BREAK OF DAWN – HONG KONG

Cecilia Leung

Founder,

Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours

“I used to work in finance in the United States and came back to Hong Kong in 2006. I’d long been a night owl but when I was in the corporate world I needed to get up for early conference calls. Eventually, mornings became my favourite time of the day.

Hong Kong is a very, very energetic city and you see that starting at 6am, sometimes earlier, as newspapers are delivered and restaurants and markets are getting ready. I love the tranquillity before the chaos starts. There’s an energy in the quiet.

I’m a foodie by nature and there’s a lot of cooking at that time of day. The noodle shops put their heart and soul into what they make and serve so they start preparing their broth very early and it cooks for hours. The markets, where a lot of people do food shopping, begin selling at 7 o’clock. People know to arrive early to get the best cuts of meat and freshest vegetables. The bakeries start at 4am or 5am to be ready for the commuters, so people can pick up a bun here or a piece of pie or croissant there. We have a coffee culture, of course, but you can’t compare it to Australia’s.

I love going to Sham Shui Po for breakfast. It’s an old working-class district in Kowloon. My favourite pineapple bun and milk tea place is there but you’ll also find noodles, dim sum and Western-style bakeries. Pineapple buns are unique to Hong Kong – there’s no pineapple in them and they don’t even taste like pineapple. We have Mexican buns that have nothing to do with Mexico and cocktail buns that have nothing to do with cocktails. Everything has its own little story.”