What a Hong Kong global citizen's pantry shelves say about his tastes
PR executive Daniel Cheung’s kitchen is a melting pot of ingredients from all over Asia. The trained chef, who isn’t afraid to try new things, says he tries to cook with as many local ingredients as possible. And he bakes cakes for neighbourhood dogs
This is an homage to my time in Singapore,” says Daniel Cheung Tin-yau, as he brings out a bottle of cincalok, the Malaysian relish made of fermented shrimp, lime and chilli. “Once, at university, we were celebrating Singapore National Day, and there was a house party, so I made a Bloody Mary with this. It was a little funky, but unless people saw me making it, they wouldn’t have known that there were tiny, crushed, fermented shrimps in it.”
Cheung has called Canada, Singapore, Australia and Britain home since moving away from Hong Kong as a young child.
“Growing up, the fastest way for me to get to know a culture was through food,” he says. At home, though, “My mum cooked Cantonese food, so that was perhaps the only constant”. Cantonese-style steamed pork patties are still his favourite comfort food, and he’s a staunch believer in Chinese tonic soups, keeping a collection of dried herbs – lotus seeds and burdock prominent among them – in his pantry.
Cheung cooks at home two or three times a week, for himself, his partner and their whippet, Wagyu.
“There are quite a few dogs in the neighbourhood, so we all get together for doggy parties. I’m the dog cake baker for the group,” he says. Cakes for dogs, he says, are essentially the same as those for humans, except, “No chocolate, no grapes, no garlic, onion or ginger. Sugar is fine. Generally, a non-chocolate cake recipe will do.”