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Anywhere that you go in Hong Kong and in any direction you care to
look, you are bound to see a restaurant sign. Establishments that sell
prepared food are as old as Chinese culture itself, and because most people
live in small apartments, there is little space for home entertaining and
restaurants are usually the chosen venues for special occasions and family
gatherings. Nowhere in the world is cooking more varied than in this city
where Cantonese cuisine, long regarded by Chinese gourmands as the most
intricate and sophisticated in Asia, is joined by delights from not only
other parts of China but also nearly every other culinary region in the
world. Whether it is French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Indian, Thai or
American, the deep rooted Chinese love of good food flourishes.
 Gastronomically speaking, the
words Chinese cuisine is as vague as saying European cuisine. China
covers a large area and has many regions, hence there is a wide variety of
Chinese foods each with quite different and mouthwatering flavours. Because
China's local dishes have their own typical characteristics, Chinese food
can be divided into regional cuisines, the distinction of which is now
widely accepted.
And of course there is the inevitable, that you will be faced with a
set a chopsticks. If you haven't used them before you are likely to fumble
at first, but with practice, it becomes easier. Regardless of how
skillful you become, there are some basic courtesies and customs that are
associated with using chopsticks. The website "How to Use
Chopsticks" www2.gol.com/users/issott/JRHome/Convention/Chopsticks.html gives a step-by-step
introduction on how to use chopsticks and some hints on etiquette.
Cantonese
Since 94% of the
population of Hong Kong come from Guangdong (Canton), this is the most
popular style of cuisine. This style of cooking brings out the natural
taste of the ingredients by cooking them quickly at very high temperatures,
this creates wok chi, a fleeting energy that requires food to be
served and eaten immediately.
Shanghainese
Shanghai is a city
of immigrants not unlike New York and Hong Kong, and its cosmopolitan
population has several culinary styles. The city has especially good
seafood and many dishes are fried in sesame oil or soya sauce. Crabs are a
winter favourite. Shanghainese flavours are heavier and oilier than
Cantonese cuisine, featuring preserved vegetables, pickles and salted
meats. Lime-and-ginger-flavoured "1,000-year-old" eggs are
perhaps Shanghai's best-known culinary creation.
Peking
The food of this northerly city
is "substantial", with noodles, dumplings and breads being served
instead of rice. The flavours in Peking food are influenced by highly
flavoured roots and vegetables such as peppers, garlic, ginger, leek and
coriander. Of course Peking Duck is a favourite, and Hong Kong has many
restaurants offering this unique regional food. It was originally an
imperial Mongolian dish and is usually served in two or three courses.
Szechuan
One of the most
well known and spiciest regional varieties, Szechuen cuisine is now a
favourite around the world. Rice, bamboo, river fish, shellfish, chicken
and pork dishes all with plenty of salt, anise, fennel seeds, chillies and
coriander are used in this regional cuisine. All the ingredients are
simmered, stirred, smoked or steamed. Garlic, ginger and fermented soybean
are also used in this regional cooking process and the effect is an
integrated flavour, the opposite of Cantonese food where each ingredient
has its own taste.
Chiu
Chow
From the area near
Canton, the Chiu Chow people have a gutsy, hearty cuisine which has never
caught on in the west. It begins with Iron Buddha tea and moves on to thick
shark's fin soup, soya goose, whelk, bird's nest and irresistible steamed
lobsters soaked with tangerine jam.
Dim
Sum
A unique feature of
Cantonese cuisine is dim sum, which literally translates as
"touching the heart". It can be enjoyed for breakfast or lunch
but never for dinner. The term yum cha, which means "drinking
tea", is usually applied to a dim sum meal and refers to the
endless pots of tea that traditionally accompany the food. A typical dim
sum selection consists of small dumplings, buns, meatballs, spring
rolls, pastries, cakes and tarts. Many of the dishes are steamed and
are served in bamboo baskets, while others are fried or deep-fried.
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