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Andrew Sun

Wilson Fok is a Hong Kong-based food writer known for producing home-made jams and marmalades that have earned him the nickname “Jam Master”. He spoke to Andrew Sun.
Growing up between two large extended families, I have had many great family meals. It may be a cliché, but grandmothers do cook the best, from traditional foods such as Tuen Ng Festival dumplings to Chinese new year puddings.
I would watch my mother and grandmother cooking in the kitchen.
I found myself developing an appetite for food and cookbooks that tell dishes’ stories. Occasionally, we went out for dim sum, but I was also fascinated by conveyor-belt sushi, hummus and shawarma, and colourful curries at a young age.

I now have lots of favourites. The neighbourhood congee shop Kam Fung (2 Yau Man Street, Quarry Bay) is great for congee and rice rolls.
It does one of the best rice noodle-fritter rolls, which are made to order. The fritter comes crispy, while the thin rice noodle is lightly dressed with a sweet soy sauce.

Kamcentre Roast Goose (1/F, South China Athletic Association, 88 Caroline Hill Road, Causeway Bay. Tel: 3580 2938) is great for barbecued meats.
The pipa goose – served with its neck stretched out to resemble the Chinese stringed instrument it is named after – is slightly different from traditional roast goose; the bird is spatchcocked and roasted with dry rub and five-spice paste.
The thick-cut char siu and the goose casserole are definitely must-haves.
On the days I don’t make drip coffee at home, I enjoy the quality coffees at Uncle Ben Coffee (Shop 7, Fu Lee Loy Shopping Centre, 9-27 King Wah Road, North Point).
The shop has no menu. Guests just share what they have in mind and select a blend from the array of house-roasted beans.

For something a bit more indulgent, I’d head to Stone Coffee (56 Centre Street, Sai Ying Pun. Tel: 3709 8869) for the Geisha coffee. The tiny cafe only has two high stools. The owners bid at international auctions for exclusive beans, which they roast in-house for complex hand-drip coffees.
I think of Chinese cuisine when it comes to celebrations because I love having friends share a big meal at a round table.
The Chairman (3/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central. Tel: 2555 2202) is tough to book, but its innovative yet playful interpretation of Cantonese dishes is often worth a few months’ wait.

Oi Man Sang (Shop B-C, 1 Shek Kip Mei Street, Sham Shui Po. Tel: 2393 9315) is the dai pai dong open-air street food stall to visit for live cooking action and a convivial ambience.
From sweet and sour pork to stir-fried beef with potato and black pepper, a meal here is all about the wok hei – that perfect stir-fry flavour – and the cold beer.


For premium dim sum, I’d take my friends to House of Orient (Shop C&D, 2/F, Entertainment Building, 30 Queen’s Road Central. Tel: 2123 9263). There’s a fine selection of artisanal teas and a classic dim sum selection to match.
If I’m in the mood to splurge I head to Hong Kong Cuisine (1/F, Elegance Court, 2-4 Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley. Tel: 2893 3788), where chef Silas Li serves Cantonese cuisine at its finest.

Apart from his signature sweet and sour pork and deep-fried crispy chicken, Li’s Taste of Shunde set menu is outstanding, featuring vinegar-laced Penggong goose, pan-fried stuffed dace fish, and double-layer milk custard for dessert.
Work sometimes takes me to Macau. I get cravings for the tea at Hoho Hotcha (Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo, No. 28, Macau. Tel: +853 6303 5050), an independent Taiwanese tea cafe in the old town area that doubles as a lifestyle store.


Where a Hong Kong food writer goes for congee, coffee and Cantonese food ‘at its finest’

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Food and Drinks

Dishes at Oi Man Sang in Sham Shiu Po, Hong Kong.

Roast goose at 1983 Hong Kong Cuisine, Happy Valley, where food writer Wilson Fok goes to splurge. He tells us his favourite places to eat in the city. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Wilson Fok is a Hong Kong-based food writer who is also known for his home-made jams and preserves. Photo: Wilson Fok

Kamcentre Roast Goose, in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay neighbourhood, specialises in barbecued meats. Photo: Instagram/kamcentre.roastgoose

Uncle Ben Coffee, a coffee shop in Hong Kong’s North Point neighbourhood that doesn’t have a menu. Photo: Instagram/uncle.ben.coffee

Appetisers at The Chairman. Photo: Instagram/thechairmanrestauranthk

Spicy Crab at Oi Man Sang dai pai dong, where the food is all about that perfect stir-fry flavour. Photo: Instagram/chanwook_ie

Dishes served at Oi Man Sang in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po neighbourhood. 

