A Canuck in HK

[achiu]

Great posts canucklehead. I just got back after spending 2 weeks in HK and my friend was taking me to all sorts of different places for the best or most well known version of different dishes. This was also my first time back in 10 years and here are some of my observations:

1) I thought, on average, HK Chinese food (Chiu Chow, Cantonese, Shanghai) is seasoned less aggressively than Chinese food in Vancouver. Seasoning is more subtle and you can taste the ingredients better. I prefer the HK style.

2) If you know where to go for the specific Chinese food, I prefer the HK version. This ranged anywhere from Chinese BBQ meats, beef brisket noodles all the way to high end cuisine. I think it's a combination of the available ingredients and subtle differences in the style of cooking.

3) I love the chicken in HK. It just has more flavor

4) We cooked a Western Christmas dinner and the variety of Western ingredients available at the higher end supermarkets are incredible. You can get all sorts of hams (parma, iberico, etc), cheeses, fois gras, caviar, multiple vintages of first growth Bordeux, etc. Be prepared to pay for it though. Some staples that are easy to get in Vancouver like chives and parsley are hard to find.

5) I ate all kinds of street food but never got sick. Ironically, the only time I felt a tinge was when we went for a buffet dinner and I ate less than half a questionable oyster at the Disneyland Hotel. We went there based on a recomendation from a friend but would pass on this given the choice.

6) I was introduced to a dessert made of sago, mango puree, chunks of mago, milk, pomelo pulp and sago that I absolutely loved. Ripe sweet mangoes punctuated by bits of juicy pomelo pulp that burst when you bit into them.

7) I thought is was funny how many diners are concerned enough with hygene to wash all bowls and utensils with super hot tea or water at the restaurant table while raw meats are hanging without refrigeration all day long. I went to a wet market and I can see how the smell can be a bit much during the summer.

Alex

[Yuki]

Okay - I admit it - I am completely off of street food.  It is too scary.  The only thing I took part in was the elcair and egg tart.  Everything else just seemed like I might as well swab my insides with hepititis viruses.

I can't believe that you missed out on all those street food!!

Those noodles and various ingredients in the bag are a great way to fill the stomach for poor students(they just spent all their money on manga, anime, and CD) since you can get each ingredient for HK1.00 in the cheap places.

[canucklehead]

Great posts canucklehead.  I just got back after spending 2 weeks in HK and my friend was taking me to all sorts of different places for the best or most well known version of different dishes.  This was also my first time back in 10 years and here are some of my observations:

1) I thought, on average, HK Chinese food (Chiu Chow, Cantonese, Shanghai) is seasoned less aggressively than Chinese food in Vancouver.  Seasoning is more subtle and you can taste the ingredients better.  I prefer the HK style.

2) If you know where to go for the specific Chinese food, I prefer the HK version.  This ranged anywhere from Chinese BBQ meats, beef brisket noodles all the way to high end cuisine. I think it's a combination of the available ingredients and subtle differences in the style of cooking.

Alex

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Too bad we did not get into contact while we were both in HK - you can never have too many eating partners.

I agree that the cooking in HK is more ingredient focused and people will only eat certain things in season. The food culture on the whole is much more developed in HK. However - I also saw beautiful ingredients being used in the most heartbreaking ways. Beautiful fresh prawns - being tossed into mayonaissey potato salads with canned fruit cocktail! However, everyone could tell the prawns were top quality.

On the whole though - given Vancouver is about 1/4 the size of HK - I think that Chinese food here stacks up pretty well. But given the larger market in HK - there is of course going to be higher quality food and more focused niche restaurants (I can't think of a good chui chow restaurant in Vancouver for example). However, I think that Sea Harbour in Richmond is as good as 95% of the restaurants in HK. And the quality of dim sum - in general - in Vancouver is very very good.

However - at the end of the day - the food in HK is going to be superior. You've got large population that is demanding about quality. You've got access to superior seasonal ingredients. I agree that the chicken in HK is so much better than the bloated bland birds here in BC (avian flu be damned). And the fruits! My parents neigbours had star fruit and papaya's growing in their yard.

Like you noted - the quality of imported ingredients is also very very high. I had my first Vacherin in HK then could not find for years in California until I went to the Napa Valley. Once - I had a dinner party for 5 people in HK - simple beef carbonade with mashed potatoes, salads, appetizers, cheeses a couple of decent wines... it cost me C$500 in ingredients alone.

[sanrensho]

Lee, what do you think about the breadth of Chinese food available in HK vs. Vancouver? I'm talking about the dishes that are available here in Vancouver, more so than the exact ingredients. Would you care to put a percentage number on it?

