GBA4 | GBAFOCUS Friday, October 9, 2020 KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY

ne of Kate Lai’s fondest child- around the world, its culture and tradi- years here,” Li reveals. “Then he retired hood memories is heading for tions have become diluted through suc- and returned to his home in Florida. I took a pun choi feast in her father’s cessive waves of migration. Alvin Leung, over fi ve years ago after I moved back to Cuisine village of Ngau Tam Mei, west founder of three Michelin starred restau- from New York, and learned Oof Yuen Long in Hong Kong’s New Terri- rant Bo Innovation in Hong Kong and how to make his signature dishes.” tories. Originally from , her great- judge on MasterChef Canada, cautions As Shum Chung Manor is situated along grandfather relocated to farm in the New that Hakka cuisine will cease to exist if it a scenic trail, it is popular with locals on Territories. Although her father went to is not preserved. weekend walks. Li admits that there are live in the city’s urban area when he began He admits that while his wife is of Hakka a few dishes that hungry hikers expect working, the family still gathers for lunar descent and adept at replicating tradition- on the menu when they arrive, such as New Year, weddings and other celebrations al Hakka dishes, their daughter is another its organic chicken, stewed pork or oyster in Ngau Tam Mei. And traditional Hakka story. To pay homage to their heritage, he omelette. To meet their expectations, he cuisine is always on the menu. created Mui Choy Kau Yoke, a delicate take roped in his cousin and seasoned cook Jim- “When I was a child, my aunts made pun on preserved mustard greens with pork bo Wong from Ireland to man the stoves. choi by hand — which always tasted better belly that is a Hakka standard. “Back in my uncle’s time, the oysters for than in restaurants,” recalls Lai, a busi- “Both my wife and mother-in-law cook a our oyster omelette came from the sea — ness consultant. “The best stuƒ — prawns, lot of Hakka dishes,” Leung admits. “Hakka older ladies used to pick them from near chicken, roast pork, dried scallops people like to entertain with big banquets the pier and sold them to us,” Li says. “They and dried oysters — is layered and are known for their hospitality. The were very fresh, and we use a combination on top; beneath it are lay- food is very rustic. Many were originally of duck and chicken eggs. We cook the oys- ers of bok choy; at the farmers and lunch box food needed to ters fi rst with scallions before adding the very bottom of the bowl travel well. I personally love the cuisine — eggs. The dish became well-known. Now is the pork skin and tur- it is hearty fare.” we buy the oysters from the wet markets.” nip, which absorbs all the For his take on the Hakka classic, Leung Lai too feels that the Hakka dishes she delicious juices that have was inspired by the version made by his grew up with have evolved, and are now mother-in-law that he fed to his healthier, in keeping with health-conscious Hakka cuisine has its roots in the culture’s daughter when she was a lifestyles. “The dishes are less fatty, with nomadic past — preserving food for baby. “The classic method less oil and salt,” she says. “Our favorite is to slow cook preserved dish is the salt-baked chicken — when travel while infusing them with strong Savory Chinese mustard greens done well, the chicken is moist and juicy. flavors. tucks into the Hakka and pork belly sea- We also like the dish with minced pork Rebecca Lo cha guo (tea soned with and fi sh. Hakka cuisine’s intense fl avors delicious story of its evolution. cake) comes and sugar,” he notes. come from when our ancestors used to with black-eyed “My version involves work in fi elds doing hard physical labor or pea, coconut, yam, isolating these essen- when they were semi-nomadic. Salt was peanut or tial fl avors and mak- used to preserve a wide variety of food filling. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO ing it into a royale. It products that were then transported or CHINA DAILY is steamed in baby food kept for a long time.” Pun jars to create a savory cus- Though she enjoys Hakka cuisine, Lai choi is a multi- tard that is irresistible. For admits that she rarely cooks it at home as layered feast topped the only Hakka dish on my menu, the dishes are time consuming. Coupled with prawns, chicken, I wanted to do something with very dis- with diminishing Hakka restaurants in roast pork, dried scallops tinctive fl avors that is also very practical.” the city, the skills necessary for making and oysters. accu- Bo Innovation’s Mui Choy Kau Yoke is traditional dishes is on the decline. mulated. It packaged in baby food jars. Like many Leung is afraid that Hakka cuisine may visually resem- of Leung’s other dishes at the fi ne dining eventually become absorbed into and bles a big feast.” establishment, the dish is deconstructed indistinguishable from cuisine. Hakka, or guest clan in to resemble the Hakka favorite while ref- “If the methods for making traditional literal translation, is a erencing cherished childhood culinary Hakka dishes are not passed on from gen- culturally and linguis- memories. eration to generation, they will die out,” tically unique sect he warns. “Ethnic cuisine is losing out to of Han Chinese. Hungry hiker’s repast fast food. And we have so many regional Many trace their Though it may be argued that dishes to choose from: Chiuchow, roots to southern cuisine is increasingly diluted, there are Shanghai, Sichuan — I see Hong Kong’s China, though they still some authentic places that dish up tastes changing all the time. All of these are believed to have old favorites. One unlikely restaurant is in formerly regional cuisines are coming migrated there the middle of Sai Kung in the tiny Hakka together now, and becoming less distinc- from central and village of Sham Chung. tive.” northern China The Li family has lived in the pastoral Bo during Qin Dynas- setting for eight generations and operates a IF YOU GO Innovation ty more than two tuck shop with family-style restaurant in a founder Alvin millennia ago. village house dating back to 1936. Dubbed Bo Innovation Leung feels there is a risk J Residence, Shop 8, Podium 1, With an estimat- Shum Chung Manor, the traditional Chi- 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai of Hakka cuisine becoming ed 120 million Hakka nese two-storey home is currently being www.boinnovation.com/html/ indistinguishable from living painstakingly restored by Michael Li into cuisine over time. Shum Chung Manor a guesthouse. Cheung Sheung Country Trail, Sai Kung “My uncle ran the show for 20 http://hklegend.ueuo.com/shumchung/

