Hong Kongers place great emphasis on creating as LITTLE WASTE AS POSSIBLE when it comes to cooking. And while this flags up concepts such as sustainability, I think this waste-free culture is more about our undying LOVE FOR ALL THINGS EDIBLE. Wasted food, after all, means something delicious will end up somewhere else, other than in our stomachs – a punishment in and of itself which perma-hungry people like myself are keen to avoid. Here in the UK, the issues surrounding food waste are finally starting to come into the spotlight on a national scale. But no matter what the agenda – whether it’s people in need or depleting resources that you wish to focus on – I have found that keeping a waste-free mentality can truly work as inspiration to make for A GREAT MEAL. A simple example: recently while at a dai pai dong in Hong Kong, one of the best dishes we tried was actually called a ‘leftover stir-fry’ on the menu, which changed every day, depending on what needed to be cooked so it didn’t go to waste. Literally translated from mei chum siu chow to mean ‘beautiful delicacy small stir-fry’, it certainly feels like A THING OF BEAUTY to use every last bit of available food, turning it from something ordinary into a delicacy worth writing about.