My Top Ten Foods that Can Be Found in Hong Kong (Part 2)

7. Rice Noodle

Yun Nan rice noodle with "hot and numbing" soup

In the past couple of years, Yun Nan rice noodle stores become very popular in Hong Kong. These rice noodle stores basically sell the same thing: Yun Nan style rice noodle with your choice of soup and your choice of sides. If you cannot eat spicy stuff, I am sorry because you only have one choice soup—the broth. However, if you can eat spicy things, you are in heaven. You can choice the hot and sour soup or the "hot and numbing" soup. If you decided to try the "hot and numbing" soup, you pick between nine different level of hotness.

Option for soup

Yun Nan rice noodle with every side

After picking the soup, you can pick the sides that you want. You can choose between beef, pork, fish ball, ham, beef ball, mushroom, chicken and some other vegetables. If you are hungry or you are sharing with other people, you can get the rice noodle with every side.

Yun Nan rice noodle from these stores is not the tastiest thing in the world, but they taste very good. The reasons they are very popular because these stores give you a lot of noodles, in reasonably cheap prices compare to other dining option. 

Besides Yun Nan rice noodle, you can get some other small Yunnan dishes from these noodle stores. One of the dishes that I liked is the "hot and numbing" century egg. When you first put the century eff into your mouth, you will taste the unique flavor of the century egg. A second letter, your tongue will become numb because of the spice. It is very interesting!







6.Cha Lou (Dim sum resturant)
There are many Cha Lous in Hong Kong. Some are good and some are bad. Some are more expensive than the others and some are cheaper than the others. Cha Lous are very popular in Hong Kong. People go to Cha Lous is not only for dim sums. Going to Cha Lous is a Chinese tradition. Many families will go to Cha Lou early Sunday morning with newspapers in their hands. They will stay there until afternoon. During that time, people will read the newspaper, catch up with their families and enjoy spending time with their families. Oh, and of course, eating those delicious dim sums.

Older Style Cha Lou

Newer Style Cha Lou 

When you go to Cha Lou, the first thing you order after you sat down is what kind of tea do you want. After that, when you finish the tea from the teapot, you can lift the cap of the teapot and just cover half of the teapot, and waiters will know they need to refill your teapot. 

After you ordered what kind of tea you want, you have a couple of options to order food. First, you can look at the mean and tell a waiter what you want. The second option is there will be a paper with a list of dim sum on the table. You can write down the number of a certain dim sum you want and give it to the waiters. They will help you put in the order. The last option, the one that has the most fun, is just pick the food that you want when a cart full of dim sum go past you. Once you tell the waiter you want something from their cart, they will put a stamp on the ticket. 

Dim sum cart

DON'T LOSE THE TICKET. The ticket is basically your check. When you checkout, they will look at the ticket and know how much you need to pay. If you lose it, you will have to pay a lot more than what you should. 

In Cha Lou, you can order different kind of dim sums. Some are sweet, some are salty, some are spicy...Here is a list of things that I would order everytime I go to a Cha Lou.

Shu mai

Shumai

Shu mai is delicious! It is made with pork, shrimp, and mushroom. When you take a bite, your teeth will go through the shrimp, then the pork, then the mushroom. When you start chewing in, all the flavor blend together, and it's amazing.

Black bean sauce Pai Gu

Pai Gu is just pork meat that still stick with the bone, kind of like ribs. In ChaLous, they steam cooked the Pai Gu with black bean sauce. Unlike the western style ribs, the black bean Pai Gu is very juicy. When you chew on it, you will not only taste the black bean sauce, but also the jucie from the meat. And when they blend together in the mouth, it is like tasting heaven!

Jian dui

Jian dui (sesame ball)

Jian dui is a sweet dim sum. It is made with glutinous rice flour. When the waiter bring the jian dui in front of you, you will smell the odor coming from the sesame. A well cooked jian dui will look like a perfect ball. A well cooked jian dui will also be crisp on the outside, and chewy when you keep chewing the jian dui. There are different type of Jian dui that you can order. Some is hollow inside, which is my favourite. Some has lotus paste inside, some has blackbean paste inside, and some has red bean paste inside. Jian dui is also a popular food during Chinese New Year.

