Yim Tin Tsai, a Hakka village nestled on the island, is renowned for its distinctive Catholic church and salt fields. However, the allure of the area doesn’t end there—its Hakka Caa4 gwo2 (tea cake) stands out as a unique local delicacy. While all crafted in the traditional Hakka style, the tastes of these tea cakes vary from one household to another. Aunt Tse Cheung, a long-standing resident married to the island for over four decades, meticulously prepares tea cakes following the ancestral recipe of her husband’s family. “My mother-in-law used to say we must first raise a dough and to do that, we would have to buy a ferment, which is a type of pre-fermented bread that feels like mud, and it has to be kneaded into the mixture of our self-made dough,” she explained. The precise softness of the tea cake is achieved through a delicate balance of kneading repetitions and the exact amount of glutinous rice flour, all guided by cherished memories and accumulated experience. In Aunt Tse Cheung’s household, any day is deemed ideal for savouring these tea cakes. Occasionally, the Arts Festival curators would work on the island, and they are often treated to the delectable offerings of her kitchen. “I will make them whenever I have time because my daughters love the taste of their grandmother’s teacakes,” she shared.

Aunt Tse Cheung was born in a fisherman’s family of High Island, spending her childhood on a fishing boat. She later “went ashore” with her family to live in the village Tui Min Hoi, until fate intertwined her path with that of her husband Uncle Tse Cheung during a kayaking excursion in Sai Kung. Uncle Tse Cheung is an indigenous resident of the Yim Tin Tsai village, but he had moved to the city to pursue his career as a plumber and an electrician by that time. Meanwhile, his younger brother went to study in the United Kingdom, leaving only their mother in the ancestral home back in the village. The two tied the knot in the 1980s and as the great son, Uncle Tse Cheung insisted on spending a night back on the island every week, or having Aunt Tse Cheung take his place if his schedule was too busy. Aunt Tse Cheung honed her craft of making exquisite tea cakes from her mother-in-law, Aunt Guai, and she picked up the Hakka dialect during that time. “She taught me the skills of making tea cakes and pickles in Hakka, and I gradually picked up the dialect . The recipes became a part of me,” she recalled.

Aunt Guai moved to the UK in the 1990s, and she was almost the last resident to leave Yim Tin Tsai. Consequently, the island lay desolate for a full decade, in which the annual May Feast Day would be the only occasion for the scattered villagers to return. Two years ago, Uncle Tse Cheung’s family took on the task of restoring their ancestral home and every brick and tile is a labour of love. “We’ve converted the space once occupied by pigs and chickens into a flourishing garden. Gardening is my passion, and witnessing the blooms and fruits brings me immense joy,” shared Aunt Tse Cheung. She returns to the ancestral home almost every Saturday, dreaming of retiring on this small island. “Some say that Uncle Tse Cheung is foolish for spending so much time and effort renovating the house, but the restoration would never have succeeded without his dedication. I know that he truly loves this village and cannot bear to see the old house being left in ruins.”