{"id":51274,"date":"2026-05-10T11:09:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T03:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=51274"},"modified":"2026-05-10T11:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T03:09:35","slug":"how-hong-kong-bartenders-and-chinese-chefs-create-liquid-yin-and-yang-harmony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=51274","title":{"rendered":"How Hong Kong bartenders and Chinese chefs create \u2018liquid yin and yang\u2019 harmony"},"content":{"rendered":"


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For generations, the perfect partner for a Chinese feast was a given: a big pot of tea, or perhaps a bottle of cognac or rice wine for celebratory occasions. But today, a new scene is unfolding at Hong Kong\u2019s top tables.<\/p>\n

A guest at Duddell\u2019s<\/span> savours a piece of crispy salted yellow chicken, then reaches not for a teacup, but a crystal glass. The Water cocktail inside \u2013 a blend of grassy agricole rum, floral osmanthus and clarified citrus with a hint of saline \u2013 doesn\u2019t challenge the dish. Instead, it brings out the savoury depth of the salted chicken, creating what the bar team calls a \u201cquiet harmony\u201d.<\/div>\n

This is the practice of liquid \u201cyin and yang\u201d \u2013 a philosophy where the drink is designed from the ground up to achieve balance with the food. Now, the city\u2019s world-class cocktail craft \u2013 long celebrated in standalone temples of mixology \u2013 is being applied with equal ambition to the world of Chinese cuisine.<\/p>\n

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The Infinite cocktail at Duddell\u2019s. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Spearheading the shift are three leading mixologists \u2013 Mario Calderone of Duddell\u2019s, Antonio Lai of Vea<\/span>, and Maksym Pobyvanets of Mott 32<\/span>, owned by Maximal Concepts \u2013 who are forging close partnerships with Hong Kong\u2019s top Chinese chefs. Their shared goal is clear: to establish cocktails as an integral, harmonising force on the contemporary Chinese table.<\/div>\n

For years, the concept faced an uphill battle. \u201cCocktails were often considered too sweet, too strong, or too fundamentally Western to sit comfortably beside a shared [Chinese] feast,\u201d explains Calderone. \u201cBut now, both diners and bartenders have a more sophisticated understanding of flavour.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credits a greater appreciation for umami and savoury notes, alongside refined techniques like clarification, allowing cocktails to be crafted \u201cwith structure, texture and lift instead of just intensity\u201d.<\/p>\n

At Duddell\u2019s, cocktails meet Cantonese classics in the intimate Upper Room on the fourth floor. Beverage manager Calderone, in collaboration with executive chef Chan Yau Leung, has curated a programme that is as much a cultural experience as a drinks list. It draws inspiration from the Ba Gua \u2013 the ancient feng shui<\/span> map of life\u2019s energies \u2013 with a menu shaped like the map\u2019s iconic octagon.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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For generations, the perfect partner for a Chinese feast was a given: a big pot of tea, or perhaps a bottle of cognac or rice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[8141,9433,107,2016,9383,3569,5231,6360,3180,14841],"class_list":["post-51274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-bartenders","tag-chefs","tag-chinese","tag-create","tag-harmony","tag-hong","tag-kong","tag-liquid","tag-yang","tag-yin","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}