Rwandan chef dreams big with good mastery of Chinese culinary skills

KIGALI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Niragire Erias from the Ngororero District in western Rwanda is a chef who loves Chinese food and owes his success in life to his continued efforts to perfect Chinese food cooking skills.

The 32-year-old man, the second born in a family of five children, says his life has turned around for the better after he spent the past decade dedicated to only one thing -- making tastier Chinese food, at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant located in Kimihurura, Kigali, capital of Rwanda.

"I have been employed at this restaurant since 2011 but I did not start off as a chef for Chinese meals. I was just like any other cook but I guess my bosses noticed something different about me and decided to train me how to cook Chinese meals and after three months of training, I had impressed them and that is how I began this journey," he said.

"As you all know, finding a job nowadays is not easy. So when I got a job here and my bosses chose to train me how to prepare Chinese meals, I picked interest since it was a skill not so many Rwandans possess. I chose to perfect it and keep doing it because I know that having a skill many people don't is a blessing because it can open more doors for you," he said.

To him, Chinese meals are popular in Rwanda, not only to the Chinese community but also to the Rwandans.

Erias said he has been able to buy a piece of land, construct a house and marry a wife from the savings he has made as a result of working at this Chinese restaurant.

"I have developed myself as an individual from my over nine years working here. I have made money that has made my life comfortable for me. I have also made a number of friends that have been strong pillars in my life and these are either current or former workmates as well as clients," he said.

With a good mastery of Chinese culinary skills and better financial conditions, Erias has dreams of being self-employed soon as that is something he has always had in mind.

"Hopefully one day, I will be self-employed. This is something I'd have achieved by now if it was not for the COVID-19 pandemic which slowed down business. For now, I am focusing on saving more money and being able to start my own business," he said.

"As the days go by, there is a lot of hope that everything is going to go back to the way it was before the pandemic. Obviously, business has been slow but we are slowly catching up and this is really promising," said Christine Mukankubana, manager at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant.