Lam Fine Duck: Duck de Chine’s Father-Son Chef Team
During their stints in high-end restaurants and hotels from Japan to Malaysia to the United States, Chef Lin Jinsheng (林金胜) and his son Lin Jiahao (林家豪 Wilson Lam) introduced upscale Chinese cuisine to an appreciative international audience. Along the way, they encountered a variety of global cuisines and incorporated some of those elements into their own refined Cantonese dishes. Now, as executive chefs at Duck de Chine, the father and son work together to please the Beijing palate.
How does your duck compare to the birds served at other restaurants?
We tried every Beijing duck restaurant in town when we created our menu. We wanted to keep the advantages of all the various Beijing ducks that we came across, but we also wanted to create something new and more down to earth in our own version. Our goal was to take out the fat while keeping the juice, so the meat will be moist and tender, but not greasy. We also created a Cantonese-style dipping sauce as an extra accompaniment.
Lam Senior – What was working as a chef like when you first embarked upon your career? How did you become interested in cooking?
The Hong Kong economy wasn’t very good many years ago, and being a chef was seen as a low-class career. People thought cooks were dirty and uneducated. I started cooking just as a way to make money. Someone once told me that a chef can live as long as there is fire, so I thought it might be a good way for me to survive the bad economy. Now chefs are much more respected and well regarded.
Did you encourage your son to become a chef or was it his own decision?
Because I worked in the kitchens, my son spent a lot of time there, and gradually, he became interested in cooking as well. I never really considered whether it was a good job. I just thought that as long as he’s interested, he should pursue it step by step, and maybe one day it will be good for him.
Lam Junior – how did you first become interested in cooking? When was the first time you cooked?
When I was hanging out in my father’s kitchen, I thought it was amazing how the chefs worked their magic, and I started to play around with the tools and everything. Eventually, I became really interested in cooking. I worked in a kitchen for three years before they let me cook the first dish. From then on I started to learn all kinds of dishes.
Did you learn most of your cooking skills from your father?
My father was my very first teacher, as well as my most longstanding teacher. When we are in the kitchen together, he is only a teacher – and a very strict one at that! We’re only father and son outside of the kitchen. He taught me a lot of great cooking methods, as well as how to manage staff, control material costs, etc. He is my biggest inspiration, and I’m very glad to have a father like him.
Do you find it fulfilling being a chef?
Yes, very much, because it can be so different – different diners at different places in different seasons. It’s also challenging, which is a lot of fun.
What advice would you give to people who wish to pursue a culinary career?
Make sure they really are interested in cooking. Also, I’d tell them it won’t be an easy job.
Duck de Chine Daily 5pm-2.30am. 1949: The Hidden City, Courtyard 4, Gongti Beilu (behind Pacific Century Place), Chaoyang District. (133 1126 1949) 全鸭季，朝阳区工体北路4号院(盈科中心背面)
