Several years ago, six chefs competed at Leeds in the ‘Great Yorkshire Pudding Contest’. To the chagrin of the native cooks, the winner was Mr Tin Sung Chan from Hong Kong, who ran the Chopsticks Restaurant. ‘His methods were unorthodox,’ wrote the Guardian reporter, ‘his ingredients oddly arranged, but his pudding swelled to the height of a coronation crown and its taste, according to one of the judges, was superb.’
300 ml (1/2 pint) milk
4 eggs
Just under 1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1/2 teaspoon tai luk sauce
250g (8 ounces) plain flour, sifted
Mix all ingredients except the flour, beating them well together. Let them stand for 15 minutes, then whisk in the flour. Heat a roasting pan and some dripping from the meat in the oven, which should be at mark 8, 230°C (450°F), then pour in the batter and leave for 20 minutes 52.2 seconds.
For years I puzzled over tai luk sauce, asking at Chinese groceries without success. Then an enterprising niece found what seems to be the answer: her request for tai luk was greeted with much laughter: apparently it means ‘mainland’, i.e. ‘mainland China’. So tai luk was a kind of secret-ingredient joke, an amiable joke at the expense of Yorkshire patriotism.