How Chinese food took root in Cairo, from 60s Peking Restaurant to ‘Egyptianised’ dishes
From a 63-year-old restaurant chain to high-end hotels, Cairo has no shortage of Chinese food, tweaked for the local palate
The steamed dumplings at Peking Restaurant in El Sheikh Zayed City, Cairo, have a filling of soft and salty minced beef inside thick skins, similar to boiled Northern Chinese shuijiao, but even more sturdy. The two dipping sauces served with it are tomato-based; one a thin ketchup, the other a far thicker, spicy sauce studded with chilli seeds.
Instead of chopsticks, knives and forks are set on tables in the dining room, decorated with wooden Chinese lattice work on the ceiling and traditional scroll paintings hanging on the walls.
While not quite as old as the Pyramids, the first Peking Restaurant was launched in 1963 by Yan Hongyah. His son Hany Yan now owns the chain.
“We were the first Asian fast food in Cairo, likely the first of its kind in Egypt,” Yan says.
Yan Hongyah left China at a time of turbulence, with the Nationalists and Communists vying for power, and the growing Japanese aggression that culminated in 1937 with the second Sino-Japanese war.