In my small 500-square-foot studio apartment in North York, I host a twice-monthly supper club — or “little dining tables,” as we call them in Chinese. These family-style meals are a sampling of my childhood memories from growing up in Guangdong, recreated in Toronto.
I cook the homestyle Cantonese food that is more down-to-earth than what you’ll find on fancy dim sum menus: rich herbal soups, juicy steamed minced pork, and stir-fried leafy greens. I host four guests at a time — usually strangers who find my social media posts. My guests could be a college student, a software engineer, or a part-time bartender.
It is the unsatisfied Chinese stomach in a North American city that gives people the courage to step inside a stranger’s apartment, seeking a taste of home.
More supper clubs like mine are emerging among the Chinese diaspora on RedNote, a Chinese social media platform. Often organized by women, Chinese international students, and new immigrants, each supper club brings from one to a dozen people to the host’s dining table. The hosts post their menus and the event details to RedNote, then wait for the algorithm to find its audience in the area. They usually ask the guests to chip in around $30 to $50.
While many supper clubs are solely meant for the Chinese diaspora, others — including mine — are also open to non-Chinese guests curious about Chinese homestyle cooking.
These supper clubs feature homemade dishes, from spicy Hunanese stir-fries to Northeastern sauerkraut pork rib stews. Some focus on a regional or seasonal theme, like Yunnan flavours, Korean street food, or spring vegetables, while others experiment with fusion cuisine.
When one of my returning guests requested a southwest-China-themed supper club, I was hesitant. I wouldn’t be able to find the regional ingredients, and I didn’t know the special techniques — it felt impossible for me to make food that was anywhere near authentic. But as the cuisines from Yunnan and Guizhou have gained popularity on Chinese social media, I also found myself yearning for their fresh and tangy dishes. So I took my best shot, developing quick recipes for dishes I’ve never made before and adapting them to the ingredients I could find. When algorithm-fed cravings merge with personal interpretations, a new version of nostalgia is created.
“People here tend to be stuck in small social circles. Meeting new people by cooking for them creates a channel for me to learn their stories,” says Fannie Hu. Based in Toronto, Hu is a Hainanese college graduate in her mid-20s, who shares her cooking with one person at a time. She says that one-on-one dinners allow for more emotionally intimate conversations.
Rather than asking guests to pay for the meal, Hu asks them to surprise her with a $10 gift. “This whole thing is rewarding for both of us, on the giving and receiving end.” Many of her guests have since become her close friends.
At their joint supper club in downtown Toronto, Jojo Ma, Sun Sun and Iris Wang use food to create a platform for like-minded women to meet each other. The three women — each in their 20s and 30s — met playing basketball, and all are Chinese immigrants who have lived in Canada for a decade or more. On their RedNote, they post the menu of each event and a topic for conversation. They have hosted a “tipsy chicken feet night, chatting about reproductive plans” and another called “coconut chicken and gap year.”
The inspiration came from a supper club Jojo attended in her hometown Qingdao.
“There are plenty of other events that are just about food and wine. But if people can’t connect through shared values, they won’t become friends,” she says.
“After all, food is just an excuse to bring people together,” Sun adds. “Chinese people chat a lot at the dining table. We share food, let our guards down, and that’s when we open up and talk.”
Homey Dishes I’ve Served at my Supper Clubs
Night-blooming Cereus Pork Bone Soup with Apricot Kernels
A rich broth made with pork bones and night-blooming cereus flowers. It’s got natural sweetness from carrots, corn, and candied jujube, and a creamy aroma from apricot kernels. The herbs are believed to clear toxins and nourish the lungs.
Farmer’s Stir-fry
Seared pork belly slices and fried egg stir-fried with garlic, long hot pepper, and fermented black beans. A signature Hunanese dish brought to Guangdong by migrant workers.
Steamed Minced Pork with Preserved Vegetables
Hand-chopped meat mixed with minced Hakka dry-pickled mustard greens for flavour and water chestnuts for extra texture. The soft and juicy pork patty goes with freshly steamed rice. A comforting dish I grew up with.
Soy-pickled Radish
Crunchy, salty-sweet pickles with a hint of raw garlic’s heat, served as a cold appetizer and a palate refresher.
Stir-fried A-choy with Canned Fried Dace and Fermented Black Beans
Crisp leafy greens stir-fried with umami-rich canned dace, a tinned fish found in every Cantonese pantry. After the vegetables are gone, don’t leave behind the remaining black beans soaked with the flavourful pan sauce.
Find Yanki Kung on RedNote @ (ID:4289618260) and on Instagram @dinnercaretime.
This article appeared in the 2025 Summer issue.
