What to Eat in Hong Kong

Fish Balls

You won’t have any trouble finding the humble fish ball in Hong Kong. Whether you’re hitting up one of the convenience stores or nipping past one of the hawker-style eateries, you won’t be far from the these springy balls. Best eaten hot, doused in the spicy curry sauce. You’ll also find them floating in many bowls of noodles.

Fried Tofu

While tofu often divides opinion, it’s hard to dislike the Hong Kong-style deep fried version. Crispy and golden on the outside, soft in the middle and best served with mildly spicy sauce. Those feeling brave could opt for a slice or two of stinky tofu (which is easy to locate, as you can imagine!) whose odor is nothing like its taste.

lunch street food snack vegeterian

Pineapple Buns

Despite the slightly misleading name, pineapple buns don’t actually contain pineapple. Their name comes from it’s distinct pineapple-patterned top. The buns are made from a soft bread roll covered in a hard, sweet, cookie-like shell. Best served hot slathered with cold butter. Stopping off at one of the cha chaan teng tea houses for a pineapple bun and milk tea is a quintessential Hong Kong experience.

lunch snack vegeterian

Roasted Pork Buns

It’s criminal to visit Hong Kong and not try at least one char siu bao, steamy pillow-like buns stuffed with sweet, slow-cooked barbecued pork. Yes, they are as delicious as they sound. Make a beeline for almost any dim sum house to find the buns. Alternatively, look you can also look for them at local bakeries in even in the city’s many 7-11s.

snack street food pig sweet

Congee

A Hong Kong staple. Eating congee is the equivalent of a foodie hug. Rice cooked in chicken or meat stock until is resembles a porridge is topped with everything from century egg to ground pork and offal. Best eaten on a cool Hong Kong morning or for lunch. Don’t skip the accompanying yau zha gwai, fried dough sticks used to mop up the porridgy rice.

lunch breakfast meat

Roast Goose

A Hong Kong classic, there are roast goose or (siu ngoh) joints everywhere in this city. Every Cantonese chef worth his or her salt is capable of turning out one, and you can see them hanging in the windows of restaurants down most streets, waiting to be served. The best have a lovely crispy skin, and a melt-in-the-mouth texture. Traditionally served with sweet plum sauce.

goose lunch dinner

Steamed Chicken Feet

To many foreigners, the idea of chicken feet is as alien as it comes. But the Hong Kongese love their unique chewy texture. Usually braised in black bean sauce and served at many dim sum houses across the city. It’s surprising how many foreigners enjoy the dish once they’ve tried it. Nibble the succulent skin and fat and spit out the tiny bones.

dinner snack chicken street food

Claypot Rice

Another Hong Kong stable. As the name suggests, the dish comprises of rice cooked in a clay pot slowly over a charcoal stove. The rice just makes up the basic version, but you can pick from any number of ingredients and combinations to flavour it. A good claypot rice should have a crispy base when served.

lunch dinner meat fish vegeterian option

Egg Tart

An icon of Hong Kong cuisine, the egg tart, or dan tat, arrived on the scene around the 1940s. There are many variations of the egg tart, but all good tarts should have a buttery, flakey crust, and a soft, aromatic center. They are sweet, but not overly so, and are a staple of the traditional Hong Kong afternoon tea.

snack breakfast sweet dessert

Rolled Rice Noodles

Rolled rice noodles are deceptively simple, but undeniably delicious. Handmade rolled rice noodles are topped with soy sauce, sweet hoisin sauce, sesame seeds and rich peanut sauce. Great as a hearty snack or quick dinner. Expect long queues at the best vendors in the city, though you won’t have any trouble finding spots to try the noodles.

snack dinner vegeterian

Wonton Soup

Wontons are a type of Chinese dumpling (there is some disagreement about what the difference between a wonton and a dumpling is, the short version of which is that wontons are made with thinner dough) that are commonly added to make “Wonton soup”. They are often quite oily, and usually filled with rich meat, such as a ground pork and shrimp mix. Most regions of China have their own variations on the wonton, and are rumoured to be the basis of modern day Italian filled pasta.

lunch dinner meat fish