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Hong Kong Gourmet With Justine Schofield - Season 1 Episode 4
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00:00Excited to share my journey through one of the most exciting food cities in the
00:04world, Hong Kong. Oh my goodness. Here, East meets West, traditional meets modern
00:12and every meal tells a story. From steaming baskets of dim sum, look at that,
00:17aren't they beautiful? To sizzling woks on street corners, smells amazing. I'm diving
00:24into centuries of culinary tradition. Yum cha is not complete without some tea. But I'm
00:31not just here to eat, I'm here to cook. On a hot summer's night in Hong Kong, this is
00:36the dish to have. So join me on a journey through culture and taste in this
00:42incredible city. This is Hong Kong right here. I love it.
00:54Hong Kong may be famous for its street food, but that's only part of the
00:59story. Beyond the bustling markets, there's a world of refined flavours, where fine
01:05dining reaches new heights. At the heart of this elegance and innovation is Wing
01:10Restaurant, which is headed by visionary chef Vicky Chang. Here, quality
01:16ingredients and refined culinary finesse are at the forefront of his approach to
01:20create dishes that are inventive, yet rooted in tradition. Chef Vicky, tell me a little
01:27bit about the philosophy behind your menu. Here at Wing is what we call boundary-less
01:33Chinese cuisine, because growing up I learned how to cook traditional French
01:36food. Oh right, not Cantonese. Not Cantonese. It was all classic French in Canada,
01:42in New York, but Hong Kong is where I was born. And you know, when I first came back 15
01:48years ago, I fell in love with Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine. And so every day
01:53we would just R&D and like basically cook things over and over and over again into
01:58what we do today.
02:01The experience begins with a lineup of artful appetizers, each carefully
02:07designed to be shared. Growing up in a big table family, the youngest one like
02:13myself, I would always take the best part of the chicken, the best part of, you know, whatever
02:19it was for my grandmother, for people that I respect, and it's always been a gesture of
02:24respect in Chinese culture. So in the beginning, you get to serve something for a friend or
02:30somebody you respect. And so the first dish I would take for you is this smoked eggplant.
02:36It's been braided, just like how you would braid hair. Yeah.
02:43Stunning, subtle, silky and not overcooked either. So you still got a slight crunch to it. What's that
02:49slight smokiness there too? We have like, almost like a mignette of like
02:53bunois, chili, coriander, and then we smoke the whole thing with applewood.
02:58Yeah. Taste it. And it's not overpowering. It's just subtle. What's next?
03:04These beautiful razor clams and then the ribbons are made of Yunnan chili, which is these beautiful
03:11wrinkly peppers. They are very, very floral. So you get a little bit of heat from the peppers coming
03:18here. But also slightly sweet too. And the razor clams, it's like butter. It just melts in your mouth.
03:25It's just perfectly cooked. Next, we move on to the Japanese chili oyster,
03:29crowned with golden century egg, which is a rich, preserved delicacy long prized across Asia.
03:36Century egg is a term. So obviously it doesn't take a century to make. But it's when the protein
03:42of the egg reacts to lye and the result, it basically sets it. And you will see the egg white
03:48turns into this like translucent jelly. And you will see that all that is covered in a house made
03:55mala chili oil.
03:57Mmm. That's a seriously unique dish. Egg and oyster. I've just never had that combination,
04:02let alone a century egg with an oyster.
04:05Exactly.
04:05But it just works. And that sauce with it is addictive.
04:11Oh, wow. Look at that.
04:14Now on to one of Wing's standout Maine's fragrant chili Alaskan king crab.
04:19The best part of the leg is steamed with garlic. The meat from the body is shredded inside the sauce.
04:24And the juice from the crab is also turned into the sauce. So you will see a very oceanic sweetness.
04:30It's served with pan fried Chung Fun rice noodle rolls.
04:33Sweet. It's tender. The perfect pairing with that noodle. It just mops up all the sauce and
04:45the flavour and the juices of the crab. Mmm. I'm in heaven.
04:51And just when you thought things couldn't get any better, Chef Vicky unveils a spring roll,
04:57the likes of which you've never seen. Just seeing inside the spring roll is actually what you have
05:03on the table, but seven days later. A massive sea cucumber actually coming from Australia.
05:09Oh, wow.
