A chef who began his apprenticeship when he was 15, has become the first Chinese cook in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars, winning the ultimate culinary accolade for dishes such as steamed lobster and scallop dumplings.

Chan Yan Tak, known as Chef Tak, won the only three-star rating for a Hong Kong restaurant in the inaugural Michelin Guide to restaurants and hotels in the former British colony and Macau.

The inspectors chose the Lung King Heen (View of the Dragon) Cantonese restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel for its highest award.

Chef Tak, who admits only to being in his 50s, was lured out of retirement three years ago by the Four Seasons to start the restaurant. “Excited, shocked and happy for my team”, was his immediate reaction to the recognition by the French bible of gastronomy.

Michelin inspectors, dining undercover, ate 12 times at Chef Tak’s tables in the past year as they visited 251 restaurants selected for a place in the food guide.

Jean-Luc Naret, the director of the guides, said that they had been tracking the career of the chef closely. “We have followed him for a few years, actually for ten years . . . He is the first Chinese chef to get three stars,” he said.

Of the 12 Michelin inspectors who compiled the guide, one was from Hong Kong and another was from mainland China, to help to gain a better understanding of the local cuisine. Mr Naret dismissed suggestions that the mainly Western backgrounds of the judges could prevent them from inspecting Asian cooking. “You do not have to be French to understand French cuisine, you do not have to be Chinese to understand Chinese cuisine,” he said.

Chef Tak first started cooking in the teeming Wan Chai district. He brought fame to the Regent Hotel in the city, which is renowned for its Chinese cooking, and he is best known among locals for his dim sum – an array of delicately flavoured steamed and fried snack-sized dishes served at lunchtime with endless pots of tea.

The full menu at Lung King Heen has 133 dishes on offer before a diner even reaches pudding.

The chef’s signature dishes, however, are his lobster and scallop dumplings and steamed Shanghainese pork dumplings with crab meat.

Nicola Chilton, a spokeswoman for the Four Seasons Hotel, said “The lobster and scallop dumplings are incredibly popular. Everyone orders these.”

The favourite dish of Chef Tak, however, is more simple: steamed fish with soy sauce.

Michelin awarded 40 stars in Hong Kong and Macau – modest compared with the 227 it gave when it started its first Asian edition with a guide to Tokyo last year.

It is hoping to sell 100,000 copies of the new guide. In the first few weeks after Tokyo became the city with the most stars in the world, 300,000 copies were sold.

The new guide includes 30 styles of cuisine and brings to 24 the total stars for Joël Robuchon, with three for the Robuchon a Galera restaurant in the Grand Lisboa casino resort in Macau and two for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant in Hong Kong.

Mr Naret said: “When we launch a new guide in a city or country, it’s because the gastronomic scene . . . is interesting, diverse and rich.”

On the menu

Baked stuffed crab shell with onions and fresh crab meat
Hot and sour shark-fin soup
Simmered king prawn in champagne sauce with gold leaf
Braised whole fresh abalone in supreme oyster sauce
Sweetened almond cream with glutinous rice dumplings

Sources: fourseasons.com; taasty.com

Times Recommends

• James Kilgore's 27 years on the run
• Palin caught with crib notes scrawled on hand
• Hugo Chávez takes to the airwaves – 24/7