You are what you eat: in Hong Kong, chefs find ways new and old to express the city’s identity
- In Hong Kong ‘local’ is hard to define. We look at some of the chefs exploring the city’s culinary identity using local ingredients and twists on classic dishes
When it comes to food, how do we define what is native? Especially in a place like Hong Kong – a city of immigrants that imports most of what it eats – what can be considered local is tricky to pinpoint.
What we eat also changes over time, so identifying what is representative of a culture’s cuisine depends on when the question is being asked.
The past few tumultuous years, which have seen the city battered by social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic, have sparked a deeper exploration of Hong Kong identity, and this is reflected in the city’s cuisine.
Along with other markers of culture, such as art, film and fashion, gastronomy has focused on the question of what it means to be “from Hong Kong”.
“Hongkongers are navigating various identities, and this is being lived out on a daily basis,” she says. “As the city continues to evolve, these identities will continue to shift and shape the way our current and future generations perceive themselves and others.”
