Street food in Hong Kong

Do you know that Hong Kong is called “World’s Fair of Food” because of the combination of cuisine from all over the world resulting from its historical background bla bla bla…

Who cares about that? Let’s go eat something! You have already eaten? How about some snacks then? Not normal snacks like chips and cookies, but local snacks sold on the street.

Ready? Then let’s go “street sweeping” (掃街, a slang used to express “try out every roadside food stall”)!

Where to begin? Right. Fish balls, mostly made with cod and haddock. The type you can buy from a roadside stall is the deep-fired one, and usually served with soy sauce and/or chili oil. But if you want something spicier, try curry fish balls. You will be surprised by how they fit together…

Have you heard of how Hong Kong people like shark fin soup? Let’s try some. No, not the real one, that‘s too shark-unfriendly and expensive. I mean the faux shark fin soup (碗仔翅). Instead of having real shark fin, we have imitated one made of vermicelli, while the soup mainly is composed of water, soy sauce and MSG. You can also add in some red vinegar and ground pepper if you like. Be warned though, it can make you really thirsty because of its seasoning.

How about something sweet? Like egg waffle (雞蛋仔)? It is made of eggs, sugar, flour and evaporated milk. We mix them together and have them grilled in eggs-like mold. It smells great and is “crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside”, as even the Hong Kong government suggests. I heard that egg waffle is so famous that you can even find it in New York.

And it would be a crime to not mention egg tart. The tart has an outer pastry (shortcrust or puff) crust and is filled with egg custard. Simple, yet delicate. You can imagine how good it is when even the former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten is one of its fans…

There are still so many local snacks that I haven’t…

Did I say too much? Sorry, let’s eat.