For example, the Japanese restaurants here in Vancouver barely scratch the tip of the iceberg in terms of what can be found in Japan. Is this also true to some extent with Chinese food? (Obviously, the larger Chinese population here in Vancouver should mean better representation...)

EDITED TO ADD: To put it another way, are there a lot of HK dishes that you just cannot get here in Vancouver?

Edited January 4, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[annachan]

Right in the middle of Central (where most of the offices are) - there is a little coffee shop that has earned the nickname 'snake pit' - because it where office and government workers go slithering off to slack off.

It is famous for its 'chicken pie' - which seems more like an ham and onion pie in a insanely rich short crust.  Still - the service is good and it is fun to hang out with all the other slackers.

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I recogonize the Snake Pit. My dad used to go there when he worked at a bank closed by. I went there when I visited a while back. They're also famous for their pineapple buns and toast. Yes, toast.

[annachan]

Okay - I admit it - I am completely off of street food.  It is too scary.  The only thing I took part in was the elcair and egg tart.  Everything else just seemed like I might as well swab my insides with hepititis viruses.

I can't believe that you missed out on all those street food!!

Those noodles and various ingredients in the bag are a great way to fill the stomach for poor students(they just spent all their money on manga, anime, and CD) since you can get each ingredient for HK1.00 in the cheap places.

←

I was thinking the same thing. I lived off street food while I was there. Those egg puffs, eggettes, are divine. Street food isn't as bad as some people think it is. I have yet to get sick from any and when I was back there, I had street food everyday. But I did tend to go to larger places for street food and skip the shady looking little stands.

[Ben Hong]

If you like to eat street foods, I have a few tips that you might try to remember.

Always look for cleanliness and hygiene. A place with access to water would be preferable (not always possible)

Carry your own utensils or use disposable ones.

Eat nothing that has been sitting for a while at luke warm temps.

Always, peel fruit using your own knife.

Stay with dishes that come right out of the steaming pot or hot wok.

Drink only bottled water, bottled juices , soft drinks or beer. NO ICE CUBES.

Patronize the busier stands, unless you know the merchant , of course.

There are a lot more. In my travelling days, I always loved to eat street food for they are the epicurious soul of any culture. I have never been sick, not even a queasy stomach eating street foods.

[hzrt8w]

Street food... buying from hawkers... It used to be that these hawkers served food on small dishes and some helpers would wash the dishes with waters in a bucket. And the same bucket of water would be used for washing hundreds of dishes, of course, before changing. Many years ago when styrofoam cups/bowls/boxes first came out, they were like godsends. They were great for both the hawkers (no more dishes to wash) and the patrons (hygiene concerns). Nowadays pretty much styrofoam containers are used exclusively, not only by hawkers but regular restaurant or fast food places for take outs.

[canucklehead]

... I prefer the HK version.  This ranged anywhere from Chinese BBQ meats, beef brisket noodles...

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In HK - the current style of brisket very clean tasting without alot of sauce. I think the first place that made them (and I think the still the best) is in Central - Guo Gai. I was told that the owner was offered millions of dollars for the orginal recipe but he turned it down. These were from a place in Sau Kei Wan. They were very good also and I had over soy tossed thick egg noodles. Usually I have them over yee mein - which really absorb the flavors.

The fish eggs were very nice also - very fresh tasting with a soft chew.

We had deep fried fish skins that were crispy with a nice brininess - not fishy taste at all. Of course everything washed down with an ice cold Schweps Cream Soda from a bottle (which do taste the best).

Except for the fish balls - I have never had these foods in Vancouver. I really like this kind of brisket alot - savory with a clean beefiness. The Schweps is a real HK thing - it is the soda of choice for most people. I love it too - but I try to have it in HK only - so that it becomes part of the local experience.

[Yuki]

The Schweps is a real HK thing - it is the soda of choice for most people.  I love it too - but I try to have it in HK only - so that it becomes part of the local experience.

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I grew up with Scheweppes cream soda but I can only find it in the local T&T supermarket. Apparently Scheweppes mixed with milk is a popular drink, and I found that out during the Christmas party when my friends emptied out the 4L jug of milk(they brought lots of cream soda to my house).

[hzrt8w]

Stirred fried gai lan with fried dace. 

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Is the "fried dace" from canned fried dace?

[canucklehead]

I think most people out side of HK are baffled by the notion of HK-style Western Food with its bland flavors and odd combinations.

Well - this is were it all began - Tai Ping Koon (TPK) which was started by a Chinese guy who cooked for the British in Guangdong in 1896! Thus the fancified ouvre of canteen food. It is an odd combination of top notch ingredients with cafeteria techniques.

