Tag Archives: Hakka restaurants

A new Hakka restaurant

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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/

Another Hakka restaurant closes

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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.

New Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco

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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.

  • Pork Stomach with Chicken
  • Tiger prawns with Soy Sauce
  • Japanese Tofu with Baby Mushrooms
  • Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf
  • Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens
  • Salt & Pepper Pork Neck

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

Searching for Hakka restaurants in Bangkok

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On past trips to Thailand, I had never found any Hakka restaurants. I knew Hakka lived in Thailand, but most Chinese I had met previously were Teochow. Through my book, I had met a Hakka who grew up in Bangkok. Luckily when visiting Thailand a few months ago, my new Hakka friend offered to give me a tour of Bangkok’s Chinatown.

Piang Ki Pochana
Tel: 02 221 6024

As we explored the streets bustling with Chinese New Year shoppers, we decided to try a hidden, old time Hakka restaurant in the area. Piang Ki Pochana is tucked into an alley on the way to Wat Kusolsamankarn and The Hakkas Association of Thailand. This tiny hole-in-the wall restaurant specializes in Hakka dishes. We ordered the tofu skin stuffed with minced pork, steamed stuffed tofu, pork belly with picked vegetables, and red-hued stir-fried rice noodles. Our favorite was the paper-thin tofu skin wrapped around a bit of minced pork and fried until extra-crisp. We dipped the crispy morsels into a sweet sauce infused with bits of pickled garlic.

Library at the Hakka Association of Thailand

Afterwards we visited the Hakka Association that includes an event hall and a small library. The library contains Hakka books and publications, most are written in Chinese. If you’re ever in Bangkok, check it out.

A few days later, we tried another Hakka restaurant Aiew Hin Pochana, a short BTS ride outside of city central.

Aiew Hin Pochana
Tel: 086 9456261

At this small homey restaurant we dipped small fried spring rolls filled with pork and water chestnuts into a sweet garlic-infused syrup (photo below).

Pork-filled spring rolls at Aiew Hin Pochana

Their version of pork belly moi choy was dark and succulent. Pork-stuffed tofu chunks, pan-browned on one side and braised in a clear sauce, flecked with red yeast had a mild flavor (photo below).

In our limited tasting of Hakka food in Bangkok, I was surprised to find the dishes rather mild in flavor, especially in the local environment of very spicy Thai cuisine. I need to try more dishes to get a bigger picture of the Hakka restaurants in Thailand. The red yeast rice (kuk ? ? ? ) was present at both meals. These tiny dark red particles are a fermentation by-product of the red yeast growing on cooked non glutinous rice. It adds a deep red color and faint mineral flavor to rice wine, soups, sauces, and fermented bean curd.

Anyone have recommendations for Hakka restaurants in Thailand? Perhaps Hakka cooking only remains in home kitchens. Love to hear from you.

Hakka sweets in Hong Kong

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Chuen Cheung Kui Restaurant

Have you tasted these Hakka sweets–deep-fried milk or steamed Hakka buns?

Days before Chinese New Year, anthropology professor Sidney Cheung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, took us to a local Hakka restaurant, Chuen Cheung Kui Restaurant in Hong Kong. We ate traditional Hakka dishes such as salt-baked chicken and stuffed tofu, but for me, who loves sweets, what I remember the most were the desserts. Like most Chinese desserts, they had intriguing textures but were not very sweet compared to Western versions.

Deep-fried Milk

I had read the deep-fried milk was a must-try at this restaurant. Big lumps of mildly sweet milk pudding were coated in a thin light batter and deep-fried until crisp and golden. Served hot with sugar to dip into, they were irresistible. Unlike other versions of fried custards or puddings I have eaten, these were softer and more voluptuous in size. The crisp exterior deliciously contrasted with the smooth pillow-soft milk pudding interior.

Steamed Hakka Buns

Cheung’s kids insisted we also order the steamed Hakka buns that they had eaten here before. I’m glad they did. Steamed buns, the color of aged ivory, cratered with craggy fissures, sat on a square of banana leaf. Their texture and appearance resembled the bready exterior of a steamed pork bun. The bread boasted a fine, dense, moist, tender crumb. I detected a mild caramel sweetness and golden color that might have originated from brown sugar or the Chinese brown slab sugar. Even though they had no filling, we couldn’t stop eating these soft, slightly sweet buns.

Do you know these Hakka desserts? If so, please share your recipes.

Details:

Chuen Cheung Kui Restaurant
Shop C, 1/F, Alliance Building, 133 Connaught Road
????133?????1?C?
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Island, Sheung Wan

Toronto Hakka restaurants

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Chili Chicken at Royal Seafood Chinese Restaurant

Chili Chicken at Royal Seafood Chinese Restaurant

In my last post I asked for Hakka restaurant recommendations in the Toronto area. With my upcoming trip to the Toronto Hakka Conference, I wanted to try some of the local Hakka food. Interestingly, most of the suggestions feature Hakka-Indian food (aka Indian-style Hakka Chinese Cuisine). Hakka chefs from India created this cuisine by blending Indian spices with Chinese cooking techniques. Often the resulting dishes such as Chili Chicken, Crispy Ginger Beef, and Shrimp Pakoras have a crisp texture and spicy flavor that customers love.

A few people also mentioned a couple of new restaurants run by young Hakka chefs who grew up in Canada and trained in Europe. Their parents are Hakka who migrated from  Jamaica or South Africa and India. Their cooking reflects their multi-cultural background.  Based on their online menus, a few dishes reflect Hakka inspiration, but most of the dishes are creative fusions cooked with Western techniques.

