Chino Chang

 

“

I am zen. You cannot penetrate me.

”

Hometown/Residence	Hatboro, PA
Occupation	Executive Chef
Statistics
Signature Dish Challenge Score	0 out of 1
Challenges Won	3
Services Won	1
Times as BoW/Announcer	0
Times Nominated	3
Placement	14th
Episode Eliminated/Withdrew	14 Chefs Compete

Hee Jun "Chino" Chang was a contestant on Season 9 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 14th place.

Season 9

Episode 1

Main article: Episode 901 - 18 Chefs Compete

When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, they were greeted by James on the bus ride, and then, it pulled over to the Orpheum Theatre, where they would be given a standing ovation by a live audience. However, when the curtain was pulled up, they discovered that the room was completely empty, much to their disappointment, before Ramsay revealed himself applauding very slowly. After the latter revealed the grand prize of the season, the chefs were asked to get back to Hell's Kitchen and cook their signature dishes.

During the Signature Dish Challenge, Chino was the sixth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Elise. His dish was unknown, but the miso sauce was criticized for being too strong, and he lost the round to Elise.

The blue team won the challenge 6-5, and they were rewarded with a dinner at the LA Market, in downtown Los Angeles, along with Season 8 winner Nona. Arrived there, they were greeted by Nona, and during the dinner, she gave them advice on how to compete. After she left, the men toasted to their victory. The next day, both teams went to the kitchens to begin prepping for the opening night, and they were given their ankle knives set. During prep, Chino was dedicated to the dessert station by Will because of Jason's health problems.

During dinner service, Chino was on the fish station. When Ramsay called the first ticket, he asked him to repeat it, but Ramsay categorically refused by telling him to go fuck himself, and calling him stupid. When they moved on to entrées, he brought his miso cod to the pass, but it was burned, and the entire blue team was berated by Ramsay for being fragmented. After Ramsay slammed the cod on the counter, he acknowledged his mistake while being ashamed as he was Asian himself, and he became the first person from the blue team to be benched at the chefs table, with Sous Chef Scott giving him some garlic to prep as he would not be able to burn any of it. Moments later, Steven and Tommy joined him, and eventually, the service was shut down after some customers walked out.

The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Chino was targeted by Steven for burning seafood constantly, and was considered by Paul for not being able to send food out.

Chino was not nominated for elimination, but he was called down by Ramsay, along with Steven and Monterray. During his plea, he was disappointed in his performance on fish, acknowledged that he should have said something, and Ramsay reminded that he prepped more garlic than cooked fish and that he was looking for an Executive Chef, and not a prep cook. He survived elimination.

Episode 2

Main article: Episode 902 - 16 Chefs Compete

The next morning, the chefs were woken up by a young guitarist and very loud amplifiers, and they were ordered to get outside. Arrived there, Ramsay introduced the Meat & Grill Challenge, where each pair would have to cook a medium-rare New York strip, a medium rib-eye, a medium-well filet mignon, and a well-done burger. During the challenge, Chino was paired with Tommy, they were the second pair to compete for the blue team, and they succeeded to score three points out of four. The blue team won the challenge 11-10, and they were rewarded with a day at Palm Springs, and being taken there in a private jet.

During dinner service, Chino was on the appetizer station with Jonathon. On the first table, he was not ready with his risotto when Brendan already sent his food to the pass, and failed to communicate twice. Ramsay berated him for having his head in the rice, and when he sent his first risotto, it was burned at the bottom. His second attempt was burned as well, Ramsay trashed the pan in the garbage, asked him for a time on his third attempt, and he answered eight minutes, much to Ramsay's dismay, who was forced to send an incomplete table. He acknowledged that he had to take the competition more seriously to prove that he belonged there, and he was warned by Ramsay to be dragged out of the kitchen if he would burn another risotto. Fortunately, his third attempt at the risotto was accepted, and appetizers were being sent out at a good pace. Later, he called Brendan an idiot for lying to Ramsay as he was just making a fool of himself, and after a lot of mistakes and not being able to send one entrée out, the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen.

The blue team lost the service, and back in the dorms, Chino was targeted by Paul for not being able to cook a risotto, and he was annoyed that people were just there for themselves and rub salt in the wound by blaming everybody else.

Chino was the blue team's second nominee for elimination, with Brendan being the first. But, when Jonathon announced that he should be eliminated out of those two, that led to an argument between both of them, where he accused Jonathon of clamming up after Ramsay left, and Jonathon to tell him to go fuck himself. After the argument, he was called down with Brendan, and during his plea, he declared that he was not done, but also admitted that he might not be as good as he thought, and added that he would get better at something despite his age. After answering that he thought he was a better chef than Brendan, he survived elimination and was urged to get better. Then, despite him and his teammates trying to convince Ramsay not to, the blue team learned that a woman would be joining them the following morning, and while being dismissed, he knew that he was Zen and that nobody could penetrate him, before declaring that he did not give a fuck about what other people were thinking of him.

