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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Magazine Interview

A few years ago I was approached to do an interview for a food magazine which never got published.

If you are interested you can see the unedited interview below:

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Peter Alton is a Food & Beverage Buyer within the Hospitality Industry. He is a trained Chef and self-confessed foodie who has worked in the industry for over 30 years. He is also a keen runner who has completed over 25 Marathons for Breast Cancer Charities.

Tanya McCloughan asked the questions.

TM. Where did your love of food come from?

PA. I firmly believe my love of food came from my Grandparents who really gave me my passion for trying new things. As a child I was brought up eating home-grown and home-cooked foods. Both my Mum and Nan were good cooks and to this day I still have some of their recipes. My Dad was a Chef so it must be in the genes!

TM. So were you always going to be a Chef?

PA. Not really, at school I was not sure what I wanted to do. Catering College was always an option and as I liked food it seemed the obvious choice.

TM. Did you enjoy College?

PA. Looking back I absolutely loved it. I went to Highbury College in Cosham which was one of the best Catering Colleges in the UK at the time. I was one of the first students in the new catering block so everything was shiny and state of the art. Well state of the art for 1981 at least! It was extremely hard work. There was so much to learn and the pressures were enormous but I managed to last the full 3 years.

TM. You say last but didn’t you finish with a Distinction.

PA. I did but I was lucky. I really enjoyed both the practical and theory elements of the course so that made it easier. I was also learning alongside some very talented people. We helped each other through some tough days.

TM. How was it tough?

PA. Generally the practical side of College was meant to replicate the stress of a modern kitchen. Therefore we were put under enormous pressure to produce dishes on time and to the required standard. The practical exams were intense and extremely complicated so coming through with any sort of pass was a special achievement. Looking back it was character building but at the time it was extremely frightening.

TM. Did you feel equipped to face the industry at the end of your 3 years?

PA. Yes and no. I had learnt a lot and had a good grasp of the basics but I was still only 19 and the industry was big and scary.

TM. Your first jobs were in London?

PA. Yes, I was lucky enough to work as a Chef in the Café Royal, Claridges and Langan's Brasserie with Richard Shepherd which at the time was the best place to eat in London.

TM. How did you find working as a Commis Chef as part of a large brigade.

PA. I was very much at the bottom of the ladder so it was incredibly tough and exhausting. I was working very long hours and not seeing daylight for days at a time. It was not glamorous at all but it taught me a great work ethic. I also got to work alongside some truly great Chefs. I was constantly watching and learning so it was really an extension of my time at college.

TM. So how did you come to move away from a career as a Chef?

PA. Like many Chefs I became disillusioned with the business. I loved the food, loved the people but hated the unsociable hours and the poor pay. I was bright and a quick learner so I gradually moved to the front of house.

TM. Where did your career take you?

PA. I initially worked in the retail side of the business as part of a large supermarket chain. I then moved on and had jobs in charge of restaurants and food operations in the travel sector for the cruise and ferry industry. For the last 18 years I have been working on the Procurement side.

TM. What does your job entail now?

PA. I am a Food & Beverage Buyer in the Cruise Industry. My job involves sourcing and supplying a myriad of food and beverage products for the major Cruise Lines. One day I can be sourcing caviar the next day it will be containers of grapefruit. I am buying products for some of the best quality restaurants in the world so getting the best balance between price and quality can be a real challenge.

TM. Do you miss being a Professional Chef?

PA. Well I am still a Professional Chef. If you mean do I miss working as a Chef in the industry then the answer is yes. However my career has taken me on many paths and I have worked with many wonderful people who I am still in touch with. I enjoy my job as it gives me the best of both worlds; working with food and spending time with my family.

TM. Do you cook at home?

PA. Yes. One of my favourite things is cooking for my wife and son. I see the same passion in his eyes that I had at that age. He has a healthy appetite and a good understanding of food and where it comes from.

TM. Would you like him to follow in your footsteps?

PA. First of all I would like him to be happy. If that involves food then I guess it would give me some satisfaction but as long as he chooses a career path that gives him pleasure I will be happy. Being rich and successful is one thing but money can never truly buy happiness.

TM. As a Chef what food do you eat at home?

PA. My wife is from the Philippines so we eat a mixture of Asian and European. One day we may be eating Cottage Pie the next it may be Adobo. Simple food with good flavour always appeals to me.

TM. What is your favourite meal?

PA. I love Sushi because it is so simple. The subtle flavours really appeal to me. I enjoy all Asian food; Vietnamese Noodles, Cantonese Dim Sum and Congee and Filipino Adobe are my real favourites.

TM. Do you have any guilty pleasures?

PA. Ketchup and Salad Cream but don’t tell my College Lecturers. In Hong Kong my guilty pleasure is their famous Egg Tart and in the Philippines it is Jollibee a franchise fast food chicken chain similar to KFC in the UK. They serve the Aloha Burger a Hawaiian style burger that I simply cannot resist.

TM. Do people assume as a Chef you like fancy food?

PA. Very much so. People are often afraid to cook for me because they assume I will be critical. In truth the simpler the food the more I like it. In fact my favourite ever meal was in Hong Kong at the airport. It was a simply Foo Yung dish which was essentially scrambled eggs with a few spring onions and shrimps. It was almost orange in colour because the eggs were so fresh. It was so simple but absolutely delicious.

TM. Who are your Food Heroes?

PA. Unquestionably Anthony Bourdain and Marco Pierre White. I like people who appreciate simple food. If you don’t get the basics right then you are never going to make a great dish. I also like people with strong opinions on food and people who are not afraid to speak their mind.

TM. These two aside who would your top six dinner guests be?

PA. This is hard but definitely Adam Ant and Stephen King as music and literature have been constant in my life since my childhood. If I had to choose other guests then Eric Cantona, Eddie Izzard, Jonny Wilkinson and John Lydon would be my choices.

TM. You mention Eddie Izzard did he inspire your marathons?

PA. Yes he did. I lost my Mum to Cancer in 2008 and shortly after I watched his Marathon Man documentary. Seeing his achievements as a non-runner inspired me to give it a try.

TM. You actually ran 25 Marathons in 2 years which was and is quite special.

PA. I was pretty lost after my Mum passed away. Running was my way of coping. I raised £8,000 running 25 marathons in just over 2 years for various Breast Cancer Charities. It was tough as I really was a non-runner. At first I couldn’t even run a mile. I am paying the price now as my legs have never fully recovered.

TM. That is impressive. Do you still run?

PA. Not as much as I should? I run for fitness but one day I may run another Marathon. My name is still in the London Marathon Ballot so who knows.

TM. Good luck with that. Thank you so much for your time and for talking to us it is really appreciated. I am sure you will be an inspiration to all our readers.