 Beef Chow Fun
I usually order beef chow fun at the end, when I ate all the dim sums but still feel hungry. The way to cook beef chow fun is dry-fried the hor fun (wide rice noodles), the beef, and some other vegetables in a work, with heated oil and soy sauce. Beef chow fun is usually not a dish that can be cooked well in our house because the beef chow fun, like many other chinese dishes, has to has "wok hei". "Wok hei" is the key factor to a well cooked beef chow fun. IN order to have "wok hei" in the dish, the dish must be cooked over a high flame and the chef must stir quickly when cooking. In our house, we do not usually have a stove that is powerful enough. That is also one of the reason why I often order beef chow fun when I go to Cha Lou. Beef chow fun is a Cha Lou signature dish. Many people say that if you want to test a chef, just ask him cook you a beef chow fun, and you will know is that a good chef or a bad chef.

beef chow fun

Overall, you should go to a Cha Lou not only because of the dim sum, but also because of experiencing part of Chinese culture. Tips: if you do not want to wait too long, do not go to a Cha Lou on Sunday, because it is going to be packed. If you go to a Cha Lou during weekday morning, you will see many older people there beacuse they have nothing to do, and they like to hang around at Cha Lous.

5.Noodle shops

When you want a quick meal, going to a noodle shops is not a bad idea. In a noodle shop, you can order all kind of noodles, rice noodles, and hor fun (wide rice noodles). One of the most famous noodles you can order in a noodle shop is the wonton noodle. Let me talk about how to make a delicious wonton noodle. 

The chef will have to wake up at 4 a.m. in moring to go to the market and pick up the things that he needs: fish, vegetable, and some other stuff. Then the chef will start cooking the soup with dish, pork bone, and shrimp. In order to have a tasty soup, the soup has to be cooked long enough.

While the soup is being cooked, the chef will start making the noodles. Many noodle store will buy noodle from else where or make their noodles with machines. However, to make some good noodle, the chef will make the noodle with flour and duck egg by hands. After mixing all the ingredients, the chef will have to keep bouncing on the dough with a bamboo stick for a long time. Doing this will make the noodle more chewy.

After that, they will have to make the wonton. First, they will have to make the dough skin. A good dough skin has to be thin, but not too thin. You want to be able to see through the skin, but you do not want it to break and everything inside fall out. After that, the cheif will start making the inside of the wonton. It consists of pork and meat. A good wonton is difficult to make. The wonton has to have pork and shrimp, but it has to be small enough. A good wonton should be a bite size.  

After that, the chef is ready to open his store and start serving.

Tips: when I eat wonton noodles, I like to add a little bit of soy souce and red vinegar

4. Food from other countries

Hong Kong is a multi-cultural city. You can find delicious food from differernt countries in Hong Kong. Some of the more popular ones are

Japaness Cusine

You will find delicious japaness food in Hong Kong. Many japaness resturants' chefs are from Japan. They also buy their ingrediants from Japan and ship them to Hong Kong.  Here are some of the things I like to order when I want to get japaness food.

Sushi

Ramen

Sashimi rice bowl

American Food

There are tons of American food chain in Hong Kong. Ruby Tuesday, T.G.I. Fridays...

There are many more kind of food that you can find in Hong Kong: Korean food, Indian food, Italia food, Spanish food...You can find almost any food in Hong Kong.

3.Street Food

Hong Kong street food is very famous, and tasty. When you are walking in Mon Kowk, you can smell the odor of all the street food blend together. Some of the more famous street foods are

Curry fish balls

Stinky Tofu

Now here are some of my favourite

Egg waffle

Pearl milk tea

Juicy fried chicken

Whenever you go to Hong Kong, you should at least get Hong Kong street food a try. However, you should choose some store that are trust worthy (like many people are waiting in line, got some certificate, news posts) because some of the street food store can be dirty and illegal. If you get food from one of those places, you may end up in the hospitals, and that sure is not fun.

2. Buffet

Who does not like having unlimited food and endless option? Once again, since Hong Kong is a multicultural city, you can find many authetic food that are from different countries. A buffet is like the heaven of food. You will find most of the food that you are looking for. Seafood, chinese food, indian food, pizza...you name it, they have it. I have been to buffets in the U.S. and Hong Kong, and I think that the buffet in Hong Kong has much more food option avalible. So when you go to Hong Kong, maybe you should give it a try.

