What is the national cuisine, traditional dishes and food in Hong Kong? Hong Kong cuisine.
cantonese cuisine
The local food in Hong Kong is Cantonese, which is characterized by delicate sweet taste, and special Hong Kong dishes. Light sautéing, stewing, steaming are favorite cooking methods in Cantonese cuisine that retain structure and beneficial features fresh vegetables. The food is low-fat and non-spicy - the main difference from, for example, Sichuan cuisine. But, of course, there are spicy dishes with ginger and pepper. Cantonese cuisine is distinguished by a variety of ingredients and complex flavor combinations, often thanks to sauces - fish Hoisin, soy or sweet and sour. Hong Kongers are very fond of crispy dishes.
In Hong Kong, you can taste traditional Chinese and Hong Kong dishes - liver with onions, eggplant in garlic sauce, kung pao chicken with peanuts, bamboo sprouts, tofu with pork, pork in sweet and sour sauce, Peking duck, spring rolls and so on. regular meals Hong Kong restaurant - borscht and beef stroganoff, brought by Russian emigrants in 1917.
All familiar dishes Chinese food can be found in Hong Kong - bean curd tofu, dim sum steam dumplings, noodles, Chinese samovar ( different ingredients in simmering broth), hot pot (rice with chicken or pork in a ceramic saucepan), wok dishes, and so on.
It is customary to order several dishes for a company and try everything.
Water or tea with meals is usually served free of charge.
If in the north of China they prefer noodles, then in the south, rice is the basis of the diet. However, there is no shortage of noodle dishes either.
Fish and seafood
Proximity to the sea affects the abundance of fish and seafood in the menu of Hong Kong restaurants. Here you can taste lobster, crab, sea urchins, oysters, shark fin soup, turtle soup and other delicacies. For the freshest seafood and fish, tourists go to the nearby islands, where you can eat on the veranda by the sea.
british cuisine
Hong Kong was a British colony for a hundred years. This could not but leave its mark on the kitchen. In any Hong Kong eatery, you will be offered a choice of two breakfasts - Chinese and English. Chinese includes noodles or rice, but English - oatmeal, sandwiches or toast and tea with milk. Also in any coffee shop you can order traditional British buns from unleavened dough- scones.
Some hotels serve the famous five o "clock tea - five-hour tea with milk, sandwiches and cakes in the best British tradition. Milk tea is so popular that it is even sold dry in the store.
Beverages
Pay attention to Chinese green tea High Quality. good dessert for tea - famous pie with pineapples - pineapple cake. He meets with different fillings, not only with pineapples.
Curious local drink- tea coffee from coffee and tea leaves. Also very popular tea with milk, which is found in hot and cold form.
desserts
Asian desserts are not always to the taste of Western tourists. But win-win options: sweet soup red beans (served hot or cold), tofu pudding with ginger syrup, sweet rice dumplings, mango pudding, pineapple tarts.
Of the desserts imported by Europeans, it is worth noting the egg tart, waffles, yogurt ice cream.
Gastronomic Hong Kong will definitely appeal to those who love Chinese food. Here, literally at every step, an institution huddles - from a small eatery to a cozy and expensive restaurant.
What is worth trying in these establishments? Among national dishes Hong Kong can advise:
- noodles. It is served in a broth in which meatballs or wontons with shrimp float. There are options with bamboo, pork, etc.;
- egg tarts. Egg tartlets are loved by both locals and tourists. This is a cupcake egg cream, which is considered one of the most popular local desserts;
- Peking duck. This dish is one of the business cards Chinese cuisine, so you simply must try it. Moreover, pieces of tender duck with a crispy crust just melt in your mouth!
- fish balls. They are sold at every turn in Hong Kong and eat 38 million pieces a day. This delicacy is cooked in spicy sauce curry;
- hogo (Chinese samovar). In fact, this is not even a dish, but a local ritual. A cauldron with boiling broth is placed on the table, and around it are dishes with a variety of ingredients cut into thin slices (meat, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, etc.). Each of those present at the table chooses what he likes and eats it after scalding it in a cauldron and flavoring it with sauce.
