Hong Kong chow

My recent visit to Hong Kong was less shopping and more food trip compared to 2008. Here are some of me and my family's chows in busy busy Hong Kong, where people are hungry 24/7.

Chinese food

Our hosts in Hong Kong threw lauriat for us practically every meal. Here in Manila, I try to avoid going to parties because I'm so tired of the usual Chinese fare during weddings, birthdays and everything in between. It's a different story in Hong Kong though. Everybody knows Hong Kong is not only a shopping mecca, but a foodie's dream too. The best Chinese chefs are either in Hong Kong or in Macau. Sometimes, they're not found in restaurants but in some grimy, cramped side-street eatery in front of which people would line up to get inside.

Of all the restaurants dined in, no two same entrees were cooked identically. The abundance of exotic and ocean-fresh seafoods like this giant abalone (below), not the mention the variety of mushrooms, vegetables and meat imaginatively prepared, made each meal feel like a luxurious food adventure.

By the way, this dish was served during the wedding we attended. I took a picture because my mom said it's very expensive. :p

... and I took a picture of the one above because I thought it's beautiful. Look how green the broccoli is!

After hours of walking and shopping, the best thing to do in Hong Kong is find a small eatery for authentic Chinese snacks! We noticed an especially tiny restaurant at the market that was always full everytime we passed it. My mom wanted to settle on buying pastry in one of the ubiquitous bakeshops Bread Talk style that seems to be the 'in' thing now. I convinced her to try the canteen instead.

Like most eateries in Hong Kong, the canteen has a stand outside where passersby can grab soy milk, various buns, or sticky rice to go. There were two women attending customers. Both can't understand either fookien or Mandarin, so we had to do our best with hand gestures. Good thing they have pictures of the menu on the walls. The tables inside are meant for two people, but four of us squished together in one. The result is a road block in the teeny eatery, but I figured if people were determined to eat, they wouldn't mind.

On to the food!

Below is fried buns with vegetable and meat inside. I only had a bite and gave the rest away because it was too oily. If you don't mind the grease though, this steaming bun is tasty and filling for an afternoon snack.

The egg on the plate is what my aunt says is called "tea egg," which I take to mean egg cooked in tea. It's supposed to be tastier then ordinary boiled egg, but I didn't try it. The way the eggs are cooked is shown below. That pot is outside the canteen.

The eatery's specialty is soy bean curd or taho. For an additional $3, the regular taho can be made special with toppings like sweet potato, red beans, jelly or fruits. We chose the basic one for $5 a cup. We weren't given the dark syrup usually poured over taho, also called arnibal, which is mainly sugar. Instead there was a jar of orange sugar and a pitcher of orange liquid on the table for the taho. The orange liquid is diluted sugar, so you can put whichever you prefer. A small amount of sugar was enough for the entire cup. I'd like to know what the sugar is called. Although the bean curd wasn't as soft and silky as we expected, it was delicious and refreshing.

I would've taken more "real food" pictures, but every dish was great anyway and some situations made it too embarrassing.

Junk food

When we weren't eating banquet meals, we were eating burgers and other junk food. Hehe. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Lamb burger set meal at ThreeSixty, Elements Shopping Mall

I forgot that I don't like lamb or goat burger when I ordered this. It's a lebanese take on burger, but I didn't like the dressing which is akin to hummus. I like my mustard and pickles and sometimes even tomato sauce in my burger. It was nothing compared to the Big N' Tasty burger I tried in McDonald's there, which I can't wait to write about.

Swedish meatballs at Ikea Bistro

I enjoyed this one, although basically they reminded me of Jollibee's burger steak in balls instead of patty-style. The sauces are cranberry and some mushroom-cheese gravy.

Finally, dessert! At the Hong Kong 44th Brands and Products Expo at Victoria Park, my dad and I had our very first durian ice cream. We couldn't resist because everyone--young and old-- was walking around with a huge ice cream cone in hand.

I have to say, at first lick you wouldn't like it because of the strong durian flavor. But at least it's not a rip off right? So you go and take a second lick, just because the cone is huge and after all, the pale yellow color is still appealing. And then surprisingly, it gets better as you continue to eat it. The creaminess of milk was a good match to neutralize the foul odor of the fruit, and together the flavor is exotic, rich and not too sweet for ice cream.

Here's a picture of my dad in front of the stall at the expo. Some fruit flavors are made into ice cream on the spot with frozen fruit pieces. The durian flavor is the most expensive though, which I'm sure added to people's hesitation. I'm glad we tried it because it was one of my most memorable experiences during the trip. If it wasn't so expensive, I'll even sell it in the Philippines!