Hong Kong’s culinary culture is a true testament to the city’s East-West heritage. While local Cantonese flavors are abundant, so are a number of regional Chinese cuisines brought to the area long ago by Chinese immigrants seeking a better life. These styles include Peking cooking from Northern China which specializes in delicious Peking Duck; Shanghainese specialties such as Hairy Crab and sweet & sour pork; Peppery hot Sichuan noodle and tofu dishes from Western China; and simple Chui Chow seafood dishes like Shark’s Fin Soup coming from the seaside people living east of Guangdong.

Hakka earthy foods, coming from the original indigenous people of Hong Kong, have recently gained popularity as well. The Hakka, being nomadic people, perfected the art of salting and preserving ingredients. Among their culinary contributions is Poon Choy – meal in a bucket. Similar to a “7-layer dip” this dish layers 7 foods starting with vegetables and working up to a layer of meat on top. Diners all eat from one pot encouraging a sense of community and minimizing dish washing. Salt-baked chicken is another famous Hakka dish.

Complementing the rich Chinese selection is an equally widespread offering of East and Southeast Asian cuisines. Owing to the city’s 100-year colonial influence, visitors will also find a wide array of British brew pubs. Hong Kong is a 24-hour city, so there is always something tasty cooking up at the “Dai Pai Dong” (street food stalls), noodle shops, or innumerable restaurants.
 

Back to top

TRADITIONAL FOODS

Dim Sum
Dim Sum meaning “to touch the heart” is one of Hong Kong’s most famed culinary traditions. Dim Sum is typically enjoyed as a breakfast, brunch, or lunch in the company of others. The small plates are meant to share making Dim Sum a very social meal enjoyed in bright, busy restaurants. It is said there are more than 2,000 varieties of dim sum, though some of the more popular include steamed barbeque pork buns, steamed pork or shrimp dumplings, steamed beef balls atop bean curd skins, shrimp-filled rice rolls, pan-fried taro cake, sticky rice with mushrooms and sausage wrapped in lotus leaf.

Congee or “Juk”
Congee or “Juk” is a breakfast staple and comfort food. Congee is made up of a warm rice porridge base to which a variety of ingredients are added such as fish balls, whole crab, minced beef, dried shrimp, croutons, soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted garlic, onion and bean sprouts. Congee shops can be found almost anywhere in the city particularly close to subway stations and areas frequented by pedestrians.

Daan Tat
Daan Tat is a custard egg tart in a flaky pie crust. These tarts are particularly popular in tea houses (cafés) and go great with Milk Tea.

Hong Kong Milk Tea or “Dai Pai Dong” Milk Tea
Hong Kong Milk Tea or “Dai Pai Dong” Milk Tea is a mixture of black tea and sweetened condensed milk. The drink is often enjoyed during afternoon tea time as well as at breakfast or during dinner. Milk Tea is usually served in either a ceramic coffee cup or a tall plastic glass.

Won Ton Noodles
Won Ton Noodles are noodles filled with meat, seafood or vegetables which are then fried or steamed or added to soups. Won ton soup typically contains pork or shrimp won tons added to chicken broth.

Back to top

COOKING STYLE

Hong Kong Cooking Style
Like the city’s lively pace, Hong Kong chefs enjoy cooking with woks over very high open-flame heat, quickly melding the ingredients of the dish. In this “Wok Chi” technique, the intense heat sears or caramelizes the outside of the food creating a barrier to hold in its flavors. The resulting aromas and tastes are intense and to-the-point! Emphasis is placed on freshness in Hong Kong cooking. The innumerable outdoor city markets attest to this point - from meat markets to vegetable stands to live fish markets where you can hand-pick your next seafood meal from a tank of live fish.

Important ingredients for Hong Kong cuisine
Starches -  noodles, rice

Vegetables & legumes - lotus root/seed, red beans, tofu, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, bitter melon, taro root, water chestnuts, scallions, leafy vegetables – choisam (flowering cabbage), tung choi (water spinach), bak choi (Chinese cabbage), kai-lan (Chinese broccoli)

Poultry & Proteins - Duck, chicken, beef, pork, thousand-year egg

Seafood - Dried shrimp, fish/shellfish and all types of live seafood

Condiments & spices - sesame seeds, ginger, vinegar, hou yau (oyster sauce), soy sauce

Back to top

SWEETS & SNACKS

In Hong Kong a meal is often followed with a sweet gelatinous soup containing red beans or almonds. Fresh fruits, oranges in particular, are also a common treat after dining. Steamed buns of red bean paste or lotus paste finish a meal nicely as well.

Hong Kong Snacks
Hong Kong locals enjoy a nice bowl of noodles or a savory bun like a shrimp roll as an afternoon snack. Black Bean Soups and wontons are also popular snacks. It is said that Hong Kong has 5 meals a day starting with breakfast and lunch followed by afternoon tea, dinner and an evening snack.

Back to top

FUNKY FOOD FACTOIDS

Reflecting principles of Yin & Yang, Hong Kong has long prized certain foods for their medicinal qualities. In fact, Chinese medicine abides by a regimented system which divides foods into two categories; warming foods (hot, spicy, rich) and cooling foods (salty, bitter, sour). For optimum health, one should intake a balance of both.

Per capita, Hong Kongers consume the most oranges in the world! The Chinese word for orange sounds like the word for wealth. Thus, oranges are often distributed during the New Year as a token of prosperity. Oranges are also used as offerings to the spirit world, arranged in bowls at ancestral shrines.

