Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru — chef Katherine Lim’s culinary journey has sizzled on since 2020, when she started off as a home chef from her home in Kolkata’s Chinatown, Tangra. Cut to 2024, and the mother of two boys is a celebrated chef in India who is on a mission to revive Hakka cuisine.
My Kolkata met Katherine on the sidelines of her very successful three-day pop-up at AMPM Kolkata to know more about her journey.
The journey from Lahore to Amritsar to Kolkata
Born in a Chinese family living in Amritsar, Katherine hardly ever stepped out of her home on her own. “Back then [in the 1980s] we were probably the only Chinese family in Amritsar and my grandparents and parents were very protective about me for the longest time. I was the only girl child in the family with three brothers.” Katherine’s grandfather migrated from China to Calcutta port in pre-independent India, and went to Lahore with a job as a shoemaking apprentice. During Partition, the family moved to Amritsar and settled there.
Katherine as a child, with her siblings, grandparents and family in Amritsar Courtesy Katherine Lim
In the 1940s, while Katherine’s grandfather set up his own shoemaking business, her grandmother worked as a chef in Hotel Airlines. “My grandmother was a chef amongst all male workers in the hotel. Female chefs were unheard of during that time and my grandfather would be concerned about her security. But she was doing well as a chef. When I went to Amritsar, I went to see the hotel.”
After Operation Blue Star (1984), around 1991, Katherine's family came to Kolkata and settled in Tangra. “I came to Kolkata when I was around 12-13 years old and started schooling in Grace Ling Liang High School.” It was difficult for the family to adjust in Kolkata at first, and people would make fun of her and her brothers because they “spoke Chinese in a weird Punjabi accent (laughs). We couldn’t pronounce certain words. Our food habits were different. But slowly we became a part of the community.”
Culinary journey
While her family is full of great cooks, Katherine's mother was a homemaker and her father joined the family shoemaking business Courtesy Katherine Lim
Katherine turned to cooking when she was about ten years old when her mother fell ill during the birth of her younger brother. Belonging to a family of good cooks, she picked it up fast. “My mother would give me instructions from bed and I would make simple things like egg fried rice. My grandparents were great cooks. So are my brothers and parents. My chachu (uncle) would make noodles at home and deliver it to restaurants. My mother would make tofu and Chinese sausages at home,” she said about her introduction to the kitchen.
Katherine's grandparents played a big role in keeping Hakka traditions thriving at home with the family. “We went to school, spoke in English, Hindi, Punjabi but at home we would speak Hakka Chinese.”
The idea of becoming a chef was never on Katherine's mind. In fact, the avid reader was eyeing other career choices. “I dreamed of being a librarian because I loved to read. I thought it would be fun to read all of the books in the library and get paid.”
Katherine with her sons Justin and Brandon Courtesy Katherine Lim
Destiny had different plans for Katherine. In 2020, when the world came to a standstill due to the outbreak of Covid, Katherine’s career as a home chef flagged off. “People could not go to restaurants and they were missing Chinese food. They requested me to make it for them and I started making Indo-Chinese — the usual chowmein, chilli chicken, etc.”
Soon in 2021, Gormei came searching for her to fuel her passion for cooking. “Argha Sen heard of me from someone and wanted to taste my food. At first I made the usual Tangra Chinese but he said that he wanted to eat what we ate at home. So I remember making a fish ball soup and some other dishes. He liked them and our journey together began,” Katherine recalled. She has collaborated with Gormei for several pop-ups across India in the last three years. She did Hakka menu at Masque Lab in Mumbai, The Honk by Pullman New Delhi Aerocity, InAzia at Sheraton Grand Whitefield, Bengaluru, and more. She has also hosted supper clubs in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Holding up the flag for Hakka culture
According to Katherine, people of the Hakka community never had their own lands in China and have lived a nomadic life for the longest time — something that reflects in the food as well. “They went from one place to another and adapted to the climate and resources available. Therefore, the food too had influences of the region they visited.” The Hakka community is believed to be a Han Chinese subgroup. In English, ‘Hakka’ loosely translates to ‘guest families’. The term was used for northern Chinese migrants who escaped social unrest and invasions in northern parts of China during the Qing dynasty.
Katherine has been promoting authentic culinary traditions and culture of the Hakka people through her cooking. However, as the Hakka people did before her, she too adds a local touch to the recipes along with homemade ingredients like rice wine, Lap Cheong sausages, tofu, etc. She often uses Gobindobhog rice, Bekti and more Bengali ingredients to tweak her dishes. “The Chinese population has receded in India. About 20 years ago, in Kolkata there were about 5,000 Chinese people but now there are hardly 500. So, it is important to hold onto the traditions and food plays a big role,” said the Chinatown resident whose favourite comfort food is dal-rice with a side of alu sabzi but who also enjoys food from old Kolkata Chinese food joints like Kafulok.
Bonus! A recipe from Katherine Lim
Besides the much-acclaimed Roast Crackling Pork by Katherine Lim, this time the Prawn Toast Sandwich gained appreciation in the ‘Not a Noodle Night’ pop-up at AMPM Kolkata. Chef Katherine Lim was kind enough to share the recipe with My Kolkata.
Prawn Toast Sandwich (8 pcs)
Ingredients:
- Prawns, minced: 250 gms
- Egg white: ½
- Sesame oil: 1 tsp
- White pepper: ½ tsp
- Finely chopped spring onions: 1 tbsp
- Rice wine: 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Corn starch: 1/2 tsp
- Big sandwich bread (edges trimmed): 4 pcs
- White sesame seeds for coating
- Refined flour: 2 tbsp
- Oil, to fry
Method
- Marinate the prawns with the egg white, sesame oil, pepper, rice wine, salt and spring onions. Leave for 1 hour
- Add cornstarch and mix
- Cut each slice of bread into four squares. Smear the prawn paste and cover with another bread slice
- Add water to the flour and make a thin batter
- Smear the batter lightly on the sides of the breads and coat with sesame seeds
- Fry on medium heat on both sides till golden brown