With the food and catering industry still facing extreme pressures, Dan has succeeded in becoming the 15th chef to be awarded the prestigious MasterChef: The Professionals title. He takes his place in MasterChef history alongside other exceptional champions: Derek Johnstone; Steve Groves; Claire Lara; Ash Mair, joint winners Keri Moss and Anton Piotrowski; Steven Edwards; Jamie Scott; Mark Stinchcombe; Gary Maclean; Craig Johnston; Laurence Henry; Stu Deeley and last year’s winner, Alex Webb.

Dan was the first of 32 professionals through the doors of the MasterChef kitchen, all vying for the gastronomic glory, cooking his way through six increasingly intense weeks of culinary challenges and producing incredible plates of food along the way. Dan wowed Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing, renowned chef Monica Galetti and MasterChef’s seasoned judge Gregg Wallace - bringing his Asian and Modern European style to the table. In the Critics Round during the Quarter Final, Jimi Famurewa loved his sauce, calling it “almost delirious”. He also was congratulated by leading UK chefs during the competition including at the Chef’s Table where Matt Abé described the chicken feet in his dish as “outstanding” and Nieves Barragan told Dan they were on a “different level”, whilst Ollie Dabbous said his dim sum were “delicious across the board.”

Reacting to his win, an emotional Dan says: “It’s an overwhelming feeling. It’s incredible. This competition has meant everything. It’s built my confidence and now I really know what it means to back yourself.”

Marcus Wareing says: “I think Dan is a fantastic chef. For me, he is a star in the making.”

Monica Galetti says: “He has given exciting, innovative flavours on a plate.”

Gregg Wallace says: “Dan found his style, he worked on it, he got stronger and better and better.”

In a punishing Final Week, Dan was up against outstanding chefs and he had to use every ounce of technique, inspiration and tenacity to better his competitors in rounds of increasing difficulty and pressure. The challenges across the week included - the opportunity of a lifetime to have food critiqued by industry leaders at the Chef’s Table. The task was to create and deliver a Michelin-standard dish for eight culinary giants working in Britain today. For the first time since the pandemic, the final week also included a masterclass and service at a restaurant, diving into a cooking world most chefs can only dream of - at the world-renowned three Michelin starred Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, led by Executive Chef Jean-Philippe Blondet.

In tonight’s intense and emotional last challenge - which Marcus called “a final like no other”, when the chefs were asked to create their final menu and deliver the best three-courses of their lives for judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace, in three hours.

Taking inspiration from his time working in Singapore, Dan said: “It changed my outlook and philosophy on food, so I just wanted to bring that into the final.” The winning menu started with his take on a classic Singapore Chilli Crab - a Mantou deep-fried bao bun topped with crab, chilli oil, nashi pear, lime juice, salted egg yolk and Szechuan pepper, topped with a squid ink tuile, served with a soft shell crab tempura and basil cream with crab and chilli oil. On tasting Dan’s starter, Marcus described it as: “Perfectly balanced. It’s an absolutely sensational plate of food. I love it.”

The main course was Singapore Chicken Rice - chicken breast stuffed with chicken thigh mince, sesame oil, spring onion, ginger and Thai pandan leaves, choi sum - a Chinese cabbage blanched in garlic, chilli and oyster sauce - a red chilli sambal sauce, chicken-infused steamed rice with garlic and ginger, and a chicken and pandan leaf broth. Gregg said: “I’m looking down and seeing the most basic of dishes, but I’m tasting the most exciting and elegant of dishes. It’s absolutely delicious.”

To finish, Dan delivered a dessert of Smoked Hay Treacle Tart, filled with yuzu curd-toasted breadcrumbs, pickled ginger, clotted cream ice cream, Japanese Shiso leaves, shiso crumb and smoked hay butter tuiles. Monica reacted with: “It’s just a wonderful dessert.”

After tasting his menu, Monica told Dan: “For us three it’s been such a delight to watch a chef like you develop, grow and discover what you are about. Thank you for sharing that with us.”

Gregg added: “It’s an East meets West style, and you do it brilliantly.”

During the judges’ deliberations over the menus, Marcus commented: “The star dish for me was without a doubt [Dan’s] crab dish with bao bun. I thought it was absolutely fantastic.”

Private chef Dan was born in Birmingham, and as well as being a ‘proud Brummie’, is from Chinese, Irish and English heritage and has strong associations with food from both sides of his family. Dan says: “Some of my favourite memories are Sundays at my grandad’s takeaway with the family eating traditional Cantonese dishes, with my chef Auntie, forcing me to try intestines and fish eyeballs - it was always a lot of fun. On my mother’s side, we had my Irish nan and English grandad, whose stew was so opposite to Chinese cuisine, but made me feel at home. His bacon sandwiches - where he dipped the bread in bacon fat - were unbelievable.”

Looking back at how he got here today, Dan says: “It all started with my Auntie growing up, of course. Then a lot of Asian chefs based in the UK like Andrew Wong, Jeremy Chan, Jun Tanaka, Ching He Huang are so inspiring, as well as Kray Treadwell and Gareth Ward. Most people I’ve met through work have influenced me and have given me an opportunity to grow - from the kitchen manager in my first job at a Carvery or Prin Polsuk at the world’s best Thai restaurant.”

Dan trained the College of Food, University College Birmingham and has spent the past 10 years travelling and cooking around the world. He says: “When I got back from Singapore and COVID hit, I had to take a job in a supermarket for a little while. But if it wasn’t for the pandemic, I would have been off travelling again and wouldn’t have applied for MasterChef.”

Talking about his MasterChef: The Professionals experience, Dan said: “It’s been such an incredible time on MasterChef - intense, stressful and so exhilarating. I feel over the moon and so proud to have reached this point. I love what I do, but sometimes struggle to completely back myself and have full confidence in my food, so to get here is mind-blowing.”

On how he was going to celebrate, Dan laughed: “The first thing I’m going to do is grab a bucket of chicken, a bottle of Chablis and a jigsaw puzzle and just chill out.”

Currently working as a private chef for various clients, doing pop ups and residencies, Dan is looking to the future: “I’m really aware that the industry I love is still looking at a hard road ahead, especially this Christmas. For me long term, my aim is to set up a street food truck as well as a restaurant. I want to promote Asian food, encourage people out of their comfort zones but also take street food back to its essence - really good food that’s affordable for everyone. As soon I can, I’ll be jumping back on a plane to a different country and learn something completely new!”