Plein Kitchen

Starting 5 June, master chef Tim Kan kicks off Plein Kitchen with a menu that brings together the past and present of Rotterdam’s Chinese cuisine. Raised in his parents’ restaurant, Tim was trained in the Cantonese tradition and is now known for his craftsmanship and finesse. His dishes blend memory with innovation – from homemade teng-teng and fragrant zongzi to delicate dumplings and cookies created especially for Fenix.

The Chinese kitchen has called Rotterdam home for over a century. On Katendrecht – once the first Chinatown on the European mainland – a culinary tradition took root that would shape the city for generations. In boarding houses and small pensions, Chinese migrant workers first cooked for one another, and soon for the neighbourhood too. The scent of wok oil, ginger and soy sauce drifted into the streets – and never left.

From Cheung Kwok Low, the city’s first Chinese eatery in 1920, to the Chinese-Indonesian restaurants that fed generations, Rotterdam’s Chinese food culture has grown alongside the city itself. Today, you’ll find flavours from Hong Kong, Sichuan and Xi’an – both classic and reimagined. A kitchen that keeps evolving, just like Rotterdam.

Mooncake.nl is the platform of food journalist and writer Jonneke de Zeeuw. She celebrates the flavours of the street, the city and the world – and shines a light on food cultures and the stories behind them through videos, TV segments, books, essays and articles. Her work reveals just how rich, surprising and super-diverse the culinary landscape of the Netherlands has become.