He joins a string of students from Birmingham College of Food to have starred on the cooking show, including this year's quarter-finalist Yasmine Selwood, 2011 finalist Claire Hutchings and Leo Kattou of the city's Michelin-starred Simpson's Restaurant.

Kali Davidson, head of the University’s Birmingham College of Food, said: "Dan started his journey and passion for cooking with us at University College Birmingham in 2009 and excelled within his class. It takes an enormous amount of dedication to stand out within the culinary world, and Dan has proven that with hard work and a passion to succeed, you can achieve great things. 

"As the leading centre of excellence for chef training and culinary expertise, we are truly delighted and wish Dan every success in his future career. We hope he can take time out of his busy schedule to visit us and meet with our student chefs to inspire and share his unique skills." 

In the final he had three hours to prepare a three-course menu for the show's trio of judges, Gregg Wallace, Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing.

Fuelled by his Far Eastern influences, Lee’s starter featured his take on Singapore chilli crab, a Mantou deep-fried bao bun topped with crab, chilli oil, nashi pear, lime juice, salted egg yolk and Sichuan pepper, topped with a squid ink tuile, served with a soft shell crab tempura and a basil cream with crab and chilli oil. 

The starter was praised by judge Gregg as "an absolute knockout of a dish", and by Michelin-starred restaurant owner Marcus as a "sensational plate of food.”

Dan's main course featured a chicken breast stuffed with chicken thigh mince, sesame oil, spring onion, ginger and Thai pandan leaves; choy 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. 

"I'm looking down at the most basic of dishes, and I'm tasting the most exciting and elegant of dishes," said judge Gregg. "It's absolutely delicious." 

To finish, he prepared 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 – a dish which earned him praise for his pastry-making, flavour and East-meets-West style.  

He commented: "It's incredible, it's a bit like a dream. This competition has meant everything for me. It's built my confidence. Now I really know what it means to back yourself." 

University College Birmingham is renowned for providing specialist vocational training for students looking to enter the culinary industry, with ‘world-class’ facilities and expert tuition provided on a range of college, undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as apprenticeships.