Sea food

deserts

all kinds of  food

1.Cream Soda

Cream soda

This may be a surprise to many of you, but this is the thing that I would recommand you guys to try the most, cream soda from Schweppes and Coka Cola. This soda is my favourite soda. It has a unique taste that I could not even explain. It tastes a little bit like cream, but its taste is very unique. Also, it is a soda that you can only find in Hong Kong. I have never seen it in any other places, not even China. 

Cream Soda

Some of you may say there is cream soda from AW in the U.S., but I can assure you taht they do not taste the same, and the cream soda from Schweppes taste much better.

Special tips: usually, I just drink the cream soda straight out of the can, but there is another way to drink it. You can mix the cream soda with milk. Yes, I said milk. When I first heard it when I was young, I was like "What?! Milk with soda? Are you kidding me?". But when I tried it, I tasted something very unique. Even though I recommend this to you guys, it is not for everyone. Some people like it and some don't .

Cream soda with milk

Here are all the food and drink that I recommand you guys trying when you guys go to Hong Kong, the "food heaven". I hope you guys like it and have a chance to go try them in Hong Kong (especially the cream soda, haha).

My Top Ten Foods that Can Be Found in Hong Kong (Part 1)

Having lived in Hong Kong for half of my life, I found that Hong Kong is truly a "food heaven". You can find all kinds of delicious food in Hong Kong: Chinese foods, Japanese foods, French foods...If you have the chance to travel to Hong Kong, expect to gain a few pounds after the trip! If not, you will become...

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In this post, I am going to share with you guys the top ten food/restaurant you must eat or go to when you are in Hong Kong on my list.

10. McDonalds

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You may be surprised McDonalds can make it into my top-10 list. Some of you may even ask "why should I eat McDonalds? Isn't it the same as all other McDonalds?" The answer is kind of. In Hong Kong McDonalds, you can find many things that you would expect from any other McDonalds: Big Mac, McNuggets, fish fillet etc. However, you will also find things that you would not be able to find in other McDonalds.

My favorite thing to order in Hong Kong's McDonalds is the McSpicy Chicken Filet. This sandwich is amazing. When you bite on it, you will hear the crispy sound. Then the hot oil from the spicy chicken starts to explode. At last, you will get to the spicy chicken that is very juicy. 

Another special food you can find in Hong Kong McDonalds is the famous Shake Shake Fries. This is a seasonal thing, so you have to be lucky if you want to try it. This is basically french fries that you would normally get in McDonalds. However, McDonalds will give you a some pack of seasoning powder. You put the fries and the seasoning powder into a bag, and start shaking the bag to mix the two. If you try the Shake Shake Fries, you will never want to eat the ordinary fries.



These two foods are my favorite foods to order from Hong Kong McDonalds. However, there are some other special foods you will find in Hong Kong McDonalds like the Rice Burger, Twisty Pasta, Red Bean Pie...So if you are in Hong Kong, you should try Hong Kong McDonald at least once. Not to mention, Hong Kong McDonald is much cheaper.

Red Bean Pie

Rice Burger

9. Hong Kong Bakery
When you are walking down the street in Hong Kong, and you feel hungry, but it's not time for dinner yet, what should you do? You can try different things that can be found in any Hong Kong bakery.

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Hong Kong people usually buy different baking goods from bakeries as snacks. Most bakeries freshly baked their food. So when you walk into one of those bakeries, the odor from the baking goods will rush into your nose immediately. Hong Kong bakeries sell many goods. Here are some of my favorites.

Bo Lo Baau (pineapple bun with butter)

Pineapple bun is one Hong Kong's signature foods. In fact, in 2014, Hong Kong government listed the pineapple bun as a part of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage. Many people, like me, like to put a slice of cold butter in between the warm pineapple bun. It adds more flavor. When it's freshly baked, the pineapple bun smells amazing. When you take a bite, you teeth will crush through the crunchy, sweet surface. After that, your teeth will reach the warm bun, then the cold butter. When you start chewing everything in your mouth, you will have a sweet, buttery flavor (heaven) in your mouth.

