow Carrots Fennel Red Seaweed Turnip Kale Sprout: What would be your advice to a young and upcoming chef. How could they move towards plant-forward menu concepts?  
I would advise them to work on developing their own culinary style and character. They should be resourceful, learning to work in their environment without restriction, with the produce available to them. Most importantly, don’t lose the identity of your restaurant and intention to deliver a unique dining experience to guests.