#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Lizzie Mabbott, Hollow Legs

This is part of an ongoing series of interviews I’m doing with my favourite Chinese foodies that I follow on Instagram. Come and follow the #ChineseFoodiesofIG hashtag on Instagram and leave a comment showing your support for these talented folk!

Where are you from? Where are you really from?

I’m from Hong Kong and London. I’ve lived in both cities for an equal amount of time but I am really from Hong Kong. I was born and raised there and it is my home.

What does home taste like?

Home tastes like congee with dried scallops, like dumplings with chilli oil and vinegar, pork rib broth with carrots.

Favourite Chinese vegetable?

Daikon (loh bak). I just can’t get enough of it in meaty stews, in its fartiest state pickled raw, and of course as turnip cake at Chinese New Year. I love its versatility and ability to absorb and complement flavours.

Chinese kitchen utensil I can't live without:

Chopsticks. I use them for everything - to eat, to stir, to whip, to flip.

Share a food memory:

One winter, every day after school my grandmother would pick us up and take us to the local market for steamed sweet rice cakes (buht zhai goh). I always had brown ones with red bean, and my sister white. We ate them using toothpicks speared in the middle as forks.

Who’s your Chinese food legend?

I don’t have one specifically but I think all the Chinese cooks and staff who work in Chinatown and deal with drunken revellers and serve so many covers, so efficiently and reasonably priced, despite rising London rents are legend status for me.

The perfect stir fry:

Cucumber and minced pork. Stir fried cucumber is so good!

Dream dinner party guests:

Nigella Lawson, Grace Dent, Marina O’Loughlin, Nora Ephron; basically a great girl gang who clearly know how to have a good time.

Top three cookbooks:

On the side by Ed Smith
Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop
Made in India by Meera Sodha

What would you like to tell the world about Chinese food?

“I don’t like tofu” is like saying you don’t like potatoes. There are so many different forms, types and preparations I just can’t believe it to be true. Try different dishes, try cooking with it, please stop looking at it as just a meat substitute.

#ChineseFoodiesofIGJenny LauFebruary 18, 2020chinese identity, hong kong, bloggers, british chinese, writer, food writer, cookbookComment