What to eat Hong-Kong 香港? culinary specialties and gastronomy

The cuisine of the Guangdong region is probably the best known in the West, since it was exported by Chinese families who emigrated to Europe, Australia and the United States. This cuisine is part of the "Eight Great Traditions" or Bādà Càixì, a group of eight Chinese regional cuisines. The refinement of Cantonese cuisine is explained by the influence of great chefs at the imperial court, who fled to Guangdong after the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644.

The Cantonese appreciate very rapid cooking, which preserves the natural flavors and colors of food: this explains the sautéed or steamed dishes. They avoid the use of chillies and overpowering spices and, on the contrary, strive to blend the flavours and colors of food. These include soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, black vinegar, shrimp paste, fermented bean paste, not to mention the thick, smoky hoisin sauce and sweet char siu sauce used for grilling. Garlic, green onion, ginger and five-spice (a powder made from star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds) are commonly used, but in small quantities.

In local cuisine, you'll find a wide variety of ingredients, some of which may seem very unsettling, such as turtle and snake meat, whole frogs, swallows' nests, jellyfish, sea cucumbers, shark fins and - traditionally - dog meat, which has been banned in Hong Kong since 1950. But there are more traditional foods for our Western palates, such as pork, of which Hong Kongers are the world's biggest consumers, at 55 kg per capita per year. There's also chicken, beef and duck, not to mention a multitude of fish and seafood, often presented live in aquariums at restaurant entrances, for guaranteed freshness.

With one of the highest population densities in the world, and apartments often small as a result, Hong Kongers have naturally taken to eating out whenever possible, whether it's simple street-food stalls and other cheap canteens or more classic, even upmarket restaurants. But while Hong Kong, as a global financial center, boasts a number of prestigious establishments, places that don't look like much at first glance, such as the famous dai pai dong, sometimes turn out to be the best and, of course, the most affordable. Hong Kongers eat at similar times to the French, although you'll find something to eat at all hours in the stalls and street stalls.

Making yum cha, i.e. drinking tea, is an essential Hong Kong culinary experience, and dim sum, small steamed or fried bites, are the essential elements. They are a gourmet's delight, with almost infinite variations. Usually served in the morning and early afternoon, dim sum are presented on a cart that the waitress carries around the restaurant. Prepared in groups of three or four in small round bamboo baskets, they are meant to be shared. Orders are taken as the meal progresses, as the cart passes by.

Among the steamed bites are the classic har gow, shrimp ravioli with a paste made from wheat starch and tapioca, which becomes transparent when cooked. Closely related, fun guo are stuffed with minced meat, pickled radish and peanuts. Siu mai resemble small plugs - partially covered with dough - filled with meat and shrimp. Cheong fun are rice noodle rolls filled with glazed pork, shrimp and/or vegetables, then drizzled with soy sauce. Bao are steamed buns often filled with glazed pork, although other fillings are also available (minced pork or chicken, mustard greens in brine, vegetables, etc.).

But you'll also find a multitude of deep-fried dim sum like chēun gyun, better known in France as pâtés impériaux, the Chinese equivalent of Vietnamese nems, which are stuffed with minced meat and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, radish, etc.). Fu pei gyun are very similar, but the stuffing is rolled in "tofu skin" obtained by removing the film that forms on the soya milk used to prepare the tofu. Ham sui gok is a rugby ball-shaped doughnut made from glutinous rice dough stuffed with minced pork and vegetables. The very crispy wu gok is a croquette of taro - a tropical tuber - filled with meat. Typical of Hong Kong, hatosi is toast spread with shrimp puree and then deep-fried. There are also baked dim sum such as char siu sou, a puff pastry turnover filled with lacquered pork.

More surprising dim sum are also very popular with locals, such as the exotic fung jau or chicken feet. This delicacy, which should be tried at least once, consists of chicken feet whose tough texture requires them to be boiled, then fried and finally simmered in a sweet-and-sour sauce. Surprisingly, lo bak gou is a rather dense turnip cake, sliced and fried. Finally, lo mai gai is a lotus leaf wrapper stuffed with glutinous rice, chicken, Chinese sausage and mushrooms.

In addition to dim sum, there are many other succulent dishes for which Cantonese cuisine is renowned. The term " siu mei " encompasses different varieties of spit-roasted meat, which can be found hanging in the windows of many restaurants. The best-known of these is lacquered pork or char siu. Pieces of pork (often shoulder or belly) are coated with a mixture of honey, five spices, fermented bean paste, soy sauce and rice vinegar, before being grilled - traditionally - over coals. You'll also find a very popular duck variant(siu aap) similar to Peking duck, a chicken version with lots of soy sauce(yao gai) or a pork version with a very crispy skin(siu yuk).

Very popular, "white" chicken(baak cit gai) is not roasted but poached, and served with an aromatic green onion and ginger sauce(gēung yùng). Other highlights include tang cu pai gu, or sweet-and-salty pork ribs, or gu lao rou, sweet-and-sour fried pork often garnished with bell bell pepper and pineapple, ubiquitous in Chinese restaurants around the world. Roast suckling pig is a popular dish for special occasions. Chinese fondue is obviously very popular in Guangdong and, unlike its Szechuan counterpart - which is very spicy - in Hong Kong, a light but very aromatic broth is prepared in which guests can poach a host of ingredients as they wish: strips of meat and fish, seafood, offal, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, etc. Fish and seafood are obviously the mainstays of this dish.

