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Starting this August, dishes featuring Omnipork are now available across all of Tsui Wah’s 28 branches. The Hong Kong restaurant chain, which is an integral part of the city’s local cha-chaan-teng culture, will use the all-purpose plant-based pork alternative to offer diners a vegetarian spin on cult classics.
Launched earlier last year by Green Monday’s Asian food-tech start-up, Right Treat, the meat alternative dubbed Omnipork looks, tastes and cooks just like conventional minced pork. It is suitable for vegans, made with fully plant-based ingredients including pea protein, non-GMO soybeans, mushroom and rice, and comes without the calories and saturated fat in traditional pork. In addition to boasting a better nutritional profile, Omnipork is also free from antibiotics, hormones, cholesterol and is Buddhist-friendly. On top of that, it is better for the planet: producing plant-based protein uses fewer resources and generates a fraction of the carbon footprint when compared to traditional livestock farming.
The new collaboration between Omnipork and Tsui Wah is monumental. Tsui Wah Restaurants have long been central to Hong Kong’s casual food scene and social culture. Locals often drop by to satisfy their cravings with iconic dishes like pork chop baked rice for lunch, or a Hong Kong-style french toast for haa-ng-cha (afternoon tea). However, because these authentically Hong Kong favourites are often meat-heavy, many vegetarians in the city have to pass on their beloved dishes.
Once only served at Michelin-star locations and hotel restaurants in addition to Green Monday’s own concept Kind Kitchen, Omnipork’s partnership with Tsui Wah represents a breakthrough for Hong Kong’s vegetarian community. Affordable, convenient and uniquely Hong Kong, the dishes are now available across all of the chain’s 28 locations. This collab has produced two new options: the Omnipork Mince Omelet Rice with tomato sauce and vegetables, and the Baked Cheesy Omnipork Spaghetti Bolognese. Vegans don’t fret: Tsui Wah can accommodate by removing the egg (zau-daan) from the otherwise fully plant-based rice dish.
Omnipork’s new partnership comes after sales of the meat alternative shot up following the outbreak of the African Swine Flu epidemic in Asia. China has already culled more than one million hogs and warned citizens to reduce their pork intake since first reports emerged last August. Omnipork has come in as a crucial replacement: Green Monday founder David Yeung hopes to use the opportunity to reengineer China’s protein supply chain in a more sustainable way.
Lead image courtesy of Right Treat.
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