Mia in Hong Kong — Snacks!
Once I get to a new place, the first thing is to search and try the local food.
Hong Kong is not only one of the most important financial centers of China, but also famous for its food. People in Hong Kong always combine their breakfast and lunch to one meal at around 11 am, which is called morning tea. The most popular food for morning tea is Dim Sum. It is a kind of dish that is contained in the small bowls, plates, or bamboo steamers. The most special characteristic is that there are not so many pieces in one order (usually 3 or 4 pieces), so people can try many different types of dishes in one meal. People will not often cook this at home but go to the restaurant for Dim Sum, because it costs a long time to prepare only 3 or 4 pieces of each kind of food. In most of the restaurants, the servers will come to us with a cart, so we can pick the food directly from the cart instead of ordering from the menu.
I am a Dim Sum lover, so the first task in Hong Kong is to search for the famous Dim Sum restaurant. The restaurant my Korean roommate and I went on the first Saturday was called Paramount Joy Cuisine in Tsim Sha Tsui. One of the most popular dishes was steamed shrimp & pork dumpling. It tasted like a meatball surrounded by a soft noodle paper outside. The pork was succulent and just melted in the mouth. Another one I enjoyed was egg tart. The flavor was so good, because they are not so sweet but just enough. Many bakery stores in the United States also have egg tart, but they are smaller than the tarts here. I was surprised why the tarts were so expensive until I saw them. If I’m not that hungry, two tarts are enough for lunch.
Below is the list of the other dishes that I will order in the Dim Sum restaurants:
Steamed spare ribs with black bean
Steamed Ox tripe with black garlic
Steamed chicken feet with black bean
Steamed fluid egg yolk buns
Steamed rice rolls with barbecued pork
I think people can say they have been to Hong Kong only when they tried Dim Sum.
I still remember the very first time we went out for Dim Sum brunch! We still have to try so many different kinds of food, and I really don’t think we will be able to try them all by the end of this month. The steamed shrimp and pork dumpling is my favorite as well!
Dim Sum sounds amazing! I think I would definitely love dim sum because I can never decide what I want to eat! The wide variety of options and customization would suit my needs. The food I find most surprising is chicken feet. I had no idea people ate chicken feet considering they seem to be almost all bone. I also find it interesting that people in Hong Kong eat breakfast and lunch together around 11 am. I do not think I could ever do that considering I am always starving when I wake up.
Those dishes look like straight out of a magazine! I have never tried those dishes before, but from your description, I might have to try to find some in the Chinatown in Sydney. Have you tried making any of these plates at home? Because if they are easy to make, I might try to give it a shot!
Do people really wait until 11am just to have their first meal of the day? I am usually starving around 7-8am! The different types of foods at a Dim Sum restaurant sound really good! Are there any vegetarian options?
I also love the way the food is served! It looks very authentic.
That sounds really good! That’s great that you are able to try so many different types of dim sum. I think it’s interesting that people in Hong Kong eat lunch and breakfast together instead of three distinct meals like in America. Does the food tend to be expensive in Hong Kong?
These all look so good! Its really cool that you’re able to try so many different things at once, instead of just getting a larger portion of one thing. I have never heard of dim sum before, but now I hope that I will eventually be able to try it! Steamed spare rib with black bean sounds amazing