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Lisa Lim

Yin yeung was the first drink a colleague recommended when I moved to Hong Kong two decades ago – that sweet milky mix of tea and coffee also called yuen yeung, offering the best of both worlds.
She also suggested I sample pineapple buns, though with the warning they were nothing like the pineapple tarts of my heritage, being devoid of pineapple!
Other delicacies of my Hong Kong years included daan tat from various bakeries – small open egg tarts of flaky or shortcrust pastry. I frequented bing sutt and dai pai dong (avoiding Singapore noodles – the name an invented connection by virtue of curry powder), and revelled in the ubiquitous Sunday yum cha (dim sum).
And why should you, dear reader, care for these food notes? Because these words have seen sufficiently sustained and widespread usage in English that they are now included in the Oxford English Dictionary as part of the English language complex.

Food is after all not mere sustenance: it comprises a visceral expression of cultural identity, a key ingredient in familial and cross-cultural relationships, a fundamental means of transmission of heritage, history and values.
The knowledge and skills entailed in food-related traditions constitute intangible cultural heritage: Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List includes, among others, kimjang, which is the making and sharing of kimchi in South Korea, the Mediterranean diet and Singapore’s hawker culture.
So deeply are they rooted in identity and so palpably do they serve as cultural markers that food lexicons comprise one of the more resilient areas of vocabulary, which are transmitted to successive generations, maintained in the diaspora and borrowed by other languages.
Local foods do not translate with the same flavour and cultural memory as in the original language: “rich, spicy noodle soup made with meat, vegetables or fish” feels insipid and unanchored.

In the OED’s March 2026 update, almost half of the new entries for Philippine English, and two-thirds of those for Hong Kong English are food-related. Three-quarters of the new entries for Malaysian and Singapore English in the 2025 update were about food.
These words have now been documented and acknowledged as part of English. They also demonstrate word-formation processes that reveal fascinating historical contact dynamics of communities and languages.
Hong Kong’s daan tat comes from Cantonese daahn-tāat, from Cantonese daahn (“egg”), plus tāat (“pastry tart”), which is originally from English “tart”, thus capturing – in a pastry shell! – its culinary and linguistic influences.
Similarly, Singapore’s and Malaysia’s ice kachang – a refreshing dessert of shaved ice topped with red beans, palm seeds, jelly and sweetcorn, and drizzled with evaporated milk, gula melaka (palm sugar) and rose or other syrups – borrows from Malay kacang (“bean, pea”). The phrase is also a part-boomerang of Malay ais kacang – ais originally a borrowing of English “ice”.

Philippine English’s inasal is formed with the Tagalog in- prefix (indicating the resulting state after an action) attaching to Visayan languages’ asal, meaning “to grill or roast”, which in turn derives from Spanish asar – reflecting the colonial influence on local cooking techniques.
Meanwhile, boodle fight is the linguistic outcome of the more recent context of Americans stationed in the Philippines. Meaning a communal meal where different kinds of food are laid out, typically on banana leaves and eaten by hand, this evolved from US military slang for an informal gathering or party at which are consumed illicit confectionery and snacks – boodle.
In Malaysian and Singapore English, agak-agak, “to approximate measurements, especially in cookery”, is from Malay “to guess, estimate”. This reduplication works across languages: Singapore English developed play-play, reduplicating an English verb – and rendering the usual attenuative meaning that verbal reduplication produces – to mean “to treat lightly, mess about”.
Hungering for more? Don’t play-play! The OED invites suggestions of World English terms for inclusion. You may soon see favourites like cha chaan teng and rojak on the menu!


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Food and Drinks

Hong Kong’s daan tat, Singapore’s ice kachang: Asian foods make their way into global English

Egg tarts from the now closed Gold Garden Cafe in Cheung Sha Wan, Hong Kong. The Cantonese name for the tarts, daan tat, has entered the Oxford English Dictionary. Photo: Jelly Tse

A dai pai dong in Hong Kong. “Dai pai dong” was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lau Pa Sat, also known as Telok Ayer Market, is Singapore’s most iconic hawker centre. In 2020, Singapore’s hawker culture was inscribed onto Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Photo: Shutterstock

Ais kacang, aka ice kachang, in Penang, Malaysia. Photo: SCMP

How Leslie Cheung broke all the rules to become Hong Kong’s greatest modern superstar

