Chinese restaurants around the world

Have you noticed that everywhere you go around the world, you will find a Chinese restaurant? Cheuk Kwan, a Canadian film-maker and now author, explores this global phenomenon in his new book, Have you Eaten Yet? The book follows Kwan’s exploration of family-run Chinese restaurants from the Arctic to South Africa, from Trinidad to India. The restaurants symbolize the Chinese migration. Kwan tells the stories of these immigrants and how they adapted to their new homes while maintaining their Chinese culture.


Last weekend, Kwan was in the Bay Area to promote his new book. The best way to discuss a book about Chinese restaurants is over a good Chinese meal. So we shared lunch at the Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco. The book records his journey he took over two decades ago when he produced the documentary series Chinese Restaurants. He goes behind the scenes and reveals the feelings, emotions, and soul of these Chinese migrants.

I first met Kwan, shortly after his film series was released in 2004. My daughter had seen one of his episodes at a film festival and suggested I see his series for my book research. I ordered his 15 episode DVD set. Many of his restaurateurs were Hakka, like my father, immigrants looking for a way to make a living.

I contacted Kwan and asked him about his Hakka chefs. He suggested we meet because he would be in the Bay Area for a film festival next week. Our projects shared a similar focus on the global Chinese diaspora.


I was still in the early days of research for my Hakka cookbook. Kwan told me I needed to go to Toronto. He said he could set me up with a Hakka friend who could gather many contacts for me. Within a few weeks, I was in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, sharing a meal with a dozen new Hakka friends. They came from all over the world. I interviewed them, asking about their stories and their food. Many of their stories and recipes found their way into The Hakka Cookbook. I’m so grateful to have met Cheuk Kwan.


I asked him about his documentary series, Chinese Restaurants. He said he has posted the episodes on YouTube so everyone can see it. Read “Have you eaten yet?” then view his series to see their faces. It’s an insightful view of the Chinese diaspora. Click this link to see.

The next day at a book signing event at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Kwan shared some of his experiences writing the book. Martin Yan also interviewed him about the Chinese diaspora. Read the book and enjoy the historical and revealing journey of Chinese migrants who dared to open a restaurant across the world.

Another Hakka restaurant closes

Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens
Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens from Zhong Shan Restaurant

Last year, the owners of Ton Kiang, a Hakka restaurant with a long history in San Francisco, retired. Today Zhong Shan Hakka Restaurant closes. Chef/owner Jin Hua Li, who I featured in The Hakka Cookbook, has been one of my favorite Hakka chefs. I first met him in 2011 just a few months before I submitted my cookbook manuscript. I knew very few restaurants that served Hakka food. This one proudly announced it in their name, Hakka Restaurant. The menu offered many of the popular dishes served at most Chinese restaurants, but under “Chef’s Special” many Hakka dishes were listed.

Hakka Restaurant became our go-to restaurant in San Francisco for banquets and meals with family and friends. Over the years some of our favorite Hakka dishes were the Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens and the House Special Pan Fried Tofu. The restaurant drew local neighborhood customers as well as outliers as their reputation grew.

A couple of years ago, I heard that Chef Li had retired but now was opening a new restaurant. Apparently retirement grew boring. Chef Li and his wife, Bonnie returned to the business with Zhong Shan Restaurant on Taraval. Our favorites remained on the menu but there were new dishes to try. We had eaten several banquets there and was looking forward to returning once the pandemic ended.

But just last week Serena Dai, the San Francisco Chronicle food editor called to ask about the restaurant and its impending closure. Apparently they sold the restaurant. We went last Friday to order my husband’s favorite Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens, Salt-Baked Chicken and some extra dishes for my daughter. Hopefully, Chef Li will come out of retirement once again.

Fortunately, we still have access to good Hakka food when eating out. A San Francisco friend who has eaten at both Zhong Shan and Li’s first location said that the original Hakka Restaurant continues to serve good food. Chef Li had sold the restaurant to his sous chef so the food maintains much of the quality of the original chef. Hope to be back to Hakka Restaurant at Cabrillo and 45th Avenue soon.

Chinese feast at Zhong Shan Restaurant

Last week, we dined again at Chef Jin Hua Li’s new business, Zhong Shan Restaurant on Taraval Street in San Francisco. Like his previous restaurant, he features Hakka cuisine. At our last meal at Zhong Shan, we tried many of the new dishes. At this feast we couldn’t resist ordering some of our old favorites from his Hakka Restaurant that he previously owned. Luckily, these dishes appear on the Zhong Shan menu, too.


We ordered the Steamed Pork Stomach with Chicken Soup and the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf. Both of these labor intensive dishes require advance notice and are well worth planning ahead.