05:10It's about almost one kilo there. And what you're feeling on your hand now is actually ash. And that
05:16acts as a preservative. Yeah, natural ash. Yeah. By the time we rehydrate it, this will become about
05:22three to maybe even four times its size. Yeah. We've purposely wrapped it in a way that it's like
05:28a souffle. It really showcases what's inside the spring roll. This is just one thick slab of the sea
05:34cucumber that I mentioned earlier. The idea is to make something extremely healthy because sea cucumber
05:41is one of the best things you can eat, but make it taste like pork fat. And
05:46the texture of like the blubber of pork. I love it. On the plate, we have some charred scallion.
05:53And this is a sauce made from a reduction of pork and chicken. Have you had the sea cucumber before,
06:00Justine? Do you know what? I've never tried sea cucumber in my life. And I've tried a lot of things.
06:06Yes. So I'm actually really looking forward to this, particularly if it tastes like pork fat.
06:09It's going to be good. Perfect. Thank you. Wow. Look at that.
06:14How do we tackle this spring roll? The best way is just to use your hands.
06:18Oh really? There's a bit of a wet towel there. Hold it like a little sandwich and dip it in the sauce
06:24and take a big bite out of it. I can do that. Look at this. It's so delicate, this pastry. Yeah.
06:31KC cucumber for the first time. Exactly. I want to join you.
06:38It's awesome. It really is. I just can't believe I haven't tried it because
06:42it is such an unusual and interesting texture on your palate. And when you like close your eyes and
06:48just bite into it, it's almost like you're eating pork fat. Yeah. It's like that layer of pork fat
06:53under the pork belly. It is. This has been such a wonderful experience. I've tried a lot of
06:57Cantonese food here, but having it in a fine dining setting has really sort of opened my mind to
07:06Cantonese food and just shown how many layers there are to it. I've enjoyed every moment. I can't wait
07:12to come back. Thank you so much. Cheers to more sea cucumber. Cheers.
07:35I've found it so fascinating to see how these Hong Kong chefs are elevating traditional Chinese food
07:42to make it super modern. And some of the banquets that I've had have been quite spectacular. And this
07:48is a dish that you'll find on many banquet menus. It's salt and pepper prawns. I'm elevating mine by
07:55adding a hint of five spice powder. Now to prepare the prawns, gorgeous big plump prawns. What I like to
08:02do is use some scissors just to cut down the back of the prawn. You don't have to do this, but it's
08:09fantastic for presentation and it also allows that delicious numbing salt and pepper flavor
08:16to penetrate the gorgeous prawn. I'll just open that up and you'll also see an intestinal track
08:22and you just want to very carefully pull that out because we don't want to be eating that. See how
08:27easy that comes out? You can leave the heads on if you like, but I do find they fall off when you start
08:33stir frying them later on. I've also left the shells on just to ensure that that meat stays super tender in
08:38the center. So a little bit of corn flour over the top of our prawns and then just get your hands in
08:44there and ensure that they're completely coated. I'm just being quite gentle with them. I don't want
08:48to break off any of those shells. To deep fry, the oil needs to be sitting at about 180 degrees.
08:54And if you don't have a thermometer, the best trick is to use a good old wooden spoon. So just place that
09:00into the hot oil. I'm using some vegetable oil. And if you see all those tiny little bubbles around the
09:07wooden spoon, you know that is at the optimum temperature. Perfect. So we'll take that out
09:13and now we can start deep frying. So just working with one prawn at a time, gently lower them in the
09:19oil. So these are going to cook for about two to three minutes at most. We just want to get that crispy
09:27out of shell.
09:44All right, the prawns have come out of the oil. You can see that they're that beautiful bright orange
09:49color. I'm just going to pop them to one side. And you'll see that I've drained off all of that oil.
09:55I've got about a tablespoon or so left in there because now we need to do the second cook,
09:59which is frying with the salt and pepper. Now for the pepper, we're going to be using
10:04Sichuan pepper. It's strong. It's pungent. It leaves a bit of a numbing effect in your mouth
10:11and on your lips. And it is absolutely delicious, particularly with food like this that you're going
10:15to be eating with your hand. So I've just toasted it slightly, just a little bit, and I've crushed it in a
10:21mortar and pestle. To this, I'm going to add a good amount of salt using some salt flakes and my
10:27Chinese five spice, which is a combination of star anise. There's clove, there's cinnamon in there.
