After winning Zest Quest Asia, we all didn’t know what to expect with the trip, but it had exceeded our expectations! The trip to Hong Kong covered a variety of the food, culture and history of the country, which we all enjoyed learning about very much.

The vast amount of food that we tried was unbelievable, and changed our perceptions on Hong Kong/Chinese food, as we all thought that it would be similar to the food back in the UK, but we were wrong. We found that all the dishes had clean and simple flavours which allowed each one to shine. We tried a lot of different cuisines, but I think as a collective, our favourite ones were, Traditional Hong Kong Style, Peeking and Hot pot. All three boys expanded their western pallets trying chicken feet, sea cucumber intestines and century egg, which was a pleasant surprise to them! Alongside this we learnt about the dining etiquette, with having different chopsticks for eating and serving, washing your dishes before eating, and not ordering extra soy sauce for the table!

Whilst  the food was a big part of the trip we also enjoyed learning about the history and culture of Hong Kong with visiting different markets and walking the streets at night. There were many beautiful areas of Hong Kong, as we were all amazed with the cleanliness of the city streets. Through the week we visited various establishments, including the Chinese Culinary Institution and the Tai Po Lee Kum Kee factory. These were especially enjoyable as we got to cook traditional Cantonese dishes using woks and we learnt about how the famous oyster sauce gets made in Hong Kong and all the testing that is involved in the process of making the different sauces. We also ventured into mainland China to visit the Xin Hui Lee Kum Kee Factory, where we learnt about the history of the company and sauce the production/packaging of soy sauce. The size of the factory and seeing the large vats filled with soy sauce, blew us away, as we had no idea that the scale and scope of making soy sauce.

Overall we took a lot from this trip and have all said that we will apply it when we get back into the kitchen. It was a trip of a life time and will be something that we will never forget, and it is all because of Zest Quest Asia and Lee Kum Kee. Thank you!!

Grace McGreal, Chef Lecturer, Loughborough College