Beyond Chopsticks 以希飲食網

   By: Henry Yuen

          Where and how do you find “Harmony in Chaos”? The traffic in Hanoi, Vietnam  is surprisingly fitting.

          Everywhere you go, trucks of all sizes, buses old and new, vans big and small, cars mostly imports, motorbikes and bicycles often with drivers and cargoes, and hand-carts gather together on the same road, going at all directions.  Amazingly, the accident rate is extremely low here – according to my observation during my recent 5 days of stay, I saw only one fender bender.

Little markings; if any at all, and limited crosswalks are ignored by drivers and pedestrians. You cross the road whenever and wherever you desire and make turns as pleased. Crisscrossing amongst pedestrians and vehicles is regarded as a must.  Driving on pavements is normal during rush hour. Despite all these mayhem on the road, however, everybody – drivers, bikers, hawkers and pedestrians – all share the same road in harmony! There are no visible stress and very little confusion.  Locals seem to take in the traffic with good spirit and flow along smoothly. Albeit slower from our standards, the traffic always moves along without stoppage and congestion unlike what we encounter in high-traffic cities in North America.

Honking in Hanoi is absolutely normal and necessary for good reasons: To manoeuvre around the traffic and as an audio signal to fellow drivers.  Nobody honks senselessly or annoyingly, and the honking receivers never seem to mind but know exactly what direction to swerve to and at what speed. If you are in a hurry, you drive a bit more aggressively; and if you are not in any rush, you allow other vehicles to pass at ease.  Unlike the civilized North Americans, honking seldom elicit a finger from the other drivers, not even mean words, let alone swearing, even tailgating is occasional and without fist fights. Everybody accepts this crazily over-flown traffic as part of the daily living. Road rage, what road rage?

Pedestrians and hawkers are at ease finding their momentums and step in and out the sidewalks without ever frowning.  They never hesitate or run, but simply walk into and slide swiftly through the sea of vehicles.

It’s easy to walk from point A to point B in Hanoi, crossing the road is therefore inevitable. The first few attempts would obviously be scary. You may even ask yourself, “How am I going to do this?” or simply refuse to try.  But do not be despair or alarmed, to successfully cross the road in Hanoi is easier than J-walking in Vancouver, BC!

As tourists, crossing the road is a surely challenge at first, but do spend some time watching how the locals do it. Follow them closely as they are the ultimate survivors, day in and day out.  It won’t take long for you to pick up on these essential road-crossing techniques:

1) Walk with a steady pace no matter how chaotic the traffic is, but don’t run!

2) Never stop and go while crossing the road – it is suicidal. Hesitation only interferes with the flow of the wave of  traffic  – drivers are not good at guessing games. So be firm, take a deep breath and stride.

3) From your body language and the speed of your pace, drivers and bikers know how to adjust and avoid blocking or hitting you. Have confidence, let them do their job.

4) Drivers are used to be surrounded by other vehicles, mopeds and bikes alike. They know how and where to shift and even slow down just enough to allow you to cross, but they will not STOP! Stopping creates blockage and will likely cause the following vehicle to jam up or pile up.

5) Be sure to look all 4 ways because traffic comes from different directions, even on one way streets and sidewalks.

6) Don’t take sidewalks for granted because they are the extra lane during rush hours, be vigilant!

7) Absolutely no eye contact with the oncoming traffic! This is to avoid splitting up everyone’s focus and allowing what you see to disturb your pace. 

Last but not least – good luck and have a wonderful time in Hanoi! Just a reminder – make sure you purchase full travel insurance before you go!

Having worked in the food industry for quarter of a century, I’ve observed, participated and judged quite a few chefs competitions.  Interesting? They always are.  Inspiring? Definitely!  Fun? You bet!

            Just like the one I attended last month – CityTV Master Chefs Competition at Eat!FraserValley. The venue  - Tradex Exhibition Centre at Abbortsford – was nothing compared to BC Place or The Convention Centre downtown, but to my surprise, the layout, the atmosphere, the energy and the crowd’s response were so closed-knit, the rhythm was vibrant!

            While the chefs were busy getting nervous and taking turns to showcase their knifing skill and creative power, I had the chance to talk to a few in the audience and two Chinese chefs.  Sorry, didn’t get to taste the entries since no samplings were offered, so couldn’t be able to comment on any of them!