Fish and seafood are of course the star of the show, with the ever-popular jiao yan you yu , or pepper-fried squid. The variant with fried shrimp is called jiao yan xia. The soy-ginger-green onion blend is particularly popular for scallops, shrimps and whole fish, which are steamed to preserve their freshness. Yú wán are fish dumplings often served with noodle soups. An Indian-inspired dish, curry fish balls are fish balls in a spicy coconut milk sauce.

Rice is of course a daily staple for Hong Kongers, either as is or flavored. The famous "Cantonese rice", widely present in France, is said to be derived from a local recipe called Yangzhou fried rice, garnished with diced glazed pork, pieces of omelette, peas, green onions and sometimes shrimps. Also worth mentioning is bo zai fan, rice stuffed with meat and/or vegetables and stewed in a casserole dish. The most popular garnish is lap cheong, or sweet-and-salty Chinese pork sausage.

Noodles are also very popular. Not to be missed is the chow mein - very common in Chinese restaurants around the world - which consists of wheat noodles, meat, shrimp, vegetables and soy sauce. Chow fun are large rice noodles generally stir-fried with beef and bean sprouts. Yi mein are wheat noodles with egg, often garnished with seafood. Finally, wonton are steamed ravioli - often filled with minced pork or shrimp - served as dim sum or in a broth with noodles and Chinese broccoli. The term " cart noodle ", which appeared in the 1950s, is not a recipe per se, but rather small, generally mobile noodle stands where gourmets can compose their own dish, choosing sauces and fillings themselves.

Although Macau's culinary traditions are largely derived from Cantonese cuisine, a Portuguese presence in the region from 1557 to 1999 led to the emergence of one of the first examples of fusion cuisine, with elements from China as well as Europe, Africa, America and India, in the image of the vast and cosmopolitan Portuguese colonial empire. In general, Macanese recipes are seasoned with numerous spices, including turmeric, chili and cinnamon, not to mention balichão (spicy shrimp paste) and dried cod(bacalhau). Coconut milk, very rare in China, is more common here.

There's also the tradition of cha gordo - meaning "fat tea" - which is partly similar to Cantonese yum cha, but celebrated more specifically on special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, births or communions. In addition to tea, there are small bites like bolinhos de bacalhau, cod croquettes with potato, similar to West Indian cod acras. Then there are more substantial dishes such as sopa de lacassá, a soup made with shrimp, vermicelli and balichão; or tacho, a kind of stew with chorizo, Chinese sausage, bacon, turnips, carrots and more.

Another classic is minchi, a mishmash of ground beef and vegetables flavored with soy sauce and chili pepper, served on a bed of rice and often topped with a fried egg. Also worth mentioning is galinha à Portuguesa, a chicken stew in a curry and coconut milk sauce with potatoes, or galinha à Africana, grilled chicken in a piri-piri pepper marinade, which probably originated in Portugal's African colonies where this pepper is widely used. We also recommend pato de cabidela, a duck stew in which the onion, vinegar and herbs sauce is thickened with the animal's blood. On the go, devour a pork chop bun, a soft bread roll filled with fried pork chop.

Between Hong Kong and Macao, there are also Western influences on the sweet side. Pastéis de Nata, those little flan tarts, originated in Portugal. Closely related, dàn tà is Hong Kong's egg tart, served in all the city's cha chaan teng (pastry shops). There are also many pastries and cakes, such as pineapple bun or boh loh baau, whose crust resembles a pineapple skin. Not to be confused with pineapple cake, a rectangular-shaped shortbread cookie containing candied pineapple purée. We should also mention bakpia, flaky cakes generally filled with mung bean paste, or lo por beng - quite similar but filled with almond paste. Fa gao are small steamed rice flour cakes, a symbol of prosperity.

Associated with the mid-autumn festival, moon cake or yuèbǐng is a crumbly pastry cake decorated with ideograms and filled with mung bean or lotus paste, sometimes with a salted egg yolk or dried fruit. Typical of Hong Kong, lo mai chi are small glutinous rice dumplings filled with sesame paste, mung beans or peanuts, then rolled in shredded coconut. Geong zap zong naai is a flan made by curdling milk with ginger juice. There are also more modern desserts, emblematic of Hong Kong, such as jī dàn zaǐ, waffles formed into small balls, topped with chocolate, matcha tea and bean paste; or mango pomelo sago, a pudding with sago balls (a palm starch) topped with grapefruit and mango purée. Hong Kongers are also obsessed with matcha tea, which flavors ice creams, cakes, puddings and drinks.

A Chinese beverage par excellence, tea is inseparable from Hong Kong and its region. Locals generally prefer bo lay, a slightly fermented, fairly strong tea akin to black tea, but heung ping or jasmine tea is also popular. Other popular teas include chrysanthemum tea - which is actually an infusion - and 24-flavor tea, which combines mulberry and bamboo leaves, peppermint and honeysuckle flowers. However, a long British presence has changed local habits. One example is Hong Kong milk tea, a black tea with sweetened or unsweetened condensed milk. It's a British invention, of course, as the Chinese traditionally don't drink milk with their tea. Mixed with coffee, it becomes a yuenyeung, which can be served hot or iced. Originally from Taiwan, bubble tea is available on every street corner in Hong Kong.

Alcohol consumption remains modest, although there is a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, which are appreciated especially for prestigious events. Hong Kong has long held the record for the highest per capita consumption of cognac. Not forgetting, of course, whisky and wine, imported from Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand. Beer is the most common alcohol consumed by Hong Kongers of all classes. Popular brands include San Miguel, Carlsberg, Tsingtao, Corona and Blue Girl Beer. Huangjiu is a cereal wine, generally made from rice, with a strength of between 15 and 20°.