A Chinese passion

Starting out as a steward at Fredrick's in 1965, Hwa Shan Chang quickly worked his way up to the kitchen, making a name for himself as a talented chef. He tells us about his early days, testing times in the kitchen and opening his own restaurant. By Beryl Menezes

The fact that Hwa Shan Chang loves cooking and has an undying passion for food has helped him achieve all that he has through the years. Since he had no interest in following in his father's footsteps, who was a dentist, he joined Fredrick's, the only Chinese restaurant in Mumbai at that time according to him, just so he had a job.

When Fredrick's closed down three years later, Chang joined Chinese Room at Kemps Corner in Mumbai where he worked for a year. "But my heart was not in it and I nurtured dreams of opening my own restaurant where I could experiment with different styles of cooking and try out new international recipes," he says.

He finally realised his dream in 1979 by opening Waikiki Peking near Mumbai's Sterling cinema, which used to be crowded with movie-goers and office workers in the afternoon and frequented by celebrities at night. Since the only other Chinese restaurant at that time was Kamling at Churchgate, people flocked to his restaurant that offered something different - perhaps a new flavour and new dishes. "Many of my regular patrons would tell me that they had never tasted anything like this. After running the restaurant successfully for 17 years, I had to down my shutters in 1996 due to some unfortunate circumstances, only to re-open it in Byculla later," he says.

Almost a decade later, Chang runs Peking Family Corner in Borivali where he still keeps changing his menu and experimenting with new ingredients and sauces that he sources from his brother in Hong Kong to surprise his guests every time they visit. According to him, flavour is what separates one Chinese restaurant from the other and a roadside Chinese food stall from an authentic Chinese eatery. "It's all about timing, the freshness of ingredients and how you allow the flavour of each ingredient to stand out, despite being combined with so many other ingredients."

Another thing that he attributes the success of Chinese cuisine in India to is its ability to adapt to the individual's palate without losing its essence. "Therefore the desi Chinese that is served in most restaurants here is a combination of sweet, sour and spicy - quite different from the originally mild and possibly bland authentic Chinese cuisine," he says. And of course, Chinese food strikes a good balance between meats and vegetables, thus delighting many a vegetarian's heart as well.

However, Chang believes that menus in Chinese restaurants must be changed regularly. "Chinese food is like a cycle - after a point people get tired of having the same dishes. You have to give them something new to chew on, and maybe later you can go back to the old dishes when they start pining for them again." This goes hand-in-hand with his belief that experimentation is key to retaining interest.

At 66, Chang still enjoys going to the market every morning and choosing his own vegetables, fish and meats for the day. He has two chefs in the kitchen who train under him. But Chang often enters the kitchen to give them a hand when the restaurant is too crowded. The key to keep customers coming back for more is by interacting with them or giving them personal attention. Thus, Chang makes it a point to ask customers exactly how they would like their dish to be prepared and then instructs his chefs to prepare it according to their specifications. Of course he makes suggestions too that are gladly accepted by those who enjoy authentic Chinese food. "I live to serve people and create new dishes. It gives me great satisfaction to see my guests enjoy something I have cooked. I am not in this for the money but for the love of catering to people." Undoubtedly, a guaranteed recipe for a successful restaurant.