Noodles symbolize longevity in Chinese culture. It is considered unlucky to cut a noodle in two! Instead, it is proper to slurp your noodles whole.

Back to top

VEGETARIAN CUISINE

Hong Kong cooking uses a variety of fresh vegetables, tofu and beans allowing for some truly delicious vegetarian dishes. The famous Po Lin Monastery beneath Lantau Island’s giant bronze seated Buddha offers a bargain-priced tasty vegetarian lunch prepared daily. Chi Lin Nunnery at Diamond Hill in Kowloon also offers an exquisite vegetarian banquet. In addition to monasteries, Hong Kong boasts around 100 vegetarian restaurants.

Back to top

FOOD FESTIVAL

Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival
(October 28th – 31st, 2010)
The Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival will take place at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade featuring wine pavilions and food stalls serving delicious bites to the tune of live music. Wine appreciation classes as well as wine tours and walks will also be conducted during this time. With the government recently waiving duties on wine, wine lovers in Hong Kong are enjoying lower prices and a wider selection. Also enjoy promotions and special events at Hong Kong’s trendiest food districts during this festive period.

Mid-Autumn Festival
This celebration is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in the Chinese calendar (typically mid-September to early-October). Similar to American Thanksgiving Day, this ancient Chinese three-day festival celebrates the fall harvest and family reunion. One of the major customs is to gather in the city’s parks to view the moon while parading around beautiful lanterns. Moon cakes are a traditional gift which relatives and friends exchange to convey good blessings to each other. While the size and type vary, the most popular moon cakes are made of baked pastry filled with lotus-seed paste along with salted duck egg and mixed nuts. The moon cake dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368 AD) when Han Chinese rebels passed messages to one another hidden in moon cakes in order to evade their Mongolian captors.

Chinese New Year - Year of the Rabbit
(February 3, 2011)
Preparations for the New Year begin on the 24th day of the lunar month with a thorough scrub of the household to honor the kitchen deity or stove master “Tso Kwan.” On this night it is said that “Tso Kwan” makes his report to the sky palace on the conditions of the household. At dinner the family eats “Tong Yuen” a round sweet dumpling in order to seal the deity’s lips from leaking any ill remarks. On New Year’s Eve, families gather for the biggest feast of the year. Dishes are chosen for the significance of their names or appearances. The meal often begins with “Yu,” synonymous with “surplus,” a whole fish signifying abundance in the coming year.

Bun Festival (Tai Ping Ching Jiu)
The Bun Festival is held annually on Cheung Chau Island around the sixth day of the fourth lunar month (April). The festival is hosted in remembrance of a plague that once spread across the island. The villagers then disguised themselves as deities and walked the streets to drive away evil spirits. Echoing the past, during the festival’s Piu Sik Parade (Parade of Floating Colors), costumed children are hoisted above the crowds and paraded as deities in long colorful floating robes while marchers carry 3 towers made of freshly baked buns. Loud music and lively dancers scare away spirits. At the culmination of the festival, thousands of buns are distributed to the crowds.

Dragon Boat Festival
Held annually on the fifth day of the fifth moon (typically late May to mid-June), the festival commemorates Wat Yuen a minister whom lived in 4th Century BC in what is now China’s Hunan Province. The minister voiced his concern over the government’s then corruption but the Duke turned a deaf ear to him. Defeated by frustration, Wat Yuen plunged into the Mi Lo River in protest. Boatmen attempted to save his life by beating their drums and throwing dumplings into the river to distract the fish from eating his body. Wat Yuen’s body was never found. To this day, fishermen and sportsmen alike honor his legend by taking part in Hong Kong’s internationally-acclaimed dragonboat races. As teams of rowers race their boats toward the finish line, spectators feast on glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and occasionally toss them into the river to ward off the hungry fishes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT THE HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD

Back to top

RECIPES

Baked Barbecued Pork Pastries

Ingredients
• 300g barbecued pork
• 50g chopped onion
• 200g thick oyster sauce
• 12 slices ready-made pastry puff
• Beaten egg
• Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Preparation
Cut barbecued pork into small cubes.  Stir well with thick oyster sauce and chopped onion.  Stir fry.  Set aside pastry filling. Put filling on puff pastry sheets.  Wrap into a triangular shape.  Arrange on a baking tray with sealed side facing down.  Brush beaten egg on surface. Put in pre-heated oven. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.  Take out and brush beaten egg on pastry surface again. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Serve.

Makes 12 pieces

...........................................................................

Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings

Ingredients (filling)
• 100g diced flower mushrooms (soaked till tender)
• 150g diced water chestnuts
• 50g diced carrots
• 50g diced bamboo piths (soaked till tender)
• 150g diced mixed vegetables
• 50g diced button mushrooms

Ingredients (dumpling pastry)
• 300g wheat starch
• 50g corn flour
• 400g boiling water

Preparation:
Sift wheat starch and corn flour. Add boiling water.  Stir swiftly to form dough.  Add a bit of vegetable oil.  Knead to make smooth dumpling pastry. Divide dumpling pastry into small balls of equal size.  Roll out into thin round sheets.  Add suitable amount of filling and seal the dumplings.  Arrange on greased steaming rack.  Steam for about 3 minutes until dumplings are transparent and done.

Makes 8 pieces