Thomas and Sheena reveal the varied delights of Hong Kong cuisine. Photos / Supplied
Thomas and Sheena reveal the varied delights of Hong Kong cuisine. Photos / Supplied
Kiwi food YouTubers Thomas & Sheena Southam are on an eternal quest to find the most delicious local food the world has to offer. This week, they explore the varied delights of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a city of juxtapositions: gleaming skyscrapers tower next to traditional shopfronts encased in bamboo scaffolding, movie stars queue alongside regular joes for the best egg tarts in the city and you can drop hundreds on a Michelin-starred meal or choose to fill your belly at the street cart next door for a couple of dollars.
It's these juxtapositions that make the city such an exciting place in which to eat. Hong Kong's Insta-famous dishes are a breeze to find, it's the truly local food experiences that are a bit trickier to uncover.
Here are our favourite food experiences in Hong Kong to get you started:
Break your fast like a local with a bowl of jook - congee. The best we've ever eaten is from Mui Kee Congee, a stall housed in the food centre at the top of the Fa Yuen Street wet market in Kowloon. This family business has been churning out bowls of silky rice porridge for around 40 years. Order the congee loaded with lean pork and century egg, a duck egg that has been preserved in an ash mixture and is an imposing hue of black. Add an order of yau char kwai - a savoury doughnut which has been chopped into bite-sized pieces and chuck a handful into your congee. Rice porridge sounds bland, doesn't it? Trust us, you'll be wolfing down each velvety spoonful thinking you might just start every morning of your time in Hong Kong in the same manner. It's a great bowl of food; the century egg adds an intense earthiness, the pork melts in your mouth and texture comes from the chewy, oily pieces of doughnut. It's a breakfast fit for a king.
Order the congee loaded with lean pork and century egg, a duck egg that has been preserved in an ash mixture and is an imposing hue of black. Photo / Supplied
Mui Kee Congee, Fa Yuen Street Municipal Services Building, 123A Fa Yuen St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Open 7am - 3pm. Closed Tuesday.
2. Wander the streets with a classic Hong Bakery staple in your hand
Bo lo baau - pineapple buns - are a Hong Kong staple. They don't, in fact, contain any pineapple but are so named for their crusty, sugary topping which resembles the fruit. Take things up a notch and order a bo lo yau: a warmed pineapple bun halved and stuffed with a slice of butter. You can order a pineapple bun in any cha chaan teng - local diner - and wash it down with a milk tea, but a Hong Kong chef once told us that pineapple buns are best enjoyed on the move. Munch on a pineapple bun as you navigate the hectic streets, he said. You'll find the bun tastes so much better when it's been infused with the essence of the city.
Pineapple buns don't actually contain any pineapple. Their name comes from their crusty, sugary topping which resembles the fruit. Photo / Supplied
Grab a pineapple bun from Hong Lin, 143-145, Tung Choi St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Open daily, 6:30am - 3am.
Head west to Kennedy Town where you'll find one of Hong Kong's most local yum cha experiences. Yum cha - Cantonese brunch - is characterised by drinking copious amounts of Chinese tea and snacking on small dishes called dim sum. Sun Hing are known for preparing all their dim sum in house, guaranteeing what you'll gorge on is super-fresh. Sun Hing is slightly different to yum cha joints you may be used to. The baskets of dim sum come steaming from the kitchen and are placed on a table at the front of the restaurant. Grab your table card and head on up, the staff will show you what they've got. The chicken feet and har gow - prawn dumplings - are brilliant and their custard lava buns are legendary. The interactive nature of this yum cha experience is what makes it! PS: When you're dining at local spots in Hong Kong you'll learn space is at a minimum so you will often find yourself sharing tables with other diners. Don't feel uncomfortable, you'll find most people are too engrossed in their food to pay you much attention!
Sun Hing, Shop C, G/F, 8 Smithfield Road, Kennedy Town, Western District. Open daily, 3am - 4pm.
4. Feast at one of the city's fast-disappearing dai pai dong
Open air street food stalls used to be on every street corner in Hong Kong. Known as dai pai dong, it literally translates to "big licence stall". Modernisation has meant these icons of Hong Kong's food culture now number less than 25. Many of these stalls have moved into covered premises but they remain purveyors of some of the best cooked-to-order food in the city. We love Tai Chung Wah, a slightly grimy, rough dai pai dong spread over a couple of blocks. This is the place to order that plate of sweet and sour pork you've been craving; their seafood dishes are great and their bandit chicken is not only tender and crispy but garishly spectacular too.
Cantonese feast at Tai Chung Wah, G/F, 539 Fok Wing Street, Cheung Sha Wan, Hong Kong. Open daily, 6pm - 1am.