For the soup, he stuffs a pork stomach with a whole chicken filled with chicken feet, white peppercorns, and dried longans. The football-shaped stomach steams for 5 to 6 hours to create a complex broth imbued with the chicken essence, a slight peppery spiciness, and a faint sweetness. The server brought the stomach and broth in a huge white tureen. She lifted out the stomach, cut it open with scissors, and cut the stomach and chicken into smaller pieces. The golden clear broth was ladled into small bowls to sip. Bite-sized pieces of chicken and stomach were offered to eat with a dip of soy sauce.


In the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf, glutinous rice laced with Chinese delicacies such as sausage, chestnuts, and dates fills a whole duck. The duck is browned, then wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed until the duck almost falls apart with succulent tenderness.


We tried a couple of new dishes. Braised Fried Tofu and Fish Fillet in Clay Pot will join my list of favorites. The delicately sauced tofu and fish simply melted in our mouths.
We also liked the simple stir-fry of Minced Pork and String Beans with Olive. What was the olive? The olive looked like small bits of dark leaves. Checking on the internet I find that the Chinese olive vegetable is a dark condiment of cooked Chinese mustard greens, minced green olives, spices, soy, and oil. Use it as a seasoning to add deep earthy, savory flavor.

Braised Spareribs

Chef Li sent us a new offering on his menu, Braised Spareribs. Not sure what the official name is, but we found the moist, tender, pork ribs cloaked in a dark, savory sauce to be a winner.

Must-have favorites rounded out our menu. Chef Li makes the best Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green. I love the House Special Basil Eggplant with its soft, seductive silkiness. The Hong Kong Spicy Clams are deep-fried to crust the exterior, then stir-fried with chiles and garlic. The bright green Sautéed Garlic Pea Sprouts brought a fresh note and balance to our feast. We all agreed, it was an incredible meal at a bargain price!

  • Zhong Shan Restaurant
  • Hakka Cuisine
  • 2237 Taraval Street (between 32nd and 33rd Avenues)
  • San Francisco, CA 94116
  • (415) 592 8938
Zhong Shan Restaurant Exterior


New Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco

Welcome a new Hakka restaurant to San Francisco. Zhong Shan Restaurant recently opened in the Sunset district. If you have eaten at the Hakka Restaurant on Cabrillo and 45th Avenue, you’ll find this restaurant familiar because that chef/owner has taken over this restaurant.

In 2011 I had interviewed Chef Jin Hua Li, chef/owner of the Hakka Restaurant and featured some of his recipes in The Hakka Cookbook. Since my introduction to the restaurant, we feasted on many wonderful Hakka dishes at his restaurant on Cabrillo and 45th Avenue.

A few months ago, we dined with a group of friends at the Hakka Restaurant and met two young waiters who told us their father was the new owner and chef. We were surprised because the food tasted very similar to our past meals at this restaurant under Chef Li. The sons told us that Chef Li had sold this restaurant to their father and opened a new restaurant on Taraval.

Menu at Zhong Shan Restaurant

House specials on Zhong Shan Restaurant menu

New dishes freshen the menu. The number of House Specialties have almost doubled.

Last weekend, we tried Chef Li’s new restaurant Zhong Shan. Happily, the food and menu are similar to his previous restaurant. Our old Hakka favorites were still there—Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green, House Special Pan Fried Stuffed Tofu, and Pumpkin Strips with Salted Egg. New dishes freshen the menu. The number of House Specialties have almost doubled.

Our friend, Paul, who had eaten at both the old and new restaurants, ordered the meal. In addition to our old favorites we sampled some new dishes. Pork Stomach with Chicken pleasantly surprised us. Strips of chewy-crunchy pork stomach tumbled over chunks of moist salt-baked chicken. Pungent, burning wasabi electrified the flavor. A fine mince of black truffles added a subtle earthy aroma to the egg enriched custard-like Japanese Tofu with Baby Mushrooms. Salt and Pepper Pork Neck offered a stir-fry of flavorful, chewy pork neck strips with crunchy green beans. Tiger Prawns with Soy Sauce brought big plump prawns, butterflied in their shells, and lightly seasoned with soy sauce. They were finger-licking good. Spicy Squid with Black Pepper Sauce featured scored squid pieces stir-fried with green and red pepper chunks.

Paul also ordered a couple of dishes not on the menu. Oysters and Eggs brought moist oysters gently cooked with beaten eggs for a simple comforting dish, not laden with oil. Chinese Broccoli (gai lon) with Salted Fish is a variation of their Sautéed Chinese Broccoli, however, this version is lightly seasoned with a smidgen of good quality salted fish. It did not taste fishy or strong. Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf and House Special Fried Rice Noodles balanced our meal.

