Classics The Future

Are you a real Hongkonger if you haven’t had these dishes?

Some say that knowing people in high places is what gets you ahead, but in this food-obsessed city, ordering the right food in the right places might be just as important. How many of these classics—past, present and future—are you able to tick off the list in order to call yourself a real Hongkonger? Let’s play!

1. Amber’s Corn & Caviar

Corn, because plants rule, and the new Amber is all about putting great vegetables les front and center; and caviar, because it’s t’s an essential Hong Kong food group, obv. v.

2. Bakehouse’s sourdough egg tart

What's jiggly and silky, encased in flaky pastry, lightly caramelised and creates queues around the block?

3. Kwan Kee's white eel claypot rice

It's not truly winter in Hong Kong until you're chiselling away at the crisp, golden crust of a claypot rice. Bonus Hongkonger points if you move the eel onto a separate plate before you start. (How else do you ensure it doesn't get mashed, or worse, eaten, before you get to the crust?)

4. The Chairman’s steamed flower crab with Chenchun noodles and chicken fat

If fine Chinese dining in Hong Kong had its own coat of arms, a picture of this dish, with the crustacean's peach patterns and the e sparkle of rendered chicken fat, might be it.

5. Hoi On Café’s cubed French toast

Opened in 1952, this cha chaan teng has true retro cred, but be warned, both the glossy red banquettes and the cubed French toast—a peanut butter sandwich cut into quarters before being deep-fried, for maximum batter coverage—might make your heart stop.

6. Hoover Cake Shop’s walnut cup cake

Chow Yun-fat’s Yun-f favourite bakery kery is well known for its chiffon cakes and egg tarts, but longtime fans (like Chow) know w that the walnut cupcake, satisfyingly dense with w whole nuts in the batter, is the real star here.

7. Kin’s Kitchen’s smoked chicken

Trust T the Lau family to make a Hong Kong classic of soy sauce chicken even better by using a fresh local bird, and smoking it with roses, rock sugar and sugar cane.

8. Lin Heung’s pork liver siu mai

In a city where a regular Sunday might co consist of dim sum with free flow champ pagne, Lin Heung offers a reminder of our humble traditions, such as never wasting any part of the animal, especially when it’s as nutritious as pig’s liver.

9. Luk Yu’s sweet and sour pork

Glance over the dining rooms at lunchtime, and there’s an amber glow from every table. If there was a Central office worker starter pack, Luk Yu’s sweet and sour pork would be on it, front and center.

10. Mak’s wonton noodles

Will eating all those silky "goldfish tails” make you a goldfish? We hope not, because you’d never want to forget the delicate bounce and sweet oceanic umami of these dainty bowls of wontons.

11. Master Low Key’s egg waffles

You Yo ou can expect perfectly formed, light-as-air gai ga daan zai every time from Master Low Key—this Ke level of consistency gets a lot of high hig key love from snack experts all around Hong Ho Kong.

12. Neighborhood’s salt-baked chicken

Locally-raised Loc Ping Yuen chicken, baked in a salt sal crust and served with morels—it’s the kind of French-inspired Hong Kong cuisine we can ca get behind.

13. New Punjab Club’s tandoori cobia

Big, juicy ju chunks of fish, in a lightly spiced, smoky robe. They flake at the slightest touch, playing slip and slide all the way to your m mouth. It’s tandoor mastery in a dish.

14. On Lei’s fish ball and fish cake noodles

The fish balls and fish cake at this Shau Kei Wan ins institution are a tasty reminder that many of Hong Kong’s earliest inhabitants were hugely hhug resourceful fishers who used every las last bit of their catch.

15. Roots’ prawn toast

An old-schoolold favourite turned new wave signature, signat this reimagined prawn toast features featur salmon roe and and pickled onions that promise p a rollercoaster of textures and flavours. flavou

16. Samsen’s wagyu beef boat noodles

When this bowl appeared, it set a new standard for boat noodles in the city.

Although a second branch has since opened in Sheung Wan, the original in Wan Chai is still the only place to get these noods.

17. Shui Kee’s ngau jap meen

Fresh ngau jap (beef offal) is used to be ubiquitous in this town, but like many of the toughest jobs, the fresh offal trade has been in decline. Shui Kee’s insistence on buying only fresh beef and innards makes it a precious jewel in the street food crown.

18. Spring Moon’s pan-fried cheung fun with XO sauce

XO sauce is now known the world over, and it's thanks to Spring Moon, believed to be the originators of the recipe. Savour it in its full, dried-seafood-packed splendour as a perfect accent for plain cheung fun, each bite a delightful package complete with golden, crispy, pan-fried edges.

19. San Hang Yuen’s beef omelette sandwich and milk tea

Drop in anytime—literally, it’s a 24-hour cha ha chaan teng—for a pick-me-up in the form of a super strength milk tea, made with their own wn custom blend of over 60 teas.

20. Little Bao’s Szechuan chicken bao

Crunchy, mala, with just enough acidity— flavours and textures that we know and love, ve, amped up and remixed into bao form. There’s re’s a strict rule at Little Bao against bao cutting, ng, but they're too good to share anyway.

21. Tai Ping Koon’s soufflé

The sheer size of this soufflé means it's fit for any celebration, or just any time ime you need a fluffy cloud of camp, sugary joy.

22. VEA’s abalone pithivier

Chinese-style dried abalone need hours of careful cooking to reach a “tong sum” state—that yielding texture akin to gummy bears that responds to a sharp knife but doesn’t disintegrate at its touch. At VEA, this delicacy is wrapped in puff pastry as a pithivier, a remarkable marriage of Cantonese and French techniques.

23. Yung’s Bistro’s White Rabbit candy custard

Be it in Chinese New Year snack trays or a reward to acing a school test, White Rabbit candies were always a treat for Hongkongers growing up. Yung’s brings the candy back in the form of a milky custard pudding in the shape of a rabbit that’s almost too cute to eat—almost.

24. Yat Lok’s ngor bei lai

Crispy on the he outside, full of juices within, Yat Lok’s roast t goose is legendary, but if you’re just passing g by and can’t commit to a full bird, a roast goose ose leg (ngor bei) on lai fun (rice noodles) is the ideal glut gluttonous mid-afternoon snack.

25. Yardbird’s tsukune

Meatballs from the chicken masters that made yakitori essential eating in this city. Charcoal-grilled to perfection, served with an egg yolk for dipping. The answer to that eternal question, “chicken or egg?” is both.