            A pair of sisters fromChilliwack: “These chefs can really cook! Look how good the platings are! Secret ingredients in a black box? 35 minutes time limit? We’ll be pacing around, jumping up and down not knowing where to start! Maybe we should go and take a few cooking lessons too! ”

            A lady with her boyfriend, while eating,“I brought so much, look, I need another bag! That’s why we have to sit down and take a break!  Wow, how cool is that to watch these professional chefs cook right in front of our eyes!”

            One older gentleman said to his son, “Where do they learn to cook like that! The food certainly looks pretty and yummy!”

            A couple young chaps were kind of disappointed, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we get to taste those deliciously looking dishes? Hey, we love to cook too! We should be one of the judges and have a chance to try the food!”

            Chef Mike Lee and Chef Sam Leung were the two competing Chinese chefs, not against each other, but aginst western chefs.  Both are members of BC Chefs Association and are currently cooking for two different Chinese seafood restaurants.  They were so composed and calm, they even joked a little bit before and after the competitions. To them, this was a great experience! “I’m happy just being part of the competition! Winning or not, not important!” They both agreed.

            I have waited a long time for this: Seeing Chinese chefs participating in main stream culinary events!  The bridge has been built; the gap has started to shrink. But most importantly, more and more ethnic chefs have taken a big stride – they have opened their kitchen doors to the others; ready and willing to step away from their comfort zones to embrace the world of culinary arts which should not be blocked by languages and ethnic backgrounds!

            Thanks to BC Chefs Association for reaching out to them, thanks to the organizer of Eat! Vancouver and Fraser Valleyfor setting up the competition, and to my friend Chef Clarence Ma, for making it a reality!  He’s the one in the background that has been working quietly but tenaciously as the chef ambassador to bring the Chinese chefs forward and leads them through into the welcoming hands of BC Chefs Association and even theCanadaChefs Association!

            I can foresee more and more chef meets to take place in Metro Vancouver – the famous food city in North American where ethnic cuisines are considered supreme, locally and globally; where chefs of all nationality and different culinary background share their ideas and plans to make the world a more delicious one!

Sizzling hot and aromatic BBQ chicken is a good-value PNE food choice

Visiting PNE at least once has been our annual family ritual.  Now that the kids are gone, PNE presents quite a different experience to us boomers who can roam the PNE ground more relaxingly, at a much leisurely pace.

The late afternoon sun is still working hard when we arrive. Thanks to global warming, the usual raindrops have gone somewhere else, making the stroll a bright and pleasant one.  Like many dog-lovers, the Super Dogs Show is a must-see for us. Even if the super Dogs alone would justify the $20 pp ticket, we still want to go find other fun and worthy things to do!  So what are the choices?

1/ Say hello to the farm animals! Farms and ranches are fun lands for all ages. The animals, big and tiny, never stop to amaze city slickers.  They are literally magnets to the young ones!  

2/ The pig race is on while we tumble into the packed and muggy barn.  The emcee does a great job engaging the audience by selecting sectional cheer-leaders and cracking up clean jokes.  After 20 minutes of mumble-jumble, the geese are out doing a bit of a prelude – they are lively and lovely. The pigs, 8 of them, are dynamite too, probably because they are just walking through the aisle. Race? What race? Oh, it takes all but 10 seconds!

3/Best street entertainment – The Drumbeats: A group of very enthusiastic and talented high school lads awe the audience with enticing beats, pumping rhythms and authentically created music and moves.

 4/ Super Dogs Show – For those who have not yet witnessed the wonder of these super dogs, what are you waiting for?  Tricks are just part of the show!

 5/ Peking Acrobats – Though you kind of know what to expect, the amazement of seeing what humans can do to their bodies right in front of your two eyes never thins out.

What about the food?

Let’s make one thing very clear, we all know the food at PNE is categorized as ‘Junk Food’. Yet there are good and bad junk food, or shall I add, personally  ‘like’ and seriously dislike junk food?

Likes:

Mini donuts – Got to have them, this is totally PNE!

Roaming Dragon – Decently prepared and priced, that’s why the line-up at meal time.

BBQ chicken – Tender, juicy and full of flavour! Go for the half chicken ($9.75), it is the most reasonably priced sizzling hot item at PNE.

Drinks – Best to bring your own bottle of water rather than paying four bucks for one or indulge into the grossly expensive pops.  OK, if you must, pay $5 for a large Buckeye Root Beer.  Get two straws and share.