Episode 3

Main article: Episode 903 - 15 Chefs Compete

The next morning, the chefs were woken up by clowns, and when both teams were lined up in the dining room, Sous Chef Scott revealed that they were woken up by clowns because they were cooking like clowns. After taking a delivery of naan bread with the other chefs, Chino and the blue team welcomed Natalie as a new teammate, much to his annoyance.

During the Mommy & Me Lunch Service Challenge, Chino was not seen at all, and after the blue team succeeded to send their last ticket before the red team, they gave a warm welcome to Natalie by celebrating her arrival on the team. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a day and lunch at Medieval Times, as well as sword fighting themselves.

During the Family Night dinner service, Chino was an assistant maître d'. He was not seen much, but when he delivered his first ticket to the kitchen, Ramsay did not understand what was written because of his bad handwriting, and he was berated for forgetting to ask for sides. Ramsay ripped the ticket, asked him to start over, and he acknowledged that he was not doing a proper job as Ramsay was busting his balls. He was pushed by Ramsay to deliver his first ticket, much to Paul's dismay, and his second attempt at his first ticket was accepted by Ramsay. The blue team won the service by a mile.

Episode 4

Main article: Episode 904 - 14 Chefs Compete

The next morning, the chefs were woken up by Sous Chefs Scott and Andi, who brought them special farm outfits to wear, and were told to get outside. Arrived there, Ramsay introduced the Chicken Creation Challenge, and during the first part, Chino impressed his teammates, especially Will, by vigorously catching his chicken despite not being the strongest cook. During the second part, he was paired with Natalie, and they worked on the roasted chicken course. They were the last pair from the blue team to have their dish judged, he did not present their roasted chicken coconut curry soup, and they lost the round to Elise and Elizabeth.

The blue team lost the challenge 2-3, and they were punished by creating a chicken stock from scratch for the next service. During the punishment, they decided to simulate a dinner service to practice, but Chino still found the way to struggle without any cooking involved, much to Will's and Jonathon's dismay.

During dinner service, Chino was on the meat station with Paul. At one point, he was helped by Jonathon to cut the Wellingtons, and when the chef's table's order was called, he called one minute, Natalie came to help him, but when Sous Chef Scott asked him for a time, he answered three more minutes, much to Natalie's dismay. She tried to remind him that he had to call a real-time, he told that the way she was talking did not help and that she should get out of the way, and when he sent his Wellingtons, they were raw, much to Natalie's dismay. Ramsay ordered everybody to touch them, he started over, but moments later, his second attempt resulted in raw lamb and Wellingtons, and because of that mistake, the blue team was kicked out of the kitchen.

Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. During deliberation, Chino knew that he fucked up but thought that Natalie made him look worse. When she apologized for the way she spoke to him, he continued by saying that she just rubbed salt in the wound, that she was just trying to make herself look good, and because of that, Natalie started to cry. However, he was still unapologetic as he thought she was just crying to get attention, and when she told that she was crying because he thought she was trying to fuck him on purpose, he asked if she wanted him to kiss her ass.

Chino was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Monterray being the second, and they joined Carrie and Elise from the red team. During his plea, he acknowledged that it has been a rough run, felt embarrassed while wishing to show his teammates what he could do, and thought that he still had redemption in himself. He was eliminated for his string of poor performances and lack of improvement. During his exit interview, he was disappointed as he had high expectations, but refused to sell out.

Ramsay's comment: "Chino took his time in Hell's Kitchen very seriously. The problem is he seriously couldn't cook."

Nomination History

Week 1	Nominated
Week 2	Nominated
Week 3	Win
Week 4	Nominated

Post Hell's Kitchen

• After his appearance on the show, he went to work at Redstone American Grill.

Trivia

• He, Gina, and Krupa are the seventh, eighth, and ninth Asian-American contestant to compete, following Wendy (Season 1), Aaron (Season 3), Louross (Season 4), Ji (Season 5), Raj, and Gail (both from Season 8), and the second Korean contestant to compete, following Ji (Season 5).
• He is the first contestant ever to be nominated by Ramsay on the opening night.

Quotes

• "Brendan's an idiot for lying to Chef Ramsay. It's like seriously, you're making a fool of yourself!"
• "I am zen. You cannot penetrate me."
• (After being eliminated) "I'm disappointed. My expectations were a lot higher. I came here to cook, you know, and it's a shame that I didn't get a chance to cook a little bit more. But I will never sell out. I'll leave this place with my dignity intact."

Gallery

• Chef
• Dishes

Chino's Intro Spot

Chino in Blue Jacket

Chino's Confessional

Steven, Chino, and Monterray Nominated

Chino and Brendan Nominated

Chino as an Assistant Maitre D'

Chino's Confessional (Maitri D')

Carrie, Elise, Monterray, and Chino Nominated

Chino Eliminated

Chino's Signature Dish (Episode 1)

Chino and Natalie's Chicken Dish (Roasted) (Episode 4)

External links

• Hee Jun "Chino" Chang on Twitter