Cai's concept was not immediately accepted when he returned to China and started his first workshop in 2005. For the first year, he found it difficult to make ends meet. Each morning at around 5 am, Cai and his chef would shop in the local market to source the ingredients, which he insisted on doing for the first year and a half.
The next year, he realized that many of his customers were traveling from as far away as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong or Sichuan province just to try his dishes-and an increasing number of actors and singers were joining the fray.
"When famous people come to eat at my place, they are relaxed, and I think eating is a way to pass on the happiness," says Cai.
Cai opened Howard's Gourmet in Hong Kong in the end of 2015. It soon became a regular haunt for Hong Kong celebrities. English soccer star David Beckham even invited Cai to his house in London to cook for his family.
On Jan 16 this year, Meituan-Dianping released its first Black Pearl Restaurant Guide and Howard's Gourmet Hong Kong was among 28 "must visit once in a lifetime" three-diamond-rated restaurants. For Cai, a meal is like a symphony, where he gets to design different parts of the concert.
"The main course is one highpoint and the staple dish is another. And you will finish with a sweet dessert that brings it all to a smooth conclusion."
Hot-and-sour noodles is one of the signature staple dishes that Cai initially designed for his wife, who comes from northwestern China. "She likes strong flavors, so I use two different kinds of chilies and three types of vinegar to make the soup base for the noodles," says Cai.
Crispy pig trotters, crab-meat with scallion and ginger sauce, and sliced-bambooshoot soup are supporting acts for the meal. Eschewing the traditional ways, Cai makes the bones of the pig trotter crispy, and prefers to puree the scallion and ginger. For the bamboo shoots, to maintain its freshness and cut through the bitterness at the same time, Cai places them into water at a temperature of 55 C, which he found brings the best results after many experiments.
"I'm not a cook, so I just want to make the most delicious flavors and create food for the people I love," says Cai.
If you go
11:30 am-2:30 pm, 5:30 pm-10 pm. 307, 3/F, WF Central, 269 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6522-1297.
