Ching Ching the breadfruit chef

You would think that after buying brand new utensils, Chi Ching Ching would be eager to put them to use on his luxurious kitchen counter-top, or his 36-inch four-burner electric stove. But he is way too creative for that.

After going shopping with him for ingredients, we journeyed to where the cooking would take place -- Golden Spring, St Andrew.

It was immediately clear that this was not going to be some sort of fancy culinary affair. This was going to be cooking the Chi Ching Ching way.

Sheets of zinc, dry wood, stones and a few pieces of plastic cups - those were the features of his fire-side cooking spot.

"Zinc haffi go a grung first. Dat mean say di fire stay one place. It's not all about inside kitchen, me haffi show di people dem real lifestyle. So me deh outdoor now, Golden Spring, DJ Sean Sports Bar. This is where Chi Ching Ching forward from, a yah so me deh from day one," he explained.

He was getting ready to prepare breadfruit (of course!) and as you may have guessed, it was going to be roasted and fried.

"Me a prepare some mixed vegetables, salt swim-around and breadfruit," he said between chuckles.
In no time, the fire was ablaze.

"Whaiii! Piece of me finger roast off!" Ching yelled, jumping away from the fire and flashing his fingers frantically.

It did not take too long for the breadfruit to be roasted to perfection. All it took were a few turns and perhaps a few burns to get the job done.

He must have been very happy when it was time to wash the saltfish and vegetables. This meant cool water for his fingers. After cutting up his vegetables and seasonings, Ching put the saltfish to boil and was ready to fry some pieces of breadfruit.

"Yuh see dah style yah weh we a deal wid now, breadfruit sandwich. So we nah go cut it di way oonu normally cut it, we ago cut it our way," he said as he placed the breadfruit in the frying pan.
And his saltfish pot was a picture of colours. For a moment I thought the saltfish would've been lost under all the vegetables.

Soon the meal was ready and Ching made sure to package the meal creatively, forming what looked like a breadfruit pyramid.

"Wayyyy up!" Ching shouted after sampling his handy work. I agreed that the meal was 'up' and that the Breadfruit deejay was officially a breadfruit chef.