Original Flavour Of Hakka Cuisine

“Pork Bowl”

To understand the Hakka, Susan Wong’s kitchen is the place to go. An indigenous inhabitant of Lai Chi Wo, she likes to invite guests to her place for lunch, and the emblematic “Pork Bowl” (steamed pork belly seasoned with preserved black bean and served in a bowl) is always on the menu. “I steamed it for 1.5 hours yesterday and repeated the step today. Double steaming is the secret which makes the dish finger-licking good.” Behind the signature dish are deep-rooted patriarchal values in ancient Hakka community. Raising girls was seen as a financial burden to their families, whose properties would be eyed on even after the girls got married. Therefore, when married daughters visited their parents during Chinese New Year, they needed to bring along something valuable – “Pork Bowl” in this case as pork was an expensive ingredient – as a gift. “In olden days, when the Hakka were asked about the gender of their new- born baby, they would say ‘Mushroom Stalk‘ (as a metaphor to refer to the male reproductive organ) for a boy and ‘Pork Bowl’ for a girl.” Times change, though, but the mouth-watering recipe has passed down from generation to generation.


Photo: Susan Wong

Rural Banquets – A Showcase of Team Spirit

Al fresco dining is a major banquet way in Lai Chi Wo. Susan said the villagers used to celebrate special occasions at the plaza outside the main temple, “Each of us brought a homemade dish. We had a real blast!” The spirit of collaboration is probably in their DNA. In Hing Chun Alliance (the collective name for Lai Chi Wo and its six neighbouring villages), wedding banquets used to be organised by fellow residents, while guests would bring their own stools or even help with food preparation, table setting and dish washing.