chinese takeaways hold a special place in kiwi food culture in the 70s and 80s often the first
takeaway or neighborhood takeaway shop was a chinese takeaway aside from the fish and chip shop
so this takeaway food the wontons the sweet and sour pork the fried rice was often the first taste
of chinese cuisine for many kiwis i'm a chinese takeaway kid so i grew up in my parent's chinese
takeaway so when i learnt that Joanna Seto a first generation chinese kiwi woman like me
had taken over her parents' business Flying Horse Takapuna as a second generation owner i just
knew we had to film a video with her we can't wait to share this local institution with you
um so the history of Flying Horse Takapuna opened in 1977 and my Dad's
good friend Uncle Wayne opened Wayne Cheung opened Flying Horse back then i think
um in those days it was the only shop that was open late on a thursday night and friday night
and i think that was revolutionary at that time yeah he had it for 30 years and then
my dad well my mum and dad took over about 15 years ago so i grew up here
during that period and then i took over from my dad back in two years ago so early 2020
check out this menu so this is old-school classic chinese takeaway fare you'll find similar menus
all across new zealand in chinese takeaways this menu is so similar to the one that my parents had
in our takeaway so you've got things like chow mein the noodle dishes fried rice the sweet and sours
you also always have a section of deep fried food so foods that you would find
in a fish and chip shop
fish chips hot dogs burgers
but this food is special this takeaway has been a part of the Takapuna community since 1977
the locals love it and it is so cool that Joanna Seto has taken over it as a second generation owner
my parents owned their first takeaway in 1991 so basically yeah i've been in a takeaway for over 30 years now
Flying Horse Takapuna is the epitome of a successful family business so we've got Dad on the tools Joanna's at the
back there doing prep what's neat is that Joanna is all about legacy and preserving that legacy
so she hasn't changed much of the menu um when she took over so all of the recipes the fried rice
that Joe's cooking right now all the same
it's kind of unusual a second generation kiwi chinese taking over their parents business
yep isn't it?
i agree i haven't met one another person just yet
how does it, like what's it been like?
um it's actually been really fun i feel like it gives me
an advantage as well being a younger generation i can kind of bring
um a very traditional business into the 21st century and i get to implement little things
that looks really normal to another business but really fresh refreshing for a takeaway business
and it kind of gives us a competitive advantage as well like doing that you mean
like using social media media um having a website a click and collect website
especially during level three it was very useful for our customers
and you took over Flying Horse two years ago yeah
what made you decide to do that?
i was thinking about this a lot actually aside from my love of food i think it's also that gratitude towards the industry
that it's actually allowed so many new immigrants be able to earn a living with dignity
and be able to put their kids through education
um just all around the world not just in New Zealand as you would know and yeah i think
it's just that gratitude and wanting to make sure everyone who comes through our doors you know our
food is worth their money their time and their efforts so with that gratitude comes that drive
and that passion is just to not only provide good food but a good experience because i think in the
center of any family gathering it's the food so i want to make sure that anyone who chooses us
we provide that positive experience among their important family gathering kind of thing
i've spied wontons in the making so when i was working in school holidays at my parents takeaway
this was my job i'd always be in charge of making wonton
and you are a sifu like you're so good at it you're just so quick
well it's been two and a half years of doing this
nearly every day so kind of have to
so what's in the pork mince
so what makes our pork mixture slightly different is that we mince our own pork
and then we put the pork through another mixture and my dad puts it
includes spring onions and cabbage and a whole lot of seasoning
and what's the main difference is that when you bite into our wontons it's not like that loose
type of pork feeling yeah it's like chunky
yeah chunky and uh how do you say "dan nga"?
like um textural? yeah
yeah so it's very that
yeah super textural we've eaten these before and they are
knock your socks off you can't stop at one yeah
like i think it's just a lot of it is just making sure that i'm you know making sure dad's
recipes are not forgotten in the world as well so
and also like being across the whole business it's not just you coming in as the new owner
and not knowing how to cook
yes definitely i think it definitely helps as an owner that you know how to cook yeah
what are you making?
so right now i'm doing the roast pork fu yoong just to show you that i have graduated from wok school
so fu yoong is an omelette yes classic
yeah chinese takeaway fare exactly
what's slightly different with our fu yoong is that we use 100% eggs we don't put corn flour or
like water or anything into it so brilliant
yeah so a lot of our customers like it because of that
i think it's what's special about this place you don't skimp on ingredients and you don't you
do things right
yeah i think it's also because we started from the 70s right and that kind of
mentality is just using everything fresh and yeah that's always what we've carried on from the 70s
so why i say we graduate from wok school because of the fu yoong because of the flip
the flip is the hardest part of cooking on a wok because you should control it quite well in order to do so
yeah that's about done oh it looks amazing
look at this spread i love what Joanna's doing here she hasn't changed much of her Dad's menu
at all and the menu in itself is interesting because this isn't food that i would eat at home
or really Joanna would eat at home this Chinese cuisine is almost a new beast in
and of itself it's kiwi chinese so you've got the fried rice the fried noodles wonton
sweet and sour pork the fu yoong these are all dishes which come under the umbrella of kiwi chinese food
and what she's doing here is wicked she's carrying on that legacy that history
the use of the fresh ingredients is great the the different ways of doing things like with
the sweet and sour pork which i've got to get into so Joanna was saying that they do it a bit
different here because they use house made barbecue pork in a wet batter so i've just
chucked a lot of that sweet and sour sauce over actually i'm gonna give it another dunk
far out i get it now i get why that's such a hit
the barbecue pork has a great flavor it's super tender and you've got that crispy batter oh yum
these wonton are fresh as these are the ones that Joanna was making before
an absolute must order for any chinese takeaway feast
far out that is so juicy full of flavour you can taste the love and the care in that wonton
so Joanna's thought about the way that it's folded
the way that the pork is minced she cares so much about this food you can taste it i've got to try
this fried rice so this is the special fried rice it's got bbq pork it's got cashews it's got um
i think i might it even have some chicken in there this is the one that Joe, Joanna's dad was making
mm-hmm
mmm so much wok hei in that mouthful wok hei translates to breath of the wok so the
the essence of the wok you can taste that charred smokiness in that rice i can see why this food
evokes such strong emotions in the locals i've talked to a number of people who've said i drive
all the way over from the other side of town to come and get my fix at Flying Horse Takapuna
you know i love their food we've been going for literally generations so Joanna was saying you
know grandparents parents now their children are still coming and eating the same food
and i love that legacy that history it's been so cool chatting to Joanna and seeing
the similarities in our upbringings both our parents having takeaway shops this is classic
kiwi chinese fare you have got to come here and eat the food i love the history the preservation
of legacy and the food is fantastic get here come to Takapuna eat this food