10:33It's a fantastic spice to have in your pantry. So you just want a small amount of this, say about
10:39half a teaspoon. And with your hands, just crush everything together. Just have a smell. Oh, that
10:49in itself smells so good. It's fantastic over other proteins like pork, even a lovely grilled steak with
10:55that. Perfect. All right, let's finish off this dish. Into that hot oil, some finely chopped garlic,
11:01some minced ginger. Fry that off. To that, I'll add two chillies. I'm using some longer chillies here
11:11because we've already got that peppery heat coming from the Szechuan peppers. But if you like it extra
11:18hot, of course, use the smaller ones. In with the chilli. And this is the only crucial part here,
11:28not burning the garlic. So keep an eye on it. You just want it to change colour. And now it's time
11:34to return our prawns. All right, we're going to give that a toss and coat it in all that yummy garlic
11:44and chilli and ginger. And our fragrant salt can go in. Don't forget, we haven't seasoned those prawns
11:51yet. So you can be quite liberal with it. And I love the freshness of coriander. So big,
11:58chunky chops, stalks and all. Nice big handful and straight in. Toss that heat off.
12:08And we'll just start piling them up. I love this colour contrast with the black and the orange prawns.
12:15So they really pop on the plate. It's one of those things that's shared with many different Chinese
12:22dishes. Maybe on a lazy Susan if you have. And everyone can just help themselves and share.
12:29I love how that coriander just wilts slightly from the heat of the pan.
12:34Pop that last one there.
12:36And this is not traditional. But hey, we're in Hong Kong. Doesn't have to be traditional all the time.
12:43We're going to add some lime. A good squeeze of lime over the top.
12:47That is the ultimate banquet dish. I guarantee you, you put this dish on the table, it's going to be gone
12:55first because everyone loves it. And I did say they are addictive for a reason. It's because of that
13:01delicious Szechuan and five spice salt. Yum!
13:15Hong Kong is a city where East meets West, not just in the skyline or history, but on the plate.
13:21And if you want to taste that cultural fusion in the most authentic way, there's one place you have to visit.
13:31This is Kamwa, which is a cha-chan ten. It's a traditional retro style western cafe.
13:38And you'll find everything here from that classic milk tea, which is made from evaporated milk,
13:44to pineapple buns. And this place is one of the best places to get them. I can't wait to try them.
13:49To some things that are slightly unusual, like macaroni in tomato sauce with spam.
13:56It might sound a little strange, but cha-cha tangs have been an institution in Hong Kong for decades.
14:02Literally translating to tea restaurant, these style of cafes popped up all over Hong Kong in the 1950s and
14:0960s, when Western food started becoming popular, but was still too expensive for most locals.
14:16So Hong Kong chefs got creative, blending British dishes with local flavours and ingredients.
14:21The result? A whole new style of affordable, comforting food that was quick, party and totally Hong Kong.
14:29Oh, here it is. Look at this. Now, I did call it a pineapple bun. There's no pineapple at all in this bun.
14:37And I think it gets its name from the actual crust, which has a little bit of sugar, kind of looks like
14:42pineapple skin from the outside. And you can get different fillings for this. But traditionally,
14:48just a big chunk of delicious butter. And I just like to eat it as is. I'm going to dig in.
14:55It's so good. A hint of vanilla. You've got that crunchy sugar on the top, fluffy clouds in the centre,
15:06nice and warm. And the butter is salty, so it just balances out so nicely. I'm going to have a sip of this tea.
15:16Even though it looks really milky, it's actually quite strong. You've got a strong black tea flavour. I love that.
15:23It goes perfectly. Perfect way to start the day.
15:44The British influence on Hong Kong's cafe scene is still very much alive. And you can find some
15:50very interesting dishes here. Dishes that you wouldn't expect like macaroni in soup,
15:56spam on sandwiches and egg sandwiches. Now, the egg sandwiches are incredible. They're addictive.
16:03Essentially, it's scrambled eggs with melted cheese and mayonnaise. And I love it with their famous milk
16:11tea. So I'm going to replicate it now. Two eggs into a bowl. Crack them in.
16:16And as per usual, a pinch of salt, not too much. And some white pepper. I'll give that a very quick
16:26whisk to break up the eggs. And I'm going to add a little bit of potato starch. Now, you can use corn flour.
16:33I actually like to use the potato starch because you can't taste it after the eggs are cooked. This is a
16:38little trick one of the chefs have taught me here. And what it does is give you a lovely,
16:43velvety finish on the eggs. It's a great little trick. So I'll just pour that in and give that
16:49another whisk. It also sets the eggs really well too. Okay, let's heat up a pan and use a nonstick
16:56pan for this. Just makes it a little easier. Splash of oil. Not too much. And then in with our eggs.
