What makes a traditional Christmas dinner? Depends on where you’re from – and for 3 Hong Kong-based chefs, the festive season is definitely about more than just turkey

Dec 13 , 2020

Hue’s Christmas dessert is a traditional Aussie trifle. Photo: Handout

Harbourside Grill’s Armand Sablon always had capon chicken at Christmas and Hue’s Anthony Hammel swears by his father’s trifle, while Cobo House’s Ray Choi and Devon Hou take an innovative approach with Asian flavours

Christmas might look a little different in a world changed by Covid-19, but that doesn’t mean the holidays can’t be just as magical as they were before. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s chefs are busy preparing this season’s feasts and even the most traditional dishes are being reframed and updated for changing times and cultures.

Ray Choi and Devon Hou at Cobo House

Cobo House’s dynamic chef duo Ray Choi and Devon Hou are typical modern Hongkongers. Both were born and raised here and grew up with dim sum rather than fine dining, yet they find profound inspiration in contemporary modern cooking.

Cobo House executive chefs Devon Hou and Ray Choi. Photo: Handout

“My Christmases weren’t traditional,” Choi admits. “We had the same artificial tree for years and we rarely had turkey. Usually, it would be more Chinese, with treats like shrimp or seafood. Honestly, I always thought turkey was dry and bland.”

His co-head chef concurs. “As a chef, we work the holidays. My only real Christmas experience was in England where I worked for a couple of years,” Hou says. “I did not have to work Christmas Eve there because everything was closed. My landlords were a really nice elderly couple and they invited me to have a traditional British Christmas dinner with them.”

These warm sentiments were what the two chefs drew on to craft the contemporary festive menu titled Spices and Aromas with decidedly cross-cultural flavours. Hou’s starter – burrata ice cream with pumpkin, sage brown butter and pumpkin seed praline – is a complete reinterpretation of autumnal flavours.

On Cobo House's Christmas menu is starter of burrata ice cream. Photo: Handout

“In England, I noticed cinnamon was used a lot in holiday dishes, so now I associate that spice with the season. Pumpkin and cinnamon go well together and the burrata cheese has a clean taste and won’t cover other flavours,” comments Hou.