Our Judges

Ken Hom’s media career began in 1984 with his first television series, Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery, and the accompanying book of the same name, which has sold over 1.5 million copies and is still in print. He has published over 40 food-related books and an autobiography, has presented seven television series and sold almost 10 million Ken Hom woks – one of the world’s longest selling branded cookware. In this jubilee year, the BBC launched their new online archive to commemorate the corporation’s centenary. Among the iconic objects selected for shaping the UK’s lifestyle of the past 100 years, the Ken Hom Wok is there. One in seven Britons owns a Ken Hom Wok.

As a Founding Patron of the OCC (Oxford Cultural Collective), he supports higher education to provide opportunities for young people working in hospitality and the culinary arts, through the international scholarship in his name, with recipients able to undertake study trips to Asian nations. The annual OCC’s Ken Hom lecture has been delivered over the last 10 years by renowned figures including Lord Patten, Cherie Blair, Ben Okri and Jancis Robinson. Ken Hom donated his entire collection of around 3,000 food-focused books to Oxford Brookes University. In 2007 the university awarded him an Honorary Doctorate.

Ken Hom is a prominent supporter of Action Against Hunger (AAH), the humanitarian charity which is committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and build a sustainable life. His fundraising efforts have also been focused on Prostate Cancer UK and the Ronald McDonald House. He is also an ambassador of GREAT, the government’s international marketing campaign showcasing the best Britain has to offer.

On receiving the CBE, Ken Hom simply said: ‘I am honoured and humbled by this award’. www.kenhom.com

Following the success of Sunday Brunch, Simon co – hosted an initial four part Channel 4 documentary ‘Tricks of the Restaurant Trade’, giving insight into the tactics employed by many high end and high street restaurants to entice customers, which followed up with a popular series 2. Its’ success led to a further 12 episodes being commissioned which has just been announced.

Simon’s popularity really took off when he landed a role on the BBC2 Sunday show – Something for the Weekend, on which Simon cooked and interviewed guests alongside his co-host Tim Lovejoy. He has presented and cooked on a variety of shows and his numerous credits include: Win It, Cook It, Meals in Moments, Breaking into Tesco’s, Recipe for Success and This Little Farmer went to Market and Eat The Week.

To add to his talents, Simon has written and published 5 successful books which continue to sell well. He also regularly contributes to food magazines including Delicious, Olive, and BBC Good Food Magazine and Vegetarian Living.

Aside from his hectic filming schedule Simon is a chef/owner of 9 restaurants in the NW England and one in Dubai. Simon’s real passion for food began as a restaurateur and he continues to cook in the restaurants every week, which he enjoys immensely; but also keeps him in touch with the culinary trends of the moment.

After whetting his palate amidst the bustling hawker centres, Jeremy soon realised the correlation between basic cooking skills and eating well. He attributes his love of food to his father, who approached food with excitement and was eager to share his joy and curiosity with his children.

Over the years Jeremy’s expertise in the food industry has continued to gain recognition and awards, including the British Cookery School awards and the Housewares Innovation Awards for his new wok range; School of Wok by Dexam. His recipes and work have been featured in a wide variety of national and international publications, along with TV appearances; from Food Network’s Big Eat, to regular appearances on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, ITV’s This Morning, features in several of Nigel Slater’s cooking series, and most recently Saturday Kitchen alongside the Hairy Bikers.

Jeremy has consulted with a wide range of brands and businesses; from one person start-ups to international corporations, all whilst keeping good food at the forefront of each undertaking.

Jeremy’s first cookbook Chinese Unchopped, helps readers demystify Chinese cooking by providing useful tips and ingredient ‘swapsies’ and unpacks some of the fundamental techniques in Chinese home cooking. His second; Hong Kong Diner, is a love letter to Hong Kong itself; both its food vibrant street food and diner culture and includes both recipes and travel tips for those with a sense of adventure.

Jeremy’s ability to bringing food to life with his infectious and relaxed approach has helped to fuel a dynamic specialist cookery school, develop delicious authentic recipes, and create innovative teaching techniques and equipment that are taking the culinary world by storm.

She is the author of five books, including Sichuan Cookery, Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking and, most recently, Land of Fish and Rice: Recipes from the Culinary Heart of China.

Fuchsia’s writing has appeared in publications including the Financial Times, the New Yorker, Lucky Peach, Gourmet and Savour. She leads gastronomic tours of China with the travel agency WildChina and has cooked and lectured at events all over the world.

In her spare time, Karen teaches food writing, is a keen musician, is a trustee for a charity working with poverty-stricken communities in Africa and is on the board of a new enterprise setting up a food-related initiative working with prisoners.