It has rightfully won the status of the culinary capital of Asia: here you can taste not only traditional Cantonese, Sichuan, Hunan and other Chinese dishes, but also try the cuisine prepared by chefs from the most different corners world - Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, USA, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and other countries. Therefore, gourmets, get ready to get better and spend money in Hong Kong!
The locals know a lot about Cantonese cuisine, which is one of the "Four Great Cuisines of China". The ingredients of Cantonese dishes are exquisite and rare, and their taste is delicate and fresh. One of the most delicious Cantonese food is fried suckling pig With tender meat, crispy golden crust and mouth-watering aroma. Exotic lovers can try the dish " Dragon fight with tiger » （龙虎斗, longgudou, longhudou) - roast snake and cat meat.
"Dragon vs Tiger"
If you're traveling in a small group and don't feel like filling your stomach, we recommend trying a traditional Cantonese dish - dim sum - a mixture of dumplings, dumplings and steamed rolls in a bamboo basket. This light chinese fast food is great for satisfying your hunger if you don't have time for a long lunch at a restaurant.
Seafood
Hong Kong, surrounded by the South China Sea, is rich in seafood, which are an integral part of many local dishes. The best seafood you can taste in sea restaurants on the outlying islands - Lamma, Yongshuevan, Cheungchan and others, as well as on the Aberdeen waterfront. Tourists also often visit the impressive raft restaurant, Jumbo Kingdom, located in Aberdeen harbor.
Jumbo Restaurant
The restaurant offers fish and seafood dishes, including the incomparable crab fried with garlic, green onions and red pepper. The restaurant is built in the form of a traditional Chinese tower and is beautifully illuminated in the evenings. However, you need to be prepared for high prices. You can get acquainted with the menu on the restaurant's website - http://www.jumbo.com.hk/.
Tingzai porridge
Tingzai porridge (tingzaizhou, 艇仔粥) is a traditional Hong Kong dish. This rice porrige prepared with the addition of pork, peanuts, fish and squid. Title from Chinese literally translates to "little boat". It is believed that this dish was invented long ago by one of the poor fishermen who lived in the north of the New Territories. This simple dish has gained such popularity that it has even entered the menu of some large and respectable restaurants.
Tingzai porridge
Soup
Hong Kong fresh, delicate and tasty soup- an integral part of any meal, who rightly consider a daily bowl of soup - the key to a healthy stomach. Soups cooked over low heat for 3-4 hours can be tasted in almost any restaurant in the city. The main ingredients are often chicken or fish. In Hong Kong, you can also try shark fin soup, although many conservationists are asking to refrain from this delicacy.
Yamcha tea party
Yamcha (yam cha, 飲茶) is one of the varieties of traditional tea drinking, common in the southern lands of China, including Hong Kong. Small dim sum appetizers and tiny dianxin desserts are always served with tea. Traditionally, such tea drinking is arranged in the morning instead of breakfast, although many Hong Kongers have adopted the British habit of drinking afternoon tea, so from 15 to 17 in restaurants you can often find visitors enjoying yamcha in restaurants.
Dessert
Hong Kongers are passionate lovers of sweets, so in local cuisine there are many unique dessert dishes. You should definitely try semolina pancakes and mango jelly, pineapple cakes, black glutinous rice with pieces of exotic fruits and coconut milk and sago palm seeds with ice cream. Dessert cafes and pastry shops are on every street, but if you don't know what to choose, head to Hui Lau Shan (Restaurant healthy desserts, Healthy Dessert Restaurant). This is an inexpensive chain of restaurants serving traditional desserts from fresh fruits. The menu and addresses can be found on the network's website - http://www.hkhls.com/.
Network "Healthy Dessert Restaurant"
Snacks
The most popular traditional Hong Kong snacks include wheat noodles with Wonton Noodles, rice noodles with fish balls (Fish Ball Noodles) and the already mentioned tingzai porridge with seafood and pork. In addition to fish balls, meat is often added to rice noodles.
Poon Choi
Pun choi is a large pot with broth in which a wide variety of products float: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, fish, crabs, shark fins, shrimp, dried eel, mushrooms, squid, Chinese radish, ginseng, etc. The ingredients lie on top of each other layer by layer, and it is right to eat such a dish, starting with the top products and ending with the bottom ones, without mixing.