PA. You are very welcome.

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Asian Food Market

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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The Psychology of Supermarkets

Do you ever visit your local supermarket and end up spending more than you were budgeting for? This is no accident; supermarkets actually have several different strategies to manipulate sales in store.

· As you enter the door you may smell freshly baked bread or rotisserie chicken roasting in the deli area. This is purely to get your salivary glands working and to get your brain thinking food. A hungry shopper will always spend more in store.

· You will generally find the fresh produce department at the front of the store. This is because the bright colours of the fruit and vegetables are visually exciting which puts you in a good mood and makes you more receptive to the shopping experience. Also by putting healthy fruit and vegetables towards the front of the store means that you are less likely to feel guilty about purchasing the less healthy foods you may find further inside.

· The background music which may seem incidental is often pre-planned. Many supermarkets play music with a rhythm that’s much slower than the average heartbeat, making you slow down and spend more time shopping.

· Some supermarkets use smaller floor tiles in some areas. This creates a noise from the wheels if you push the trolley too fast therefore encouraging customers to slow down and take more notice of the items on display in this area.

· You may have also noticed that shopping trollies seem to be getting bigger… they are! A bigger shopping trolley will psychologically make shoppers add more items resulting in increased sales.

· Stores will quite often locate essential items at the back of the store and far away from each other so you have to look for them. Milk, Eggs and Bread are routinely spread across the store encouraging shoppers to roam and purchase more items on the way.

· The way the shelves are laid out can also influence your purchases. More expensive products are generally displayed at eye level with the cheaper products on lower or higher shelves which are not as easy to find in a hurry. The more expensive items are also at the eye level of kids sitting in a trolley so that they can reach out and grab their favourite cereal or treat making their parents more likely to make a purchase.

· Complimentary pairing can also be found throughout the store. If you are shopping for tea you will no doubt find the biscuits nearby. If you are thinking of buying cooked meats you are sure to find ready-made coleslaw and potato salad nearby.

· The famous supermarket deal may also be misleading and on some levels it could even be said to be deceptive. You may have seen various offers offering 50% off the price of a 200g pack of cheese. This label more often than not would be placed between the 200g and 400g packs. They are relying on customers grabbing the bigger pack which is not on promotion in error and gaining an extra sale.

· Buy one and get the second one at 50% off deals are not that good value. In reality you are only getting a 25% discount on a product that will undoubtedly be reduced to 50% off at a later date.

· BOGOF deals are often the worst, with some supermarkets raising the price of items prior to the deal. This makes it look like the consumer is getting a real bargain but in reality the saving can be quite low.

· Some multi-buy offers are not really offers at all. You are told that you can buy 3 items for £3 which sounds like a good deal. However if you look at the individual price you may find the item is £1. You may not be losing money but you are buying 2 more items than you originally intended.

· Consumers often assume bulk items will be cheaper than smaller packs of the same product. Retailers may offer a 500g tub of spread which you would automatically assume to be cheaper than buying 2 x 250g tubs. This is not always the case and it can be difficult to check the weight-to-price ratio as they may label one product in pence by kilo and the other in pence per 100g.

· The same is often the case with fresh produce. Prepacked fruit and vegetables are often priced per item while the loose produce will be priced per kilo or gram.

· Brightly coloured labels may often draw your eye to store offers but these items may well have been the same price for the previous 6 months so they are not really offers at all.

· Own label brands are often much cheaper but you will find the packaging is much less appealing. This is done on purpose to encourage you to buy the more ascetically pleasing more expensive brands.

· Even at the checkout the supermarkets have their tricks with eye catching last minute items placed handily to attract you whilst unloading your trolley.

· Over the years the checkout lanes have become narrower, with less space outside of the conveyor belt. This is by design as 60% of shoppers off-load products as they unload them from their trolley, which means it’s harder to ditch goods at the last minute. Less space means it’s harder to ditch goods at the last minute

· Store cards are not exempt. You may think the store cards are there to encourage you to shop with a certain retailer. To a certain extent they are but they are also there to track your spending habits. The cards give stores valuable consumer data but they also give them the chance to give you vouchers tailored to your shopping history. If you have not brought a certain product in store for a while the retailer may give you a voucher to tempt you back hopefully taking the sale away from a competitor.

· Supermarket stock that doesn’t sell prior to its best before date gets reduced. Theses can therefore be genuine bargains. Only these bargains aren’t nicely signposted and can be hard to find. A lot of these products can be frozen so you won’t have to use them straight away.

· 80% of shoppers buy the same range of products week in week out. Therefore the sensible way to shop is to keep a track of the pricing for the key items you buy. When you see a genuine deal buy a few weeks’ worth then you can be sure you are actually saving money. Be sure to check the best before date or that you can freeze any extra products you purchase otherwise that bargain could become an expensive mistake.

Shopping does not need to be a stressful experience. Keep your eyes and ears open. Look around, check prices, check promotions and ask yourself why is this on offer? Suppliers pay heavily to get promoted in store so there must be a reason for the offer. Most offers are to generate sales by increasing the volume sold. Other deals are to clear stock or to promote a new product that has appeared in the range or a totally new product for the trade. These may often be the best deals because they are tempting you with an offer in the hope this product will become one of your regular shopping items when the price rises at the end of the promotion.

#supermarket #shopping #grocery #grocery retail #merchandising #tricks of the trade

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Pork Adobo

#pork adobo

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Pork Adobo

Ingredients

· 750g Diced Pork Belly

· 4 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped

· 1 Onion finely chopped

· 325ml Light Soy Sauce

· 25ml Vinegar

· 600ml of Water

· 1 tsp Paprika

· 5 Bay Leaves

· 2 Heaped tsp Cornflour

Method

· In a large saucepan or wok, sauté the garlic and onions with a little olive oil until translucent. Sauté the pork in a separate pan until golden brown in colour.

· Add the browned pork to the garlic and onions along with 600ml of water, 325ml of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes reducing gradually.

· Mix the cornflour with a little water and add to the sauce. Allow to thicken on a gentle simmer for a few minutes

· Serve hot with the adobo gravy and plain rice.

#pork adobo #adobo #adobo sauce #filipino #recipe #recipe ideas

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Prawn Foo Yung - Hong Kong Airport 2005

#foo yung

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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For the Love of Food

So where does my love of food come from? I firmly believe that my passion for all things food related and my willingness to try almost anything stems from my childhood and my family upbringing. My much loved Nan and Grandad must take most of the credit as from a very early age I was introduced to a wide variety of home-grown and home-cooked foods. My Grandad was an avid gardener growing a whole manner of fruit and vegetables in his garden. He showed me the delights of growing runner beans, cabbage and cauliflower along with a whole range of soft fruit ranging from English plums to gooseberries. My Nan like my Grandad was old school so everything in the kitchen was made from scratch using what was grown in the garden. I can still remember watching her cook and learning how to make pastry and cakes from basic ingredients.

