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Glutinous rice-covered meatballs
Ingredients:
	Pork 250g
	Potato 1
	Glutinous rice Handful
	Spring onion 1
	Egg 1
	Seasoning:
	Corn flour, Sugar, Salt, Oil, Pepper, Soy sauce
Method:
	1. Soak the glutinous rice for 30 minutes. While the rice is soaking, you can start working on other ingredients.


2. Chop and mince the pork. If you mince it by hand, the pork will have a better mouthfeel than store-bought minced pork.


3. Peel the potato and cut it into cubes.


4. Cut the green stalk of a spring onion and discard. Dice the whites.


5. Add the diced potato and spring onion into the pork. Crack the egg into the mixture, too.


6. Add the seasoning and mix it well.


7. Shape the pork into balls and roll them in the glutinous rice.


8. Steam them for about 15 minutes and serve hot.


DIG IN!


The staff at Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Jockey Club Tin Shui Wai Integrated Services Center are no strangers to delicious, homey dishes, given that cooking classes are offered in the center on a regular basis. However, when they heard that Ar Fa was going to make glutinous rice-covered meatballs, they dashed out of the office, hovered around the kitchen and waited eagerly to sink their teeth into Ar Fa’s signature dish.
Ar Fa comes from Hunan, a Chinese province famous for its spicy fare. Glutinous rice-covered meatballs are a unique delight in Hunan cuisine—though not spicy, they have an amazing texture and are very pleasant to look at (In my opinion, the meatballs look like cute little porcupines when steamed). The meatballs might look like a meticulous dish to make, but they take Ar Fa just 30 minutes to prepare. All of the chopping, dicing and mincing seemed to happen in a flash, yet the kitchen remained spotless and tidy. It was obvious that Ar Fa is a well-trained and disciplined cook.
For Ar Fa, cooking is not just a leisurely pursuit—it’s all about survival. “I grew up in misery,” Ar Fa says. “My mother passed away when I was five years old. My father worked as a gold miner in Hunan and I was never sure whether I would make it home when he went to work every day. He died when I was 16.” Ever since childhood, Ar Fa has learnt to take care of herself—and of course that includes feeding herself.
	Ar Fa later left her home in Hunan and moved to Zhuhai for work. During that time,
	she also met her husband. Since her husband was a Hongkonger, she got married and moved to Hong Kong in 1999. They later had a daughter and son. However, the happy days didn’t last very long and their relationship turned sour. Eventually, Ar Fa made the painful decision to get a divorce.
Perhaps there is too much bitterness in her life; Ar Fa always seems to wear a grim face. However, there is always one thing that can make her smile—and that’s cooking. When talking about cooking, her expression softens, her eyebrows relax and she smiles coyly. “Everyone compliments my cooking,” Ar Fa says quietly, but you can tell that her heart swells with pride. Two years ago, Ar Fa joined the Tin Chef Neighborhood Mutual Aid Scheme organized by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. Through the scheme, Ar Fa has landed a part-time job in a catering company. Once assuming herself to be a useless person, Ar Fa—finally—uncovered the real value of her culinary talents.
Hakka-style stuffed tofu
Ingredients (4 servings):
	Hard Tofu 4 cubes
	Minced pork ½ lb
	Mud carp meat ½ lb
	Salted fish small cube
	Lettuce half a head
Note: Ingredients are not in absolute quantities; please use your own judgment.
Method:
	1. Mix the minced pork, mud carp meat and salted fish well. There is no need to marinate the pork because the salted fish will already be quite salty.


2. Cut the hard tofu into halves. Hollow out the center of the tofu.



3. Stuff the mixture of minced pork, mud carp meat and salted fish into the tofu.


4. Heat some oil in a pan. Make sure that the oil is hot enough; otherwise the tofu will crumble to pieces. Put the tofu in and deep fry. Once the tofu turns golden brown, take them off the pan. Add a little bit of salt on the tofu (not the meat itself) if you like. Wrap the stuffed tofu with lettuce leaves if you like.


DIG IN!


