Linda Lau Anusasananan is the author of The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food Around the World. After more than three decades writing about food for Sunset Magazine, she traced the history and food trail of her own people, the Hakka, Chinese nomadic pioneers who settled throughout the world. Her cookbook shares her journey with stories and recipes from Hakka from California to Peru.
Give The Hakka Cookbook, Chinese Soul Food from around the World, recognized as the Best Chinese Cookbook in the World in 2012, to Hakka family and friends. The book outlines the Hakka history and defines Hakka identity. Or give the book to a cooking enthusiast who loves Chinese food and history. It’s a great holiday gift for the Chinese foodie.
The Hakka Cookbook was recognized as the Best Chinese Cookbook of the World by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awardsin 2012.
Through recipes and stories told by Hakka from all over the world, discover the unique Hakka history, culture, and cuisine. Find 140 recipes, including Hakka classics such as stuffed tofu, lei cha, and salt-baked chicken as well as easy Chinese comfort food. The beginner cook will find sections on cooking techniques, equipment, and ingredients. Paintings created by artist Alan Lau gracefully illustrates the book.
Check this link for sources on where to buy The Hakka Cookbook. It is widely available online. Some of the major sellers are Amazon.com, Books Kinokuniya, and University of California Press. Or ask your local book store to order The Hakka Cookbook for you.
July 31, 2022: Unfortunately this restaurant looks like it has closed. Please let me know, if it has moved or re-opens
Closed????
Please let me know if it has moved or reopens.
It’s rare to find a Hakka restaurant in Northern California. We were lucky last week when we discovered Hakka Cuisine located in Fremont, California. Although I read about the restaurant in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Chinese Regional Guide a few years ago, I had not yet tried it. I’m so glad we stopped by when we were in the area. Although we only tried a few dishes, Hakka Cuisine will bring me back with its comforting home-style dishes. With strong direct flavors, a bit of salt and fat, and generous use of all parts of the pig, this menu echos traits often found in Hakka cuisine, especially in Taiwan and Canton.
Hakka Salt-Baked Shredded Chicken
An earthy sauce made with camphor-scented sand ginger (aka ground galangal) generously coats coarse shreds of moist chicken attached to bits of smooth, silky skin. Hidden underneath, a bone-in wing and a section of the back bone, prop up the mound of boneless chicken and offer the bone lover, as I am, gnarly pieces to chew on. Other restaurants usually serve this Hakka classic as bite-sized pieces of bone-in chicken with a meager portion of sauce on the side. I like Hakka Cuisine’s easier-to-eat and more flavorful saucy presentation. I’m a bone lover, so I even appreciate the extra bones to chew on. Nothing fancy about the accompanying cabbage dotted with roasted peanuts, it is just simple comfort food that I can’t stop eating.
Hakka Salt-Baked Shredded Chicken
House Special Braised Pork Belly
Chunks of pork belly braise in a dark sauce until soft, succulent, and infused with a sweet salty flavor. The glossy morsels melt in our mouths. Sop up the plentiful sauce with the rice and cabbage.
House Special Braised Pork Belly
Hakka Pork Dumplings with Egg Skins
The pork dumplings with the egg skins catch my eye on the menu. I have seen similar dumplings posted on Facebook but have never eaten them before. Small, rather thick egg pancakes loosely enclose a pork filling. The dumplings float in a comforting, deeply satisfying white broth, laden with carrots and bean thread noodles, enlivened with white peppercorns. The flavor of fried egg imbues the broth with warm familiarity.
Hakka Pork Dumplings with Egg Skin
More to try
We can’t wait to return to try more…perhaps the Pan-fried Stuffed Tofu, Steamed Pork Ribs with Sticky Rice, Emperor Chicken with Scallion Sauce, Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables, Lion Meatballs, Golden Braised Pork Feet and so much more. Explore the menu.
Hakka Cuisine menu
July 31, 2022: Unfortunately this restaurant looks like it has closed. Please let me know, if it has moved or re-opens. Hakka Cuisine 43755 Boscell Road (near Auto Mall Parkway) Fremont, CA 94538 510 668 0898 https://www.orderhakka.com/
Chinese men with long braids are Cantonese. Men with short hair are Hakka. Photo from Generational Roots: 19th Century Chinese Migration to America. Part 1 Hawaii.
Want to learn about the 19th century Hakka migration to America? View these two webinars presented by Dr. Brian Dillon, professor, archeologist, author, anthropologist, and historian. He has studied Chinese-American history for decades, as did his father, Richard H. Dillon, a noted historian and author. Dr. B. Dillon, who is Irish, doesn’t speak or write Chinese. But he married into a Chinese family in Hawaii. His wife is Hakka. Dillon accompanies his narrative with a highly informative slide show.
Generational Roots: 19th Century Chinese Migration to America -Links to Chinese migration webinars: Part 1 Hawaii:Part 2 California:
Tsung Tsin Hawaii sponsored these presentations. Valuable resources and tips to find your own Chinese roots offer a path to your family history. Each webinar runs about one hour. They are packed with information about the Hakka migration and are totally worth your time.
Photo from Generational Roots: 19th Century Chinese Migration to America. Part 1 Hawaii.
