If you find yourself wandering through the streets of Kolkata and the smell of chicken cooking on the grills of a Kathi roll stall reels you in, follow it’s lead. Very few have been able to resist the urge to munch on a Kolkata Kathi roll, which is made infinitely better with perfectly succulent chicken, and the perfect mix of lemon and sauces.
The city’s rolls have rightfully earned a celebrity status but would a Kathi roll’s identity even be without the sauces? And for six decades now, making Kathi rolls even more delectable is Pou Chong’s sauces. The brand is a huge favourite among locals and is run by Dominic Lee who has Chinese origins.
“We are fourth generation Indian-Chinese. My great grandfather came from China and my father started the business 60 years ago. For the past 60 years, Pou Chong has been catering to the people here with its tongue-tickling tasty sauces,” Dominic Lee, the owner of Pou Chong sauces tells InUth.
Lee’s father set up shop to serve the sizeable Chinese population in Kolkata, which was disrupted during the 1962 Indo-China war. After the situation became less tense during 1970s, local Chinese restaurants made Pou Chong’s sauces famous.
Now, Pou Chong’s blend of green chilli and tomato sauces is what infuses this area’s kathi rolls with extra deliciousness. Pou Chong’s popularity has also reached Australian shores and even made Masterchef host Gary Mehigan pay a visit to Kolkata to sample Pou Chong sauces.
“So he (Gary Mehigan) came to Kolkata to find out the secret behind the yummy taste of Kathi rolls and then he discovered that the combination of Pou Chong sauces in the Kolkata kathi rolls makes them so special and tasty,” Lee says.
Pou Chong’s restaurant in south Kolkata is a foodie’s paradise, which serves more than a dozen kinds of bao. A taste of Pou Chong’s sauces must be on your to-do list in Kolkata.
