Malaysian-born chef and food writer Tony Tan reflects on his latest book, Hong Kong Food City, and the gastronomic paradise he has come to call a second home. Photography by Greg Elms
I don’t recall how many times I’ve been to Hong Kong but I do remember the frisson of excitement landing at the old Kai Tak airport, long before it closed in 1998. At that time, I remembered wandering through neon lit Temple Street Night Market gawking at fortune-tellers and stallholders peddling anything from t-shirts to watches of dubious provenance. I also remembered being mesmerised by the twitching crustaceans and live fish on display outside food stalls; and tucking into one of the best claypot rices before diving into a platter of suckling pig with skin so crisp that it shattered on impact. But little did I realise I would be writing a book on Hong Kong one day.
Called Hong Kong Food City, it is, in many ways, my love song to this centre of gastronomy.
As a chef who had my own restaurants before becoming an author, Hong Kong ticks all the right boxes because everyone seems to think and talk food with passionate gusto. I mean where else in the world can one possibly tuck into some of the finest Chinese regional styles then listen to animated debate on these? Or slurping up a bowl of beef brisket noodles so delicious that I simply had to write about it. As for Cantonese dim sum masters, they are, quite simply, artistes in the food world.
Long one of the world’s great dining capitals, Hong Kong has always been my go-to destination for culinary inspiration and pleasure. So when I was approached by Murdoch Books to write a cookbook on Hong Kong a few years ago, I jumped at the opportunity. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the agonising decision on determining what recipes should and should not be included in this highly personal book. In addition to this, I wanted to create a book that would reflect the full gamut of Hong Kong’s extraordinary food culture.
The brief I was given was to write a cookbook about Hong Kong with no more than 80 recipes scattered with recognisably iconic dishes like sweet and sour pork and steamed fish. It should also include the history of Hong Kong and how this has manifested itself in the food world. Above all, the recipes must also be doable. As a cook and food writer with a degree in history, to me Hong Kong is a centre of great Chinese food. It’s essentially a Cantonese city though refugees fleeing political turmoil back in the early 50s have contributed much to its food culture. But it is also city with a distinctive British input. Just witness the afternoon tea tradition with scones and cream in the many hotels and you’ll know what I mean. Or why Worcestershire sauce is used as a dip with spring rolls and beef balls.
How am I to pull together so many diverse cultures and foods into a book, I wondered? So I enlisted friends and family in Hong Kong for support and I began by hitting the streets chasing the best breakfast spots for congee and nai cha, the bracing milk tea. I popped into countless pastry shops and cha chaan tengs to hunt down the best egg tarts and bo lo bao, the legendary ‘pineapple’ bun. In the bid to get the hang of authentic wonton noodles, I ate so many bowls that I lost count.
