How did you get into the restaurant industry? “I’ve been cooking since 1975. When I entered the industry, at 15 years of age, we needed to eat to survive. It was tough, working from early in the morning until midnight. My first job was at a high-end restaurant called Lung Tung Court, in Jordan [now closed]. “I started off cleaning the kitchen, washing vegetables and finishing the dishes, like arranging broccoli on a plate. The chef asked me to carry a pot – it was so hot – but we weren’t allowed to use any cloth to protect our hands. After a week I got blisters. He chided me, saying if you can’t take it, get another job. I practised carrying hot pots until I didn’t get any more blisters. I began enjoying cooking about 10 years in.” How did you move up in the kitchen? “I was lucky. On our break, we apprentices would practise stir-frying leftover noodles and rice. One time, four of us cooked Singapore noodles. The chef came by and only ate my noodles. After that I was promoted to stir-frying.” What kind of dishes did you cook? “In 1986, I worked for a high-end restaurant called Lung Heen [also closed]. Guests at high-end restaurants have high expectations: the flavours are delicate, not too salty, and you need to cook more carefully. Stir-fried choi sum could be HK$60 in regular restaurants, but there it was HK$120. It is the same ingredient but you need to cook it carefully, use less oil, and present it nicely.” Are expensive dishes more difficult to prepare? “When it comes to expensive ingredients, when you are learning, you watch more than you cook. But when the chef trusts you, he will let you cook. Once you learn to cook the dish, it’s not that hard. “For example, shark’s fin and crab roe is easier than stir-frying beef and vegetables. Once you make the supreme stock, cook the shark’s fin in it, then add the crab roe. That’s it. With stir-fried beef and vegetables, you need to cook two ingredients separately.” What did you learn at The Langham? “I worked at T’ang Court, in Tsim Sha Tsui, for over 20 years on and off, under Chinese executive chef Kwong Wai-keung. I didn’t just cook, but had to manage staff, too. You can’t just cook well. If you don’t have pressure then you won’t improve. We proved that with Michelin stars over the years.” Why did you go to Duddell’s in 2013? “It was more free being in a free-standing restaurant. When you work in a hotel there are lots of meetings, there’s no time to be in the kitchen. We can also be more flexible with the menu. You can use the ingredients you want to use; in a hotel you are hamstrung by the budget. “After half a year, Duddell’s got one [Michelin] star, then its second star. When I was working in The Langham, I didn’t know what Michelin was so I didn’t think it was a big deal.” What kinds of dishes do you serve at Ying Jee Club? “I want to give my customers the best dishes, and change them up a bit: sautéed pigeon with sea cucumber and Yunnan ham; braised chicken wings stuffed with bamboo shoots and Yunnan ham; and steamed leopard coral grouper with shredded pork, black mushroom and bean curd. These dishes aren’t common because they are laborious.” What do you like to cook? “Seafood, as it’s all about skill and experience. I like to cook stir-fried lobster with shallots and scallions, and steamed king prawn with egg white and crab coral because they test the chef’s skill. You can’t cheat the customer.” Why aren’t traditional dishes available any more? “When I was starting out there were six or seven people in one station, now there’s just one or two. Everywhere is like this, and as a result, cooking skills are lost. Our restaurant has about 100 seats, so we can still do these traditional dishes.” How has the Chinese restaurant industry changed? “Young cooks don’t want to go into Chinese restaurants, they think it’s too tough. During my time we had no holidays – we had to pay someone to substitute for us. I was in my 20s when I rode on a plane for the first time. “We have fresh graduates come to our restaurant for two months and then they leave. We’re lucky if they stay for six months. The youngest cooks we have in the kitchen are in their 30s. They have followed me from The Langham to Duddell’s to here. We work as a team quickly and efficiently, especially during lunchtime when customers in Central want all their dishes in less than an hour. It’s a team effort.”