The young Ivana Cheung invites us into her 400-square feet home in one of the many public housing estates in Tin Shui Wai. After saying hello and giving us a big smile, the 16-year-old dashes into the kitchen and busies herself with preparing the ingredients. She starts making us a dish of stuffed tofu, which is a specialty of Hakka cuisine.
	”Stuffed food is very common in Hakka cuisine and a lot of different ingredients can be used in these dishes,” Ivana says. Stuffed tofu was a dish that the Hakka people made during festivals like the Chinese New Year. In the old days, pork was a rare delicacy; add to that the large amount of oil required for the dish, and stuffed tofu was definitely a luxury for the traditionally more frugal-minded Hakka people. Nowadays, the ingredients for the dish are easily affordable.
	Times may have changed, but the Hakka virtue of frugality has also remained intact through the generations. Ivana has bought too much of the ingredients and hates to see food being wasted. So she improvises and makes a new dish out of the leftovers. She cuts the remaining tofu into small pieces, then stir-fries them with the pork and mud carp meat. She also adds some sweet vinegar sauce given to her by a friend who’s a chef.
	The kitchen is Ivana’s laboratory and she has been conducting her own culinary experiments ever since she was 10. Ivana’s parents were striving to make ends meet, and the children sometimes had to take care of themselves. Gastronomical talents are innate, as the 10-year-old Ivana started making her first dish without anyone teaching her. “After school, I used to watch Pleasure and Leisure (a popular afternoon TV program among housewives),” she says. “I was very hungry and decided to try out cooking in the kitchen. My first dish was fried rice.”
	Ivana’s father is good at cooking too. However, he had never taught Ivana how to cook and she only learns by watching dad from the sidelines.
	Ever since, Ivana has become the family cook. Her daily routine is different from her peers, as she is the only one among them who cooks. After school, she would go home and relax for a while, before going to the market to buy ingredients. She would cook dinner for her father and brother after they come home from work. Ivana says she would spend around $20 to $30 on a dinner–because she has to use every penny wisely.
	Ivana is definitely an optimistic girl and her home is filled with nothing but her hearty laughter. During our interview of two hours, she can’t stop laughing and joking around. Social worker Calvin Wu, who has known Ivana for more than two years, tells us that Ivana is a very active girl. Apart from being a cooking instructor at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Jockey Club Tin Shui Wai Integrated Services Center, she is also part of her school choir and drama group. She has even started playing golf.
	Despite Ivana’s cheerfulness, her life isn’t exactly perfect bliss. Her family had moved to Tin Shui Wai about six years ago—and her mother had to move away from the family because Tin Shui Wai is too far from her workplace and the transportation cost is prohibitively high. For example, residents of Tin Shui Wai have to spend about $50 per day on transportation if they have to commute all the way to Hong Kong Island and back. Ivana’s family reunites only once a week and sometimes, Ivana even has to set a date with her mother so that they can meet. Ivana started cooking at the age of 10—around the time her mother moved out. “Sometimes, I miss my mother’s cooking,” Ivana says.
Pakistani Chicken Tikka
Ingredients:
	Chicken wings 2lbs
	Chicken tikka powder 1 box (Available in Pakistani shops)
	Lemon 2
	Garlic paste Spoonful
Method:
	1. Defrost and wash the chicken wings. Make a few cuts on the wings so that they can absorb the spices better.
	2. Pour the chicken tikka powder over the chicken wings.
	3. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken wings. Remember to pick the lemon seeds away.
	4. Add some garlic paste. You may add some plain yogurt too, if you like.
	5. Marinate the chicken wings for two to three hours for better flavor.
	6. Heat the pan and fry the wings until cooked
	7. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and bake the chicken wings for 15 – 20 minutes.
Dressed in a light blue and pink traditional Pakistani dress, Mrs. Mateen marched into the kitchen of Jockey Club Tin Shui Wai Integrated Services Center with two other Pakistani ladies. Mrs. Mateen was armed with an arsenal of cooking utensils and ingredients—it was obvious that she was ready to show us the true flavors of Pakistani dishes.
	Chicken tikka is a common dish in Pakistani fare. Mrs. Mateen baked the chicken wings this time, but the Pakistani would also fry them, or even barbeque them. After Mrs. Mateen was done with cooking, all of us sat down and devoured the chicken tikka. Surprisingly, the chicken was not spicy at all; and the drops of lemon juice bring some zesty freshness to the meaty dish. Chicken tikka is a get-together dish for the Pakistanis and people eat the dish when they have parties, or for some special occasions.
	“Is this my best dish? Well, I still have lots to offer!” Mrs. Mateen exclaimed. Just like every other Pakistani woman, Mrs. Mateen takes pride in her cooking skills. In the Pakistani culture, women bear the natural obligation of taking care of the family—and apparently a family cannot function well without good food. Under such a notion, Pakistani mothers would teach their daughters how to cook at a young age—and that’s how culinary traditions pass along the generations. However, Mrs. Mateen might be a rather exceptional case as she only learnt how to cook at the age of 20. “I had three elder sisters so that I didn’t need to cook,” Mrs. Mateen said. Even though Mrs. Mateen might be a late bloomer, we could all testify that she was a very good cook.
