“Cooking and enjoying a good meal is my favourite way of relaxing,” says Kevin Poeung, principal dancer with Northern Ballet.

Kevin is currently dancing the title role in the company’s highly acclaimed production of Merlin.

A challenging role both physically and artistically in this fast-paced and highly energetic ballet, Kevin is hardly ever off stage.

“Merlin is a role that demands energy and physical stamina,” says Kevin, who is at present halfway through the tour of this ballet.

In such a role, Kevin freely admits, you need to fuel your body with food, so it’s essential that you eat well during the show’s run.

“Sometimes when nerves get the better of you, you must force yourself to eat – if you don’t, you will not make it through the show. If it wasn’t for pasta and rice, I certainly would not.”

When he is on tour, Kevin usually stays at an Airbnb so he can cook for himself. “As long as it has a microwave and a hob, I am happy.”

“I do a meal plan for the week and then go and buy all the things I need and things that are easy to cook.

On a show day Kevin starts to “fuel his body”, as he calls it, before the morning class at 11.30 with breakfast.

“I would have coffee, porridge, or if it’s going to be a long day, bacon, eggs, and cereal.”

His next meal would be around 5.30 if it’s a 7.30 show. This gives me time to digest my food and sustain the energy it provides until the end of the performance, and then after the show I like to cook and enjoy a relaxed meal.”

Kevin attributes his love of varied and diverse cooking styles to his family background and the food culture he experienced whilst growing up.

“I am half French, a quarter Chinese and a quarter Cambodian. My father was a very good cook and, after my mother died, used to cook for me and my brother. I used to love the smells in the kitchen and watch him a lot when he was cooking.”

This stood Kevin in good stead when he moved to London to study at The English National Ballet School.

“As a ballet student I did not have a lot of money, so I used to go to the market where the prices were cheap and buy fruit and vegetables. I would then try and replicate the meals that my father had made and often ask him for recipes.”

When he is at home with his husband, he tends to cook “more adventurous Asian food”, sourcing his recipes from all different places. “I use cookery books and social media and watch cookery programmes on TV but still get recipes from my father and the lady he has remarried, who is an amazing cook.”

Kevin cooks all styles of food, from Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese to Asian, European and rich French food, but admits to loving the smell of Asian cuisine: “It’s a smell you don’t forget; it is so fragrant.”

But there is one special meal he will never forget. “It was to mark the first anniversary of my marriage. Friends and family gifted my husband and me the experience of a meal at Grantley Hall, Ripon.”

Chef Shaun Rankin’s tasting menu was super refined. It was like a theatre experience in fine dining and took over 3 hours. The food was exceptional and provided us both with a wonderful lasting memory.”

Kevin Poeung

Khao Soi
Serves 2/3
Ingredients:
1tbsp red curry paste
1tbsp yellow curry paste
1 can of coconut milk
2tbsp sunflower oil
300gr chicken thighs
1/4 of a palm sugar sphere
1tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp light soy sauce
1tsp chicken bouillon
150gr Wonton pasta
Wonton pasta for frying

Side condiments
Pickled mustard green
Lime
Shallots

Method:
In a wok, heat the sunflower oil.
Add the yellow and red curry paste in the wok and stir fry until fragrant (a few seconds).

Add a little bit of coconut milk to make a paste and add the chicken.
Cook the chicken until seared through and add the rest of the coconut milk.
Bring to a boil and add the palm sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and chicken bouillon.
Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile bring a pot of sunflower oil to a high temperature to fry the noodles.
Throw the noodles in the oil and take out after only a few seconds.

Set aside.

Bring another pot with boiling water and cook the wonton noodles for about 3 minutes.
Set aside.

Now it’s time to assemble the dish.

In a bowl, put some wonton noodles and pour some of the Khao Soi add the fried noodles on top then finish with a slice of lime, shallots and some pickled mustard greens.

Enjoy!

Merlin is at Sheffield Lyceum from 4-8 November
Northern Ballet’s Nutcracker opens at The Grand Theatre Leeds for a season from 18th December to 4th January.