Tales of the City
214 food
Four chefs, four histories, four personal points of view—leading voices of the culinary scene create gastronomic interpretations of their Hong Kong
The gastronomic landscape has shifted dramatically over the past 40 years. With restaurants opening (and closing) at an unprecedented rate, and the merry-go-round of fads ever spinning, it can be easy to lose sight of what gives Hong Kong its unparalleled and irreplaceable identity as a foodie’s paradise. To celebrate the city’s unique culinary heritage and the people who have shaped it, we set four chefs a challenge: identify a quintessential local food that encapsulates what Hong Kong means to them, and use it to create a dish that expresses their point of view. The resulting works of art manifest the compelling energy of Hong Kong in wonderfully delicious ways. THE INSPIRATION: Cantonese “white cut” chicken rice with ginger and scallion sauce
THE DISH: Cheng created a dish of sous vide marinated chicken breast brushed with a rice water glaze (reduced from strained congee liquid). Alongside it is a crispy chicken thigh and a Shanghainese-style Chinese cabbage braised in cream, butter, milk and aromatics, and topped with a sheet of Iberico pork fat. The dish is finished with a chicken jus that is bolstered just before serving with a classic ginger and scallion oil.
Vicky says his creation is not only a tribute to one of Hong Kong’s most exceptional local ingredients—yellow chicken— but one that is personally very meaningful to him. “I was born into money on my dad’s side, but when I was five years old my parents divorced. I suddenly went from having everything to basically nothing,” he says. His Shanghainese mother raised him singlehandedly in Hong Kong, the two living in a tiny apartment where luxuries were few and far between. One day, he came home with top marks at school and was told he could choose a nice reward for himself. His pick? A bowl of barbecued pork rice with white cut chicken, and copious amounts of his favourite ginger-scallion sauce. “It was a real treat,” he recalls. Today, his mother runs a successful business in Canada and Vicky is one of Hong Kong’s most lauded chefs—but he never forgets how this period of his life taught him to appreciate the simple things in life. “Not every day is about truffles and foie gras,” he laughs.