How this chef gives Shanghainese cuisine a Cantonese touch
It's not some sort of crossover. It's not fusion. We make Shanghainese food here,' says chef Edmond Ip, referring to his latest post at Shanghai Plus in Wan Chai.
There is no shortage of
xiaolongbao or Shanghai fried noodles in Hong Kong, but Ip is doing something novel at Shanghai Plus, turning a cuisine defined by heavy flavours and sauces into something lighter, adamant that his 77-item menu contain no additives or artificial flavourings, and sourcing local produce whenever possible. Despite his current position as executive chef, Ip says he'd never wanted to cook, but fell into it when he was 15 years old and decided to get a job instead of continuing school.
The dishes at Shanghai Plus contain no additives or artificial flavourings. Photo: Shanghai Plus
'I think a lot of Cantonese chefs got their start that way. I was a bit of a rebel when I was a kid,' Ip says, with a sheepish grin. 'Kids like us didn't get praised very often. So when I started cooking and the older chefs would tell me I was doing a good job, that made me realise, 'Hey, this is the first time someone has ever said that to me.' And I started to like cooking more and more.'
His first jobs were in seafood banquet restaurants and then hotel restaurants, before he settled at the
Canton Room , in the Gloucester Luk Kwok Hotel, where he remained for eight years. 'I could tell I had got too comfortable there,' he says, 'so that's when I joined Wing, where I got to take part in menu development for the first time. Then I moved to Woo Cheong Tea House, and that was the first time I could really call the menu my own.'
Now Ip's bringing more than two decades of experience in Cantonese kitchens
to Shanghai Plus , with fine-tuned versions of hand-pulled Shanghai fried noodles, and balsamic vinegar ribs with dried mandarin peel.
How did Shanghai Plus come about?
Pork ribs with aged dried tangerine peel in balsamic vinegar. Photo: Shanghai Plus
I joined Langham Hospitality Group without knowing I was going to lead a Shanghainese restaurant. They asked me whether I would have a problem doing Shanghai food, and I didn't think so. Cooking is simple if you understand the basics, then you can pretty much make anything. We did a lot of tastings and a lot of research into traditional Shanghainese food. Everything we make here stays true to Shanghainese cuisine and techniques, but with a Cantonese sensibility.
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