Eating Out In Hong Kong

With the skill of an artist, Wong Hoi Ming, whips off the cloth covering a small plate, takes out something that looks like a very thin sheet of pasta and places it carefully on the worktop of The Marco Polo Hotel’s Number One Chinese Banqueting Kitchen.

He adds a dollop of filling in the middle of the pasta-like sheet (it is in fact made of rice flour) and neatly folds it all up, using a drop of water to seal the envelope–style packet before adding it to the little row he has already prepared.  Each one takes him about four seconds to make and every single one looks – as one would expect from a prize-winning head chef, like a miniature work of art.

 “Now you try,” he says, and I do, slowly and unsteadily, manage to cobble together a rather less aesthetically pleasing spring roll.  It takes me four times as long and I am ridiculously pleased with it.

We proceed to the cooking range – a four metre-long strip of enormous woks, bubbling under volcanic gas flames that can be manipulated at the touch of the hand.  Wong fires up the gas and we slide my spring rolls into the hot oil for just a few seconds before I scoop them out with a bamboo sieve.  To my astonishment they have been transformed into quite acceptable little golden parcels.  I have just made my first dim sum – a traditional Cantonese dish that holds a similar place in Chinese affections as afternoon tea does for the British.

In a small class with a patient teacher, it is a hugely enjoyable way to discover some of the secrets behind a rich culinary culture.  Depending on ability one can learn to make basic dim sum or some of the more complicated dishes that grace the elaborate feasts for which Hong Kong cuisine is renowned.

Many Chinese believe that certain foods are particularly auspicious and should – if possible – be eaten at a certain time of year.  As I am making my first visit during the Chinese New Year, I have the opportunity to sample such delicacies as seaweed braised with dried oysters  whose name in Chinese sounds like the words for ‘wealth and  good business’ and lotus which alludes to growing abundance.

It is an inescapable fact that traditional food is closely linked to destiny – so I do my best to master chopsticks rather than western cutlery which – if one uses a knife to cut food such as noodles could be thought to bring bad luck.

Chinese banquets have many courses so the trick is to sample a small amount of each in order that one doesn’t become too full before the delicious puddings which may include red bean curd or bamboo fungus appear. 

I had come to Hong Kong expecting to find an ultra modern air-conditioned shopping centre on every street corner. Instead I found a place as varied and intriguing as its gastronomy – which ranges from the traditional to the ultra-sophisticated.

And for those who seek a cuisine that matches the modern architecture springing up all over Hong Kong island as well as on Kowloon – the part of Hong Kong situated on the Chinese mainland - contemporary food is just as much of a thrill.

Aspasia, the new restaurant at the recently-opened Luxe Manor hotel in the Tsim Sha S district, has a tasting menu that includes foie gras with an apple and vanilla puree, sea bass and a selection of Belgian chocolate puddings and Café Decco, up on The Peak, the highest point on the main island, offers a western-style bistro menu with excellent steaks and a surprisingly tasty tandoori-style sea bass.

Hong Kong is famous for it’s markets. Accessories of all sorts – including, should one be so inclined – copies of the latest designer handbags and watches – are abundant though you may be asked to ‘step inside’ a shop near the stall to choose from a wider range (and avoid the attention of the authorities who tread a fine line between an official policy on counterfeit goods and a certain tolerance towards the benefits that the informal economy brings. There are also plenty of regular shops where prices for cosmetics and electrical goods are very attractive.

The vast number of stalls along Tung Choi Street are universally known as the Ladies’ Market.  Here in addition to the fake Gucci bags one can find clothes, childrens’ wear, traditional Chinese cheongsam blouses and dresses and a eye-poppingly inventive range of animal-themed exotic underwear.

After an encounter with a low-level pair of knickers with an attached giraffe, (elephants also available)  the more sensitive shopper may need a few moments to contemplate practical implications of such a garment.  I decided it seemed like a good moment to move on and explore the food markets.
 
Here, in the midst of hectic activity - on the day before Chinese New Year it seems the whole world is out buying pink cherry blossom and little pots of oranges to signify good luck - I find dried oysters (sold on sticks rather like packets of dates) and shark fins in plastic bags cheek by jowl with dragon fruit and tangerine trees.

For foodies prepared to rise early, the aptly-named wet market – I’ll definitely take my wellies next time – is the best place to get a feel for the range of seafood available. Before breakfast, fisherman unload that morning’s catch straight off the boat and into hundreds of tanks where Hong Kong’s restaurant keepers and hoteliers take their pick of the infinite varieties of fish and seafood as the din of the market swirls around them.

Just a few hours later, and 30 stories up, some of that seafood is being turned into sashimi at one of the city’s trendiest restaurant-bars.  Aqua is a popular meeting point with well-heeled locals and visitors who can sip the house cocktail, a sublime lychee daiquiri while enjoying a view across the water to the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island.

It is a spectacular sight – but not always guaranteed as fog and pollution from the mainland often obscures the view as well as the lightshow which, unless the weather is clear, seems a futile gesture when the skyline is so remarkable on its own.

But for a totally different view of Hong Kong, you need to take a boat.   A trip to the smaller islands is a great opportunity to see into a very different world. Here you will find temples where the same families have worshiped for generations. It is far removed from the bright lights of the central districts.

Unless you leave the downtown areas of Hong Kong island and Kowloon one might never realize that there are still - just - several corners where people still live quietly in areas where rare flora and fauna can still be found.

In the ‘new territories’ – the area on the mainland beyond Kowloon, - and on some of the islands that also form the Hong Kong archipelago, some villages have received grants to offer low impact community-based tourism activities. 

There are several new tours, some of which have been developed by the tourist board with the aim of bringing economic benefits to the more remote island communities without the adverse effects of mass tourism.  The projects are still very much in their infancy and information is not easy to come by so the best way to visit is to sign up in advance for a day-long excursion that visits two or three islands such as one that leaves from the Ma Lui Shui Pier near the KCR Eastern Rail University station.

These cultural and environmentally flavoured excursions are a far cry from the heady nightlife on offer in the heart of Lang-Kwai Fong - which is why the contrast is so appealing. And with so much of Hong Kong covered by national parks and green spaces there is an ever-growing number of ‘greener’ options for visitors who want the best of Hong Kong’s many worlds.

FACTBOX

Getting There: Air New Zealand (Tel: 0800 0284149 W: www.airnewzealand.com) flies to Hong Kong from £410 return.

Tour Operator: Allways Pacific (Tel: 01494 432747 W: www.all-ways.co.uk) offer return flights to Auckland including a minimum three night stopover in Hong Kong with accommodation (room only) and transfers from £1,010 inc taxes.

Where to Stay: Rooms at the Marco Polo Hong Kong (www.marcopolohotels.com) start at £81.00.  Contact the hotel for more information on cooking classes and demonstrations.

More Information: Hong Kong Tourist Board (www.discoverhongkong.com) has information on island hopping tours and festivals.

Entry Requirements: UK nationals do not require a visa for a trip up to 180 days. However, you will need a valid passport (6 months upon exit) and one clear page in your passport.
www.thevisacompany.co.uk

Time Zone: GMT  +7 hours
 
Flight Time from UK: 13 hours
 
Currency:  Hong Kong Dollar (£1 = 15 HKD)
 
Best Time to Go:  Year Round – big parades around Chinese New Year in February

17 December 2007