Some of my fondest memories as a child are of the big family meals we had at their house at 218, London Road Waterlooville (sadly now demolished). At various times during the school holidays my cousins, uncles and aunties would all come to stay. This would be a big event for me as we would have fantastic traditional roast dinners with all the trimmings and yes if you didn’t eat your vegetables you most definitely wouldn’t get any dessert! To be honest I wasn’t a fussy eater even as a kid. As I recall it was only Brussels sprouts and Stilton cheese that I could have quite happily avoided throughout those formative years. The only real problem I had at these family meals was whether I could finish my meal and get to that last roast potato before my cousin Glen, who despite being younger than me could always match me for appetite. My much missed Mum carried on the tradition set by her parents and although home-cooking has changed a lot over the years she has always instilled the same values in me to experiment and try everything at least once.

My Mum worked as a waitress in a local café called The Black Cat Café. I can remember going to work with her on one occasion and being allowed to watch what went on in the kitchen. My clearest memory here is one of the veg prep guys giving me a raw carrot to try. I had always eaten carrots from my Grandad’s garden but cannot recall eating them raw so this was a new experience. Even now I can still taste that distinct flavour which was somewhat of an epiphany moment for me. Like eating your first oyster or you first taste of true caviar this was a profound moment for me.

Another early food memory is also somewhat unusual. My Nan and Grandad lived in a big house next to a petrol station. The station had one of the first vending machines I can remember on the forecourt next to where the air and water could be found. This particular vending machine dispensed milk shake. My particular favourite was a raspberry milk shake which became a firm favourite with me so much so that if ever I had any money this would be my first purchase. The petrol station is still there but the machine has long gone but the taste of this milk shake still lingers in my senses. Every so often if I taste very fresh raspberries I get transported back in time to this very happy period in my life.

Food always seems to give me happy memories so it is probably no surprise that I followed my nose 9and stomach) into the industry. I began my adventure by training as a Chef at Highbury College in Cosham. At the time I started there I was a fresh faced sixteen year old. The catering facility at Highbury was only a year old and at the time regarded as one of the best places to learn the trade in the UK. I studied there for three years from 1981 to 1984 and was as proud as anything to emerge with my Diploma in Professional Cookery. If my family gave me my love of food then the lecturers and college definitely fed my addiction. It was one of the happiest times of my life and I am forever grateful to all my lecturers and fellow students who taught me so much that stood me in good stead for later life. I would heartily recommend to anyone thinking of studying catering to go ahead and do it. Even if you never cook professionally after you leave, the skills you learn there will be with you for life.

I can still remember my first day at college as one of the new influx of PCD (Professional Cookery Diploma) students. We were all resplendent in a blizzard of spotless white jackets and blue checked trousers, wearing our new uniforms with pride for the very first time. Our aprons were trailing down to the floor and our starched hats were pointing proudly to the ceiling, we really must have been quite a sight. Over the years our aprons shortened until eventually they were folded into nothing more than miniskirts that just about covered our crutches; while the starched Mohawk-like hats were replaced by neat uniform disposable paper ones. We had finally come of age and were ready to launch our talents onto an unsuspecting world. Looking back it was hard work and frightening at times but honestly worth every second and an experience I would do all over again if I had the chance. It was the days before politically correctness had reared its head so it was a harsh environment for a young teenager.

Saying that the harshness was nothing to what I found when working in a professional kitchen. For a short while I was able to work as a Commis in The Café Royal, Claridge's, Langans Brasserie and Simpson's in the Strand. Working as a Chef in London was fresh, exciting and frightening. Working as a Commis you were on of the lowest ranked employees only one up from the pot wash. You were treated with disdain and generally verbally and sometimes physically abused. Nowadays this sounds horrific but it was pretty standard at the time in the industry. London tended to amplify this somewhat but wherever you worked in the UK it was pretty much the same. This harsh treatment either broke you or made you stronger. The restaurant trade has always been pretty transient so to survive you had to be strong. As a Commis you had to prove yourself before you were let anywhere near a stove. Although I was a qualified chef I spent 6 months peeling and turning potatoes, turning mushrooms and preparing the mise en place ready for service. I can remember many occasions when my julienne of carrot or my bruinoise of vegetables was unceremoniously thrown in the bin because it was not perfect. Through sheer persistence I managed to survive and once I gained the trust of the brigade I was able to watch and learn from the more senior Chefs. As time went on I was allowed to do more and more in the kitchen until I was welcomed as one of the team. I still have very fond memories of the loud punk music played prior to service and the sense of belonging I felt as part of the team. Outside of work we played hard and in London this could be very hard but I had a lot of fun and learnt a great deal.

My experience in London was for a relatively short time but it is an experience that has left its mark on me both personally and professionally. To this day I have a strange affinity with London and simply love the old school restaurants there. My career took me back down to the South Coast and away to sea working front of house for a change before ending up as a Food Buyer procuring high end products for the cruise industry. I have never forgotten my roots and although my time in the front line was brief I still regard it as one of the best experiences of my life. I am indebted to my college lecturers who got me the placements and hopefully I have paid my dues to the industry.

At home I still cook every day and still get that same sense of enjoyment I felt at 16. I genuinely love food and will try just about anything if I feel it is something that I might enjoy. I am frequently asked what is the best meal I have ever eaten. I have been lucky enough after nearly 40 years in the industry to have eaten in a lot of top restaurants and to have had the opportunity to try a myriad of dishes across the world. I have tried many unusual dishes and as a Food Buyer had the opportunity to taste many new and innovative ingredients before they reach the trade.

It therefore can come of something of a surprise when I reveal my favourite meal is not only very simple but from a most unusual food outlet. The location was Hong Kong International Airport around 2005 in restaurant which if my memory serves me correct was situated upstairs on Level 8 of the main concourse above the various check in desks. The restaurant itself is very simple, quite large but very unassuming. It was early morning and I was catching a flight back to the UK. I was not particularly hungry so I was just looking for something light before my flight was ready to board.

I opted to go for a simple Prawn Foo Yung. The picture above is exactly what was presented to me. You cannot see it on the picture as the colours are pretty subdued but the scrambled egg was almost orange in colour. To this day it is the freshest egg I have ever eaten. For such a simple dish the flavours were exceptional and taught me that to have a great dish sometimes simplicity is really the best. As long as you use good quality ingredients less really is more. Sometimes the most complex recipes containing multiple ingredients are no better than a single ingredient prepared well.