While 95% of the deep-fried food here can do serious damage to the bellied bodies, bulging moms-to-be, wide-eyed teenagers and growing kids stalking the food stands; seems like everyone is OK to jam themselves with all these greasy mayhems, with extra salt, ketchup and mayo! Guess that’s also the notion of PNE – play hard, eat hard for two weeks every year!  Since I cannot stand the thought of biting into the deep-fried candy bars and chips, I can only comment on these ‘Dislikes’:

Blossom onion – For $8.50, you get a deep-fried, salty and greasy battered onion that looks like a peony but tastes like yesterday’s leftover fries.

Ribs – Although they are drenched in a container of oily jus, the ribs still look bored and dried.

Corns – May be they bring most of the bottom racks here and sell them at $3.50 per ear. Or may be I am simply out of luck – they sell young and burst-in-your-month corns too.

Chinese food – Pardon the MSG, or what they say they use ‘chicken powder’ these days!

Roaming Dragon sells Pan-Asian goodies

Stephanie & Henry Yuen

Las Vegas is ever-changing – brighter, flashier and always expanding. Cheap eats along the main strip are no more.  $9.99 all-you-can-eat buffets belong to outskirt hotels and casinos, those who must do whatever means to remain competitive.

Our 4-day Vegas vacation began on noon Wednesday and ended on late Saturday night when we hugged our friends goodbye and got ready to take an early morning Sunday flight back home.

Vegas at dawn is like a hung-over middle-aged woman with smashed make-up who struggles to go back to her suburban home. The dining rooms are less than half-full. Look around and you’d find your breakfast companions with blurred faces and sleepy eyes, quite often, smoking cigarettes to stay awake, a scene far away from the glamour Las Vegas sells to the world. However, Vegas’ indoor world never ceases to amaze passers-by. Unique architecturally designed restaurants, million-dollar wine lists and the best of the best menu items. Do go to Bellagio and say hello to Lady Chocolate and look up to find the top of the Chocolate fountain at Jean Philippe Patisserie, and admire the mega cage-like structure of Maestro’s Ocean Club Seafood Restaurant at Crystals.   

Quality breakfast buffets average $12 and more nowadays, but we knew ourselves good enough not to go for buffet at 11am but instead, we opted for sit-down meals: An Egg Sausage and McMuffin meal and a $1.00 Parfait at McDonalds ($2.50); a top-notched sit-down breakfast at Grand Lux Café Palazzo ($15.00); and a very disappointing sit-down brunch at Café Vettro at Aria that cost $20 each.  There’s not much one can say about Mcdonald’s, except that it’s cheaper down south.  The Tuscany Farm House Eggs at Grand Lux Café ($12.95) was a delicious deal: Egg white scramble, sautéed halved grape tomatoes on bruschetta and toasty hash brown. Café Vettro has a beautiful sun-filled dining room that ran out of peanut butter and tea-pot lids already at 11:30am. The fries were soggy; the ham steak hard and dried; and a very salty plate of pasta with clam in pesto sauce. The very testy female manager who blamed everyone else for her mistakes, however, topped the list.

A late lunch buffet at Paris Hotel’s La Village ($17.99) received a B+ from both of us. Stations like Savoie, Provence, Alsace offered French fares such as Duck confit, Orange Duck, Leg of lamb, Roasted pork and apples, Bouillabaisse, along with a handsome platter of cheese at the fattening dessert bar and a made-to-order crepe station.  Itchy for 2-steps?  Gilley’s at Treasure Island is where the dancing cowboys and cowgirls go. Their award-winning (N. America best Chili cook-off) is pretty exotic.  Another fun spot we dined at was the Nine Fine Irishman Pub at New York New York.  The Beer & Cheese dip paired wonderfully with the Smithwicks and Snake Bite.  Being the only Chinese couple who didn’t know any of the songs the Iris Band was playing, we did enjoy watching the folks around us singing and tapping along. The young lady with long legs who performed Irish dances at the stage side was also very entertaining too. 

An afternoon snack at Bellagio’s Petrossian Piano Bar was a pleasant interlude.  The $15 Crab & Cucumber Roll was a piece of culinary art.  Scallop Crudo was fresh and juicy ($16).  There’re ample choices for the Trio of cheese which would be even better if accompanied by proper bread selection.

Inside the tacky and overly adorned Wynn we had a scrumptious dinner at The Buffet. From salad to dessert, Asian dishes to Alaska King Crab legs, each item was professionally prepared and presented.  The array of seductive feast, including melt-in-your-mouth Prime-rib roast, rack of lamb, made-to-order pasta station, energy-filled wok-fried meats and vegetables; plus many more pace-yourself courses, were definitely worthy of $38.95.