He is also Trustee of Mulan Foundation Network, a charity supporting the achievements of Chinese women in the United Kingdom. He sits on the Advisory Panel of The Changing Work Centre, advising policy makers of the changing nature of work, and the skilling of young people for the jobs of tomorrow. He is Chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth, a parliament based NGO, founded fifty eight years ago, at the time of the first Commonwealth Education Ministers' Conference in Oxford.

He has over forty years of publishing experience, having worked in various academic and professional publishing houses. He founded Cavendish Publishing and developed it to be the largest independent academic law publisher in the UK before it was acquired by Informa PLC. He was formerly the Chairman and Hon President of the Independent Publishers Guild, former Chair of International Division and Council member of the Publishers Association in the UK.

Sonny Leong is director of Left Foot Forward, a political blog for progressives, providing evidence-based analysis on British politics, policy, and current affairs. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014.

Due to robust supervision, the service has continuously been accredited the top award by Islington Council Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

Having been involved in devising the daily menu for many years, Katy believes passionately that wholesome Chinese food should feature the three characteristics: "diversified colour, aromatic flavour and distinctive taste".

That first venture was Villa Stefano in Holborn, an Italian restaurant that under Yu’s guidance became one of London’s most successful venues during the early days of house music. This was followed by the institution that is Bar Rumba, plus a host of successful venues including Substation Soho, Substation South, Saint Bar, Jerusalem, Pop The Social.

For his next project Yu travelled to Paris and brought back Miguel Cancio Martin who had designed The Buddha Bar and Man Ray in Paris to bring to life his vision that he was to call Opium on Dean Street. The venue was adorned with pictures of Yu’s family from the Far East. In 2003 came Salvador and Amanda, and more recently Punk, Maya and Grand Central in Shoreditch.

In late 2012 Eric Yu opened two new venues in quick succession. Salvador and Amanda Bloomsbury and Opium in Gerrard St Chinatown. In 2016 he opened the wine and cocktail bar that is known as 68 and Boston near Soho Sq, followed soon after with Burlock on Duke Street and most recently FAM, another bar located in Marylebone.

Awards and acknowledgements include Time Out Best Bar, Evening Standard Best Bar, Flavour Magazine Best Multiple Operator, Theme Magazine’s Most Influential Individual Award and Outstanding Achievement Award at The London Club and Bar Awards of 2011. In 2012 and again in 2013 Eric Yu was nominated for the Industry Legend Award at the Square Meal/Imbibe Awards.

Perhaps most inspiring to Ping was her mother’s way of showing love and passion through cooking, something which is hugely important in Ping’s food ethos. Having lived in the UK and travelled around Europe, she draws inspiration from her heritage but delivers her food with modern twists adapting to ingredients that can be found locally.

This was apparent during MasterChef when she continued to wow the judges round after round with her take on Malaysian food delivered with modern adaptation, and since being crowned winner Ping has become a Malaysia Kitchen Ambassador, promoting Malaysian food around the UK and abroad. She was involved in the first MasterChef Pop Up in the UK that was sold out in record-breaking time. She has given talks about Malaysian food at the World Economic Forum in Davos and travels frequently to cook in various countries around the world. Her latest project will see her dishes featured in a brand new restaurant in Dubai.

Ping is the Executive Chef to Ping Pan Asian, an eatery and deli in Selfridges London as well teaching cookery classes at her Masak Club in Wiltshire. Her Malaysian pop up Makan Club in Bath is always sold out due to popularity.

Her recipes are frequently featured on the BBC Food website, various big food magazines and newspapers include Delicious, BBC Good Food Magazine, Olive Magazine, Good Things Magazine, The independent, Observer, Hello Magazine and OK Magazine to name a
few.

Ping appeared in The Good Food Channel’s John Torode’s Malaysian Adventure broadcasted in 2016 and appears as guest chef on popular daytime talk shows such as ITV This Morning and Sunday Brunch. She launched her YouTube channel ‘in the kitchen with Ping Coombes’ showcasing simple and delicious recipes.

She is also frequent fixture at some prominent food festivals in the UK including Taste of London, Pub in the Park and BBC Good Food Show. Her chef demonstrations are always very engaging and draw a large crowd.

Ping’s first book MALAYSIA has topped the Best Seller list on Amazon and regularly features in the movers and shakers list. It is in its 3rd reprint due to popular demand.
MALAYSIA is also published in America and has been translated into Dutch.

MALAYSIA won the Asia category in the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. Ping is also a contributor to three other MasterChef Cookbooks, MasterChef Streetfood and MasterChef Kitchen Bible and MasterChef The Classics with a Twist.