Chef Sharwin Tee’s curiosity leads him (with tour guide Ivan Dy) to the streets of Binondo where he’s out to sample the best that China Town has to offer, and perhaps make them even better. Let’s see what surprises were inspired from this trip to one of the oldest places in Manila.

After getting back in the kitchen, Sharwin prepares a noodle salad with an interesting dressing made from mixing peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper and sesame oil along with carrots, cucumbers and egg noodles. This Noodle Salad with Sesame Peanut Dressing is perfect with a serving of everyone’s favorite roast duck.

Cuapao (a kind of steamed bun like the siopao, except that you can see the filling) is given a fresh spin as with a filling of fried prawn covered with crushed cereal flakes. Mayonnaise, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper flakes, calamansi and mango round out this recipe for Cereal Prawn Cuapao.

And last, our humble hopia is transformed when it’s fried with an egg and flour mixture, resulting in a crunchy crust. Slices of preserved hawthorn berries (the fruit from which Haw Flakes are made) are then processed to provide the Haw Sauce to dip the Fried Hopia in.

“Curiosity Got the Chef” season 2 premiered on Wednesday, 25 July. It airs every Wednesday at 9:30 PM on the Lifestyle Network, with replays on Saturdays at 6 pm and Sundays at 10.30 am.

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