Chinese Cuisine at Vegas

While one could find a Chinese restaurant in almost every hotel establishment, Chinatown (Off Spring Mountain Road) still offers the best value in Chinese dining. The now bigger and more noticeable Chinatown houses a handful of decent Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants. The dinner we had at Sam Woo BBQ soothed our hunger for Cantonese cuisine, though their BBQ meats could be more moist and didn’t look like they’ve been hanging for at least a couple of hours. We enjoyed the Pork stomach & preserved mustard green soup; loved their Tofu Hotpot and wiped out the plate of wok-fried green.  However, though rated highly by Zagat, please do not apply the Vancouver standard here at Sam Woo. 

What about Chinese food inside the Vegas hotels?  They are mostly vogue-designed restaurants with new Asian menus. You can probably get an okay meal of dimsum, chowmein and fried rice at about $20 each (don’t mind the MSG!).  Sorry but we had no desire to try the $33.80 per order of Pork Chowmein, the $62 1-course Peking Duck and limited menu choices in these fine-dining Chinese restaurants with hefty price tags.  Yes, we’re completely spoiled by the good-value Chinese restaurants in Vancouver!   

Oh, if you’re ‘lucky’ enough to dine in any of the fine Chinese restaurants, send us an email and let us know how you enjoy it.

Stephanie & Henry Yuen

A 90-minute drive south from Vancouver, off Exit#200 from Highway 5 is the colossal Tulalip Casino & Resort, an enterprise of the Tulalip Tribes where we leisured a weekend getaway. For someone who normally spent no more than 15 minutes at the slot machines, we found ourselves enjoying every minute of it.  We knew we’re in for 3 days of quality time once we laid our eyes on the immaculate, warm and spacious hotel room

A ‘zen’ moment at T Spa

T Spa is an elegant, earth inspired 14,000 square-foot, full-service spa featuring men’s and women’s lounges equipped with rainwater showers, saunas and steam rooms – these description do not do this gorgeous spa enough justice.  We both agreed T Spa is one of the most sensuous, nature-embracing indoor spaces. A spa treatment here is the way to the most relaxing zen moment your body and soul will thank you for

Superb Dining

There are four restaurants in Tulalip, we tried them all, our favourite finds:

a) Eagles Buffet: Look for Prime Rib Roast in the carving station and choose you own meat and fixings at the Mongolian grill station.

b) Tulalip Bay: Excellent food and wine pairing. This award winning restaurant (2008, 2009 DiRoNa Award, the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2007 and the 2008 Washington Wine Award of Distinction) is led by James Beard House invitee chef Dean Shinagawa. Their wine program is taken care of by Tommy Thopmson, a member of the International Sommelier Guild who has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence twice, the Washington Wine Commission’s Award of Distinction, and most recently, the Washington Wine Commission’s Grand Award.

c) Black Fish Wild Salmon Grill and Bar: Take a look at the seafood display at the entrance. Sit close to the tailor-made kitchen with an open style salmon pit right in the middle of the dining room. Highly recommended: Ironwood sticks of salmon skewers are cooked in open fire, Salmon chowder, Macaroni & Cheese with crab meat and yes, desserts!

d) Cedars Café: Fluffy and aromatic pancakes!

***Please note: All portions are generous, do pace yourselves.  

A Museum of Tribal Arts

We are no art aficionadas, but who could deny craftsmanship of cultural beauty? Tulalip not only has a huge collection of heritage and modern carvings and paintings, but has integrated the tribal art structures as part of the charm and design of the property: Lamp shades, carpets, glass etchings, tapestry and even beddings. The resort is simply a museum of unique tribal arts!  Every frame, every carving, every structure tells a legacy, so don’t just walk pass by, do stop and listen to the tribal stories these fine art pieces are telling.  www.tulalipresort.com

By Henry & Stephanie Yuen

Before we were told by Agnes, the Canadian liaison for Tourism Sarawak, that we were to spend 4 days in Kuching (2-hour flight distant from Kuala Lumpur), including an overnight trip to an Iban longhouse, we have not heard of Kuching or Iban.  But Agnes did a very good job convincing us it would be a very worthy trip for nature and food lovers.  Once we witnessed 11 almost extinct wild orangutans including 2 sets of mom and baby in Semenggoh Wild Life Centre, a wild life conservatory managed by Sarawak Forestry, and stayed for lunch prepared by the rangers, we were totally sold on the nature part. 

