The Hong Kong chef discovering his heritage by 'French-ifying' Chinese food
He is only 34 years sometime, but Vicky Cheng has made a name for himself in the competitive world of fine dining. The Hong Kong-born chef, who grew up in Canada, trained at Auberge du Pommier eating house in Toronto and Daniel Boulud's in New York before returning in 2022 to the city where he was born. In Hong Kong, he worked at Liberty Private Works, a private kitchen, and in 2016, he started VEA Eatery, which earned a Michelin star that same year.
Merely Cheng's passion for cooking started when he was well-nigh 10 or eleven years old, he says. His family members were good cooks, and when he was nearly 14, he worked role-time at a sushi bar of an Italian eating house in Toronto. When information technology came to choosing a discipline in college, his mum told him to choose what he liked; so he ended up pursuing a culinary career.
His first mentor was Jason Bangerter, likewise a chef who now works at Canadian eating house Langdon Hall. His 2nd mentor was John Higgins from George Brown College where he studied, and where he was encouraged to compete in the culinary arts.
Ane tin call Cheng a visionary, with his want to change the way Chinese food is presented. He explained: "I have a vision of a cuisine, which is Chinese mixed [with] French, which basically translates to using French techniques. And combining that with Chinese culture – that's something that I feel very strongly about."
Indeed, at VEA, he fulfils this vision where he serves up Chinese heritage food with a singled-out French twist. He is interested in discovering long-lost ingredients; learning the history behind it; and learning "how we used to eat, how the fishermen eat, why they eat it the way they practise". Information technology is a manner of discovering "local products; and… seasonality" in food.
He gives an instance of his French twist on Chinese food – the sea cucumber speciality at VEA. While the ocean cucumber is from Japan, merely the stale version is used in Chinese cooking. In his kitchen, information technology is roasted and incorporates flower crab and egg white mixed with 22-year-quondam Huadiao wine.
The goal, he explained, is to "brand every dish taste similar it's not Chinese nutrient", and not copy anyone. He added: "Nosotros would never take a Chinese dish and cook it the exact way information technology's meant to be." Ultimately, it is cooking Chinese ingredients the French way; something diners have never experienced before."
Cheng says he wants guests to have a feeling of connection betwixt the food that he is serving, and food that he has created with a retentivity that the guests had. And he hopes that he will be able to "maintain what nosotros had, and do ameliorate than what we were, every twenty-four hours".
Adapted from the series Remarkable Living. Lookout full episodes on Aqueduct NewsAsia, every Sunday at 7pm.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/remarkableliving/hong-kong-chef-vicky-cheng-vea-restaurant-and-lounge-239031
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