Ebook Chinese Soul Food

Chinese Soul Food (LitE Version) By Kwoklyn Wan Photography by Sarah Carter & Hanna Christine Williams www.facebook.com/sarahcarterphotographypage/ INTRODUCTION “Food is as important as breathing, we must eat to live” My earliest memories are the ones surrounded by my family, sitting down to feast on banquets of home-style Chinese soul food. Dad grew up in a small village in Hong Kong called Tam Shui Hang, which borders China. The food eaten in this region is called Hakka and here is where my food story begins. Dad would often recreate dishes from his childhood and as a family we would sit to eat and listen to the stories of his life as a mischievous young man growing up in a dusty village surrounded by mountains, farm land, forests and the ocean. Growing up in the heart of Leicester we, my elder sister Oilen and younger brother Gok, were constantly surrounded by food. It has played such an important part in all of our lives. Granddad Wan moved to the UK in 1962 and opened Leicester’s very first Chinese restaurant called the Hung Lau. Dad followed along with his younger and elder siblings and EVERYONE learnt their trade here. In the early 70’s Dad took over as Manager and this then became our playground; this is where Oilen, Gok and myself spent a lot of time playing with our elder cousins. Hiding under the tables, running through the kitchen and bolting up and down the stairs as my cousins would chase us with dead bees they had found in the window. Every day we got to enjoy Staff Dinner as an extended family; staff dinner resembled nothing like what was available on the menu, staff dinner was home style cooking at its very very best. Dishes would pour out of the kitchen cooked by my Dad’s sisters; Steamed Egg, Salt Baked Chicken, Clay Hotpot, Whole Fish, succulent juicy Chinese greens all served with mountains of fluffy rice. 1 | INTRODUCTION Clockwise from top left: My wonderful Parents, 1969; Dad sporting a sheep skin coat back in the early 70’s; My Nan (Mum’s mum) and Granddad (Dad’s dad) at my parents wedding, 1969; Here we are celebrating the Queens Jubilee standing outside of our house on Calder Road, in Leicester; 1977 on the ferry to the Isle of Wight 2 | INTRODUCTION In 1978 Dad decided it was 0me to open his own restaurant and the Bamboo House was founded. Located in the heart of Leicester City Centre and only 5 minutes from the Haymarket Theatre it was an instant success, visited by theatre goers and the actors who were performing on stage. The loca0on was fantas0c but it was also Leicester’s very first Cantonese restaurant too. Before the Bamboo, Chinese restaurants in Leicester were simply English restaurants with a few Chop Suey dishes thrown in for good measure. Dad would oJen take me to work at the restaurant and aged five I would proudly stand next to him wearing my white shirt, black trousers and black bow 0e - Dad wanted people to know that the Bamboo House was a family run restaurant. I remember in such detail standing watching the chefs Lam Yee Yau and Charlie (a funny liOle Chinese man) chop vats of beef, pork and chicken. I can s0ll hear the roar of the industrial flame thrower (Wok range) as they fired it up ready to start cooking. The Bamboo House is where I started to learn about the complexity and precision required to create not just good but great Cantonese food. Staff dinners here were just as good but different, as Lam Yee Yau and Charlie had both trained in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Wanton Noodles were oJen on the staff dinner table; the broth was salty, aroma0c with a hint of heat, while the noodles were springy, firm and chewy and the Wantons, well what can I say? They were firm but sloppy and the filling was minced to perfec0on so you s0ll got the texture of the prawn which sat inside. In 1983 Mum and Dad opened The Panda Restaurant as they wanted somewhere with living accommoda0on directly above for us (The Wan Children). Throughout all of my teens, every weekend and some weeknights I worked in the restaurant and at the tender age of sixteen I started working full 0me for my parents. 3 | INTRODUCTION Clockwise from top left: I am so in love with this picture, a very young John Wan (Dad) perched on a car behind the Hung Lau Restaurant in his Whites and a Dickie Bow; the Hung Lau restaurant adorning the Chinese style roof tiles; Oilen, Gok & I standing in front of the Hung Lau with our uncle; Dad and big auntie standing next to the nine seater van Grandad bought to transport all the staff. 