Exploring HK’s east and west dining styles
FOR A third time, cable TV channel TLC and the Hong Kong Tourism Board have collaborated to show off gems of Hong Kong cuisine through a culinary adventure as led by two blokes: Michelin-starred restaurant-trained Chef Christian Yang and professional traveler Ian Wright.
The show, A Taste of Hong Kong 3, premieres on TLC on Sept. 30 at 6:40 p. m. It’s just a short walk: the new season lasts only for three episodes.
Both gentlemen are TV show hosts already: Mr. Yang is the host of NOW TV’s Chef Corner and Junior Chef Corner, while Mr. Wright hosts Globe Trekker and Invite Mr. Wright.
Hong Kong has a history spanning centuries, squeezed into a small land mass. A former territory of the British Empire wrested from the Chinese in the Opium Wars, it was eventually returned to China as a semi-autonomous area in the 1990s. Thus the city has enjoyed influences from both the East and the West, rooted in tradition despite its continuous lead towards modernity. Hong Kong is after all, known as one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.
High-end hotels and restaurants mingle with street food from the older city’s quarters, and that’s what the pair set out to explore.
In the first episode, the pair go to a popular film location, the Central Mid- Levels Escalators ( as seen in Chungking Express), and eat, of all things, snake soup, going next to two Michelin-starred restaurant Amber.
For the rest of the episodes, the pair go off on adventures such as these, mixing high and low, and West and East.
“Everything was very true to the culture,” said Mr. Yang at a press conference on Sept. 20 in Shangri-La the Fort. “I think the chefs now... they’re quite proud of their culture, and they’re using new techniques to cook old dishes. So you’ve got something [fresh] but still keeps that heart of the dish.”
As Simon Wong, regional director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board in Southeast Asia told BusinessWorld: “I think it is inside Hong Kong’s DNA, that Hong Kong is constantly changing. Hong Kong is a very small place; we treat it [ like it is] very compact, but the variety there is awesome.” —