Chua Lam (also known as

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

: Tsai Lan,

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

: Choi Lan, Teochew: Chùa Lāng) (

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: ,

traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

: , born 1941 in Singapore) is a Singaporean

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

food critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

, and occasional

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He was also a

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

producer for the

movie studio Golden Harvest.

Career

Media career

Chua was a producer of several movies for Golden Harvest, including several films for

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

. Notable films include '' Mr. Nice Guy'' (credited as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

), ''

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...

'' (credited as producer), ''

Sex and Zen ''Sex and Zen'' (, ''The Carnal Prayer Mat's Stash of Illicit Love'') is a 1991 Hong Kong erotic sex comedy film directed by Michael Mak, and starring Lawrence Ng and Amy Yip. The film is loosely based on ''The Carnal Prayer Mat'', a Chinese er ...

'' and ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted int ...

'' (credited as producer). Chua is primarily known in Japan as a judge on the

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

series ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

''.

Writing career

Chua was a columnist on ''

Oriental Daily ''Oriental Daily News'' is a Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong. It was established in 1969 by Ma Sik-yu and Ma Sik-chun, and was one of the two newspapers published by the Oriental Press Group Limited (). Relative to other Hong Kong ...

'' in

. Chua later switched to writing columns for the Next Media's publications, namely '' Next Magazine'' (on movies and a restaurant guide), ''

Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, link=no, 蘋果日報) was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong.

'' and ''

Eat and Travel Weekly Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

''. All columns have continued as of 2007. Chua has written a number of books and restaurant guides on

in Japanese. In recent years (2005 - current), Chua has organized special tours in Asia and around the world to sample the best local speciality food. Chua often writes, in his newspaper columns, about the tours' organizing trips where he and others sample food from four or five restaurants per day in order to select the best restaurants.

Filmography

Films

Television

* 2007: ''Market Trotter'' ( 蔡瀾逛菜欄) * 2007: ''

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

'' ( 拾年) * 2008: '' Chu As Choice'' ( 蔡瀾歎名菜) * 2009: '' Be My Guest'' ( 志雲飯局)

Gastronomic philosophy

One of Chua's most beloved dishes is stir-fried bean sprout with fried tofu and fish sauce. Chua is famous for advocating the use of pork

dripping Dripping, also known usually as beef dripping or, more rarely, as pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses. It is similar to lard, tallow and schmaltz. History It is used for ...

s in food preparation and as a condiment. He has cited and promoted the usage of pork fat in most of his TV shows.

Personal life

Chua's father, Chua Boon Hean (蔡文玄), was a native of the Jio Mung Chua (蔡門石) village in Chaozhou who immigrated to Singapore. His father worked in a high-ranking post at the

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

and died in 1997. Chua was a student in Japan and lived there for several years. Chua holds Singaporean citizenship, although he has been based in Hong Kong since 1963.

References

External links

* *
Goo Movies (Japan)

Chua Lam's ebook website

Food Critic Chua Lam Slammed Over Hotpot Critic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Lam 1941 births Living people Hong Kong columnists Hong Kong film producers Hong Kong food writers Hong Kong television presenters Nihon University alumni Singaporean emigrants to Hong Kong Singaporean people of Teochew descent Singaporean born Hong Kong artists