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Profile | How Hong Kong-born chef Tony Mok found his path in fine dining by redefining Chinese food
After working at lauded Michelin-star Hong Kong restaurants including Amber and Mono, young chef is finding his own voice
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On the first floor of a quiet commercial building in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood, 29-year-old Tony Mok looks utterly at ease in his jewel box of a restaurant, Path.
With just eight counter seats for diners, who get a front-row view of the chef in action, the square space at times feels a little like an intimate comedy club, with Mok cracking jokes and engaging with diners.
But there are moments of stillness, too. While preparing a course of dan dan noodles, his gestures and air of concentration call to mind the focus of an experienced itamae, or sushi chef.
“What I’m doing now is using my hands to feel the noodles, their elasticity and the amount of starch that remains,” he explains, taking handfuls of chilled, thin wheat noodles from a steel bowl before carefully wrapping them into tidy bundles.
“I have a lot of silly ideas. You don’t know if they’re going to work or not, but it’s a starting point for a new dish.”
Each bundle is placed in a bowl on top of a cashew and crab sauce enriched with dashi, constructed to mimic the typical nutty dan dan flavour profiles.
Flakes of flower-crab meat are carefully piled atop the noodle nests, followed by a flurry of house-made typhoon shelter seasoning – a Cantonese staple – incorporating fried breadcrumbs, garlic and chilli.
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