China

Lau Kin-Wai: Decline of Chinese Cuisine Since the 1950s

Lau Kin-Wai, a well-known Hong Kong chef and restaurateur, laments in this video that the pace of cooking in modern-day China has destroyed the country’s cuisine.

Kin, who shuns use of MSG and artificial flavoring, prefers cooking that takes time and uses natural ingredients.

Tonight I ate the Yellow Door, one of the “private kitchens” Kin founded in Hong Kong. These are tiny legal restaurants set up in apartment buildings. The at Yellow Door was a delicious set menu with no choice in order for the chef to make sufficient quantity/quality dishes. We must have eaten 15 different dishes for HK$288 (US$36).

At Kin’s Terrace, Kin has a 70-year old chef who cooks dishes like salty chicken that take up to an hour to prepare. The system of salting the chicken by hand, compares with a 15-minute method of soaking it in salty water that many younger chefs use.

Lau founded a number of “private kitchens” in Hong Kong, including Yellow Door Restaurant, Kin’s Kitchen and Kin’s Terrace.

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3 comments for “Lau Kin-Wai: Decline of Chinese Cuisine Since the 1950s”

  1. I have lived 6 year in Asia (Singapore and Taiwan), and I can say that it is very difficult to find chinese cuisine without artificial flavoring. This is too bad, chinese cuisine can be so good when it is well done.

    Posted by Dog name | August 13, 2008, 7:27 am
  2. […] Kin-Wai, som jeg ikke har hørt om før, men som efter sigende er en kendt restauratør i Hong Kong, langer i denne video ud efter det kulinariske Kina. […]

    Posted by Kinesisk mad: Fortravlet og fyldt med smagsforstærkere | KINABLOG.dk | August 14, 2008, 2:02 am
  3. […] Thomas Crampton. « HK Wellcome […]

    Posted by A sample of Hong Kong’s “private kitchens” at Virtual China | August 24, 2008, 9:10 am

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