The Benalmádena chef you might spot making rice pudding on the underground in China
Sergio Moreno has increased his popularity in the Asian country after participating in a documentary that is being shown on transport networks and in airports
Some friends had already seen him in a taxi and on the underground in China and at Hong Kong airport. He could not believe it until one time, on his way to Beijing, he saw himself on the plane. There was Sergio Moreno, preparing rice pudding on the screen in front of him. It is all thanks to 'Milk, a running river of civilization' , a documentary that is shown in different transport networks in the country which show the chef from Malaga preparing his own version of rice pudding.
"Here the consumption of milk is not as important as in Europe, they wanted to transmit the values that we give it in western culture," explains Moreno. He is speaking from China about this work produced by DOClabs Beijing Media Technology, which explores the role of milk in different cultures, from Latin America to the Middle East. The Malaga chef's brief was to make a dish that, obviously, contained milk and that was "original and creative".
With siphon and nitrogen
"I just happened to be changing the menu of a new restaurant I'm advising in Chengdu and I had in mind a rice pudding with persimmon, which was in season at the time. I marinate the persimmon in a citrus syrup, which is sweet but also has a bit of acidity. It is a fairly creamy rice pudding, I add coconut milk. I make the traditional recipe and then I crush some of it with a bit of white chocolate and put it in a siphon and then in liquid nitrogen to give it a more airy and crunchy texture. It is made at the table, with a bit of showcooking, accompanied by a cinnamon biscuit," describes Sergio Moreno, always on the lookout for surprise and innovation. Moreno explains, "It was about 14 hours of filming. I did the moment of pouring the milk more than forty times."
After eleven years in China, Moreno, who is originally from Benalmádena, is starting to think about returning to Spain for good. "I'm having a great time in Asia, I like it a lot, but on the other hand I'm tired of coming and going," he says. He currently straddles both continents for personal and professional reasons.
Between Spain and China
He is constantly receiving proposals for collaborations, projects, workshops and has even spent a few days training at Aponiente and has taken part in various competitions in Spain. He has also taken on a personal challenge: the wine he makes in Valdepeñas (his partner's homeland), which he is already importing to China.
Moreno's creations include Brussels sprouts with Manchego cheese soufflé and hazelnut pesto, escabeche with pickled corn, strawberry gazpacho with sambal frapé (a typical Indonesian condiment), stewed razor clams with gazpachuelo and lightly smoked caviar quenelle with lime gel, tripe with egg yolk, grilled mackerel with ginger and wasabi vinaigrette and tempura kale chips and sugar cane soufflé finished with rum and sultana ice cream.
He is also used to creating dishes from Asian cuisine, always with his own personal touch, such as his curious quesadillas with chilli oil or oxtail soup with mint. He has a lot of projects in the pipeline, including one with the Gaga company, which has nearly a hundred restaurants in China and now doors have also opened for him in Indonesia.
"In the short term I'm still here, but with my sights set on returning home permanently to open something and start sowing seeds there, which I'd like to do, above all to be with my family." The app he uses to fly has already told him that he spends more than 370 hours in the air a year. "Too much jet lag".
