Note: this article was, at the beginning, AI-generated, then reworked
Several familiar Hong Kong dishes have names that are misleading in English. Pineapple buns contain no pineapple, Hong Kong French toast is deep-fried, and Swiss sauce is not Swiss. A “tea restaurant” may serve macaroni soup, instant noodles and pork chops. Cantonese cuisine is one of my favourites, but the name of a dish often tells you little about what will arrive.
Yum cha is the meal; dim sum is what you eat
People often call the whole meal dim sum, but yum cha means going to drink tea. Dim sum are the small dishes served with it.
Order for contrast instead of collecting dumplings that all look beige from a distance:
(Note, I really had to look them up)
- Har gow have a thin translucent wrapper and whole pieces of prawn.
- Siu mai are open pork-and-shrimp dumplings. They are denser, saltier and less delicate than har gow.
- Cheung fun are slippery rice-noodle sheets rolled around shrimp, beef or char siu and covered in sweet soy sauce.
- Char siu bao hide sweet roast pork inside a fluffy steamed bun.
- Turnip cake contains shredded radish bound with rice flour, often with sausage or dried shrimp, then fried until the outside browns.
Dim sum is built for sharing because each basket normally contains several pieces of the same item. If you are eating alone, use the order sheet to control the quantities or ask whether a mixed platter is available. I still sometimes order twelve pork dumplings, so this is advice I do not always follow myself.
Wonton noodles: intentionally small
Hong Kong wonton noodles use thin alkaline egg noodles that should remain springy in the broth. The wontons are usually prawn-heavy, sometimes with pork, and the clear stock may include dried seafood.
Roast meat: point at the animal and choose rice
Roast-meat counters display the decision in the window:
- Char siu is pork glazed until sweet, sticky and dark around the edges.
- Siu yuk is roast pork belly. The meat is secondary to whether the skin still cracks.
- Roast goose is fattier, richer and more expensive than duck.
- Soy-sauce chicken is softer and less aggressive when an entire plate of pork fat sounds like work.
Ask for one or two meats over rice. Roast goose is usually chopped through the bone, so eat it carefully rather than expecting boneless slices.
Cha chaan teng: Hong Kong-style cafes
Cha chaan teng literally means tea restaurant. These cafes developed around affordable local versions of Western food, which explains menus combining milk tea, macaroni soup, scrambled eggs, instant noodles, baked rice and pork chops.
A pineapple bun has a cracked sugary top that resembles pineapple skin. There is no fruit inside. A bo lo yau is the same bun served with a thick slice of cold butter.
Hong Kong French toast usually sandwiches peanut butter between thick slices of bread, dips them in egg and deep-fries them before adding butter and syrup. It is much heavier than the pan-fried version common in Europe and North America.
Swiss chicken wings are cooked in a sweet soy-based sauce. One common explanation is that the name arose when the English word “sweet” was misheard, although the origin is uncertain.
Hong Kong milk tea should retain a strong, tannic tea flavour beneath the evaporated or condensed milk.
Service is fast and shared tables are normal. Read the menu and decide promptly, especially during the lunch rush.
Dai pai dong: an endangered licence, not a decor style
The name dai pai dong refers to the large licence displayed by open-air food stalls. Very few traditional licences remain, although many indoor businesses now use the name and imitate the informal setting.
Go with enough people to share dishes cooked hard and fast over roaring burners: salt-and-pepper squid, clams in black-bean sauce, stir-fried morning glory, sweet-and-sour pork or clay-pot dishes.
Traditional stalls can be noisy, hot and crowded. They suit a quick, informal shared meal rather than a quiet evening.
Street snacks with honest descriptions
Curry fish balls are made from fish paste, so they have a springy texture rather than the flakes of a fish fillet. Most of their flavour comes from the curry sauce.
Egg waffles should be crisp around each bubble and soft inside. Eat them immediately, because a sealed plastic bag traps steam and quickly makes them soft.
Beef offal means tripe, intestine and other organs braised in a dark sauce. It is not a translation error hiding ordinary beef.
Stinky tofu has a much stronger smell than flavour. The fried outside is crisp, while the fermented centre is soft and pungent. Its smell lingers, so it is best eaten at the stall rather than carried onto public transport.
Herbal tea ranges from sweet bottled drinks to dark, intensely bitter medicinal brews. Ask whether it is sweet before ordering a large cup.
Egg tarts: two crusts, one argument
Hong Kong egg tarts usually come with either a crumbly shortcrust shell or a layered puff-pastry shell. A good filling is smooth and barely set rather than firm and rubbery.
They are not identical to Portuguese tarts from Macau. Portuguese-style tarts use laminated pastry and a browned, blistered custard surface; Hong Kong versions are normally paler and smoother.
Eat them warm. An oven can restore some crispness to the pastry, while a microwave tends to make it soft.
Since I worked (indirectly) for BakeHouse, I recommend them. It’s expensive, but they have famous egg tarts (And a lot of very good pastries).
Vegetarian and gluten-free reality
A plate containing only vegetables may still use oyster sauce, shrimp paste, lard or meat stock. Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are generally a more reliable option, although it is still worth stating any dietary restrictions. Buddhist restaurants are also often a bit cheaper (probbly because they are vegetarian)
Gluten appears in soy sauce, noodles, dumpling wrappers, buns and bakery products. Rice itself is gluten-free, but sauces and cross-contamination remain concerns in a Cantonese kitchen. If the restriction is medical, carry a translated explanation that states it clearly.
For gluten lovers
Like in mainland china, Vietnam, Cambodia and Macau, you can find barbecued gluten skewers. I love them so much. Especially the one seasoned with cumin.
Water
Bottled water can be found everywhere, tap water should be drinkable.
Sources
- Hong Kong Tourism Board: dim sum for beginners: dim sum dishes and yum cha context.
- Hong Kong Tourism Board: cha chaan teng: cafe history, milk tea and classic dishes.
- Hong Kong Tourism Board: dai pai dong: licence history and cooked-food culture.
- Hong Kong Talent Engage: foods to try: roast meats, street snacks and local-food background.