Pun choi
According to legend, this dish appeared in the Song era, when the Mongol troops invaded China and during the hostilities the young emperor was forced to flee to Guangdong and Hong Kong, where the locals gathered everything to feed the ruler. best products in a large wooden trough. In Hong Kong, this dish is especially popular in the New Territories, where it can be tasted in many restaurants.
In short, Hong Kong cuisine knows no boundaries. Every year a culinary competition is held here, in which famous chefs from all over the world come to take part.
Tips
1) In order to guarantee tourists a high level of restaurant service, the Hong Kong Tourism Board annually tests places Catering, and those who successfully pass the test receive the “QTS” (Quality Tourism Service) badge. When dining in such places, you can be sure that the food there will be of high quality and tasty, and the prices stated on the menu will correspond to those indicated on the invoice.
2) If you are going to popular restaurant or a tea room, it is better to book a table in advance, because during lunch, dinner and on weekends there may not be free places inside.
3) In 2009, a law was passed prohibiting smoking inside restaurants and bars. Just in case, check with the waiter if you can smoke on the terrace. The fine for smoking in the wrong place can be up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars.
4) Most restaurants accept credit cards. To avoid misunderstandings, we recommend that you keep your receipts, as some banks may withhold currency exchange fees.
5) Most large restaurants automatically include 10% of the order value for the service in the bill. If you have any questions about service, please contact the restaurant manager.
6) It is customary to go to most restaurants in casual clothes, however, if you are going to a respectable and expensive restaurant, it is better to find out the accepted dress code in advance. This can be done when booking a table.
7) Many restaurants offer three serving sizes: small, medium and large - you can choose according to your taste. If you don't eat spicy food It is better to inform the waiter in advance.
So, you have arrived in Hong Kong. In between sightseeing, shopping and meeting new people, you definitely need to refresh yourself. But what do local chefs offer?
Dim sums
It is something like dumplings stuffed with foie gras, truffles, brie cheese and duck.
milk tea in Hong Kong
Made with 12 year old Dewar's whiskey, homemade milk syrup for tea and condensed milk. From above, all this is poured with two types of beer - author's and chocolate.
Noodles
Egg noodles, Hokkien noodles with carnitas in shrimp broth, or salmon over cold Vietnamese noodles.
soft ice cream
It has a wide range of flavors, from sour plum to the famous ice cream with bacon, champagne and cereals.
Char Sioux
This is pork fried in honey, but not simple, but from special Japanese pigs. Be sure to ask for a good fry meat.
Buns with pork chop
Sunday’s Grocery serves amazing weekday katsu sandwiches and an equally amazing fried chicken in Korean on Sundays.
Buns with char siu
Try air buns, inside of which an excellent filling is hidden. It's a gourmet take on traditional Chinese bread, with innovative toppings like stewed pork and black vinegar chicken with Szechuan mayonnaise.
qingdao beer
Five of their signature styles of famous Qingdao beer: try the medium-strength Dragon’s Back Pale Ale or the bitterer Big Wave Bay IPA.
Peking Duck Pancakes
Peking duck is a delicacy in its own right, but these pancakes, which have migrated to Hong Kong restaurants straight from Beijing street stalls, will become an affordable snack.
egg waffles
If you come to Hong Kong, you simply must try the creative flavors of egg waffles. The most popular toppings include: vanilla rice pudding, cookies with chocolate chips, "kimoti", ham and cheese and Mexican chicken. Desserts are selling like hot cakes, so if you like something, grab it without hesitation.
Thai-Malaysian street food
Try poutine (emphasis on the second syllable). Braised beef with coconut sauce that practically melts in your mouth…
Soup with crab
Hong Kong french toast
Try the ice cream french toast at the Lab Made cafe. This "ice cream lab" uses liquid nitrogen to flash freeze delicious desserts. The menu changes regularly, but you will always find many special Hong Kong flavors including tofu, egg custard, soy milk and black sesame.
spicy noodles chongqing
Truly Chinese noodles with French-style exquisite spices and seasonings.
Wontons
Amazing wontons (a kind of dumplings).
Love food from Chinatown?
lemon chicken under spicy sauce, fried shrimps, from which it is impossible to break away, and huge dim sums.
