Malay-Singaporean chef Theign Phan is exposing diners to two dozen different notes of Sichuan’s, proving it’s depth beyond spicy stereotypes.
A question that Theign Phan has had to routinely confront in her career spanning Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong is, “Are you a female chef or a chef who is female?”
“As chefs, we go through so many hats that we have to put on and many situations where we are juggling at one point,” she explains to Foodie. “Sometimes I feel like a chef who is female; other times I feel like I am a female chef surrounded by male chefs.” To Theign, the essence of her mission is to strive for an equal playing field.
The Asia’s 50 Best ceremony awards, held annually across the region, takes note of female figures in the kitchen with the Asia’s Best Female Chef award, providing attention to those underrepresented in the Asian culinary sphere. The recent MICHELIN Guide 2024 ceremony in Macau only saw one female chef represent a starred restaurant.
Speaking previously with journalist Susan Jung, a panel judge for the Asia’s 50 Best awards, Theign recalls her mentioning “our European counterparts get very offended by our [award]. They consider everyone to be chefs. Why should there be a separation?
In Asia, it is not a bad thing to have ‘best female chef’ awards. It is good encouragement [and gives] more attention to females in the kitchen, something Susan highlighted, and I agree with her.”
Leading Central’s Grand Majestic Sichuan as executive chef, a refined and radiant Sichuanese restaurant, Theign guides her team of male chefs to subvert stereotypes of female chefs in the industry and, equally, educates on what Sichuanese food means today.
The Malaysian-born and Singaporean-raised chef spent her youth in an ecosystem primed for a future vocation inside professional kitchens. “I grew up around nine aunties and was influenced by Asian culture and family to cook and eat. As a Singaporean-Chinese born in Malaysia, I was surrounded by good food.
I went to a school [in Singapore] where we were encouraged to do our best, do what we like, and excel in that. Barriers never kept me from pursuing my passions, and I was encouraged at a young age.”
Beyond the world of Barbie, Theign comments, her community embraced a no-limits policy to excel, a true rarity. “Young cooks, especially females, tell me that they never had this encouragement that you can do anything you want.”
Her adulthood took Theign to Wisconsin in the USA for a degree in journalism, a return to Singapore to undertake a corporate internal communications role, Sydney to undergo culinary training and cook French bistro and modern Australian food for six years, and a second homecoming to the Lion City.
In 2018, the Black Sheep Restaurants team scouted Theign from her previous role as head chef of an American seafood bar and grill to join their fine-casual Vietnamese restaurant Le Garçon Saigon. “It was the first time I had cooked Asian food in 12 years, making Vietnamese food even though I am not Vietnamese.”
The chef joined Grand Majestic Sichuan in February 2024, marking a new phase for the upscale Sichuanese restaurant that saw a departure from the common elements of fiery Sichuan cooking, instead embracing a wide range of flavours central to the cuisine – 24 flavours to be exact.
Theign speaks her English with a prominent Malaysian accent and her Mandarin Chinese with a light Singaporean touch. Her Cantonese is a mix of Malay and Hong Kong influences. With her team of 12 local Hong Kong chefs and carrying a wealth of Western cooking experience, she is an outsider looking in at Sichuanese cuisine, an advantage she claims is vital for the prominence of the cuisine.
“You do not have to be from a certain country to make that cuisine. As chefs, we cook our way for a reason: culture. I find it an advantage for myself that I have [cooked] so many different cuisines in that I can take the basic techniques and the information and I apply it here to make this dish better.”
With a new menu crafted at Grand Majestic Sichuan, Theign has spearheaded a full-scale probe of Sichuan cuisine, covering elements that go beyond the classic numbing and fiery elements. Dishes are categorised into spicy, tingly, garlicky, sweet, sour, savoury, bitter, smoky, and floral flavour profiles.
The new wafer-thin crispy beef does embrace the classic numbing spicy flavour (麻辣風味), where Sichuan has gained a worldwide footing, but dishes like the wok-fried grouper fillet take on new flavours, such as the fragrant-spicy flavour (香辣風味). The twice-cooked pork shows off the homestyle flavour (家常風味), the stir-fried chayote young shoots (蒜泥風味) enjoys a garlicky flavour, and wok-fried beef tenderloin with mustard sauce has a mustardy flavour (芥末風味).
The yellow-tinged beef dish, paired with chunks of courgette, is a novel recipe that might surprise diners with its inclusion at a Sichuanese restaurant. Theign cooks the beef tenderloin in a Chinese mustard oil, with the mustard seeds providing a good balance to the meat as well as a funky, wasabi-like touch.
As for the stir-fried mixed mushrooms with Yunnan chillies and chilli oil, the chef team are intent on presenting the scorched chilli flavour (煳辣風味). “Because we use so many chillies in Sichuan food, we wanted to show that flavour for when dry chilli hits the wok. People may think, ‘Why would they make the dish so spicy?’ We want to show the history of Chinese cooking where people may not know of.”
The chef is evidently kick-starting a bullish public relations campaign to advertise Sichuan’s balance and power in its 24 varied flavour profiles. “[Sichaunese food] is not just spicy or numbing flavours,” as many diners might assume, Theign states. “We want to shout out that there is so much more to Sichuan cuisine that is so complex, with so many layers.
It is really up to us to advocate for Sichuan food, from people like me running a Sichuan restaurant, to try to showcase more. From the business side, it is all about storytelling.”
Why does Hong Kong need a Sichuanese restaurant like Grand Majestic Sichuan, with a menu exploring 24 flavours, wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux, traditional tea from Chengdu, and vintage bottles of moutai? “Sichuan is the land of the plenty; it’s all about freshness, local ingredients, and simplicity.
We want to promote Sichuan’s food as balanced and exciting. We are a restaurant in a mall with a beautiful view and great service. Our food isn’t super oily. We don’t use expensive ingredients like fish maw, shark’s fin, or sea cucumber.”
For Theign and her team, balance is required to subvert expectations of Sichuan cuisine.
To experience a fine standard of Sichuanese cooking and its manifold 24 flavour profiles, book yourself a table at Grand Majestic Sichuan here.