Steamed vegetable dumplings at House of Orient in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Dim sum to dessert soup, 5 of the best Guangzhou restaurants to visit on your next trip

Dim sum at South Sea Fishing Village, Guangzhou. Photo: RedNote/539234573

Serving over 100 flavours of sweet soup, Bai Hua Dessert Store is one of our five restaurant picks in Guangzhou, southern China, which also include a dim sum and seafood specialist. Photo: RedNote/682142505

Da Ge Fan has become a staple in Guangzhou, and opened branches in nearby Shenzhen and in Hunan province. Photo: RedNote/264513181

Lu Zhou’s signature dishes include stir-fried beef noodles, fried wontons and congee. Photo: RedNote/274131484

Jian Ji serves freshly made noodles in savoury broths. Photo: RedNote/157181709

A selection of dim sum at Cantonese restaurant South Sea Fishing Village. Photo: RedNote/539234573

Bai Hua Dessert Store serves more than 100 varieties of Chinese sweet soup. Photo: RedNote/8156416320

Raised on mum’s home cooking, her favourite Hong Kong restaurants for dumplings and more

Hei Baat Fong is Sarah Greene’s go-to place in Hong Kong for dumplings. Photo: Hei Baat Fong

Sarah Greene, the owner of Blue Lotus Gallery in Sheung Wan, reveals her favourite Hong Kong restaurants. Photo: Sarah Greene

Fried dumplings from Hei Baat Fong in Sheung Wan. Photo: Hei Baat Fong

A sandwich at Casa Iberica – The Iberico Shop in Sheung Wan. Photo: Casa Iberica – The Iberico Shop

A shawarma wrap at Beyrouth Bistro in Central. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The interior of Madame Fu at Tai Kwun in Central. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

What is prosperity toss salad, popular at Lunar New Year in Singapore and Malaysia?

The prosperity toss salad, called yusheng or lo hei in Chinese, served at Jom, a modern Singaporean restaurant in Hong Kong. Diners mix and toss the salad while repeating Chinese new year good luck sayings. Photo: Instagram/@eat.jom

The Astor’s supreme abalone lo hei will be served between January 29 and 31, 2025. Photo: The Astor

Holt’s Cafe at the Rosewood Hong Kong is serving a Chinese New Year lo hei featuring salmon, mixed vegetables, and plum dressing. Photo: Holt’s Cafe

The colourful version of the prosperity toss salad like this one served at one-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant Summer Palace in the Island Shangri-La hotel in Hong Kong dates from the 1960s. Photo: Island Shangri-La

The Praya’s prosperity toss salad features a whole lobster and a yuzu sauce. Photo: The Praya

Sheung Wan restaurant Mam Amis presents a Vietnamese lo hei. Photo: Instagram/mamamishk

Hutong’s abalone lo hei features 38-hour slow-cooked abalone. Photo: Hutong

Hopewell Inn’s Chinese New Year lo hei has ingredients including shredded 3-head abalone, smoked salmon and shredded chicken. Photo: Hopewell Inn

‘Mysterious’ fish that’s famous in Fukuoka, and why it is sumo wrestlers’ food of choice

Fukuoka chef Kazutaka Hagiwara prepares longtooth grouper. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Ingredients for “chanko nabe” or sumo wrestler’s stew, including longtooth grouper, a fish Japanese call kue which is a speciality of the southern city of Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Kazutaka Hagiwara, chef de cuisine of sushi restaurant Tomozuna on the top floor of the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, gets to work on a longtooth grouper in its kitchen. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Hitoshi Hirokawa, executive director of Fukuoka’s Nagahama Fish Market, calls longtooth grouper “the most famous fish in Fukuoka”. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

The sharp teeth of the longtooth grouper make it difficult for sushi chefs to handle. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Dishes prepared using the flesh of the longtooth grouper fish, including sashimi (front). Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

A longtooth grouper at the seafood market in Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Longtooth grouper stew. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Wilson Fok is a food writer known for his home-made jams. He shares his top restaurants for dim sum, barbecued meats and sweet and sour pork


Wilson Fok is a food writer known for his home-made jams. He shares his top restaurants for dim sum, barbecued meats and sweet and sour pork.


What to do in Hong Kong

Where to eat in Hong Kong

Hong Kong dining & recommendations

Hong Kong Fine Dining