In the neighbourhood of Walthamstow, East London, a doctor bakes in her basement and sells bread through the little window of her house on Saturdays. What she makes may sound a bit unusual, Sesame Soy Congee Sourdough and Savoury Spring Onion, Fuyu (fermented tofu) and Parmesan Bun.
She is Hailin Leung, who founded her Lucky Yu Bakery in 2024. This March, it was listed as the 50 Best Bakeries in the UK by the Good Food Guide, the longest-standing independent restaurant guide in Britain established in 1951. Among the nominees which are mostly European in style, Lucky Yu is the only Cantonese-influenced bakery and the only micro-bakery – which means baking from a home kitchen rather than a commercial.
“It felt so surreal! I’m just this random person obsessed with making bread who sells bread to keep her hobby sustainable… then I am recognised as an actual bakery,” Halin said.
For some people, Hailin’s baking journey might sound even more bizarre. She is a part-time GP alongside baking. As she described, she did not understand what being a doctor meant when she did her Medicine degree at the University of Oxford.
But she was certain that she loves eating. Her parents moved from Hong Kong to Liverpool in the 1970s. She loved the food her mother made, like chiffon cakes, throughshe never baked bread herself until her final year at university. She started making sourdough and found it therapeutic.
She found large-scale baking even more therapeutic. After she started to work in London, she volunteered as a baker at The Centre for Better Health, a mental health charity. “It’s satisfying to see 100 loaves lining up neatly with a methodical and structured process,” she recalled. “Maybe that’s where medicine and baking overlap.”
She also loves how baking in a large quantity helped her learn quicker. As she finished her clinical training and met a life juncture, she took a career gap and pursued an Advanced Diploma in Bread and Pastry at The School of Artisan Food. It was then that her signature bakery item at Lucky Yu Bakery – sesame soy congee sourdough – was born as her final assessment.
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Towards the end of the diploma, the course moved from using commercially milled flour to heritage wheat, the traditional varieties unaltered by modern commercial breeding. Researching online, she found some Confucius texts about the ancient cereals in China. Confucius, the influential Chinese philosopher from the 5th century, categorised the “five grains” of China – soybeans, barley, broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, and rice.
“Then I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to incorporate as many of these grains into one loaf of bread as I could?”
Hailin developed this recipe in 2023, but she was still excited when talking about it. “I made a sourdough starter with barley flour, added soy sauce and rice, and coated the loaf in sesame seeds. The idea of congee and sourdough pair nicely because they are both delicious breakfast food.
“The tutors really loved it! The savoury, umami flavour of the soy came through the crust and it was a big overlap with marmite and parmesan. I was surprised it worked.”
After completing her diploma and starting work as a part-time GP, she spent the summer working as a pastry chef at the Michelin-starred St. John Restaurant. One day, she overheard a conversation about a woman selling all of her bakery equipment. She brought it all, and started her doctor and micro-bakery life in 2024.
From matcha to ube, East Asian food has grown in popularity across London since Hailin established Lucky Yu Bakery two years ago. She just makes what she wants as a “natural expression” of her identity and cultural heritage.
“I think food is a fun medium to express yourself because people seldom question it. Unlike a piece of writing, you don’t need to be cerebral to understand the food. You can just be like, oh this is really tasty and I enjoy it,” she explained.
For example, the Savoury Spring Onion, Fuyu and Parmesan Bun is her favourite item on her menu. It looks like a cinnamon bun, yet topped with surprising fermented tofu cream cheese and black pepper that gives a hint of Cacio e Pepe. Her customers, over 70% of whom are local, might have never had fermented tofu, but they never ask what it is. They just think it sounds delicious.
Hailin’s bakery is not only influenced by her cultural identity, but also deeply attached to her local community in Walthamstow. Because of the bakery, she met her neighbours who she never came across. “They are really supportive. They never let me apologise for selling out or a long queue. They just tell me to look after myself, and bring me jams and coffee almost every time.”
Some of her neighbours’ gifts even appear on the menu. She has made Cherry and Walnut Financier with cherries from her neighbour’s allotment. Some items do not look strictly ‘Cantonese’ or ‘East Asian’, such as the Strawberry and Rhubarb Bakewell Tart.
“Whenever I make a tart, I think of St. John as I never made tarts until I worked there. My tarts always incorporate seasonal fruit, and St. John taught me the idea of seasonality.”
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Hailin’s bakery is also an expression of her ‘Londoner’ identity. She explained, “Since I’ve been living in London, I could work at St. John which has shaped me hugely. London is a melting pot, so it feels free to make food that expresses yourself. Many fanatic and niche concepts can survive here.
“London pushes the boundary of food. I’ve definitely been influenced by it.”
The diversity of London also makes it easier to access Chinese or East Asian ingredients. She usually shops in the three Chinese supermarkets on her way home from her GP surgery. “I’m making something that you can make as a Chinese person living in London.
“And that’s partly the reason why I stay at that surgery,” she added with a smile.
Hailin is glad that being a GP gives her financial stability, but it is not easy to be a doctor and run a bakery at the same time. “It’s exhausting. I’m so tired,” she said without a doubt.
Lucky Yu Bakery is a one-man band with occasional help from Hailin’s partner and friends. Each week, she works two full days and two half days as a GP, squeezes the bakery’s preparation and administrative work into her spare hours, and spends the whole Friday on baking. On Saturdays, she starts at 2:30am to finish the bread, serve customers and cleans up until 4pm.
“When I go to work on Monday, I think why am I doing this again?” Hailin said with a bittersweet smile. “I think the whole process just somehow gives me so much energy.”
Throughout this exhausting yet rewarding bakery journey, Hailin has learnt a lot. She has learnt that she can work very hard if she really enjoys it. She has also made a lot of friends, including other bakers who generously gave her advice and pop-up space.
Reflecting on her identity as a baker, she paused and said, “I still feel very strange that I’m on the inside [of the bakery industry]. It’s really weird to enter a new industry on your own in your thirties.
“Being a baker feels like a dream – not as a hope and aspiration, but a dream while I’m asleep. It shows how fluid identity can be. It’s just how you present yourself, and whatever narrative you want to give yourself.”
What narrative does Hailin want to give herself?
“I guess… I work in food,’ she humbly said.
And perhaps someone who makes fun and wacky food. Hailin gave a spoiler for her new bakery item: a spicy, Sichuan peppercorn, tomato swirl bun with whipped goat cheese and fresh herbs.
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