Jasmine tea
Try a cocktail called Dewdrops of the Heart. It is made from vodka, green tea, jasmine tea, jasmine flowers and homemade syrup from pandan.
spicy fish balls
Huge spicy fish balls is a dish that has become a hit on Instagram.
pineapple buns
Baked pineapple buns with pork. For these goodies, people are ready to line up. The buns are stuffed with barbecued pork and topped with a "pineapple bun" and served hot.
With all the originality and amazing cultural features, I consider visiting Asian countries, including Hong Kong, an amateur affair. Still, the mentality, traditions and generally accepted behavior are very different from the rest of the world, and not everyone will like it. However, I can promise one thing: Hong Kong in all its diversity can be treated differently, but for the sake of food, you will want to return there again and again. Personally, she made an unforgettable impression on me, and I have no doubt that she will also make an impression on you.
At the same time, I want to immediately make a small reservation: if you don’t like seafood, rice and noodles, you are unlikely to be surprised by Cantonese cuisine, because 90% of all dishes are built on these. For me, as a great lover of all of the above, this is a real paradise.
As I will discuss in more detail below, in Hong Kong there are restaurants with national food, as well as places with familiar to us European dishes. General characteristics I will give to both, but I will advise mainly traditional ones: after all, this is the whole point of traveling!
general information
What and how to eat
The main word in Cantonese cuisine is dim sum. Dim sum is not a specific dish, but a general name for various snacks in Hong Kong restaurants. Basically it is something very small, light and typically Asian, in particular dumplings with various fillings, small round buns, spring rolls and so on.
Feel free to try everything: for a few months in Hong Kong, I can’t say that something at least once seemed tasteless to me (miracles in the form chicken legs and fish eyes are not taken into account). Dim sum can be ordered for every taste: with meat, seafood, vegetables ... Usually they do this: they order a lot of snacks for everyone and try a little bit of everything, this is the whole point of dim sum. This way you can try as much as possible, because it is usually very difficult to choose, and leave room for the main dish.
If you are traveling alone or as a couple, feel free to order 2-4 dim sum for everyone and one main course for each. Portions are small and just enough. By the way, there will always be free green tea on the table - traditional in any weather, so you can usually not order drinks.
5 best restaurants
Here I will talk about the five best restaurants that I happened to visit in Hong Kong. Of course, these are not the only five places worth visiting. This rating is solely my opinion, but by going to these places you will get a complete impression of Hong Kong cuisine:
- The most famous dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong is called Tim No Wan. By the way, this is the cheapest restaurant in the world with a Michelin star! At the entrance, therefore, of course, there are always queues, especially in the evenings and at lunchtime. But even on Saturday morning you will have to wait 15-20 minutes, so I recommend calculating the time in advance. Dim sums there are really good, but I can’t say that they are outstanding, in Hong Kong you can find much better ones, but I would definitely recommend visiting the most famous restaurant.
Address: 2 Hoi Ting Rd, Tai Kok Tsui, st. Metro Olympic. - For example, in the restaurant Ding Dim 1968 best food which I have tried in my life! Also specializes in dim sum. The atmosphere is more than modest, to be honest, like in a diner, but the food is excellent. Proof of this is the constant queue at the entrance.
Address: Wai Yuen Building, 12-14 Elgin St, metro station Central. - Of the more expensive places, I recommend visiting Lei Garden - a rather expensive restaurant with an appropriate interior and atmosphere. The restaurant has a large selection of exotic seafood, as well as unique dishes from the chef.
Address: IFC Building, metro station hong kong. - Also, from non-budget places, I recommend the restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Also one of the best restaurants with national cuisine with a chic interior and panoramic views.
Address: 5 Connaught Rd Central, metro station Central. - Another great restaurant- Mott 32 serving traditional Chinese food in modern design. For the price, something more or less in between an eatery and a chic restaurant, but closer to the latter.
Address: Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Rd Central, st. m. Central.
5 dishes you must try
Here I will talk about the must-try Cantonese dishes. Everything, again, in my opinion is very subjective, but personally I am ready to fly to the ends of the world for these dishes:
Finally
I hope you found my story interesting and my advice useful. Be sure to take advantage of the recommendations, I promise you will not be disappointed! Have a good trip and pleasant gastronomic adventures.
