What foods do you miss in Hong Kong?

[astera]

Hi everyone!

I may be moving to Hong Kong soon, and right now I'm in the States trying to figure out what to pack. I have experience living in Japan and had several things that I had people ship to me. So I'm wondering, what kinds of food are impossible to get in Hong Kong?

While living in Japan, I wanted microwave popcorn and easy mac. (true confessions...) I'm guessing cheese is equally hard to come by / expensive in Hong Kong?

I'm not a picky eater and don't mind living on non-American food most of the time...it's just nice to have a few familiar staples along with me.

Thanks!

Pamela

[funlol]

dr. pepper

[letty_da_florist]

definitely the fish balls on skew on street sides, but that's just me

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by funlol

dr. pepper

I was recently at the grocery store in Olympian City 2 (Taste I think was the name) and they had Dr. Pepper. It was a bit more expensive then coke or other sodas, but they had it (I live in France now, which doesn't have Dr. Pepper ).

[Claudia]

the fish balls on skew on street sides and dr. pepper! hmmm

[Dave O'Dottu]

Originally Posted by astera

. . . .I'm wondering, what kinds of food are impossible to get in Hong Kong?

While living in Japan, I wanted microwave popcorn and easy mac. (true confessions...) I'm guessing cheese is equally hard to come by / expensive in Hong Kong?

I'm not a picky eater and don't mind living on non-American food most of the time...it's just nice to have a few familiar staples along with me.

Pamela

the more you explore chinese food the more you find near equivalents to the food of other countries.

Japanese sushi appears to have been copied long ago (like most japanese culture) from chinese dim sum. You find fish balls in dim sum--ie. a paste made of fish. The difference is that dim sum is steamed.

Chinese food differs depending on the region of origin. those chickens and ducks hanging in the windows by their necks are HK style. the problem is that it is served cold and not so tasty.

There is also a kind of fried chicken called Belacan chicken (although that might be the hokkien name rather than the cantonese) that is as good as the American version. You can also get a chicken colored completely black. And another dish called "3 taste chicken."

the two meats I like best in chinese style are fish and pork. You cannot beat chinese fish. If you can, try their deep fried fish. they cook pork in many ways. they grind it up and wrap it in a noodle called wan tan, which you can get dry and crispy or in soup. They make pork barbeque, sweetened, etc. They also make a "crispy pork" that is not sweetened.

One good dish is sweet and sour pork. this will have a red sweet sauce with pineapple, and chunks of pork fried in batter. Unfortunately the quality of this varies tremendously across the chinese world. Sometimes all you get is pieces of pork fat, with very little meat, deep fried.

Beef noodle soup can be good.

chinese rice soup is good for breakfast. you can put chicken pork ginger in it, or not.

the chinese also make a kind of donut that looks like two DNA strings, which they sell at open-air food carts. You can dip these in jam or sweetened condensed milk.

asian desserts are the most different from western. they have a bowl of sweet syrup that you can choose many ingredients for, like flavored gelatin bits, beans, etc.

the chinese also have a well developed tradition of pickled and preserved fruits and vegetables. You can find these in the chinese style markets.

they make rolls from rice flower, stuffed with sweet pork, called pork rolls.

they also have a type of sausage that is very sweet.

for holidays the chinese make little pastries of bean paste called "moon cakes." they can be very expensive and of course quality depends on where you get them. I find them boring.

another holiday food is named, if memory serves, zhong zhe, named after a mythical man who drowned in a river. this is a triangular lump of rice with vegetables and meat inside, wrapped in a banana leaf.

If you can, try to find one of those buddhist restaurants that serve only vegetarian in a buffet style.

this is just the simple food. chinese dishes can get much more elaborate.

[dunmovin]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

I was recently at the grocery store in Olympian City 2 (Taste I think was the name) and they had Dr. Pepper. It was a bit more expensive then coke or other sodas, but they had it (I live in France now, which doesn't have Dr. Pepper ).

most park'nshops carry DrPeppers