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Lisa Cam

At 15, most Hong Kong teenagers are fretting over exams. At that age, Kan Wong, the newly appointed executive Chinese chef at Celestial Court at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers, was up to his elbows in a wok, learning a lesson his father never intended to teach.
“I started helping my dad out in the kitchen when I was only nine years old,” he says. “He thought it would teach me a lesson so I would study harder at school. But I fell in love with the work.”
Born into a working-class family in Tai Po, in Hong Kong’s New Territories, Wong has spent 35 years working in the city’s most prestigious kitchens.
He grew up around cooking – his father and his uncle were both head chefs at local Chinese restaurants – and had his sights set on the most revered role.
“Of course I wanted to work the wok station,” he says with a smile. “It’s the coolest position in a Chinese kitchen. You look cool while working the wok. It’s usually the most desired role to aspire to.”

Despite his upbringing surrounded by chefs, Wong says he did not always have a taste for fine food.
“My father would bring back ingredients like prawns and scallops, and I would pick them out of my food. He used to scold me for not knowing what good food was.”
In the end, Wong achieved his dream and more. During the 1980s and 90s, he cut his teeth at West Villa Restaurant, a Hong Kong institution that served celebrities and dignitaries. There, he mastered the kind of opulent, labour-intensive dishes that defined high-end Cantonese dining.
“I’m so glad that I had the experience and worked at West Villa in its heyday,” the 52-year-old says.
However, there is one thing Wong does not miss about that era: shark fin.
“Most hotels don’t have that on the menu. I don’t think we’re missing anything. The population of Hong Kong is used to [not having it] now.”
Serving shark fin is considered unethical due to the “finning” process, in which the animal has its fins sliced off while it is still alive before it is discarded and left to die from suffocation or starvation. The process drives endangered species towards extinction and disrupts marine ecosystems.
Shark fin also poses health risks as it can contain high levels of mercury. While not entirely banned in Hong Kong, the shark fin trade is regulated under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance.
A taste of Hong Kong
What Wong does miss is far more fundamental: the taste of the city itself.
“I miss the old style of dishes in Hong Kong, before all the awards and social media and plating became important. What mattered was what things tasted like,” he says.
“The ingredients were also different. Hong Kong had a lot more farms back then, and ingredients were just fresher. Chicken doesn’t taste the same any more.”

For Wong, this represents a technical problem he is set on solving. Unable to source the poultry of his youth, he has turned to fungus to bridge the gap.
“I like using mushrooms and mushroom stock to add umami to my dishes to recreate what my memory of what the dishes in Hong Kong should taste like,” he says.
Wong’s new signature dishes include steamed sliced grouper with black mushroom and Yunnan ham. The ham, mushroom and soy sauce seep into the pre-sliced to recreate the flavour of banquet-style fish from a less health-conscious time when chefs used salt and fat liberally.
Two other dishes showcase his superior wok skills. For one, Wong mixes normal rice and glutinous rice with diced preserved meats, mushrooms and dried scallops to recreate a classic dish, but with less gluten.
He also brings back a nostalgic dish centred around wok hei – the perfect stir-fry flavour – with vegetarian shark fin. He says that stir-fry noodles with abalone, crabmeat and dried scallops are satisfying enough without real shark fin.

Wong started at Celestial Court in November 2025. It is a Michelin-recommended restaurant and has retained its One-Diamond status in China’s Black Pearl Guide since 2019.
Wong travels constantly, eating at other restaurants not to copy, but to compare.
“I love travelling and going to other restaurants to see how I can improve my dishes, but maintain the historical flavour. I really enjoy that process,” he says.


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Steamed sliced grouper with black mushroom and Yunnan ham is one of Wong’s signature dishes at Celestial Court. Photo: Celestial Court

Fried rice and glutinous rice with diced preserved meat, liver sausages, black mushrooms and dried scallops in a casserole is another of Wong’s signature dishes at Celestial Court. Photo: Celestial Court

Wong’s signature sautéed vegetarian shark fin with shredded abalone, crabmeat, dried scallops, bean sprouts and egg. Photo: Celestial Court

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Celestial Court chef Kan Wong talks about tapping into memories to recreate flavours of 1980s Hong Kong, and the ingredient he doesn’t miss


Celestial Court chef Kan Wong talks about tapping into memories to recreate flavours of 1980s Hong Kong, and the ingredient he doesn’t miss.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Celestial Court chef Kan Wong talks about tapping into memories to recreate flavours of 1980s Hong Kong, and the ingredient he doesn’t miss

Celestial Court chef Kan Wong talks about tapping into memories to recreate flavours of 1980s Hong Kong, and the ingredient he doesn’t miss