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stomach so they could make a living, and competition among Sautéed Mud Crab with chefs became fiercer and fiercer. Hence, people were motivated Brown Sauce, Edamame to meticulously develop even more traditional dishes. and Glutinous Rice Cakes Today, cuisine is usually served at state banquets. Premier Zhou Enlai was born in Ingredients Huai’an, so he loved Huaiyang • 850g mud crab cuisine. Interestingly, it’s said • 110g glutinous rice cakes (Ningbo rice cakes) that Yangzhou is famous for • 40g shelled edamame three knives: the chef’s knife, • 15g ginger the pedicure knife and the • 15g scallions haircut knife. • Flour

Is there a philosophy behind this dish? Seasonings In terms of Chinese medicine, • 32g Kwong Cheong Thye dark soy sauce crab is considered a type of • 15g light soy sauce “cold” food, while the brown • 30g granulated sugar bean sauce is “warm”. In order • 30g Shaoxing Huadiao wine to keep our bodies healthy, the • 15g oyster sauce brown bean sauce is essential to balance out the cold nature of mud crab. It’s a similar Wash the mud crab thoroughly and chop it philosophy with ginger and into pieces. Slice the ginger and glutinous rice vinegar, which is usually served cakes. Cut the scallions into 5cm-long pieces. with hairy crab. Remove the skin from the edamame beans. There is a symbolism for this Heat some oil to around 200˚C in a wok. dish, too. Mud crab will turn Dust the crab with flour before adding it in. red when fully cooked and Fry until golden brown and set aside. xecutive chef Chen Xiaohe of 10 Shanghai Why is Yangzhou known as such a hotspot in Chinese, “red” corresponds with fire, Reduce the amount of oil, then add in the has devoted himself to cooking for for outstanding chefs? symbolising good fortune and joy. Rice cakes ginger and scallions and fry until fragrant. Add more than 20 years and developed an There’s a long history for this phenomenon in have an identical sound to 年, meaning “year” the crab back into the wok and pour in the expertise in . He has terms of Yangzhou’s unique geography and cul- in Chinese. As such, eating this dish has the Shaoxing wine. Eworked for a variety of renowned restaurants ture. Starting in the Shang Dynasty, Huaiyang symbolism of bringing good fortune every Add in the edamame, rice cakes, dark soy and government organisations, including the cuisine developed quickly, especially during year. Therefore, people normally order sauce, light soy sauce, granulated sugar, Fairmont Peace Hotel, Oriental City Hotel and the Qing Dynasty, and became famous among it at weddings, Chinese New Year or oyster sauce and 1.5 litres of water. Cook for Empire City Huaiyang, and was the director the various Chinese cuisines. For a long time, other celebrations. 7 to 8 minutes. by CDLP of Shanghai & Huaiyang cuisine for the Super Yangzhou has had an Star Group in Shanghai. Chef Chen also worked established food culture. for the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force Its famous dishes in Beijing from 2002 to 2011, where he was include Yangzhou fried responsible for preparing Huaiyang feasts for rice, braised pork balls directorate officers. in brown sauce, braised Here, Chen shares his inspiration and his pork knuckle and more. recipe for sautéed mud crab with brown sauce, In the Qing Dynasty, edamame and glutinous rice cakes. the Qianlong Emperor [who ruled from 1735 to 1796] took seven trips to Jiangnan [a region When did you create this recipe? that combines today’s I created it in 1999 when I worked at the , Ningbo, Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Rice cakes Hangzhou, Yangzhou are popular in Shanghai, while [north and more]. When of Shanghai] is famous for seafood like mud the emperor went to crab. I came up with the idea of cooking crab Yangzhou, he discovered and rice cake together when I was chatting that the cuisine there with a colleague. I imagined that the rice cakes was very delicious and would absorb the essence of the crab and that it he liked it very much. might bring the rice cakes to another level. So Yangzhou people wanted we gave it a try and found it tasted nice. to please the emperor’s Later, I recommended this dish to my customers and they loved it.

Where do you source the ingredients from? For Huaiyang cuisine, most of the ingredients are imported from Shanghai and Yangzhou. [Like terroir in wine], the place, breeding or cultivation of the ingredients will affect the flavours. Executive chef Chen Xiaohe (left) and Paul Kwok (right) owner of 10 Shanghai

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If borders are invisible to viruses, then to win the battle against them, we too must eliminate borders

oveWithoutBorders is a new culture, creativity, social innovation a pack of five NWD-produced masks shared support platform, and sustainability. from the dispensers every week for 10 unveiled by New World Like many, Cheng has been appalled consecutive weeks, lasting until the Development (NWD) during by the shortage of face masks in end of July. Lthe COVID-19 outbreak, which aims to different communities and felt suffi- Cheng’s also upped the medical bring together creative and sustainable ciently troubled by the reality to set ante with his masks. NWD has set up solutions to challenges brought on up mask production lines, invent the an anti-epidemic HK$10 million fund by the pandemic. This platform also first “mask-to-go” dispensers and smart for local families via its charitable underpins NWD’s global initiative to redemption card system in Hong Kong, foundation, building its own mask continuously give back to communities and collaborate with non-profit organ- production lines in Hong Kong and provide support to those in need isations in finding a safe and conven- with the aim of producing 7 million around the world while celebrating the ient way of distributing face masks to masks per month for distribution. power of love. low-income families for free. NWD has collaborated in a research NWD chief executive officer Adrian The group has partnered with 17 and development initiative with Cheng, also executive director of Chow NGOs to install mask dispensers at 37 Hong Kong-based engineering company Tai Fook and founder of the K11 Group, designated NGO centres in two phases, Master Dynamic; its nano-diamond has a long-term game plan for #Love- distributing free “Made in Hong Kong” coating technology is bacteriostatic, WithoutBorders to encourage people masks produced by the group to meaning that it can block off and sup- and businesses from a diverse back- pre-registered low-income families and press the growth of bacteria and viruses. ground to “create shared value” (CSV) disadvantaged groups. Each beneficiary “The power of business lies in the ability to China Daily provided Images and take action in the pursuit of the receives a smart redemption card with to care for communities and give back to betterment of humanity through a unique QR code that allows them society,” concludes Cheng. by CDLP