When May Chow was named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2017, her day didn’t instantly brighten.
"At first [I was] a bit nervous because it’s like, why do I need more responsibility? Or how much work do I have to do? All these different questions flood through the head,” Chow tells SBS. One year on, she’s warmed to the title and the opportunities it's offered.
“I've travelled more and it’s definitely allowed us to take on more creative projects because people trust us that we can deliver. However, I feel pretty much the same as always."
A virtual overnight sensation after opening her Hong Kong restaurant Little Bao in 2013, Chow is widely believed to be responsible for inventing one of today’s most popular fusion mash-ups, the bao burger. Keen to showcase her Hong Kong heritage and American upbringing, Chow, who refers to herself as “young and naive” at the time, harnessed her cult creativity to coin the now world-famous dish Sydney-siders can get their baoger fix at ).
“The bao burger was a very lucky creation,” Chow says. “I had a very early grasp of capturing the authenticity of comfort foods of both Asian and American culture. I was lucky because I had great mentors, business partners and creative friends.”
Growing up by her mother’s side in the kitchen, Chow didn’t instantly gravitate towards a career in food. “I tried to pursue other careers paths under my parents' suggestion but nothing interested me except for cooking. I told myself that I had to give it a try or else I'll regret it and I'm glad I did.”
Four years since Hong Kong’s beloved Little Bao popped onto the scene, Chow opened the doors to Happy Paradise earlier this year, an avant-garde Chinese bistro applying modern techniques to traditional flavour pairings.
“With Happy Paradise I'm looking into something more refined and exploring deeper into the roots of Chinese culture,” says Chow. “It’s a modern play on Chinese cuisine in Hong Kong and we always had to make sure that it was authentic in its quality and flavour and we weren't muddling flavours.
“We always made sure that Chinese people would respect our creativity as much as [the] international crowd would.”
More than ever, Chow is determined to shine the light on more regional plates and broaden the public’s understanding of Chinese food beyond its takeaway hallmarks.
“Nowadays, I see many Chinese restaurants offering all regional cuisines in one restaurant: mapo tofu, Peking duck, sweet and sour pork, Shanghai soup dumplings and dim sum. To me, that’s like putting French, Spanish and Italian food all together where you can get tartare with pasta with tapas.”
Chow will be bringing her signature buns (ice-cream bao, included!) and fusion bites to this year’s Margaret River Gourmet Escape.
“I'll probably be using some local lamb, shark bay scampi and caviar and local dairy and honey that I'm quite excited about! Expect a lot of fun!”
is happening 16-19 November 2017. Tickets are available through
