Why Hong Kong chef Sandy Keung quit finance to take up cooking
- The owner and executive chef of Table, in Sheung Wan, talks about her decision to switch careers
- Rather than going to culinary school, she volunteered to work at a French restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City
How did you get into cooking? “When I was young, I helped my mum sometimes. I was not afraid to pick up a knife, and I knew what to do with garlic and onion because mum told me. I learned basic cooking skills when I went to New York to study, from 1989 to 1993, and worked there as a CPA [Certified Public Accountant] until I came back to Hong Kong, in 1996.
“Personal tax here was lower than in New York so I suddenly had more disposable income to enjoy restaurants, and started developing my love for food. At the same time, I was concerned by how I looked. In New York, I was a petite size, but in Hong Kong I was a medium. I was mortified because I thought I was small.
“I started understanding the science behind food, what makes you fat, what’s yummy and what’s nutritious. I experimented, like, what would eating only apples for 10 days do to your body? You get very little energy, you get hungry a lot, but you lose weight.”
When did you start cooking? “In 2006, I moved to Vietnam as my dad was born and raised there. I moved there to do private equity investment in real estate. I needed to meet local people to start my network so I invited a lot of people to dinner parties at my home. They told me my food was wonderful, so instead of spending money to go to culinary school, I volunteered to work in a French restaurant called Cepage, in Ho Chi Minh City.
“It was my first experience in a professional kitchen, working part time for three years – I enjoyed it very much. I moved back to Hong Kong in 2009, as chief financial officer of a company. I was very busy and travelled a lot, but whenever I found time, I would cater parties for friends, who paid for the food cost.”