In Conversation With Chef Katherine Lim : A Chinese Indian Chef Upholding Her Hakka Heritage

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Born in North India (Amritsar) and raised later in Kolkata where she found her hakka roots more prominent, Chef Lim was always unsure about her real identity. Was she a Chinese or an Indian? 'Food' is what brought purpose into her life and helped her create an identity as a progressive Chinese Chef who pays homage to her Hakka heritage who about food from the kitchens of her extended family, spread across the globe.

She was in Bengaluru recently for a Chinese New Year food pop up at INAZIA, the pan Asian fine dining at Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel. We got into a candid conversation with the Chef and she spilled some beans on her life as a Chinese born and brought up in India. Her early childhood was spent in Tangra, the most popular destination for Chinese food in Kolkata. The area is filled with Chinese food joints that offer a localized version of the cuisine, tailored to suit the Indian palate.

However, Katherine's food, which is primarily 'Hakka Chinese', is very different from the 'Tangra chinese'. Hakka Chinese is the traditional food of the migrant Hakka Chinese people whose origins are in China but are spread all over the world including India, SE Asia, and Canada. Her food is inspired from what most Hakka people eat at home. 'These dishes are not usually served in restaurants', says Katherine.

As for ingredients, since they did not have access to a lot of Chinese ingredients where she grew up in Amritsar, she saw her family making their own soy milk and tofu, pickled mustard greens, 'lap cheung & lap yuk', egg noodles and the likes. Lim says, "This not only fuelled my thirst to learn, but I also learned how to prepare the basic ingredients".

Chef Katherine has never travelled to China as her grandfather migrated to Kolkata in the 1930s and later moved to Lahore and then Amritsar where she was born and spent her early years.

We asked Chef if there were certain Indo chinese fusion dishes that she has created with Indian ingredients. She said "In my Rice Cakes 3 Ways dish I sometimes use 'Gobindobhog' Rice which is native to West Bengal. The 'Huang Jiu' Rice Wine I make use of glutinous rice from Shillong and yeast from China as well as 'Kalimpong', Sikkim. For my Fish Balls Soup I use specific parts of the 'Chital' fish that is prevalent in the markets in Kolkata"

She takes pride in the fact that her quintessential Hakka dish, the 'salt-baked chicken', has been marked as "One of the ten things to eat before you die" by a respected journalist. To have brought Hakka Chinese to the food map is one of her significant contributions.

When asked if she serves more vegetarian food in India because of the large number of the vegetarian population residing here, she said "Yes we serve a lot of vegetarian fare and I have had to increase my repertoire because of the large number of vegetarians at our pop-ups in India, to the extent that I have even done an all-vegetarian dinner at a leading farm-to-table restaurant in Gurgaon.

At Inazia we are serving a large vegetarian selection including dishes that are considered auspicious during Chinese New Year like the Yam Abacus Beads, Garlic King Osyter Mushroom, Yuxiang Eggplant, the Rice Cakes, Ma'la French Beans, Twice Cooked Tofu with Leeks and many more"

Her signature dishes are Hakka Yam Abacus Beads, Typhoon Shelter Prawns, Yuxiang Eggplant, Fish Ball Soup and the Curry Fish Balls, Whole Salt-Baked Chicken and Xinjiang Spiced Mutton

On her travels to Singapore she visited a few Hakka Chinese restaurants and found a lot of similarities with her food. Her company Gormei is founded in Hong Kong so many of her dishes are influenced by the Hakka cuisine and street food in Hong Kong. She is also in touch with Hakka Chinese chefs in Taiwan and Singapore and elsewhere who serve many of the quintessential Hakka Chinese dishes like her but of course sometimes with differences in style and ingredients.

Ultimately, the Hakka Chinese cuisine has evolved as the natives travelled and settled in different parts of the globe. Whether it's in Tangra or Singapore or Honk Kong, the basic techniques will be common but the ingredients will make all the difference. Chef Katherine has tried her best to create a balance between the various formats and has successfully carved a niche for the Hakka Chinese food on the Indian table.