This will be the first of hopefully many follow Friday features in which the spotlight will shine on some interesting food-related accounts / people you might like to follow.
Kicking things off, from instagram: foodieyunyun
Can you tell us about your instagram account, your profile name and how it all came about?
It took me forever to think of a name and i’ve actually changed it a few times until I settled with foodieyunyun. I was born and bred in Scotland but my parents are from Hong Kong – ‘yun’ is the third character in my Chinese name and my friends and family call me ‘yunyun’, hence the name foodieyunyun. I think I did my first instagram post at the end of April 2018 but I actually created my account a few weeks prior to that. I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to do it or not but in the end I went for it.
I’ve always enjoyed trying out new things and going to different places. I always say to myself “why go back to the same place over and over when there’s so much choice out there? Why not try somewhere new?”. So I decided to document the places that I eat.
I can see from some of your insta stories that you’ve documented various dishes from other countries as well as Scotland. Is food a big factor for you when it comes to planning travels and holidays?
I like to be organised so I’ll always do research – finding different places to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks too of course. Unfortunately i’m not a spontaneous person hence why I like prior planning and structure.
Is there a particular food genre or region of the world you’re interested in and do you enjoy cooking at home as well as eating out?
I enjoy most food as long as it’s tasty but I do have quite the sweet tooth! I love the food in Hong Kong, especially the street food because it’s so cheap and tasty. I would love to try authentic French food, as well as Lebanese. I only do full on cooking now and again as my partner works long hours, so we don’t tend to have dinner together a lot. When I do cook, I tend to make authentic Chinese dishes though.
Can you suggest a couple of traditional Chinese dishes that people might try?
Ma Po Tofu and Chinese style stuffed peppers are both favourites of mine and coincidentally I made them recently for Christmas Eve dinner.
Speaking of favourites and putting you on the spot, can you tell me 3 of the most memorable dishes you’ve eaten in your life?
1: Pasteid De Nata (Portuguese Custard Tart) from Pasteis De Belem
2: Xiao Long Bao (Chinese steamed bun) – I can’t remember where exactly this was from but it was in Hong Kong over 5 years ago now.
3: Doughnuts from Sexy Fish in London.
Do you follow any other food-related accounts on Instagram that you’d recommend?
I love laurenscravings and justjessfood. They have very simple recipes that are easy to follow and I’ve made a few of them myself.
Going back to your own account, what are your plans for the future?
I’ve got two lists of places on my instagram highlights and I’m hoping to get to each one of them in the next few years. My account is an outlet for me to share my experience and where I eat, it’s fun for me and it acts like a blog.