Did you know in the 19th century Chinese migration…
Most Chinese immigrants came from the southern Guangdong province.
Hawaii welcomed the Chinese immigrants. Most were Hakka. Many settled and married Hawaiian women.
Chinese came to California to get rich. They were mostly Cantonese. The host society treated the Chinese badly.
California led the way with anti-Chinese sentiments.
Author Mark Twain defended the Chinese.
Author Jack London stole fish from Chinese fishermen.
The Chinese men in America who wore queues (long braids) were Cantonese (Punti) to show honor to the Emperor.
Chinese men with short hair (no braids) were Hakka. They were the rebels.
The Chinese in California built the railways, dry laid stone walls, and water tunnels.
Chinese cooks in California logging camps were considered the best in the business.
I just registered for Toronto Hakka Conference 2021. You should too if you want to learn about your Hakka roots and unique history.
In 2004, when I first started research for The Hakka Cookbook, I scanned the internet looking for any information on the Hakka. Google results were meager, but yielded more leads than I had seen most of my life. Following leads and contacts, led me to my first Toronto Hakka Conference 2008.
As I sat in the auditorium filled with Hakka Chinese, I felt at home. I had never been surrounded by so many Hakka in one place. I grew up in a small town in Northern California, Paradise, where we were the only and first Chinese family. Even when I left Paradise and met other Chinese I still didn’t quite fit in. I couldn’t understand their dialect. Years ago many Chinese didn’t know who the Hakka were. Finally, at the Toronto Hakka Conference, I felt like I belonged. These were my people. We shared the same roots.
The Toronto Hakka Conference only takes place every 4 years. Due to COVID travel restrictions, the sixth conference scheduled for 2020 has been moved to July 11 to 12, 2021. This virtual conference will take place via Zoom so anyone from around the world can easily participate. Learn about the Hakka diaspora, genealogy, and meet Hakka from all over the world at the Toronto Hakka Conference 2021. Check out the preliminary program here.
I’ll miss the in-person networking but the broad virtual access greatly expands the audience. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your Hakka network and knowledge with so little effort. No travel expenses, just register in advance. There’s a low registration fee, around $50, with a reduced rate for students. Click here to register.
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.
These chicken wings braise in an umami-rich bean sauce, punctuated with black pepper.
With chicken wings in the freezer, I turned to a recipe in The Hakka Cookbook, Braised Chicken Wings in Bean Sauce. I love this recipe because it takes little effort but yields a big payoff. My Hakka friend, Fah Liong, taught me how to make these Hakka chicken wings. Dark salty fermented bean sauce permeates the soft, silky chicken flesh and resulting sauce with intense savoriness. A generous measure of freshly ground pepper adds a spicy kick.
Look for bean sauce in Asian markets. If you can’t find the Chinese bean sauce (aka known as bean sauce or ground bean sauce) use the more available hoisin sauce but omit the sugar. Bean sauce is the base for the sweeter, more seasoned hoisin.
To cook, simply brown about 2 pounds meaty chicken wing sections in oil, then add 2 tablespoons minced garlic. Add 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons ground bean sauce, 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and sugar, and about 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cover and simmer until wings are tender when pierced, 35 to 45 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the wings to a serving dish. Skim fat off pan juices, and if sauce tastes watery, boil, uncovered, to concentrate flavor and reduce to about 1 cup. Pour over wings. For more details, see page 203 in The Hakka Cookbook. Serve with rice and stir-fried greens. Enjoy!
Fresh arrowhead and dark strips of Chinese bacon simmer together to make a fragrant, dark stew.
Khiung Hee Fat Choy! Happy Year of the Ox! For our Chinese New Year’s family feast, I cooked Five-Spice Potatoes and Chinese Bacon from The Hakka Cookbook. This Chinese potato stew comes from childhood memories of Popo, my grandmother and a master forager and cook.
Long ago on a drive through the flat rice fields near Oroville, California, Popo suddenly shouted to my father to stop the car. She had seen a stand of plants growing in an irrigation ditch along the road. Sensing wild potatoes grew underneath, she directed us to plunge our hands through the cold water into the muddy silt. We found plump bulbs attached to the stems and pulled them out.
That night Popo cooked the wild potatoes, better known as arrowhead (ci gu), with Chinese bacon to make a dark fragrant stew. The sweet spicy perfume of five-spice powder and smoky bacon filled the kitchen and our memories of that day.
Five-Spice Potatoes and Chinese Bacon
That was the only time I remember Popo using arrowhead for the Chinese potato stew. Often, she simply substituted thin-skinned potatoes from the supermarket. Look for arrowhead in Asian markets. Make sure the bulbs are firm and fresh. Or use potatoes as my grandmother did. Chinese bacon, dried soy sauce and five-spice marinated strips of pork belly, also contribute to the dark, fragrance of the stew. You’ll also find the dried smoked pork belly in Asian markets.
Her stew was relatively easy to cook. Simply slice the bacon, lightly brown, and add garlic and ginger. Add water, a little dark soy sauce, sugar, and five-spice powder and simmer, covered, until the bacon is almost tender. Then add peeled and sliced arrowhead and cover and simmer until tender. Serve with hot rice and enjoy.
