Yum! Yuck.

Food.  It is inevitably one of the first questions people ask.  What do you eat there?  Can you find food that you like?...

Hong Kong is referred to as Asia's World City, because the entire world is present here.  This is true of people, as well as cuisine.  For example, Friday after class, myself and three classmates (friends!) went out for Indian food.  It was excellent.  Last weekend, Foley and I had a wonderful Thai meal just minutes from our new home. Essentially, anything you could want is here, and certainly some things you would not want as well.

To simplify this post, I have separated food into two categories: Yum! and Yuck.  I apologize in advance if I knock some of your favourite dishes, but this is just a quick summary of my tastes and experiences with food so far.

YUM!
Foods that are thoroughly enjoyed.

1) Dim Sum = YUM YUM!
Foley and I have gone out for Dim Sum several times already. Dim Sum (for those of you who don't know, because I didn't really until I came here) is simply chinese style dumplings.  They are stuffed with various meats or seafood (no seafood for me though... we'll get to that in the Yuck category).

This is my favourite type of dim sum, the Shanghai-style dumplings, which have some meat and soup inside... mmm.

2) Tohng Seui ("Sugar Water" - traditional Chinese dessert)

Wolfi and Tom - farewell dinner/dessert

Sign that I can't read...

Traditional Chinese Dessert

We went out on Friday with two new friends from Germany (Tom and Wolfi), to say farewell as they move on in their 3-month vacation.  We went out for a fairly traditional chinese dinner (delicious), then they took us to a place that neither Foley nor I would have ever walked into if they hadn't been with us.  I would tell you the name, but I can't... I can only show you the sign.  We were the only foreigners in the restaurant.  Very authentic Chinese.  Here the guys introduced us to this traditional chinese dessert of doughy-balls filled with sesame seeds, floating in a sugar water soup.  Sounds gross, but it was quite delicious.

3) Grocery store selection & home-cooking
I (as the housewife) can cook just about anything I could make at home (with approximately the same skill level, no improvements noted in that category yet).  Save for some puzzling absences (like BBQ sauce), we have been able to eat fairly similar to back home, using our tiny kitchen and local grocery stores.  Foley's absolute favourite is Sweet & Sour Chicken stir-fry.  He has made it quite clear that I can make this dish exclusively for the next two years and he will be content.  I, however, enjoy a wee bit of variety.

I find the rice selection hilarious.  The soya sauce has a similar sized section (yes, section) with 50+ varieties of soya sauce.  Vegetables and fruit selection is actually more similar to home than I expected (I don't know why, I have heard of this whole 'globalization thing').  It is notable that the carrots here are HUGE, even bigger than the corn (see photo).


YUCK.
Some of the less appealing foods.

1)  Dead Fish EVERYWHERE

Wondering through the fish market.

I still can't stand the smell or idea of eating seafood or fish... It's a childhood aversion that I have never gotten over.  This is quite tragic because this is supposed to be one of the best places in the world for fish and seafood.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I still hold my breath when I walk by shops with dried seafood 'snacks' on display.  It's just not that pleasant for me to sniff dried squid bits.  I do plan on expanding my tastes while living here, but I'm clearly not ready for that quite yet.

The way that fish are displayed and sold here is very different from home.  In my attempt to master tech-savy status, I have started a youtube channel (yeah me!).  Click on the following link to walk through a fish market with me for 54 seconds.  In the first 2 seconds, an escapee shrimp jumps the net and lands on my foot. [link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL4jPyZWJFs]

Please use your imagination for how these displays smell.  Can't wait for 35 degree summer days...

2) Preserved Duck

It's like beef jerky, but with ENTIRE duck carcasses!  What the?  Oh wait, but if you only really want the neck, head and the duck bill, that's an option too, of course.








3) Chicken Feet

Seems to be quite common, they're everywhere.  Chicken feet with toe nails still on 'em.  Apparently they are used in soup for flavouring, or they are eaten dehydrated as a crispy snack while watching TV (*gag*).  Although I give props for not wasting a single bitty-bit of the bird, I'll leave that delightful dish up to the locals.


I clearly still have some way to go in terms of being adventurous with food.  We've been playing it pretty safe so far.  I will be certain to post about food again the moment I try something crazy like snake or (gasp) FISH.