For Melbourne chef Victor Liong, the goal was always to work in food: “The passion started when I was a kid. I’ve always loved eating.”
His restaurant Lee Ho Fook – the name derives from the fictional restaurant in the Warren Zevon song Werewolves of London – consistently ranks in various Australian awards for its new-school Chinese food, such as char siu buns in the style of choux au craquelin, or delicate morsels of peking duck served with caviar.
“We keep it simple. Tradition can be so good, but also we need to live in the present,” Liong says. “Sometimes we don’t want to fuck with the classics but creativity is allowing yourself to just go for it – sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we don’t.”
It is an approach to cooking that is steeped in technical skill. Liong apprenticed under chef Haru Inukai, a student of Joël Robuchon, at Galileo at Sydney’s Observatory Hotel. It was “pretty classical”, says Liong – “French Japanese cooking, just really, really good.” He went on to complete his apprenticeship under Mark Best at the now-closed Marque, eventually becoming chef de partie at the storied fine dining restaurant.
“Marque was awesome, but I hit this time in my mid-20s where I thought: do I keep cooking like this, or explore food a little closer to my heritage?” says Liong. In 2010, he joined the Merivale group working with Dan Hong, first at the modern Asian diner Ms G’s, then at Mr Wong. His time at the Cantonese restaurant was an essential step towards opening Lee Ho Fook. “I knew about the food culturally but I didn’t know about it technically. The whole style of cooking and kitchen is different.”
After spending his formative cooking years in Sydney, Liong moved interstate to strike out on his own. When Lee Ho Fook opened in 2013 in the Melbourne CBD, it was a case of Liong taking his eastern and western culinary training and applying it to the curiosity he had around his Malaysian Chinese heritage. “That was the exciting thing,” he says. “It was a little bit less technical and little bit more playful – I fucking love that.”
The sense of precision and play is evident in Liong’s breakfast dish: rolled spring onion pancakes. While roti for breakfast is common in many parts of south-east Asia, Liong’s says his recipe could be considered a riff on the dan bing, the Taiwanese rolled egg crepe, as well as the Ugandan Rolex, an egg-and-veg chapati wrap. “Which goes to show, everyone is more similar than different,” he says.
Victor Liong’s rolled spring onion pancakes – recipe
(pictured above)
This recipe sees a frozen store-bought spring onion pancake first fried in bacon fat, then layered on top of an omelette-in-the-making. The egg-pancake hybrid is rolled and eaten like a burrito, or sliced to share. Either way, a daub of the sweet and garlicky chilli sauce is a must – “it keeps for ever if you have leftovers,” says Liong.
But the best thing about this recipe, he says, is its fridge-raid potential. “Use whatever you like. [If] you have sausages but not bacon, all good. No spring onion but wilted coriander? Swap away.”
Prep 5 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4
4 bacon rashers, chopped into small pieces
30ml vegetable oil
4 eggs
4 spring onion stalks, chopped
1 tsp white peppercorns, crushed
2 tsp sesame oil
4 frozen spring onion pancakes (available at most Asian grocers and some supermarkets)
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For the chilli sauce
4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee chilli garlic condiment
4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
4 tbsp sriracha
Heat a medium pan – one that has a lid, and is large enough to fry the pancake flat – over medium heat and add the oil. Fry the bacon for five minutes until it has released its fat and become crispy. Leave the bacon fat in the pan, but remove the bacon pieces and set them aside to cool.
Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and add the spring onions, white pepper, sesame oil and cooled bacon pieces. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
To make the chilli sauce, in a small bowl mix the chilli garlic condiment, sweet chilli sauce and sriracha until combined. Set aside.
Return the pan containing the bacon fat to a medium heat. Fry a spring onion pancake with the lid on, so it steams and fries at the same time. Fry for two minutes on each side or until it begins to puff and rise. (Add a small amount of oil to the pan if needed.) Repeat with remaining pancakes and set aside.
With the same pan on medium heat, add one-quarter of the egg mixture, tilting the pan to spread it evenly. Take one pancake and firmly press it down on top of the eggs, holding it down while the eggs cook.
Continue to cook the eggs for 30 to 60 seconds depending on how wet or dry you prefer them. Working carefully, place a large plate on top of the pan, and in one motion, flip the egg-pancake on to the plate, so the eggs are facing up. Repeat with the remaining egg mixture and pancakes, one at a time.
To serve, tightly roll the egg pancakes. If eating them whole like a burrito, smear some sauce along the edges before rolling. Otherwise, slice into pieces and serve with the chilli sauce for dipping.
