Modern Chinese dining is the new culinary trend – and Shanghai is leading the way
Chefs in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia are creatively combining local flavours with traditional ingredients to create bespoke menu items
Most people who consider themselves as epicureans have probably already heard about modern Nordic cuisine or modern French cooking, but not many may know that modern Chinese dining is also on the rise. And Shanghai seems to be leading the way.
No one is keener than Johnston Teo, a young old Singaporean chef known for conceptualising modern Chinese cuisine. After quitting his job at Odette – ranking No 1 one at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 – he went from Singapore to Shanghai in 2018 to unleash his passion for Chinese culinary culture by going back his Chinese heritage.
Grounded in the principles of using nostalgic Chinese flavours, Teo takes a Western culinary approach he learned while training in French kitchens. The genre of Chinese cuisine is neither fusion nor creative dishes.
“I want to take a modern approach to emphasise on the gastronomic culture and dining etiquette of China,” he says.
Developing the concept of modern Chinese further, Teo has teamed up with Table for Eight, a pop-up dining table being rolled out by chef Wenye Li. Thanks to his trips to Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong in the past few months, Teo has been inspired to elevate modern Chinese to next level.
“The DNA in a French meal has to consist of bread, butter, wine and cheese, but for my modern Chinese meal it’s about rice, noodles, tea, soybeans and fermented products,” Teo says.
He associates ingredients with cultural references and then represents them using a wide range of ingredients from seafood to fruit. For example, the dish of langoustine definitely defines new Chinese cuisine as comfort food when you discover the aged tangerine peels and handmade baos that Chinese diners are familiar with.
At the forefront of the movement is the chef couple Simon Wong and DeAille Tam. The two of them collaborate with celebrity chef Alvin Leung (aka “The Demon Chef”) who helms Bo Innovation, a three Michelin star-restaurant in Hong Kong pioneering “X-treme Chinese cuisine”. Following Leung’s divergent approach, the couple, who were born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, unveiled modern Chinese cuisine in Shanghai three years ago with Bo Shanghai, a one Michelin star-restaurant (currently closed temporarily) serving inspired delights from the eight great regions of China.