Food & Drink
Profile | Why a Paris chef serves congee at her Michelin-star French restaurant
Chef Manon Fleury of one-Michelin-star Datil in Paris serves a rice porridge dish based on Chinese congee. She talks about her women-heavy kitchen brigade and championing female chefs.
Profile | Coffee shop Land to Sea in New York pays homage to Hong Kong and China
In New York and missing Hong Kong? Look no further than Land to Sea, a home-style coffee shop inspired by Hong Kong culture – think neon, Chinese newspapers and porcelain tea cups.
They said Michael Chow was too Chinese to be an artist. Look at him now
Famous for his celebrity-packed chain of Chinese restaurants, 85-year-old Michael Chow talks about facing prejudice, and why he wants to be known as the world’s greatest living artist.
How sourdough experiments in lockdown led to Asian baking recipe book
New versions of old recipes for pineapple buns and Asian crullers, his own recipe for durian cake – Christopher Tan explains what got him started on cookbook NerdBaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies.
Bitter, tasteless and hard to swallow? Not the TCM on this restaurant menu
Fine dining meets traditional Chinese medicine at The Mira Hong Kong’s Cuisine Cuisine restaurant, where chef Edwin Tang creates health-replenishing dishes that incorporate TCM ingredients.
When panic buying at a Hong Kong bakery chain led to a 3-day ‘cake run’
When a rumour swept Hong Kong that bakery chain Maria’s was going out of business, holders of vouchers for its cakes began panic buying. Some 400 bakers worked to meet demand until the ‘cake run’ ended.
Profile | Fired 3 times, Grace Choy found her vocation as chef of her own restaurant
Chef and cookbook author Grace Choy tells Kate Whitehead about her ‘simple’ childhood above the family’s mahjong shop in Hong Kong and how itchy feet have led her to Tokyo.
Where to eat on Cheung Chau, a Hong Kong island where old meets new
On Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau island, hip cafes and restaurants exist alongside traditional vendors selling noodles, seafood and dumplings. We’ve selected 15 of the best ones to try on your next visit.
How the world’s chefs are borrowing from Cantonese cuisine
From Italy to Japan, a growing number of chefs around the world are borrowing techniques, recipes and ingredients from Cantonese cuisine – but is it a threat to the food’s authenticity?
Brewed awakening: can Blue Bottle’s instant coffee match the real thing?
Before the dalgona trend, coffee nerds and purists turned their noses up at instant coffee granules – now, some are making their own. Can Blue Bottle’s instant espresso match the real thing?
Language Matters | Japanese ‘katsu’, from English ‘cutlet’, now English word in its own right
Among Japanese origin added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2024 is katsu, a ‘boomerang word’ – one the Japanese borrowed from English in the first place.
Hidden messages in Chinese names of Britain’s Chinese restaurants
A testament to the Chinese love of clever wordplay, Chinese restaurants in Britain often have witty or pun-tastic Chinese names that are like encoded in-jokes for the diaspora.
‘I want a Michelin star’: Germany-based Vietnamese chef The Duc Ngo
Having fled to Hong Kong from Vietnam in the 1970s, Berlin-based chef The Duc Ngo has gone on to redefine Asian fusion cuisine in restaurants in Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany.
Profile | Switzerland has 1 Michelin-star Chinese restaurant. Meet its chef
Having blazed a trail across China, chef Frank Xu left for Europe, where he gives guests at Switzerland’s only Michelin-star Chinese restaurant, Le Tsé Fung, an authentic taste of his homeland.
Butter chicken wars: who does New Delhi’s signature dish best?
Delhi is a city of endless squabbles – over who makes the best version of the Indian capital’s signature dish. We look at some of the restaurants vying for butter chicken supremacy, and how to make it best.
Reflections | Move over, soba. After oodles of udon on a trip to Japan, I’m a convert
Soba and soumen wheat noodles are my preferred Japanese varieties, but after eating udon on a visit to Kagawa in Shikoku, especially the local Sanuki udon, I was won over by their chewiness.
The millennial dumpling makers spreading the word about a Chinese staple
The Chinese dumpling is being made more accessible to Western diners by Chinese millennials, who are creating new fillings inspired by international cuisines and catering to non-meat eaters.
Vietnamese chefs are updating pho, without taking soup makeover too far
Pho is Vietnam’s national dish, a fragrant noodle soup with slices of rare beef, herbs and spices. Chefs are creating new versions, although the basic flavours remain true.
Gastronomy in the Instagram age: more conformist, or more diverse?
Social media’s influence on gastronomy is significant, with chefs sacrificing originality for likes, but is the Instagram age only bad for haute cuisine? Top chefs from around the world give their take.
The Heart Surgeon’s Cookbook challenges cooks and trainee surgeons’ skills
A cookbook by Swedish chef Fredrik Berselius doubles as an instruction manual for trainee surgeons but can be equally enjoyed by home chefs looking to sharpen their knife skills.