I NEED TO EAT
If you’ve tried the bland Western imitation, be prepared for the real thing真正的地道小菜遠勝乏味的外國仿製版本
Hong Kong’s best sweet and sour pork
OBSESSIVE : MAX LEVY MILES TRAVELLED : 3.7 (SAI YING PUN – HAPPY VALLEY)
ONE OF MY favourite places to eat in Hong Kong is Pang’s Kitchen in Happy Valley – because it serves the best sweet and sour pork in town.
This family-run Cantonese spot is on Yik Yam Street, up the road from the racetrack. Finding a table on a Wednesday race night may be tricky. In fact, on any given night you are likely to see Hongkongers lining up outside under its cheerfully lit sign.
It reminds me of home in New Orleans: the fun atmosphere with an unpretentious focus on food and good service is hard to find in most global cities.
The fusion menu, printed plainly on pink paper, represents Hong Kong’s myriad influences over the years. My two favourite dishes are the sweet and sour pork with strawberries; and the preserved duck with taro and coconut milk.
Here, the sweet and sour pork, a staple of Chinese-American cuisine typically made with canned pineapple, finds a perfect match in the less sweet and less acidic sautéed strawberries (Pang’s also sells the pineapple version). The preserved salted duck, boiled in a clay pot with taro, is utter perfection; it’s as hot as the planet Mercury when it comes to the table.
The bright orange American version of sweet and sour pork is often disparaged as the opposite of authentic Chinese cooking. But the dish has a distinguished history going back to 18th century Canton (modern Guangzhou), or even earlier. And today, it’s a staple of cheap and cheerful local Hong Kong diners.
The staff at Pang’s Kitchen are so welcoming. And they’re not ones to boast: I had been going almost weekly for a year before finding out it had one Michelin star.
Max Levy is the chef and owner of Okra in Sai Ying Pun. okra.kitchen 尋味者： MAX LEVY旅程哩數： 3.7 （西營盤–跑馬地）
我很喜歡到位於香港跑馬地的彭慶記吃飯，因為那裡的生炒骨是全城最美味的。
這家以家庭式經營的粵菜館就在馬場附近的奕蔭街。這裡每逢星期三賽馬日總是一座難求。事實上，任何一晚都可以見到人龍在燈光溫馨的招牌下排隊。
這裡令我想起家鄉新奧爾良：氣氛輕鬆愉快，食物樸實美味，而且服務良好，現在不少國際大城市裡已很難找到這樣的餐廳。
這裡的餐牌只是一張印刷簡單的粉紅色紙，上面羅列的菜式，百味雜陳，反映香港多年來在飲食烹調上兼收並蓄的精神。我至愛的兩款小菜是士多啤梨生炒骨與荔芋油鴨煲。
這道生炒骨跟外面常見的不同，捨慣用的菠蘿而用士多啤梨作配料，令甜與酸的味道變淡而帶清香。至於荔芋油鴨煲堪稱無懈可擊，燜得入味的油鴨和芋頭，盛在瓦煲內熱辣辣的上桌，香氣四溢，令人垂涎。
除了士多啤梨生炒骨外，彭慶記亦有與這道菜十分相似的咕嚕肉。咕嚕肉用的不是排骨而是脢肉（即精肉），配料則加入菠蘿，再勾一個淡橙色的芡汁。這是外國唐人街常見的版本，經常被批評為味道不正宗。咕嚕肉可說是生炒骨的變種，其源流可追溯至18世紀的廣州，甚至更早。時至今日，生炒骨和咕嚕肉已經成為香港許多小菜館必備的招牌菜了。
彭慶記的員工態度友善親切，而且都不喜歡自吹自擂；我差不多每星期都來這裡吃飯，經過一年之後才發現餐廳是米芝蓮一星食府。