Sik Fan Lah! - Palmerston North

For my thirtieth birthday, instead of having a birthday cake I had a birthday pig and there was a candle on top.

– Jackson Wong discusses the tradition of pig roasting in his family

When it's time to eat, we say 'Sik Fan Lah!'

– Presenter Abigail Leonita Masengi

Initally the locals weren't familiar with Northern food like dumplings. But when they saw the international students queue up from the cfounter to the door . . . now 90 percent of our customers are Westerners.

– Restauranteer Ken Gu discussing the popularity of Noodle 'n Dumplings restaurant in Palmerston North

A foraged banquet is prepared and shared by the moana, claypot rice is cooked in the windy Otago goldfields and dim sum are shared with Chinese New Zealand trailblazer Esther Fung. Culinary traditions, like identity, are maintained, adapted and redefined. The sheer vastness of the kai shared is reflective of the diverse histories, origins and languages that encompass what it means to be Chinese. But there’s a common thread too: a love of food.

– Spinoff writer Charlotte Muru-Lanning on the many foods on show in this series, 12 February 2023

It’s almost like a chance to fight back against how we are typically represented . . . The hope was to just make it first and foremost, attractive, tasty —  just like our food. I just want this to be a big celebration, because being able to be Chinese in New Zealand is a cause to celebrate.

– Sik Fan Lah! writer/director Jack Woon, The Spinoff, 12 February 2023