Jenny Lau
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Jenny Win Ching Lau (born March 1985) is a British food writer and community organiser. Her debut essay collection ''An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included)'' was published in 2025.


Early life

Lau was born on the outskirts of South East London to a Hong Kong father and a Malaysian-Chinese mother. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong before returning to London with her mother in 1996 at age 11. Lau recalls becoming estranged from the Cantonese food of her youth until re-discovering it as an adult. Lau attended
James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. Founded in 1741, it is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain, with ...
in Dulwich. She was a pianist and violinist from a young age. She graduated with a degree in Music from
Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...
.


Career

Lau began her career performing in London's indie music scene, performing with
Emmy the Great Emma-Lee Moss (born 4 November 1983), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums, '' First Love'', ''Virtue'', ''Second Love'' and ''April / 月音''. She sings in English and ...
before going into PR and marketing, starting in social media before moving towards fashion communications. In 2014, she worked for Acne Studios in Stockholm. In 2018, Lau founded the online platform ''Celestial Peach'', which she primarily used a food blog and to connect with others before branching out towards essays, art and fundraising. She started hosting a potluck and supper club at the Hackney Chinese Community Services Association (now the ESEA Community Centre) in 2019, where she would work as a communications consultant. Cultural events and projects she developed included the interview series #ChineseFoodiesOfIG, the charity Asian Dessert Exchange during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and CongeeCon. Lau collaborated with photographer Kenneth Lam on a 2020 photography series titled #HumansOfChinatownLondon. In 2020, Lau appeared on the BBC ''
Good Food Good Food (formerly UK Food and UKTV Food) was a British pay television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, latterly as part of the Discovery, Inc. network of channels. The channel originally launched on 5November 2001 and ...
'' list of "game-changers" in the food scene. Based on her interview series called #ChineseFoodiesOfIG, Lau organised a digital exhibition in January 2022 titled ''What Does Home Taste Like?'', which sought illustrations from over 40 artists. In 2023, Lau started writing a column for the ''
South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...
''. She also contributed an essay to Jonathan Nunn's ''London Feeds Itself''. Lau was finalist for a BIH Hospitality Award and nominated for CODE Hospitality's 2024 Woman of the Year in the Leader category. Renegade Books (a Dialogue Books imprint, part of
Hachette UK Hachette Livre S.A. (; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing group that was based in Paris. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif which later became successively L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette ...
) won a three-auction to publish Lau's debut non-fiction book ''An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included)'' in January 2025. Neither a recipe cookbook nor a glossary, the book contains a collection of 26 essays Lau started writing in 2021 on Chinese food, identity, culture, history and misconceptions, particularly as these topics pertain to the diaspora. Violet Conroy of ''
AnOther Magazine ''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, bel ...
'' called it "wholly unique for its brazen originality, humour and range". ''An A-Z of Chinese Food'' was a '' Service95'' Book Club pick.


Personal life

Lau has lived in
Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...
,
Haggerston Haggerston is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. There is an Haggerston (ward), electoral ward called Haggerston within the borough. H ...
and
New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...
.


Bibliography


Books

* ''An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included)'' (2025)


Essays

* "The Community Centre" in ''London Feeds Itself'' (2023), edited by Jonathan Nunn


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:lau, jenny Living people 1985 births Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge British Asian writers British community activists English marketing people English people of Chinese descent English people of Hong Kong descent English people of Malaysian descent English women bloggers English women columnists English women essayists English women food writers Hong Kong bloggers Hong Kong food writers People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Writers from the London Borough of Bexley