For almost two decades May Chau Siu-may has been the chef and owner of the highly acclaimed Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant in Richmond that has garnered many accolades from the Chinese Restaurant Awards.

Her signature dishes include fun guo, or steamed dumplings with crab meat and minced pork, sweet and sour pork with fresh fruit, eight treasure stuffed duck, and pan-fried oysters with soy sauce.

Chau, 61, is the third-generation chef, as her mother’s family had a restaurant in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district serving Shunde cuisine. “I was the youngest of five children, with the oldest sibling 18 years older than me. After school I did my homework in the restaurant and then played with flour afterwards,” she recalls with a smile. “I thought cooking was like playing.”

When she was around 11 years old she learned how to wrap har gao with 13 pleats, and dumplings. When she showed off her dumplings, the seasoned chefs in the restaurant were shocked because she had folded them like a pro. Despite her father preferring that she study and not go into the restaurant business, the combination of Chau’s talent and willingness to work hard have resulted in a career in the kitchen.

In 1980 she migrated to Vancouver, though Chau went back to Hong Kong periodically to work in her family’s restaurant. It wasn’t until 2003 when she settled in Vancouver and two years later opened Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant.

She admits she can be intimidating in the kitchen, saying, “It’s not because I don’t treat people well, it’s because I am very fast, faster than the male chefs and my standards are very high.”

It’s no wonder Chau’s sharp culinary skills and speed have resulted in high praise for her dishes.

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Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant
♦ 8111 Anderson Rd, Richmond