Courtesy of The Hilton

Matt Wilce chews the fat with international fusion sensation Cheong Liew, who' heading to Tokyo to cook up a storm.

Labeled one of the "ten hottest chefs alive" by US Food & Wine magazine, Cheong Liew is the resident fusion fanatic at renowned Adelaide restaurant The Grange. One of Australia's greatest chefs, Liew has a slew of awards and accolades stacked under his kitchen sink, and he continues to produce innovative East-meets-West creations that draw on the eclectic culinary heritage of his native Malaysia and adopted home in Oz. His signature dish, Four Dances of the Sea (a plate of soused snook, cuttlefish sashimi with squid ink noodles, octopus aioli and spiced prawn sushi), perfectly illustrates his expert manipulation of Asian and European influences and has been a major inspiration to many other Aussie chefs. With no formal training, it's fair to say Liew's come a long way from his first kitchen job flipping burgers to his current position at the pinnacle of fine dining.

Did your childhood in Malaysia influence your cooking style?
When I was about ten I used to go with my grandmother to the market at 4am and follow her around as she did her shopping. I'd watch her as she'd choose food, how she'd choose chicken, asking them to dress it, pick out the best vegetables and fish and ask the Indian store holder to prepare her spices. After, she would cook for all of us - at least six different dishes - and I'd listen to her and my father discuss food and how to prepare dishes and how it should taste. She'd always give us grandchildren things to do like cleaning the shark's fin after she'd boiled it, or sorting beans, or picking feathers off bird's nests. And she used to time her cooking by lighting a joss stick. I learned that you can only be a good chef if you know how to eat and I think a lot of chefs don't learn that growing up.

You taught for seven years - why?
I was keen on developing and introducing modern Australian cuisine to a wider audience. I wanted to get Australians to drop their phobia for Asian ingredients. I realized they had become used to Indian and Chinese ingredients like chili, soy and coriander, but I wanted to show them new ways of combining and how to cook different dishes in the Eastern style.

Fusion food has often been criticized. How would you defend it?
Fusion food is complicated. Its not just mixing things, its like playing a Western piece of music and adding in a little Japanese percussion without interfering too much with the overall sound. To do fusion properly a chef should be fluent in five culinary languages. If it is done well, fusion food can raise the senses of the eater and stimulate them intellectually. Fusion demonstrates what we have achieved as humans in terms of the marriage and harmony of ingredients as well as people and cultures-its really about multiculturalism in our society. But of course what is crucial is that the end result must be good to eat.

How has Japanese cooking influenced you?
I really appreciate the way Japanese chefs handle fresh fish and their knife techniques. Also what they do with seafood is incredible, and I love simple dishes like hot rice with natto.

Why do you ask guests to eat your Four Dances of the Sea in a particular order?
Well they are arranged clockwise and if you start with the snook the flavors gradually increase and each dish gets a little spicier until you finish with the Malay-style prawn sambal.

Is there a particular ingredient you're in love with at the moment? How about Japanese ingredients?
I just discovered White Rock veal from South Australia - the meat is really white and succulent, and I like it because it has a much cleaner taste than pork. As for Japanese ingredients, I use wasabi the most, and I love seaweed. I'm hoping to learn more during my visit to Tokyo, which is my first.

You're famous for doing "long table" dinners, will you be doing one in Tokyo?
I'd love to do a long table, it's a very informal style of dinner we do in Malaysia. I'd love to go to the market and just cook what was freshest that day.

New Australian Cuisine runs June 4-10 at the Hilton Tokyo, lunch 11:30am-3pm, dinner 5:30-10pm. The Wine & Dine event (JY18,000 per person) will be June 7, cocktails from 6:30pm, dinner from 7pm (reservation required). Tel: 03-3344-1111.