Leaving the Mainland

Once we leave the Hakka heartland in mainland China, the food loses the narrowness of a singular society. On Taiwan, just over one hundred miles from the mainland, the Hakka food scene expanded as the result of a movement to preserve Hakka culture and reinvigorate and reinvent the cuisine. In Singapore and Malaysia, some dishes tasted livelier, with a more varied palette of fresh ingredients. Farther south, on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, the multicultural society brought fusion elements to the Hakka table.