Chef Katherine Lim brings global Hakka flavours to Chennai

The word Hakka means guest family. Across the countries the Hakkas settled in, from China and Hong Kong to Singapore, Southeast Asia and North America, the Hakkas influenced local cuisines and absorbed flavours in return. Argha Sen, founder of Gourmei, who brought Chef Katherine Lim to Chin Chin for A Feast of the Hakka Tradition, calls it “a nice communal transaction going on.” That transaction is the menu.

Chef Katherine Lim introduces authentic global Hakka cuisine to Chennai diners

Chef Katherine Lim is, by most accounts, India’s only global Hakka Chinese chef. Her food goes beyond the Kolkata-style Chinese most Indians associate with Hakka cooking, tracing the diaspora through Hong Kong, Singapore, Xinjiang, Tangra and the kitchens of her mother, grandmother and uncle. This residency brings those influences to the table.

We started with the Egg dumpling soup, its thin soy-based broth carrying glass noodles and minced chicken wrapped in egg instead of flour. Chef Katherine explains that when Hakkas migrated and could not find the flour needed for their beloved dumplings, they improvised with egg.

The Hakka yam abacus beads is the dish to order. Made with yam and tapioca starch, shaped into beads resembling an abacus and tossed with light soy, wood ear fungus, shiitake and garlic chives, they arrive topped with crispy shallots. The dish is traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year, the abacus shape symbolising the counting of wealth. “Right now no one makes this in India except me,” Chef Katherine says. She first tried it at Singapore’s oldest Hakka restaurant, and her cooking draws on what she has learnt from Hakkas around the world.

The Typhoon shelter prawns arrive buried under crispy garlic, panko crumbs and red chillies. The dish takes its name from Hong Kong’s fishing communities, whose families sheltered in bays during typhoons and cooked seafood with generous quantities of garlic. “The garlic makes you thirsty,” Chef Katherine laughs. “So of course you need beer to wash it down.” The corn ribs offer vegetarians the same hands-on experience. The Xinjiang lamb, tossed with chillies, sesame, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and coriander, is an immediate crowd-pleaser, its spice profile landing close to the Indian palate. Tangra cuisine makes its presence felt in the Lemon chilli fish, crisp outside and soft within, and the garlicky, sweet-sour chilli wings.

The Hakka yam mian, noodles tossed with garlic, braised tofu, minced chicken, shiitake and crispy garlic, brings the savoury meal to a satisfying close. Another dish worth asking for is the salt-baked chicken, marinated with sand ginger powder and rice wine, wrapped in paper and cooked in hot salt. It comes with ginger scallion sauce and a spicy chilli sauce.

The menu also includes Three cup chicken, Scallion explosion beef, Chilli bean braised sea bass and Ma’la French beans. For dessert, Fried milk custard, Liu sha bao and Asian sago with grass jelly offer a cool finish.

Meal for two: Rs 1,800 . On till October 18. From 12.30 pm to 3 pm and 7.30 pm to 11 pm. At Chin Chin, The Residency, T Nagar.

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