4 | INTRODUCTION The Panda was listed in the Good Food Guide so we were busy and it wasn’t long before Dad and I were side by side in front of a whole range of Woks. Staff dinners varied, at the weekends it tended to be catered for our team of English waiters and waitresses who wanted Shredded Chilli Beef or Sweet and Sour Chicken but during the week Dad and I would cook Hakka food (Salt Chicken being my favourite). Thirty years after Dad had arrived here in the UK he was now terribly home sick and confident that I could man the fort, he and Mum went to Hong Kong leaving me in charge. Only in my early twenties but with over 15 years’ experience in the restaurant game, here I was running Leicester’s finest Cantonese and Peking restaurant. Unbeknown to me, Dad had been nurturing me to take over his food empire. Hong Kong had been calling my entire adult life; I had often sat and talked to Dad about his life growing up in the village and of his 3 hour daily trip into Mong Kok, Kowloon, to go to school. I desperately needed; I desperately wanted to see Hong Kong for myself. Finally arriving, the overwhelming feeling of home filled me and it was like I knew the city already. I confidently walked the streets and made my way around the public transport system. Fascinated by the variety of Dai Pai Dongs (Street Food Hawkers) who specialised in a singular dish, I made it my mission to explore, discover and eat my way around each and every one. Modern but Classical Soul Food and I loved every single mouthful. I had no idea you could gain a Street Food Michelin Star until I visited this amazing home from home. Food, besides being an absolute necessity for existence, is one of the few pleasures which span the entirety of our lives. For this reason, the joy of eating is given great importance. Chinese people pay great attention to the colour, smell, taste, texture and shape of their food; the taste is regarded as the soul of Chinese food. There are five main flavours, which can be categorised as Salty, Spicy, Sour, Sweet and Bitter and recently umami can now be added to this list. Mastering how to harmoniously combine the flavours improves taste and in Chinese medicine achieves the balance to promote health benefits. 5 | INTRODUCTION Clockwise from top left: Mum & Dad with the Lam Yee Yau and Charlie at the Bamboo House; Opening day of the Bamboo House 1978 with Chinese Lion Dance; Oilen, Janine and Kathy the waitress team at the Panda Restaurant; opening day at the Panda Restaurant 1984; The Wan’s posing for a traditional Chinese photo at Chinese New Year. 6 | INTRODUCTION This book was born out of the desire to share my food journey, no… my food passion with you. To truly understand tradi9onal Chinese cookery, its meaning, its story, let me take you on a tour through what can only be described as CHINESE SOUL FOOD. 7 | INTRODUCTION “It’s simple: great ingredients make great food” To truly get that authentic Chinese taste, you have to use authentic Chinese ingredients. Most major supermarkets will have a world food aisle, but most cities will also have their own Chinese supermarkets and they are well worth a visit. Chinese cooking requires a little understanding but once you learn how to combine tastes and textures, you’re on your way to creating perfectly authentic dishes. Chinese Aromatics – THE HOLY TRINITY There are three ingredients which usually hit a Hot Wok before anything else. Ginger, Garlic and Spring Onion. Not always used together, but very often used in different combinations in Chinese cooking, especially Cantonese. 8 | INTRODUCTION “Good cooks never lack friends” Woks were originally designed to sit over a hole, hence their famous round bo7oms, so trying to get an authen8c wok to sit on top of a conven8onal cooker is near on impossible without a wok ring. Wok rings (which can be bought in any Oriental supermarket), sit directly over the bars of a standard gas cooker and the wok nestles snuggly on top. In China, woks are made from cast iron or carbon-steel and season beau8fully, basically the more you use your wok, the more non-s8ck they become. 9 | INTRODUCTION HAKKA CHINESE HOME STYLE COOKING “I’m proud to be Hakka” DAD would often say. “What is Hakka?” we would ask. “It is the food of my people!” The Hakka people have a unique style of Chinese cooking, which is little known outside of the Hakka home. It concentrates on the texture of food – the hallmark of Hakka cuisine.

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