You've been in the restaurant business for three decades. How did it all start? '
When I was 16, I was working at a factory and felt bored. My uncle was working at a Western restaurant and he found me a job in the kitchen as an apprentice. I enjoyed the challenge. Then, luckily, I was accepted at the famous Luk Yu Tea House, before I was even 20. I received strict training from the master chefs during my three years there, learning every principal step and the fundamental theories behind traditional Cantonese dishes. Luk Yu customers are extremely demanding, but this helped me develop my own cooking methods and benchmarks for the produce I use.'
How did you become nicknamed Master Loong?
'I was quite a big guy when I started working in kitchens. At that time, one of the main characters in a popular Chinese movie was called Fat Loong [fat dragon]. My colleagues started calling me that and it evolved into Master Loong as I moved up the chain of command.'
So why do wet-market vendors call you the 'motorbike chef'?
'I don't like my ingredients to be delivered by suppliers - you never know what they'll be like, but you're stuck with them. I've been riding my motorbike to work for years - it's easy to find a parking space - so I make daily trips to the markets and buy the ingredients myself. At about 9am I stop at the Pei Ho Street market in Sham Shui Po and inspect the giant grouper at my favourite shop, then I select seafood, free-range chickens and seasonal vegetables. I have a freezer box on the back of my motorbike to store it all in.'