How London is falling for Chinese roast meats: duck, pork belly and char siu move beyond Chinatown
- Cantonese roast meats, known as siu mei, are gaining popularity in the British capital, and spreading from Chinatown
- We talk to restaurateurs and roasting masters about the complex techniques
The art of siu mei – or Cantonese roast meats – is gaining momentum in London. Classic dishes such as roast duck, roast pork, crispy pork belly and slow-poached soy chicken are moving out of their spiritual home in Chinatown and spreading through the capital.
When the chief food critic at Bloomberg, Richard Vines, was invited to curate Bloomberg Arcade – a food and art space in London’s financial district, which opened in October 2018 – he was looking for something different and found it in some meaty, Asian favourites.
“I tried to decide what might make the arcade a destination, rather than just somewhere you visit to grab a salad or a sandwich,” says Vines.
“I have lived [at the Barbican] and worked [at Bloomberg] in the city for almost a quarter of a century, so I know how quiet it can be in the evenings and at weekends, and I have a personal and professional interest in trying to change that.”
“I was thinking that Andrew might open another A Wong, and I was impressed that he had no interest in replicating that successful restaurant. It’s interesting that he decided to focus on roast meats,” he says.