Radiant Food for Body and Soul.
Yue Bai is a classical Chinese phrase describing the colour of moonlight. Helmed by Singaporean co-owner – Chef Lee Hongwei, Yue Bai is a restaurant that celebrates the familiarity of home through refreshing renditions of Chinese heritage dishes rooted in ancient dietary principles known as shí liáo. Also known as Dietary Therapy, ‘shí liáo’ uses food to enhance wellbeing through the application of its intrinsic healing value. The menu is curated from various Southern Chinese cuisines, with balanced dishes and familiar flavours that guests can identify with, interpreted through Chef Hongwei’s modern perspective. Diners sit in an ethereal space infused with expressions of Chinese culture and art, forming cherished bonds over nutritious food that comforts with the familiar flavours of memory.
During culinary competitions, Hongwei’s mentors instilled in him the need to understand the history behind the dishes. He came to an appreciation of cooking as an artform, and read avidly, particularly the Chinese classics. He enrolled in classes, becoming a practitioner of Chinese calligraphy. Chef Hongwei also finds a well of inspiration in memories of time spent with his family; and the food heritage of Chinese Singapore.
The core of local Chinese eating is coastal South China. Waves of migration brought the Hokkien, Foochow, Putian, and Fuqing people from the province of Fujian. From Guangdong streamed the Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, and others of Hainanese and Shanghainese origin. This incredible churn of flavours and methods coalesced into the food that is cherished today by all Chinese Singaporeans – flavours that find meticulous expression in the dishes of Yue Bai.
