7 of Hong Kong's top chefs share tips on their Lunar New Year favourites
Many families love making their own traditional New Year delicacies, and so do the pros. That's why we've asked top chefs from some of Hong Kong's best restaurants for their auspicious dishes and snacks of the season, insider tips and treasured recipes. From traditional must-haves to modern takes on classic flavours, these festive gastronomic offerings are not only delicious but also filled with symbolic significance, and sure to inspire your Chinese New Year feast. 1. ArChan Chan, executive chef, Ho Lee Fook Chef ArChan Chan, executive chef of Ho Lee Fook. Photo: Handout
Our family has a tradition of eating vegetarian on the first day of Chinese New Year inspired by my parents' Buddhist beliefs. One of our favourite dishes to make is black moss seaweed with braised dried oyster. The dish carries a symbolic meaning of bringing wealth and fortune as black moss seaweed, known as fa cai in Cantonese, sounds like the word for 'fortune'.
The dish features a few traditional Chinese ingredients, including black moss seaweed, braised dry oyster, bean curd skin and red fermented bean curd. Although it's a vegetarian dish, it offers a very rich umami flavour and delightful crunch from the black moss seaweed. It goes perfectly with rice and it's incredibly comforting and warming to enjoy during winter.
As for the tips to make it right, use the freshest ingredients and cook it with love. It might sound a little cheesy to say, but I truly cherish the time spent cooking for my family and being with them since returning to Hong Kong from Singapore. Sharing meals and laughter together during festivities has made me realise how precious these moments are, and it's something I'll always hold close to my heart. 2. Chan Hon-cheong, executive Chinese chef, One Harbour Road Chan Hon-cheong, executive Chinese chef of One Harbour Road at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. Photo: Handout
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Surprising many, Nobody becomes China's top 2D animated film at the box office
There's a new king atop China's 2D animated box office, and it's Nobody. Shanghai Animation Film Studio's movie has overtaken Makoto Shinkai's Suzume as the highest-grossing 2D animated film in Chinese box office history while becoming a dark horse in the nation's summer movie season. With its success, Nobody has dethroned the dominance of Japanese animated films in China. Before Nobody's debut on August 2, the all-time top three such movies at the Chinese box office were Suzume, having generated 807 million yuan (US$112.2 million), followed by The Boy and the Heron's 791 million yuan, and Your Name's 713 million yuan – all produced in Japan. Based on the 2023 online animated series Chinese Bizarreries, Nobody had earned just over 1 billion yuan as of Monday. It continues a unique animation style pioneered by the Chinese studio, incorporating extensive elements of ink-wash painting to create a Chinese aesthetic. The film's supervisor, Chen Liaoyu, said in July that Nobody features 'ink entering the frame', meaning the use of ink to construct the shots rather than using shots to depict ink, as reported by the Shanghai Observer newspaper. 'For example, the two tusks of the little pig demon retain the hand-drawn arc lines, and these details are the most challenging aspects,' Chen was quoted as saying.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
How Leslie Cheung was a fan of late Chinese-American sculptor Ming Fay
As a child, Parker Fay lived in a kind of wonderland, surrounded by giant fruit, seeds, bones and replicas of other organic forms. For him, this was the norm. 'I almost thought of them as furniture,' Parker says about the creations of his father, the late Chinese-American sculptor Ming Fay. 'I only began to understand the significance of their impact when I saw my friends' reactions to the space.' Known for his fantastical, papier-mâché creations as well as prominent public art projects across America, Fay was adept at infusing ordinary objects with a fresh, larger than life sense of whimsy. He died in March at the age of 82 in his adopted home, New York, a highly regarded artist and professor. With one of the best-known museums in the US currently hosting the largest retrospective of the artist, a long-time friend and collaborator hopes that Fay will gain wider recognition in Hong Kong – the city where he grew up and where he had lifelong connections. 'In Hong Kong, Chinese ink artists such as Lui Shou-kwan are the most famous pioneers. But in his own way, Ming Fay was truly an avant-garde Hong Kong artist,' says Kwok Mang-ho, known as the Frog King.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong artist goes big with giant animals roaming city's streets
Hong Kong illustrator Maf Cheung recalled the silly moment when her friend's cat sat under a chair and stared at her pup. 'My dog is extremely introverted and not social at all. Eevee is one of those cats that bullies the weak but fears the strong,' said Cheung, who is in her 30s. 'Since my Yorkie was bigger, Eevee gave her this sceptical look and chose a ... safe spot.' That moment inspired Cheung to draw a giant version of Eevee peeking through a bridge in Causeway Bay. The massive feline makes a passing green tram look as small as a toy. This was the first piece in Cheung's 'Hong Kong Giant Animal Series'. These pieces imagine oversized animals roaming around the city. She started working on this series in 2022. In 2023, she published 90 of these pieces in a book. Hong Kong artist Maf Cheung poses with one of her pieces. Photo: Handout Reimagining Hong Kong When Cheung was in primary school, her best friends weren't her classmates. They were her dad's pets: goldfish, koi, turtles, birds, chinchillas and even hawks. 'I spent more time with those animals than I did playing with other kids,' she said. That is why animals are so important in her art. 'These are the beings I trust,' Cheung explained. Her art also focuses on places in Hong Kong that are disappearing or already gone. For example, she has drawn Queen's Pier, the old Hung Hom MTR station, and the neon signs of Nam Cheong Pawn Shop and Leung Tim Choppers Factory. One of her pieces features a giant sparrow at the former Hung Hom station. 'A fan messaged me and said, 'It's perfect that you drew a sparrow there because, in my experience, the sparrows at Hung Hom are the fattest in all of Hong Kong because they eat McDonald's,'' Cheung said. Cheung's series features more than 90 artworks showcasing a wide range of animals, from cats, dogs, and hamsters to lovebirds and Chinese white dolphins. Photo: Handout Mix of reality and fantasy Cheung's art mixes what is real with what is fantasy. She said that the dreamlike parts of her work also showed her emotions. Cheung gave the example of her favourite piece in her giant animal series. It shows a flying squirrel saving a girl at Lei Tak Estate. 'That piece was actually about processing my own negative emotions at the time. A lot was happening in Hong Kong then, and I was feeling overwhelmed,' she said. 'I imagined – what if in that moment, a giant flying squirrel came to save me? That idea brought me comfort.'