Under the warm tropical sun, the lush green hills of wild forests and slopes of palm trees, banana groves and peppercorn farms, and the meandering Sarawak River laid before our eyes.

Malaysia-BeyondChopsticks

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City Dining

In the city, we had a beautifully prepared seafood dinner in a large open-style dining zone called Top Spot where a number of restaurants gathered.  Top Spot is located on the roof-top of a 5-storey parkade where seafood is the main attraction. In front of every kiosk is an array of fresh seafood: King prawns, Crabs, Shaver clams, and varieties of fish including Stingrays, Red snappers, Pompfrets, Grouper, Soles and huge catfish. Next to the seafood display are local vegetables: Fern Shoot (long stem fiddle head), Red spinach, Brinjal (aubergine) and other Asian greens.    

Though served in plastic wares, the quality of food was top-notch.  We had a 1.5lb very flaky and tender red Pomfret, steamed with ginger, garlic and scallions; 1 lb. of succulent shaver clams; an order of sweet and crunchy wok-fried fiddle heads plus an order of home-style egg fried rice. With tea and beer, the bill came to $20 Canadian; but the dining experience, definitely priceless!  

Longhouse Living

After 3 hours of driving from Kuching and another 45 minutes of a longboat ride upstream, we arrived in a longhouse where an Iban tribe of 14 families lived.  This is one of the 5000 longhouses in Sarawak. Iban was once known as the long-eared native tribe, and is the largest tribe.  The long ears, caused by the weight of heavy ornaments pulling down the earlobes, were seen as a form of beauty.     

Today, Ibans head-hunt no more and long ears are gone.  They have become farmers trying to adapt and welcome modern day living into their lives. The longhouse that hosted us for the night was led by Chief Juan, a young chief with a forward thinking of how his longhouse tribe should operate during this transitional period.  Juan stressed that every tribe members, except for the very young and old, must contribute. His “No work, no food” philosophy provides them with good supply of hill rice which they grow up the slopes; income from selling the peppercorns and rubbers they harvest; and revenues generated by working with the tourism bodies and welcoming visitors into their longhouse, their home.

Home is a long wooden hut mounted on beams and studs built alongside the muddy river. Out front is a stretch of bamboo patios. The front portion is the community hall where meetings and festivities take place.  The back rooms are living quarters for families, where they cook, eat and sleep. Families take turns to host visitors, meaning that they will throw a welcoming party and cook for the guests.

Native Dining

Dinner was served at nightfall in the hosting family’s quarter.  Plates of stir-fried local vegetables and deep-fried plantains spread out on the mat near the kitchen where family members gathered. The only meat for the evening was chicken, brought in and cooked by our tour guide Leslie and the driver as a token to the family.  Chicken feet cooked with ginger in soup was considered ‘gourmet’ here. Whole chicken chopped in pieces and pan-fried was the meat entree. The tiny, grainier and drier hill rice was the main starch.  We ate our dinner with home-made rice wine they kept pouring into small glasses passed around the circle. Communicating with them through Leslie and the driver, along with broad smiles, body languages and hand signals was often pleasant and full of laughter, thanks to the sweet and very tasty rice wine we kept sipping whole night long.

After dinner was the tribal welcoming ceremony with music, ceremonial dance performances and yes, more wine. We presented our gifts to the chief who distributed them to the 14 families graciously.

Breakfast in the following morning with bread, eggs, bananas and leftover was simple, nutritious and functional, since tribe members had already been up and working since dawn – they all came hungry.  But the preparation for a BBQ lunch by the river, from the moment freshly cut bamboo sections were brought into the kitchen, was riveting. This last meal before our departure was indeed a culinary highlight.

Aubergines mixed with bell peppers and moistened rice wrapped in palm leaves were stuffed into the different bamboo tubes and sprinkled with water before putting into the open fire to cook. Marinated beef strips and chicken filets were thrown onto the grill barrel fueled by tree branches and sticks.  When the meat was ready, they removed the bamboos from the fire and poured the aromatic contents into serving plates. No BBQ sauce from a bottle, no fancy herbs and spices, but mother nature’s gifts and known-how of the native women, who have been preparing and cooking food the same way for generations. Truth is, this delicious BBQ lunch prepared and enjoyed in such unique ways was not available in fancy hotels or Michelin-star restaurants!

www.sarawaktourism.com

www.sarawakforestry.com

Hong Kong-BeyondChopsticks

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By Henry & Stephanie Yuen

Our plane landed around 6pm.  It took the Airport Express 30 minutes to get us to the Central, Hong Kong station, took the taxi 10 minutes to drop us at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel.  We spent 3 minutes to register but a good 10 minutes to admire the open style, meticulously beautiful lobby of this newly opened ocean-front 5-star hotel located in Fortress Hill, North Point. 