Zhong Shan Restaurant contact information

The new restaurant appears a bit smaller with no upstairs dining room. The decor looks fresh and new. Judging by the full noisy dining room, Zhong Shan Restaurant already scores as a neighborhood favorite.

Zhong Shan Restaurant contact information

Zhong Shan Restaurant

2237 Taraval Street (Between 32nd & 33rd Avenue)

San Francisco, CA 94116

415. 592. 8938

Hakka Food in Australia

Hakka migrated all over the world. While on a recent tour through Australia, I looked for a Hakka restaurant and found Wei Long, recommended by the Facebook group Hakka Australia. I was told the owners, Austen Wang and Kerry Yan, were Moiyan-born Hakka. Six years ago they immigrated to Australia. When they could not find Hakka food like they ate in Meizhou, they started this Hakka restaurant in Sydney.

Luckily, Wei Long was walking distance from our hotel. A few people from our tour group joined us for an impromptu dinner. There were many choices on their multi-page dinner menu. Because our small group had diverse tastes and some dietary restrictions, each person chose one dish to share. Here are a few dishes we tried. There are many more choices.

Hakka-style clams on a bed of pan-fried noodle coils


Hakka-style clams (not sure of how it was listed on the menu) brought stir-fried clams, flecked with a few red chile slices, in a savory sauce over a bed of pan-fried rice noodle coils. The noodles soaked up the sauce, yet maintained a slight crisp edge from panfrying.

A slow-cooked Stewed Meat Soup with Red Rice arrived in a small covered clay container. Red yeast rice, often used to color rice wine, imbued the soup with chunks of minced beef with a rusty red hue. It was hot, satisfying, and comforting. A simple stir-fry of prawns and cashews pleased all tastes.

Hakka Salt-buried Chicken at Wei Long


The moist, tender Salt-Buried Chicken was drizzled with a savory sauce that tasted of the musty camphor flavor of sand ginger (sha jiang).


My husband loves Sweet and Sour Pork so we tried Hakka-style Sweet and Sour Pork. Not sure what made it Hakka but it tasted lighter, fresher, and less cloying sweet than most versions.

If you’re in Sydney, Australia and want to try Hakka cuisine, visit Wei Long in the Central Business District.

Wei Long
Shop 330
289-295 Sussex St
Sydney New South Wales 2000
Australia
Phone number +61 2 9283 3570

Wei Long Hakka Cuisine lunch menu

Hakka stuffed chicken for Thanksgiving

Chicken with Preserved Greens from Hakka RestaurantAs Thanksgiving approaches I’m reminded of Chef Jin Hua Li’s Chicken stuffed with Preserved Mustard Greens at the Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco.

He stuffs a whole chicken with a mixture of preserved mustard greens, mushrooms, and pork. Then he browns and braises the whole bird in broth until tender. After removing the chicken from the pan, he boils the broth to reduce and concentrate flavors, then lightly thickens the savory liquid to create a sauce. He created this festive dish for Chinese New Years but it also reminds me of a Hakka variation of Thanksgiving turkey and gravy.

The flavors and ingredients have roots in Hakka cuisine. Preserved mustard greens (moi choi, mei cai) contribute a distinctive salty-sweet pungency to the dish. These same dry greens are used in the Hakka classic, pork belly with preserved mustard greens. Chef Li mixes this preserved vegetable with pork and mushrooms to create a savory stuffing.

If you’re having a small Thanksgiving dinner, consider making this Hakka Stuffed Chicken in lieu of turkey. My recipe adapted from Chef Li’s version is on page 233 of The Hakka Cookbook. Or if you live in San Francisco, order Chicken with Preserved Greens from Hakka Restaurant 415. 876. 6898 (one day advance notice).

 

A feast at the Hakka Restaurant

Hakka restaurant

 

Last night, we enjoyed a pre-Chinese New Year’s feast at the Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco. With a group of ten we had enough people to try some of their special order specialties.

My friend Yin-Wah told me that Chef Jin Wah Li makes a soup that no one else makes in the city. The description sounded a bit unusual, but she assured me it was delicious. The chef’s wife also claimed it was her favorite soup. So I pre-ordered the “pig stomach stuffed with chicken soup”.Hakka RestaurantHakka restaurant

A huge white tureen came to the table. The server lifted out a football-shaped packet to a platter. She slit open the pork stomach wrapper to reveal a whole chicken. Then she ladled the clear golden broth into bowls. She explained that the chicken-stuffed-stomach, along with chicken feet, white peppercorns, ginger, and dried longan (aka dragon eye, a fruit similar to lychee) had steamed together for 5 to 6 hours to create this complex broth. The essence of chicken imbued the broth, with an underlying spiciness from the peppercorns, balanced by a faint fruity sweetness. Each spoonful represented the work of a masterful chef. Although the chicken and pig’s stomach were offered for eating, I felt most of their flavor had transferred to the broth.