Life can quite easily be compared to food Choose your friends and your ingredients carefully and you will find that good friends and good ingredients can give you much happiness. As a Chef I can give you no better advice than love your life and love your food.

#food #Food Blog #food porn #chef #dish #cook #cooking #catering

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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Crispy Duck Pancakes

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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thecooksjournal · 4 years

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The Art of Eating

“The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live.”

Confucius

Enter any restaurant in Hong Kong and it can be a daunting experience due the various beliefs and etiquette surrounding Asian food. Food is regarded as an extremely important part of everyday life and it is believed to be the foundation for all happiness and success. Superstition and tradition play a big part in all realms of Chinese society and dining therefore is no exception. It is always advisable to have a basic knowledge of what is acceptable at the table and perhaps more importantly what is not, so that you can avoid causing offence to your fellow diners. Sometimes even the simplest actions can have deep meanings, which are not always evident to the casual observer.

Look around any Dim Sum restaurant and observe your fellow diners and you will notice how their behaviour differs from Western society. People will talk loudly throughout the meal noisily slurping at their noodles without anyone taking the slightest offence. Likewise slurping your soup in public is considered a socially acceptable way of cooling it down before it burns your tongue, a practise which can take some getting used to. This may give the impression that anything goes, but try leaving your chopsticks facing upwards in a bowl of rice on the table and the likelihood is that at least one of your fellow diners will become visually upset and animated. The reason for this is that at Chinese funerals incense sticks are often left upright in bowls to burn in remembrance of the departed. Chopsticks left in the same way are assumed therefore to represent death and so consequently are thought to be very unlucky. Always place your chopsticks parallel across your bowl or on the side of your plate and never upright and no offence will be caused. Some restaurants even provide little ceramic or plastic chopstick stands especially for this purpose. You can even place them on the tablecloth, don’t worry about any marks, as a few stains here and there show that you have actively participated in and enjoyed the meal. Another point worth considering is that you must never cross your chopsticks across your bowl or plate as this forms the sign of an X, which again is considered very unlucky.

The only time it is socially acceptable to cross your chopsticks is in some of the older Dim Sum restaurants where you will occasionally see a waiter crossing chopsticks on the table to signify that the bill has been presented and settled. If you find an uneven pair of chopsticks at your table this is said to be a sign that you will miss your plane, boat or train. Holding chopsticks very high up is thought to signify travelling far away from home while dropping chopsticks on the floor is thought to be unlucky and the portent of some bad luck coming your way. Interestingly chopsticks should be held in the right hand only, even by a left handed diner although this is not as widely practised as in previous generations. Nowadays this is largely ignored although some members of the older generation still regard the use of chopsticks in the left hand to be bad etiquette.

Hong Kong is actually a very liberal and forgiving place and foreign visitors are quickly forgiven for not knowing the correct table etiquette to follow. If as a visitor you learn a few of the customs surrounding dining then your efforts will be appreciated and you will be made to feel more than welcome. I feel that just finding out about these customs is part of the fun of dining and can be quite rewarding. If you make the effort and ask, most people will be happy to explain their customs and the reasons behind the things they do. I must confess I love people watching and enjoy observing people as they go about their day to day business. A restaurant offers me many opportunities to observe my fellow diners and it is surprising to see how very different Asian and Western cultures are when it comes to food.

Traditionally the Chinese like to dine on a round table so that everyone can engage in conversation and not feel left out. Dining on a round table also allows the food to be placed centrally so that everyone can help themselves and feel part of the meal. Food is served in a family style where everyone shares the dishes on the table and single portions are uncommon. This is reflected in the seating plans in most restaurants where you will find abundant tables for family groups and hardly any cosy tables for two. The host will always sit at the head of the table nearest the kitchen or service area, as this is the least favoured position and often the position where the waiter will serve or present the dishes from. The guest of honour normally sits opposite the host in what is considered the best seat at the table and is always offered the best of the food. In a meal in a Chinese household the host would normally apologise with much humility in a display of exaggerated courtesy for the meagre offerings he has provided. The guest of honour would then insist that everything is acceptable and the meal could begin.

Quite often a whole fish may be served as part of the meal and traditionally this would be placed so that the head faces the guest of honour. This is because the head of the fish is regarded as the most nutritious part and as such should be offered to the guest first. The lips and eyes will be offered to the most senior lady at the table as a sign of respect as these are regarded as a great delicacy. Obviously this may come as a bit of a shock if you are new to the culture so beware if you are a senior lady and are ever invited to eat fish with a Chinese family. Lips and eyes may be nice but perhaps not the most convincing way to win a lady’s heart.

Once the guest has taken his fill of the fish he or she will often turn the dish to face the person on their left to signify they have taken sufficient. One thing to remember however is that once all the flesh is removed from one side of the fish you should never under any circumstance turn the fish over. Usually the host or waiter will remove the backbone with chopsticks allowing his guests to get at the flesh below. The reason for never turning the fish over is that in Cantonese society it signifies the capsizing of a boat and by doing this you would be putting bad luck on the table and the local fishermen as well.

Chopsticks can prove problematic to many Westerners but with practise they can be used adeptly by most people. The best way of holding chopsticks I have found through trial and a great deal of error is by placing your thumb over one stick while holding the other stick between the first and second fingers as if it were a pencil. Keep the tips of the chopsticks together by lightly touching the table and remember to move the top stick when picking up food, the base stick held by your thumb should remain stationary. At first you will probably find it easier to hold the chopsticks lower down but as you get more proficient try to handle them higher up around 3 inches from the top as you will find this gives you greater control. In Chinese etiquette the lower down you hold your chopsticks the lower in the social order you are but too near the top and you are regarded as someone who is false, so take care!

Chopsticks have been used for around 5,000 years and probably evolved from the wooden twigs that were first used to retrieve food from the fire. Nowadays they are commonly made of wood, ivory, bone, bamboo, metal or plastic. It is reported that silver chopsticks were used in the Chinese royal palace to ensure that any food for the Emperor was not poisoned. The silver chopsticks would react with certain toxins turning black in the presence of poison and therefore saving the life of the ruler or as was probably more likely the lives of his food tasters. Some people believe that the great scholar Confucius was also instrumental in the development of chopsticks. As a devout vegetarian he believed knives would remind people of slaughterhouses and so should not be used at the table. It is for this reason that Chinese cuisine is always chopped into bite-sized pieces before it reaches the table. Today chopsticks are used extensively in China, Japan, Vietnam, India Malaysia, the Philippines and Korea; they are also used to a certain extent in Thailand although as a nation they have become more westernized since the introduction of Western style utensils by King Rama V in the nineteenth-century.