Food enthusiast Kate Lai welcomes the healthy adaptations Hakka dishes have undergone Duck and chicken eggs in recent go into making the oyster years. omelette served at Shum Chung Manor. The dish Organic Hakka is a favorite of hikers chicken is Shum exploring the scenic trails Chung Manor’s around Sai Kung. Shum Chung interpretation of traditional Manor proprietor salt-baked chicken. Michael Li moved back to Hong Kong from New York to run a family-style Hakka restaurant.

Bo Innovation has put a delicate At Shum Chung Manor, a spin on the regular little extra chili is added to Hakka slow-cooked the traditional Hakka stewed preserved mustard pork to give it a spicy kick. greens with pork belly.

Movies 68 and still going strong By ELIZABETH KERR son’s innate gravitas and the irony of avenging the murder of his son inCold Courtney) and Ramon Hall (Anthony seeing him elevate a B-movie above Pursuit. Ramos) decide to take the money Over the course of the last 20 years, its humble station, the movie raked in The framework varies only slightly. and claim Carter was just another Irish actor Liam Neeson has turned a whopping $230 million worldwide. Neeson plans an angry dad/lawman/ kook falsely confessing to the notori- in some truly indelible performances Little did anyone realize then that it average Joe in the wrong place at the ous robberies. Of course, he wins an — in Steve McQueen’s feminist heist would also launch Neeson’s own per- wrong time required to prove his ally in honorable agent Tom Meyers thriller Widows and Martin Scorsese’s sonal sub-genre: let’s call it geri-action. own innocence in whatever crime he (Jeƒ rey Donovan), but must avenge meditation on faith, Silence, for exam- Plenty of think pieces have interro- appears to be entangled in. He’s sur- the attack on his integrity. This time, ple. He’s done some genuine comedy gated why audiences are so enamored rounded by a starry supporting cast. “I’m coming for you,” is the phrase in Lord & Miller’s The Lego Movie, by Neeson’s peculiar brand of tough The posters are as interchangeable as of the day. dabbled in blockbusters (Star Wars: guy action. The closest equivalents, the plots. Still, $1.6 billion in global There are no surprises in Honest Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis, have box o¦ ce on a total of $400 million in Thief, which slots nicely within Nee- Batman Begins), and of course really evolved into cranky, bored old men, budgets doesn’t lie. He currently has son’s late-career profi le as a badass, burst on the scene in Schindler’s List. in a series of roles totally devoid of three more fi lms like this in various but co-writer-sophomore director Wil- But ask most movie-goers what they the charms that made them stars. stages of production. liams (The Family Man) manages to think of when his name is spoken But Neeson has transformed into our Director Mark Williams’ Honest squeeze in some genuine character and the likely answer is Taken’s Bryan collective, favorite bruising grandpa Thief features Neeson as bank robber moments and pulls a delightful perfor- Honest Thief Mills, a former CIA operative with a who could be counted on to kick ass Tom Carter, who wants to atone for his mance from Donovan as the dogged very special set of skills. when needed: as a plane crash sur- crimes, return the stolen loot, and live agent trying to do right. Neeson’s act- Directed by Mark Williams, Pierre Morel’s Taken was a lark; vivor battling wolves in The Grey; a happily ever after with his new girl- ing his age — 68 now — and outrun- written by Steve Allrich, Mark a diverting, pulpy thriller made on former cop avenging a murdered DEA friend Annie Sumpter (Kate Walsh). ning Donovan, a fi t 52, is preposterous, Williams. Starring Liam Neeson. a thin $25 million budget. On the agent in the moody A Walk Among the He tries to turn himself into the FBI, but even with bum knees he’s proving The US, 98 minutes, IIA. strength of the (then) 56-year-old Nee- Tombstones; and a snow plow driver but crooked agents John Nivens (Jai there’s glee in the old boy yet. Opens Oct 8.