17:04And now with a wooden spoon, you want to constantly stir and agitate the pan as I'm doing now. And once
17:14it's almost set, we can start forming it. So you want to work quickly here. The more agitation that
17:20you're going to give the eggs, the creamier they're going to be. And once it's just starting to set and
17:27you can sort of see that it's one big mass, then we can add some cheese. And this is like hamburger
17:35cheese, American style cheese that goes in the center. And we're going to fold the egg on top of
17:42the cheese. So that hot egg is going to melt the cheese. It's going to be so delicious. And it doesn't
17:47have to be perfect, but we want it to be roughly the same size as our bread. And then what I like to do
17:55is just quickly flip it over and just let that set on that side. The heat is off. So for our sandwich,
18:04fluffy white bread, some mayonnaise on both sides. And we'll just spread that out,
18:14really getting to all the sides. And the egg goes on top.
18:19And you'll see it'll be quite gooey because of all that melted cheese. So press that down.
18:31And then with a serrated knife, we're just going to cut the crust off.
18:34And turn that. So much easier to do with a serrated knife. And then I'll cut that in half.
18:48Have a look at the center. See how gooey that is.
18:52That is perfection on a plate. Exactly what you want for breakfast. Of course,
19:00you have to serve it with their famous milk tea. Delicious with it. And have a taste.
19:10It's like clouds in your mouth, that soft white bread, fluffy eggs. And look at that gooey,
19:16gooey, gooey cheese. I could eat that every morning. It's so delicious. No wonder why these are still
19:23ever so popular here in Hong Kong.
19:34It's so delicious.
19:43After a day of eating my way around Hong Kong, I'm heading to one of the city's most intriguing
19:48little bars. This is The Savory Project, a bar that's rewriting the cocktail playbook.
19:56Here, flavour comes first as they focus on savoury cocktails with serious culinary technique behind
20:02them. Ajit, tell me a little bit about The Savory Project. The idea of the bar came about a few years
20:09ago because me and my partners were not a big fan of sweet drinks. So this is our concept, adding
20:17something new to the already booming cocktail scene of Hong Kong. So are you telling me that if I want
20:23to have a pina colada, I can't get it here? We have with a bit of beef to it. We have a bit of
20:28beef to it. Let me read you some of these incredible cocktails. Cocktail biryani, Thai beef salad cocktail.
20:35How are you incorporating beef into a cocktail? This is made like a big batch of soup. We take
20:41beef stock, peanut butter, coconut milk, a bit of rum, blend it all together. And if you add a bit of
20:48citrus to coconut milk, so what it does, it curdles. Then if you strain it like a coffee, then the liquid
20:56that drips will have all the flavours, but without this crunchy texture to it. I need to try that.
21:01I need to try that one. Let's do this. So Ajit, are these like your elixirs? They are, they are, yes.
21:10So the majority of what we do is homemade, everyday fresh to create new flavours. It's very easy. All you
21:16need to do is get a glass with ice and pour it over. It's really clear, isn't it? Yes. So the idea is to make
21:24it clean by looks, but the flavours, they all pack a punch to it. And then we serve it with a slice of
21:31beef built on, so it will enhance the gaminess of the drink. And there you go. This is the Thai
21:36beef salad. This is my first savoury cocktail ever. Oh my god. It really does taste like Thai beef salad.
21:48I can taste the peanuts in there too. Correct, yes. So the peanut gives a nice texture to it as well.
21:54The spice comes through as well. There's a bit of freshness. After tasting that, I want more.
21:59The next one I'm going to make you is called the pepper and corn. So the idea for this came
22:05in a barbecue. How can we mimic the flavours of barbecue in a glass? So we take the skin of a corn,
22:11the husk of a corn. Then we grill it until it's super charred. It gives this nice aromatic barbecue
22:17character. Then you mix it with a bit of mezcal, some cumin, tomato and bell pepper. And to bind
22:24it all up, there's a bit of soy sauce as well. There's a lot going on in this cocktail. I just
22:28love the simple presentation too. So we let the liquid do the talking for us. The idea is to highlight
22:34the flavours rather than covering with a lot of distraction. You have a taste and it's almost
22:41you close your eyes and go, whoa, exactly what you described. Barbecue, smoky. There's also that
22:48slight sweetness and nuttiness from the corn. If you come to Hong Kong, you have to come to Savory
22:53Project. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I love the first cocktail, but I really love this pepper
23:00corn. So I think I might stick around and slowly, slowly work my way through me. Yeah, sounds good.
23:05Would be our pleasure to make you all. Thank you.
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