Asia tripping - part X: Hong Kong (again)

This is the tenth of several brief posts of my recent trip to Asia: photos, food and a few thoughts.

Fried chicken wing from some cha chaan teng on Kimberley Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

On the evening of our return ferry from Macau; feeling perhaps a little worse for wear, we headed for a simple dinner near the hotel at one of the many cha chaan teng diners lining the main roads of Tsim Sha Tsui.

With menus spanning over pages and pages, there's something for everyone at the cha chaan teng for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, supper or even a snack.

I couldn't resist the fried chicken wing as part of a noodle soup set. Greasy and salty, it was just the thing to improve my spirits after the bumpy ferry ride.

Sui gao dumplings and noodle soup

The sui gao in the noodle soup were pretty awesome: big packets of pork mince big on ginger and shallot flavours; far superior to the noodles which were relatively bland and heavy.

Beef and beef tendon with dry egg noodles

The dry noodle options were served alongside meat options: here, a combination of beef pieces and gelatinous beef tendon in a deep reddish-brown gravy.

Spicy pork with dry egg noodles

This other dry noodle dish featured strips of pork in a fiery red, spicy sauce. Both also came with a bowl of steaming hot broth.

Fish in black bean sauce with rice

The fish dish was unexpectedly battered and deep-fried fish, with a pretty array of stir-fried vegetables with rice, and unfortunately, a liberal dose of monosodium glutamate (MSG or flavour enhancer 621).

Watercress soup

Most traditional and authentic was the individual terracotta pot of watercress soup, most likely made from pork bones and featuring a wealth of Chinese herbs, vegetables and 'forest goodies' as I call them - all, of course, very good for something or other.

Cha chaan teng on Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Another morning we found ourselves back at the cha chaan teng near our hotel for another morning hit of salty, often oily comfort food.

Iced milk teas with grass jelly and tapioca pearls

As cool as it was outside, it was hard to go past the iced coffees and teas, served in fantastic metal mugs that had me thinking beer steins for some reason or other.

Here the options range from good old pearl milk teas, blended milk tea and coffee drinks, and red bean and grass jelly additions.

Ham and fried egg with instant noodle soup

The cha chaan teng meal that makes me laugh the most simply has to be the instant noodle soup options. My order had the additional adornment of a crisp fried egg and two halved slices of processed ham, and tasted exactly like the Nissan instant noodles I have at home.

The only exception I think is the use of a full packet of the soup seasoning, as opposed to the half packs I normally do. And no vegies.

A plate from the buffet at Royal Pacific

Buffet meals seem very popular with the Hong Kong locals, especially when they're showing guests around town and treating them to a meal. They'll often have vouchers too (not quite like the group buying vouchers we have in Australia at the moment) for a variety of restaurants.

This buffet at the Royal Pacific Hotel featured a mind-boggling variety of stations - though this seems to be the norm at many Hong Kong/Macau buffets.

There was soup and bread, salads, seafood, sushi, noodles, a carvery, a grill, hot Chinese dishes, cakes and puddings, packaged ice cream, crepes and a Cold Rock style ice cream 'smoosher'.

And scissors to use on the Alaskan King crab legs - which is really quite ingenius and the perfect implement to ensure the crab flesh isn't ruined. (And that plate above was shared between several - not just mine).

Hung Lee Restaurant, Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Another morning, another cha chaan teng, although this one was more a congee specialist. Or at least it seemed that way because everyone who walked through the door ordered a bowl, if not something else with it as well. And with no English menus, look-point charades kind of ordering could be necessary.

Char siu ji cheung fun - BBQ pork rice noodle rolls

Within a minute of ordering, the BBQ pork filled rice noodle rolls are on our table - lukewarm and far too quick to not be pre-made.

Nonetheless, with drizzled dark soy sauce and healthy appetites, it probably only took us a little longer to polish them off; perfectly tender pork, smooth noodles and all.

Fish fillet congee

My usual congee order with fish fillets and loads of shallots. It's warming, pure and cleansing - just what a good breakfast (fine, brunch) should be.

Jia leung - deep fried dough sticks wrapped in rice noodle

The discovery was this dish. After seeing numerous ones head out of the kitchen, we manage to order ourselves a plate of the yau jia gwai fried dough sticks which are wrapped in the same white rice noodle sheets and doused in soy sauce, which I discover are called jia leung.

Despite the dough sticks being a little cooled and chewy, there's no doubt that this dish of contrasting textures and flavours is a local favourite and now one of mine.

Watermelon and aloe vera jelly drink from Hui Lau Shan, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

I guess a lot of strange, unique and downright weird drink and dessert concoctions that we see on Sydney streets (Chinatown especially) have a Hong Kong, Taiwan or Chinese heritage - think of all the tea drink places and remember back to the first time you had a pearl milk tea. Weird, but oddly fun.

Why would something out of a can or bottle suffice when you can get a drink like the above? Vibrantly red and green, "healthy" yet full of sugar and just fun. The Hui Lau Shan chain also does bowl desserts but the aloe vera jelly was like a dessert anyway.

More Asia tripping to come in Malaysia.