We quickly dropped off our luggage and freshened up, 15 minutes later we found ourselves looking at the menu in a nearby Chiu-Chow restaurant and sipping the tiny cups of ‘Kung-fu’ tea.  Ah, just the way we pictured how this trip would begin.

Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel’s live honeycomb

Most hotels in Asian offer breakfast vouchers as part of the guest service and quite often; these are vouchers for buffet breakfast in their nice restaurants. We have had our shares of delightful buffet breakfast at Asian hotels for the food is always decent with plenty choices of local and international fares.  However, it was our very first time to be greeted by a live honeycomb dripping golden drops at the buffet beverage table. A healthy, soothing honey drink in the morning? How could we say no! This feature alone told us how serious and creative Harbour Grand’s thoughtful culinary team was.

Weekend organic farmers market

Taking the Star Ferry across the Victoria Harbour from Central Hong Kong to Tsim-Sa-Tsui, Kowloon was a ‘must-do’ on our list. The ferry ride proved to be more enlightening when we found an organic farmers market at the Central Ferry Terminal.  They were all local farmers from New Territories and were truly crusaders of healthy eating and organic greens.

Street temptations

They used to be everywhere, now street restaurants (daipaidon) and food vendors are hard to come by, thanks to the by-law banning of street food.  We were able to locate a couple daipaidon in Central Hong Kong, tucked away in narrow streets and alleys behind glamorous fashion stores and mega shops.  Time seems to come to a still in these corners as these few remaining daipaidon are allowed to stay as evidence of old Hong Kong and a glimpse into its culinary history. Dai-pai-dons are like real restaurants with different themes.   Some serve congees and snacking food, some serve wonton soups and chowmeins and noodle in soups; some are simply seafood restaurants in the open.  Majorities of the street vendors are gone or moved indoors, but some manage to operate out of street levels and retain the street vendor look and feel.

Must try:

• Bite into the sizzling hot infamous ‘Chodoufu’ (stinky Shanghai style deep-fried fermented tofu blocks), brushed with chili bean sauce and hoisin sauce, at Lui-yun-gai (Women Street), Sai Yeng Choi Street in Mongkok, Kowloon.
• Grab a glass of 100% most refreshing sugar-cane juice at Kung Lee Sugar Cane Drink on Hollywood Road in Central Hong Kong.

The family behind Kung Lee used to be sugar cane farmers and knows everything there is about sugar cane. 

• At Good Spring Company Ltd on Cochrane Road, also in Central Hong Kong, take a 2-minute herbal tea break and help yourself to a cup of 24-herbs tea that helps cleanse the body.
• For HK$2, take a tram to Shau Kei Wan and taste the Deep-fried Yellow Eel skin with a bowl of house-made Horfan (broad white noodle) and fish balls in soup at On Lee Daipaidon on Shau Kei Wan Main Street East in Hong Kong.
• Take a front seat at the

Heritage food factories

We were able to visit a few of family-operated food producers that still used traditional methods.  Walking into these factories was like a stroll back in time, and the integrity and quality behind the products were as strong and respectful as their names.

60-year old Kan Kee Handmade Noodle Store

The noodles all look familiar: Egg noodles, dried or wet; Shanghai noodles; Hand-pulled noodles; Noodles with shrimp caviars and deep-fried Iman noodle.  You can see Master Cheung working away in the back room, where a few of the cutters are. Before the noodle sheets are sent to the cutters, Master Cheung is the one who makes them from scratches.  All the recipes are in his head and even though he jokes that he is useless once he steps outside of Kan Kee, he knows exactly when to make what noodles and has yet messed up a schedule.    

100+year old Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd.

The set-up in their retail store on Graham Street in Central Hong Kong has not changed much.  There are jars and barrels of all kinds of sauces and condiments on the ground and on the shelves: Soy sauce, bean paste, chili, dried olives, Chinese wines, vinegars, pickles, brined vegetables…all those bottled products bearing the logo ‘Mee Chun’ we see in stores here are in massive volumes there.  Kowloon Soy Company whose huge manufacturing plants are in Yuenlong and Guangzhou started out as a family business a century ago and is now a major import and export key player in the traditional soy sauce and condiments producing field.