Top 10 street food in Hong Kong
Nota: a versão original desse post, em português, pode ser encontrada aqui.
If there's one thing people in Hong Kong love, it's going out to eat. With such a busy lifestyle, small families, and even smaller apartments, few people have the time and inclination to cook at home. Moreover, Hong Kong offers a huge variety of dining options for all tastes and budgets, so it's usually pretty easy to find the ideal place to satisfy your food cravings after a long day at work or school.
But when you want to eat something quick, what do you do? In
Brazil it’s common for people to go to a 'bakery' (a term I use loosely, since
the bakeries in Brazil sell everything: from bread, set meals, barbecue and even
alcoholic drinks), eat a good old cheese bread - pão de queijo – and a coffee,
and go on about their day. But that’s not how things are around here: when it
comes to snacks and street food, Hong Kong offers a plethora of options that
are worth trying! Some of them are only for the bold, as you will see, but Hong Kong does indeed has delicious snacks that are already part of
my everyday life.
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| Typical Hong Kong street food stall - they have it all! |
I’ve
listed below 10 unique street food from Hong Kong (in no particular order). It
is important to mention that in Hong Kong, contrary to what many people think,
you will not find insects or scorpion skewers, or weird animal parts!
10.
Curry fish balls (ga lei yu daan): these are small balls made of what I call a
mystery dough - they say it's fish. They fry the balls until they reach a
perfect rubbery consistency and dip them into a spicy curry sauce. The
consistency is a bit strange, but it's actually tasty and definitely satisfies one's hunger! This is one of the most typical street foods you can find, and it's
available in most street food stalls in Hong Kong.
9.
Waffle (gaat zai beng): it's basically a waffle with a fluffy dough made
with flour, mild and eggs. The waffle shape is round and the tradition here is
to spread butter, condensed milk and peanut butter on the waffle and close it
like a sandwich. It's delicious! After all, with condensed milk and peanut
butter, you can't go wrong. And the weight on your conscience from eating this
calorie bomb comes for free with the waffle, haha!
 |
| Imagine a warm waffle with condensed milk and peanut butter in your mouth, yum! |
8.
Stinky tofu (chau dau fu): this is a delicacy that draws the attention of visitors,
since from afar it is possible to smell the unique smell of something that
seems to have gone bad. Very bad. But on the contrary! The smell comes from the tofu,
fermented with milk and other spices, in a process that can take months! How
the Chinese managed to create something so smelly yet edible, remains a mystery.
By the way, they say that if you ignore the smell, the tofu tastes really good,
it has a crunchy texture and all. Unfortunately my instincts still won't allow
me to eat something that smells like it’s rotten!
 |
7. Hong Kong egg tarts (dan taat): this one is easy
to recognize! Yes, Hong Kong has its own version of the famous pasteizinhos
de Belém, one of the most traditional and delicious desserts from Portugal!
Apparently they arrived in Hong Kong in the 1940s, when neighboring Macau was
still a Portuguese colony. Hmmmm, I have great memories of when my mother would
bring a box of tarts whenever she returned from Portugal! Unfortunately, the
pastries here leave something to be desired, as their main ingredient is not
cream (which, alongside sugar, might be too sweet for Chinese palates), but eggs. Call
me picky, but I'm not very fond of food that have a very strong egg taste,
which is precisely the case with the Hong Kong tarts. But it's definitely worth
a try, and it’s a great snack to be had with some good coffee or tea!
Note: since my original version of this post back in 2015,
many bakeries have opened, selling some amazing egg tarts!!
6. Assorted meat skewers: another very traditional food here are skewers, with the most varied ingredients: fish balls, squid, octopus tentacles, sausage, intestines, gizzards and other organs and/or mysterious meats, haha! The skewers are fried, then seasoned with a spicy sauce and usually served in a paper bag to absorb the oil, which ends up being mostly absorbed by your fingers.
5. Fried vegetables with fish ("three of a kind" - jeen yeung saam bo): As you can see, most of the street food in Hong Kong involves unhealthy fried stuff. But now you can at least pretend you're eating something healthy and sample the range of fried vegetables that Hong Kong food stalls offer - eggplants and peppers sliced and stuffed with a fish paste. It is quite tasty, and this dish can also be found in restaurants.
4. Bread (bao): I know, I know. This is not your typical street food, but I can't help but talk about the different types of bread that exist here, even more so when compared to the bakeries in Brazil. Unfortunately bread is not the go-to breakfast food around here, and the Hongkonese prefer something with more substance for breakfast, such as noodles. But HK has several bakeries, which are usually small shops that sell buns with a wide variety of fillings. It's a popular snack for those who want to eat something quick and mess-free. The flavors are almost endless: cheese and ham, tuna, corn, coconut… the chocolate one is my favorite! However, the bread is seldom warm and fresh.
The most famous bun in Hong Kong is definitely the pineapple bun (or Bo Lo Bao) - By the way, the Cantonese word for pineapple, ‘bo lo,’ is my favorite, because the pronunciation is very similar to that of 'cake' in Portuguese haha! Well, oddly enough, the pineapple bun doesn't have pineapple in its recipe: the name comes from the sugar coating, which normally has a checkered shape similar to a pineapple. These Chinese are really creative! Honestly, I find it a bit tasteless boring!
