By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Dai Hoy Chang, who died at age 80 on Dec. 1, deserves more than an inch and a half in small type on the obituary page. He was the classic Chinese chef, a legend in his time, who reigned in the kitchen at the Golden Dragon until 17 years ago like an emperor of the Chang dynasty.

The distance from kitchen helper to executive chef in a first-class Chinese restaurant is that between a bootblack and George W. Bush. Dai Hoy made the journey by means of exquisite taste for Chinese food, perseverance and a boost from Henry J. Kaiser, who put him into the Tapa Room at his new Hawaiian Village about 1956.

But it was later in the Golden Dragon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village where Dai Hoy rose to the status of royalty by serving flawless Chinese nine-course dinners to 3,000 people at a time.

One of his part-time cooks was Titus Chan, who later hosted a Chinese cooking show on the local public TV station. The show was so popular it went nationwide.

"Mostly, I admire Dai Hoy as a kitchen administrator more than a chef," said Chan, now a cooking instructor. "At any other Chinese restaurant in Honolulu, the cooks move around. You get cursed, you get slapped, you go somewhere else.

"But at the Hilton you get medical, retirement, vacation pay. You get cursed, you work harder. Dai Hoy knew that. If you don't stay in line, he let you go. That makes the food better. Everybody do his job.

"His second blessing is having a very competent first cook, Shun Kam Wong. Dai Hoy found him in Hong Kong by trial and error.

"One more thing, he worked those cooks like hell. He doesn't mind to show his temper. That's not a criticism. You want a nice guy in there and serve mediocre food? Dai made the Hilton a lot of money but it wasn't only him, it was 10 people in the kitchen."

Chan said that after a successful banquet, there's a handshake during which hundreds of dollars might change palms.

He remembered a Chinese dinner for 3,600 guests on a Saturday night. The pressure started four days earlier. The cooks cut up 100 pounds of vegetables at a time, sliced 150 pounds of beef, 150 pounds of pork, mixed three gallons of sweet-sour sauce.

"For parties, the Golden Dragon was absolutely the best," said Chan. "I admired Dai Hoy. After that dinner, there wasn't a single complaint. He told his cooks to go to the American restaurant and order lobster or filet mignon on him.

"That was unheard of. If a cook put a gun to Dai Hoy's head and say, 'Give me lobster,' Dai say, 'Go ahead, shoot.' The cooks were so tired they took a shower, went to Chinatown and ordered jook (rice soup) at Tin Tin Chop Suey for 35-cents."

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.

Correction: Shun Kam Wong's name was misspelled in a previous version of this column.