Dan tat (egg tart) and Pastel de nata

Dan tat

Dan tat is very popular in many different places. It was first found in Guangzhou and later introduced to Hong Kong. It's a very special food. The egg, jelly filling in dan tat is sweet and flavorful. There is nothing like it. Pastel de nata is very similar to dan tat. Pastel de nata is found in Portugal. Pastel de nata's outer crust is softer than dan tat's outer crust. Also, there are some sugar on top of the egg custard, and bakers will burn those sugar. Compare the two, I like pastel de nata more than dan tat, because it's more flavorful. Dan tat is more refreshing.

Pastel de nata

8.Cha chaan teng

Cha chaan teng is restaurant that is very popular in Hong Kong. You will find many affordable Hong Kong dishes and Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. Here are some of the things that I will order at cha chaan teng.

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Curry beef brisket

If you are a curry fan, this is a must try. If you had curry before, but you don't like it, you should also give it a try because it's different than what you have tried before. Cha chaang teng's curry is Hong Kong style curry. The curry is very flavorful, and it's the best if you eat it with white rice. I always order this dish when I eat at cha chaang teng. Hong Kong style curry is more spicy and flavorful than the Japnesses style curry. I've never had any Indian style curry before, so I can't really compare it with Hong Kong style curry but I can tell you one thing: it's delicious.

Steak and rice with black pepper sauces

This is one of my favorite dish to order. This dish is a combination of western and eastern style. The steak is not the steak that you would find at a fancy steak house. It's more like a cheap steak. Eating the steak alone will not be very tasty. However, when you eat it with the black pepper sauce, it becomes amazing. The sauces will also enhance the rice too. If you do not like steak, no problem. You can get porkchop, chicken, sausage, or hambuger. If you do not like black pepper sauce, you can order garlic sauce, onion sauce, or ketchup sause. Usually people get steack with black pepper sauce, chicken with garlic sauce, perkchop with onion sauce, and hambuger with ketchup sauce, but at the end of the day, it your choice. You can choice whatever combination you like. Oh by the way, if you do not like rice, you can get spaghetti instead. Again, it is your choice.

Steak and rice with black pepper sauce

Chicken and spaghetti wtih garlic sauce

Drinks

Ice lemon tea (left) and ice lemon water (right)

There are tons of different drinks at cha cheeg teng. I am going to talk about some special drinks that you can get. Many of these drinks, you can get it either cold or hot. However, some of the drink will taste different when you order it cold instead of hot. First, my favourite, ice lemon water. This is a very simple, freshing drink. Bascailly it's ice water with syrup and a couple pieces of lemon. This is a very refreshing drink and I am sure you will like it. Some people may like a little bit stronger flavor, then you can get the ice lemon tea instead. If you want to order them hot, be carful. When you order hot lemon water or hot lemon tea, they are not going to be sweet. You are just going to get plain hot water or tea with couple pieces of lemon, and I would not recomand them.

making "silk stocking milk tea"

Okay now let's talk about some old school drink: milk tea. Milk tea is many people's favourite in Hong Kong. In some older cha chaang teng, you can get the "silk stocking milk tea". It may sound gross but do not worry, the silk stocking people used is not worn. People use sil stocking to make milk tea because they can make very smooth milk tea with it. However, even though there are ice milk tea, you can get "silk stocking milk tea" hot.

"silk stocking milk tea"

If you are a fan of coffee and milk tea, you will be glad that you are in Hong Kong beucase you can get the Yuanyang. Yuanyang is a drink that combine coffee and milk together.

Yuantang

There are some other special drink that I've never tried before, but I am going to talk about it. First there is the "black cow" and the "snow white". The "black cow" is Coke with ice cream and the "snow white" is Sprite with ice cream.

The "snow white" (left) and the "black cow" (right)

There is another weird drink that I've never try before and it is boiling water with raw egg (sounds gross). I have never try it before, but if are brave enough, you can definitely try it at some older cha chaang teng.

Boiling water with raw egg

Are you hungry yet? I bet you want to go online, get a plane ticket, and fly straight to Hong Kong now. We will continue the list in the next post.