How Bruce Lee’s yellow jumpsuit from Game of Death – copied by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill – inspired a favourite Hong Kong dish
Uma Thurman famously quoted the kung fu hero’s classic costume – now MasterChef Canada chef Alvin Leung, founder of Hong Kong’s Bo Innovation, has paid peculiar tribute with a new yellow tofu dish inspired by Lee’s favourite food, oyster sauce and beef
When Hong Kong was just a barren rock, Canton was the food capital of southern China. With the influx of Chinese and Russians immigrants from the mainland in the 1950s, not only did the population of Hong Kong explode, so did the cuisine.
Chefs from Canton – the city today better known as Guangzhou – moved to Hong Kong during this great migration and, with the influences of British and Russian cuisine, the city started to etch out its own unique fare, from street food such as cart noodles to casual cha chaan teng culture, with its take on French toast and borscht. Hong Kong also became the home of modern dim sum.
Hong Kong’s culinary journey continues into the 21st century with world-class chefs creating fine dining dishes celebrating local ingredients and Chinese tradition that can only be experienced in the city.
MasterChef Canada’s Alvin Leung, whose flagship restaurant Bo Innovation was the first to experiment in molecular-style techniques with Chinese ingredients back in 2003, still has a reputation for creating dishes that are completely different. He calls it “X-treme cuisine”, intending to break down the preconceptions of what Chinese food should look and taste like, thus creating new taste sensations.
“I was possibly the first to showcase Chinese ingredients,” says Leung. “So I was one of the first to say, ‘Hey, you do not have to use imported vegetables to make it good’. I did showcase Chinese flavours; I was one of the first ones to use fu yu, ham yu and lap cheong and incorporate [them] into [this style of] cuisine.”
But Leung had quite a rocky start. While some loved his molecular cuisine, he had haters, too – one writer called it the “Chinese El Bulli”.
However, Leung says the criticism made him more determined to perfect his craft, and Bo Innovation started to garner awards; by 2012, it was listed as one of the world’s best restaurants.
Leung celebrates Hong Kong culture and calls his flagship restaurant Bo Innovation “The Hong Kong story”, with the menu and decor focusing on aspects of Hong Kong’s history and events (there is an “Aberdeen corner”, for instance). His signatures over the years have included molecular versions of xiao long bao and Hong Kong egg waffles. One of his recent menu items is a Bruce Lee-inspired dish.