For a detailed recipe, see page 19 of The Hakka Cookbook.
Puhn choi at Chung Shing Restaurant in In Tai Po, New Territories of Hong Kong in 2005
A Chinese banquet in a wash basin? We gasped when the waitress set a huge metal pan filled with a mountain of food before us. The pan, literally a wash basin, held a layered multi-course feast known as basin feast (puhn choi, pen cai,poon choi). It’s a popular choice for family gatherings such as Chinese New Years, weddings, and family reunions because everyone eats from one dish which symbolizes unity. Guests gather around the basin and literally eat from the top to the bottom, working their way through the different courses.
This specialty comes from the New Territories of Hong Kong where many Hakka live. One story about the origin of puhn choi suggests that when Emperor Bing of Song moved south in the late Sung period, his large entourage overwhelmed the small villages. Inventive villagers simply didn’t have enough dishes to feed the large group so they piled the food in the biggest containers they had–wash basins.
Basin Feast (puhn choi) from The Hakka Cookbook, page 84
Centuries later, the basin feast has morphed into a popular celebration dish in Hong Kong. Now, this one-pan Chinese banquet finds it way to San Francisco. This recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle lists several local restaurants that offer puhn choi for take-out for Chinese New Year. Because a multi-course feast comes layered in one big pan, it works well for a portable take-out Chinese banquet for a family. Restaurants go upscale, serving up expensive ingredients for these special occasion feasts. Or if you like, make this humbler, make-ahead home-style version featured in The Hakka Cookbook, page 84.
“Your cherished family recipes could be featured in a museum exhibition,” read the Facebook post. I thought this might be a great opportunity to share our Hakka recipes and story. I signed on immediately.
I submitted a Hakka recipe that I previously shared on this blog, my mother’s Steamed Black Bean Spareribs. I loved the pungent savory goodness of the fermented black beans, garlic, and the pork as they cooked together in a steam bath. This dish bears resemblance to the Cantonese version, although my mother’s version reaches deeper, darker flavor levels. Because many Hakka and Cantonese lived side-by-side in southern China, they often borrowed and adapted flavors and techniques from each other. Perhaps that’s why Hakka food is often considered a branch of Cantonese cuisine.
I hope you enjoy the exhibit and the many recipes and stories.
Hakka Ginger Chicken Noodle Bowl is easy, healthy, and zesty.
Many Hakka dishes have the reputation for being heavy, fatty, dark, and salty. This new Hakka Noodle Bowl, defies that stereotype. I combined the two easiest and shortest recipes in The Hakka Cookbook, to create a zesty, colorful, noodle bowl that appeals to today’s taste for lighter, healthier food.
Start with Steeped Chicken Breasts (page 22 of The Hakka Cookbook). The lean chicken gently cooks in the residual heat of boiling water. Cool and tear the moist meat into coarse shreds. You can also use leftover cooked chicken or meat from a purchased rotisserie bird.
The zesty Fresh Ginger-Onion Sauce (page 66) brightly seasons the chicken and noodles. This sauce combines lots of fresh minced fresh ginger, green onion, and garlic. Pour boiling hot oil over the mixture to lightly temper the pungency. The sauce is often served with salt-baked, steamed, or poached chicken, but I find it also adds a vibrant lively flavor to noodles, seafood, and vegetables.
Cook your noodle of choice–I like Chinese wheat noodles or soba. Mix noodles with the ginger sauce and soy sauce to taste. Place in large bowls. Top noodles with mounds of cooked shredded chicken and slivered vegetables. Offer extra ginger sauce to add to taste. Enjoy–you will love this fresh, light noodle bowl.
Hakka Ginger Chicken Noodle Bowl
You can scale this recipe up or down. The chicken and sauce can be prepared a day ahead, cover and chill. Use leftover Ginger-Onion Sauce on salads, noodles, seafood, and vegetables.
Makes 2 or 3 main dish servings
6 ounces dry Chinese wheat noodles or Japanese soba Fresh Ginger-Onion Sauce (page 66 of The Hakka Cookbook, makes about 3/4 cup) Soy sauce 1 1/2 to 2 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (Steeped Chicken Breasts, page 22 of The Hakka Cookbook) Salt to taste 2 to 3 cups slivered or thinly sliced vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, jicama, radishes, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, red bell pepper, red onion (choose 3 to 6) Cilantro leaves for garnish Chile sauce (optional)
1. Cook noodles in boiling water as directed on package. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Drain.
2. In a large bowl mix noodles with 3 to 4 tablespoons Ginger-Onion Sauce and 2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste. Place noodles in 2 or 3 large serving bowls.
3. Mix chicken with about 3 tablespoons Ginger-Onion Sauce, 2 to 3 teaspoons soy sauce, and salt to taste. Mound equal portions of chicken on each bowl of noodles. Arrange mounds of vegetables on noodles. Drizzle vegetables with a little of the Ginger-Onion Sauce, offer remaining sauce to add to taste. Garnish bowls with cilantro. If desired, offer chile sauce and soy sauce to add to taste. Mix lightly to eat.
