He cooks, he sings, and he dances! This man can do everything, which is why in Indonesia he is known as the ‘Singing Chef’. “When I do a demo in Indonesia I will sing before and after the show and the women in the audience will sing and dance along. It is a lot of fun and it feels like a real community,” he tells me.


Chef Hendra made an impression with his colourful Indonesian outfit

At his demo in Avenue K he was dressed in a colorful Dayak Tribe outfit from Kalimantan with a traditional Irian Jayan animal tooth necklace…a small representation of just some of the culture that Indonesia has to offer. Speaking in both Indonesian and English he captured the crowd and took them on a little culinary journey.


He shows us how to make Indonesian Kue Talam using a syringe

We were lucky enough to get to know this chef a little better…and we even got him to sing for us! Look out for our video on him for that special treat.

What inspired you to be a Chef?
It’s so wonderful and so colourful to be a chef. You can meet a lot of people and travel all over the world.

Favourite food: I like all sorts of Asian food. I’m Chinese but born with the Indonesian background and I love all sorts of other Asian food…Indian, Malaysian, and more.

Favourite ingredient to work with: I love all sorts of ingredients but I have one special ingredient that I use that other chefs don’t. I put ikan bandeng (milk fish) into some of my dishes such as soto ayam. It makes it taste a bit different and richer.

Advice for aspiring Chefs: You must keep learning! Don’t think that if you know how to cook a dish that it is the only way to cook it. There are many ways to cook a dish, different ways and you can use different ingredients. You must always learn.

Chef Hendra will be at Avenue K tomorrow (Nov. 13) at 1pm and 4pm. Go ask him to sing you a little song!