Taiwanese-Canadian chef Angus An favoured French fine dining until he tried...
You just published a cookbook, Maenam: A Fresh Approach to Thai Cooking. How did it come about? “It has been in the works for the past five years. Maenam the restaurant has been around for 11 years, so...
View ArticleHow to make Chinese glutinous rice balls, aka tong yuen – a warming dish for...
I used to love buying tong yuen (round balls of glutinous rice flour, also spelt tang yuan) in ginger broth from the vendors that popped up in Hong Kong streets as soon as the weather started to cool...
View ArticleFrom cooking at a Macau cafe to the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong hotel’s head...
When did you start cooking? “I was born and raised in Macau, and one of my uncles had a cha chaan teng (a cafe serving Western-style dishes). When I was 13 years old, I started helping out on weekends....
View ArticleNew World Sourdough: Bryan Ford’s cookbook focuses on bread from the Americas...
As much as I love making sourdough bread – to the point where I keep a bread diary to note down the flours I try, protein and hydration levels, the mixing techniques I see on Instagram and YouTube, and...
View ArticleHow to make black pepper chicken – a Chinese restaurant favourite you can...
Black pepper chicken is a popular restaurant dish, but there’s a secret to making a good one: use an equal amount of white pepper; the flavour will be so much better than if you used just black...
View ArticleHow a trip to Hong Kong taught British-Chinese chef Andrew Wong that not all...
Although Andrew Wong grew up eating a form of Chinese food – the type served at his parents’ restaurant in London (where lemon chicken was flavoured with orange cordial), it took a visit to Hong Kong...
View ArticleHow Hong Kong helped Finnish chef Jaakko Sorsa appreciate his homeland
Tell us about your childhood. “I was born in Helsinki. My mother is from Kuopio, in the middle of Finland, in a region called Lakeland. We spent our summers on an island where there is no electricity....
View ArticleMaria Floris baked cakes for Winston Churchill, but her recipes were designed...
Hungarian pastry chef Maria Floris sounds as if she was a very charming woman, if her “voice” in the International Wine and Food Society’s Bakery – Cakes and Simple Confectionery (1968) is anything to...
View ArticleHow to make chawanmushi – steamed savoury Japanese custard
Chawanmushi is an elegant, delicate savoury steamed custard often served at Japanese restaurants, but it’s also easy to cook at home. It gets its name because the custard mixture and other ingredients...
View ArticleChef Daisuke Mori on why you cannot ‘cheat’ the palates of Hong Kong diners
When did you know you wanted to be a chef? “I was six years old the first time I remember going to my father’s restaurant, and automatically I wanted to be a chef, too. But really I wanted to be with...
View ArticleHow to make braised pork belly with white radish and bean paste in a clay pot
I love dishes where you can just throw all the ingredients into a pot and let them simmer. Yes, I know that browning meats before you stew or braise them gives the dish deeper flavour, but it can be...
View Article‘If you can’t take it, get another job’: chef’s tough apprenticeship, and how...
How did you get into the restaurant industry? “I’ve been cooking since 1975. When I entered the industry, at 15 years of age, we needed to eat to survive. It was tough, working from early in the...
View ArticleHow to make a delicious double apple tart – twice the taste with apple slices...
If I had to pick just one favourite dessert, it would be any type of apple pastry. Some people think of apple desserts as boring – after all, the fruit is in shops year-round (although chances are, it...
View ArticleNetflix show Final Table’s Chef Rafael Gil ‘never planned to do TV’
What was your childhood like? “My family in Brazil had a supermarket and two pharmacies. When I was 11 years old I started working as a cashier in the supermarket. I helped my father, who did most of...
View ArticleHow Hong Kong-born chef Jereme Leung reinterprets traditional Shanghai cuisine
When Jereme Leung moved to Shanghai more than 16 years ago, as chef-owner of the now-closed Whampoa Club at the Three on the Bund complex, he looked at the city’s cuisine with a fresh eye. Born in Hong...
View ArticleHow to make Sichuan pepper chicken, a Chiu Chow classic
There are many Chinese dishes famous in different parts of the world that can trace their roots back to Chiu Chow cuisine. The ones that immediately come to mind are bak kut teh (which many people...
View ArticleEating raw vegan food felt like flying, says Hong Kong chef Tina Barrat
Tell us about your childhood. “When I was young I watched my maternal great-grandmother cook. She didn’t have a restaurant, but when someone had a wedding, she would cater for them. She was famous in...
View ArticleHow to make a white chocolate and green tea mousse cake with fresh raspberries
This dessert looks impressive, but it’s far easier to make than you would expect from my long and detailed instructions. The dessert is light and not too sweet, and is perfect as the last course of a...
View ArticleHow to do Christmas, and other festive feasts, like Fortnum & Mason
It probably goes without saying that this winter holiday season won’t be nearly as festive as those of years past. So I was a bit wary of reviewing Fortnum & Mason: Christmas & Other Winter...
View ArticleChef Ringo Chan on Hongkongers’ tastes for desserts that aren’t too sweet,...
Were you interested in cooking as a child? “Actually I enjoyed photography in high school. I was self-taught. I saved up to buy my first camera, but my father chastised me for spending a lot of money....
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