Vegan, farm-to-table and health-conscious eating: How is Hong Kong’s food scene changing amid the push to be more sustainable?
As dietary trends abound and the idea of a ‘foodie’ keeps evolving, it remains an open question how Chinese cuisine will adapt
With flavours ranging from southern Cantonese to northern Pekingese and everywhere in between, Chinese cuisine is diverse. Each province offers its own unique taste, influenced by regional plants and spices, local environmental conditions and hundreds of years of tradition. With char siu bao, Sichuan chilli peppers, roasted mutton, dan dan noodles and more to choose from, the cuisine leaves ample space for both diversity and individuality to flourish.
However, as dietary trends take the world by storm and the idea of a “foodie” keeps evolving, it remains an open question how a cuisine thousands of years old will adapt and mould itself to fit new times. While it is unlikely that the hunger for traditional Chinese tastes will be drowned out, fresh variations might emerge, marrying flavours of the past with recent trends and ideas, and birthing something unique.
This week, City Weekend explores some of these foodie trends and analyses how they might fit into Hong Kong’s Chinese food scene.
Plant-based diets
Veganism and vegetarianism are growing rapidly in popularity, both in Hong Kong and across the world. Between 2014 and 2017, the US saw a whopping 500 per cent surge in veganism, according to digital media company Global Data. While the meat market in Asia is considerable, in the five years between 2015 and 2020, China is expected to see a 17 per cent rise in veganism. What is more, because the Buddhist diet is grounded in vegetarianism (linked to a belief in reincarnation), advocates predict the move to a plant-based diet from an omnivorous Chinese one will not be difficult. The shift has begun in Hong Kong, with just one example being the founding of “meat-free Mondays” in 2012 by local sustainable living start-up Green Monday. In terms of Chinese cuisine, fully vegetarian restaurants abound locally, from Diamond Hill’s Chi Lin Vegetarian, to Causeway Bay’s numerous options. Many local restaurants have grown mindful of the plant-based trend, increasing their meat-free options such as in their dumplings or buns, or even creating a separate vegetarian menu.
