Inside The Kitchen Of 2 Next-Gen Chefs
Food & Drink
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Inside The Kitchen Of 2 Next-Gen Chefs

Oscar and Luca Ho are the twins behind Chow Bella – a recent pop-up in Salisbury that introduced Canto-Italian cuisine to the world. From black bean pork ravioli to jasmine tea tiramisu, their cooking blends Chinese and Italian traditions with instinct and irreverence. Here, they open their kitchen door to talk snacks, freezer hacks and family staples.

Fusion happens through technique rather than shock value. Our black bean pork ravioli marinates pork belly like dim sum ribs, but we encase it using Italian pasta technique. From Italian cooking, aglio, olio e peperoncino taught us restraint and respect for ingredients. From Chinese cooking, it’s a dish called Beat the Bull Demon With a Stick – a beef, green bean and tomato stir fry we didn’t even like growing up. Mum cooked it because Dad loved it – a reminder of his childhood after staying in England for her. That dish taught us food is about far more than taste.

Mum’s aubergine hotpot instantly transports us back to childhood. She learnt it from Grandma, but years in England – and fiercely Italian instincts – turned it into something closer to a bolognese. We didn’t realise how different it was until we ordered it in a Chinese restaurant. Hers is better. It’s the dish that inspired Chow Bella and sits first on our menu. We took it to school in flasks while other kids turned their noses up – though we knew they’d swap their sandwiches if they dared.

Italians can be fiercely protective – one told us he couldn’t wait to try our food, but definitely wouldn’t be touching our tiramisu. We get it.

There are more crossovers between Chinese and Italian cooking than people realise. Garlic and aubergine are obvious. Tomato is less so – essential in Italian food, but also in Dad’s favourite childhood stir fry. It appears again in Grandma’s garlic ketchup prawns, which sound wild but taste incredible.

Balancing creativity and tradition is constant. Italians can be fiercely protective – one told us he couldn’t wait to try our food, but definitely wouldn’t be touching our tiramisu. We get it.

Since starting Chow Bella, we barely cook at home. Sunday dinner is sacred – Mum compensates for six days of chaos by cooking everything in sight. 

At home, nothing is planned. The Chinese ethos of ‘no food goes to waste’ is embedded in us. We cook with what’s there. Oscar is meticulous with baking – something I (Luca) struggle with. Suggesting bread flour instead of plain flour once caused one of our biggest arguments.

A habit every home cook should learn? Trust your gut. You’ll know if it needs salt. You’ll know if it looks like baby food. And you’ll definitely know if your twin is judging your plating.

Our fridge staples? As long as we’ve got ingredients for toasties, we’re happy. Leftovers and cheese. There’s always Parmigiano Reggiano. Brodo – Mum’s vegetable and chicken broth – is usually lurking at the back. As kids we thought it was boring; now we know it’s what keeps us healthy.

For Chow Bella, Clarence Court eggs are non-negotiable. Sterilgarda mascarpone is vital for our jasmine tea tiramisu, which was selling out daily (even when we made an emergency mid-service batch, much to Luca’s discomfort). Lee Kum Kee’s Chiu Chow chilli oil will always beat any trendy alternative, simply because we grew up with it.

In the pantry, there’s always Maggi Liquid Seasoning. Soft-boiled rice, a fried egg and Maggi – unbeatable.

We refuse to run out of Mrs Lee’s dumplings. She’s one of the only Hong Kongers in our hometown and used to run our favourite Chinese takeaway in Salisbury, and still rings when she has a batch ready. We ration them because we never know when the next delivery is coming.

We aren’t snacky people – snacking is just half-arsed eating. As kids, random hunger meant full plates of dumplings or aglio, olio e peperoncino. That said, my guilty pleasure is pork scratchings. Luca’s is the 80p assorted jam tarts from Tesco.

The best snack on earth, though, is our Chinese grandma’s hand-wok-toasted cashews – raw nuts tossed in coarse salt in a ripping-hot wok. We bring them back from Hong Kong and eat them sparingly until the next trip. They’re perfect with cold Italian meats.

Don’t judge someone else’s plate. Their chicken feet might be your custard doughnut.

The biggest lesson from our parents? Never turn your nose up at food. Don’t judge someone else’s plate. Their chicken feet might be your custard doughnut. And always serve Grandma first.

We cook for friends exactly as we cook for customers. That’s why it works. The dishes aren’t flashy – they’re homely. If someone comes to our pop-up and pays for our food – still surreal – they deserve to be fed like family.

Follow @ThoseAsianTwins & visit Chow Bella

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