Food

Chef Jowett Yu’s pairing of grilled New Zealand fatty lamb ribs and an especially brewed beer has been years in the making. Years ago in China, the Hong Kong restaurateur had eaten lamb ribs at Guanguanji, a restaurant in Shanghai. The lamb had been slathered in cumin, fennel and chilli powder, and he had wanted to wash it all down with an ice-cold beer – which the restaurant did not serve. Now, however, Yu has finally been able to marry the two together. Dad Bod, a beer brewed in Hong Kong by Young Master Brewery, is sold exclusively at Ho Lee Fook, Yu’s modern Chinese restaurant in Soho – an upscale entertainment district in Hong Kong. Dad Bod is a pale ale made with guava that “cuts throu

India and masala chai are inextricably linked in the popular imagination. Across the country, the sweet and spicy aroma of chai (which means tea) wafts out of homes, offices and railway stations.  Its rich, creamy consistency invokes comparisons to coffee, and even in Starbucks it is as much a part of daily life as its bean-based competitor. And if we read the tea leaves closely, we will see that the history of masala chai is intertwined with China and its own troubled history with the British Empire.  The mythology of tea dates back to the story of Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who traveled to China in the late-5th or early-6th century. The monk, credited with founding Zen Buddhism and Shaol

Visiting foodies in search of gratification are spoiled for choice in Asia.  From dim sum in Hong Kong and pho in Vietnam to sashimi in Japan or tom yum goong in Thailand, there is no shortage of taste-bud tingling experiences to write postcards home about.  But what about vegan and vegetarian visitors? Can a region best known for its meat-based offerings cater to those living on a purely plant-based diet? Increasingly, yes. 9% of the Asia-Pacific population identified as vegan in 2016, which means abstaining from consuming food, wearing clothes and using products that come from animals, according to online statistics portal Statista.  The region has the largest share of plant-based consumer

What’s inspiring some of Hong Kong’s cake designers? The ongoing anti-government protests. One cake with a political message even found its way to Cake International in the UK over the weekend, where it was disqualified from the confectionery competition because the entry’s content and message behind it “has been viewed as offensive and led to complaints from attendees,” according to an Instagram post quoting the organizer. Here are some of the bakeries that have taken dessert decorating to another level – and what inspired their creations. Amai Workshop Known for its signature marble fondant cake, Amai Workshop’s bespoke cake designs have been wowing customers since 2015. Its protest themed

The sweet, chewy boba balls are not only in your bubble tea, they could also be on top of your pizza.  Domino’s and Pizza Hut are offering pizzas topped with boba in Taiwan, the birthplace of the original bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea.  The boba pizza is already being sold at Domino’s on the island. It costs NT$199 ($6.50) to have a “brown sugar boba pizza” delivered. It’s topped with black boba, white mochi balls, honey and cheese. Customers can pay extra for extra cheese.  Pizza Hut will start selling its own version on November 1. The pizza, topped with black boba, cheese, a milky sauce and another sauce made with Ceylon tea, will cost NT$329 ($10.8). It’s vegetarian, by the w

Like most armies around the world, the Chinese military has its own brand of ready-to-eat meals, designed to be eaten out in the field.  It’s a challenge to cater to the different tastes in the world’s biggest armed force. Chinese soldiers have in the past complained about the plain flavors of their rations.  Despite that, rations made for the People’s Liberation Army have become popular among the country’s military enthusiasts. PLA meal packs can be easily found on online shopping sites.  We taste-tested two sets of ready-to-eat meals designed for Chinese soldiers. Watch the video to find out more. 

A bubble tea exhibit has opened in Singapore, where boba lovers can dive into a pit of 10,000 plastic boba.  There's also a scent wall where visitors can sniff and try out several different types of tea.

With anti-government protests into their 18th week, Hong Kong restaurants have rarely had it tougher. Visitor numbers are down and city residents are less keen to go out to eat. Hong Kong groups that have expanded overseas, however, are faring better. These groups have exported their cuisine around the world: from New York and Las Vegas to Singapore and Sydney. Aqua Restaurant Group’s Hutong opened in the Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood back in 2003 and is known for its northern Chinese cuisine and breathtaking views of Hong Kong. The group recently opened Hutong on Lexington Avenue in New York, in a space that was formerly home to French restaurant Le Cirque. It is the group’s first restaurant i

In Yau Ma Tei, a bustling area of Hong Kong, food stalls stand side-by-side, enticing diners with a heady aroma from the dishes they are boiling, steaming and frying. Rising above the medley of fragrances is a pungent odor that suddenly hits the nostrils. As it intensifies, the rotten smell rapidly envelopes the whole street. It comes from a woman who is chowing down on tofu that she bought a nearby stall. Leaning forward to prevent the sauce from staining her shirt, she sinks her teeth into the fermented, fried tofu slathered with a brown sauce.   Lisa Xiao, from Hubei province in central China, came to Hong Kong for a holiday with her family. “The dressing is reminiscent of my childhood,”

The Silicon Valley startup Impossible Foods makes a business out of convincing carnivores that vegan burgers can taste just as beefy as the real deal. But as the company’s founder, Patrick Brown, has set his sight on China, calling the country an “essential” market at a forum on Wednesday, the world’s largest meat consumer has responded with skepticism. Given China’s long history of making and eating faux meat, a Buddhist tradition that is also widely followed by non-believers, some commentators have dismissed the American company’s offering as uninspiring. “China’s vegetarian restaurant is the gem! We have had mock meats since forever, and they can beat those foreign synthetic meats in a h