CookSmart (11th Issue) Page8

EatSmart Restaurants Snaps

Savour the Home-Style Cooking

Kai Shing Management Services Limited (Park Island Blue Blue Club, Food & Beverage Section)

Park Island is located in the picturesque Ma Wan Island. As a green move, access of private vehicles to the island is restricted. The Management Office of the estate aims not only at providing a comfortable home for residents but also to develop an eco-friendly community by promoting a number of green practices among the residents.

In living up to its vision, the Food & Beverage Section (F&B) in the Blue Blue Club provides a healthy choice of dishes for its customers and has launched the “Green Efforts give Great Rewards” campaign in 2008. Customers who finish all their dishes or bring their own container to take away leftovers can earn reward points, which are redeemable for small gifts.

Mr. Anthony YAU, Property and Facility Manager of Kai Shing Management Services Limited, said, “Many residents are young working couples who always eat out. The Club thus tries to offer customers with inexpensive home-style dishes and a homy atmosphere”. A dinner set together with plain rice and soup of the day costs only 40 to 50 dollars. Some of the most popular dishes are steamed minced pork and mixed vegetable pot.

Create a Healthier Version of Traditional Chinese Dishes

To cater the customers who prefer healthy eating habits, the Club introduced a series of healthy dishes in 2008 which includes vegetarian dishes as well as dishes made with fibrerich brown rice. After joining the “EatSmart@restaurant.hk Campaign” in 2010, the Club has already created over 10 “eatsmart” dishes that are cooked with less oil, sugar and salt.

The Club has also tried to add a healthy touch to the traditional Chinese home-style cooking. They, for instance, have modified the recipe of “Stir-fried Egg with Pickled Turnip and Minced Pork” by using bitter gourd instead of pickled turnip. Low-fat milk, on the other hand, is added to the “Stir-fried Egg White” to reduce the oil content of the dish.

Apart from using less oil, they use dried prawns, dried squids and various mushrooms to enhance the flavour of their dishes. The management team frequently conduct random checks on the dishes to ensure that they comply with the requirements of “eatsmart” dishes.

30% of Dishes Sold are “Eatsmart” Dishes

Anthony said that many customers had a “why not?” mentality when they tried the “eatsmart” dishes for the first time, but now they like the light taste of the dishes. According to their research, over 30 percent of the dishes sold are “eatsmart” dishes. Anthony hopes that 50 percent of the dishes in the menu would become “eatsmart” dishes in the near future.