Far from being peaceful chopsticks have often been used as an effective weapon. Sharpened to a point and dipped in poison they can be thrown with deadly accuracy towards their intended target. I am not sure how effective a weapon they really would be but hey if it works for Bruce Lee then they must be good! The Chinese word for chopsticks is Kuaizi, which literally means to eat fast. The Western name of chopsticks is thought to derive from the English phrase "chop-chop" which means to hurry or get a move on. Chinese and Japanese chopsticks differ, as in general Chinese chopsticks are longer and taper to a blunt end. Japanese chopsticks are slightly shorter and taper to a pointed end presumably due to the high proportion of bony fish in the Japanese diet, which needs greater precision to remove the bones from the flesh. Japanese chopsticks are traditionally made of lacquered wood while Chinese chopsticks can be made of varying materials. Throughout Hong Kong most restaurants now use disposable wooden chopsticks, which come in sealed packs. The sticks are joined and must be broken apart before use; it is then an accepted practise to rub them together away from the table to remove any splinters before eating. At the end of the meal they are discarded, a practise which in an ecologically friendly society is causing concern as in China alone close to 50 billion pairs are thrown away each year. In an effort to reduce this waste a five per cent tax was added to the price of all disposable wooden chopsticks in April 2006.

In Chinese etiquette chopsticks should not be waved in the air and when picking up food and the back of your hand should always face the ceiling at all times. Twisting your chopsticks so that your palm is in view of other diners is regarded as disrespectful and unrefined. Food should never be stabbed with your chopsticks and you should also avoid rooting round with them for the choicest items in the dish. Perhaps the biggest mistake to be aware of is that once you have taken a piece of food you should never return it to the dish. If you are doing this you are saying that the item is not good enough for you but fine for your dining companions whom you see as inferior to yourself!

It is acceptable in China to eat rice from a bowl by raising it to your lips and pushing the rice into your mouth, however in Korea this is regarded as impolite and your bowl should remain on the table. When dining with close friends or family it is acceptable to pass food with your chopsticks to one another particularly for young children, the elderly or more likely Westerners who have yet to master the art of eating with chopsticks. Once you have finished it is common practise to place your chopsticks across the top of your bowl perpendicular to the direction you are facing as this signifies that you have finished eating.

The use of toothpicks is another frequently seen practise throughout Hong Kong. It is not socially acceptable to place your fingers in your mouth at the table but the wooden or plastic toothpick is therefore regarded as an essential item. It is believed that the taste of one course should not interfere with the taste of another course so toothpicks are the perfect way to cleanse your mouth. The correct procedure is to cover your mouth with one hand while using the toothpick with the other. If you have dentures then it will come as no surprise that it is not socially acceptable to take them out and start cleaning them at the table even if you use chopsticks to get them out in the first place and a toothpick to clean them.

When ordering food in a restaurant for a large group the idea is to achieve a balance at the table by ordering various different tastes and textures with no predominance of one flavour or style of cooking. You should also never order seven dishes as this is regarded as food for ghosts. Cantonese meals can be messy affairs and bones can be left on a plate or even on the tablecloth. Some of the older restaurants will even change the cloth by bundling up all the items including crockery in the tablecloth and then just whisking it off the table. It is very quick and efficient and can appear quite shocking if you are not prepared for it but it really beats the hassle of trying to eat in a posh French restaurant while your waiter crumbs down under your armpit and tries to rearrange your cutlery to his liking.

When paying your bill or offering payment in the shops it is considered polite by some members of the older generation to use both hands to present the payment. Similarly if you accept your change with both hands this is also considered polite. Most people ignore this nowadays although from time to time you may observe this happening. This stems from the Chinese idea that using one hand is impolite. In general if you are polite and try to follow at least some sort of dining etiquette you will be welcomed all across Hong Kong. Show the people some respect and an understanding for their culture and it will be appreciated and you will be rewarded with the friendship of some of the most genuine people on earth. If you are obnoxious and show a blatant disregard for their culture then consequently you will not be shown the same sort of welcome. The choice is yours but remember politeness costs nothing and will always reap its own rewards.

#hong kong #etiquette #dining #chinese #tradition #chinese tradition #feng shui #food #Food Blog #asia #sushi #sashimi #chopsticks #lucky

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Dining with the Dragon

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity”

Voltaire

Hong Kong takes the subject of its food extremely seriously. There is no other place in the world quite so passionate about good food and the experience of dining. Food is viewed as much more than a practical solution for a hungry stomach, it is regarded as a way to bring friends and family together for a social occasion. Dining out for Hong Kongers is a pretty common occurrence, mainly because eating at home can often be a pretty cramped affair and almost impossible for large families. Housing space is at a premium throughout Hong Kong with new construction constantly going upwards rather than outwards producing an abundance of smaller compact apartments. The Kwun Tong area of Kowloon as an example is reputed to be one of the most crowded places in the world with in excess of 54,000 people living and working in a square kilometre. Just take a walk around Kowloon along Canton Road or Nathan Road and you will soon become aware just how densely populated this area is.

The hilly terrain of the main island makes housing development very difficult, so the only way to build on suitable sites is upwards. The vast majority of accommodation is in small high-rise apartments with some of the smallest kitchen spaces ever created. Imagine trying to cook a meal for your family and friends in an area the size of a small bathroom and you will know why so many families relish the opportunity to eat out. This means a large family meal can often become a regular occurrence and with over 6,000 eating establishments to choose from it is unlikely that anyone will ever go hungry. It is this freedom of choice that keeps the quality of restaurant food in Hong Kong consistently high and the prices down, because if an establishment is not good and does not provide the service or the food that customers want it will not survive long. The restaurant business can be exceptionally ruthless for the unwary but in the end if you offer a good product at a price that pleases your diners then you will do well.

Meals are very noisy occasions as it is a chance to catch up with the latest news from family and friends. The atmosphere is generally informal with everyone welcome to share the table and the food. There are several traditions and superstitions surrounding dining, which I will tell you about later but generally dining is a relaxed affair. For the Cantonese good food and good conversation make a great meal and in Hong Kong there is always enough of both to go round. As a nation the Chinese are very wary of strangers at first but prove yourself friendly and honourable and you will find that without exception they are embarrassingly generous hosts at mealtimes. A friendly smile and an offer to yum cha means you are highly regarded and welcome to eat at their table. Yum cha literally means to ‘drink tea’ but it also implies to eat well while drinking tea. Traditionally yum cha is associated with the Cantonese speciality of Dim Sum (more on that later) but nowadays it is applied to any meal.