With the concentration of Hakka population in Toronto, I am puzzled why there aren’t restaurants that feature Hakka Chinese food. At Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant and Esquire Great Eastern Restaurant–both Hakka Indian restaurants–I have eaten Hakka Chinese food in the past. Friends called the restaurant in advance to arrange for a Hakka Chinese meal. So perhaps, you need to call in advance to see if the chef is willing to cook a Hakka Chinese meal. I see on the website of Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant, they now offer some Hakka Chinese dishes. Also where are the Hakka-Caribbean, Hakka-Singapore/Malaysia, Hakka-Taiwan, Hakka Mauritian restaurants?

Following are the suggestions from local Hakka. I haven’t tried them yet except for Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant who I interviewed for The Hakka Cookbook.

Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant, 735 Middlefield Rd. Unit 4- 5, Scarborough, ON M1V 5H5, Tel. 416 292 8888

Fedrick Restaurant,160 New Delhi Drive (off Markham Rd) , Markham Tel. 905 472 1682 OR 1920 Ellesmere Rd, Scarborough, ON M1H 2V6 Tel. 416 439 9234

Lotus Garden, 3460 Danforth Ave. Toronto, ON M1L 1E1 Tel. 416 686 7500

Lin Garden Restaurant,1806 Pharmacy Ave. Scarborough, ON M1T 1H6, Tel. 416 491 8484

Wanlee Loy, 5651 Steeles Ave. E. #7, Scarborough, Toronto, ON M1V 5P6, Tel. 416 291 4699

Patois,794 Dundas Street W, Toronto ON  M6J  1V1, Tel. 647.350.8999

Dailo, 503 College St. (at Palmerson Blvd), Toronto, ON M6J 2J3,  Tel.647 341 8882

Hakka in Toronto

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Poster#1 THC2016 copyI’m working on my presentation for the upcoming Toronto Hakka Conference. Of course, I will be talking about food.

I will be in Toronto a few extra days and wonder where to eat. Do you have any suggestions for restaurants with Hakka chefs in the Toronto area? Would love to know where you eat and what your favorite dishes are. What’s new? I know many Hakka chefs come from India but have heard there are some with Jamaican roots. Please share your suggestions with me!

Visit Toronto Hakka Conference to register and see the program. From July 1 to 3, participants have a chance to meet Hakka from all over the world. Listen to experts speak about subjects ranging from Hakka genealogy, food, dialects, history, and much more. The Toronto area holds a concentration of Hakka from that spans the globe. At my first conference in 2008 I connected with many Hakka and interviewed them for The Hakka Cookbook, Chinese Soul Food from around the World.

Hakka restaurants

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Anthony Lin, chef/owner at Danforth Dragon in Toronto

Anthony Lin, chef/owner at Danforth Dragon in Toronto

Where are the Hakka restaurants?

I am surprised there are so few. In San Francisco, I only know of a couple—The Hakka Restaurant and Ton Kiang. Both are owned by Hakka and serve some Hakka dishes as well as other popular Chinese dishes. But in a city with such a large Chinese population why are there so few?

I suspect some restaurants may be Hakka-owned but to attract more customers they may promote a more recognizable Chinese cuisine or generic Chinese dishes. The scarcity of Hakka restaurants may exist only in North America. Although I did find more Hakka establishments in S.E. Asia, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the numbers still seemed rather minor. Since I don’t live there, perhaps I may not be aware of them.

Because Hakka chefs come from all over, there are variations on the cuisine they serve. Some serve Hakka-Indian, Hakka-Caribbean, or Hakka Chinese food.

Do you know any Hakka restaurants anywhere in the world? If so, please share. Provide the restaurant name, address, phone, website, email address, type of Hakka food (Chinese, Indian, etc.), house specialties, your favorites, and any other comments.

I am happy to share the information here. Looking forward to your recommendations. Thanks!

Hakka Restaurant in Hong Kong

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Stuffed tofu topped with fried egg with pork as served at Kong Hing in Hong Kong.

A couple of weeks ago on the way back from China, we stopped in Hong Kong for a couple of days.  Professor Sidney Cheung, whose interview appeared in The Hakka Cookbook, invited me to dinner at a Hakka restaurant, Kong Hing in Tai Wai. In this modest restaurant, we sampled several Hakka specialties such as salt-steamed chicken, stuffed bitter melon, and steamed pork belly with preserved mustard greens.

One of my favorite dishes that night was the stuffed tofu. The chef’s version came capped with fried eggs laced with bits of fried ground pork. To recreate, make the Fried Eggs and Chives (page 80) except replace the chives with bits of fried ground pork. Place the eggs over stuffed tofu (page 31, 33, 76, or 215) in a little broth in a clay pot or other small pan. Heat until bubbly, then shower with chopped green onions and cilantro. The eggs add an extra savory element to the tofu and stretch the number of servings.

Chef Lau Chung Khong

After dinner, Chef Lau Chung Khong stopped by the table. We learned he originally came from the village of Shinling, also home of the Lau Family Association. His village was a neighbor of Moiyen, where my family was from, in Guangdong province. He came to Hong Kong as a teenager and worked in some Hakka restaurants. In 1988 he started his own restaurant. At his restaurant he serves homey Hakka dishes. At lunch, the rice plates are popular with local workers.

I asked my host, Professor Cheung, if there were many Hakka restaurants in Hong Kong. He said there aren’t many because of the high rents. Hakka food has modest ingredients and most are not able to charge high enough prices to cover the rent. Too bad, since the food is so delicious.

 Kong Hing Restaurant

G/F,  79-81 Tsuen Nam Rd,

Tai Wai, Tai Wai

Tel. 2691 6726 / 2601 2982