The event hosted by the national Thai dining franchise forms part of a series of celebrity cook offs from which Simply Asia will crown a local celebrity as the Ultimate Wok Star.
Wednesday’s event saw two celebrities battle it out in front of a live audience to see who had the best Thai cooking skills. On the one side was 94.7 radio DJ, actress and television host Philicity Reeken and on the other was comedian, actor and MasterChef SA winner Chris Forrest.
Each team was tasked with making two dishes from the Simply Asia menu, the 314 (also known the Khao Phad Thai which is a scrumptious Thai fried rice dish with beef) and 514 (the Ba-Mee Prik Phao which is a fiery roasted chili paste and cashew nut noodle dish with chicken). They were encouraged and supported by actor and performing artist Warren Le Grange who acted as MC for the event.
The competition was fierce but in the end it was Chris Forrest who walked away with the prize. The judging panel said that he knocked it out of the park with his dishes. “The flavours and textures were sublime, almost up to the Simply Asia standard,” said Yasser Ismail, who was part of the judging panel and a franchisee for the Norwood branch.
Simply Asia will be hosting another Ready Steady Wok semi-final event at Parktown Quarter on 29 March. The winning celeb from this event will join semi-finalists Chris Forrest and DJ Soosh to go onto the grand finale at the Fourways store on Saturday 8 April where they will fight for the title of Ultimate Wok Star.
Follow the action on Facebook with the hashtag #ReadySteadyWok.
Visit www.simplyasia.co.za to find your nearest store.