Chopped Champion! Chef McKenna Shea of Maui wins with Abalone on Meals Community : Maui Now
Maui Chef McKenna Shea of Pacificʻo on the Beach front was topped the champion of Foods Network’s Chopped Tuesday evening. She gained the episode entitled “A Bunch of Abalone!” and took residence the $10,000 prime prize.
She was one particular of four cooks who competed to win over the judges by a sequence of issues with her progressive culinary expertise.
To celebrate Chef Shea’s win, Pacific’o on the Seaside is featuring a exclusive Chopped-motivated Fried Abalone dish accessible for a single thirty day period only, by means of April 15. The dish is designed with Kula watercress, crunchy radicchio, and veggie chip breaded Significant Island abalone, on top rated of an ube nicoise vinaigrette.
“After the first shock wore off from observing the abalone and ube cheesecake, I realized a salad was the way to go to spotlight all the flavors and textures in basket selection one,” reported Shea. “I experienced hardly ever labored with abalone in advance of, shoot, I experienced in no way even seen abalone in authentic everyday living ahead of – but I recall thinking to myself, ‘what would Isaac Bancacao do’ who is my present chef and mentor.”
In 2019, Shea joined Pacific’o on the Seaside as their youngest leading female chef and before long turned Sous Chef in 2020. Shea now holds the title of Govt Sous Chef and with the mentorship of Govt Chef Isaac Bancaco, she expanded her horizon in Hawaiian cuisine and fresh seafood, co-generating dishes with domestically-sourced substances for an evolving and progressive menu.
Shea also specializes in incorporating sustainable techniques, supporting local farms and applying each and every ingredient to its full opportunity, encouraging to set Pacific’o on the map for farm-to-table dining activities.
“The judges loved my dish and two of them concluded the entire salad even soon after the judging was more than,” said Shea. “This sweet, crispy, crunchy salad began the food that would finally crown me Chopped champion.”
In an before mobile phone interview with Maui Now, Chef Shea explained if she had been to earn, she would possibly use the income toward a boat. “My boyfriend and I are boat people and would like to start out a catering business enterprise on a boat wherever he’s the captain. He’s now a captain now, so which is type of our aspiration.”
The Season 54, Episode 11: A Bunch of Abalone! re-airs Wednesday, March 15 at 9 p.m. HST / 3 a.m. EST / 2 a.m. CT Thursday, March 16, 4 a.m. HST / 10 a.m. EST / 9 a.m. CT and Tuesday, March 28, 1 p.m. HST / 7 p.m. EST / 6 CT. Community associates say the air time relies upon on the company.
Much more about Chef Shea’s journey.
