{"id":65065,"date":"2026-06-30T21:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65065"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:44:00","slug":"how-traditional-chinese-medicine-found-its-way-onto-fine-dining-and-bar-menus-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65065","title":{"rendered":"How traditional Chinese medicine found its way onto fine-dining and bar menus in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The age-old Chinese habit of drinking hot water has gone viral. On TikTok and RedNote, influencers clutch steaming mugs and extol the benefits of drinking warm water for digestion, circulation \u2013 of both blood and qi \u2013 and balance. What they are describing is yang sheng \u2013 the practice of nourishing life that exists at the heart of traditional Chinese medicine. TCM, once the nagging voice of your grandmother, is now what the cool kids post on their feeds<\/span>.<\/div>\n

The Mandarin term for this is guochao, loosely meaning \u201cnational wave\u201d and describing the rebranding of Chinese heritage as something desirable rather than dowdy. It began with Li-Ning starring on the runway at New York Fashion Week in 2018, followed a year later by Florasis\u2019 engraved lipstick cases \u2013 the designs of which were inspired by ancient Chinese relief-engraving craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

Now, the trend has migrated to restaurant and bar menus \u2013 guochao in digestible form \u2013 steeped in a promise of wellness and cultural pride. The challenge, however, is how to translate a tradition defined by bitter medicine into something people actually crave.<\/p>\n

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\"Jayson<\/div>
Jayson Tang, executive Chinese chef at Man Ho Chinese Restaurant. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For many younger diners, the first barrier to TCM is its sheer intellectual density. It can feel like an arcane maze of unseen bodily energies and ancient texts that have accumulated over the centuries. Jayson Tang, executive Chinese chef of Man Ho Chinese Restaurant, solves this by translating TCM\u2019s abstract philosophy into a highly visual, intuitive language.<\/p>\n

It helps that Tang grew up with TCM as a practical reality. \u201cWhen I was a child, I suffered from frequent skin irritation,\u201d he says. \u201cMy uncle would take me to see an old TCM practitioner. The herbal remedies worked.\u201d Elsewhere, his mother brewed soups according to the calendar: \u201cThis one to clear heat, that one to strengthen the lungs,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

It was later though, when studying at the Chinese Culinary Institute, that Tang began to understand the natural systems underlying the soups and remedies from his childhood and noticed how ingredients shifted in harmony with the seasons<\/span>.<\/div>\n

At Man Ho, Tang dismantles the esoteric nature of TCM using his Five Elements Menu, which draws inspiration from the 2,000-year-old Huangdi Neijing<\/em>, one of the foundational texts of TCM that gained a following among Taoist practitioners. The text maps colours onto organs and elements: white is for the lungs and metal; green for the liver and wood; black for the kidneys and water; red for the heart and fire; yellow for the spleen and earth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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