Following a live demonstration by Simon Hulstone, chefs were then put through their paces working in twos to prepare a dish using mystery ingredients and of course, Kikkoman Soy Sauce as an integral part of the dish.

The overall winners on the day were Sabrina Gidda and John Killington from Restaurant Associates. They produced four dishes including a rump steak with soy mushroom fricassee, haddock with puy lentils and soy onions, mackerel with chorizo, beetroot and tomato plus a mushroom omelette.

Two runners up, Steven Brown and Paulino Corpuz from Eurest produced two dishes that the judges felt showed good use of Kikkoman Soy Sauce.

Nick Vadis, executive chef at Compass, said: “Masterclasses really help chefs to improve their skills and background knowledge.  Working with Simon Hulstone really helps inspire the chefs to create new and exciting dishes for their menus.”

 Bing-yu Lee, general manager at Kikkoman UK added: “It was great to see so many Compass chefs taking part in the Kikkoman Masterclass with Simon Hulstone.  Simon is a fantastic ambassador for Kikkoman and his demonstration really shows chefs what a versatile ingredient Kikkoman Soy Sauce is and how it can be used as an everyday seasoning.”

All participating chefs were treated to dinner at top London restaurant, Matsuri St James, where they tried a menu of authentic Japanese cuisines including sushi, tempura and teppanyaki.