Hong Kong is known for its impressive skyline, luxury shopping, and food. This city is the World’s Food Fair and one of the most fun and memorable things that you will do here is to try the food. From world-class restaurants to roadside stalls, there is no shortage of food options. All you need to do is be ready to eat.
In this article, we are listing 10 of our favourite dishes to try in Hong Kong.
1.Dim Sum
Without a dim sum meal, your trip to Hong Kong won’t be complete. Traditionally served in a bamboo steamer, the meal is designed to be shared so that you can taste a bit of everything. Some of the must-orders are har gow (prawn dumplings), steamed siu mai (pork dumplings), and char siu bao (fluffy barbecued pork-filled buns). There are several dim sum restaurants that offer solid renditions of the classic dim sums.
2.Stuffed roasted suckling pig
In order to enjoy this dish, you have to bring bigger trousers and a sizable party. This upscale Cantonese cuisine is a behemoth of a dish. The pig is stuffed with sticky glutinous rice and roasted over the open flame. The insides are filled with flavorful and fragrant mushy rice and the skin is roasted to crispy perfection.
3.Yum Cha
Yum Cha is one of the dishes that provide a food experience perfectly representing the Cantonese people and Hong Kong. In Cantonese, Yum Cha means ‘drink tea’. Here, it refers to the popular, traditional meal of dim sums along with tea. Many people in the city go for yum cha in the morning through to lunchtime. If you visit a good yum cha restaurant, you will have a wide range of tea options to choose from along with delicious dim sums. You can try Bo-lay, an aged dark tea or ti gun tum, a fragrant green tea as an alternative to the common jasmine tea.
4.Beef Brisket
This is a common food in Hong Kong that includes a prime cut of beef mainly marinated in brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and other spices. After it has been slow-cooked in the oven, the beef brisket is served in noodle soup along with fresh green spring onion and daikon.
5.Snake soup
Snake soup is one of the most popular Cantonese delicacies. If you are someone who isn’t put off by a dish involving snakes, this soup is the perfect option. It is surprisingly tasty and usually contains two types of snakes. A complex flavour containing ginger, fungus, lemon leaves, and star anise is used for thickening the soup. Even though the snake meat tastes like chicken, the soup’s flavour will make you want to come back for more. It is particularly popular during the winter season, but you will find it year-round. This dish is believed to be good for circulation.
6.Egg tart
Egg tart is a beloved Hong Kong staple that is commonly found with two styles of crust – a flake puff pastry or a crumbly shortcrust. Some of the shops make their egg tarts using duck eggs that intensify the silky flavour of the custard as well as the rich yellow hue. It is the best dish to enjoy in a cozy and modest cafe.
7.Wonton noodles
Even though wonton noodles are found in several parts of the world, it is the Hong Kong variety that we like the most. Served in a delicate, light soup, the wonton noodles feature spring, thin egg noodles topped with prawn-filled dumplings. Some restaurants add pork to the wontons as well. These noodles are topped with garlic chives that give an aromatic, fresh punch and make the dish feel good for all.
8.Lo Soi Goose
This amazing dish originates from the Guangdong province of the Chiu Chow region and represents one of the three Cantonese cuisines’ types. However, this specialty is less common than other poultry dishes. But, those who know about this, truly appreciate this delicacy.
Made using Lion head, a special breed of goose, the meat of this dish is rich in flavour and tender.
The heaviest Lion head can weigh over 40 pounds. The goose is fried lightly or braised in a big pot of growth along with pepper, cinnamon, star anise, orange peel, shallots, soy sauce, rock sugar, ginger, and other brogs. The same broth is reused every day for maximizing flavour over time. In fact, the best Lo Soi Goose is served in restaurants that have used the same broth for years.
9.Hot Pot
Hot pot is a Hong Kong tradition for the cold winter months. Consider it like hot fondue where you dip raw fish and meatballs into boiling pots of broth instead of Lancashire stew. There are several spots in the city where you can enjoy a Hot Pot. Some places offer you a selection of three soup bases and you can select a colourful and inventive broth. Options include sizzling Sichuan super-hot chilli escargot, English oxtail, or crab-and-tomato topped with frothy egg white soufflé, and others. There are endless options available all over the city. You can also get special ingredients dumped into your soup including rainbow cuttlefish balls, Japanese beef, black truffle dumplings, beef balls stuffed with cheese, and others.
10.Congee
This is a rice porridge dish that is mainly eaten for breakfast or late at night. Its smooth texture is neither very thick nor watery and it takes on the flavour of whatever add-ins it is cooked with including fish, chicken, beef, pork, mixed seafood, or pig’s blood jelly. It is simple comfort food that is a must-try in Hong Kong. But, you have to make sure that you put in some efforts to find someplace good and not settle with an average congee.
All the food of Hong Kong is heavily influenced by diverse cultures such as Chinese, Japanese, and European, but it is Cantonese cuisine that has the major influence. The above-mentioned dishes were just some of our favourite dishes from Hong Kong. But, these don’t even cover a small percentage of what this gourmet eating paradise has to offer.
Be sure to try out our Hong Kong Menu available on Weekends at Rice Bowl Deluxe