Stuffed duck is another listed specialty. We had tasted the duck years ago with a barley stuffing and wanted to try something different. An unlisted option offered a rice stuffing. The duck arrived with rice studded with savory treasures such as Chinese sausage and dried scallops. The chef had browned the stuffed duck, wrapped it in lotus leaves, and steamed it until the duck fell apart when nudged with a fork. Delicious!

We also pre-ordered lobster noodles. A generous portion of lobster chunks were stir-fried with noodles. Fingers were needed to coax the sweet lobster meat out of the shell.

Hakka Restaurant

Steamed Sea Bass with Pickled Mustard Greens and Pork

 

 

 

 

 

Other dishes we ordered that are usually on the menu or wall photos:

Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens (a must-have favorite)

Stir-fried Pea Greens

Clams with Spicy Salt and Black Bean Sauce (another favorite)

Salt-Baked Chicken

Steamed Sea Bass in Two Flavors (with pickled mustard greens and pork)

 

Hakka Restaurant, 4401-A Cabrillo Street (corner of 45th Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94121 Tel. 415 876 6898

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The Chinese in San Francisco

San Francisco MagazineCheck out this month’s issue (April 2015) of San Francisco. It’s a special issue on the Chinese city in San Francisco. I haven’t read the whole magazine yet, but wanted you to check it out before the issue disappears. The editors and writers reveal a fresh insider’s view on the Chinese community, politics, language, the workplace, education, and so much more. I have discovered so much in just the few pieces I have read.

Linda-S.F.Mag.04.15+2For foodies, read the section on Delicacies. Want to know how the soup gets in XLB (xiao long bao) and where to taste the best? Where to buy the best Chinese pastries? Read the illustrated dim sum guide by Asian Dumplings author, Andrea Nguyen. Get the lowdown on where to buy a wok. Learn about hot spots for Chinese regional cuisine. BTW, you will find my comments on the Hakka Restaurant in the article on page 49 and page 56.

A Hakka feast

Minced Pork with Lettuce Wraps

I discovered the Hakka Restaurant when I was almost done with the research for my book. Luckily I was able to include talented Chef Jin Hua Li and a couple of his recipes in my book. When the San Francisco Professional Food Society (SFPFS) asked me to put together a menu from the Hakka Restaurant for their Traveling Table, a program that explores the bay area’s unique restaurants, I was happy to share his delicious food with them. Here’s the menu.

Minced Pork with Lettuce Wraps
Bamboo Pith Seafood Soup
Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens
House Special Pan-Fried Tofu
Fried Pumpkin Strips coated with Salted Egg Yolk
Chicken Stuffed with Preserved Greens (recipe pg. 233)
Stir-fried Chinese Broccoli with Rice Wine (recipe pg. 230)
Clams with Spicy Salt and Black Beans
Home-Style Steamed Sea Bass
House Special Eggplant
Steamed Rice

The lettuce wraps uses a well-seasoned pork as a simple filling for crunchy lettuce leaves. The mild soup, focuses on natural flavors and offers a light contrast to the more robust flavors in the meal.  The House Special Pan-Fried Tofu and the Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens are Hakka classics. The Chicken Stuffed with Preserved Greens is one of Chef Li’s specialties, order a day in advance. The chicken is filled with a savory mix of preserved mustard greens, mushrooms, and pork, then braised.

Chicken stuffed with Preserved Mustard Greens at the Hakka Restaurant

The steamed fish is topped with a shower of typical Hakka ingredients pickled mustard greens and shreds of pork. Both the clams and eggplant dish reflect adaptations to local tastes as the Hakka migrated. The clams exude a spiciness reminiscent of Sichuan province.  The clams are deep-fried in their shells then stir-fried with fermented black beans, ground pork, chiles, garlic, and sometimes Sichuan peppercorns.  The tender eggplant tastes mildly sweet, sour, hot and aromatic with basil and cilantro, hinting of Thai seasonings. Hakka settled in both these areas, China’s Sichuan province and Thailand.

Everyone loved the meal. I think you will, too. The Hakka Restaurant is located at 4401-A Cabrillo Street (corner of 45th Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94121. Tel. 415. 876. 6898.