In order to master these culinary practices, Huang traveled to South China's Guangdong province several weeks before the start of the shooting, spending most of his time learning cooking skills from a local veteran. For him, the biggest challenge was to conquer his psychological uneasiness, training his hands to adeptly handle the raw meat and innards.

A native of Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, where locals also speak Cantonese as a major dialect, Huang says he was invited by director Ng Gam-yuen, who had cooperated with him in the past, partly because of his innate linguistic advantage.

"I haven't spoken my hometown's dialect for many years, making me feel a bit stressed when working with a group of veteran Hong Kong actors," recalls Huang.

About to turn 48 years old in August, Huang, who started his career as a dancer for a performance troupe in Guangxi, went to Beijing to pursue his artistic dream in 1993. With his acting debut Baobei in Love, a 2004 romantic thriller also starring A-list actress Zhou Xun, Huang shot to fame and has accumulated greater popularity with blockbusters, such as Letter From an Unknown Woman (2005) and Falling Flowers (2011).