The Hong Kong restaurant, which is run by the Liu family, is one of Cuttack’s last surviving Cantonese Chinese joints. Incidentally, the Liu family has been cooking for the city since late 1966.
As Confucius rightly said, “Everyone eats and drinks, but few can appreciate the taste”. For centuries Chinese food has been very intriguing in terms of taste and as a result, it is one of the most sophisticated and sought after food in the world.
My first encounter with Chinese food was during the mid-70s. Since then I have realised that Chinese food has some common principles making it a sought after cuisine.
First, Chinese food follows the principle of balance. All dishes have a desired harmonious balance of colour, aroma, flavour and texture.
Second is the principle of aroma and flavour, which is an essential element in the taste experience for all the Chinese dishes.
Third is the texture, which is the vital element in Chinese cooking; the dishes should have one or several textures: tenderness, crispiness, crunchiness, smoothness or softness.
My story begins in 1975, when we were hurdled by my friend Sumeet Sen aka Bultu to Hong Kong Restaurant at Bepari Shahi in Cuttack. At that time, Major Saab aka William Liu, the founder of Hong Kong Restaurant, managed everything. His immaculate sense of dressing every time was his unique character.
A towering figure, Major Saab always greeted his customers with a firm handshake and a courteous bow. This Chinese joint was quite popular among the elite of Cuttack during the early 70s the mid-80s, when it had two other competitors in the city. Still Hong Kong was a hotspot for lovers of Chinese food.
Until the time when Major Saab bought this heritage building, it was not a full-fledged restaurant with minimal characteristics. Later, it developed into a three room sit in restaurant. One preferring to sit in the backyard had the advantage of a breezy evening courtesy a huge soap nut tree.
The backyard also had a lot of concrete fish tanks with Major and his sons doing a brisk business of selling tropical fish such as Fighters, Gold Fish, Guppies, Black Molly, Sword tail and Blue & Pearl Gourami. On their part, the women of the family helped in the kitchen (preparatory part) and handled the beauty parlours with Nepali attendants.
Initially, Major’s Hong Kong was seen as an elite joint, especially by the who’s who of Cuttack. They lined up for the Hong Kong special crab soup. chicken corn soup, chilli chicken, Gold Coin prawn as well as the veg and non-veg chowmein and mixed fried rice. These dishes continue to be the most preferred in the menu. Besides, the American and Chinese chop suey along with Manchurian chicken are also quite popular.
The restaurant was a resounding success as it was priced economically: soup for 1 and a bowl of fried rice cost Rs 3.50 in the initial years. With a ticket price of Rs 10, one could have a sumptuous meal. At present, the prices have spiked over 15 times more, says Michael Liu aka Liu Kuo Yung (the third generation inheritor) with a laugh.
Chinese Vibe, Odia Heart
Major’s Hong Kong, like most Chinese restaurants, is a show run by one family. After he returned to Kolkata, it was run by his two sons Liu Wei Hsiang and Liu Lai Hsiang. Later, Liu Wei Hsiang migrated to Canada, leaving Liu Lai Hsiang to manage everything.
Liu Lai Hsiang along with his wife took over the business and managed it well, but ran into problems over supply of fresh seafood, poultry products and use of local sauce in the kitchen. This was the state of affairs from 1987 till 1993.
Later, the couple revamped the restaurant and were helped by their son Liu Kuo Yung, who is also popularly known as Michael. Since the beginning, the family has been living above the restaurant. During Cyclone Fani, the huge soap nut tree was uprooted and the backyard could no longer be utilised for sit-in dining.
Michael is the third generation of the family. His father, Lui Lai Hsiang, had come with his grandfather Major aka William Liu came to Cuttack with a plan to start a business and landed in the old Heritage building.
As he chats, Michael effortlessly switches between English, Odia and Hindi, a result of his cross-cultural life. He finds Odia much easier to communicate since he has lived all his life in Cuttack with his wife and three children. Personally, he opines to be more Odia than Chinese. The family also runs a beauty parlour along with the restaurant christened as “New Hong Kong Restaurant” which is managed by Michael’s wife Lo Shiu Liang aka Jessie.
Hong Kong’s interiors have not changed much over the years. The tables have red tops with placemats, cruet and sauce sets. The dimly-lit space comes alive in the evening with lighted Chinese lanterns and welcoming photos of Major William and Micahel’s parents near the cash counter.
What has changed, however, is unlike in the past when they ferried sauces and groceries from Kolkata, now they are making them with the necessary ingredients along with noodles. Michael says he learnt the recipes from his parents.
His signature dish of ‘Garlic Chicken’ has to be made a little spicy to meet the Odia taste. Michael explains that other places follow different methods. As for him, he deep fries the chicken to seal the juice and fries it again with garlic, sauce and chilli and finally glazes it with sesame oil.
Unlike many other restaurants that have shut shop due to floundering businesses during the lockdown, The ‘New Hong Kong’ restaurant has managed to stay afloat because they own the place. Otherwise it would have been very difficult.
Michael attributes the popularity of Hong Kong restaurant to the once-loyal customers of the late 60’s ‘70s and ‘80s who have now become fathers and grandfathers. “They bring their grandchildren and reminisce. Some of them even remember and ask about Major Saab and William’s father Liu. Such has been our relationship,” says Michael, heading back into the kitchen to bring our orders.
Though he is facing quite a challenge in running the restaurant, Michael is always smiling (he is a practising Buddhist). He visits Dhauli once a week and has plans to open a school on the premises of the Buddha temple.
As for the restaurant, he is now reworking on the menu with a minimalistic approach and volume supply. His next plan is to open an outlet in Bhubaneswar with a cloud kitchen. While having our food both Michael and I echoed the opinion that the taste of Hong Kong cannot be recreated in New Hong Kong. We will miss it or as an old timer might say, one of the lost foods of Cuttack.
PostScript:
Cantonese Chinese food originated from the Guangdong region of China. Cantonese is characterized by milder flavours and also lighter as compared to Chinese food from other regions of China.
Retaining the freshness of the food ingredients and refinement in cooking are the main focuses of Cantonese cooking.
The Pearl River Delta, with Canton as the capital of Guangdon, is undoubtedly the home of the best Chinese style of cooking. Cantonese food evolved a wider variety of dishes than any other region with the reason being that Canton was the first Chinese port which opened for trade and foreign influences got incorporated in the cooking style.
(With inputs from Dalku, Cuttack)