Hong Kong pop icon Leslie Cheung on the set of director Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild in 1990. Cheung was a trailblazing Cantopop icon who reshaped Hong Kong’s entertainment scene. Photo: SCMP

Leslie Cheung dances with a microphone stand at his concert in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Cheung (right), the first runner-up of RTV’s Asian Amateur Singing Contest, receiving his trophy in 1977. Photo: SCMP

Cheung in a still from A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), one of his most popular films. Photo: Cinema City

 Cheung on the set of Farewell My Concubine (1993). Photo: SCMP

Cheung at an interview with the SCMP in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Fellow pop icons and friends Anita Mui (left) and Cheung in 1986. Photo: SCMP

Fans of Cheung gather outside the Mandarin Oriental hotel to mourn their idol with flowers and photos on April 1, 2025. Photo: Elson Li

‘Classic’ Cantonese, splurge-worthy Japanese: an art curator’s go-to Hong Kong restaurants

Snow crab with rice vermicelli at Godenya, a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood that is among Zoie Yung’s favourite joints in the city. The Art Central 2026 programme curator also shares where she goes for great, affordable Cantonese food, Spanish bites and more. Photo: Dickson Lee

Zoie Yung, the curator of Art Central 2026, had a “hybrid” culinary upbringing, with influences from Chiu Chow and Cantonese cuisines. Photo: courtesy of Zoie Yung

Lamb neck, caramelised piquillo peppers and charred spring onions at Pica Pica in Sheung Wan. Photo: Pica Pica

Shinya Goshima, the owner of Godenya, a Japanese restaurant in Sheung Wan. Photo: Dickson Lee

How the Hakka spread in China and beyond, their cuisine reflecting hard lives

Hakka women dressed in traditional costumes hold trays of Hakka foods during the opening ceremony of the Hakkien Food Carnival at Tai Po Lam Tsuen, Hong Kong, in July 2013. Photo: SCMP

A Hakka restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.

Salted baked chicken is a traditional Hakka dish. Photo: Shutterstock

6 of Singapore’s best hidden speakeasy bars that will take you back in time – and how to find them

Bartenders at Chandu create drinks with a narrative that are loosely based on history. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

A bartender mixes a drink at Chandu, one of our picks of six of the best hidden speakeasy bars in Singapore. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

The Mizuwari whisky highball at Live Twice uses Hokkaido soft water rather than soda to accentuate the malt notes of the Japanese Nikka whiskies. Photo: Instagram/@livetwicesg

Chandu is inspired by Singapore’s colonial era, when opium dens flourished in the city state. Photo: The Robertson House by The Crest Collection

Chandu’s Mata Hari cocktail is named after a Dutch dancer and courtesan. Photo: Facebook/Chandu

Oriental Elixir, located in a Peranakan rowhouse, is a dimly lit watering hole for nonconformist cocktails. Photo: Philipp Meier

Oriental Elixir’s Malabar Tamarind cocktail combines the sour ingredient with roasted cherry tomato gin, dry vermouth. Photo: Instagram/@oriental.elixir

Junior the Pocket Bar is a small, 25-seater speakeasy that tasks itself with changing the menu completely every few months. Photo: Philipp Meier

A cocktail titled Sesame from the Korea-inspired menu at Junior the Pocket Bar. Photo: Junior the Pocket Bar

Jade Harbour is part of The Bund menu currently offered at Junior the Pocket Bar, inspired by the Shanghai district. Credit: Junior the Pocket Bar

For its Korean Joseon dynasty-inspired menu, the interiors of Junior the Pocket Bar featured dragons. Photo: Philipp Meier

Roxy is a hip-hop-inspired speakeasy hidden inside the Miss Fitz restaurant in Singapore’s Marina Bay. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

The drinks at Roxy are based on classics, but are given their own spin. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

Last Word has finessed tipples that were invented in the 1920s. Photo: Philipp Meier

Last Word’s eponymous cocktail is a classic, blending gin, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse and lime. Photo: Instagram/@lastwordsg

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

The latest updates to the Oxford English Dictionary reflect the strong influence Asian cuisines have on the English language


The latest updates to the Oxford English Dictionary reflect the strong influence Asian cuisines have on the English language.


Language Matters

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Column

Hong Kong’s daan tat, Singapore’s ice kachang: Asian foods make their way into global English

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The latest updates to the Oxford English Dictionary reflect the strong influence Asian cuisines have on the English language

The latest updates to the Oxford English Dictionary reflect the strong influence Asian cuisines have on the English language