Explore Famous Hong Kong Food Through Art
5 Mins Read
Hong Kong is well known for the wide variety of food you can find in a city and has been named by many people as a foodie heaven. You can find everything from Cha Chaan Tengs (fast food restaurant), Dai Pai Tongs (open air food stall), corner snack stores (yes all those yummy fish balls), seafront restaurants to Michelin starred restaurants. In this blog post we would like to share with you some signature Hong Kong food. Whether you are living in Hong Kong for good, for the time being or visiting for a few days, you would probably have these Hong Kong food on your list to try. Hong Kong food to many people is not just something for their tummy but very often it is associated with a particular occasion. While dining out might not be convenient these days, let’s explore some of the signature Hong Kong Food through Art!
Egg Waffle
Egg waffles (Gai Dan Chai) are a well-known Hong Kong street food loved by many locals. It was believed to be first introduced in the market in the 1950s and has remained to be one of the most popular snacks to date. It was traditionally made with egg, butter, sugar and milk; and cooked in a heated dimpled iron to create pieces of cute dough balls that connected into a film of waffle. Today, many shops are offering a variety of flavours such as chocolate, purple yam and green tea. Egg waffle is not just a food that you can find in Hong Kong but across the world in different varieties. The beautifully decorated Ice-cream egg waffle has become a very popular dessert in some western countries and photos of it has been trending on social media. It would probably take hours to name all the egg waffles varieties in the world, for many locals the traditional flavour is still their favourite. It is not just a yummy street food but also a piece of precious childhood memory.
Dim Sum
Dim Sum is another well known Cantonese cuisine, where dumplings, buns and small dishes are served in a bamboo steamer. Traditionally, restaurants staff pushes a dim sum cart holding piles of bamboo steam baskets around the dining tables where guests can choose their favourite dim sum and enjoy it nice and hot. Yum Cha is a popular family activity in Hong Kong where different generations in the family gather and enjoy some dim sum together. Today, dim sum are served in a various ways, meeting the needs of busy individuals in this modern city. While you can easily order a portion of Har Gau (prawn dumpling) at the MTR station or through delivery apps, many people still enjoy having Dim Sum at the restaurants in a group setting because time spent with family can never be replaced.
Read Qraftie blog post Dim Sum and Then Some to learn more about the history of Dim Sum as well as some famous Dim Sum restaurants in Hong Kong.
Sweet Soup
Sweet Soups are traditional Cantonese desserts. Many restaurants serve a selection of sweet soups (usually the traditional one) for their guests to enjoy after their meal. If you hop in to one of the sweet soup restaurants, you will be able to find a bigger menu with a diverse range of traditional and modern Hong Kong desserts. Some of the popular traditional desserts are soy bean pudding (Tofu Fa), red/green bean soup and black sesame soup. Today, many sweet soup restaurants offers a mix and match menu where you can customize your very own bowl of dessert to enjoy. Having sweet soups after dinner is a popular activity for many couples in Hong Kong. Sweet soups and sweet couples.
Seafood
Hong Kong’s positioning as a coastal city gives us an advantage of having fresh seafood. Many locals and tourists enjoy having fresh seafood on the streets along the seafront in Sai Kung, Lamma Island, Lei Yue Mun or Cheung Chau. At the seafood restaurants, you don’t really order from the menu at the dining table but instead you will be walking around the water tanks in front of the restaurants to pick your favourite seafood on the spot. Some of the popular seafood dishes are steamed scallop with garlic and glass noodle (loads of garlic), ginger and spring onion stir fried crab and salt and pepper deep fried squid. Having seafood is a popular activity in Hong Kong for celebrations or welcoming visitors.
Bao
Bao Illustration Screen Printed Baby Onesie by Katjweiss
Bao (buns or bread) is a popular food for breakfast and snacks in Hong Kong. There are a variety of bao you can find in Hong Kong. The traditional Hong Kong bakeries are where many office workers get their breakfast from. The popular ones are pineapple bun (boh lor bao), sausage bun and cocktail bun. And of course bao is also served as dim sum in many restaurants or MTR shops with barbecue pork bun (Cha Siu Bao) and egg custard bun being the most popular ones. You can also enjoy bao in a stylish way at some modern restaurants where you can mix and match to create your favourite bao of the day (pork belly bao is many people’s favourite). And if you ask the older generations what’s their favourite bao, many of them will say the big chicken and pork bun (Dai Bao) or the Chinese Sausage bun (Lap Cheong Bao).
Thank you for being an appreciative reader as always. What are some of your favourite food in Hong Kong? If you enjoyed reading this blog post, please share it with your family and friends. Thank you and we will be sharing with you stories of craftsmanship and culture very soon. Until then, take care.
May 2020
About the Author
The Qraftie blog aims to provide you stories related to craftsmanship, culture and lifestyle around Hong Kong.