If you are lucky enough to get an invite to dine with the locals it is really the best way to appreciate the food and culture of a very friendly and family orientated society. Cantonese meals are often very noisy affairs with the most popular restaurants nearly full to bursting point. Food really brings the people together with being part of the meal regarded as an honour. Strangely to Westerners the biggest honour is to be the host and the one to pay the bill. It is often quite comical to see the lengths people will go to, and the friendly arguments that ensue over who has the honour of paying the bill. I am sure that is one tradition that we won’t see adopted in the UK!

The cuisine of Hong Kong is rich and varied with influences that come from all over the world. Eastern and Western ingredients combine in dishes that are perfectly balanced creations that excite all your senses at once. Asian people in general are not overly concerned with the nutritional aspects of food but despite this they enjoy a diet that is in most cases extremely healthy with instances of obesity and high blood pressure remarkably low when compared to Western society. Food for the average Asian is not just about taste; it must be enjoyed by your eyes and your nose as well as your palette. In Hong Kong there isn’t one individual dish that captures the essence of the local cuisine; it is just that everything is done so well. The secret of Hong Kong’s culinary success is that it takes only the best of everything and adapts it to meet the demands of the customer. Situated in the heart of Asia obviously the Asian influence is predominant but look closely and you can find almost any meal you can think of within the confines of the island. If your preference is Asian, Mediterranean, African or American fast food there are restaurants to suit you. In fact you could eat every day for a month in a different restaurant serving a different type of cuisine without a problem.

The Chinese influence is everywhere embracing a cuisine which has evolved over the course of several thousand years. Chinese food is traditionally about sharing and making a little go a long way with very little if any waste. Most food items are cut into small portions and cooked quickly to seal in the flavour and retain the natural freshness. Stir-frying, deep-frying and steaming are the most popular cooking methods with the philosophy being to bring the flavour out of the freshest ingredients without compromising the integrity of the food. There is an old saying that says ‘the only four-legged thing that the Cantonese people won’t eat is a table and the only thing that flies they won’t eat is an aeroplane!’ Hong Kong actually consumes more protein per person then any other region in the world, which is quite staggering really for what, is essentially a small island. Nothing is ever wasted and scraps for the dog’s bowl are in short supply because if it is edible they will find a way to cook it. Some of the best meals I have eaten have involved things like feet and entrails, items that would be thrown away in the vast majority of restaurants in the UK.

The best known cuisine of the region is unsurprisingly Cantonese which traditionally uses ingredients that are purchased and prepared for eating on the same day. Cantonese cuisine is one of the most widely known and loved of the regional cuisines, so much so that the Chinese proudly declare that ‘Eating is in Canton’. Cantonese dishes tend to be on the mild side using a simple combination of spices that do not overpower the delicate flavours of this style of cuisine. Garlic, ginger and spring onions are the staples in many dishes along with rice wine, sugar and soy sauce, lightly thickened by the addition of a little cornstarch. Light seasoning is the key with the Cantonese people believing that the freshest fish and meat needs no further embellishment other than the simplest ingredients to make a truly good meal. Highly spiced and over seasoned dishes are treated with distrust and suspicion, as it is believed that the chef is hiding something about the freshness of his produce beneath the spices.

The one exception to fresh ingredients comes with the Cantonese love of preserved foods, which are often preferred to their fresh counterparts because of their more intense flavours and interesting textures. Items such as salted dried meats, black mushroom, abalone, shrimp and scallop are all much sought after dried produce. One of the most popular dried ingredients is fish maw, which is used extensively as a flavouring agent. It is actually the dried stomach lining or air bladder (sometimes called swim bladder) of a large fish most commonly the conger pike. It is used predominantly for texture as it has no strong taste and will readily absorb the flavours of any dish it is used in. It is most often dried and then deep fried to make it puff and expand. The drying process really intensifies the little flavour it has and gives it a much longer shelf life. They are usually soaked in water prior to cooking to re-hydrate them and then cooked in a soup or stock over a long period.

The slow cooked soup is a speciality of Cantonese cuisine; it is usually a clear broth which uses any available meat or vegetables often combining fresh and preserved foods which are simmered for up to 8 hours to produce a liquor that retains all the essence and flavour of the ingredients. It was at one time regarded as a staple part of the Cantonese diet but because of today’s busy life style and the long cooking time it is more common in the restaurant than in the home. Quite often Chinese herbal medicines are added to the pot so families use it as a dish to help you recuperate from illness. Chicken soup is regaled across the world for its medicinal qualities and according to food historians even in Ancient Egypt it was frequently prescribed as a cure for the common cold. In today’s society the humble chicken soup is often given the nickname of Jewish penicillin because of its restorative merits. While in China a slow cooked soup is regarded as the basis of all good marriages with Cantonese women in particular believing that ‘cooking a good soup is the way to win a man’s heart’.

Rice is a staple food of the Cantonese and of all of the regional Chinese cuisines and as such is regarded as an extremely important part of the average Asian diet. Half of the world's population actually live on a staple diet of rice and it may be compared to the importance of the potato or pasta within a Western diet. White or polished rice is the type most frequently eaten, with the Vitamin B rich brown rice traditionally associated as a staple food of the lower classes. Southern China including Hong Kong consumes by far the largest amount of rice while the north consumes more noodles. Every grain of rice is regarded as important as a single grain is a symbol of the toil and labour in the struggle for survival in life. It is believed that one grain of rice on its own may appear insignificant but join it with others and it can feed a nation.

In Cantonese cuisine rice is regarded as the unifier of the table adding harmonious balance to any meal. Long grain rice is most commonly used throughout the homes and restaurants in Hong Kong although short grain, sweet and jasmine rice are also used. Cooking rice was once regarded as a delicate art with skilled chefs stirring bubbling pots for hours over open charcoal fires. Nowadays most restaurants and families possess an electric rice cooker which has simplified the process somewhat. The rice is religiously washed to remove any sediment left from the polishing until the water runs clean. It is then placed into the rice cooker and covered with fresh clean water up to a depth of the first knuckle on the index finger. Then the rice is covered and the rice cooker takes over and produces that clean fluffy rice that is so indicative of the region.

My favourite Cantonese rice dish has to be Congee or Juk as it is also known locally. It is a traditional rice porridge eaten in many Asian countries but particularly famous in Hong Kong where it is served throughout the day. Congee is traditionally a breakfast dish made by simmering a flavoured broth and rice in a 12:1 ratio for over an hour until the starch breaks down and produces a thick viscous porridge. Ginger, spring onions, shredded lettuce, peanuts and bamboo shoots are sometimes added along with minced beef or fish. Sometimes a sweet version is made by adding red beans and sugar making a delicious sweeter alternative. Congee can be eaten thick like Western porridge or as a thinner broth served in earthenware dishes which retain the heat very well. The Japanese produce their own version of Congee which they call Okayu. It differs from its Cantonese version in that it uses less water and is cooked for only thirty minutes. Miso stock, light seasoning and maybe salmon, fish roe and beaten eggs are commonly added.

