Pink grapefruit cake.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Chef Liew's cooking style is defined by lightness and subtlety. The emphasis is on the natural flavors, textures and colors of the ingredients. The use of fats, sugars, starch and salt is kept to a minimum.

"French cuisine is very dependent on the freshness of the product. My challenge is to find good ingredients," he says. "But I don't use the ingredients I am not familiar with even if they are the most sought-after ones in China, like shark fin, abalone and sea cucumber."

Though it is common for chefs to become less hands-on in the kitchen when they rise the ranks, Liew is unlikely to favor management duties over his cooking tools.