Hakka in Torquay: A Food Memoir

I grew up in a seaside town called Torquay in Devon, a county in the south-west of England. My grandfather Lo Sam Fat had emigrated to England from Hong Kong in the 1950's and after working for other people, eventually saved enough money to open his own takeaway with business partners. This was the Rice Bowl in Exeter which was the very first Chinese takeaway in the town. My grandmother, father and his siblings relocated from Hong Kong to join him and that is how I came to be born in England. 

The Rice Bowl is now an Indian takeaway

My grandfather then opened up a takeaway in Newton Abbot called Hoi Shan and a second branch of Hoi Shan was opened up in Torquay for my parents to manage. Hoi Shan translates to "Sea Mountain" which seems very poetic. However, l think all my  grandfather did was name the takeaway after the local dim sum joint they frequented back in Hong Kong!

Growing up in a Hakka family in England, I ate western food while out and about but mostly Chinese food at home, cooked by our mother who is an excellent cook! While I loved ham sandwiches, yogurts and roast lamb, we always ate Chinese food for the 5pm family dinner. The Hoi Shan takeaway had to open by 5.30pm so the home meal was ready at 5pm and eaten quickly while hot. 

The food at the family dinner was very different to the food we sold at Hoi Shan. We ate Hakka and Cantonese dishes using fresh, local ingredients. Seafood such as whole fish, lobster and crab often featured - a benefit of living by the coast of south-west Devon.The dishes zinged with garlic, ginger and spring onions. However, we sold food customized for the Western palate. Not to say, it was of lesser culinary quality but the ginger and garlic were certainly pared down or even non-existent. Having said that, there are some gems from the takeaway menu that I still crave. I think often about our popular Hoi Shan curry with our home-made curry paste – a recipe I will share in a later blog post!

Grilled red mullet - a favourite 

The food I ate for breakfast and lunch was mostly English. In the UK, 1980’s food was particularly bland with few foreign influences. Mum will sometimes take us out for a Roast Beef lunch at The Edwardian restaurant or at pub carvery. As a treat, sometimes we would have lunch at Hoopers – lasagna was a favorite. Being young and influenced by school classmates, I thought it was more sophisticated to be eating Western food. Elegance was eating off a flat plate with a knife and fork. Ironic now to look back and realize it was exactly the opposite. It was the food at home that was sophisticated with bold, beautiful flavors – and it is this cooking which I will try to share with you all in upcoming posts. 

Sik fan!