To produce the best Congee the rice must be constantly stirred, while cooking slowly so that the rice is not allowed to stick and burn. Nowadays the modern rice cookers take a lot of the strain out of cooking Congee with some even having a separate Congee setting allowing the cooking to be done overnight. The resulting porridge is often eaten at breakfast the next day with a youtiao which is a long golden brown fried breadstick often called yau ja gwai, which literally translated means ‘oil-fried devil’. Youtiao are lightly salted and produced so that they can be torn apart lengthwise into two strips. The strips are said to represent a corrupt Song Dynasty official, Qin Hui and his wife who plotted against General Yue Fei who was a much respected symbol of patriotism in China. Tearing the bread became an act of contempt towards the couple and symbolic of pulling them apart. Congee nowadays is eaten throughout the day and is often the first food served to Asian infants as they progress from milk to solid foods.

Noodles are another significant staple food that has an elevated status in Cantonese cuisine. They are found in various shapes and sizes and are much loved because they are cheap, nutritious and can be stored for a long period of time. Marco Polo was credited with introducing the noodle to Italy in 1295 but it is thought to have originated in China as early as 25 CE during the days of the East Han dynasty. The Cantonese word for noodle is mein familiar to most Westerners from the most famous Cantonese stir fried noodle dish chow mein. Noodles can be served at any time of the day but are particularly sought after on special occasions such as birthdays and New Year. The length of the noodle signifies longevity and as such it is considered bad luck to break or cut the noodles. This is why it is quite common to see people noisily slurping long noodles out of bowls in restaurants.

The types of noodles used are numerous ranging from egg and wheat noodles to rice and mung bean noodles. Rice noodles or bijon are often referred to as glass noodles as they are translucent and glass like in appearance. They are most commonly eaten as flat noodles resembling Italian tagliatelle, whereas egg noodles are most often served in the shape of thin spaghetti. The wheat noodle is frequently used in a Cantonese speciality called lo mein or stirred noodles. Eaten outside Hong Kong this is often a dish with carrots, bok choy (Chinese cabbage), spring onions, and pork, beef or chicken stir fried in a soy sauce, sugar and corn starch broth. Eaten in Hong Kong lo mein will often be served with the noodles and broth separate giving the diner the option to drink the broth, dip the noodles or mix according to taste. There is no right or wrong way it is just personal preference and you will undoubtedly see many people eating the same dish in different ways.

In Cantonese the word yu means fish but also plenty and abundance so it is no real surprise that fish and seafood form the basis of numerous dishes. The preference is to steam the fish whole with freshness the key, so fresh in fact that many restaurants have tanks with live fish to ensure the freshest supply. Even filleted fish lying on ice at the wet markets are often so fresh and skilfully filleted that you can see the heart still attached and beating, now that is fresh! One of the most popular fish in Hong Kong is the Grouper which is a member of the sea bass family well loved for its lean firm flesh. It is most often brought in from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines in huge quantities. Prawns, mussels, crayfish, lobster are also frequently used along with abalone which is a highly sought after mollusc very reminiscent of scallop.

One of the most famous ways to try Cantonese food is through the dai pai dong food stalls once hugely popular over the whole of Hong Kong. Dai pai dong means literally ‘big licence food stall’ a reference to the large operating licence that was required to operate legally. Nowadays the government no longer issues licences as the dai pai dong is viewed as unhygienic. Current licence holders can pass the licences down to their children but not to future generations so their outlook is not secure. In essence a dai pai dong is an open air or street food stall selling a wide variety of cheap everyday dishes at low prices. They may not be the cleanest of places but if you are sensible and eat where you can see the locals eating you can’t go wrong. I have been eating at them for many years and have never had any problems. If you want to appreciate the real taste of Hong Kong then these are your boys and all for a few dollars at the most.

Traditionally the original dai pai dongs were mobile handcarts, which moved location to find the crowds and then moved again to avoid the police. Nowadays a few handcarts can be found but the majority have semi-permanent stalls, which remain fixed in the same location. Try visiting Stanley Street, Gage Street, Mee Lun Street, Gutzlaff Street, or Elgin Street in Central or Ki Lung Street, Shek Kip Mei Street or Yiu Tung Street in Sham Shui Po for a nostalgic trip back to Hong Kong’s past. The Temple Street night market in Kowloon is famous for its food stalls as well as the usual shopping bargains and the dai pai dongs here are some of the best around. There is a permanent dai pai dong at 429 Lockhart Road, one on Tin Lok Lane in Wanchai near the crossroads and another in Times Square. These last two are my favourites selling the one thing that I crave whenever I visit Hong Kong. It is the legendary Egg Roll or dan zai, as it is known locally, a sweet pancake like waffle, which is absolutely delicious. A batter like mixture is poured into a hot waffle iron and cooked until golden brown and even the smell is enough to make you hungry. The finished dan zai looks like a sheet of the bubble wrap used to pack fragile goods but made out of pancake. Luckily that is where the similarity ends, as it is an almond flavoured crispy bite of heaven and one that has to be tried at least once. On numerous occasions I have brought one to take back to my apartment but the combination of the tempting warmth issuing from the brown paper bag it is served in and the delicious aroma has meant that I have never once got one back in one piece.

Typical fare at these stalls are rice, noodles, congee, fish ball curry, roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes, siu mei (roast meats), steamed fish and shellfish but generally it varies from stall to stall so it is advisable to look around. Some are full blown restaurants with patio chair style seating while others are just small stalls selling snacks like the ones in Tin Lok Lane and Times Square. Try the octopus tentacles on a stick, the bright orange pig intestines, a pot of steamed clams or even the local favourite a slice of toast smeared with condensed milk and you will have experienced a part of Hong Kong’s historic past and sadly one that is fast disappearing.

No so long ago dai pai dongs were hugely popular so much so that they were often the cause of huge congestion and traffic problems, nowadays they are becoming less common with only 29 retaining the original big licence. In the early part of the twentieth-century unlicensed food stalls were found all around Happy Valley near the famous racecourse with a large concentration residing along the old Wong Nai Chung Road. It is rumoured that the great fire at the racecourse in 1918 was caused by a dai pai dong set beside the podium. Sadly nowadays they are no more at the racecourse and at trackside you will find a MacDonald’s or a Kebab replacing these vestiges of Hong Kong’s past.