This branch is in Central and it looks like it has recently gotten a reno - I like the branch in TST the most - swank in the retro 60's mah jong parlour kind of way. The beef tongue was lovely - but check out the frozen vegetables. Why? Because it has always been done that way.

They are most famous for these dishes. Swiss chicken wings (poached in a sweet soy sauce) and roasted squab (pretty scrawny this time).

The service is always impeccable. It used to be staffed by old men who would snap at you if did not know what you were doing. One time I was sitting in the TST branch and there was this family having lunch. Then a furrier showed up from the nearby Siberian Fur Store to deliver their purchase. They measured up the jacket and appropriate alterations were ordered - and then the family settled back down to their dinner. So old school - it was a perfect little HK moment.

[canucklehead]

Is the "fried dace" from canned fried dace?

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Not the canned stuff - but fresh fried dace (the same fish that is used to flavour won ton noodle broth - is that not dace?) Correct me if I am wrong.

[hzrt8w]

This being Shanghai Hairy Crab Season (a lake crab eaten for it's tommaley) - I always get the Crab Roe Steamed Dumplings - they are bursting with crab roe and rich with pork - fantastic (they run about C$2 apiece).

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Is this "Crab Roe Steamed Dumpling" Xiaolongbao or Siu Mai? It looks like XLB.

Look at the inch-thick pure fat on the roast pork! Phewww... You ate the whole thing, right?

[canucklehead]

Okay - I admit it - I am completely off of street food.  It is too scary.  The only thing I took part in was the elcair and egg tart.  Everything else just seemed like I might as well swab my insides with hepititis viruses.

I can't believe that you missed out on all those street food!!

Those noodles and various ingredients in the bag are a great way to fill the stomach for poor students(they just spent all their money on manga, anime, and CD) since you can get each ingredient for HK1.00 in the cheap places.

←

I was thinking the same thing. I lived off street food while I was there. Those egg puffs, eggettes, are divine. Street food isn't as bad as some people think it is. I have yet to get sick from any and when I was back there, I had street food everyday. But I did tend to go to larger places for street food and skip the shady looking little stands.

←

I used to have a weakness for deep fried pork intestines - with mustard and hoisin sauce. So amazingly delicous and so bad for you.

But I try to be much more careful now - so I chickened out and did not have any!

[hzrt8w]

Not the canned stuff - but fresh fried dace (the same fish that is used to flavour won ton noodle broth - is that not dace?)  Correct me if I am wrong.

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Hmmm... the one used to make wonton broth is called "Dai Day Yue" (Big Ground Fish). I don't believe they are the same as dace.

Did you have this in Vancouver? Do they (Vancouver) use fresh fried fish too for this dish? According to the menu on the website that I visited, they named the dish "Chinese broccoli with fried dace in black beans" in Chinese. Puzzled...

[canucklehead]

Is this "Crab Roe Steamed Dumpling" Xiaolongbao or Siu Mai?  It looks like XLB.

Look at the inch-thick pure fat on the roast pork!  Phewww...  You ate the whole thing, right?   

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The dumpling was XLB - ooh so good. I never miss a chance to have them.

The white stuff on the pork was not fat - but white meat. That's what made this cut of roast pork so amazing. There was a thin line of fat in between the darker and lighter meats.

[hzrt8w]

The white stuff on the pork was not fat - but white meat.  That's what made this cut of roast pork so amazing.  There was a thin line of fat in between the darker and lighter meats.

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Now that you mentioned it, I noticed the thin shinny layer next to the white meat layer. That is amazing!

Edited January 5, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[SBonner]

Nice photos

Helen and I spent a week in HK enroute to and from Australia. I found the Dim Sum in Vancouver to be more interesting in flavour and presentation. On the other hand Peking duck was superb in HK. I really enjoyed the fact that many HK Chinese restaurants had pretty decent wine lists something restaurants in Vancouver could learn from. Looking forward to our next visit to HK in the late Summer. Was snake still on alot of the menus when you were there? We had it in various forms during the month of November?

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited January 5, 2006 by SBonner (log)

[canucklehead]

I had to do my duty and be the good nephew and take my relatives out to dinner.

We decided to go out to Sai Kung and have a seafood dinner. At these places you go out and choose your seafood and they prep it for you. The choices in seafood is absolutely stunning.

It is more than a little like going to the aqaurium and eating the exhibits. I am sure that someone from Greenpeace would have a heart attack here. Spiny lobster

Mantis prawns (huge). Chopped moray eel (I think)

Horseshoe crabs - I have no idea how these are eaten.

