My family has been patronising Plum Village, a Hakka restaurant along Upper Thomson Road, for many years. We went there for lunch again on Saturday and I decided to do a bit of reading on Hakka cuisine since I don’t know very much about it. Here are some of the things I learnt.
Hakka cuisine originated from Guangdong and Fujian Province which are in southeastern China. The Hakka people are migratory tribes of ethnic Han (汉) people originating from central China. Their forefathers went into exile in the Yuan Dynasty after the Mongols conquered China. Due to their late migration to the southern parts of China, they found that all of the best land had already been taken. Thus, they were forced to settle in the hilly and sparsely populated parts of the southern provinces.
As a result, fresh produce wasn’t readily available and it forced the Hakka people to make use of plenty of dried and preserved ingredients, such as various kinds of fermented beancurd and preserved vegetables. Because they had to toil in the farms, the pickled vegetables not only replenish the salt lost through sweating caused by hard work, it can be stored for long periods of time.
Seafood was scarce as they were situated inland. Pork is the most favoured meat of the Hakkas, with belly bacon being the preferred cut as it has alternating layers of fat and lean meat, providing an excellent texture.
Here are the dishes I had at Plum Village.


算盘子

Literally translated, this dish means Abacus Seeds as the little flattened round things resemble abacus seeds. These “abacus seeds” are made of yam and it’s fried together with tiny shrimps, Chinese mushrooms, strips of hard beancurd and mince pork. It’s one of my favourite dishes.


梅菜扣肉

Pieces of pork and preserved vegetables (梅菜) are cooked and served in a dark sauce made up of soy sauce and sugar. The pork is made up of alternating layers of fat and lean meat. Very sinful but very yummy.


酿豆腐

Yong Tau Fu consists of beancurd stuffed with minced meat (usually pork) and herbs, then fried till golden brown. According to Wikipedia, variations include usage of various ingredients including eggplants, mushrooms (shitake) and bitter melon stuffed with the same meat paste. Traditionally the beancurd is served in a clear yellow bean stew along with the bittergourd and shitake variants.


萝卜丸

These radish balls were made of strips of white radish held together by a gooey paste (I think it’s glutinous rice flour) and steamed. It was quite tasteless and I didn’t like the sticky texture.
Other traditional Hakka foods are:
* Salt baked chicken (鹽焗雞) – supposed to be baked inside a heap of hot salt, but many restaurants simply cook the chicken in brine these days.
* Lui Cha or Pounded Tea (擂茶) – A consortment of tea leaves (usually green tea), peanuts, mint leaves, sesame seeds, mung beans and other herbs, which are pounded or ground into a fine powder which is mixed as a drink, or as a dietary brew to be taken with rice and other vegetarian side dishes such as greens, beancurds and pickled radish.