On your travels around Hong Kong you may see or hear people talk of restaurants called cha chaan teng or tea restaurants to give them their literal translation. These affordable inexpensive restaurants serve a vast variety of quick and easy foods from noodle and rice dishes through to egg tarts and sandwiches. The tea in these restaurants is usually weak low grade tea, which you will find, invariably presented to you as soon as you sit down. You may observe some of the older customers using the tea to wash their chopsticks which is an accepted practise although seen less and less due to the advent of disposable wooden chopsticks which are found in most premises nowadays. Set menus are common in these restaurants with often a soup or drink included in the price. A waiter will take your order and present you with a ticket, which you take to the cashier at the end of your meal to pay the bill. They are usually pretty crowded and it is accepted practice at these restaurants to table share with strangers, sometimes with up to three separate couples sharing a six-seater table.

Another common Chinese cuisine is Chiu Chow also known as Swatow cuisine, which is renowned for poultry and seafood dishes with often sharp and contrasting flavours. The cuisine originated from the Guangdong province of China and has become one of the most popular styles in Hong Kong. A typical Chiu Chow meal is rich in protein and would serve duck, goose or minced pigeon with water chestnuts wrapped in lettuce leaves spiked along with a piquant plum and vinegar sauce. The cuisine is known for its abundant use of vegetables, which are often carved into intricate designs of flowers, birds and even dragons. It is also the region famous for the much maligned shark fin and bird's nest soups, the latter using the dried saliva, from the edible cave swiftlet's nest as the basis for the soup. The meal is normally finished with desserts made from taro, water chestnuts, and sugar-syrup, followed by cups of pungent and bitter oolong or Iron Buddha tea to aid digestion. The tea is supposed to cleanse the system but drink too much and you will be climbing the walls and watching a lot of late night TV.

If you like rich and sweet flavours then Shanghainese cuisine may interest you. Strictly speaking Shanghai does not have its own indigenous cuisine but absorbs the influences of the surrounding regions. Compared to Cantonese food the dishes are richer and heavier using a lot of garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine giving a distinctive sweet, zesty taste. The region is famous for steamed hairy crab, braised eel and hot and sour soup, which is a vegetarian or meat-based soup with wood ear fungus and bamboo shoots. It also produces the wonderfully named drunken chicken; a cold steamed chicken dish that has been marinated in a rich Chinese wine. The chicken is served with a glorious gelatine jelly that results from the chilled mixture of the wine and the cooking juices. Shanghainese cuisine is probably best known for the legendary thousand-year egg (century egg), which are the rather scary preserved black duck or chicken eggs often seen at the market stalls. I will tell you more about these bad boys in a later chapter when I recall my first encounter with them in Hong Kong.

Hakka cuisine is a relatively unknown cuisine from the New Territories but it originated in Northern China and made its way south as the Hakka people migrated. Hakka uses a predominance of pork along with a wide variety of dried and preserved ingredients. Fried pork with fermented bean curd is a favourite New Year dish in Hong Kong. Other favourites include sliced pork with preserved mustard greens, salt baked chicken and tofu soup. You will also find Hakka embrace offal and dishes such as braised chicken's blood or pig's brain stewed in Chinese wine are common.

A more familiar cuisine is from Peking originating from the imperial courts of northern China and said to be fit for an Emperor. Peking food is flamboyantly presented and often extremely rich and spiced using coriander, peppers, and garlic. Noodles, bread and dumplings are commonly served with some traditional restaurants still demonstrating the art of noodle pulling in front of the diners. The most famous dish however is the legendary Peking duck, which is an elaborate dish, prized for its crispy skin. The duck is coated with a mixture of soy sauce and sugar and then air dried to retain the crispiness. The meat and skin are served wrapped in thin pancakes along with spring onion, radish and plum sauce. Generally Peking food is heartier and richer than Cantonese food with peppers, coriander, garlic and ginger used in dishes that keep the body warm. Another dish that is found in Peking cuisine is beggar’s chicken. This consists of a whole chicken stuffed with mushrooms, pickled Chinese cabbage, herbs and spring onions, which is then wrapped in lotus leaves sealed in clay and then baked for 24 hours. The clay is broken by the guest of honour at the table to reveal what in reality is anything but a beggar’s meal.

The spiciest food comes from the Sichuan cuisine using the fiery Sichuan chilli. The influence of Burma and Tibet, which border the region, can be seen in the dishes creating some of the hottest dishes in China. Garlic, ginger, coriander, chilli paste, peppercorn and various spices all fire up these dishes, which are simmered and smoked rather than stir-fried. The most famous dishes are pan-fried Sichuan prawns, sour and peppery soup and smoked duck which is seasoned with peppercorns, ginger, cinnamon, orange peel and coriander, marinated in rice wine, then steamed and finally smoked over camphor wood and tea leaves. Noodles and steamed bread are often preferred to rice

Hunan cuisine is very similar to Sichuan cuisine but is often spicier and contains a larger variety of ingredients due to the high agricultural output of the region. Chilli, garlic and ginger are balanced by the use of honey with sweet and sour dishes characteristic of the region. Hunan is landlocked and as a result absorbs a lot of the cuisine of its neighbours and so is often regarded by many as the culinary centre of China. Notable dishes include hot and spicy chicken, sweet and sour chicken, orange beef and desserts such as cassia flower cakes and lotus seeds in sugar candy.

The cuisine of China is rich and varied due the geographical and climate differences between the regions. Northern China experiences extremes of cold so hot and spicy food proliferates in order to increase circulation and keep the body warm. In the South the climate is much warmer so milder cooler dishes are preferred to prevent overheating. This is where the yin and yang or balance of Chinese cuisine emerges with the aim of creating a happy and healthy state for the body. The Chinese believe in the power of both positive and negative energy with too much of either creating an imbalance in the system and leaving the body open to disease. Yin represents the positive energy and foods which belong to this group are known as ‘cold food’. These are foods such as melon, bean sprouts, soybean, mung bean, cucumber, coconut, cress, bananas, clams and oysters which if eaten excessively can cause stomach aches, dizziness or diarrhoea. Foods that belong to the Yang or negative side also known as ‘hot food’ add balance to the yin side. These include such foods as chilli, garlic, ginger, onions, beef, turkey, pineapple, mango, aubergine and peanuts. Over indulgence in this group is thought to result in gas, indigestion, skin complaints and constipation.

The Chinese do not place much faith in nutritional balance in their diet but concentrate more on the balance of yin and yang. High importance is put on freshness and flavour and if the yin and yang are in harmony then the belief is that your body will be in harmony too. Food is about choice and moderation in everything, an idea that perhaps the Chinese understand and something that we should at least look at in the West. In Hong Kong the discerning diner has a vast choice and although everything will not be to your liking by rolling that dice you can take a chance and occasionally those sixes will come rolling back to you.

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