Working the Streets: Eating the Street Food of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Day 3
Our thigh muscles were where we felt the pain. And as with any muscle burn, that hard-earned pain triggered a signal in the brain to green light any and all eating endeavors. By day two of our Hong Kong tour we had climbed up and down the steep hills so much that we longed for the flat cornfields of Iowa. But we did not long for Iowa's food. We hadn't flown to Hong Kong with the intention of toning our thighs. We were there to eat. We had all the offerings to satisfy our hungry bellies in the back alleys and lining Hong Kong's streets.
Ferry to Street Food
Breakfast Pastries
egg custard tart (before it was dropped)
Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it should consist of the most important food group: sugary treats. We had heard about a top-notch bakery across the bay from our hotel on Hong Kong Island called Tai Cheung. Based on the positive reports, I was certain their treats would give this cakehead the fuel she needed to ascend and descend the hills for further street sampling. We took a ferry across Victoria Bay then scaled a number of hills until we came to Lyndhurst Terrace. It took some wandering before we found it. But had we looked for the long line leading up to a glass case of baked pastries, we would have tracked the shop down sooner. When my turn came to make my selection I narrowed my choices down to two yolky egg custard tarts, a fried donut-like pastry coated in sugar on the outside and all custardy like a popover on the inside. I also made the mistake of selecting a little angel cake-like square that was too dry to finish without espresso.
But before sampling could begin, the vegetarian traveling companion snatched the bag away to examine the contents up close. A self-avowed klutz (possibly due to lack of protein), the vegetarian not only dropped the pastry-filled sack on the pavement, but then in a state of panic proceeded to do a little dance that wound up being more of a stampede on top of the preciousness. Not one to allow cake-like substances to go to waste, I rescued and salvaged the contents, proceeding as planned with our sugary street breakfast.
Vegetarian Street Lunch
gelatinous turnip and mushroom cube
We did a little more hiking about around the multi-leveled walkways and pathways of Hong Kong, killing time until our next feeding. But we pushed up our lunchtime when we stumbled upon a street stand on Cochran Road selling all vegetarian treats. For $2 we purchased several gelatinous squares made of turnip with specks of mushrooms, a deliciously greasy spring roll filled with bean sprouts, and mushroom and a dumpling filled with fake pork. The dumpling was so good that we founded an outdoor dumpling shack in an alleyway where we ate a pile more spring rolls and dumplings.
Temple Street Night Market Dinner
After a jet lag nap and some cocktails we were ready to eat more. We made our way to the Temple Street Night Market where university students and teens gathered to eat cheaply. Lining the alleyways where "100% cotton" socks and underwear could be purchased for pennies were plastic tables and chairs. Nearby women stood over industrial-size woks and kettles stirring vegetables or deep-frying fritters and fish. We chose an outdoor table at a spot advertising "seefood."
We chose right - both with dining locale and with the dishes we ordered. The fried oyster fritter was like a big omelete, rich with oysters and could possibly be my favorite dish during the entire trip. The semi sweet fish dipping sauce accented the richness of the oysters. My companion indulged in another hit - a corn kernel-rich porridge-like dish containing large chunks of fried salted cod. Both dishes were unlike anything we've eaten at the Cantonese spots in New York's Chinatown and now that we're home we're suffering from withdrawal.
