My Little HK Food Guide - Part 3 + Macau Bonus

Of Noodles and Other Carby Goodnus

Finally my third and final installment of my three part HK food guide. On this installment, I shall focus on my other favourite part of the food triangle - carbohydrates. Carbs are considered the most important part of a balanced diet, providing energy for daily usage but sadly also accumulates as layers of blubber under our skin. Carbs are, for me, a sinful indulgence. However, it is actually a sin to not indulge yourself with the best sources of carbohydrates, possibly in the world. Noodles!!

Above: Gan lou noodles, dry version of wanton noodles. Sprinkled with prawn roe.

    When one mentions HK, a popular food that comes to mind is wanton noodles. Wanton noodles I believe is one of the most universally adopted dishes. Every country has their own, localised version of wanton noodles. In Malaysia, it is usually dry (in HK, it is soup based, dry is known as gan lou) with black sauce with wantons the size of a grain of sand, the most ungenerous amount of shrimp and pork wrapped with thick flour skin. Might as well serve tissue paper in hot soup, nobody will notice the difference. In HK however, it is again a different story. Wantons here are wantons, big fresh prawn wrapped in wanton skin. Served with handmade wanton noodles. Springy in texture with the right amount of firmness. Noodle shops can be found everywhere in HK, serving many varieties of noodles. Fear not, wanton noodles are always on the menu. Sometimes the noodles can be topped with Har Zi, which is actually prawn roe to accentuate the texture and give it a special, prawny flavour.

Above: The real deal, with real prawns.

Above: Fried fish skin, a specialty commonly found in noodle shops.

     Another one of my favourites can be found in possibly one of the oldest and most established restaurant in HK. It is Beef Hor Fun (flat noodles). I would recommend one restaurant to have beef hor fun, Tai Ping Koon (website). The restaurant was established since 1860 (not a typo). Famous for their Swiss sauce recipes, I adore their version of beef hor fun. Apparently, their signature sauce is known as Swiss sauce because a westerner commented "sweet" and someone misinterpreted it as "Swiss". The name stuck till today. They cook alot of their dishes in this sweet "Swiss" sauce. Their "Swiss" sauce beef hor fun is amazing! I cannot imagine anyone turning away from it. Sauce in the right consistency, beef very very tender. I'm feeling hungry typing this.

Above: The fanbleedingtastic beef hor fun from Tai Ping Koon with their signature "Swiss" sauce.

Above: Strips of pork belly, again in signature "Swiss" sauce. New dish, new love.

    Apart from HK, MyDailyRoti also visited Macau. Eager to try the famous Pork Chop Bun, we arrived just on time at the jetty before the buns start rolling out at 2.30 pm. They sell out fast, so we hopped onto a taxi and went straight to the place. Excited by the prospect of tasting my first Pork Chop Bun, I bought six for four of us, fearing that we would have to beg each other for the last bite. I was to be disappointed, yes the pork chop was good, but not excellent. Tender and succulent, sandwiched in a lightly toasted baguette-style bun which was hard and tasteless. We had a hard time finishing the extra two, perhaps it's just one of those overrated stores or one that had gone down the drain due to popular demand. I also tried the famous Portugese Egg Tarts, but only to be disappointed again. They tasted decent, the egg filling tasted odd, I can honestly find better Portugese Egg Tarts in Malacca. Perhaps I had bought from the wrong store, another chance for another time.

Above: Pork Chop Bun, decent.

Above: Portugese egg tarts, decent again.

    While Macau was a disappointment, HK never fails to impress me with the array of good food. Looking forward to be back soon. =)