In the first part of my article, I mentioned about the different Chinese cuisines in Hong Kong like Cantonese, Chiu Chow, Hakka, Hunan, and Peking. But these are no the only Chinese cuisines that can tickle your palate in Hong Kong.

SHANGHAI – A lot of people say that cuisine from Shanghai is similar to that of New York in the sense that Shanghai does not have a cuisine that it can call its very own. Shanghai refines the foods of its surrounding provinces and creates an entirely new delectable dish. Some of the typical dishes include steamed dumplings that are stuffed with meat, sautéed freshwater shrimps and noodles. But the most popular Shanghai specialty is none other than the freshwater hairy crab. This one you really got to try! These crabs are harvested during autumn breeding season and are tied in green straw before these are flown to Hong Kong.

SZECHUAN – Nothing beats Szechuan cuisine when it comes to being the spiciest of all the Chinese cuisines. Common szechuan flavors would include garlic, star anise, black pepper and ultra hot chilli. Usually, food is cooked by simmering or smoking until tender. Popular dishes include sizzling chilli prawns and smoked duck.

TAIWANESE – Food that originated from Taiwan are characterized as full –flavoured and likened to the cuisine of Chiu Chow. The Taiwanese enjoy fish and other seafood which are cooked in hotpots and enhanced by chilli and sesame-flavoured oil based flavourings.

At this point, you’ll ask yourself if there’s a guide to follow when ordering a Chinese meal when there are so many dishes to choose from.

The best way to do this is to get together a large party so that you can get to sample a good variety of dishes. Even if you have to take everyone’s food preference into consideration when ordering, only one person must put together the order for the entire group. You will know that one order is just right if it has the five basic tastes of Chinese cuisine namely acid, bitter, salty, sweet and hot. But it is not only the taste that you can consider when ordering food. Chinese cuisine is also defined by different textures like some dishes are dry while some are crisp and some are dripping in sauce. In terms of quantity, a good guiding principle would be to order one dish per person and you can add one order of soup. The meal would usually start with a cold meat dish that serves as the appetizer. Then it is followed by seafood, meat, vegetables and then soup. Steamed rice would normally go along with your order but, of course, you can choose to have noodles instead. The noodles or rice dish are customarily served at the end of the meal.

As for drinks, some prefer to have beer with their Chinese meal. The Chinese beer, Tsingtsao, has quite a strong taste while another brand called San Miguel is a little bit lighter. Another drink that is always present during meal time is Chinese tea which is enjoyed on its own without milk, sugar or lemon. It is the perfect accompaniment to any Chinese meal because it cleans the palate and allows you to savour the flavour of each dish that is served.

Aside from “Chinese” food, there are other types of food from the different countries of Asia that can be enjoyed in Hong Kong which is why even if your visit is only for a short while, it is possible for you to go on a culinary adventure that will take you all over Asia. Because of its geographic location, so many people have visited, worked and eventually settled here. From all these visits, these people brought with them cuisines that are native to their homeland and this is why today, a lot of Asian restaurants serving a wide selection of cuisines have become an important part of Hong Kong’s dining scene.

Depending on your mood or craving, you can opt for an Indian lunch and end the day with a Thai buffet. You can sample scrumptious dishes from Indonesia or Malaysia in one week and the following week, you can have a relaxed Korean barbecue with friends or simply have a sushi meal with business associates. The choices are endless.

From Asian cuisine, you can also move on to Western food. Hong Kong also offers a highly diverse selection of Western restaurants from the first class cuisine of the best restaurants all over the world to simple European café shops that serve light snacks or simple lunches. The range of Western cuisine is quite extensive from North America to Mediterranean to European. Are you in the mood for some French flambés? Would you like to have some spicy Italian pasta, Portuguese sausages, Greek souvlaki, American BLT sandwiches, or Cajun dishes? Whatever it is that you are looking for to quench that hunger, you will surely find it in Hong Kong.

After you are done sampling all those Asian cuisines and Western dishes, you can come full circle and go back to Chinese cuisine and re-live your gastronomic adventure all over again.

If this article has whetted your appetite, why not visit Hong Kong? You can try staying at either the Salisbury YMCA, Novotel Citygate or the Peninsula Hotel. In Hong Kong, the big decisions are not only limited to which shoes or clothes to buy or what tourist spots you are to visit. Sometimes, the biggest decision that you have to make will be what to eat. 

Posted in Food, Hong Kong

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm and is filed under Food, Hong Kong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.