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With over 27 years of experience in making dim sum, Leung Kin Wai has taken the helm as Dim Sum Chef at Shang Palace under the guidance of Executive Chinese Chef Daniel Cheung since April 2018.

A food lover and a passionate learner of Chinese cuisine, Chef Leung is always one step ahead of his competition in coming up with new, innovative dim sum. Having worked at a good number of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong during his first few years in this field, Chef Leung was responsible for a different section in the dim sum kitchen of each restaurant. As such, he had the chance to perfect his skills as a dim sum chef in every aspect, from cutting up ingredients, marinating the filling, wrapping the dumpling to deep-frying or steaming the dim sum.

Chef Leung joined this industry as an apprentice at the young age of 14. In 1993, he met his master at Sun Kwong Chinese Restaurant, the first restaurant he worked at, where he learned the fundamentals of being a good dim sum chef. Years later, he had moved up the ranks from dim sum assistant at various Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong to senior chef at Lei Garden Restaurant. Prior to joining Shang Palace, he was the assistant sous chef at Celestial Court Chinese Restaurant at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers.

“To me, good dim sum means using fresh ingredients and crafted-to-order,” says Chef Leung. “Practice is the key to making good dim sum, and I have been fortunate enough to have years of experience, providing me with a solid foundation to master the art of dim sum making. I always want to create a dim sum menu that will leave a lasting impression on my guests, so that they will think of you when they have a craving and return to your restaurant. Dim sum is a form of art as there are so many variations. Once you have acquired the basic skills, you can stretch your imagination and come up with new combinations of flavours.”

Chef Leung Kin Wai received the “Silver Award” at the 2016 Best of the Best Culinary Awards, a cooking competition organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Chef Leung’s favourite dim sum is the Barbecue Pork Bun. It reminds him of his happy childhood years when he and his mother had dim sum together. During his leisure time, Chef Leung enjoys spending time with his family and taking them out for fun and delicious food.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently operates over 100 hotels with a room inventory of over 41,000. Shangri-La hotels are five-star deluxe properties featuring extensive luxury facilities and services. Shangri-La hotels are located in Australia, Canada, mainland China, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in Australia, Bahrain, mainland China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. For more information, visit www.shangri-la.com.