Final Fire profile: Chef Gerry Fong

Diners love the dishes he sends out from the Persimmons restaurant kitchen where Fong works in New Bern. He was a runner up in the 2012 Competition Dining Series' coastal leg, Fire on the Dock in Wrightsville Beach. Earlier this year, he won the second Fire on the Dock contest, putting him in the Competition Dining Series statewide finals this week in Raleigh.

"My competitive advantage is in the fact that I love food, people and challenges. I feel that I can make people smile with my food," Fong said.

Fong describes his cooking style as "Southern Asian Carolina cuisine."

"The local ingredients help people remember where they are from," he said.

From there, Fong said, "I take my (Asian) roots and training and have fun."

"My parents were in restaurant business forever," he said. "They taught me how to eat – they taught me how to eat well. Then, I went to culinary school. They taught me how to taste there."

Fong has produced various Fire on the Dock dishes that diners still talk about: For instance, Fong's off-the-wall pork dessert, which helped him win the April 18, 2012, Fire on the Dock Battle Pork.

Fong served pork-infused chocolate ganache cake with mascarpone ice cream, beet and dried fruit compote, and pork crackling candy. The cake was intensely chocolate without a hint of pork flavor. The crackling candy, a sheet of sugar glass perched atop the cake, tasted like sugar-coated pork rinds.

During Fire on the Dock 2013, Fong wowed guests during Battle Strawberries and Sweet Potatoes with a Pepsi balsamic reduction. The sweet, tart syrup was the perfect counterpoint to Fong's sweet potato ice cream.

Strawberry bacon jam he served alongside braised pork butt with a sweet potato trio (fried, pureed and a fritter) was another favorite.

"We're always looking for new ingredients, always trying to figure out how to do things with the same ingredients and make them better. Just a lot of experimenting," Fong said of his general cooking and his Competition Dining series strategy.

The statewide Competition Dining series is a bracket-style tournament featuring regional contests that culminate in a final battle to pick an overall N.C. winner. A secret ingredient, from North Carolina, must be used in each of the three courses chefs prepare during each contest.

Here is Fong's popular Korean-inspired pork shoulder recipe from the April 2013 Fire on the Dock Battle Pork.

1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped

1/2 celery stalk diced

Prepare seasoning liquid: Place garlic, ginger, mirin, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, onion and cilantro in a small saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat until flavors meld, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare pork: Season pork with salt and pepper. Place a brazier, Dutch oven or large, heavy frying pan on the stove over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add oil. Brown pork chunks in hot oil, working in batches, if necessary, to avoid crowding the pan.

Remove meat from pan and set aside.

Add onion, carrots and celery to the pan. Saute vegetables until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Return meat to the pan along with half of the seasoning liquid. Add enough chicken stock to the pan to come about halfway up the sides of the meat. Lower the heat, cover pan and simmer gently until pork is tender, about 2 hours.

Before serving meat, simmer remaining seasoning liquid over medium heat until liquid has thickened slightly. Use as a sauce for the meat.

Serves 6.