Chefs without borders

Thai and Chinese people share a great similarity in their gastronomic attitude. Whether it was in the olden days or now, we treat food always with high regard and our kitchens are almost identical. Life recently sat with two chefs from mainland China who love Thailand so much they wish to retire here.

LIANG CHAOZHI

Even with the language barrier, an interview with Liang Chaozhi, the Cantonese executive dim sum chef of the Peninsula Bangkok, was to me like a meeting with long-lost relatives from out of town.

Casually held over Liang’s specialties — the likes of har gao, shu mai and chung fun — at the hotel’s fine dining Chinese restaurant Mei Jiang, the conversation evolved around Liang’s impression of Thailand as a place to travel, work and live.

The talk also…