Liya Chu (???), the Taiwanese-American winner of the latest season of the U.S. television cooking competition MasterChef Junior, is being welcomed by figures ranging from celebrity chef André Chiang (???) to President Tsai Ing-wen (???) during a visit to Taiwan this month.
A representative for Chiang, owner of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant RAW in Taipei, told CNA he was planning to meet with Chu for a meal in the near future, either on Aug. 20 or 24.
Chu previously expressed her admiration for Chiang after winning the MasterChef competition, saying that his cooking was unlike anyone else’s and was “more like creating works of art” than preparing food.
Meanwhile, Chu posted a photograph of herself and President Tsai on her Instagram page on Monday, in which she thanked Tsai for “taking care of Taiwan and keeping peace here.”
She also appeared in a cooking demonstration with former health minister and current Taipei mayor candidate Chen Shih-chung (???).
In the video, which was uploaded to Chen’s YouTube page Monday, Chu used locally sourced ingredients to prepare fried rice with pineapple, walnuts and shrimp balls, and honey-roasted chicken with rice noodles.
Chu, the daughter of two New York-based Taiwanese restauranteurs, was only 10 years old when she won first place in the U.S. culinary TV show’s eighth season, which was filmed in 2019.
Because of post-production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Chu ultimately had to wait three years without telling her friends of her achievement until the show was finally broadcast earlier this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel