Cha Chaan Teng

Chef, writer, culinary educator, and Food & Wine Best New Chef, 2021, Lucas Sin writes his debut cookbook on Hong Kong-style comfort food.

The cha chaan teng—Hong Kong’s iconic neighborhood diner—is where the city has always fed itself. Born from the collision of Chinese cooking, Western influence, and a century of migration and colonial exchange, the restaurants serve everyone from day laborers to schoolchildren, and the food is some of the most beloved in the world: Baked Pork Chop Rice and Beef Chow Fun, Pineapple Buns and Coconut Tarts, Milk Tea, Red Bean Ice, and more.

Lucas Sin has spent years documenting the food of Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng with the rigor of an anthropologist and the instincts of a cook, learning these recipes from the chefs who’ve spent careers refining them. The result is 128 recipes of comfort food made with the same eye for detail as anything in a fine-dining kitchen. These are some of the most satisfying dishes you’ll ever make: crisp, custardy egg tarts, three variations of Hong Kong-style French toast, and stir-fries with real wok hei. This is the ultimate collection of Hong Kong’s favorite food—affordable, generous, and unfettered in its deliciousness.

• Some of my fondest food memories in Hong Kong center around cha chaan teng. Here is where we drink our morning milk tea and take our first bite of a freshly baked pineapple bun. For lunch and dinner, we feast on rice plates. In between, there is always room for an egg and ham sandwich. Lucas brings the cha chaan teng way of life front and center.
  Chef Martin Yan, host of Yan Can Cook and James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
• Cha chaan teng culture is quintessentially Hong Kong. Lucas Sin, one of this generation’s leading voices on Cantonese culture, dives deep into the recipes, history, techniques, and storytelling behind cha chaan tengs. More than just a collection of dishes, it’s a heartfelt tribute to the everyday foods generations of Hong Kongers grew up loving, and an exploration of the craftsmanship, identity, and culture woven into every plate.
  Mei Lin, chef and television personality
• Lucas Sin decodes the hallmarks of the cha chaan teng kitchen, paying homage and offering his insight into what makes these dishes excellent—a love for simple perfection and a deep respect honoring its relevance.
  Brandon Jew, chef, Mister Jiu’s
• It is so refreshing to have someone of our generation care so much about the history and authentic culinary arts from Hong Kong. This book sparks a warm nostalgia and provides new insights into the cha chaan teng I loved so much growing up in Hong Kong.
  Jimmy O. Yang, comedian