Simran Savlani champions Asian vegetarian flavors

Simran Savlani, a trained chef and cookbook author, created A Spark of Madness with the aim of exposing Hong Kong to fun stories of Asian flavors and the power of vegetarianism.

Born in Taiwan to Indian parents and raised in Hong Kong, Simran Savlani had neither a typical childhood nor an easy path to becoming a food figurehead in the region.

Simran’s arrival in the city came through an eight-year career in marketing and sales after studying abroad. Yet after working hard on the calls, the culinary creator yearned to break into the restaurant scene, after sitting on the sidelines for almost a decade.

“I never wanted to work as a chef,” Simran admits in an interview with Foodie near Lan Kwai Fong. “I didn’t have the patience or the insight or the skills, but I wanted to open restaurants.” The self-proclaimed foodie sought to align and integrate deeply into the food industry.

To encourage a successful career change, in 2015 she joined Le Cordon Bleu Paris, the largest network of hotel schools in the world, to study catering management. Upon returning to Hong Kong, Simran wanted to experience both the fate and success of opening a restaurant, “to learn from someone else’s mistakes.” I wanted to be a restaurateur.

Simran joined the opening team at Soho House Mumbai, launching the property’s club, restaurant and hotel, and has worked as a restaurant consultant on two continents, opening restaurants in Lagos, Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong. Kong.

As if a trip around the world wasn’t enough, she ventured to open a Szechuan restaurant in Mumbai with her new experience. However, the move to India’s financial capital in January 2020 coincided with the country’s strict pandemic lockdown, isolating Simran from the project.

When she successfully returned to Hong Kong, A Spark of Madness was born during her stay in quarantine in her hotel room. Simran’s Asian and African culinary influences collide with a range of edible and experiential products, the first of which is an out-of-print cookbook.

“It was only by thinking on my own (in India) that I convinced myself to start a collection of recipes that I had spent the last six months creating into a black and white laminated manuscript,” says -she.

Over the next nine months in Hong Kong, Simran was determined to write a cookbook summarizing the flavors she had encountered and enjoyed since her Paris studies. “It was a testing space,” she says, referring to her A spark of madness cookbook, released in fall 2021 with 116 recipes.

In the cookbook, she explores the flavors of Thailand, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The recipe photographs were taken with an iPhone at home and tested by 300 people in 40 countries. The central theme? Vegetarian Asian recipes.

Simran hasn’t eaten a piece of meat in over two decades, but she is wise not to expose the ideals of vegetarianism to the masses. “Typically when you eat a vegetarian product you’ll see people shouting about the ‘V’ with a big positive sign.”

“I like to say that everyone should eat what they want, and while all Spark condiments are vegan, they aren’t just designed for meat-free people. It can be used for any dish while making your food shine.

The vegetarian cookbook and subsequent products allowed Simran to focus on her A Spark of Madness brands and create tangible vegetarian dining experiences in Hong Kong.

Her marketing savvy led Simran to create her next Spark products: sauces. “How do I promote my cookbook?” Everyone makes umbrellas, tote bags, aprons, but who cares? I wanted to feed people and created sauces that would complement the recipes in the cookbook. Three sauces hit the market – Caramelized Spring Onion, Crispy Chili Oil and Crack Sauce – enjoying instant success.

Each sauce combines the spices, umami and salt found in Asia, suiting the flavors Hong Kongers enjoy in Cantonese cuisine. Simran spice sellers are local to Sheung Wan. “The sauces have taken off and we are now also available in Singapore and Dubai. The plan is to export it overseas to Australia and North America to continue bringing these Hong Kong flavors around the world. »

A series of jams came next, sparking a local reaction that this centuries-old spread can be enjoyed beyond simple toast and scones at afternoon tea. “Why can’t we use (the jams) for more?” I had this idea of ​​making an alcoholic jam. Each jam uses a different alcohol, giving you warmth and roundness, mixed with spices and herbs.

In an exercise to showcase the power of vegetarianism, jams also score highly locally and regionally for spreading Asian flavors via a funky, sweet medium. Pineapple jam brings together smoky notes of whiskey, shichimi togarashi and thyme. Pink guava is mixed with gin, bird’s eye chili and ginger, and peach is married with tequila, jalapeño and hibiscus.

Hong Kong knew Simran from her cookbooks, sauces, jams and an Asian-spiced honey product, but she wanted to make the Spark brand more relevant and interactive. The idea of ​​organizing vegetarian food tours in Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun was hatched in early 2023, prompting him to organize his first series of restaurant tours in these areas in November and December last year.

“When I say vegetarian, we are not talking about strictly vegetarian restaurants, but restaurants that serve vegetarian dishes. I hate going to vegetarian restaurants and I’ve been vegetarian for 25 years! I hate that vegetarians are pigeonholed into only eating fake meat, vegan meat, or broccoli.

“During the 20 different sessions we held, with 15 people in each session, we organized food tours throughout Sheung Wan to highlight the vegetarian dishes that can be enjoyed throughout the neighborhood. Sweet and sour vegetarian pork and salt and pepper fried eggplant at Sheung Wan Cooked Food Centre, mung bean noodles with peanut sauce at a small Shanghainese restaurant, French toast at Café Mei and banh mi at An Choi.

According to Simran, a vegetarian meal doesn’t have to be scary. Her Sheung Wan series, held during Hong Kong’s cooler winter months, was a success, and she also plans to host a vegetarian food tour at Sham Shui Po.

Simran’s entrepreneurial spirit continues to evolve and bear fruit with another unique culinary experience. In April and May this year, she hosted more than 300 people to enjoy an eight-course vegetarian Cantonese meal with Spark sauces in six sampans tied together at the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter.

In a city obsessed with opening the latest restaurants, the experience brought together vegetarians and vegetable-loving Hong Kongers to explore the excitement of dining at sea during a multi-course meal under LED lights, in drawing on the strength of natural umami.

Simran plans to return with sold-out food tours and a sampan dining experience in the fall, when Hong Kong welcomes a brief break from the unrelenting summer heat.

From cookbook to sauces and jams, international dinners, food tours and sampan experience, Simran wants to reduce the big “V” of vegetarianism to a smaller “v”, inviting Hong Kongers and other Asians to discover the power of vegetables without worrying about the destination of their meat.

To purchase A Spark of Madness food products, Click here or to learn more about Simran’s latest vegetarian ventures, check her out Instagram.