3. Egg Waffle (Gai Dan Dzai): (not to be confused with number 9, waffle with condensed milk) This is my favorite! As you can see in the photo, the name comes from the shape of the "eggs" that make up the waffle, which is crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside! Close to my previous flat, there was a stall selling egg waffles and before COVID, there always was a huge line of tourists wanting to try this typical Hong Kong delicacy! In the last few years, the egg waffle became sort of a hipster snack, so it’s easy to find it in different flavors, such as matcha and chocolate.
2. Sticky rice pudding (put chai gou): for Brazilian palates, the idea of a rice and bean pudding is extremely bizarre! But this pudding is really sweet, made of sugar and rice well cooked until it has a gooey consistency, and beans (also sweet) are added as a filling. The pudding is prepared in small bowls and once ready, it is transferred to a longer sort of skewer (like a barbecue stick) and is ready to eat! You must eat it before it gets cold! Is it tasty? Sort of... Chinese sweets tend to be not-so-sweet, which makes them a little bland. Overall, I prefer my rice and beans seasoned with salt and garlic, served with steak and fries!
.jpg)
1. Food from 7-11: Hear me out: for those who don't know, 7-11 is the convenience stores that exists in every corner around here. They sell everything: drinks, candies, toiletries and food, of course! Ready-made meals at 7-11 are extremely cheap, and despite not being what I would call gourmet, they do the job, especially when you're a poor exchange student like I was back in the day! Also, the garlic noodles and style gyoza rolls they sell are very popular among people who want to grab a quick bite to eat before going to work. Obviously, 7-11 food is not something 'traditional' per se, but at the end of the day, it is part of the everyday life for a huge part of the population!
 |
| Portugal or Hong Kong? |
6. Assorted meat skewers: another very traditional food here are skewers, with the most varied ingredients: fish balls, squid, octopus tentacles, sausage, intestines, gizzards and other organs and/or mysterious meats, haha! The skewers are fried, then seasoned with a spicy sauce and usually served in a paper bag to absorb the oil, which ends up being mostly absorbed by your fingers.
.jpg) |
| Assorted mystery skewers |
5. Fried vegetables with fish ("three of a kind" - jeen yeung saam bo): As you can see, most of the street food in Hong Kong involves unhealthy fried stuff. But now you can at least pretend you're eating something healthy and sample the range of fried vegetables that Hong Kong food stalls offer - eggplants and peppers sliced and stuffed with a fish paste. It is quite tasty, and this dish can also be found in restaurants.
4. Bread (bao): I know, I know. This is not your typical street food, but I can't help but talk about the different types of bread that exist here, even more so when compared to the bakeries in Brazil. Unfortunately bread is not the go-to breakfast food around here, and the Hongkonese prefer something with more substance for breakfast, such as noodles. But HK has several bakeries, which are usually small shops that sell buns with a wide variety of fillings. It's a popular snack for those who want to eat something quick and mess-free. The flavors are almost endless: cheese and ham, tuna, corn, coconut… the chocolate one is my favorite! However, the bread is seldom warm and fresh.
 |
| A typical Hong Kong bakery: you pick up a small at the entrance, use tongs to pick up the buns you want and pay at the cashier. |
The most famous bun in Hong Kong is definitely the pineapple bun (or Bo Lo Bao) - By the way, the Cantonese word for pineapple, ‘bo lo,’ is my favorite, because the pronunciation is very similar to that of 'cake' in Portuguese haha! Well, oddly enough, the pineapple bun doesn't have pineapple in its recipe: the name comes from the sugar coating, which normally has a checkered shape similar to a pineapple. These Chinese are really creative! Honestly, I find it a bit tasteless boring!
 |
| If you look really close, it kinda resembles a pineapple... |
3. Egg Waffle (Gai Dan Dzai): (not to be confused with number 9, waffle with condensed milk) This is my favorite! As you can see in the photo, the name comes from the shape of the "eggs" that make up the waffle, which is crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside! Close to my previous flat, there was a stall selling egg waffles and before COVID, there always was a huge line of tourists wanting to try this typical Hong Kong delicacy! In the last few years, the egg waffle became sort of a hipster snack, so it’s easy to find it in different flavors, such as matcha and chocolate.
 |
| The stall close to home, always brimming with people (pre COVID)... |
2. Sticky rice pudding (put chai gou): for Brazilian palates, the idea of a rice and bean pudding is extremely bizarre! But this pudding is really sweet, made of sugar and rice well cooked until it has a gooey consistency, and beans (also sweet) are added as a filling. The pudding is prepared in small bowls and once ready, it is transferred to a longer sort of skewer (like a barbecue stick) and is ready to eat! You must eat it before it gets cold! Is it tasty? Sort of... Chinese sweets tend to be not-so-sweet, which makes them a little bland. Overall, I prefer my rice and beans seasoned with salt and garlic, served with steak and fries!
1. Food from 7-11: Hear me out: for those who don't know, 7-11 is the convenience stores that exists in every corner around here. They sell everything: drinks, candies, toiletries and food, of course! Ready-made meals at 7-11 are extremely cheap, and despite not being what I would call gourmet, they do the job, especially when you're a poor exchange student like I was back in the day! Also, the garlic noodles and style gyoza rolls they sell are very popular among people who want to grab a quick bite to eat before going to work. Obviously, 7-11 food is not something 'traditional' per se, but at the end of the day, it is part of the everyday life for a huge part of the population!
 |
| Typical 7-11 menu! |
Whew, I hope you enjoyed the list! I could list endless Hong Kong street food, but these represent the local tastes of this foodie city very well! As always, I invite everyone to visit Hong Kong and fall in love with its flavors! :)
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