My first restaurant job in Hong Kong was as pastry chef at a restaurant where all the cooks – except myself and the head chef – were Filipino. They were a talented group who cooked American/European food for the restaurant, but when it came to staff meals, they prepared homestyle dishes from the Philippines. Because I hadn’t yet visited the Philippines at that time I didn’t know much about the cuisine, but by eating with those cooks, I came to realise that the food is far more varied than most...