Hong Kong is renowned for its food culture, where the love for food reaches new heights. From dawn till dusk, Hong Kongers engage in food discussions, they post pictures of food from their Facebook to food review websites. Everyone is hunting for the latest craze or looking to start one. So what’s the food culture like, really?
Exquisite Attention to Detail
Hong Kongers are known for their fastidiousness when it comes to food. Even a simple iced lemon tea can come with a plethora of specifications. It’s very common for restaurant-goers to order it with the following requirements:
More / less / no sugar (多糖 / 少糖 / 走糖)
More / less / no ice (多冰 / 少冰 / 走冰)
Stronger / lighter tea (濃茶 / 淡茶)
Lemons served separately (檸檬另上)
Note that it’s very rare to have more sugar or more ice (because you will be drinking water rather than the lemon tea itself).
Precision and Versatility
Food in Hong Kong is categorized with utmost precision, further divided into smaller subsets. Take the popular dim sum dish, Shao Mai (in Cantonese, Siu Maai / 燒賣) as an example. While the traditional version consists of steamed dumplings made with pork and shrimp wrapped in a thin wheat flour layer, variations include being made with purple rice or topped with quail's eggs (although this traditional version is becoming rarer in Hong Kong).
Fusion of Eastern and Western Influences
Having been a former British colony until 1997, Hong Kong's food culture beautifully blends Eastern and Western styles. While chopsticks are commonly used for dining, it's not uncommon to see Hong Kongers utilizing Western utensils like forks and knives.
Another example is macaroni soup — an unusual dish to those outside Hong Kong, it is often the go-to dish for a hearty, filling breakfast for many Hongkongers. A bowl of hot broth filled with elbow macaroni and often topped with ham and eggs, the contents of this dish are certainly not native to Hong Kong, but it’s because cha chaan tengs (Hong Kong-style cafes or diners) riffed on Western food so that it became more accessible during the mid-20th century. As a result, an unexpected mix of western ingredients became a uniquely Hong Kong dish that many grew up on.
Embracing Creativity
Hong Kongers have a knack for culinary innovation. Who else would think of mixing coffee with milk tea? Hong Kongers created the delightful concoction known as Yuan Yang, combining 70% coffee with 30% milk tea. This special blend often comes at a slightly higher price due to the additional effort required to prepare it.
Because of Hong Kong’s massive food scene, it goes above and beyond when it comes to the recreating certain dishes in a more creative style. For example, several dim sum restaurantes have designed their food in the Japanese “Kawaii” style — a normal pork bao now is shaped like a little pig, a custard bao is yellow with little eyes. It’s odd but is a massive instagram craze, ensuring the success of the restaurant.
Unconventional Eating Schedules
Hong Kongers have flexible eating habits and often indulge in multiple meals throughout the day. Due to the long working hours and frequent overtime, dinner is commonly enjoyed late at night, even as late as 10 p.m. Moreover, afternoon tea is a popular tradition, influenced by British culture, with many locals indulging in a light meal or snack around three p.m.
Embracing Unique Ingredients
Hong Kongers have an adventurous palate, making use of various parts of animals in their cuisine. Offal, including beef intestines, is commonly featured in dishes like soup noodles. Chicken feet, deep fried and served in a black bean sauce, are perfect marriage of thrift and culinary genius. The cartilage softens to a melt-in-the-mouth consistency and great practice is needed to spit out the little bones in that dainty manner perfected by grandmas in dim sum restaurants across town. In some hot pot places, prawns are served live and then plunged into the hot water to cook quickly. Not the most pleasant sight admittedly when they move on the serving plate, but it is part of the food culture just as eating live octopus is in Korea.
Emphasis on Presentation
While attention to intricate details may not always be evident in the appearance of individual dishes, Hong Kongers place great importance on the overall presentation of their meals. For instance, when ordering steamed fish, the fish must be sizable and adorned with vibrant seasonings. Hot pot meals are particularly popular, with an abundance of raw ingredients spread across the table, reflecting a sense of abundance and generosity. All-you-can-eat hot pot establishments thrive, as Hong Kongers enjoy the experience of sharing copious amounts of food with friends.
Queueing for Gastronomic Delights
Surviving as a restaurant in Hong Kong can be challenging due to high property rents and escalating food prices. Effective marketing, often marked by long queues of eager customers, has become crucial for success. Lengthy queues indicate popularity, attracting media attention and securing recommendations in food magazines or on platforms like OpenRice.com, Hong Kong's leading food review website.
Anywhere you go you’ll likely see people whipping their phone out to take a photo of their food before they eat it, likely showing off to their friends or on social media. Hong Kong, if anything, is the one place it doesn’t feel weird to take photos of your food and where everybody would do it.
Hygiene Consciousness
Hong Kongers maintain high standards when it comes to dining hygiene. Even at small local restaurants, customers are provided with a complimentary cup of hot tea upon arrival. Many locals use this tea to clean their utensils before the meal, showcasing their emphasis on cleanliness. In dim sum establishments, staff often provide bowls for pouring the residual tea after utensil cleaning.
While Hong Kong has often been criticized as a cultural desert, its food culture is diverse and thriving. As the economy continues to develop, restaurants will continue to innovate, introducing new ideas and dishes, further enriching the culinary landscape.