food. Delicious #5 : Hong Kong's Street Food - Secret Love for Noodles.

kisame (49)in #travelfeed • 5 years ago

Dear Steemit friends:

Someone once jokingly said that the four great Chinese inventions are Porridge, Food Starch, Noodles and Rice. That would be quite an exaggeration, but it's true that these are the four main foodstuffs in Chinese cuisine.

Normally, noodles wouldn't be considered the primary food that people from the south of China would eat. In Hong Kong, this observation would be inaccurate because to them, Noodles will always have their place amongst their choices of food. As you walk along the great streets and small alleys of Hong Kong, you'll notice that there are many Noodle bars, for example, the noodle bar below. This noodle bar is so popular that the queue is longer than I could capture in the picture! Even in the preciously short, lunch time break, people are willing to queue for these tasty noodles - a sign that noodles are very much a top choice and worth the wait.

Traditional Congee and Noodle restaurants typically have two kitchens, one for the congee and one for noodles. As you enter the restaurant, the kitchens will usually be opposite each other at the front. You can usually see the chef's through the windows preparing the delicious food right infront of your eyes!

Visiting these street restaurants is the perfect way to understand the lifestyle of the local Hong Kong residents. To many locals, these restaurants are the quickest and most convenient way to eat their three main daily meals. Inside, the tables are usually very cramped with each seat taken as soon as it becomes available. The tables are often occupied by mixed groups of customers who quite happily eat with the strangers around them.

Since there are always long queues of diners waiting outside and lunch time is very short, most of the noodle bars will have their menu displayed on the wall. By the time you sit down, you should already know what you want to order. It's very good for saving time!

You might be wondering how foreigners order their food if they can't read chinese? Well, thankfully the regular menu has all the dishes translated to English too so now everybody can order these delicious dishes!

Cuttlefish Balls, and Prawn fishballs with Rice Flour Noodles

Fish Tofu and Fishball Hofun soup

With the meal deal you also get these Oyster Steamed Vegetables, I think it's very value for money.

Provided on the table are some sauces and other condiments such as Soy sauce, Vinegar and Chilli Oil. Diners can adjust the taste to their own liking.

I like a bit more sour taste so I added a bit of vinegar. The soup base is full of flavour coming from food in the stew. Here they do not use MSG.

Next up, we're off to another Noodle restaurant called Wen hui. This restaurant has a nickname of fishball king because of it's renowned noodle soups with fishballs. They've been open for over 40 years and is a mainstay in the Noodle restaurant business. Every time I visit Hong Kong, I make sure to have atleast one meal here.

At the entrance, there's fresh Soy Milk. Normally, people like to drink iced soy milk whilst eating these warm noodle soup dishes in hot and stuffy weather. They're perfectly complimentary!

I'm quite attached to this restaurant not least for it's delicious fishball noodle soups, but also because of these huge fish in the fish tank! I seem to think of these fish in the fish tank every time I come to Hong Kong. Right above the tank there is the God of Wealth which is auspicious and brings continued prosperity to this restaurant.

Again, we have the Menu on the wall.

The fishball noodle soup here is has a very distinct flavour owing to it's higher degree of variety in ingredients used. It's a shame that my stomach isn't larger, else i'd be eating more! Eight Treasures seaweed fishball ho fun soup has beef meatballs, prawn balls, fishballs, cuttlefish, fish eggs and crabmeat balls. With so many different kinds of meatballs used, it's no wonder the soup is buzzing with so much flavour!