These places don't do the same business as they used to. People don't want to eat the large fish because of mercury build up and the fishing practices (with poisons to stun the fish) are scaring some people off.

On top it all - the growing issue of seafood sustainability really had me thinking. The Vancouver sustainability lunch at 'C' that Jamie Maw put together this past summer - certainly taught us that you can still eat very very well while minimizing the impact on the environment.

So it was not too over the top for dinner

Steamed young abalone. Mantis Prawns roasted in garlic (okay- these were really delicous)

Scallops steamed with bean thread and roasted garlic. Roasted suckling pig.

There were a number of other things that were ordered - steamed fish and large clay pot sparerib rice. Overall - a nice little meal.

[canucklehead]

Nice photos

...Was snake still on alot of the menus when you were there? We had it in various forms during the month of November?

Cheers,

Stephen

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Thanks! People were staring at me with my digital camera. I was asked at one mall not to take pictures. But I had no problems in the restaraunts.

I did not see any snake - but I did not look for it either. Deep fried snake is particularly good.

[canucklehead]

I really popular trend in HK is modern Shanghainese. It has even made its way to Vancouver (Richmond really) with places like Shanghai River and Nothern Delicacies.

We went to a place in a new development - Olympian 2 and went to place called Modern China.

Chefs wrapping XLB. A steamer of the final product.

Spicy pork in pancake.

The XLB were very very good - with an almost perfect skin. Thin but very strong - holding all of that hot juicy pork. MMMM MMMM. Otherwise the food was kinda pedestrian - and certainly one could get the same quality in Richmond. The spicy pork was not spicy, the tan tan noodles at these places are always sooo watery and far away from the real Sichuan noodles.

Still - it was worth it for the XLB. Best I have had in a long time.

[SBonner]

I had to do my duty and be the good nephew and take my relatives out to dinner.

We decided to go out to Sai Kung and have a seafood dinner.  At these places you go out and choose your seafood and they prep it for you.  The choices in seafood is absolutely stunning.

It is more than a little like going to the aqaurium and eating the exhibits.  I am sure that someone from Greenpeace would have a heart attack here. 

These places don't do the same business as they used to.  People don't want to eat the large fish because of mercury build up and the fishing practices (with poisons to stun the fish) are scaring some people off.

On top it all - the growing issue of seafood sustainability really had me thinking.  The Vancouver sustainability lunch at 'C' that Jamie Maw put together this past summer - certainly taught us that you can still eat very very well while minimizing the impact on the environment.

So it was not too over the top for dinner

Steamed young abalone. Mantis Prawns roasted in garlic (okay- these were really delicous)

Scallops steamed with bean thread and roasted garlic.  Roasted suckling pig.

There were a number of other things that were ordered - steamed fish and large clay pot sparerib rice.  Overall - a nice little meal.

←

We tried some great seafood on Lamma Island and I have fond memories of the fish tanks and picking our dinner right out of the tanks...talk about fresh My only mistake was to be too close to a tank when a cuttlefish got abit ticked off and sprayed myself and food writer Stephen Wong with a steady stream of black ink. Everytime I look down at my shoes I'll remember that meal.

Seafood is definitely fresher in HK. I was amazed to see boats coming straight from the fishfarms off the coast of Lamma Island right into the kitchens at the restaurants.

Keep posting those great pictures.

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited January 5, 2006 by SBonner (log)

[canucklehead]

Another big favorite of mine - and many local HK families is a place on top of the Java Road Wet Market - Tung Bo (Eastern Treasure). It is always packed! It is a little sad to see the other restaurants nearby sitting empty - but the food is very good and it is a real local experience.

Don't have a reservation - forget about getting a table.

Gem lettuce with perserved bean - this dish tasted like a hot ceaser salad. I know it sound odd - but it was delicous. Fresh sweet and sour pork - big guilty pleasure for me.

Crispy skin chicken - spectacular. This seemed to have a touch of nam yue (preserved tofu) underneath that crispy crispy skin. Prawns with salted egg yolk sauce - finger lick'n good.

Hot sweet potato in ginger sweet soup. Fortifying during the winter.

This place also has an excellent 'pregnant lady fried rice' - which is fully of pungent ginger and rice steamed in lotus leaves - which is what our choice of starch was. Yummy.

[canucklehead]

Clay pot rice is a real wintertime favorite in HK. They are cooked in proper clay pots over high butane burners. Meat is put on top - and if the rice is done properly - the rice ends up full of the flavors of the meat and you get a nice crispy crust along the side of the pot. Warming, comforting, and delicous...

Clay pots ready to go.

Spareribs rice, chicken rice.

For dessert agar jelly - mildly sweet and mostly without flavor. Definitely a texture thing.