China's south on Hong Kong menu

China's south on Hong Kong menu

Gregor Garbassen, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Hong Kong

Looking for a Chinese meal in Hong Kong presents problems that few Europeans may have encountered on their usual trips to Chinese restaurants in their home countries.

Here there is no such thing as Chinese cuisine, rather a wide variety from different regions, each with its distinctive characteristics.

There is Cantonese from the south, the cuisine of the royals from Beijing in the north, differing tastes from east and west and the really hot dishes from Sichuan province.

Hong Kong is better placed than anywhere else to try out all of these different cooking styles and tastes in a culinary melting pot.

Millions of immigrants from all over the mainland have made their home in this former British colony, bringing with them their own eating traditions.

Restaurants and eating houses have opened all over this city, whether in the shopping malls or in the small alleyways -- more than in any other Chinese city.

While the locals all eat with chopsticks, Western tourists often have knives and forks placed in front of them as a matter of course, but on another style point the Chinese stick to their traditions.

All the dishes are placed in the middle of the table so that everyone can taste them, irrespective of who actually ordered the dish. This is the traditional way that things are done throughout China.

Amid this diversity, the cuisine from China's south predominates in Hong Kong -- Cantonese. What sets it apart from other Chinese cuisines is that most of the dishes are steamed or quickly fried in a wok.

Fish and seafood play a major role in Hong Kong's cuisine, as it is surrounded by the sea. Lei Yue Mun, once a fishing village to the southeast of Kowloon, is now one of the largest fish markets in the city.

Dozens of stands offer all kinds of fish, mussels and crabs, many of the wares still alive, swimming in containers and aquariums -- enjoying a short life on land until a buyer comes along.

Hong Kong is also where dim sum, China's version of fast food, originates. It is often eaten as breakfast in Hong Kong: rolls, dumplings and tidbits made of wheat or rice flour leavened with yeast.

Dim sum dishes can be steamed, baked or fried and are stuffed with every kind of meat or vegetable.

One of the best places to experience the diversity of dim sum is the Luk Yu Tea House in the central part of the city on Stanley Street.

The Luk Yu has been there for 70 years and the decor is still Art Deco. From 7 a.m. hundreds of different varieties of dim sum are on offer, from minced beef to a pastry of black beans filled with garlic chicken. It is up to the diner to take their pick of whatever takes their fancy.

The moderate prices and excellent quality ensure that the Luk Yu is always full.

The Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon offers a more exclusive ambience.

Its Spring Moon restaurant cooks up Cantonese cuisine of the highest quality at corresponding prices. Here more than 6,000 of dim sum tidbits are prepared daily, and would-be chefs can take a short course in the art as well.

There is a Cantonese proverb that one can eat everything that flies, except for aircraft, and everything on four legs, other than tables and chairs, and there is some truth in the way the Hong Kong Chinese tuck into a meal.

A tour of Hong Kong's many food markets reveals a bewildering array of consumables found in few other places around the world, from dried sea cucumber and duck salami to swallows' nests and ground up deer antlers.

Among the most expensive dishes is abalone, a prized culinary indulgence which is only served in Hong Kong to mark festive occasions. The reason is simple: Half a kilogram costs close to US$1,500.