The Vibrant Hong Kong Table Cookbook TIPS on a Plant Forward Life 🫰🏽 Vegan Chinese Cooking

Описание: Meet Christine Wong: home cook, graphic designer, and author of the 2025 James Beard–nominated vegan cookbook The Vibrant Hong Kong Table.

Christine has been plant-based for much of her life, but her new cookbook was born out of something deeper—a personal response to a moment that shook her. During the pandemic, amid the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in NYC, Christine felt fear and grief in a way she never had before. Living just steps from the heart of Chinatown with her family, she suddenly felt targeted in her own city. But instead of retreating, she turned to what she knew best: food.

She began exploring her Chinese heritage more intentionally, channeling her emotions into something healing and joyful—reworking the traditional Hong Kong dishes she grew up with into colorful, creative, plant-based versions that still honored her roots.

“Hong Kong is a vibrant city where food is the central focus,” Christine shares. “And a lot of times, the food is meat-centric and seafood-centric.”

So what happens when a passionate home cook dares to rewrite the story of Hong Kong cuisine using only plants?

You get The Vibrant Hong Kong Table—a joyful, bold, and deeply personal collection of vegan recipes that feel as nostalgic as they are nourishing. It’s no surprise the book just earned a James Beard nomination.

As a first-generation, first-born Chinese American, Christine knew it wasn’t enough for her dishes to look the part—they had to feel right too. That meant getting the textures, flavors, and even the plating just right. Many people don’t even realize her cookbook is vegan at first glance. That’s her superpower.

And she’s not afraid to get inventive. Think: vegan lap cheong (Chinese sausage) made from wheat gluten. Vegan Spam made with tofu, miso, and smoked paprika. Her mastery of mushrooms, spices, and layering flavors is both intuitive and artful—and it shows.

Her story stood out to me because I know how rare it is to find vegan Chinese food that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. In New York City—and across much of America—it’s still hard to come by. Most menus might offer a couple of options, but rarely a full experience. Christine took on that challenge headfirst, transforming a cuisine deeply rooted in meat and seafood into something new, without losing its soul.

🎥 Watch the film to see how Christine brings these dishes to life in her home kitchen. It’s a beautiful love letter to Hong Kong culture—and a reminder of the power of food to reconnect us with identity, memory, and joy.

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📍Locations: Chinatown, Manhattan; Park Slope, Brooklyn; Jacob Riis Beach, Brooklyn
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