From Hong Kong to Kirkcaldy: Meet Scotland's new Street Food Champions

The Herald Scotland

10 hours ago

Minor condiment crises aside, Cheung is in high spirits following a weekend which saw her and business partner/fiancé, Rick Tai, come out on top when competing against fellow street food chefs from across the country.
'I'm still feeling quite emotional about it all,' she continues.
'I had been so nervous ever since first sending our application, and when we found out we were finalists while working a pop-up on Leith Walk, I was just jumping up and down on the street for what felt like five whole minutes.
'When we got there for the competition weekend, there were so many amazing traders with all of this professional equipment – one of them had a fridge that looked like my closet at home.
'We tried so much food and the finalists were all fantastic, but I was nervous because we come from a different culture and don't have as much market experience.
'When they announced we had won, I cried straight away.'
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Though they are relative newcomers to the Scottish street food scene, this Perth-based couple previously achieved success in Hong Kong, where in 2016 they founded a permanent Smoked Tamago shop serving a signature dish of Tamagoyaki.
These traditional Japanese-style egg rolls wowed judges at last weekend's awards and ultimately secured their win, but Cheung admits to having some initial doubts over whether their menu would catch on in a new country.
'We moved to Scotland around four years ago, which was a really difficult time because of Covid', she explains.
'We both had other jobs, but always knew that we wanted to start our food business again.
"It was only late last year that we found the courage to say, 'ok, let's do it'.
'We had a takeaway in Kirkcaldy at the beginning, but then realised that we needed to be meeting people face to face so that we could properly explain our signature dish because it's not very common in Scotland.
'That's why we started doing markets and have stuck with it since.'
Pictured: Vincci Cheung and Rick Tai celebrate their win (Image: Supplied)
Adapting their business to suit market events proved to be the key to Smoked Tamago's new venture in Scotland, with the team able to 'test the water' before getting in too deep.
It also allowed them to reinvent their menu of contemporary Japanese-Korean dishes weekly to include the likes of Tteobokki, Takoyaki, and Japchae.
'The markets in Scotland really did make everything possible for us, because back in Hong Kong, opening a shop was a huge investment
'The city is tiny, the rent is crazy, and the housing prices are terrible.
'But here, we realised that we could try things out in a new environment without having to give up our full-time jobs.
'After a while, we started to feel like people were really loving our food, and I decided that I should probably just go for it.'
Pictured: The Smoked Tamago team and British Street Food Awards Champions, Choola (Image: Supplied)
Working markets around Scotland also introduced Cheung and Kai to fellow talented vendors like husband-and-wife team Nicole and Ameer Limbu of Choola, who took home the British Street Food Award Champion Title in 2023.
'We owe a big thanks to Choola for being so supportive of us right from the start,' the street food chef says of their first encounter at The Pitt in Edinburgh.
'I had just put in my application for Street Food Awards, and they were able to share so much of their experience with us.
'From then on, any time I had a question, they were happy to answer it and even helped us to pack up all of our stuff after the competition last weekend when we were totally exhausted."
With a busy summer schedule ahead, there's little time for Smoked Tamago to stop and celebrate their Street Food Award win before moving on to the next stage of the competition in London this September.
There, alongside Scottish People's Choice Award winners, Fire Bowl, they will serve up Tamagoyaki once again in the hopes of advancing to the European final in Munich.
Pictured: A selection of contemporary Japanese-Korean dishes from Smoked Tamago (Image: Supplied)
Proud to have made it to this stage, Cheung concludes: 'We are just one couple from Hong Kong, but there are actually a lot of people from the city in Scotland right now
"Many of them will have been working just as hard, but might not be able to get back into the same industry as they were in before.
'It's difficult to start a new life or business somewhere new, and we're not the only ones trying.
'We just happen to be lucky enough that our hard work has been seen.'
You can find Smoked Tamago at the Errol Sunday Market and at the Leith Walk Police Box on Tuesdays.
For further updates, follow them on social media @smoked_tamago.