	Ethnic minorities might be stereotyped as a timid, powerless group in Hong Kong; but Mrs. Mateen totally radiates confidence. While Mrs. Mateen was demonstrating for us, the two ladies were making snacks for kids attending tutorial classes in the center. Mrs. Mateen was not the eldest among the three, but the others looked up to her for instructions. After all, Mrs. Mateen has always acted like a leader in the Pakistani community in Tin Shui Wai.
	“There are a lot of Pakistani people living in Tin Shui Wai and there are also large groups of Nepalese and Indians,” Mrs. Mateen said. Ethnic minorities do face a lot of problems in Hong Kong—especially the newcomers. “When they first arrive in Hong Kong, they are shy and don’t want others to help.” Since Mrs. Mateen speaks both Cantonese and the Pakistani language, she gains the trust of Pakistanis easily and becomes the best middleman between the Pakistani community and non-governmental organizations in Tin Shui Wai, which want to offer help for ethnic minorities. Now she works part-time at the center, so that Tung Wah could reach the ethnic minorities in Tin Shui Wai better and more easily.
	Mrs. Mateen has an edge in language as she speaks perfect Cantonese—and it’s because she was born in Hong Kong. “I am a Hong Konger. My home country is Hong Kong, not Pakistan.” Mrs. Mateen’s father was a policeman in colonial Hong Kong. He liked the place and decided to settle in the city. Therefore, all siblings of Mrs. Mateen—three sisters and two brothers—were born and raised in Hong Kong.
	While Mrs. Mateen identifies herself as a Hongkonger, she still keeps close ties with her country of ethnic origin. After primary school, Mrs. Mateen went to Pakistan for secondary education and she met her husband at the age of 20 during a visit back to Pakistan. Since Hong Kong is her real home and offers better job opportunities, Mrs. Mateen decided to move back to Hong Kong with her husband. Up till now, the couple has been happily married (with a son and daughter) and living in Hong Kong for 13 years. However, it was not easy at first. “My husband comes from a rich family. When my mother-in-law came to visit us in Hong Kong, she cried and complained that our home was so small. She said our home was just like a chicken house!” Mrs. Mateen reminisces. “But if we lead a happy life, it doesn’t matter even if we live in a small home.”
	Apart from Pakistani dishes, Mrs. Mateen is also good at cooking Chinese food. “I know how to make fried rice, dumplings and steamed fish,” Mrs. Mateen said. Food is always the best medium for cultural exchange and Mrs. Mateen would sometimes cook food for her neighbors. Contrary to stereotypes, Mrs. Mateen sees that Tin Shui Wai is a good place to live – perhaps it’s because the district is heavily resided with ethnic minorities and people are used to interacting with them.
	When asked about racial discrimination in Hong Kong, Mrs. Mateen is not bitter. “There are always good people and bad people. The same goes for Pakistan and Hong Kong.” And she has seen improvement in the years. “There was more racial discrimination in Hong Kong and some people would say that we smell of spice. Now it has become better.”
Tin Chef Neighborhood Mutual Aid Scheme
With its label of “City of Sadness” (owing to the many suicides and family tragedies in Tin Shui Wai in recent years), social workers from Tung Wah Group of Hospitals were having a difficult time to come up with a good way to help kaifongs (residents). “We saw a lot of housewives who did not have a particular interest or hobby. So we asked ourselves, what kind of common activities do they do, and that’s cooking,” says Calvin Wu, Assistant Supervisor of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Jockey Club Tin Shui Wai Integrated Services Center. Food is the perfect medium—it cultivates a sense of belonging to the community and also instills confidence in the housewives of Tin Shui Wai. After securing funding for $2.2 million from the government’s Community Investment and Inclusion Fund Committee, social workers started the three-year Tin Chef Neighborhood Mutual Aid Scheme in 2008. Since Tin Shui Wai is a culturally diverse neighborhood, the scheme succeeded in recruiting about 30 kaifongs—all hailing from different Chinese provinces or even different countries—to be the instructors of cookery classes. These classes, which teach students how to create homey dishes from different places, became very popular and have attracted more than 2,000 attendees. The scheme is now expanding and they are eyeing business opportunities, such as catering or setting up private kitchens, to help the housewives earn some extra income. If you want to have your next event catered with some tasty, home-style dishes, and also support the community of Tin Shui Wai, please call 3165-8824 for more information.
About the book: Home Recipes from Tin Shui Wai
“Home Recipes from Tin Shui Wai” consists of two volumes. From the two books, you will learn how to prepare homey dishes from various Chinese provinces, Southeast Asian countries and even Russia (Yes, there are Russians living in Tin Shui Wai); you can also learn more about the lives of the chefs from Tin Shui Wai. It is a heart-warming book, and renowned homegrown illustrator Stella So has peppered it with cute and witty images. It is also a good read for locavores yearning for more knowledge about food in Hong Kong as author Mak Yuen-boon, who comes from a farming family, has generously shared his knowledge about local food with the readers.
Joint Publishing, available in bookstores citywide for $128 per volume (in Chinese only).
 


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Tin Shui Wai Recipes

Ivana Cheung

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Ar Fa 

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A new cookbook by the residents of Tin Shui Wai reveal another side to the impoverished district.


Tin Shui Wai Recipes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A new cookbook by the residents of Tin Shui Wai reveal another side to the impoverished district.

Glutinous rice-covered meatballs

A new cookbook by the residents of Tin Shui Wai reveal another side to the impoverished district.